So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

[The Heaven Defying Magician Pelerian]

「Pelerian Uglypuss began his ugly life in an elf village in the great forest.

While it's natural for fairies to be born beautiful, he had an appearance that could never be called attractive.

Pelerian, who would be called ugly even among humans, is said to have had the appearance of an old man from a young age.

It might be natural that he started to become twisted, unable to adapt to fairy society.

But such prejudice is a fallacy that reverses cause and effect.

It's not that his appearance became twisted and then his personality became twisted.

Isn't it that he was born with a twisted personality and even his appearance became twisted?

This is certain when you consider the fact that originally all fairies are born beautiful with the blessing of the moon god, and live long lives receiving the magic power of the world tree.

The Heaven Defying Pelerian is an ugly fairy abandoned even by the gods...」

"Kuaaaak!"

Pelerian writhed in anger.

What we were reading was the content of the information board in front of Pelerian's dungeon.

The dungeon had really become a tourist attraction.

The dungeon entrance, which should have been hidden, was wide open, and there was even a ticket booth in front of it.

"Which bastard wrote this nonsense!"

'Calm down.'

At this rate, I'm worried Pelerian might burst into tears.

Even to me, it seemed like extreme slander was written there. It's completely malicious.

'By the way, was it Uglypuss? How can someone's surname be Ugly...'

"No! How could that be possible. My surname is... Damn it!"

Pelerian tried to say his surname but then clamped his mouth shut.

To even change the name, what an extreme distortion.

'Just bear with it a little, maybe we'll find something if we read more?'

There was a separate reason for reading such an information board.

'There might be things written that you don't remember.'

The Pelerian beside me is, strictly speaking, part of Pelerian's soul.

As his main body is presumed dead, Pelerian has no memories after being separated from his main body.

"That's right..."

He must be curious about how he met his end as well.

「The evil deeds Pelerian committed during his lifetime are too numerous to list completely.

The most famous would be the Pejite Island massacre. On that day, 700 kingdom citizens and 30 fairies were killed by him...」

I quietly looked at Pelerian.

"What! You think I don't know I'm a villain?"

Pelerian smiled cruelly.

"It's true that I killed them. Me."

'Who said anything?'

I continued reading about Pelerian's life.

Come to think of it, wasn't Pelerian a fairy supremacist?

I wonder how the 30 fairies ended up dead.

Did they fight on the human side against Pelerian to atone for the sins of their fellow fairies?

「However, the gods did not forgive that fairy's atrocities.

After days of fighting, the Empire and Kingdom mobilized heroes and soldiers to chase the wounded Pelerian.

It was a blessing for the kingdom that the efforts of Kaira, the top archmage at the time, played a big role in ending the Heaven Defier's life.

Pelerian was killed and beheaded.

The devil's end had finally come.」

Ah.

So that's how Pelerian died.

"Kairas..."

It seemed to be someone Pelerian knew.

Judging by how pale his face became.

"So it was you who killed me in the end."

Oh dear, how unfortunate.

If I hadn't been hiding in Roil's coat, I would have patted Pelerian's back.

Come to think of it, Pelerian had occasionally talked about human mages who were more skilled than him.

It was with a feeling of reluctant acceptance of something he couldn't comprehend, but...

Could this mage Kairas be that human mage?

"Oh, this is different from the history I learned."

The smart Amain said so.

What do you mean?

Is there perhaps a theory that Pelerian didn't die?

"In the book I saw, it said Pelerian was tied to a stake and burned alive."

"I heard the emperor personally tore him apart and fed him to crows."

Roil said so too.

Pelerian's face, which had brightened up with hope, darkened again.

'Ugh! Let's go in!'

It's uncertain.

Come to think of it, even the elves are tracking Pelerian's whereabouts. We'll have to find out properly later.

I urged Roil to enter the dungeon.

Torches were lit throughout the dungeon that should have been dark originally.

I wondered if tourists would actually come to this Calea City, but there were surprisingly quite a few people.

Especially many parents holding their children's hands.

The kids pointed at various parts of the dungeon with joy.

"These are the weapons Pelerian collected. This is why this dungeon is presumed to have been Pelerian's armory."

There was even a tour guide.

Weapon racks were placed throughout the dungeon, with various types of weapons hanging on them.

Glass display cases set up around them protected the weapons.

"The fact that the blades haven't rusted despite the passage of time is due to the preservation magic Pelerian cast. Considering that the duration of preservation magic is a criterion for gauging a mage's level, we can see that his magical skills were exceptionally outstanding."

Indeed, the weapons still gleamed, maintaining their lethality.

'But why did you collect all these weapons?'

I asked about something I was curious about.

Pelerian is a mage, not a knight.

But the weapons here are enough to arm at least hundreds of people.

Pelerian hesitated before answering.

"I was going to create guardians."

'Guardians?'

Guardians are those who protect mages.

In other words, they are bodyguards for mages who are weak in close combat defense.

'Didn't you say before that you lived like a lone wolf?'

But wasn't Pelerian famous for having no friends?

Although he said he had friendships with gnomes and dwarves, it doesn't seem like they would have fought together for Pelerian, who was a continental criminal.

"I was going to make them into golems."

'...'

That mentality of making friends directly because you have no friends.

It feels a bit pitiful.

The tour guide continued his explanation.

"As you can see, some of the weapons are exceptionally well-made. There's speculation that they're dwarf-made, but the dwarves here strongly deny that they made these weapons."

"Those gutless guys. They did make them."

Near this Calea City, there was a mine where dwarves lived.

It seems the beer Roil brought was also sold to them.

We looked around the dungeon for a long time.

Although they say they're dwarf-made, they're just old and ordinary items.

The Elven Broadsword I used before looks much better.

This is a bit disappointing.

With so many people here, it's not like we can take anything either.

While I was disappointed, Pelerian wasn't.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness a thousand times!"

'What's so fortunate?'

"It hasn't all been stolen!"

Pelerian smiled brightly.

"The most important room of treasures is still hidden."

The room of treasures.

Pelerian explained that particularly precious weapons and armor were hidden there.

"I hid some of the weapons to be equipped by the four golems, 'Four Beasts Guard', who would guard me closely, in the treasure room. It's right over there."

There was nothing in the direction Pelerian pointed.

Just a smooth wall.

As the saying goes, it's darkest under the lamppost. Humans found Pelerian's dungeon, but they couldn't find another room hidden inside it.

"I hid it with a mechanical device. Do you see that carving in the right corner?"

There was an elaborate carving on the wall opposite the smooth wall.

If something was hidden, it seemed more likely to be beyond that wall.

"Place your tails on that eagle's head and infuse it with magic power. According to the pattern I'll tell you."

To think it's actually hidden in the smooth wall.

I want to go in right away.

'But there are too many people.'

With so many people around, we might have to wait until after closing time.

"There's no need for that."

Pelerian taught me a method.

As I listened, it sounded quite plausible.

Besides, it probably wouldn't be easy to sneak in after closing time anyway.

I decided to execute that plan.

"Also, Pelerian's dungeon is maintained by various magical and mechanical devices. To prepare for any potential fires, there are..."

I seized the moment when people's attention was focused on the tour guide.

「Using Basic Elemental Magic: Fire lv6.」

I set fire to the ceiling.

As if a torch suddenly flared up.

Beeeeeep-

An alarm immediately sounded.

Shhhh-!

Water started pouring from the ceiling.

"Oh no, everyone out, get out!"

The tour guide evacuated people.

The children found this situation purely amusing and laughed out loud.

Roil and Amain also mixed in with them and went out.

However, Roil left his coat on a bench as if he had forgotten it.

It's the coat I'm hiding in.

Swish-

Eventually, only Pelerian and I were left in the dungeon.

I approached the carving on the wall that Pelerian pointed to.

I stretched out my tail long and caressed the eagle.

"Infuse it with magic power."

As Pelerian said, I infused it with magic power.

Grrrrrr-

The smooth wall opened.

It's the 'Room of Treasures'.