Chapter 71

"Ah, Lady...!"

Oh, he said that only to me. It must have looked like he was talking to himself.

I heard Misa's voice but casually brushed it off, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you hogging the lake all to yourself?"

- No...! I was just about to stop!

"Then come down. I don't want to have a nightmare about ruining the lake because of you."

- Um...

The snake slithered over and gently landed on my hand.

Its golden eyes seemed to be sizing things up.

- Did this body make a mistake? Was it wrong?

I sighed softly at the childlike tone.

"Fortunately, you stopped just before making a mistake. You don't need to drink more water, right?"

- Yeah. I don't need to drink. This body can go without water for about three months!

"That's a relief."

I looked straight at the snake coiled around my arm like a bracelet and asked the question I had been wanting to ask all along.

"No matter how I look at you... you don't seem like an ordinary snake. What exactly are you?"

Despite the innocent tone, it had an extraordinary appearance.

I waited for the answer, tense.

A being I didn't know, despite having regressed three times and knowing all the content of the original work.

There was only one being in this world that I didn't know much about.

- My name is Tuss! This body is a vassal of the great Dragon Duke!

Yes, that being is the person I am now heading to see.

The Dragon Duke, and no one else.

* * *

We arrived at the city of dragons.

Or rather, we were scheduled to arrive in about 30 minutes.

I couldn't hide my grin as I looked out the window.

'Goodness, what a stroke of luck.'

On my shoulder was a coiled baby snake, no, 'Tuss'.

'Not just a stroke of luck, but a big stroke of luck. Yeah, fortune has rolled in.'

The baby snake revealed its true nature two days ago.

It had been two days since it drank the lake water.

"Is it that good?"

"Huh?"

When I looked up, my father seemed to be looking at me with a bit of curiosity.

I was aware of the corners of my mouth curling up in a grin.

"Yeah. I'm really looking forward to it."

I didn't want to show how excited I was, but I couldn't help it.

'After all, it's a vassal of the Dragon Duke!'

I had been wondering how I would deeply involve myself with the Dragon Duke once we arrived at the dragon's castle.

It was a problem that I couldn't come up with a solution even as the city drew near.

'But then this little snake appeared, right?'

I recalled the conversation I had with the horned blue baby snake, Tuss.

I traced back to that moment.

It was when we returned from the lake to the place with the bonfire.

"What does 'vassal' mean?"