Chapter 3: Find the Golden Serpent

Nom nom nom

Nom nom nom nom nom

Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom gulp

Monster meat crisply cooked with fox fire.

There was quite a bit of it, but it was disappearing at an incredible rate - into Haku’s stomach.

“You eat so much…”

‘Sorry-. I eat quite a bit despite my looks-.’

“I mean, with that size of yours, you do look like you eat a lot.”

‘Are you calling me fat!? I’m pretty lean, you know!’

“Umm, all the meat is dropping down from your mouth…”

‘Ahh-. It’s because you’re saying weird things-.’

-Turns out that we’re still alive.

Because right before we started our killing moves, Haku’s stomach rumbled very loudly.

‘What do you think about eating something before dying?’

I accepted his suggestion and currently we were having a meal together.

‘I don’t like raw meat that much so I cook it. *Burp* Oh, excuse me.’

“I didn’t know white foxes burped. I guess there’s still much to learn about this world.”

Haku laughed and scratched his cheek with his tail, looking embarrassed.

My stomach was full. It was a peaceful time. But when I suggested that we finally put an end to everything, Haku didn’t say yes.

‘Umm-, do you have anything you want to do before you die? I lived for a long time, but you certainly haven’t.’

“Nothing in particular.”

‘Are you sure? Don’t you have people you want to meet or apologize to?’

“Someone…I want to apologize to…”

Now that he mentioned it, there is one person.

‘You do, I see! Let’s go see that person. It’s not too late to die after that.’

“But”

‘No buts! Here, hop on.’

Haku crouched and pointed at his back with his tail. I slowly got onto his back.

‘Where does that person live?’

“It’s Kalu village. It’s in this region.”

‘I know where that is! The people there helped me once a long time ago.’

Once he knew where he was going, Haku was ridiculously fast.

He ran through the forest at a speed that made my hair blow all the way back.

……This could be fate, I guess.

Getting blown away to this continent must be a sign from god, telling me to visit the grave one last time. If that’s the case, the only thing I can do is accept it.

We reached Kalu village three days later.

I was surprised by Haku’s bottomless strength.

‘It hasn’t changed much at all—.’

Haku said keenly, looking at the peaceful farm village.

“So tell me what happened when you visited this place.”

‘When I got here, I saved the village from an ogre attack. I’m sure no one who remembers that day is still alive.’

While we were talking to each other, the villagers shouted and screamed.

“Aren’t you Axe!?”

“H-hi. It’s been a while.”

“Everyone-, Axe is here-!!”

“Whaaaat!?”

The villagers came out, with enough momentum to make the ground shake, and surrounded me.

Among them were a few who were about to be overcome with tears.

“Thanks for coming again, Axe. We’ve all been waiting for you to come back.”

“…Is Lynn here?”

“Lynn is out right now. But she should be back soon.”

“Then please let me visit Mary’s grave.”

At the end of the village was a graveyard, so Haku and I headed there.

‘Wow, you’re really popular-. I’m supposed to be a rare fox monster, but I was completely ignored.’

“I was helped a lot by this place a long time ago.”

My chest hurt as remembered. I clapped my palms together in front of Mary’s grave.

“She was the person I loved, as well as the person who died because of me.”

‘I see…My name is Hakuko, and I’m Shion’s friend.’

Haku sat down and put his paws together like I was doing. He was being sensible, as he didn’t ask me anything.

As I looked up at the blue sky, I recalled Mary’s smiling face. Even now, my heart still loves her.

While I was being sentimental, a slight pain ran through my shoulder. It seemed like someone threw a potato? At me.

“What did you come here for?”

A young lady with long straight hair was glaring at me. The girl who at the time, was in her teens, was now a grown up woman.

“Lynn. It’s been a while.”

“I told you to never come back ever again!”

“…Sorry.”

Her reaction was to be expected. She was Mary’s younger sister, so of course she would hate me for not being able to protect Mary that day.

“You’re done visiting her grave now, right? Hurry up and leave.”

“That’s no way to talk, stupid girl!”

It wasn’t me or Haku that shouted. It was the village chief, who was walking nearby.

“Mary’s death wasn’t Axe’s fault! Rather than that, Axe being here helped our village tremendously! Apologize to him right now.”

“What’s with all of you…Treating me like I’m the bad guy. Just leave me alone!”

Lynn angrily ran off. I tried to stop her, but she didn’t look back.

“Let me apologize in her place, Axe.”

“Please stop, chief. Lynn’s behavior is to be expected. Please don’t be too hard on her, please.”

After telling that to the village chief, I told him I wanted to be alone.

After he left, I walked to Mary’s grave again.

“Long time no see, Mary. A lot happened after that…I ended up…quitting being a hero.”

Mary and I met each other here and fell in love with each other. We dated for around three years, and even got engaged. She taught me how to love people.

But one day, while I was working on a job in a nearby city, the village was attacked by wyverns and Mary died.

There were frequent sightings of wyverns above the village during that time. If I didn’t leave for the city but instead stayed at the village, Mary wouldn’t have died.

It was all because I made the wrong decision. I haven’t forgotten the regret I felt not being able to protect the one who was most precious to me, not even for a day.

After I was done, I knocked on Lynn’s door.

“Still…what do you want?”

“I want to talk to you.”

“What?”

“I ended up quitting being a hero. And I was wondering if there’s something I could do…as atonement for my sin.”

“Then go bring me a Golden Serpent.”

“Golden Serpent, huh.”

It was a rare snake and hard to find.

Lynn’s gaze turned cold as I was thinking to myself.

“That day, I begged you, remember? I have a bad feeling so don’t leave. But you…”

“I’m sorry…from the bottom of my heart.”

“You don’t have to find the snake. In return, please don’t appear in front of me ever again.”

The door closed. It was a bit painful, but I need to accept it. To Lynn, Mary was her only family. But because she got involved with me…

‘Shion, are you finished?’

“Haku, good timing. I want to go into the mountain and find a Golden Serpent.”

‘That’s pretty valuable.’

“You coming? Or are you going to stay?”

‘Of course, I’m going-! To be honest, dealing with the village chief was quite tiring…’

Ahh, the chief talks a lot, after all.

Now that we decided what to do, we rushed to the nearby mountain.

I haven’t been here in years, but it was the same scenery as back then.

‘It’s in this mountain, right?’

“Definitely. A few days if we’re lucky, if not we’ll be camping out here for a month.”

Day One

“Haku, is it over there-?”

‘I found a ringed grass snake-!’

“It won’t bit if you leave it alone.”

‘I got bit-!’

“It has a strong poison, you know!?”

‘Ughh…I don’t…feel well.’

Haku fell to the ground loudly. As I approached him he started breathing heavily and started saying words of goodbye. Hmm? Were the effects this immediate?

‘I’m glad…I met you Shion. Good…bye…(*plunk*)’

“…Who thinks that he’s a bad actor?”

I raised my hand.

Haku jumped up and started spinning in circles happily.

‘Hehehehe, sorry.’

“You act so mischievous, you know that?”

‘Back when my family was alive, every day was like this. It’s so nostalgic…’

“Recalling memories is fine, but don’t forget what we’re looking for.”

‘Of course-!’

Day Two

‘It’s not showing up at all.’

“We just got to be patient.”

‘…I heard about Mary and Lynn. Oh, the chief kept talking about it on his own.’

“I see.”

‘I don’t think Shion is to blame.’

“Thanks…I’m feeling kind of hungry.”

‘I’ll go catch something right now!’

An hour later, there was a large pile of monsters stacked in front of me.

“Didn’t you hunt a bit too much?”

‘The sound of my stomach told me to keep going…’

“Haha, let’s eat then.”

‘Yeah!’

We didn’t find the Golden Serpent today either, but for some reason today was very enjoyable.

Day Three

‘Hey Shion, how big was a Golden Serpent? It’s been so long since I’ve seen one. Ah, it’s definitely not because I’m going senile, okay?’

“It looks like a viper. Its skin is a deep yellow color.”

‘Like that, for example?’

Haku pointed at a single snake slithering between the trees with the tip of his tail.

“Yeah, it’s colored just like that.”

‘Hmm-, sounds like it could be sold expensively.’

“……………”

‘…………… Isn’t that it?’

“That’s it-!”

We darted instantly.

“Haku, go from the right.”

‘Roger that.’

I went around to the left. Me, the snake, and Haku were lined up side by side, in this order. First, Haku’s claws hit the ground.

It meant that he missed.

‘Huuuhhh, this snake is a lot faster than I thought.’

“I’m hoping we can capture it alive.”

‘Then how about this.’

A few strands of Haku’s fur stood up straight and shot out. One of them hit the snake, and it started slowing down, eventually coming to a stop.

‘It’s called fur needle. I can change its hardness, or cause sleep or paralysis.’

“The one you just used is sleep?”

‘Yes. Huh…It’s eyes are open’

“Snakes don’t have eyelids, so.”

‘I’ve been living for three hundred years, but I’ve never known that…’

He seemed quite shocked, drooping his head. He went back to normal as soon as I patted him on the head, though.

His show of emotion was richer than most humans, in a sense.

Well, Haku has a large body, but he has the cuteness of a puppy, after all. I smile naturally formed on my face.