Quietly Hiding that I am a Man chapter 40- Fake Death

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As he anxiously sorted through the slime-covered items, he muttered nervously.

“Uh, this isn’t it… This isn’t it either…”

“Just to clarify.”

“……”

“Did you… lose such an important item?”

Ber, sensing the rising tension in my voice, shouted in panic.

“No! I couldn’t have lost it! I definitely stored it somewhere safe!”

“Then why can’t you find it?”

“I’m not only Maya’s divine beast but also her ark! My belly is vast enough to swallow all the seas in this world. And since no one has sought Maya’s manifestation for centuries…”

So even the divine beast had forgotten.

The unexpected setback made my head throb.

On a whim, I grabbed Ber’s hind legs with both hands and shook him vigorously.

Out fell rusty daggers, ancient coins, but nothing that resembled Maya’s Stone.

As I made a commotion, Jerome finally spoke up.

“What’s going on, dear?”

“He says he lost Maya’s Stone in his belly.”

“Hmm…”

Jerome glanced at Ber, who was still a baby dragon.

With a soft smile, Jerome spoke, causing Ber’s jaw to drop in shock.

“If that’s the case, why not just cut him open?”

“Oh, oh no! I just remembered something urgent! I think I left my oil lamp on in my room!”

I quickly grabbed Ber’s tail as he tried to escape out of the carriage window.

Watching him with his ears drooping, I let out a sigh.

“I’m your master, right? Would it be that difficult if I gave you a direct order, like ‘Find Maya’s Stone’?”

“Well, we call a contractor’s order a ‘Contractor’s Commandment’ in our relationship, but there are three essential conditions for the commandment to activate. First, the contractor’s mana must be used depending on the scale of the commandment. Second, the contractor must know the Dragon’s Tongue, and third…”

Ber suddenly stopped his detailed explanation about the Dragon’s Tongue, clamping his mouth shut. It was an obviously suspicious action.

Gripping his chin firmly with one hand, I stared at him with a look that urged him to continue.

“Why did you stop talking? What’s the third condition?”

“That’s… it depends on how deeply the divine beast is loyal to the contractor. That can have a significant impact on whether the commandment activates or not.”

“So, in summary…”

I took a deep breath, enough to make my chest rise, then summarized Ber’s words.

“I’m naturally low on mana, don’t know the Dragon’s Tongue, and you’re not loyal enough to me to follow my commandment, right?”

“As expected from my master! Exactly right.”

Ber spun around joyfully, oblivious to the atmosphere.

I stared at him expressionlessly before nudging Jerome’s side with my elbow.

Jerome, who had been looking at Ber with curiosity, turned his head.

“Jerome, take care of him.”

“Got it, I’ll make it quick.”

Realizing the impending danger, Ber’s eyes widened in panic.

Just as Jerome reached out to grab him, Ber screamed.

“W-wait! Hold on! It’s true that I think my master is a bit of a fool, but…”

“Hm.”

“Even so, summoning something specific with a commandment requires a lot of mana. Why don’t you try giving smaller orders that use less mana first?”

Judging from his desperate expression, it didn’t seem like a lie.

As Ber said, mana was something that could be increased through effort.

People with natural talent, like Jerome, had high mana sensitivity without needing much effort, but for someone like Jeanne, with low sensitivity, even simple magic like moving objects was difficult.

‘In the original story, Jeanne was often ridiculed as an idiot who couldn’t even make a single flower bloom.’

I groaned, crossing my arms. Jeanne had a beautiful face and was Maya’s incarnation, but her abilities were almost nonexistent. But that wasn’t the only problem.

Even with consistent training to improve my mana sensitivity, I still didn’t know the Dragon’s Tongue, the language of dragons.

Only a few humans in this world were capable of communicating with dragons.

“Jerome, how long would it take for an average person to learn the Dragon’s Tongue?”

“The Dragon’s Tongue?”

Jerome’s answer crushed my brief hope.

“Unless you graduate from the Academy’s Dragon Ecology Department, it’d be tough. Most people spend their entire lives trying to learn it and fail. Only someone like Luke can use it freely. In fact, fewer than ten people in the entire empire can.”

“…”

“Mastering the Dragon’s Tongue is more about talent than effort. Even in the empire, only a few humans know it. The Dragon’s Tongue is more about understanding a dragon’s heart. Dragons communicate with emotions, not words.”

Damn it, I had hoped I could control a familiar like a fantasy novel protagonist, but it turns out there are so many conditions.

I muttered to myself, troubled.

“It would’ve been great if I could use the Dragon’s Tongue.”

“What do you mean?”

“Huh?”

“You’re already communicating with me, aren’t you?”

Ber’s words made me blink in surprise.

Now that I thought about it, I had been talking with Ber this whole time.

I just hadn’t realized it because he didn’t seem Ber much like a divine dragon.

Crawling up onto my lap, Ber rolled over onto his back and giggled.

“The fact that you can communicate with a divine dragon like me is proof that you’re Maya’s incarnation. When I’m in dragon form, even if I told that dumb watchdog that you’re actually a man, he wouldn’t even—oomph.”

I quickly covered Ber’s mouth with a menacing glare.

“Ber, what nonsense are you spouting? After all the food I’ve fed you, you’re still spewing rubbish. Do you want to visit the ‘Room of Truth’?”

At the mention of the ‘Room of Truth,’ Ber quickly nodded in understanding.

In a situation where I didn’t even know if Jerome could understand the Dragon’s Tongue, Ber had almost let the cat out of the bag.

‘Damn it, I’m too scared to even look in Jerome’s direction.’

My heart raced at the thought that my secret, being a man, might have been exposed.

Like a scene from a horror movie, I slowly turned my head.

Fortunately, Jerome seemed distracted, enjoying the scenery outside the carriage.

‘Phew, right. There are fewer than ten people in the entire empire who can use the Dragon’s Tongue, and there’s no way Jerome’s one of them.’

I sighed in relief and released my hand from Ber’s mouth. Seeing that Jerome hadn’t reacted, it seemed he hadn’t overheard.

The fact that Jeanne was actually a man was my greatest weakness, something I never wanted anyone to find out. Stealing glances at Jerome, I whispered a warning to Ber.

“Whether you’re in dragon form or not, watch what you say. You never know when or where someone who can use the Dragon’s Tongue might show up. Got it?”

Ber whimpered, clearly alarmed by my pale face. In the tense atmosphere, the carriage finally came to a stop.

Jerome checked outside the window and smiled faintly.

“We’ve arrived, Jeanne. It’s the Maron’s Spring.”

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The Maron’s Spring was just as ominous as its reputation.

The dark, bottomless lake looked like the entrance to hell, and the thick fog surrounding it gave the impression that a heretic might appear at any moment.

It wasn’t called a suicide hotspot for nothing.

“So this is the place! Wow, it’s so cozy and lovely here.”

While I was visibly tense, Ber was flying around excitedly with a picnic basket in his mouth.

It seemed he genuinely thought we were here for a picnic.

Pulling up my hood to shield myself from the drizzling rain, Jerome, who had been staring into the underbrush, spoke up.

“Jeanne, why don’t you rest here for a bit?”

“What? Where are you going?”

“All this tension is making me need to pee.”

Was he serious?

I stared at him in disbelief. His face was still as elegant and beautiful as ever.

At the Ber least, it didn’t seem like the kind of face that would so casually mention needing to pee.

‘How could someone with that face say something only a child would before a picnic?’

Suspicious of his blunt declaration, I grabbed Jerome’s wrist as he was about to leave.

He looked down at me quietly before speaking.

“Are you that uneasy without me by your side?”

“…”

“Should I just go here? Do you want to see me shamelessly relieving myself in such an open space? No, what you really want is to check the size of my dick, right? After all, it’s a husband’s duty to satisfy his wife in bed.”

Jerome’s deranged ramblings left me speechless. Just hearing him made me feel nauseous, like I had eaten something bad.

Pale and queasy, I waved my hands frantically, refusing to hear any more.

I didn’t care enough to watch him relieve himself, despite my concerns about his unpredictable behavior.

“I’ll be right back, darling.”

Jerome grabbed my hand, kissed the back of it firmly, and then headed into the bushes.

I glared at him as I snatched my hand away.

Only after I saw his back disappearing into the undergrowth did I finally exhale.

I turned to Ber, who was busy laying out a picnic blanket, and spoke.

“Ber, what about the heretic’s presence? You said you felt it since yesterday. Don’t you feel anything now?”

“Oh.”

“Oh? Again?”

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