Volume 2 Chapter 53: Do Mature Feathered Serpents Dream of Crocodile Boys?
Trimounts Institute of Technology.
Ho'olheyak sat alone in her office. After a week of venting, the repulsive scent of heather flowers that had lingered in the room finally began to dissipate.
It had taken her two full days just to recover from the intensity of their copulation. She couldn't even fathom how she'd managed to endure those three days.
She didn't want to remember.
Every time she even thought about it, her already-recovered body would start to itch faintly. Her substantia nigra in the basal ganglia would involuntarily secrete a certain neurotransmitter.
Thankfully, this urge would gradually fade with time. If it kept growing stronger instead, Ho'olheyak might have seriously suspected that damned crocodile man had used some kind of special Originium Art on her body during their copulation.
Wearing a short, tight-fitting dress, Ho'olheyak sat with her legs crossed. Her full, rounded hips pressed against the black-and-red wooden chair, forming a ripe, peach-like curve.
Supporting her chest with one hand, she tried not to think about Garde.
Her office was filled with books. As a historian, a strong knowledge base was essential. Yesterday, she'd added several new volumes to her collection—this time on Iberia.
Since the end of its golden age, Iberia has closed its borders. This former superpower had fallen silent, opening the way for Gaul's resurgence, the Battle of the Four Emperors, and Columbia's rise.
In fact, every history teacher in Columbia, when lecturing on the nation's ascent, had to mention Iberia.
It might feel like ages ago, but it had only been half a century.
Columbia's transformation—from a Victoria vassal to an independent nation—had happened within the lifetimes of some of the continent's long-lived denizens. For them, it felt like yesterday.
But Ho'olheyak had no real interest in Columbia's history. It was too short—so short that its entire timeline overlapped perfectly with her own lifetime. From the moment she opened her eyes, learned what a "nation" was, and began to grow...
Columbia's history was her history.
Ho'olheyak wasn't a settler from Victoria, Leithanien, or the old Gaul. She was a descendant of the Liberi-Kukulkans, who had lived here even before the idea of "Columbia" existed.
The outsiders had destroyed the elves' homeland, torn apart the natives' history, and built their cities atop a bed of bones.
Yet Ho'olheyak didn't hate Columbia.
It had grown with her.
Even though her people's lifespans far exceeded that of ordinary Liberi, time had still made her both physically and mentally more mature.
She did things based on her interests—and because of that, she had paid a heavy price.
She'd let her guard down and been ruled by instinct, ending up attracted to a different-species Adakrys.
Even though the people of Terra didn't have true reproductive isolation between species, cross-species offspring were still relatively rare.
As her thoughts drifted, the crocodile man's image once again surfaced in her mind. Her breathing grew heavier.
Whether Liberi or Phidians, their estrus cycles didn't end with mere intercourse.
It only stopped with pregnancy.
But get pregnant by someone she'd only just met—a young Adakrys, no less?
What a joke.
Ho'olheyak forced herself to calm down. She strongly suspected that Garde's Originium Arts were related to his physical traits. Arts like that weren't unheard of.
He was already strong and handsome—now throw in some kind of special Art? That was a dangerously irresistible combination for women like her.
If she had never interacted with Garde, it might've been fine.
But because of one careless moment, her head was now completely filled with the image of that crocodile man.
The pursuit of power was a primal instinct for all animals.
But she wasn't just an animal!
Moreover, even if she wanted to find Garde right now, she wouldn't know where to start.
After the Nightzmora Empire was destroyed, she lost all means of contacting him. While she could still try to enter dream realms created by others, trying to locate Garde's dream from someone else's subconscious wasn't exactly a simple task.
From what she knew, both the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Arts Units and Originium and the Bureau of Originium Products Management were secretly hunting Garde. Not long ago, they even brought in the upper management of Rhine Lab for questioning.
In the end, only Parvis—the Director of R.L. Structural Section—was imprisoned for conducting illegal experiments. The rest were released, but still, many could sense that this incident was far from ordinary.
However, public suspicion quickly vanished after Trimounts City's mayor, Holrobus, publicly congratulated Rhine Lab.
Within a week, Rhine Lab's stock price had doubled, soaring nonstop.
But that's just what the public saw.
In truth, Rhine Lab now resembled meat laid out on a butcher's block—its fate hanging by a thread.
Still, what did that have to do with her?
She was just a regular history professor.
'Time to rest.'
She closed the book in her hand and stood up, leaving behind a damp imprint on her wooden chair. Even though it was already October, the air remained muggy and suffocating.
She'd always hated weather like this.
Suddenly, the communicator on her desk lit up and rang. Ho'olheyak initially didn't want to answer, but after seeing the name on the screen, she reluctantly tapped "accept."
"Ms. Ho'olheyak," came a calm male voice from the other end.
"There's something we need your help with."
"What is it?" Ho'olheyak lazily asked, pouring herself a glass of wine. She had already made up her mind—whatever they wanted from her, she'd find a reason to refuse. Her body had just barely recovered, and she wasn't about to go running around again.
"It's about the target we're currently pursuing," the man said. "The Adakrys from the rainforest—we've found his trail."
Ho'olheyak didn't catch the rest of what the man was saying.
Because in her mind, she was already picturing the young body of that crocodile man.
"…So, Ms. Ho'olheyak, we need your assistance."
"Ms. Ho'olheyak?"
"Ms. Ho'olheyak, are you listening?"
Taking a light sip of her wine, Ho'olheyak's lips curled into a subtly seductive smile. Her voice, unbeknownst even to herself, carried a slight tremble.
"Of course."
Ho'olheyak smiled.
"That Adakrys is my student, after all. I can't wait to capture him and wring the secrets out of him."
If it were just her alone, Ho'olheyak had no confidence she could defeat Garde. But with the Bureau involved? Maybe she had a chance.
After being humiliated by him like that…
She had occasionally fantasized about taking back control.
Now, the opportunity has arrived.
She agreed to join the Bureau's operation the next day.
With the wine helping her drift off, Ho'olheyak soon fell into slumber.
And in her dreams, she seemed to dream of something—
The mature woman lay on her side, her voluptuous figure gradually taking on a glimmering, dreamy sheen as time passed.
She's having a beautiful dream.
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