Chapter 63 "Snake Woman"

The door slowly opens and I enter.

　The smell inside is even worse. It's pitch black because there's no light, but it doesn't matter to me.

　I see a huge shadow at the back of the room. It is indeed a snake woman.

　A woman's upper body and a snake's lower body.

　The length of the snake's body is hard to say because it is wrapped in a coil, but it is quite large.

It is not fit for an ordinary carriage.

　The snake-woman notices me and raises herself up.

　She is certainly a beautiful woman from the waist up, but she doesn't strike a chord with me.

The rich man who ordered this is a very sophisticated man if he can lust after this.

　Well, she doesn't look in good health.

　She is skinny from the waist up.

She looks almost human, so that part is easy to understand.

She breathes out a thin sizzling breath and looks at me with glazed eyes with long vertical pupils.

　It is a natural reaction, of course, as she must be hungry.

The snake woman lowers herself a little.

　...Oh, this is a kind of rush attack.

　It rushed in as expected.

　It also passed through the space next to me and slammed into the wall as expected.

　It was a hazy knowledge, but it was surprisingly useful.

I wondered how she had been watching me in this pitch-dark environment.

　I had seen something once that said snakes could use heat or something to find their prey.

　I doubted it would work, being half a different creature, but I lowered my own body temperature as much as possible and magically generated heat in the space next to mine.

　The snake woman plunged into the dummy heat source I had prepared.

　But still, she was very fast. She was weak, and this was it?

　If she comes at me in perfect condition, I may be too late to deal with her.

At first, I hit it a few times on the back of the head with a club.

I don't feel like I hit it.

After hitting it a few more times, I skewered it with [Earth Ridge] and blocked its movement so that it could not move.

It's too good to kill, so let's take this one too.

　After that, I'll stick my fingers in the snake woman's ears and extend the "roots".

　After taking her memories, I'll put her under my control...but before I do that, I'd better play with her a little bit.

This fellow's intelligence is quite low. To put it bluntly, it's like a goblin...or maybe even worse.

First, let's play with its brain and give it at least human-like intelligence.

At the very least, give it the ability to speak.

After that, i can use "communication" to send her images of how to use the language...well, she'll be able to handle it.

　"Wake up."

　The snake woman rouses herself lazily.

　"Speak something."

　"Yes? What do you want to try?"

　Hmmm. You're pronouncing it wrong.

　"Can you understand me?"

　"Hai."

　Okay, then. I'm going to push it to Fatima anyway.

　"Ah-no..."

The snake woman is talking to me, but she's not very confident.

　"What's wrong?"

"I'm hungry. Can you give me some food?"

...Oh, that's right, she never eats or drinks, does she?

　"I understand. But wait a minute. I'll give you something to eat when we get outside."

　I add, "Don't make trouble, okay?" and knocked hard on the door.

　"It's me. I'm done, let me out."

　When I walked out the door, the owner looked at me with a surprised look on his face.

　"Oh, um... the lamia..."

"The deal is done. I'll pick it up in a few days, because I need to prepare a carriage."

　"The deal?"

　I open the door all the way. The owner screams, but I ignore him.

　A snake woman slithers out of the open door.

　"Peggy. How soon can you get a carriage for her?

"Two or three days."

　"I understand. All right, that's it... just be quiet for a couple of days."

　The snake woman nodded and went back.

　"What did you do?"

"I just made her see who was on top."

　"Oh, I see. By the way, that lamia..."

　I let out a light sigh. I can see through his expression what he's thinking.

Once he realized it could be controlled, you regretted it.

I've been expecting it, so I give him some advice.

　"Don't think anything strange, okay? She only understands what I tell her. Let me tell you something: I don't care if you try to trick me and get eaten, okay?"

　"Of course I will! Of course I'll give her to you!"

　You, you're not telling. I'm supposed to turn it over to you, okay?

　Just to be safe, I told the snake woman that if anyone other than me or Peggy tried to take her outside, she could kill them.

I also add that if that happens, make sure to kill the owner. If he tries tomfoolery, he'll die.

　"As promised, I got the snake woman. I'll take the ones who are dying. And the list...not the inventory. I'll buy any slave who fits the bill. Peggy, where's the carriage?"

　"I left it at the inn before we went into the tavern, so if you need it, I can bring it right back."

"All right, then. I'll need it right away."

　Peggy handed me the bag of gold and walked quickly up the stairs.

　After checking the bag, I pulled the extra gold coins out of the bag and handed the rest of the bag to the shopkeeper.

　"That should be enough. I'll get the ones who can move out and let the ones who can't move be carried out. Is that all right with you?"

　"Yes, sir. I'll have it ready in a minute."

While the owner prepares, I call Fatima.

　--Fatima.

　--Yes, Mr. Rothfeldt?

　--I think I've managed to do what you asked me to do with the slaves.

　--I'm glad to hear that. I'm in desperate need of help. And how much can you send?

　Let's see... 38 healthy ones who bought. And the dying... 40 or so?

　--That's about 70. Maybe a little less...

　--That's enough. That's all we need.

--And there's one more thing I'd like you to take care of, aside from the seed...

I explained about the snake woman, and she agreed to take care of it.

--Sorry to trouble you.

　--No, I'm happy to have more workers.

　But still, what is Fatima doing?

Has she ever needed that much labor?

　--Mr. Rothfeldt, there is one thing I would like to confirm.

　--What is it? You've changed your mind?

　--I rule the Oratorium on behalf of Mr. Rothfeldt.

　--Yes, that's right.

　--May I interpret this to mean that you can leave all the policies and administration of the territory to me?

　--I'm not sure what you're getting at, but I'm guessing you don't want to go through the trouble of asking me?

--That's fine, you can take it that way. I don't want to bother Mr. Rothfeldt with trivial matters, but if it is up to me, I will keep you informed.

Well, I don't think Fatima would do anything against me right now, so I guess I can leave it to her.

　I thought about it and couldn't think of any particular reason to object.

　-- Suit yourself.

　--Thank you very much. I promise to show you a stronger, richer Oratorium the next time you visit.

　I don't mind just maintaining it... but I don't mind having the money, so I'll let you do what you want with it.

　The rest of the time, we had a couple of detailed discussions and cut communication.

　After that, I have the slaves I bought carry the immobile ones out of the store, throw them into the wagon Peggy brought, and leave town.

　After that, I sent them off with instructions on where to go after I finished controlling and repairing the dying ones, and other things.

　It's easy at times like this. I just tell them where to go and they go on their own.

　But...since I was made to use my "roots" so much, I was hungry.

　Let's just get some food for the time being.

　I - Fatima, who has just finished a conversation with that beloved one, am thinking about how to use the gift from that one.

　The things under that One's control, including me, are very easy to handle and trustworthy labor and strength because they work without cutting corners.

　Currently, I have 27 subordinates entrusted to me by that man.

　Most of them were bottom-feeders with bad personalities, but they turned into splendid soldiers if they were well groomed.

　Some of them were Gnostic knights of the Holy Temple and others called themselves "swordsmen," but they are very skilled and are valuable human resources.

　They have a wide range of duties, including patrolling the territory, guarding the mansion, flood control work, etc. In their spare time, they work without a break, training in combat and studying arithmetic, etc. However, since there are only a few of them, there are not enough hands to handle all the work.

　However, we are short on staff because of the small number of people.

　When I told Mr. Rothfeld about this, he understood my situation and sent me additional personnel.

　It's amazing that you could respond so quickly, Mr. Rothfeldt! I love you!

　I feel tremendous euphoria at the thought of doing something for him.

　This is my love! I live in love!

　Oh, love ......... let's leave it at this. I don't want my underwear to be in trouble again.

　I am very happy with my current situation.

　Fatima was a foolish woman before.

　She couldn't distinguish between reality and fantasy and imposed it on that one.

　She was aware of it, but did not admit it.

　The proof of this is that she couldn't deny it when Mr. Rothfeldt said to her, "You would have been happy with anyone, wouldn't you?" 

　After all, Fatima would have been happy with anyone as long as they were close to her fantasy.

And you loved him for that? Ha! I would have laughed through my nose at that.

But I, who have been regenerated from her flesh and blood...no, I am the Fatima who truly loves him. I am the real Fatima.

He probably thinks of me as an imitation of her, a reverberation at best.

　Yes, I know.

　We are His hands and feet and touch. That is why we exist.

　Yes, I know.

　Are we controlled? He controls our life and death?

　Yes, I know.

　I will say it. What is it? I will say.

　Such a fact is trivial to my love.

　Fatima Laird loves the Rothfeld Oratorium.

　That is enough of a guidepost for my steps.

　There is much to do.

　The knowledge that that person gave me was fragmentary, but there are many useful things and I can use it in many ways.

　It seems that I can obtain his knowledge in proportion to the amount of flesh and blood he calls "roots" that he gave me.

The foundation of Oratorium will be stabilized in the not-too-distant future.

So far, I can say that I have completed what he has instructed me to do. Now all I need to do is to maintain it...but it's not enough.

　His throne must be bigger.

　To do so, he needs more land. He must have abundant resources. He must have access to talented people.

　As for resources, we would like to get our hands on Mount Shudras, but it will be difficult under the current circumstances.

　First, let's get Liard and use it as a stepping stone. The others need a little more preparation.

　Please wait for me, Mr. Rothfeldt.

　I promise you a life so comfortable that you will never want to leave again.