Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan-Chapter 177: A Hard Problem to Solve

Ren nodded slowly, her face still burning.

"Yes," she squeaked. "That too."

Altair looked at her for a long, quiet moment. His expression didn’t darken with jealousy. His jaw didn’t clench in possessive rage. He simply blinked his silver eyes, calm as a millpond.

"I do not mind sharing," Altair said softly.

Ren’s jaw dropped slightly.

"I will not get jealous when you have to spend time with the others," he continued, his voice steady and sincere. "I understand. You are a female. You are precious. It is natural for many to want you."

Ren bit her bottom lip, looking down at him. She was crying internally.

’Why?!’ she wailed in her mind. ’Why can’t Kael and Syris be this reasonable?’

[System: I told you. He is perfect. He is husband material. Lock. It. Down.]

Ren hesitated.

He was gentle. As a bird, he was kind of terrifying—a giant golden eagle—but in his beastman form? His eyes were so honest. His voice was so quiet.

’Syris and Kael would eat him alive,’ Ren thought with a pang of worry. ’They would bully him so hard. They are apex predators with fragile egos. For his own safety—and my sanity—we cannot be together.’

She looked at his handsome face.

’Or maybe... not now?’

Ren flushed as her mind entertained the idea of a future where they could be together. A future where everyone just... got along.

"I can’t take you as a mate right now," Ren blurted out. "Things are too complicated. I need to get Syris and Kael to stop trying to kill each other first. If I add another husband to the mix now, the forest will explode."

She paused.

"But..." Ren added softly. "Maybe... after I sort all that out? It might take a long time. They are very stubborn."

Altair looked at her. A small, barely-there smile touched his lips.

"I will wait," he said simply. "And I will help you to get them to be..."

He trailed off, furrowing his brows as if searching for the word she had used earlier.

"...friends," he finished.

Ren released a sigh of relief so heavy it nearly deflated her lungs.

’He really is an angel,’ she thought.

"Why?" Ren asked, genuinely baffled. "Why don’t you have a problem with it? All the other beastmen I have met so far have been so possessive. They want to kill the competition."

"Because I like you," Altair told her simply.

Those four words—spoken without drama, without flowery poetry, just pure fact—were enough to make Ren’s heart perform a gymnastics routine in her chest.

[System: Oh, for the love of—just jump his bones already! No one will know! We are in a tree! Birds don’t carry a strong scent! Do it! Do it for the plot!]

Ren bit her lip. She did like him. He was handsome, kind, and took care of her. That was the trifecta.

But entertaining his affection—and her growing attraction—felt like cheating. If she were to be with Altair, she would ask Syris and Kael first. It was the principle of the thing.

Ren took a deep breath to steady her resolve.

"We will have to only be friends for now," she stated firmly.

Altair nodded. "Okay. We will be friends."

Ren smiled. She had made her first friend.

Altair reached up and easily lifted her off his lap. He set her down gently on the moss beside him, then shifted so he was sitting up straight.

Ren kept her eyes strictly on his face.

Altair looked down at his lap. Then he looked at Ren, who was now aggressively staring at a knot in the wood on the ceiling.

"Ren," he said in that gentle, innocent voice.

"Yes?" Ren squeaked, not looking down.

"Do friends help friends get rid of their arousal?"

Just then, the rain decided to start downpouring again. Thunder cracked directly overhead, and the roar of the water intensified, filling the silence of the cave with noise—as if nature itself was foreshadowing the need to drown out whatever sounds might follow.

Ren slowly, against her better judgment, glanced over.

His erection was... present. Large. Throbbing. And very red at the tip. It looked painful. It looked uncomfortable. It looked like it had its own heartbeat.

Ren gulped loudly. She tore her gaze away, focusing laser-beams on the fire.

"No," Ren said quickly. "Friends do not do that. Friends... talk."

"Talk?" Altair asked.

"Yes," Ren nodded frantically. "Distraction! If we talk about random things, your brain will get distracted, and the blood will go somewhere else. It will eventually go away."

She stared into the flames, sweating profusely.

"So!" Ren clapped her hands together. "Are you from this forest?"

Altair didn’t move. "No."

"Oh," Ren said. "Where are you from then?"

There was a pause.

"I do not remember," Altair replied.

Ren furrowed her brows. She turned to look at him, about to ask how he could not remember, but Altair cut her off.

"I do not want to talk about myself," he said, his voice shutting down that avenue of conversation completely. "I want to hear more about your world."

Ren reasoned that maybe he had a troubled past. Amnesia? Trauma? She wouldn’t push.

"Okay," Ren warned him. "But you cannot tell anyone any of the things I am going to tell you. It is top secret. Classified info."

"There is no one for me to tell," Altair said.

And so, Ren began to babble.

She talked about everything. She talked about cars ("They are like metal rhinos that you sit inside"). She talked about television ("It’s a box with tiny people trapped in it for entertainment"). She talked about airplanes, supermarkets, and the internet.

She babbled for some time, getting more enthusiastic as she described the concept of a "pumpkin spice latte."

She paused to take a breath.

She glanced over at him. Or rather... at his situation.

It was still standing tall. Proud. Defiant. If anything, it looked more erect than before.

Ren’s face heated up.

"It’s not working!" Ren complained, hiding her face in her hands. "It won’t go away unless you stop staring at me!"

Altair hadn’t looked away from her face once. His expression was still stoic, but his eyes were burning.

"I like looking at you," Altair said calmly. "You are very pretty."

Ren’s heart skipped a beat.

’Damn him,’ she thought. ’Damn his smooth, honest tongue.’

She looked at his face. He looked uncomfortable, shifting slightly, but he hadn’t complained once. He was just sitting there, enduring the "pain" because she said no.

Ren bit her bottom lip.

On her left shoulder, a tiny angel Ren was screaming: "Don’t do it! Just let him take a cold shower in the rain!"

On her right shoulder, the System was holding a neon sign that said: "YOLO."

Ren took a deep, shaky breath.

"I have a crazy idea," she whispered.