NOVEL NEXT WORLD No matter how I look at it, it’s strange.
Yona pretended to look out the carriage window and quickly turned her head to glance at Alex.
Seeing this, Alex stared at Yona for a moment before quickly diverting his gaze.
“Hey.”
“Uh, uh.”
Alex looked flustered, as if something was off.
Thinking back, everything had been strange since morning.
After waking up feeling refreshed from a good night’s sleep and heading down to the hall for breakfast, it was odd.
Yona, who usually took her time waking up, was the last to arrive, and as soon as everyone saw her, they suddenly averted their eyes in a hurry.
Only Rubina was staring at Yona blankly.
And throughout breakfast, the awkward atmosphere was too uncomfortable to even mention.
So much so that Yona, feeling the tension, just ate her food while trying to gauge the reactions around her.
‘…Wait, were they all watching me?’
Yona quickly scanned her surroundings.
Everyone in the carriage was clearly avoiding her gaze.
They jerked their eyes away as if trying to avoid making contact, confirming that they were definitely paying attention to Yona.
‘Could it be they heard…?’
Last night had been a bit intense.
But since she had covered her mouth with her hand, it should have been fine; they probably hadn’t heard anything—
‘…Did they hear it?’
With such reactions, it could only suggest that they did hear something.
No, it still seemed unlikely that they actually heard anything.
And if they did hear, then why on earth was Alex just sitting there?
He could have jumped on her right away—it wouldn’t have been weird at all.
‘No way…’
He was definitely a vigorous young man.
He had tried to pounce on her before when she was naked, so at the very least, there shouldn’t be any issues with his… functionality.
It was possible that they hadn’t heard anything at all.
That was what Yona was thinking.
But just in case, it might be better to hold back.
That’s what Yona concluded.
*
After arriving at Kapatia Port, the situation changed somewhat.
Originally, before the events in Evian, the plan was to sneak onto a ship to the Katus Empire from here, but now there was no need for that.
So, she thought travel to Katus would be easier, but then a downside she hadn’t anticipated came up.
“…The ship we had prepared has already been canceled.”
Due to the delays in Evian, the ship that Ceres and the Alebians had arranged had already set sail.
They were supposed to board that ship for their secret travel, and all the preparations had been made, but now since they were late, the ship couldn’t wait, and here they were.
“What do we do now?”
Yona crossed her arms and snorted in frustration.
They needed to go to Katus; that was what they believed, so they had come this far, but now there was no ship to take them there.
Standing around on the wharf, filled with the smell of the sea, the party was at a loss.
Kapatia Port wasn’t large, but since it was a port, fishing boats constantly came and went, making it quite bustling.
It’s quite a bustling scene, coming and going all the time.
Seagulls are flying in the sky, occasionally diving down like arrows to snatch up fish swimming near the surface—an all-too-common sight at the harbor.
From the dock, Alebians said to Yona with an awkward expression, “I think we need to rent a boat.”
“Really?”
Since we’re not in a place where passenger ferries are leisurely sailing, we have no choice but to rent a boat to get to Katus.
It’s a relief we’re not looking for a smuggler’s ship, but without a regular ferry to Katus, that cost is bound to be hefty.
Yet Yona didn’t seem too concerned.
Is there any adventurer who isn’t sensitive about money? But since the cost of renting the boat wouldn’t come out of her pocket, it was all good.
More than anything, she had become somewhat numb to money matters at this point, so it was even less of a concern.
Whether they rented the boat or not, Alebians would be the one paying, so it didn’t matter to her.
So, isn’t it better to rent a boat and get to Katus quickly?
She wanted to get everything done and return hurriedly.
That’s when Yona, looking around, half-opened her eyes as her gaze fixed on a particular spot.
“What’s up?”
“Hey, Kaiyak.”
She raised her hand to Alex, who was looking puzzled, and called out to Kaiyak.
Kaiyak, who had been talking about something with James, turned to Yona at her call.
“What is it?”
“Let’s do a job together.”
Despite the suddenness of her words, Kaiyak didn’t say much.
“What’s the job about?”
“Just follow me for now. Oh, and Alebians, you mentioned the ruler of Katus is a snake beastman, right?”
At Yona’s unexpected question, Alebians slowly nodded.
A strange nation where beastmen take turns to become the emperor—Katus Empire.
The current emperor is undoubtedly a snake beastman.
“Then it’s settled. If I have nothing to lose, I might as well go for it. Kaiyak, let’s go.”
Following behind the walking Yona, Kaiyak had to wonder what she was up to but thought maybe she has something planned.
“Saying ‘snake among snakes’ must mean Vervaria, right?”
Avoiding the puddles on the ground, Yona continued to speak.
With every step Yona took, her outfit changed.
From her comfortable nun’s attire, it transformed into the demon realm’s saint outfit, and with each change, the gazes of passersby turned toward her.
It would be hard not to stare if a healer in ordinary nun’s clothes walked by and gradually morphed into a stunning woman dressed in black.
“But why did I ask you to come along?”
“Lizardmen are kind of snake-related, aren’t they?”
At that, Kaiyak fell silent.
Even though both lizards and snakes share the same word, they’re clearly different creatures.
Yona, who thought that a snake beastman and a lizardman were similar, left Kaiyak clueless about where to start with correcting her.
I had absolutely no idea if I should hit them or not.
Where Yona and Kaiyak were approaching, a gigantic sailing ship was docked.
That ship, flaunting the flag of the Katus Empire, was still busy loading supplies, and amidst the chaos, Yona could easily recognize the crowd.
Among the dozen or so gathered, some were swaying their tails.
And those tails were covered in dark gray scales, resembling a snake’s tail.
“I think I can guess what you’re thinking, Yona.”
“Right? Am I not super smart?”
“At least today, I truly think you are smart.”
“See? I knew it!”
With a little “ahem,” Yona lifted her chin, putting on a haughty expression.
Even though it was qualified with “at least for today,” she didn’t seem to ponder what that meant, making Kaiyak want to sigh internally, but he felt that at least for now, Yona was right.
“Hey! People of the Katus Empire!”
Striding forward confidently, Yona called out to them without hesitation.
The workers, busy with loading operations, seemed not to hear Yona’s voice at all, and it wasn’t until she called out two more times that they finally turned around.
“Um, who are you?”
Amidst the elongated response, a hissing sound of air escaping erupted.
The person who turned out to be a woman had her long pink hair styled in a round braid called a “bride bun,” and she glanced over at Yona.
Her thick tail, reminiscent of fried shrimp, flicked around as she looked at Yona.
She had healthy brown skin.
But more striking than that were her bright red eyes with vertically slit black pupils.
As Yona flinched at the unexpected gaze of the red irises and black slit pupils, the woman inquired again.
“Who are you…?”
Every time she spoke, her split tongue peeked out between her lips.
Yona had seen tongues like that before.
They called it a split tongue, and indeed, it was forked like a snake’s.
It even made a shh-shh sound whenever it moved.
Literally—a human possessing snake features.
However, even that woman could not find words as she looked at Yona.
Yona was wearing a black saint’s robe.
And behind her, a snake with plum-colored scales crawled around, freely moving along Yona’s entire body and finally climbing up to her shoulder, also gazing at the snake woman.
“Are… are you the priestess of Vervaria?”
It seemed that she recognized her.
Yona thought with relief and let out a sigh of relief.
It would have been awkward if they asked who she was, but at least they recognized her.
Still, she felt she should correct any misunderstandings.
“I’m not a priestess, and it’s not ‘of Vervaria.’ Anyway, are you from the Katus Empire?”
While speaking, Yona couldn’t shake the feeling that this woman in front of her looked oddly familiar.
I felt a sense of familiarity.
Is it because she’s a snake? Yona thought that it was a bit too natural for her to be looking down at others.
But it seemed that the woman didn’t care at all about being looked down upon.
“Y-yes! We’re going to the Katus Empire! We’ll stop by Kapatia and then head to Kuzb!”
‘…I don’t even know where that is…’
She had only heard of Katus not long ago.
Let alone knowing the name of the city.
“I am Kaiyak, the warrior who serves the saint here.”
“A Lizardman…! Y-yes! Warrior! My name is Amira Al Azrami…!”
Amira Al Azrami.
What a strange name.
“Can I just call you Amira?”
“Yes…! N-no, Saint!”
Yona was already starting to feel a bit burdened by Amira.
Since she’s a snake beastman, wouldn’t she recognize Vervaria?
And with Vervaria imbued in her body, and dressed as a saint, a snake had been spinning around Yona’s body like a snake’s mark, so she thought there might be a shocked reaction from a snake beastman.
So she thought that if they talked well, she could easily get into the Katus Empire, but this was too effective.
“So, Amira. We’re trying to enter the Katus Empire.”
“No problem—! I will serve you—!”
It was a luxurious inn a little inland from the Kapatia Port dock.
There was a restaurant attached, but the scale and facilities of that restaurant were on a completely different level than the inn Yona had stayed at.
And there, Yona and her companions were all gathered around, seated with the snake beastman who introduced herself as Amira.
“It’s not just me going; my party members are coming too.”
“That too, no problem—!”
Amira nodded vigorously as if her pink hair tied in a braid might come undone.
Yona suddenly wondered if she was actually listening to what she was saying.
“Um… hold on, there’s one thing that’s bothering me.”
It was Alebians.
Ever since Amira introduced herself, Alebians had been tilting her head, now it seemed like something came to mind.
“Amira, you said your name was Amira Al Azrami just now, right?”
“That’s right—! Saint’s companion!”
That title felt strange.
Yona thought so, but decided not to point it out.
“If my memory is correct, the current emperor of the Katus Empire is a serpent tribe, and the family name is Azrami… is that right?”
“That’s right—!”
“Then, Amira Al Azrami… you are…”
“I am the twenty-eighth daughter of His Majesty the Emperor!”
It fell silent like cold water had been splashed in the room.
Only Amira was beaming with a smile.