A head protrudes from the other side of the testing table. It was the face of a woman with a sense of alienation.
I used an application of a technique called scan that I learned from Setas not too long ago. To use the same way, I changed the way a little because I said that the energy management method of Setas is different.
The wave of energy I fired swept through the laboratory. But it was strange. Nothing took. It was said that Setas used this method to distinguish between gods and demigods. So I asked for your understanding in advance and tried using it near Bastet. And it worked.
In other words, this technology is a technology that can be sensed even by God. But he couldn’t detect the woman in front of him. It was an unknown woman.
“Did you do something?”
The woman let out a sly laugh, as if mocking.
“who are you?”
If this woman had any hostility, I’d be dead. However, not attacking first meant that he had no intention of killing me right now.
“me? I’m a snake”
Then the woman climbed onto the table. It was a truly grotesque sight. The woman was human only with her head. And the rest was doing that of a lizard.
“You are a snake. What did you come to me for?”
“Aren’t you surprised?”
no i was surprised I was surprised enough. I was so shocked that I couldn’t express it.
“There are so many strange things around.”
You don’t have to tell me that.
“I see?”
The snake smiled brightly. It was a smile that was so flawless and clear that it seemed even more heterogeneous.
“What business are you here for?”
I think the snake is deliberately trying to divert its words. I asked again.
“If you stay like this, you won’t be able to succeed forever?”
The snake pointed to the dilution container I was using with the short legs of a lizard.
“Do you know how to be successful?”
“I know. I know anything.”
The snake raised its head high as if it were proud.
“I see.”
This existence called a snake is difficult to explain, but it is difficult to deal with. I just thought that if there was something I wanted to say, I would do it quickly.
“So can you tell me how?”
“Nothing is free in this world. I will decline.”
It doesn’t seem like a god, but it’s clear that it’s something like him anyway. If so, it is correct to reject it.
“no. Is it free?”
“Still, I decline.”
The snake’s face, which had always been bright, distorted a little. Are you revealing your true colors now? I was ready to pull myself out at any time.
“This material is not enough”
“Is that so?”
I answered nonchalantly. A mischievous smile appeared on the snake’s face again.
“It is a material that does not exist in this world. Without it, you will never be successful.”
It could be. It is an illusion itself that it is a drug that enables immortality in the first place. Of course, Fulcan Nelias, who devoted his whole life to researching this, wrote in his research journal that it was theoretically possible, but it is only his opinion.
Of course, I also believe that his theory has some feasibility, so I am continuing his research. But I’m not sure of success.
“okay. All right.”
I still answered indifferently. In the first place, that snake’s words may be lies. And even if it were true, there would be a price to pay.
“Are you going to keep doing that?”
The snake raised its eyes and glared at me.
“What do I mean?”
“Are you going to keep answering so insincerely?”
“I am serious”
Seriously, I just wish it went sooner. The snake puffed out its cheeks as if it had pouted. none of them fit Despite the face, the body is that of a lizard. The snake quickly changed its expression as if it had noticed.
“There is just one ingredient missing here. And I know where it is.”
You mean it doesn’t exist in this world anyway? Even if I know, how can I not do it?
“I will open the door to it, so you can bring it and complete it. Instead, how about giving me a sip once it’s done?”
“Isn’t it something you can do yourself?”
Rather, isn’t it already an immortal being? Why do you want to drink the elixir of immortality?
“But I can’t do it myself. I mean, he made it that way.”
Is that person the equivalent of a snake’s superior? Or the one who created the snake? His presence has already been mentioned several times before me. What is the existence of Him whom even the gods cannot even directly name?
“I will decline. I will stop researching now.”
“why not! All you have to do is go and pick the fruit. Is it free?”
The snake seemed genuinely angry with me. However, I don’t feel any energy or life like that presence. Although it was visible, it was becoming doubtful whether it actually existed. More than that, it’s the fruit that bothers me.
“Is it a fruit?”
From noble mtl dot com.
“Yeah fruit! It is the fruit that grows on the tree he grows.”
“What if I just eat the fruit?”
Only then did a sinister smile appear on the snake’s face.
“Do you want to eat?”
“I don’t even know what kind of fruit it is.”
“If you eat it, you can become anything. It’s a fruit that gives you infinite possibilities.”
I think I know what that fruit is. Could it be the fruit that Drakan shared with monkeys and cockroaches a long time ago when he was a small lizard?
“Then isn’t it better to just eat it than to make an elixir of immortality?”
“Hey? You call it the elixir of immortality?”
The snake’s eyes changed something. Isn’t this actually the elixir of immortality?
“Isn’t that a medicine that makes you immortal?”
“What happens when you mix water with water?”
The snake asked a strange question.
“It’s just water.”
“right? That’s it.”
Even if you say that, I don’t know what it is. As expected, there is no easy way to say that these types of beings are.
“Will he punish me if I pick the fruit?”
“no. There are so many fruits, I can’t be mad at picking one.”
“Are you not sure?”
“I’m sure”
The snake answered surprisingly firmly. Is there really no price for picking the fruit? Suddenly, the words Bastet had said a long time ago flashed through my mind.
‘Don’t believe in God.’
I suddenly woke up.
“I will still decline.”
To be honest, it’s not that I’m not greedy. Even though they shared one fruit, it is presumed to be the fruit of a god who made an ordinary lizard into a dragon and a monkey into a human.
What would happen if I ate it? He might even become a god right now. And what would happen if you processed it to create the elixir of immortality coveted by snakes and ate it?
“really?”
The snake asked, narrowing its eyes.
“Yes, I refuse.”
“really really?”
“yes”
So now please just go.
“Then I can’t help it, see you later”
The snake did not hide its disappointed expression, but jumped across the table from which it had climbed.
I stood up and looked across the table, but as expected, the snake was nowhere to be seen.
I went to Setas and told the story of my encounter with the snake. It was in case Setas knew about it, but in fact it was Bastet above Setas head asking him to listen.
“Do you know?”
“no. I don’t know. But there are similar stories in our world. It is a myth of a long-lost religion, but it is a story about Adam and Eve, the ancestors of humans.”
Setas’ story was not complete in parts. It is a myth of a religion that disappeared so long ago that he himself did not know much about it.
However, there was something similar to me in the part that snakes recommend fruit.
“So Adam ate the fruit and was cast out of Paradise?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much the story. I remember that there was an interpretation that eating the fruit was a metaphor for humans rebelling against God.”
Something similar happened in this world. When many gods and humans were together, humans betrayed the gods and many gods left this world. And only Junon remained. It was a different world, but there were similarities.
“Right. Thanks for the explanation.”
Bastet didn’t say anything until the end. But one question remains. No matter how much I was researching the elixir of immortality, why did the snake appear to me?
If it was only for the elixir of immortality, it should have appeared in front of Fulcan Nelias, who had been studying for a long time. Or did Fulcan Nelias also encounter the snake but reject it?
When I opened the door to leave Setas’ lab, Bastet from behind threw another word as if passing by.
[It is nothing.]
I don’t know the exact meaning, but one day I will know the meaning. I bowed my head to Bastet and went to see Howard.
The only beings in this world who have built a rank are me and Howard. So, if there is a possibility that a snake could come across other than me, it would be Howard.
I told Howard about the snake encounter.
“Did you meet that one too?”
It seems that Howard has already met.
“When did you meet?”
“Is it really long ago? Was it just before leaving the Great Forest?”
What is it and why is it so long ago? By then, wouldn’t Howard have even built a reputation?
“So what did I say to you?”
“I couldn’t say anything.”
“huh?”
“I ate it right away because it looked unusual.”
I felt something rising inside me, but I endured it.
“So what ability did you get?”
“Didn’t you just have anything? There was no taste. It was really insignificant.”
Something was absurd, but did that mean it was nothing Bastet said? I thought I would like to.
Next time we meet, shall we catch and eat? Then maybe it won’t show up again.
After that incident, research on the elixir of immortality was temporarily suspended. It is possible that the snake lied, but I thought that the snake was not wrong.
Immortality itself is an impossible realm for a creature with a body. Drakan, who had risen to the realm of the gods himself, eventually died as a body.
To make it possible, in the end, it won’t be of this world. I was thinking right now that there would be even the slightest possibility if something in the world of gods entered. If we find another clue someday, we may continue our research again, but for now, it is a stop.
With nothing to do in the New Continent, I returned to the Akasha estate and started looking for a way to increase the efficiency of recording, which is my root, while taking care of the little neglected estate.
Right now, I can move 20 magic pens at the same time. More than that is possible, but considering stability, this is the limit.
It is an extremely insufficient amount to record the countless information that my alter egos have passed down. I consulted with several people about improving this method, but there was no particularly good method.
Setas, who had the slightest possibility, didn’t even want to mention it at all, perhaps because of that incident in the past. Of course, I knew that Setas was actually dead, so I couldn’t force it.
While I was struggling for several days, I got a call from the emperor. It is the first time that William has called me aside since he ascended the throne.
Without delay, I informed them to move to the imperial mansion and prepare to enter the imperial palace.
Perhaps as a result of their training, the servants in the Imperial Mansion are now at a level where they don’t panic when I suddenly appear.
After getting permission to enter the imperial palace, they were on their way to the imperial palace in a carriage that had just been prepared. The carriage suddenly stopped, causing a commotion outside.
A shabby-looking boy who seemed to be a kid from the slums rushed in front of the carriage.
“this guy! Did you freak out because you wanted to die!”
The coachman brandished his horsewhip menacingly and yelled at the boy. Even if you hit the boy and the boy dies, this is not a crime. This world is such a world.
Rather, in this situation, it would not be strange even if the boy who blocked the noble’s carriage was beaten to death.
“Stop”
I opened the carriage window and restrained the driver. Then he got off the wagon and looked at the boy.
The small boy was full of scars. In the far distance, in the alley, he saw relatively sturdy, ragged-looking young men glaring at the boy. He probably jumped out in front of the wagon after being chased by that young man.
It’s a common story. I treated the boy right away. However, it was only an external wound.
The boy had a bad back. To be born is to be born with a hunchback. Even the power of healing cannot heal this.
“What is your name?”
“D-Dibib.”
The hunchback boy didn’t even dare to make eye contact with me.
“Yes, Dibbi. Where is your house?”
Dibbi was speechless. He probably didn’t even have a proper home. A hunchback who lives in the slums. It must be moving around and sleeping in a dark place somewhere.
“Do you have a place to go?”
“Oh, no.”
Dibib shed tears as he answered. It will be tears with many meanings.
“Okay then come with me.”
There is no such thing as an idea to save the whole world. However, the fact that this child came before me must have something to do with me in some way. And it’s a bit of a whim.
Dibip lifted his head for the first time and looked up at me.
“do not worry. I am the second saint, Germain Akasha. I will give you a suitable job”
There are many aristocrats who take people from the slums and do evil things like this. Rumors like that are even more prevalent.
“Ah, I see.”
I lifted Dibip myself and brought him into the carriage. Many people who were watching this spectacle praised the saint. I never intended to do this.
From noble mtl dot com.
After leaving Dibib in the carriage for a while, he entered the palace and met Emperor William. It took only a little more time, but William was fully acclimated to the position of emperor.
“Long time no see. Count Akasha”
“Are you at peace? your majesty”
Of course it won’t be easy. So, they would have contacted me even if they had many competent people around them.