A Snake’s Life Ch 33

Chapter 33

We held our breath and waited in silence for the owner of the approaching footsteps.

“Why haven’t we seen any snake brats lately?”

“No idea. The client keeps pressuring us to catch more. What can we do if we don’t see any? We only managed to catch two today.”

“And we dug those out of a hole.”

“Maybe we’ve gotten a bad reputation among the snakes?”

“No way.”

The two men joked among themselves, laughing as they pushed through the underbrush with long sticks. The smiles plastered across their faces looked grotesque. That was because one of them was holding a sack stained dark red at the bottom. Judging from the snakes’ reactions, I could easily guess what was inside.

[H-Hic…]

[How could they…]

The snakes’ terrified voices and trembling bodies clearly showed their fear.

“Shuiren-nim.”

Casa called my name as if asking what we should do. Even without looking, my face must’ve been frozen stiff.

“…Capture them for now.”

In the blink of an eye, Casa disappeared from in front of me and attacked them. I heard a brief scream and then silence. Casa dragged them back, tightly bound with rope from who knows where. They had large lumps on their heads and were unconscious. Casa held the sack in one hand.

“What’s that…?”

“Snake corpses. Judging by their attire, they appear to be hunters.”

He slightly lifted the sack to show two dead snakes tangled inside, already lifeless.

“Should I interrogate them? Judging from the Holy Knight’s attitude earlier, they may be connected.”

“I suspected something when they hesitated to enter. This is a place they shouldn’t be able to enter unless a priest disables the barrier, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s obvious. A priest must’ve let them in. But how will you interrogate them? Aren’t they unconscious? Will they even wake up?”

Casa simply kicked one of them in the pit of the stomach. With a grunt, they woke up coughing violently. The two men looked around, trying to understand the situation.

“What the hell is this? Untie us!”

“Shut up. Talk while I’m being nice. We know what you’ve been doing here. Who sent you? This is a restricted zone. You’ve got guts, killing inside here.”

Casa threatened them with his sword. Their eyes trembled with fear as they stared at him. It was understandable—after fainting and waking up to Casa threatening them, anyone would be shaken. But I didn’t feel any sympathy. Casa’s sharp eyes and blade pressed the hunters for answers. When they still didn’t respond, he brought the sword even closer, and realizing it wasn’t a dream, the hunters gulped and spoke.

“R-Restricted zone? What do you mean??”

“W-We were just following orders!”

They stammered at Casa’s words, clearly confused. Casa’s brow lifted at their strange reaction. It seemed they didn’t know what kind of place this was.

“This is the forest inside the imperial palace. Are you saying you didn’t know that?”

“T-The imperial palace?”

The two men looked between me and Casa. They truly seemed shocked. My face must’ve been broadcasted widely through the Vision Orb, because the hunters recognized me.

“T-The Emissary?”

As soon as they saw my face, they bowed their heads and began babbling in their defense.

“W-We didn’t know!”

“We just caught snakes because we were asked to. And this is a forest, isn’t it…? We had no intention of trespassing into the imperial palace.”

“If you know my face, then you must’ve seen a Vision Orb. That means you should’ve known where this place was.”

“What?? N-No! Even though Vision Orbs were distributed, magical tools are expensive. We recognized you from a newspaper photo. And there’s no one else with silver hair and red eyes like you.”

“They don’t seem to be lying…”

Perhaps sensing Casa might kill them at any moment, they sweated profusely. They spoke in a panicked tone, insisting they weren’t at fault and were willing to say anything they knew. At that, Casa questioned them.

“How did you get here?”

“We just closed our eyes and suddenly we were here.”

“It was confusing at first, but it was just a forest, and we were told to catch snakes. If we’d known it was the imperial palace, we never would’ve taken the job! Please forgive us!”

“Oh! Someone brought us here. If you ask that person, you’ll know!”

Their faces flushed as they desperately spoke. Judging by their panic and fear, it didn’t seem like a lie. Regardless, what they said made no sense. Just closing their eyes brought them here…? How could that be?

“Who’s the client… Shuiren-nim!”

“Huh?”

Casa suddenly pulled me close and swung his sword in the air. I heard a sharp clash.

“Do not turn around under any circumstances.”

“What’s going on?”

I didn’t understand Casa’s reaction, but when I looked up at his face, it was frozen cold. His expression told me something serious had happened.

“It’s not something you should see. Please wait a moment.”

He warned me not to turn around. I heard rustling behind me but didn’t look back. I trusted Casa had a reason. After a loud thump, Casa told me I could look now. The two men were gone, and only a large sack remained.

“Casa… is that…?”

“It’s nothing.”

Casa tried to hide it, but it was obvious. I couldn’t see clearly, but judging by the shape, there was a person inside. And the hunters were gone. My heart started pounding irregularly. So… I almost died just now? I placed a hand over my chest, trying to calm the heartbeat that roared in my ears.

In the grass where there had been nothing before, I saw something glittering like a needle. It was what Casa had deflected earlier. The hunters had said the client would come for them. There was a high chance they were killed by that client. I didn’t know who was behind all this, but it showed they were willing to kill to keep things secret. If Casa hadn’t protected me, I might’ve ended up the same way. That terrifying thought unsettled me.

Calm down. It’s okay. Nothing happened. Casa, seeing me like that, told me to wait and carried the sack away. Probably to dispose of it where I couldn’t see…

[Child. Are those people dead?]

“Eek!”

Beside me, the little snakes were looking up at me with bright eyes. Embarrassed at having been startled so loudly, I cleared my throat.

“Ahem. You’re still here?”

[Yes. Child. Those people are the ones we told you about.]

[They must’ve been punished by the Divine One!]

The snakes said they deserved to die. Since they killed their family, I suppose they weren’t wrong… I scratched my head hard. My head hurt. So this is the kind of place it is. I had always thought staying by the master’s side would eventually put my life in danger. It just happened a little sooner than expected. I had to get used to it. I forced myself to suppress the turmoil inside.

Ah… I miss my master.

“Why isn’t Casa here yet?”

“I’ve just arrived.”

I flinched. At least make some noise when you come!!

“Shuiren-nim. It seems dangerous. Let’s go back for today.”

“Yeah… Let’s go home.”

All the strength drained from my body. I just wanted to crawl into bed. It wasn’t as if I gained nothing. There were those killing snakes and those desperately trying to hide that fact. And someone could enter the sanctuary freely. Without the priest undoing the barrier, they were coming and going using a method far beyond my comprehension.

[Are you leaving already? Please meet Kir-nim before you go.]

[Yes, the others will want to see you in person, too.]

[I came even though I wasn’t called. I came because the evil energy had dissipated—who said you could come out without permission?]

A voice I had never heard before spoke, and the little snakes flinched and pleaded for forgiveness. A large snake slithered out slowly through the bushes.

[Are you the child of the gods? Nice to meet you. I’m called Kir. Think of me as someone who takes care of this forest in place of the water god.]

The snake that introduced itself as Kir had brown, mottled patterns and looked like a yellow boa. It was truly massive… When it stretched its neck, it looked as long as my full height. Somehow, I had missed the timing to go home.

Kir was scolding the snakes. The little snakes hung their heads low and listened. They looked like children being scolded by their mother.

[Return home immediately.]

[Yes…….]

[We’ll see you again, Ai-nim…….]

The small snakes said goodbye to me and disappeared into the forest. Kir, who watched them until the end, then turned his head toward me.

[Thank you for burying the children. They’ll be able to rest in peace.]

Kir stretched his neck toward the sky. That gesture of gazing at the sky looked like he was mourning the dead snakes. At those words, I glanced at Casa. It seemed Casa, who had vanished at some point, had buried the sack of snakes too. The atmosphere didn’t feel like one where I could speak, so I remained silent.

[Child, why have you come here?]

After finishing his mourning, Kir spoke. Since he said he governed the forest, I thought he must know the situation well. I wanted to lie down in bed quickly, but now that we’d met, I couldn’t just ignore him and leave.

“You’re Kir, right? Do you know what’s going on right now?”

[Of course. Our kind is being captured. I can feel the resentment of the children……]

Then, staring directly at me, he said:

[Did you come to see the water god?]

“That too, but there’s something the water god told me that I came to confirm. But this whole situation… Don’t tell me, is the water god’s power weakening because the snakes are dying?”

[That’s right. The water god’s power is being restricted. He was sharing his power with humans, augmented by ours. But those humans… killed us.]

“Why??”

[If I knew that, I wouldn’t be struggling like this. This is the first time such a thing has happened. Ungrateful bastards… If I had to guess a reason… Yes, we are not ordinary snakes. We were born under the blessing of the water god. Because of that, we possess a certain amount of power. They must’ve wanted that power. At first, it was just one or two disappearing. Though I manage this place, I can’t keep an eye on every child. But then, more and more started disappearing. The water god’s power weakened, and so he used the last of his strength to bring you here. That made him fall into slumber. He is still sleeping now. No one knows when he’ll wake.]

Kir, speaking in a gloomy tone, stared at me.

[You are our hope. But… tch.]

He looked me up and down, flicked his tongue, and shook his head. His attitude irritated me, and my brow furrowed. Before I could complain, Kir responded.

[To think the power the water god gave you is being scattered aimlessly into the air.]