WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 27: A Much-Needed Lesson

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Rania dozed beside the lady of the house.

She had barely slept the previous night.

Hero Gunter had returned to Greylim.

And he had brought the entire Iron Lion Knights with him.

Rania's excitement had reached its peak.

She loved Gunter, and she loved his knights just as much.

The people she admired had come to Greylim.

Of course the girl had spent the night awake, her heart pounding.

Wasn't the Iron Lion Knights' visit a good thing?

Yet ever since that day, Father and Mother had seemed strangely anxious.

She had asked why, but neither had answered.

As soon as the morning sun rose, news arrived from the soldiers.

Gunter and the Iron Lion Knights had arrived.

Despite the early hour, the lord's castle hurriedly prepared to receive them.

"Sir Gunter is entering!"

Then the doors opened.

Gunter entered in armor, followed by knights in full gear.

Someone let out a sharp scream.

The knights dragged in the Chimera's corpse.

Perhaps because of the heat, the Chimera had begun to rot.

Its legs had been severed, and dried black blood clung all over its body.

The foul stench of blood spread through the room.

"S-So that is the Chimera."

The lord looked frightened too.

It was his first time seeing a slain Chimera in person.

"Correct."

"You have worked hard. As expected, the Iron Lion Knights are brave."

"And strict. We discovered the ruins of the Heaven-Defier. You knew of its existence and left it unattended, Viscount."

"......What do you mean by that?"

Gunter was a hero, and the lord was a noble.

Gunter's actual authority might have been greater, but they had been expected to treat each other with respect.

There was no respect in Gunter's voice now.

"I have already secured witnesses and testimony."

"Testimony? What testimony?"

The lord was flustered.

A cold tension filled the room.

Rania, still young, did not notice it.

Perhaps she was too sleepy. Or perhaps it was because she had spotted a familiar face among the knights.

The Iron Lion Knights stood in formation, fully armed.

Among them, with their imposing presence, was a knight Rania knew.

Zain, the young knight who had always kindly answered her bothersome questions.

Zain stood at the far right.

When Rania stared at Zain, Zain looked back at her.

Zain's complexion was deathly pale, unlike usual.

Rania smiled and waved.

The Zain she knew would have at least greeted her with a slight nod.

"......"

But Zain did not.

Zain looked as though tears might spill at any moment.

Then Zain quietly looked away.

Just as Rania took a step forward, the lady of the house hurriedly pulled her into an embrace.

Her grip was urgent and strong enough to startle Rania.

Only then did she realize that something serious was happening.

Chaeng! Chaeng!

The knights of Greylim drew their swords.

Gunter and the Iron Lion Knights did not draw their weapons.

Instead, the territorial knights who had unsheathed their swords wore tense expressions.

The lord's face reddened with anger.

"What insolence is this! You claim I failed in my duties and violated the laws of the kingdom!"

The lord's bewildered shout echoed through the hall.

Rather than answer, Gunter took something out and threw it onto the floor.

Clang.

It was a golden identification plaque.

The royal crest, a three-headed eagle clutching a snake in its beaks, was engraved upon it.

"I, Gunter Frihansen, have been appointed as an inspector by royal decree. Upon inspecting Greylim Territory, I have confirmed that you neglected the monitoring of the Demon Realm and allowed military discipline to grow lax. I have also uncovered embezzlement and misuse of border garrison defense funds. Therefore, I summon you, Viscount Greylim, to the capital."

"......This cannot be. Not even the royal family can do this!"

At first, the lord had found it absurd.

Now, he understood the situation.

It had been strange from the moment Hero Gunter had personally arrived to subjugate the Medusa Serpent.

Had Gunter been working with the royal family to bring him down from the very beginning?

Why?

Over this tiny territory......

"If you have been wronged, then you need only cooperate faithfully with the investigation."

"The Noble Council will not stand by and allow this."

"Is that for you to worry about? You will retain the proper rights of a noble, Viscount, so do not concern yourself. Take him away."

The Iron Lion Knights approached the lord.

The territorial knights hesitated over whether they should stop them, but the lord raised a hand to prevent it.

"Gunter!"

There was something manly in the force of his voice.

Gunter silently listened.

"If you touch even a hair on my family's heads, I will not let you get away with it."

"Hm."

Gunter nodded. It was no different from the cry of a defeated man.

Knowing that, the lord allowed himself to be led away without strength.

"Until the viscount finishes the investigation and returns, the acting lordship will be jointly held by me, an inspector recognized by royal decree, and the lady of the house."

Gunter declared it so.

A man who had risen from commoner to hero.

This was the moment he and his knights began occupying Greylim Territory.

* * *

Wow, this feels great!

The cool wind seemed to wash the murk from my heart.

Actually, it was past cool. It was starting to get cold.

That was because I had been flying for too long.

There would be nothing more ridiculous than freezing to death in this hot Great Forest.

I had greeted the clouds twice today alone.

I'd sworn I would not fly again, but it was still better than being hunted by those knights.

They were terrifying.

Those bastards definitely were not ordinary humans.

They ran in clanking plate armor at speeds like motorcycles.

The ground rumbled beneath them, and I thought they were filming Mad Max or something.

I had escaped because of Pelerian.

As for what that old man was doing now, he had gone inside the ring.

He said heights scared him. What a ridiculous old man.

- You survived because of me, vermin.

Oops, had my inner monologue been too clear?

He kindly responded.

'Call me vermin one more time and I won't let it slide.'

- ......Hmph, coming from a snake.

Just moments ago, he had been thanking me for saving the elf, yet his attitude had completely changed.

As expected, you could not trust people with long ears.

'So where are we going?'

- East.

'Do we not have a destination?'

- Hm, if we head roughly east, we should arrive near the Palamu Rainforest.

'It sounds like you don't know either......'

- ......That is simply how a skill called Emergency Escape works.

He had shouted "Emergency Escape," so it must have been a skill.

Shouldn't a mage be able to use something like Teleportation?

This felt more like an upgraded version of Flight.

- In my current state, there is almost no magic I can use. Be satisfied with this, snake.

He said it as though he had anticipated my question.

Still, at least he had listened when I told him not to call me vermin.

I was satisfied.

Until we began descending.

'U-Uh!'

- Are we falling? Are we falling right now?

'We are falling!'

- I do not have enough mana, so it cannot be helped.

Damn it, flying really was not for me.

My falling speed accelerated.

Luckily, I was not in complete free fall like when that female elf had flung me away.

As I approached the ground, humid heat rushed over me.

The climate was distinctly more tropical than the Akam Basin.

The trees were much larger.

Vines tangled between them like webs.

Crack!

The vines softened the impact of my fall.

I rolled across the ground several times before landing.

Even the ground was soft.

When I looked up, moss covered the forest floor like a blanket.

The sound of trickling water and birds chirping.

The leaves brushed against one another, making a sound like waves.

'I survived!'

Right, I had survived once again.

This time, I really was never flying again.

Was this the Palamu Rainforest?

Pelerian popped out of the ring.

He opened his mouth wide in astonishment.

- You really survived!

I did not like that old man.

Sigh, I never got a single peaceful day.

I had finally caught the Chimera and thought I would become the ruler of the basin, only to end up deeper in the forest.

There had to be plenty of dangerous monsters here too, right?

There were probably many stronger than the Chimera.

Even before coming farther east, there had been monsters like the Horn Jaguar.

Maybe I would meet Dad here, the father I had never seen even once.

To catch my breath, I checked my status window.

How long had it been?

──────────────

【White Double-Horn Python Lv. 1】

【Traits】

[Indomitable], [Relentless Growth], [Horn], [Pattern]

──────────────

I had checked this much last time.

──────────────

【Skills】

[Billy's Horn Lv. 4]: Heavenly Thunder Decree Lv. 0, [Surpassing Horn Lv. 1]

[Elementary Elemental Magic: Fire Lv. 3], [Elementary Elemental Magic: Earth Lv. 4], [Deadly Venom: Neurotoxin Lv. 1], [Predation Lv. 7], [Tear Apart Lv. 9], [Stealth Lv. 6]

[Venom Resistance Lv. 5], [Bleeding Resistance Lv. 3], [Pain Resistance Lv. 7], [Heat Resistance Lv. 8], [Cold Resistance Lv. 1], [Petrification Resistance Lv. 1], [Survival Instinct Lv. 6], [Leap Lv. 6], [Mana Detection Lv. 3], [Acceleration Lv. 4], [Swimming Lv. 1], [Hold Breath Lv. 5], [Slash Lv. 1]

【Status】

[Exhausted]

【Accomplishments】

[Guard Captain Murder]

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I had gained a skill called Cold Resistance.

That was how cold it had been.

As my status showed, I was completely exhausted.

Yet a smile kept creeping onto my face.

No wonder.

Billy's Horn had let me steal a hero's skill.

No, I had not stolen it. I had borrowed it.

Anyway, it was called Heavenly Thunder Decree.

The name alone was anything but ordinary.

Though the fact that it was Level 0 bothered me......

I checked what kind of skill Heavenly Thunder Decree was.

──────────────

【Heavenly Thunder Decree Lv. 0】

Hold the lightning of the heavens within your heart.

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Uh, thanks for the detailed explanation.

Wasn't an explanation like this completely useless?

It seemed I would have to use the skill to learn its actual effect.

But I was too exhausted right now.

I would try it after recovering my strength.

Since I did not know what might happen, I should find somewhere safe first.

This jungle was full of sounds.

The sounds of life. Finding a safe place was probably the most urgent matter.

Before that, there was something I had to do.

Talk to Pelerian.

- Snake.

'Yes.'

Pelerian and I met eyes.

I could not lose this battle of wills.

I had never been good at meeting people's eyes before, but becoming a snake had changed that.

Hm, had it? This was still a little difficult. I forced myself to keep eye contact.

Huh? Pelerian looked away first.

Did this elf find eye contact difficult too? I almost felt a little kinship.

- Your eyes are disgusting.

'......'

Coming from the person who had called the Chimera cute, that hurt a little.

- What are you?

'Me? I'm a snake.'

- A snake speaks and uses magic like that?

'Is there some rule saying monsters cannot talk? Besides, I am not really talking. I am just thinking, and you are hearing it.'

- It would not be surprising if you were a high-ranking monster. But you are vermin...... No, are you not simply a snake that has not fully evolved yet?

I had only said it casually, but he answered like that.

Could monsters that had evolved a lot actually speak?

I had never seen Mom talk.

The threshold for being a "high-ranking monster" seemed higher than I had thought.

I did not explain my entire past to Pelerian in detail.

There was no reason to tell him about my previous life.

- Explain.

He sounded so earnest that I told him everything from when I had been born.

I told him about being born as a Medusa Serpent's hatchling, fleeing to the Akam Basin, and everything that had happened there.

I explained that I had possessed intelligence from birth.

And that I had entered and lived in Pelerian's Dungeon.

Of course, I did not mention scribbling "bald" across his portrait.

After hearing everything, Pelerian was greatly surprised.

- A mutant......!

'Yes, I suppose you could call it that.'

Could a mutation really produce a snake as smart as me?

This mage clearly did not have much scientific knowledge.

- You evolved twice in such a short time!

'I did it twice.'

- Unbelievable potential. This is the first specimen I have ever encountered! And you are beautiful as well.

I felt strangely proud.

Careful not to show it, I asked him a question.

'What are you, then? Are you really Pelerian? Why are you inside a ring?'

I was asking if he really was the eccentric mage who had made that Dungeon.

- Both yes and no. I tore off a part of my soul.

'What? Why?'

- Listen. I made that fragment of my soul dwell within one of my possessions. The signet ring you wore was that object.

Did he think he was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or something? Tearing up his soul and putting it inside an item.

Come to think of it, he was also a dark mage.

Why had he done that?

'Did you want to live forever?'

- What are you talking about? Why would an elf need to worry about lifespan?

Even as he said that, he did not tell me the real reason.

- It is fortunate that the first monster I encountered was a mutant like you.

I glared at Pelerian and spoke.

'Do not forget the promise. You still owe me two wishes.'

- Yes, wishes. Of course. An oath must be kept.

'Can you do anything?'

- Anything.

I thought about what I could ask this eccentric mage for.

Then Pelerian smiled strangely.

That smile was familiar.

It was exactly the same smile he had worn when he led me to the tank where the Chimera was hibernating.

A thoroughly sinister smile.

- But it makes no sense for the Heaven-Defier Archmage to serve a monster.

Pelerian's eyes flashed.

Mana gathered at an incredible speed.

- Submit, monster!

Then the mana swept over my body.

- From now on, I am your master. Obey my voice.

Pelerian threw back his head and burst into mad laughter.

- To tame an intelligent mutant with my last remaining scrap of mana. Heaven truly aids me!

A textbook insane mage.

His cowardly mental magic made my mind hazy, and I obediently followed his command......

I did not.

Right, I was perfectly fine.

'I knew you would pull something like this.'

- Huh? What? What are you doing?

Hm.

I had wondered how my Mental Strength 20 would work if I got hit by a mental attack.

「Due to the trait 'Indomitable,' 'Taming Lv. 10' is nullified.」

Mental Strength had not betrayed me after all.

- Stay still! Hey! I said stay still!

I slipped the ring off my tail.

How should I give this guy a much-needed lesson?

Footnotes:

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