Kanata seems to have gotten stuck with the No. 0 Unit company captains for a drinking party that lasted until the morning.
I, who was attending the No. 0 Unit company captains’ drinking party, made my debut in outdoor drinking, but I ended up getting stuck with them until the morning.
Lilith has occupied my bed, so I’ve given up. I’ll go along with it, all the way!
“Python-san, your ear is a bit broken, isn’t it? Is that a consequence of a fierce battle?”
“My older brother did that to me. He did something terrible to his beloved younger brother, didn’t he?”
“Python, you also gave your older brother a big scar on his upper arm.”
Sanpin-san, who seemed a little tipsy, laughed cheerily and said,
“The reason for the killings that created that scar is a truly ridiculous story.”
“You mentioned earlier that you brothers killed each other. What was the reason? A fight over a woman?”
“It wasn’t that kind of passionate story. In the past, our surnames were Viper and Hunter, and Python and Hunter. They were similar and confusing, so we decided for the brothers to have the same surname, or so the two of them chatted about…”
“…No way, did you start killing each other over that!”
“Yes, we did. Neither of us would back down and we ended up fighting. Then, the loser would take the surname of the winner. That’s how it went. It got so heated that they started a real fight to the death, believing that if one of them died, it would settle things.”
It’s certainly a ridiculous reason to kill each other. Are you really willing to risk your life for something like that? It’s very typical of Unit No. 0.
“Didn’t Uroko-san and the others try to stop you?”
The dry sausage Uroko-san ordered arrived. It seems to be a favorite.
“Oh, here it comes. I like this. Why would I need to stop them? It was a fight to the death they both agreed to, right?”
Uroko-san ate the dry sausage, twirling it around her tongue. She really is like a snake.
“Dry sausage is good because you can eat it on the battlefield. My favorite is prosciutto and melon, so it’s difficult. As for the killing, whether it was good luck or bad luck, Tozen-danna was sleeping in a tree at the place where the duel was happening. Of course, these brothers disturbed his nap.”
“…And then what happened?”
“Danna said, ‘Go kill each other somewhere else, and if you disturb my nap again, I’ll kill you both,’ he bellowed.”
Python-san, while enjoying the dry sausage, said,
“And I said, ‘You call yourself a captain, you idiot, you get lost.'”
“I threatened him, ‘Shall I chop off your remaining arm too and make you one-armed, huh?'”
Ugh, threatening the “man-slayer Tozen.” What a suicidal act.
It was like stepping on a snake’s tail, not a tiger’s. I can’t believe they survived.
“S-so, what happened then?”
The brothers simultaneously opened the front of their shirts and said,
“This is what happened.” “This is what happens.”
They showed us scar marks that crawled from their chest to near their navel, like a snake.
“Python, I was in trouble that time, wasn’t I?”
“You sure were, Older Brother. Neither I nor you thought a new captain would be that strong.”
“No matter how strong we thought we were, we didn’t expect him to be as strong as an Ice Wolf. I’m amazed I’m still alive.”
“And then, we brothers, having been defeated together, decided to die a glorious death for Tozen-niiki.”
“I’d happily die for Tozen-niiki, but I’d pass on dying for the Ice Wolf. He’s just that cool, niiki.”
“Tozen-san’s way of killing, it’s somehow… stylish, isn’t it?”
“You bet! Kanata, you saw it the other day too, didn’t you? The heroic figure of the one-armed man-slayer, slashing people away like trash with one sleeve fluttering in the wind.”
That’s right, Tozen-san’s battles feel like a samurai drama, with a certain sense of exhilaration.
Unlike samurai dramas, he takes many lives.
“If I were a woman, I’d fall for him, like Uroko-san would. Gufuu!”
Viper-san, cleanly knocked out, fell after Uroko-san’s flexible arm delivered a snake punch to his jaw.
“Wh-who’s in love with Tozen’s idiotic self! It’s just a rotten old connection, a rotten old connection!”
But Uroko-san’s face is a little red. It might be the alcohol.
I won’t say anything. Silence is golden. I don’t want to get hit by a snake punch.
“Hahaha, whether one is in love or not, his way of life has a charm that people like us, who are not human, can’t resist. I’d love to witness his death as well as his way of life.”
They sound like they genuinely want to see him die.
Sanpin-san is a person who seems friendly, despite not being human.
The former university student, having a good time drinking with such people, seems I wasn’t normal either.
“You declared in the recent battle, ‘Since humans are born, they must die once. It’s only a matter of sooner or later.’ That was a very Tozen-like quote… Whether I agree with it or not, it’s undeniably cool.”
Uroko-san tilted her glass with a wry smile and, after enjoying her drink, warned me.
“Kanata, I’m inviting you for drinks, but don’t get corrupted by us. Stray from the path of humanity and walk the path of the snake. We are insane as people.”
“The path of the snake is for snakes, but are you telling me not to become a snake?”
“Yeah, keep your two legs on the ground and walk the path of humanity. Unlike us, if you start crawling like a snake, it’s over.”
“I wonder. I’m already quite the inhuman murderer. Perhaps scales are already growing on me.”
Viper-san, having recovered from being knocked out, sat back down and said,
“The boy hasn’t come over to our side yet. We can tell, when someone is one of us.”
“My older brother is right. You don’t smell like one of us yet, An-chan.”
“Yet.” But when I first came to this world, I enjoyed surviving like it was a game.
Perhaps I have the makings of a snake.
“Kanata-san, I think that anger, hatred, envy, and jealousy—these negative emotions, and even madness, are elements that constitute a person. That snake lurks in the depths of the heart, watching for an opportunity to swallow one whole.”
Sanpin-san says something profound. Uroko-san elaborates.
“Kanata, when you experience many life-or-death situations on the battlefield, you start to hear it. The sound of the snake lurking in the depths of the heart, as Sanpin says, raising its head. We succumbed to that temptation. We chose to live by surrendering ourselves to madness.”
It was a snake that tempted Eve in Paradise.
The sound of the snake lurking in the depths of the heart, raising its head, huh? Will I be able to hear it too?
“In the extreme conditions of the battlefield, being mad is easier for people. It’s strange for us, who chose the easy path, to say this, but Kanata, please don’t become like that.”
“Was Tozen-san also consumed by the madness of the battlefield?”
“No, Tozen is different. I’ve known Tozen since way back, and he’s always been like this. Perhaps falling under Tozen’s poison was my bad luck.”
“Rather, isn’t Danna an envoy sent to spread madness? There are people in the world who are inherently irredeemable like that.”
They feel free to say whatever they want since Tozen-san isn’t here.
Well, anywhere in the world, a common topic at drinking parties is complaining about your boss… wait, what!
Shimura, behind you! Behind you!
“Huh? Did something happen to me, Sanpin?”
Behind Sanpin-san stood the one-armed man-slayer, his haori sleeve empty.
Oh no, this bar is about to become a scene of carnage, isn’t it?
I’m still dragging out the tavern talk. I admit, this story is turning out to be quite verbose and long.
The story’s pacing is also suffering, but writing about the daily lives of these eccentric individuals is a theme I want to explore.
