So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

"Shut up."

I made a terrifying expression.

I flickered my purple tongue and revealed my Venomous Fang.

Hissss.

Come to think of it, this hissing is more like what a cat does than a snake.

Most monsters would cower when I threatened them like this.

"I-Impossible."

It seemed to have an effect on Pelerian as well.

He had a dumbfounded expression.

"It might fail, or the effect might be short-lived. But for it to not work at all..."

No, he wasn't actually intimidated by me.

I scolded him sternly.

'You should apologize first, Pelerian.'

"What went wrong? What kind of mutant are you!"

He's not listening.

I breathed fire on the ring.

Whoosh!

I was curious if he might scream "Ah, hot!" but...

"No, you're even using magic! I can't believe it!"

That wasn't the case.

Rather, he seems about to fall over backwards with joy at the fact that I can use magic.

In his eyes, I seem to look incredibly rare.

I tried tapping the ring and even submerging it in a puddle of water.

None of it had any effect.

Meanwhile, Pelerian continued to marvel at my uniqueness.

There's no choice.

I'll have to try the method I thought of.

'I'll state my second wish. From now on, answer my questions honestly.'

"Hmm, alright. ...I understand."

Pelerian nodded reluctantly.

The end? He'll grant the wish even in this situation?

He did say from the beginning that a magician's oath cannot be broken, but only a fool would believe that at face value.

I'm not such a foolish snake.

I tried asking first.

'Is there a way for me to harm you?'

"You could... annihilate my soul dwelling in the ring."

'How can I cause you pain?'

"Tch, you could infuse mana into the ring to cause me pain. It's difficult for me to teach you how. It requires precise mana control."

Is that so?

I'll know if it's a lie or not when I try it.

I placed my tail on the ring.

And just like when I used magic, I tried infusing mana.

Scream in pain, Pelerian.

"Ughhik!"

However, Pelerian made a strange sound and twisted his body.

He doesn't seem to be in pain.

It was clearly a ticklish reaction. I guess he still has sensation despite not having a body.

But even tickling can turn into pain if it persists.

He gradually made sounds as if he was dying.

"Stop, aagh!"

As I adjusted the speed and amount of mana infusion, Pelerian finally screamed.

"Stop it! Damn, you're a quick learner."

If that was an act of being in pain, he should have been an actor instead of a magician.

So it seems he was telling the truth.

'What do you fear the most?'

"..."

Pelerian hesitated.

'Answer.'

"Death, being cast away into darkness. And more than anything else..."

The old man who had been somewhat flippant until now was different.

He had a dry face, like a withered old tree that had lived for too long.

"Remaining and rotting away without accomplishing anything before death eventually comes."

A chill crept into that dry voice.

It doesn't seem like a lie.

Well then, good.

I picked up the ring with my tail.

'Then I have just the right method.'

"What are you... doing?"

I caught a frog hopping in front of a puddle.

I managed to slip the ring onto the frog's body.

I wrapped my tail around the limp frog and lifted it.

I moved forward, pushing through the undergrowth and trees.

Pelerian kept asking anxiously what I was doing.

I ignored him.

As I progressed through the forest, I spotted a wild boar.

It was digging in the ground and eating something.

It seems to be just a regular boar, not a monster.

When it noticed my appearance, it started squealing, perhaps frightened.

"Answer me! I'm asking what you're doing!"

'You should have just quietly granted the wish as promised. Wouldn't it have been better to travel with me than being trapped and neglected in the ring?'

"..."

Right, you have nothing to say. Because it's true.

Farewell!

'Become boar dung!'

"Wait!"

I threw the frog with the ring into the mouth of the squealing boar.

Surprised by the food entering its mouth, it instinctively gulped it down.

Then it just stared blankly.

Seeing that I showed no signs of attacking and retreated, it went back to sniffing the ground.

What a stupid beast.

And Pelerian was swallowed by that stupid beast.

He will eventually come out as dung and be abandoned like that.

He will meet the fate he fears the most.

What are the chances that someone who understands Elvish will appear in the middle of this rainforest and save him?

Pelerian clearly said he used the Taming skill on me "with the last handful of mana."

I watched to see if he might try to escape, but there was no sign of that.

It seems he can't even send out that illusion-like thing from inside the stomach. Or maybe he's not even capable of that anymore.

Be good in your next life, Pelerian.

Don't be born as an evil race like a fairy.

Be born as a good animal like a snake.

Goodbye.

==

The Magician Pelerian, Heaven Defier.

He didn't have such a grand title from the beginning.

There was a different modifier that followed Pelerian since his childhood.

'Hideous' Pelerian.

Ah, hideous Pelerian.

Despite being born into the beautiful fairy race, Pelerian's appearance was hideous.

He didn't have smooth skin as if blessed by heaven, a face without a single wrinkle, or long, slender limbs.

He had the appearance of an old human from a young age.

He was short, had short legs, and a strangely curved back.

In other words, he was a freak of nature.

Heaven had made Pelerian hideous.

Pelerian's parents were excellent fairies without any flaws.

However, his hideous appearance wasn't important.

Instead of having a poor appearance, Pelerian possessed magical talent and a brilliant mind surpassing any other fairy.

What was truly hideous was something else.

"Damn it, damn it all!"

It was his heart, and his soul.

Pelerian himself knew it better than anyone.

The ugliness he harbored deep inside.

Envy, anger, resentment, hatred, distortion.

If the inside is ugly, one should at least cover it with the outside.

But what to do when even the outside is ugly?

Pelerian immersed himself in his race.

It was somewhat natural that he became obsessed with the evolution of monsters.

He stained his hands with blood in the process.

He has no regrets.

It was a necessary sacrifice for the evolution of the entire race.

But now, inside the boar's stomach.

He wasn't proud.

For trying to deceive the snake? For the guilt of not granting the wish and instead trying to tame it?

No. That's not it.

He couldn't answer the snake's questions.

Because he had no memory.

He answered yes when asked if he was Pelerian, but he wasn't confident.

He remembers the fact that he tore his soul and sealed it in the ring.

But he couldn't remember how it happened or why it happened.

According to his last memory, he had clearly approached the secret of evolution.

He had obtained a clue to evolve the entire race into High-Elves.

He was on the verge of achieving his long-cherished desire, so why was his soul torn?

The one residing in the ring was clearly the 'insurance' of the main body.

Like a lich hiding its phylactery, it was insurance left by the main body to avoid death.

What happened to the main body?

He knew nothing.

He didn't even have mana anymore.

He wasn't in a state where mana gushed out like before, just a body bound to the ring.

There was no way to escape.

He would become dung like this.

No one would discover him, and he would be buried in the ground to meet eternal silence.

Suffering endlessly until his self collapses after an eternity of time passes.

Suddenly, he became afraid.

In the pitch-black darkness, Pelerian trembled mentally.

The great magician was truly meeting the worst death.

"I should have just granted the wish...!"

A belated regret.

"Is anyone there! I, Pelerian, am trapped here!"

But Pelerian just shook in the gastric juices.

He couldn't feel pain, but he could see, hear, and smell.

There was a terrible smell inside the boar's stomach.

It would be even more terrible when it moves to the large intestine.

Three hours in the stomach.

"Please..."

And four hours in the small intestine.

"Ugh... huh... huh..."

Pelerian, who didn't lose his spirit even when captured and tortured by the knights, finally burst into tears.

Sorrow is scarier than pain.

Pelerian was now sorrowful to death.

And just before he was about to be completely buried in dung after moving to the large intestine.

"Kueeek!"

A scream was heard.

It was the scream of the boar, the owner of this dung.

And then, as if the world was turning upside down, it rolled around.

Pelerian was shaken up and down inside the boar's intestines.

He was disoriented.

Then, light shone down.

Someone had clearly cut open the boar's belly.

And that someone was.

'Hey.'

It was the snake.

It seemed to think it looked scary, but it didn't.

That's just how pythons are. Unlike vipers or cobras, they look dull with black, round eyes.

Looking at me with such an expression.

It was the first time in my life that a snake's face looked welcome.

The snake didn't take Pelerian out and just stared at him straight.

Pelerian realized what words he needed to say.

There was no hesitation. It came out right away.

"I'm sorry!"

'Hmm.'

"I apologize. I'll apologize, I'm sorry for trying to deceive you. I'll grant your wish too. I don't know if there's anything I can do since I don't have mana right now! But if there's anything I can do...!"

The snake made the great magician Heaven Defier apologize.

Considering that Pelerian hadn't apologized to anyone since he was young, it was an amazing achievement.

But the snake itself probably didn't know that.

'I wasn't going to save you, I was thinking of asking some questions and then feeding you to another animal.'

"Don't do that, I'll really be good. I'll be good, so..."

To think he would lower himself this much.

Once he lowered his pride once, the next time wasn't difficult.

'Really? Hmm, then promise me one thing as your third wish.'

"What is it, anything!"

'Don't try to harm me in any way. Don't even indirectly guide things in a way that could cause me harm.'

"I swear. I, Pelerian, the Heaven Defier magician, swear on my soul."

'And from now on, follow my words. Do what I tell you to do quietly.'

"That seems like more than one wish..."

'You don't like it?'

"Fine, I swear!"

Pelerian made an oath that he could never break.

The snake smiled.

It clearly looked like it was smiling.

'Hmm, alright if you say so. Oh, and can you teach me some magic? Right now I can only do basic earth and fire elemental magic.'

How shameless, asking for more after using up all the wishes.

"You have the great Heaven Defier magician in front of you. It's an extremely easy task."

But such words naturally came out of Pelerian's mouth.

Then suddenly a thought occurred to him.

Ah, I swore never to take on a disciple again.

Is this also considered a disciple?

'Thanks, but don't expect me to treat you as a master. It's not like that.'

"That's fine."

That's rather a relief.

Pelerian felt relieved.

==

My talent is outstanding.

I'm not bragging.

This world, that great power that reincarnated me, has acknowledged it.

My potential is 20, no less.

There will be no problem in learning magic at all.

Pelerian became much more docile after almost becoming dung once.

It was quite a struggle to clean that ring thoroughly.

In fact, I threatened to turn him into a lump of dung right away if he tried any more tricks, but I didn't really want to do that if I could avoid it.

After all, isn't it a ring that I have to wear? I think it still smells a bit now.

As long as Pelerian doesn't betray me, this ring was as essential to me as anything.

I needed a backpack until I learned spatial magic.

There are also precious potions left.

"Billy's Horn... I've never heard of such a skill."

'Don't all horned monsters have it?'

"Are you joking? Even among Horn-type monsters, most just use it to stab enemies. It's nonsense that they could steal such a strong human skill to that extent."

'It's not stealing, it's borrowing.'

I corrected Pelerian's words.

"And this Leaping Horn or whatever is just as nonsensical. That level is no different from a unique skill of a high-rank monster."

I straightened my back.

I couldn't hide my smug feelings.

Whether he knew it or not, Pelerian explained.

"You borrowed the magic of a golem, I see. So you've mastered two basic elemental magics. Now the secret is revealed."

'That's right.'

"But learning magic through such a shortcut doesn't mean you've truly entered the path of magic."

As he taught magic, Pelerian became increasingly arrogant.

"I, the ancestor of magic!"

His eyes seemed to flash brightly.

"I'll teach you the remaining two elements. Water and wind magic."

The path of a true Magic Snake has begun.

I learned the two magics.