A Horror Novel’s Supporting Character Wants to Live as a Human

Chapter 243

[Then will the planet continue to change from now on?]

"Isn't that obvious? Everything on the planet changes. Just as you have changed over a long time, even the air won't be the same as it is now a hundred years from now."

At those words, turmoil arose among the snake-people.

Eight snake-people had come here today.

It wasn't a large number, but now having fewer was much better than having many.

The snake-people looked at each other and stirred uneasily.

"That's why old and worn things have no choice but to hide in corners. As I mentioned before, my race also perished because we didn't pursue change."

[For what reason did your race refuse change?]

"Isn't the reason obvious? We were afraid."

It had been several days since he began having conversations with the snake-people.The first snake-person to visit was a scientist.

A scientist with the characteristic of wanting to invent things and conquer incomprehensible mysteries.

The story he told him was about the Elder Things he had met long ago.

The brilliant civilization of the Elder Things who had already fled from the surface, their hypnosis techniques, the rebellion of the Shoggoths who were their slave race.

Though the time he had spent with the Elder Things was short, there were many things he could tell about them.

The snake-person scientist was intrigued by stories he had never heard.

Since they were too vivid to be fabricated lies, by the time the story ended, he could see the scientist was completely absorbed.

The snake-person who showed particular strong interest in the hypnosis techniques for controlling slave races brought his friend to the second meeting.

The second snake-person, also a scientist, was enthusiastic about the Elder Things' characteristics of flying through the sky.

Since snake-people had to live underground and on the ground, they always had to consider geographical limitations in their living spaces,

But if snake-people could fly through the sky, there would be no need to have the demerits that terrain imposed.

In this way, curious snake-people scientists gathered one by one.

The reason they came to him was only one.

To devise methods to solve the crisis facing the current snake-people race from the stories he told,

And to lead better lives.

He actively agreed with them, discussed together, and opened doors to various possibilities.

On the surface, it was a forum for discussion where intelligent beings worked together to build an impossible future.

However, he already knew.

As long as he was in this place, they would never be able to obtain the future they desired.

[What did they fear? The phenomena that accompany change?]

"Wouldn't it be various things? But among them, there was one thing our race feared most..."

Trailing off his words at the snake-person's question, he smiled as if troubled.

"I'm reluctant to say more here. Though it's an almost extinct race, I still have a being I believe in."

[A being you believe in? What is this being you believe in?]

"A being who has cared for our race. We have lived depending on his protection. I don't know how else to explain beyond this. My personal story wouldn't be interesting."

[We too have a being we rely on. However, he sleeps beneath our city, and while we think of him periodically, he does nothing except support the city.]

One snake-person who heard his words spoke.

The one with dark green scales was an individual who had only recently joined this gathering,

And was firm in his convictions as well as a thorough skeptic.

At his bold words, the snake-people nearby unanimously criticized him.

[How dare you insult the Serpent Father with such words!]

[This is all reality. Is there anyone among us who has seen the face of the King of Serpents? Has he ever revealed himself when the priests prepare altars for him?]

[Do not call him that way!]

[I could not perceive him in the incense smoke, nor on the abundant altar. In an age where only what can be seen and touched is treated as real, I have not seen him and could not touch him. What is wrong with saying that? What is wrong with speaking of one who may be beneath the city or may have disappeared?]

Sharp hissing sounds came threateningly,

But the skeptic's yellow eyes shone as they stared straight at him.

Well, well?

"I hope everyone will calm down. Even if you all combine your strength and rack your brains, it wouldn't be enough."

He tapped the rock he was sitting on with the stick he carried as a walking staff.

The snake-people didn't withdraw their menacing attitude, but at least stopped the threatening hissing.

He continued speaking while casting his gaze toward the dark green snake-person.

"I don't know exactly what kind of being you all revere. But speaking that way about the being called the serpent god, the being all you snake-people currently trust, doesn't seem good."

[There is no falsehood or personal opinion in these words.]

"Others might not feel the same way. What everyone accepts is bound to be different. Isn't this a matter of respect?"

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of the wooden stick slowly hitting the rock continued.

After enough time had passed to draw the snake-people's attention, he opened his mouth.

"However, I think I understand what you mean. The being who protected our race also disappeared in the end. Because of that, our race walked the path to destruction."

[Is your race the same as ours?]

"It could be the same if we say so. We suffered from cold earlier than you. When we detected the anomaly, most of our race requested protection from the god we served, but he did not answer."

[What did you do?]

"The race was divided into two factions. Individuals who said we should wait for the god's response, and those who said we must find a way to survive with our own strength."

[Which side were you on?]

"Hard to believe, but I was the latter."

[Why?]

"To survive, of course. It's natural to respect and love the being we serve. But our lives are equally precious."

[What happened after the race split?]

"The latter side, individuals with the same opinion as me, joined forces to seek ways to survive. However, we couldn't implement the answer we barely found."

[For what reason?]

"Because those with ideals opposite to ours gained power."

[What did they do?]

Finally, the question he had been hoping for.

He mustn't smile too broadly or put on an exaggerated performance.

During the brief pause in his words, a subtle tension drifted among the snake-people.

"They waited. They thought that if they waited just a little, our god would protect us as he always had. Therefore, even those who shared my intentions had no choice but to abandon the method they had barely found. Looking back now, it was foolish, but since the majority wanted it that way, there was nothing we could do. So we waited and waited, and in the end."

He enjoyed the tense atmosphere for a moment before answering.

"We perished like that. ...Please don't feel sorry or sad. It's already buried in the past. What happened once cannot be undone, and since only I survived, I must now think about the path ahead."

[Did you not try to correct it? Did you not appeal that destruction could be avoided?]

"I wish I could tell you about everything we tried during that time."

[Where are you going? Descendant of a perished race, where do you plan to go now?]

"My story ends here completely. It's an old, tedious, uninteresting story. Even if you come here from tomorrow, you won't be able to see me."

[So suddenly!]

The snake-people stirred.

It was natural since he had thrown a bombshell without showing any sign beforehand.

But wouldn't there be value in him sitting here all this time only if they showed such agitation?

"I was truly delighted to share many stories with all of you during this time. Please return to your city now. If fate allows, we'll meet again someday."

Though he spoke somewhat like an order to leave, since the sun was slowly setting, they really did need to return.

If it got any later, the cold would freeze the snake-people solid.

The snake-people reluctantly took steps while glancing at him as if they couldn't believe it.

He sat without moving until they all disappeared from view.

When silence returned to all sides again,

Someone suddenly popped out from behind the tree he was sitting against.

[Your tongue has grown quite long in the meantime. Did Hastur give you special lectures?]

"Hardly. It's probably because the snake-people's situation is too desperate."

When he removed the stuffy cloak, noticeably brittle red hair poured down.

Though much time had passed, he had kept his face covered the entire time just in case.

Even while roughly brushing back his disheveled hair, Aphoom-Zhah asked mockingly.

[Then this being's believer drove desperate ones into a corner with his silver tongue.]

"It's not exactly wrong. Did you think I would feel something like sympathy?"

[Hoho.]

His white eyes smiled thinly.

[Doesn't the believer pity those things? Lowly creatures barely surviving underground, miserable beings who will die without receiving protection from their sleeping god just when they tried to live properly.]

"Well. None of that is my fault. The snake-people preferring underground, Ig falling asleep, those creatures being unable to devise ways to survive."

[But the believer brought me all the way here. You won't say you don't know what this means.]

"A believer wandering the land with the god he serves isn't wrong either."

[You don't have even a speck of sympathy, my cold-hearted believer. Unlike what you showed to the humans of Theem'dra.]

"They're Yurik's children. Shan and Tika were good to me. So I should be good to them too. They're different from those who devoured me and tore out my heart the moment they met me."

[You mean give as much as you receive? That's so scary it gives me chills. Not a bit of sympathy.]

"Don't say ridiculous things. You don't feel fear."

[The believer is the same, so what. You're just like a god.]

Aphoom-Zhah smiled brightly.

Seeing him smile like this with Leandros's face was something he still couldn't get used to.

Looking at Aphoom-Zhah with displeasure, he grabbed a sharp stone and began scraping the surface of the withered tree roughly.

Aphoom-Zhah asked.

[What are you doing?]

"Since I won't be here from tomorrow, I'm preparing the next plan."

[What plan?]

What he carved on the stone wasn't letters but pictures.

Snake-people, cold weather, dying birds and animals. And the one being who could save them.

He answered while scraping the tree as delicately as possible with all his strength.

"A fake lifeline for the snake-people."

*

[There are said to be suspicious signs among the honorable scientists recently.]

[What kind of signs?]

[There are rumors that they don't believe in our great Father.]

In the depths of Yoth, which inherited the glory of Valusia,

Several snake-people were gathered in an area that only priests who presided over rituals for Ig could enter.

They were larger in build than ordinary snake-people, and their scales shone smooth and heavy.

The largest among them answered with hissing.

[Scientists inherently have the nature to challenge forbidden realms. While this nature sometimes shines brilliantly, it can also make them harbor impious thoughts.]

[But will we just watch like this? Will we just observe these scoundrels who deny the origin of snake-people?]

[Of course not. At the beginning of all science and all history is our sleeping Father, so those who deny this fact cannot remain in Yoth.]

[Then indeed.]

[We will hold a ritual for the Father who sleeps below. All snake-people must show respect for the great Serpent King. If there are any who cannot,]

A long, thin tongue licked the air.

A sacred space deeply permeated with the smell of heavy earth and stone, thick incense.

When the tip of a snake-person's tail swayed, a faint jingling sound rang out.

At the same time, the largest snake-person declared.

[We will remove the unclean hearts of the traitors and return them to the Father who is our origin and womb. Everyone prepare. The day when great Ig will rejoice has come!]