Chapter 549:
Rendezvous
“GEE, THAT’S STRANGE,” my father said.
“It is, right?” I agreed.
Fische nodded beside us. For the past few minutes, several different types of monsters had run past us. To be honest, I’d never seen monsters so overwhelmed and confused before. Even when we rode through the forest on the Snakey caravan, the monsters hadn’t been this frazzled.
“What do you think happened?” my father asked.
“Beats me,” I shook my head, just as baffled as Fische.
“Oh, Zinal is coming!”
I looked where Fische was pointing to see Zinal waving on Snakey-back. I waved in return.
“Huh?”
I’m not sure what…but something’s different.
“What’s wrong, Ivy?”
I wasn’t quite sure how to explain it to my father. It might’ve just been my imagination. But…
“Maybe the serpents are excited?”
My father and Fische looked at the serpents.
“You think?”
“Yeah. Their tongues are moving faster than usual, and their tails are a little faster, too.”
“I’m surprised you even noticed that.”
I didn’t catch what Fische said, but he sounded amazed. Had I said anything amazement-worthy?
“Zinal, good to have you back. How’s our problem doing?”
“It’s gone. But, well…” Zinal trailed off and smiled sheepishly. I couldn’t quite place his expression.
“What happened?” Fische asked.
“Well, it’s like this…”
Is it okay for me to hear this? Should I step away? I looked at my father, who simply shrugged his shoulders. I should just ask Zinal.
“Agh!”
Right when I was about to ask Zinal, I suddenly got swooped off the ground. Feeling something firm against my stomach, I looked down to see a serpent beneath me. Apparently, it had just decided to lift me, which was startling.
“Um…what was that for?” I asked.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
Sora and Flame seemed very excited by what Snakey had done. Not sure what to do, I looked at the men. My father and Fische appeared stunned, but Zinal was smiling sheepishly.
“Sorry, Ivy. The serpents are in a really good mood, so they’re acting a lot more assertively.”
Ohh, so that’s why their tongues and tails were moving differently. Were all those retreating monsters confused and overwhelmed because the serpents were excited?
“They’ve been like this for over half a day,” Zinal sighed.
“Whoa!”
Over half a day? Will they be all right? I made eye contact with the serpent lifting me, and its tail slithered with even more reckless abandon. Strange. They were usually so docile.
“Did something good happen to you?” I asked.
From the way Snakey waved its tail, I knew I was right.
“They helped me with a little problem,” Zinal explained. “And they seem to be happy that it went so well, because they’ve been like this ever since we finished.”
Snakey waved in reply.
They’re happy it went well? Aw, that’s kinda cute.
I reached out to the Snakey holding me and petted its forehead.
“I’m glad things went well for you. But let’s dial it down, okay?”
It was adorable, but I really needed to calm them. I felt sorry for all the overwhelmed monsters.
“Little good that’ll do if our monsters are still overexcited,” my father pointed out.
I followed his gaze to see Sora and Flame having a jumping contest.
“Sora and Flame, you kids dial it down, too, okay?”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
Boing.
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
Boing.
Yeah, this won’t do at all. Oh, Ciel stopped them from bouncing! Wait a minute, where did Zinal go? He was next to me a moment ago.
I looked at my surroundings from Snakey’s hold to find him chatting with Fische a few yards away. Were they debriefing each other?
“It seems that all the people directly involved with the guild master’s murder were arrested, and so was everyone who knew but didn’t do anything. The ones who made those illegal contracts were arrested, too,” my father told me.
“That’s good,” I said with a nod. I liked to think this would make the guild master’s and Ruzzy’s spirits rest easier. I looked down at the serpent holding me. Had it helped in the arrests?
“Did you help Zinal make the arrests?” I asked.
The serpent tilted its head a little. Was I wrong? Oh well, it doesn’t matter.
“Thanks for the help,” I said.
“Krr-krr-krr-krr!”
The serpent’s reply brought a smile to my face. I didn’t know what Snakey had done, but I doubted it was anything brutal. The serpents were all such sweet souls.
“Sorry we took so long. Let’s head out.”
Finished with their conversation, Zinal and Fische came back to us.
“Hey, Snakey? Can you put me down now?” I asked the serpent, who showed no sign of wanting to let me go. But after a moment of musing, I was lowered down. “Thanks.”
Snakey rubbed its nose against me in reply.
“Why are you always so gentle with Ivy?” Zinal whined.
A different Snakey answered Zinal with a headbutt.
“See?! Completely different treatment!” Zinal picked himself off the ground and protested at the serpent who had knocked him down. It was nuzzling its face against him. “Again, know your strength! You really do handle me horribly, you know?!”
With a merry laugh, Zinal swatted the serpent’s nose. It looked like the two had forged a good bond. In fact, they looked much friendlier than they’d been a few days earlier. Maybe working together had deepened their relationship?
“Ivy, something on your mind?”
“I was just a little surprised to see what good friends they’ve turned into,” I answered, smiling as I watched them.
My father made a face. “Good friends? From where I’m standing, it just looks like the serpent is using Zinal as a plaything.”
I could definitely see how he got that impression, but the serpents clearly trusted Zinal. I assumed that was why they acted so needy with him.
“Hey, don’t pull on my clothes!”
Fische laughed at the hint of defeat in Zinal’s voice.
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
“We should head out,” my father said. “What should we do about the serpents?”
The serpent swished away from Zinal the moment my father said this, and the one next to me also scooted back.
“Do we split up here?” I asked them.
“Krr-rr-rr-rr!” the serpent trilled sadly.
I reached out and touched its nose. “I’m sorry. I hate to see you go, but I won’t stop you. Thanks. I had a lot of fun.”
“Krr-rr-rr-rr!”
After getting a lot of pats, Snakey quickly slithered away. Looking back at us, the serpents headed off the way they came.
“Bye! See you later,” I said.
The serpents swished their long bodies in reply.
Wow, there’re six Snakeys here today. I didn’t see them all since they were hiding in the biggest one’s shadow.
“Aw, they’re gone,” Zinal sighed sadly.
Fische chuckled. “You all sure got chummy. Mostly because they were using you as a toy, though.”
Zinal smiled sheepishly. “They’re very intelligent monsters, seriously. Their control of their strength is exquisite.”
But didn’t he just complain about Snakey not knowing its own strength? Oh, is he trying to say the Snakeys toyed with the criminals just enough not to hurt them? Well, yes, I agree they do have excellent control over their strength.
“Well, let’s head to the next village,” Zinal said.
“Not so fast,” my father interjected.
Fische and Zinal gave him a curious look. “Something wrong?”
“The monsters are too excited,” he replied.
I looked down the road leading to Okanny Village and scanned for auras. I could feel a bunch of monsters wandering nervously inside the forest, and I could even hear the usually elusive sound of them moving through the treetops.
“Yeah, that’s no good. Guess we’ll have to wait until they calm down,” Zinal said.
Everyone nodded in agreement. We couldn’t do anything about it.
Mee-yaaah!
I looked up with a start as Ciel’s voice echoed through the trees all around us. And for some reason, the adandara looked very smug.
Flap, flap…rustle, rustle…tomp-tomp-tomp-tomp!
“I’m impressed.”
I nodded back at my father. With just one roar, Ciel had made all the monsters hiding in the trees disappear. That’s our Ciel.
Mrrrow.