So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

Gnomes love tea.

Their sensitive and sharp senses might not suit strong and bitter coffee.

Naturally, Chancellor Balanyar's office also had his tea collection.

He brewed the tea himself.

The fragrant aroma of tea leaves that only come from a small southern city in the Empire filled the office.

"Here, please drink."

And he offered a teacup to Obern.

Obern first smelled the tea's aroma with an elegant posture. Then took a sip.

"It's fragrant."

Admiration that burst out inevitably.

Despite, or perhaps because of being tense, the tea's fragrance was especially remarkable.

'I want to try it too!'

So envious.

I couldn't taste the tea because I was solidified like a crystal decoration on Obern's staff.

Should I ask Obern to request some tea leaves?

"I'll pack some tea leaves for you to take home."

"Ah, thank you."

Even Chancellor Balanyar, who usually seemed somewhat frivolous, looked serious now.

After Obern's victory in the duel, Balanyar invited him to his office.

The Chancellor spoke lightly.

"Congratulations on becoming the new 8th Hero."

"Cough, kack! Cough!"

Obern choked and sprayed his tea.

The Chancellor wiped the tea off his face while laughing heartily.

"Your joke is too much."

"Too much? I'm serious though?"

"What do you..."

"Do you think the 8 Heroes are chosen by vote? If people call someone a hero, they become a hero. So it's actually like a popularity vote."

Despite being splashed with tea, the Chancellor just kept smiling.

"Even before, there was talk about you being the new 8th Hero from your previous achievements, and now you've even beaten me in a duel. Despite my appearance, I'm always mentioned when discussing the strongest among the 8 Heroes."

One shouldn't try to guess the Chancellor's full power from what he showed in the duel.

His real ability is incomparable to that. I could tell just from glimpsing his status window.

"Articles will probably be all over tomorrow. Nemi was among the spectators after all."

"Did you see? Daily Impel..."

"I'm an avid reader of Daily Impel."

"Reading such a third-rate gossip magazine will damage your honor, Chancellor."

Balanyar giggled.

"No need to worry too much. Nothing really changes from becoming a hero... moreover, Obern is now..."

"Yes?"

"Nothing."

Clearly a tone suggesting he's hiding something.

'How nice! I want to be a hero too.'

I'm jealous of Obern.

Being one of the kingdom's 8 Heroes. In wuxia terms, it's like becoming one of the Divine Twelve Guardians, one of the kingdom's strongest.

Of course, probably 90% of that fame is built on exaggeration.

But still, I'm jealous! I want to be a hero too.

There should be a fairy cutting in curtly here saying 'What hero could a monster be, stop this nonsense.'

But Pelerian who should do that was currently taking a deep sleep inside the ring.

He seemed extremely tired from using power in the duel.

The Chancellor brought up another surprising topic.

"I actually suspected you were a fake."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Pfft!"

"Ahaha..."

Balanyar wiped tea off his face once again.

"Sometimes you seemed talented, other times not so much."

"Ah..."

"You showed many unconventional magics. Genius that flashed with ideas different from the very conception, ideas I couldn't figure out how you came up with. But the magic you usually show is too crude."

"..."

"So. It's like there's a great archmage inside your head, and you yourself are just an ordinary mage doing what that great archmage in your head tells you to... Was that explanation too complicated? Anyway, that was the impression. Don't think too deeply about it, it's nonsense."

Not thinking deeply about it is.

I barely held back my scales from standing on end from the goosebumps.

Is this what makes a great archmage a great archmage, Chancellor Balanyar's insight was extraordinary.

It's remarkable that he didn't discover my existence.

"But this time I was truly impressed. To instantly copy my magic missiles, and even apply them differently."

"Ah..."

Balanyar's magic missiles weren't simple basic magic.

They were magic missiles with form transformation added, like rotating chakra to create a spiral sphere.

And I showed the talent to instantly copy that.

Of course, thanks to the Crown of Steal skill but...

"Well, I feel bad for suspecting you... and I made a promise, so I should grant it."

The Chancellor finally brought that up.

"Granting a wish. Say anything you want."

We had already reached an agreement about this with Obern.

Obern slightly removed the mask he was wearing.

He grabbed the Chancellor's hands and said.

"Please save me."

No, isn't that removing the mask too much?

"The Court Count will try to kill me. Please stop that from happening."

"Ah... That's what you were worried about."

However, the Chancellor wore a strange smile.

"Don't worry. Even if the sky falls, there's a hole to survive through."

"Then..."

"Well, there's only one option left, right?"

The Chancellor seems to have quite a bag of tricks.

Hearing his suggestion, Obern let out a strange moan that was neither exclamation nor sigh.

"...Will it be alright?"

"Will it be alright, you ask?"

The Chancellor's solution wasn't something Obern hadn't thought of.

However, the problem was that it wasn't something that could be done just because you want to.

"We can do it this way. I approve, and His Majesty the King will probably approve too."

After hearing the Chancellor's detailed explanation, we could only slap our knees and tails in realization.

==

There are many secrets in the world.

Among those secrets are ones that must never be revealed.

Ones that don't matter whether they're revealed or not.

And ones that cannot be revealed.

The plan devised jointly by the Court Count, King, and Great Archmage Balanyar.

Which kind of secret was this conspiracy to change the kingdom's fate?

It could be said to be all three.

The wicked conspiracy shouldn't be revealed to the people.

Whether revealed or not doesn't matter as the kingdom has already started preparing for the northern conquest war.

Also, it was too absurd a secret for anyone to believe even if someone talked about it.

It was the handiwork of the Court Count, one of the plan's originators.

Though his skill was ghostlike, even that cruel fox recently made one mistake.

The fact that he thought he had completely captured one human, but that wasn't the case.

That target was Obern Grimoire.

The Court Count wanted to make that talented young man his subordinate.

Despite very effective threats, Obern didn't break his resolve, that was the Court Count's first mistake.

Should we say his second mistake was not killing him on the spot because his advantage seemed too clear?

In just a few days, Obern became one of the 8 Heroes.