WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 76: No Need for a Shield

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The capital of the kingdom.

Solion Impel.

It could not compare to the Empire, but the Solion Kingdom was no weak nation.

Even setting aside the power of the Heroes it possessed, Solion was a kingdom the Empire had to keep in check.

Its capital was also a great city befitting that national strength.

At the center of Solion Impel stood Solarium, the royal castle commonly called the Sun Palace.

Thousands of people came and went from the palace every day, yet because it had been built with the Magic Tower's help, it was still full of mysteries.

Young officials who had not been at court for long often got lost.

After wandering around for a while, they would occasionally arrive in front of a certain building.

Unlike the other lavishly decorated buildings, it was an ordinary structure made of red brick.

Yet anyone who looked at it would soon realize something was strangely unnatural about it.

Even people with poor powers of observation could tell right away.

The building had abnormally few windows.

It was four stories tall, but except for the top floor, it had no windows at all.

On top of that, most palace buildings had four entrances, one facing each direction. At the very least, they had two.

But this building did not even have an entrance besides the front gate guarded by sentries.

What sort of place was this?

Just as a lost official began to grow curious, someone would appear.

"Move along. This is a restricted area."

Before they could even protest, they would be forcibly sent away.

Only after asking senior officials would the young bureaucrat learn the building's name.

Swallow House.

Commonly called the Swallow's Nest.

It was home to the Royal Intelligence Bureau, the kingdom's finest intelligence agency.

That did not satisfy the young officials' curiosity.

It only made them more curious.

What could possibly be happening inside?

They said the reason it had no windows was because inhuman acts, including torture and executions, took place within.

Every department had its own horror story about an official who had lingered around the Swallow's Nest out of curiosity and then vanished without a trace.

Among the countless speculations and ghost stories, some were true while others were complete nonsense.

The lack of windows up through the third floor really was for security.

It was not solely to hide torture and executions, but also to prevent magical eavesdropping and surveillance.

Then why did the top floor have windows?

The reason was disappointingly simple.

The building had originally been constructed without them.

A few years later, though, windows had no choice but to be installed for ventilation.

The Royal Intelligence Bureau's exhausted officials smoked a combined total of hundreds of cigarettes during every meeting.

A report had even been submitted warning that, at this rate, masses of officials would die from lung disease while on duty, and the resulting compensation would burden the royal treasury.

Smoke was drifting out of the fourth-floor windows again today.

The Royal Intelligence Bureau's National Security Conference on Threats had been going on for forty-eight hours, and the officials were exhausted.

Then someone hurriedly burst through the door.

"Director, intelligence has arrived from our agent in the Empire. Cough!"

The person called Director was a woman much younger than expected.

Still, she was taller than most men and wore an eyepatch over one eye.

"What does it say?"

"The Empire's Fourth Infantry Division has been wiped out. Cough, cough. There were losses, but it seems they managed to stop the Monster Wave in the end."

"Only that much? What a shame."

She took a drag from her cigarette, blew the smoke toward the ceiling, and asked again.

"Did they make any statement to us?"

The kingdom had diverted the Monster Wave toward the Empire.

It had been kept thoroughly secret, but the people here, led by the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, knew.

"It seems they are preparing one. Nothing has come through official channels yet."

"What about unofficially?"

"They offer their formal condolences for Marquis Martein's death and the damage to his territory."

"Pfft."

The Director snickered.

The Empire offering condolences for the death of Martein, a Hero and a marquis, was certainly a serious matter.

Yet even while suffering major losses themselves, they had sent such a message immediately.

"His Majesty the Emperor has personally ordered them to provide every possible form of support for restoring Martein Territory."

"They'll throw a fit if we refuse, right?"

"Most likely."

The Intelligence Bureau immediately understood the Empire's intentions.

They wanted to investigate why a Monster Wave had suddenly occurred in the Great Forest.

And how that Monster Wave had somehow turned toward the Empire.

"Tell them to come. They'll only get to see the marquis's territory in ruins."

But there was nothing the Empire could openly do.

The kingdom had clearly suffered greater losses.

The capital had been spared destruction, but what could the kingdom do when the monsters had changed course toward the Empire while it was trying to stop the Monster Wave?

The Empire would not find grounds to pick a fight.

"Understood."

The Royal Intelligence Bureau, working in the shadows while aspiring toward the light.

Once again, they had saved the kingdom from destruction.

"More importantly, have you still not found that thing?"

"That thing... you mean?"

"Come on, you should know what I mean without me spelling it out. That black snake!"

The Director crushed out a cigarette that was not even half smoked.

"It might be the birth of a new disaster."

Marquis Martein and the Monster Wave's Chimera had destroyed one another.

That was all the public knew. The Director, however, knew both that the Chimera had possessed another small head and that a black snake had directly caused the marquis's death. Those clues excited the Director.

"My instincts are telling me. I'm certain."

"How much of the budget have you blown through trusting those instincts?"

"You were so cute when you first came here. Anyway, there have been no sightings?"

"No sightings have come in. We probably will not find the snake, will we? One small snake is easy to miss."

"Probably. Hmm... I doubt it is still in our country."

"Monster Waves lure in magical beasts."

"The Imperial bastards will have their hands full too," the Director muttered.

"If it concerns you that much, should we list it as a monster of concern and put up a bounty?"

Monsters of concern.

Such monsters really did exist.

They were included on a list distributed to hunters and the overseers of every Demonic Realm.

The Director thought for a moment, then spoke.

"No, don't. Why should we do the Empire a favor?"

The fate of one black snake, who was actually white, changed slightly at that moment.

"Put it on the watch list instead."

"Understood. What should we call it?"

Many magical beasts had been given awful names by the Director's sense of style.

What would this snake monster be called?

"It's black, so... Black..."

"How about Black?"

"Yeah, Black..."

A black snake wearing a crown.

Its name was finally decided.

"...Black Serpent King."

* * *

*「You use Magic: Weight-Reduction Lv. 3.」

*「You use Transparent Hand Lv. 11.」

I used Weight-Reduction Magic on the knight's gauntlet.

The gauntlet was huge and extremely heavy.

Even with Transparent Hand at its much higher level, all I could do was make it wave around a little.

Once I used Weight-Reduction Magic, though, I could move it fairly freely.

I put the gauntlet onto Transparent Hand.

It was no longer a transparent hand, but a living gauntlet.

I did not know whether that had any meaning, but it looked cool as hell, which I liked.

That was not all I liked.

I could climb onto the sturdy gauntlet.

I wrapped my tail around it once to secure my body.

Then, carefully, very carefully, I climbed aboard.

Focus.

This might be an opportunity that might never come again. Focus.

Ah.

My body had completely lifted into the air.

The terrifying white snake Urooros, riding a living gauntlet, was complete.

Could this replace Flight, the skill that absolutely did not suit me?

If the gauntlet held a sword too, it would be the perfect sword-riding technique.

I had definitely succeeded in floating in midair.

-That is impossible!

Pelerian was astonished.

When I told Pelerian I would try this, they had only laughed and told me to give it a shot.

Pelerian's attitude made it seem absolutely impossible, so it got my stubbornness up.

I had succeeded after dozens of failures.

Now I just had to move the gauntlet.

But the moment it twitched, the Mana forming Transparent Hand scattered.

Thud!

I fell together with the gauntlet.

That did not carry outside, right?

Fortunately, it was quiet out there.

-Puhahaha!

Pelerian burst out laughing again as if they had never been tense.

-Did I not tell you it would not work? It is the same as being unable to use Weight-Reduction Magic on living creatures. If this were possible, telekineticists would have been flying around long ago.

There were scientific, no, magical reasons why I could not fly with Transparent Hand.

According to Pelerian's explanation...

-Your attempt is no different from jumping into the air, stepping on your own foot, and trying to jump once more.

'So it is a lightness art called Stepping on Empty Space.'

-Or it is like uprooting a large tree, throwing it into the air, climbing on top of it, and flying away.

'I think I saw that in Dragon Ball.'

What a terrible shame.

-Enough pointless nonsense. It is time for you to learn something proper.

'Yes, sir.'

I quietly listened to Pelerian's lesson.

That was the arrangement between us.

I tried something I wanted to learn once, then listened to whatever Pelerian wanted to teach me afterward.

-Today, you will learn about Mandala, Magic Circle, and Talisman Magic.

Pelerian was stiff in both appearance and personality.

They looked like the sort who would pursue only "orthodox magic" and look down on every other field of study, but at least when it came to magic, they were different.

They were knowledgeable about a wide range of magic and had no hesitation about learning or using it.

-You have increased your Mana capacity through several fortunate events, but it can still be called pitifully low.

'Well, I have not been alive very long.'

-That is true.

What could I do about that?

I was probably about the same age as the centipede triplets.

Come to think of it, I wondered whether they were doing well.

Centipede Mom must be taking good care of them, right?

-You will understand if you compare yourself to your father.

'Father could use Giantification and Destruction Beam well too.'

The difference had to be vast because Mana capacity increased as time passed.

-In addition to increasing your Mana through evolution, you must also build it up through training, as knights and mages do.

'Do you mean absorbing the Mana of the world through breathing?'

-How did you know that?

'Just a guess.'

-Yes. I do not know whether a snake can do it, but it is worth trying.

My heart pounded at the thought of learning an internal energy cultivation method.

'Then Aura is also emitted with Mana, right? And the attributes seem different too. Gunter shot lightning, while that knight from before shot flames...'

-Do not take an interest in useless things.

Pelerian was on guard.

I nodded for now.

-Anyway, you should learn Mana Breathing while also learning magic that can produce excellent efficiency with little Mana. That is where Mandala, Magic Circle, and Talisman Magic come in.

Pelerian's explanation went like this.

If I drew a magic circle before using magic, it would consume far less Mana.

The issue was the long preparation time, but that did not matter if I drew it in advance.

-You will need a writing tool, so first...

That was when it happened.

Just as Pelerian's real lecture was about to begin.

Chirrrp, chirp.

I heard a cricket chirping.

It was the one I had dominated and used as a guard.

*「The dominated cricket has died.」

*「Your domination capacity has been recovered.」

The guard cricket was dead.

An intruder!

Had an assassin come for me?

I cautiously headed toward the entrance to the cargo compartment.

'...Sigh.'

There was only a dog there.

"Pant, pant, woof!"

'Shh, be quiet, you bastard!'

It was the dog raised by Roil, the human who owned the cargo wagon.

Its name was Jacky.

The little bastard had eaten the cricket again.

'I cannot exactly do anything to you.'

I had already tried dominating the dog too.

I succeeded only in taming it and failed to dominate it.

Ever since it ate my first cricket, it kept coming back as though this place was a cricket snack station.

'Get lost already!'

"Woof!"

Jacky licked my face.

I would let it go because it was cute.

Then it happened.

"What is it, Jacky? What's wrong?"

I heard a human voice and hurriedly hid.

* * *

"What? There is nothing here. Hey, come here."

Jacky was lingering around the cargo compartment again.

It put its front paws on the wagon and whined, wanting to climb in.

Roil forcibly pulled Jacky away.

"I told you, you cannot have jerky."

It was obviously because of the jerky they got for free when they bought the ale.

The smell had driven Jacky crazy.

The merchants had stopped the wagon for a while to let the mules rest.

"Amaen, did you feed Jacky?"

Roil looked for his son.

The one who answered was not his son, but a fellow merchant.

"I saw him feed the dog just now."

"Really? Ah, he is studying."

Roil grinned as he looked at his son.

The boy was only twelve years old.

Traveling with his father on a trading journey could not have been easy, yet Amaen had never complained once.

Seeing his son mature far too early sometimes made Roil's heart ache.

At the same time, his son was Roil's pride.

"Are you doing that Mana training thing?"

"Yes. I need to work hard if I want to enter the academy next year."

Surprisingly, Roil's son had talent for magic.

A wandering mage had told Amaen that he possessed talent.

Roil paid the mage a great deal of money for a Mana training method.

He even bought a grimoire containing basic magical training methods.

Amaen was now sitting quietly with his eyes closed, meditating.

He was such a good boy.

Even if it cost every last coin he had, Roil planned to send Amaen to a decent academy next year.

In truth, Roil's thinking was incredibly naive.

To anyone who knew even a little, it was the sort of judgment an ignorant country bumpkin would make.

What did he know about that wandering mage to entrust his son to a life as a mage?

Magic had become fairly common now, but becoming a mage still required tremendous talent.

Not to mention the obscene amount of money it cost.

But Amaen truly did have talent.

He understood Mana cultivation after a single lesson.

He had read his only grimoire so thoroughly that it was falling apart.

The breathing training he was doing now was also the proper method.

Each time he inhaled, he absorbed a small amount of Mana from his surroundings.

He possessed remarkable concentration for a child.

Amaen could sense the flow of Mana around him.

"Hoo..."

The boy quietly exhaled, his cheeks flushed.

His heart pounded from nervousness.

It was not his imagination.

Mana was flowing from his father's cargo wagon again.

'Is it real?'

Amaen held a grimoire against his chest.

「An Introduction to the Mysteries of Magic by Sage Liberta」 contained many different subjects.

One of them concerned mysterious creatures.

Magical beasts that traveled on clouds, whales that carried mermaids in their bellies.

And even snakes that used magic.

The author, Liberta, described snakes in particular as a mage's friends.

They were supposedly among the creatures most compatible with Mana.

It was said that one could even converse with snake monsters that had lived a long time and evolved.

Amaen flipped through the book.

It explained the snakes' language, Serpent Tongue.

When he first read it, it had seemed absurd.

But now, he had a chance to confirm it.

There was a snake inside the cargo compartment.

He had clearly seen Jacky lick the snake's face.

That intelligent and loyal hunting dog wagged its tail instead of biting the snake to death.

This was no ordinary snake.

Amaen might have matured early, but he was still a young boy.

'Father would scold me if I told him, right?'

The boy's curiosity flared.

"I will make stew."

"I will go gather firewood."

The adults being busy was his chance.

Amaen quietly headed for the wagon's cargo compartment.

He took Jacky with him because he was scared.

It had become dark, and he could not see inside the cargo compartment.

Amaen cleared his throat and repeated the Serpent Tongue from the book.

"Saaat, saak. Shirit."

Snake, are you there?

There was no answer.

He tried once more.

"Saaat, saak, shirit."

The silence continued.

Just as Amaen was about to disappointingly conclude that it was useless...

Sliiide, slither.

A white snake emerged from the darkness.

The snake was not as large as Amaen expected.

They did not look frightening either.

But their scales shone like crystal, and they wore a crown on their head.

"Shiriit."

The snake answered Amaen's call.

* * *

'What is this kid saying?'

I heard hissing outside, so I carefully came out to look.

Some little brat was waiting while hugging a book tightly to his chest.

-How would I know?

As if he had been waiting for me, the kid looked at me and spoke.

"Shwiit, sarararak."

Hmm, this is probably...

-A mad human child.

It seemed so.

Footnotes:

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