Chapter 35: Sasaki Aya gets used to the life in the dungeon
ìHaaahÖî
The next day a struggle to the death with a harpy had unfoldedÖ
It seems like they thought I could become a fighting force, so I was brought together with Elder Sister-sama and the others.
This uses quite the amount of nerves.
Thereís a whole lot of dangerous monsters outside the den after all!
ììììThatís impressive.îîîî
My sisters of the same age were looking at me with eyes of respect.
No, I am not happy at all about this though!
It seems like I am stronger compared to your regular Lamia.
Mother-sama said: ìYour Status is quite higher compared to that of the other girlsî.
What is Status?
It seems like Mother-sama sees something.
And so, it has been day after day of my older sisters training me in hunting.
After finishing the hunting, I would watch the big waterfall in my free time from the opening at the back of it.
A bit of the sunlight can come in from there.
It calms my heart down better than our dark lair.
Moreover, the magnificent scenery and the explosive sound of the water blows away the hazy feeling in me.
A loud splashing sound was made, and when I checked, a giant snake was showing its head out from the water.
Sea Serpent.
Why is a Sea Serpent in a lake?!
I wonít throw such an unrefined retort.
This is a fantasy world.
By the way, Sea Serpents and Lamias are brethren snakes, so we are not hostile to each other.
But thatís rare, and the inside of the dungeon basically has enemies all over the place.
Arachnes, Harpies, Lizardmen, Orcs, Ogres; this underground area seems to be the resting place of monsters.
Thereís many monsters having turf wars.
The ones who have a specially bad relationship with us are the harpies.
They are the same as us, half-human half-monster, so I think it should be fine to get along with each other though.
But apparently their Mother-sama and our Mother-sama have a relationship of dogs and monkeys.
ìIt is the kind of world that Takatsuki-kun would likeÖî
I remembered the game-loving classmate of mine.
He loved RPG Games to an excessive extent.
If he came to this world, he would definitely be extremely happy.
ìGyaaaaaa.î
I heard a scream.
Ah, a goblin was dragged in by the Sea Serpent.
This is pretty bloody for being a fantasy.
HaahÖ
Letís return to our lair.
?? ìHuman transformation magic?î
A few months after.
At the time when my sisters began to hunt together with me as well.
I heard an interesting piece of information from my older sisters.
No, you could even call it good news.
ìWhen we hunt humans, thereís times when if we were to fight them upfront, we would just end up being defeated ourselves.
Their strengths vary after all.
Thereís weak humans, but thereís also outrageously strong ones as well.î
Fumu fumu.
ìAnd so, we use Human Transformation Magic to trick them.
Just like this.î
Older sister muttered something that had complicated intonation, and in the blink of an eye, a beauty of pristine skin appeared.
Ooooooh!!
Amazing!
She has actual legs, and I canít see any snake elements in her.
By the way, she is completely naked.
ìWhen transforming into humans, we should wrap ourselves in cloth.
If we arenít wearing anything, we would surprise them after all.î
ëOf course they would!í, is what I thought, but my sisters were all going ëëëëI see~ííííí and were amazed by this.
This is the gap between races, huhÖ
But, couldnít I use this?!
If I master Human Transformation MagicÖ
ìYou are good at this.î
Elder Sister-sama says this impressed.
My sisters were having a hard time doing the Human Transformation Magic, but I easily succeeded.
ìIt is hard to imagine a humanÖî
ìWe havenít seen one properly after all~.î
ìHow do you stand up?î
I ended up in charge of teaching my sisters.
Well, I was a former human after all.
I can only thank my previous life.
No, I would have liked to be human in my current life as well thoughÖ
ìThen, how about you join the human hunting soon?î
When Elder Sister-sama told me this, I got flustered.
ìN-No, I actually had a time when I was attacked by a human outside, and I am scaredÖî
This is a lie.
I am allowed to go outside alone, so I can make lies like this.
I actually havenít met a human.
The only times I see them are the times when my older sisters catch them every now and then.
(I donít really want to become a monster that attacks humansÖ)
I donít have the courage.
The coexistence with humans that I had given up once is beginning to show some light of hope.
If I use the Human Transformation Magic, I am simply a fair-skinned girl.
I can live in human settlements with that!
Human Transformation Magic has a time limit, and when this thing called Mana runs out, it undoes itself.
Just that, my Stats are higher than that of my other sisters apparently.
I am sure it will last long.
Isnít this my chance?
I decided to secretly look for a chance to escape.
The next problem would be the language barrier.
I donít understand the words of the humans in this world.
When I was racking my brain to think of a way to deal with this, my older sisters once again resolved it for me.
ìHere, a book that can let you learn the language of humans.î
Thereís even something like that?!
Is what I thought, but in order to trick humans, you obviously need to know their language, huh.
ìëPlease help me.
I will do anything you want to repay youí.
As long as you can say this, you can deceive most human men.î
ìI-I seeÖî
Men are easy to understandÖ
Yeah, but thatís just how it works.
My objective is to live in a city, so of course I studied the human language.
My sisters were going ëëëëSo weird~íííí and were in wonder at my behaviour.
Sorry, I am going to be leaving home, my sisters.
My hunting ability has been increasing smoothly.
It seems like I have some sort of weird power, so when I charge strength before running, I can go at around twice the speed of my sisters.
ëTou!í, when I jump, I can jump once more in mid-air.
ëOrya!í I clenched my fist, and when I punched after charging it for a bit, a harpy was sent flying away around 100 meters.
ìWhatís with that power of yours.î
My older sisters were wondering about this.
It seems like these arenít abilities of Lamias.
ìThose must be whatís called Skillsî, is what Mother-sama taught us.
Mother-sama knows everything.
As expected of someone who has lived for more than 300 years!
Thatís right, Mother-sama is 300 years old.
Her presence is just different.
No matter how strong they say I am, I am a weakling compared to Mother-sama.
Oops, I went out of topic there.
ìWhat are Skills?î
ìThereís times when monsters are born with strange abilities.
Humans also have them.
It is best if you donít get involved with humans who have strong skills.î
Ooh!
That sounds like important information.
These abilities are called Skills, huh.
And humans also have them.
Is it because I was a former human that I have them?
Oh well, thatís fine.
Thanks to that, I can be peerless among the neighboring monsters.
ìSince the time you were born, the children have gotten attacked less.
Nice girl.î
I was praised.
This world is ruled by the law of the jungle.
It is no exaggeration.
Weak monsters are eaten.
We Lamias are not weak monsters, but we are by no means the strongest.
Thereís apparently a mountain of monsters who are stronger than us Lamias.
Thatís why we as family have to unite as one.
Mother-sama, Elder Sister-sama, and the Older Sisters said this.
We sisters nodded at this.
(Sorry, but I will be leaving.)
I lowered my head to my family inside my mind.
At first I was paralyzed in fear.
I resented God, questioning: Why was I reborn as a snake?
But after living with them for a while, I learned that I am from the Lamia race, a race that cares for their own family.
There are times when it is hard to live in this dungeon, but we managed to keep living on by helping each other out.
I am glad I was reborn into this race.
(I want to repay them as much as possible.)
ìOryaa!î
I killed a Giant Lizard that was attacking my sisters with one punch.
ìHya!î
I made the harpy flock, that my older sisters were having trouble fighting against, run away.
ìCrush!î
I threw a giant boulder towards the Arachnes that attacked us.
ìYou are really strong.î
ìI want to quickly become strong too.î
ìEven though you eat so little.î
Not only my sisters, but even my older sisters began to rely on me.
By the time I noticed, I was now the No.3 in the family.
I probably let it get to my head.
I didnít notice.
The fact that, at some point in time, Elder Sister-sama was looking at me with eyes of envy.
