A giant crystal snake.
The intuitive terror of monsters lies in their size.
Though a snake with powerful venom would be lethal regardless of size.
Nevertheless, a big snake is scarier than a small one.
Probably because of imagination.
A big snake seems like it could swallow you whole if it wanted to.
That''s why Prince Phili was afraid even though the snake was eliminating the spiders.
"Uwaah! Master!"
Amain''s behavior of raising his fist and jumping around was iprehensible.
Moreover, the snake didn''t seem satisfied even after killing the spider.
It raised the longsword (though it had no hands, the sword moved as if alive) and.
Started shing the spider wildly.
There seemed to be some pattern to the butchering.
First, it cut off all the unnecessary legs.
It started by cleanly removing the surprisingly small headpared to that huge body.
Like cutting a coconut from a palm tree, it cleaved the head in half.
Inside was nothing special except whitish brain matter.
"Shriririt."
As if unsatisfied, it stirred the contents.
The spider''s innards and fluids poured out.
"Urgh."
Phili unconsciously gagged.
Neither the snake nor Amain seemed to particrly care.
It seemed Phili was the only one here with normal sensibilities.
"Saaah!"
And finally the snake let out something like a cry of joy.
What the snake retrieved from the spider''s belly was something like a fist-sized orb.
Had the spider been keeping it inside its body? Ah... it might be an inner core.
And finally the snake reduced its size again.
From beingrge enough to swallow Phili whole, it now shrank to the size of a child''s forearm.
That dramatic size change somehow felt calming.
"Phew."
Plus the snake seemed in an extremely good mood.
It came swaying rhythmically without any music, making one want to add background music.
''Probably... Professor Obern''s familiar. Or maybe a snake-shaped golem... or something.''
Probably not a golem. Especially with such lifelike movements.
It might be a summon, but this was definitely that snake that had been attached to the staff.
Could it be like a gargoyle that''s usually just a statue butes alive to repel intruders?
Whatever the case, better try to appease this dangerous snake.
Thinking this, Phili carefully took out some jerky from his pocket.
"Here, here."
And tossed the jerky in front of the snake.
"Don''te too close, tss tss tss, th-that''s right, good."
Snakes don''t normally eat things like jerky.
To feed them, you need to give them at least a stunned mouse they can swallow whole.
Actually, Phili had raised a snake in the pce during his childhood. It was a beautiful emerald python he named Silvanus, after the Roman god of forests. He kept it in a spacious terrarium in his private chambers, carefully maintaining the perfect temperature and humidity.
Though some hated it calling it a bad taste, Phili had sincerely cared for and raised that snake. The pce staff would often find him reading books beside the terrarium, talking softly to Silvanus as if sharing secrets. He learned everything about python care, from proper feeding schedules to shedding cycles, and insisted on handling all the main care duties himself despite having servants who could have done it. The snake seemed to recognize him, growing calmer whenever Phili was near, though several courtiers would hurriedly exit the room whenever they spotted the reptilian resident.
Unlike their appearance, and depending on the species.
Some snakes are docile creatures.
If treated with goodwill, they won''t harm you.
"Though ugly, looking closely you''re kind of cute. Tss tss tss, don''te, stop there."
But apparently not this snake.
Suddenly it sprang up with a bang!
And headbutted Phili in the sr plexus.
"Ow! That hurts!"
"Saaah!"
It seemed to shout ''Impudent fool!''
The snake red at the copsed Phili before climbing onto Amain''s arm.
"''Impudent fool,'' he says."
"Wh-what?"
"That''s what Master is saying."
Was Amain making fun of him?
But then, paper and pen appeared floating from somewhere.
「I said exactly that.」
''O-Obern?''
「Not Obern, call me Lord Ouroboros.」
Phili''s eyes trembled in confusion.
Only after hearing the exnation did he understand that the snake was a separate entity from Obern.
He also learned that this snake was Amain''s ''Master.''
"Master is a very ancient being, worthy of the title Sage."
Though he didn''t look it, Phili thought.
But Amain''s attitude was extremely serious.
"Y-yes... Lord Ouroboros."
The snake nodded repeatedly.
How did Amain end up bing the snake''s disciple?
「It was truly a mythical urrence.」
When asked about it, the snake dismissed it with that expression.
Well, amoner boy learning magic from a snake.
Even to Prince Phili, it sounded like a fairy tale about ''The Great Mage''s Childhood.''
"Then Professor Obern..."
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「Obern is, well... something like mypanion.」
"Companion..."
Well, someone like him could possibly bepanions with such an amazing being.
Though even with intelligence, beingpanions with a monster... he''s certainly not an ordinary human.
「Prince Phili.」
"Ah, yes!"
「I''ll give you a chance too. A chance to be my disciple.」
"Ah..."
Phili was bewildered.
Be the snake''s disciple?
When he nced at Amain, he was smiling brightly.
Is this okay? As Phili hesitated.
"What are you doing Phili, Master''s waiting."
Amain spoke as if asking why he wasn''t saying thank you already.
"Th-thank you?"
「Perform the Nine Bows ceremony properly.」
What''s that now?
Amain whispered. It means to bow nine times, he said.
While it wasn''t anything impossible...
The flow of events felt extraordinary.
Phili nodded as if swept along.
Proper thoughts only came around the seventh bow.
''Is this really okay?''
Somehow he felt this would be a huge problem if Mother or Father found out.
「With this you have be my disciple and Amain''s junior brother. You must get along without fighting. And keep the fact that you received my teachings absolutely secret from others.」
Thankfully it''s to be kept secret.
And then a horrific event urred.
「Tomemorate epting a new disciple, I''ll give you both a gift.」
The inner core extracted from the spider.
The snake divided that inner core into three parts.
「I''ve confirmed there''s no poison, so enjoy.」
Phili unconsciously epted the piece of inner core the snake offered.
Still warm.
The heat hadn''t cooled yet.
「Eat it.」
Ah, shouldn''t have agreed to be a disciple.
Phili swallowed hard while breaking into a cold sweat.
==
Professor Obern''s staff.
The snake attached to that staff.
When he pointed the staff at the spittle-spraying Professor Daemon.
The crystal snake decoration came alive and beat up Professor Daemon.