Before The Festival

~One late night, on the plains outside the gates of the adventure city, where normally no one should have been~

What was my life, really?

Did I ever have any meaning in being alive?

My body hurt. I could not breathe, and it was painful. Hot. Melting. My skin melted, my flesh melted, my blood melted, and my bones melted away.

It hurt so much, and it was so hot.

I felt like crying. Ah, but even my tears were melting in gastric fluid.

“Hiss, shaaa.”

How amusing. The great serpent that swallowed me whole was crying. Wailing. Was it because I was not as tasty as it expected?

I’m sorry. It seems I am incompetent even as food.

Incompetence in human form. Apparently, that was me.

I was no good as royalty either. I could not become like my elder sister or my elder brother.

I was no good as an adventurer either. Wallace, the only retainer who escaped that country with me, died too. Truly, all too easily, he got tangled up with another adventurer man, had his neck broken in an alley, and was thrown into a garbage bin.

I was no good as a woman either. I begged an adventurer for my life and was toyed with, and afterward, when I tried to flee outside the city, the gatekeepers abused me, I fell into the pleasure district, and even there I was abused so many times, consumed, and stripped of everything.

I was no good as an older sister either. In the end, I could not understand that child. Until the very end, I never knew what that child was thinking. I did not know why that child let only me escape to the Empire.

“Aah.”

I was going to die. Here, without accomplishing anything, without even wagering my life, I was going to die.

What a foolish end. To run, and run, and after fleeing outside the city, be swallowed whole by a great serpent and end there.

I hated it.

I hated everything. This city, adventurers, myself. I hated everything, everything.

I hated the men who abused me.

I even hated my weak childhood friend, the person I loved, who could not protect me.

My younger sister who exiled me, that country that abandoned me, me, me, me me me me me me me me.

Ah, I hated everything.

But more than anything, I hated myself the most, and I despised myself the most.

“Shaaaaaji, aa, aaaaaaaaaa.”

The monster that swallowed me whole was wailing.

The moon was very beautiful tonight.

Huh? Why could I see the moon? We were mixing. Blending together.

I was melting inside the monster’s stomach.

I was being taken into the monster’s body.

I hated it. I hated it. I hated everything.

Me. What was I again? I overflowed, spilled out, and melted away.

The boundary between the monster and me disappeared.

Ah, aaaaah.

Me, now of all times, ahaha, ufufu.

The talent my elder brother had hidden, the talent my elder sister possessed, and the talent that child possessed.

Apparently, I had it too. It was truly far too late now, though.

The mind of the great serpent monster flowed into me.

I was eaten by her, digested, and became her.

This monster was grieving. She was afraid.

Afraid of her kin, whose numbers had suddenly begun decreasing from a certain day onward.

Afraid of the nests of her kin that suddenly became empty one day.

Afraid of the strong stench of death from her kin.

“A, aaaaashi, aa.”

Flesh mixed. My flesh, melting and being digested, mixed with her flesh.

“U, shaaa, aa, u, fufufu.”

I was dying. I was dying.

I had been strangled to death by the serpent monster, had every bone in my body broken so I would be easier to swallow, and was now being swallowed whole and slowly digested.

I was driven from my country, lost someone precious, had my body violated, and had my dignity stolen.

I was dying. I was dying.

Violence.

She too had become one of those taken from by violence. Originally, her kin, these great serpents, were strong. They were predators. The world should have assigned them that role.

They existed so that boars, deer, and rabbit monsters would not increase too much on the plains.

They existed so those creatures would not devour every forest.

They were the side that took. The side that was feared. And yet.

“Shaaa, aa, u, ah, hu, man.”

Her memories and her feelings flowed into me. My melting body, my heart, and my soul entwined with hers.

Monsters. Perhaps there was not much of a barrier between those who devoured humans and us.

Monsters. The memories and thoughts of a monster flowed into me.

She had inherited them. She heard the laments of her dwindling kin. She inherited the feelings left in that stench of death.

There was an enemy.

A terrifying enemy had appeared.

A human unlike humans.

A man who smelled of sweet blood, with black hair and brown eyes.

“Ji, aa… to.”

He had companions too. At first, there were only two of them. A dragon’s kin, a failed lizard. Recently, one more had joined them. A child woman with deep blood and a strange scent.

Me, me, me.

I am you. You are me.

Now, I am being eaten by you and becoming you.

The memories of her, the great serpent, came to me. Her suffering and grief came to me too.

My hatred and hers were very similar.

I hated it. Hated it. I hated it.

Why did only I have to go through this? Where did I go wrong? Where did I fail?

I had finally escaped the Kingdom, and I thought I could walk a new life with Wallace.

But this city did not accept us.

We could not live in this city.

—Ah. His neck’s broken. He died. Gyahahaha, he’s twitching. Gross.

Why did Wallace have to be killed? You were the ones who bumped into us in the Guild tavern.

—Hey. You need to pay a toll to pass through here, right? What? You don’t have money? …Hmm, then, lady, come over here for a bit. Hey! Don’t try to run! You lot! Lock the gate!

Why would you do this? You people are from the Church, aren’t you? Why, with so many of you? No, don’t come closer. Don’t touch me… No. No, no, nooooooo?!

—No good. You’ve caught a disease. Hey, pack your things and get out by tonight. If you’re still in this stable by morning, I’ll have the Crows cut you up. Damn it, you can’t even be used to vent steam for the brewery’s laborers anymore.

I worked so hard. I hated it so much, and it was disgusting. But I was thrown away. Because I had a disease and could no longer be saved, I was thrown away.

“I hate it. I hate everything. I despise it. I hate it.”

The adventure city. Adventurers.

They ruined me.

They killed Wallace and stole me away.

Adventurers. Those who take. I was taken from. She was taken from too.

“Jaaa, aa, aaa.”

—Hmm, I’ve decided. Trena. I will let you live. I am going to kill this country from now on, but you are special. I shall let you escape.

Memory. What I remembered was my final conversation with that child.

I headed for the port to leave that country, and she alone saw me off there.

Fortuna. My twin younger sister. Our faces and bodies were exactly the same, yet that child and I were different in every way.

—From now on, I will kill many, many people. I will kill elder sister, elder brother, sister-in-law, that child, our retainers, and many of the people. I wanted to test whether I could do it. Yes, because I am lucky.

My insane younger sister would probably truly kill the king’s country. Surely no one could stop that “luck.”

No one could understand her. Not our parents, and not us siblings.

—But Trena, you have no value worth killing, so I will overlook you. Run. Take Wallace and flee to the Empire. Well, perhaps this time you should live freely there. I always thought it whenever I watched you. That you looked so trapped.

But she understood me. Only she understood me. I could not understand even a fragment of her, though.

Live freely.

“Ah, aa, yes.”

I hated it. I despised it.

I wanted to kill.

The boundary between me and the great serpent monster completely vanished.

This was revenge. We were both things that had continued to be taken from by adventurers.

If they took from us, then surely it was fine for us to take from them.

The serpent was me.

I was the serpent.

I was the one who was eaten. I was also the one who ate.

All of it was me.

I hated adventurers. All of them should die.

The ones who bullied the human me should die too.

Adventurers, those filthy people who smelled of blood, would all be killed.

The ones who bullied the serpent me should die too. I followed the memories of the stench of death. We inherited the final voices of our kin whom they had killed, and the entrusted scents.

The scent of a lizard. The scent of a child woman.

Voices. Cries.

Black hair, brown eyes.

The lizard and the child woman had called that adventurer this.

—Naruhito Tooyama.

The last words of the slain great serpent, our kin, told me the name of the adventurer I had to kill.

The serpent and I mixed together. My anger and the serpent’s grief mixed together.

Enemy, enemy, enemy.

“To, o, ya, ma, Na, ru, hi, to.”

Bulge. Bubble, bubble.

My body, which should have melted and collapsed, grew out from the serpent’s mouth.

The new me. My body was no longer weak and fragile like it had been then.

A human body on a serpent’s body. Good evening to the new me.

I was no longer human.

I was no longer a serpent.

“Adventurers.”

I was an avenger.

One who kills adventurers.

I was a loser.

One who envies the adventure city, the people who live there, and the things that laugh there.

I failed. No one helped me.

Fine. Fortuna, just as you said, I will live however I like.

What should I begin with first? Ah, right. The enemy. I had to kill the enemy. The previous me was no good because she could not defeat the enemies spreading through the adventure city.

The things that threaten me as a serpent: adventurers.

The natural enemies hunting us serpents to extinction.

I will kill them all.

“Tooyama Naruhito.”

Ah, the moon was beautiful.

I slowly stretched out my new body and reached my hand toward it.

I could not obtain anything. I could not live in the adventure city. I was rejected as a foreign object and weeded out.

Ah, fine. Everything, all of it, no longer matters.

—Why not do as you please? Trena, no one expects anything from you anyway.

Yes, that’s right, Fortuna. My unlovable twin younger sister.

Just as you said, I will do as I please.

“The night is beautiful.”

With my newly grown eyes, I looked up at the moon over the adventure city—

---

~Two days after the host battle at Rain Inn, in the Open-Air Market of the adventure city Agatra~

“No, I’m telling you. Can’t you do something about the price of these tomatoes? I’m seriously going to buy a ton.”

“I told you, bro, these aren’t tomatoes. I keep telling you they’re ‘pomodoro.’ Huh? How are you complaining about the price when you can’t even remember the name of the vegetable properly?”

“Huh? Pomodoro is basically Italian for tomato, isn’t it? What the hell, are you pretending to be Italian? It doesn’t suit you. Grow some hair, octopus.”

“My hair’s got nothing to do with this, damn it. And what’s with those nasty eyes? Open your eyes before you complain.”

“They’ve been open from the start. Using someone’s physical features as an insult really makes me question your humanity, you know?”

“What? You’ve been spouting nonsense about Italy, tomatoes, and pizza since earlier, you damn brat.”

In the middle of the day, there was a rough-looking man glaring fiercely at the greengrocer.

It was Tooyama Naruhito.

“Amazing, bro. He’s facing down that terrifying greengrocer old man head-on and not backing down a single step… So that’s a dragon slayer…”

“No, Rida. That is merely a thug. It is not a form you children with futures ahead of you should imitate.”

Behind Tooyama, who was glaring straight at the greengrocer, were Rida, a tanned boy with closely cropped hair, and Lazaar, a young Lizardonian man.

Lazaar admonished Rida as the boy gazed at Tooyama with sparkling eyes.

The weather was clear, people came and went through the streets, and the market overflowed with energy.

The Open-Air Market served as the barometer of the economy of this adventure city, which held many people.

Today too, it was filled with lively calls for customers and voices negotiating discounts.

“Tch! This is pissing me off! If you don’t like the price of my goods, go check another shop! There are other stalls that sell pomodoro too!”

The shopkeeper finally snapped at Tooyama’s persistent discount negotiation. Indeed, thirty minutes was probably too long to persist. And while the shopkeeper had a foul mouth, Tooyama’s mouth was foul too.

The glaring contest between the sharp-eyed man and the stern bald man had completely driven away the other customers.

“No, I’ve decided. I absolutely want to buy my tomatoes from your shop.”

“Huh?”

“They’re a different color from the ones at the other stalls. Bright red and glossy. On top of that, the calyx is a deep green, and more than anything, the pointed shape at the bottom of the fruit is excellent. They’re wonderfully made. Are the tomatoes stocked at this shop contracted from some farm?”

Tooyama pointed at the tomatoes placed on the stand of the greengrocer-like stall.

Their red skin reflected the sunlight shining over the adventure city with a glossy gleam. Proof of good tomatoes.

“…You can tell, brat?”

“I can. This quality isn’t a level you can reach by sheer luck. Soil, weeding, pruning—no, it’s not just that. You can’t make these unless you pour your heart and soul into them after calculating everything from the farm’s location to the sunlight. And this quality without scientifically derived pesticides? I haven’t seen tomatoes as good as the ones at your shop anywhere else in this city. It’s hard even to imagine what and how much had to be sacrificed to make these.”

Tooyama said this decisively while placing in his hand one of the tomatoes, the red-fleshed vegetable called pomodoro in this world, piled on the shop shelf.

It was heavy and substantial. It must have been holding an appropriate amount of moisture.

The stern-faced bald shopkeeper gulped.

His wrinkled face narrowed its eyes and stared at Tooyama.

“…Brat, your name.”

The shopkeeper’s voice sounded as though it had been squeezed from his throat.

“Tooyama Naruhito. Adventurer.”

Tooyama answered smoothly.

“Heh. Why would an adventurer get that serious over a mere vegetable?”

“Because they’re good. You don’t think they’re mere vegetables even in the slightest, do you?”

“Then buy them without asking for a discount.”

“If I were just going to eat them, I’d buy them at your asking price. But this time, the circumstances are different. This one purchase will determine my future. The negotiation is simple. Five hundred tomatoes. Lower nine silver coins to seven silver coins.”

Tooyama spoke fluently and without hesitation. There was no guilt or anything else in his words.

He said nothing more. He simply did not look away from the shopkeeper’s piercing gaze.

“…They’re not tomatoes.”

“Huh?”

“There aren’t any vegetables called tomatoes at my shop! What we have are pomodoro! Po-mo-do-ro!”

The shopkeeper leaned forward toward Tooyama and shouted.

“Oh? Meaning?”

“Tch! I don’t know anything about tomatoes, but if it’s pomodoro, I’ve got them. You greedy bastard. I’ve changed my mind! I’ll sell them at your price, you weird adventurer bastard!”

“Yes! Negotiation complete!”

In a complete change from his expressionless face, Tooyama raised the corner of his mouth in a grin and clenched his fist tightly.

“Ah, is it finally over? Honestly, you’re stubborn too. Customer, this man is happy that you praised the quality of his pomodoro. I’m sorry for making you stay with him for so many minutes. In one way or another, this man likes negotiating discounts with customers.”

From the back of the stall appeared a plump woman, an auntie with cat ears. Apparently, she had been watching Tooyama and the shopkeeper negotiate the whole time.

“Wha?! M-Ma, don’t say things like that! I just really changed my mind, that’s all!”

“Yes, yes. So, customer, when do you need the pomodoro by?”

Brushing aside the bald shopkeeper as he fussed noisily, the plump cat-eared auntie asked Tooyama.

Her apron and firm attitude suggested that she was probably the true authority of this shop.

Tooyama straightened his posture sharply.

“One week from now, please! Lazaar, Rida! This gentleman and lady are going to sell us toma—no, pomodoro!”

“Amazing, bro. Shopkeeper, thank you very much!”

“Well, for Naruhito, that certainly was peaceful. Master, madam, forgive my companion for being so persistent. Thanks to the vegetables you carefully raised, I feel I will be able to show off my skills.”

Rida and Lazaar each lightly bowed and approached.

“Huh? A Lizardonian? …A Lizardonian and a black-haired adventurer… I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere…”

“Oh my, madam? Hehe, the adventurer young man is wonderful too, but you, Lizardonian, have a fine voice. You must be popular, aren’t you?”

The shopkeeper and the auntie each seemed to think something when they saw Lazaar.

“No, nothing of the sort. Not compared to our companion here. After all, this man is the number one host of Rain Inn.”

Lazaar deflected her words while indicating Tooyama with his hand. His reptilian vertical pupils warped into a grin.

“…Oops, look at the time! Old man, here’s the advance payment. Seven Imperial silver coins. Count them properly, okay?”

“Y-Yeah. …Right, seven coins exactly. Come back to this shop one week from now. I’ll have them ready.”

Tooyama quickly took a leather pouch that served as his wallet from his breast pocket and pulled out silver coins from inside. Seven coins. No deception or negotiation was needed in the payment.

“Ah, can I get a few wrapped up now? I need them for a prototype.”

“A prototype, one week from now? …Don’t tell me you lot are entering the Dragon Festival?”

The shopkeeper gaped, while the auntie swiftly wrapped up the bright red vegetable that closely resembled tomatoes: pomodoro.

“Yeah, old man, you’re lucky. One week from now, the adventure city—no, the Empire—will see the birth of many of the strongest, tastiest breads. Lazaar Bakery. If you come, I’ll give you a little extra.”

“La-Lazaar Bakery? What the hell is that?”

“Oh my, I’ll look forward to it. How unusual. Adventurers opening a shop at the Dragon Festival.”

“You’ll be hearing about it sooner or later, whether you like it or not. Thanks, auntie. Lazaar, Rida, tomatoes secured! Let’s go purchase from the next shop!”

Tooyama received the pomodoro package and left the shop.

“Yeah! Bro!”

“Understood, Naruhito. Well then, madam. It has been warm lately, but the nights are cold. Please take care of yourself.”

“Oh my, thank you. A wonderful adventurer, a cute little boy, and a Lizardonian. May the angel’s kiss be upon this day of yours!”

Lazaar and Rida bowed to the shop, then chased after Tooyama.

This was two days after the host battle. Tooyama and the others were proceeding with preparations for the Dragon Festival in earnest.

Yesterday and today were what one might call days off. They had not gone hunting outside the city for about two days.

The reason was that he had heard from Dromora that the prices were remaining high because they had unloaded more Titanos Mare materials into the market than necessary, and because he now had a fair amount of financial leeway thanks to his work as part of the Inquisition and the reward for destroying the illegal liquor brewery.

So today as well, they were preparing the Dragon Festival stall. Tooyama’s entire group had come out to the Open-Air Market.

“Now then, let’s meet up with Stolu and Niko for now. After that, we’ll purchase eggs. Rida, do you remember the notes from when I sent you to the market with Stolu the other day?”

Tooyama and the others advanced through the crowd. Occasionally, people behaving suspiciously stole glances at them, but when Tooyama glared at them, they disappeared. They were probably pickpockets or something similar.

While paying attention to his surroundings, Tooyama spoke to Rida.

“Yeah, of course, bro. Eggs are generally three copper coins each, and normally they’re wrapped in cloth in sets of six, so the market price should be one or two large copper coins for that.”

Rida quickly counted on his fingers and derived the answer.

Lazaar quietly lengthened his stride and matched his pace so that he and Tooyama sandwiched Rida between them.

“Okay. Sharp-minded people are reliable, Rida. Here’s a question. How many silver coins is five large copper coins worth?”

“Um, ten large copper coins are worth one silver coin, so… half. Half of one, so it should be 0.5 coins, or half a coin. You taught me that the other day, so I remember.”

“Excellent. Then let’s calculate. The tomatoes—no, pomodoro—we just purchased were five hundred pieces. I bought them for seven silver coins. Now, question. If the number we needed became half, two hundred and fifty, how many silver coins would we need?”

Among the children, this tanned boy named Rida had a mind that was exceptionally sharp. Tooyama could understand why he had held the position of leader over that group in the slums.

The fact that those young children had survived on their own in that living environment was probably largely due to Rida’s skill.

“Um… I got it. About three silver coins… No, it doesn’t divide evenly, so 3.5 coins… Ah! We can pay exactly with three silver coins and five large copper coins!”

“Oh, you noticed. You calculate fast. You’re worth teaching. I might even have you handle purchasing and things like that someday.”

“M-Me?”

Rida blinked at Tooyama’s words.

“Yeah, Rida. You’re naturally smart. Even if you’re not as quick as Luca, even if you don’t have Niko’s sociability, and even if you’re not as young as Pero and Shiro, you have real power of your own. I’m expecting a lot from you, Rida.”

“U-Ohhhh… L-Leave it to me, bro! Ah, when we get back to the room, if we have time, can I ask you again about the multiplication and times table you taught me the other day?!”

“Yeah. Luca and Niko still can’t handle subtraction yet. As for Stolu, she’s a defective model who can’t count up to one hundred, so that’s exactly what I want, Rida.”

Rida’s eyes sparkled at Tooyama’s words.

It was a scene almost like that of close brothers.

It was one of the sights Tooyama Naruhito had chosen and saved himself.

“……”

“What’s wrong, Lazaar?”

Lazaar had been silently watching the exchange between the two. Noticing his gaze, Tooyama tilted his head.

“No, it is nothing. I was simply admiring how you truly seem like a different person in battle and in everyday life. Naruhito, I ask rather late, but where did you learn arithmetic and Ancient Nihon Language?”

Lazaar, walking beside him with Rida between them, directed his voice toward Tooyama.

Tooyama looked briefly at the roadside stalls, then said,

“I told you before, it was compulsory education. Lazaar, explaining this part would take a long time. Once we make the bakery and things settle down, I’ll tell you properly.”

“…Well, at this point, I feel like nothing you say could surprise me. But, kukuku.”

Lazaar, who was beginning to grow used to dealing with Tooyama, quickly gave up on pressing him further. Then he glanced at Rida and began laughing with a hand over his mouth.

“What? That’s creepy.”

“No, nothing. I simply thought you were surprisingly good at looking after children. It was unexpected.”

Lazaar smiled faintly. From whose perspective are you saying that? Tooyama narrowed his eyes.

“Boss Lazaar! Bro is amazing! He’s smart, and he knows tons of things I don’t!”

Rida bounced along, directing a bright voice toward Lazaar with behavior fitting for a boy his age.

Compared to when they had met in that slum, his complexion had improved quite a lot recently, and he had begun smiling often for some reason.

“Yeah, yeah, keep praising me like that, Rida. Lazaar, ‘surprisingly’ and ‘unexpected’ were unnecessary. I was originally a philanthropist with a kind heart like this, you know.”

“Philan…thropist?”

“Wow, what kind of face are you making? Anyway, I don’t have time to deal with Lazaar’s nonsense. We need to find Niko and Luca. I asked them to watch Pero and Shiro, plus Stolu too.”

“Stolu is on the side being watched? She is, however, the finest knight of the Angel Church Knight Order. Naruhito, is your evaluation of her not somewhat too low?”

“…Hmm. Lazaar. I’ll say this, but she is…”

Lazaar’s perception of Stolu was apparently different from Tooyama’s.

Gently, Tooyama chose his words and—

“I’m telling youuu! I said a lot, didn’t I?! Hm?! The number?! I said a lot! It’s, um, that thing! That one greater than nine and ten! There are a nice-feeling lot of them!”

Even amid the market’s energy, that voice was loud.

A bundle of light-blue hair. A lovely appearance almost like that of a fairy, and a small egg-shaped face.

Her expression ruined all of it. There was a regrettable beautiful girl there, nostrils flaring, veins bulging on her forehead, barking at a stall.

“N-No, Stolu-chan! The shop worker’s mouth is hanging open! Like the big brother said, let’s stay quiet in the market. P-purchasing? Things like that should be done by the big brother and Rida!”

A freckled, adorable girl admonished the regrettable girl. However, she did not stop. She was like a powerless owner being dragged along by a large dog on a walk.

“Non! Even if those are Niko-chan’s words, I cannot listen to them! When I think about it, that bastard Tooyama looks down on me! Yesterday too, the addition? Thing he was teaching Rida, Luca, and Niko! He did not teach only me!”

The large dog did not stop. She snorted heavily. Apparently, she was very displeased about when Tooyama had given the children an arithmetic lesson yesterday.

“U-Um, Stolu-chan, that’s because before addition, your numbers are…”

The freckled girl, Niko, seemed to want to say something, but because she was sharp, she muddled her words.

“Niko-chan! Humans have twenty fingers and toes! The body the angels made as it should be has twenty of them! In other words, humans fundamentally have no need to count anything more than twenty! Therefore, there is nothing strange about me being slow at counting past fifty! Nothing at all! This, this, and this!”

The large dog, who was not sharp at all, naturally did not stop. Perhaps her talent had been allocated too much to her face and arm strength.

“U-Uh…”

“…Let’s stop, Niko. Stolu-neechan is, you know, that kind of person.”

Beside them, Luca, an androgynous boy who could be mistaken for a girl, muttered while soothing Pero and Shiro.

“This?! Luca?! I cannot let that line of yours pass! Please do not say things like that bastard Tooyama!”

“…Ah, it’s no use anymore. Only brother or Lazaar-san can stop her.”

Luca sighed softly.

“And so, in order to teach that damn Tooyama how amazing this wise me is, we will finish that purchasing? Thing he is trying to do ourselves! Shop worker! That is why I want a lot of this pomodoro! Money?! I just have to pay a lot, right?!”

Stolu Pula, age fourteen. Today too, she seemed very energetic.

“Lazaar-kun. What was that about my evaluation of Stolu?”

After witnessing the scene, Tooyama muttered.

“Naruhito, I am honestly sorry.”

At that calm question, Lazaar covered his eyes, looked up to the heavens, and murmured.

“Stolu-ane is bad news.”

Rida’s words said everything.

Today too, they survived in the adventure city and continued living.

“…What nice weather.”

Tooyama muttered, averting his eyes from the large dog’s excitement before him.

He vaguely looked up at the sun rising over the adventure city.