NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29: Life is short!
Life is short!
Chapter 29: viper ur next! Muhahahaha!
Vira: So, you're not gonna mention Luna at all?
Author: It's already been 40k words. If I mention her, it will get too long.
Vira: So what if it's long? It's your work.
Author: It's not! It's not mine! It's just an aberration of an existing one.
The two people, while leaving in the same year, fortunately did not leave at the same time or near each other. In fact, they had stayed with him in completely different ways.
Luna, the girl Vira had spent the most time with aside from Viper, had passed on. She was already weakened by a completely unknown disease—one that made her life miserable with jolts of pain without any clear symptoms, a constant drain, and a weakness in her body as if someone were sucking the life out of her.
All this pain was concealed beneath her happy face, full of smiles, as well as her cheerful act. She never once forgot to try and snatch Vira's food. It wasn't that there wasn't enough. The day after Vira arrived, she had asked the kitchen to prepare two sets. Although she hadn't given a reason—well, she did give one—she had shared everything during the day with her grandfather, who returned home exhausted and drained after officially closing one of the few memories his child had left behind.
But Luna's happy face, as she described her new friend and her expectations for the future, was enough to keep this grey-haired old man from collapsing into sadness.
Now, as the flow of time caught up with him, he was left hopeless—at least until his faith returned after a simple conversation.
After Luna's sudden death in the morning, he finished the funeral quickly. There were a few things he had to do before he could accompany his wonderful granddaughter.
One of them was reminding someone who was coming at noon about this event and another matter. Let's just say this old man had a sharp glint in his eyes—one unlike the depression or hopelessness one might expect when the white-haired had to send off the black-haired twice in his life.
With his sharpness sheathed inside his gaze, he came to Luna's bedroom. The place that had once carried the joy and entirety of a young girl's life now seemed drained of all its warmth, turning into a sorrowful place—not only for him but also for the one who had just climbed up the window.
Nicolas: "Should I call you Vira or Mr. Ninja?"
Vira had a bad feeling when he saw the black clothes and the sensation the room gave. Completely ignoring the question, he asked, "Where is Luna?"
His tone remained unchanged, and even his face was as neutral as before. The only thing that could signify his emotions was Viper, who was coiling tighter and tighter around Vira's neck. As a serpent, there weren't many things Viper could do now that Vira had grown up, but there was one thing—it could still provide companionship as the one who had remained closest and could sense Vira's emotions.
It was something Viper had never failed to do since the first day Vira had opened his eyes and started expanding his magical influence into this new world.
Still, it was hard to say whether Vira was experiencing emotional turmoil or even a slight shift. But judging from how Viper never stopped coiling—even when Vira started having difficulty breathing—it appeared that the serpent's way of comforting him was not entirely useful. Especially when Vira already knew what Nicolas's next words would be.
Nicolas: "She is gone. Gone to a place where I can only hope to follow soon."
Hearing these words—the confirmation of a life's end—hit hard. And not just any life. It was the end of a ten-year-old girl who had not lived enough. A girl who had kept him company for more than half of his life. A human—one of the few he had shared a bond with.
After Nicolas uttered those words, an awkward silence was the only thing left in the room. The silence lingered for a long time until Vira, struggling to breathe, gently rubbed Viper's skin, signaling it to stop. Finally, Nicolas spoke.
Nicolas: "It seems my preparations... words of consolation... are not needed. Sigh... You are calmer than I expected."
Vira: "Is that so? Perhaps I have seen too many deaths..."
These words seemed to anger Nicolas, and I could swear his next words would have been, "Don't compare those trash, those no-lifes, with my—" but before he could even open his mouth, Vira continued, snapping out of his trance.
Vira: "Is that so? Perhaps I have seen too many deaths... You see, although I can't really bond with or even empathize with humans well, it's all too natural for me to love these guys."
This was strange. Not the words themselves, but the fact that Vira had stayed and continued speaking.
Just a year prior, Stephan had died because the dialysis hadn't worked well—especially after he skipped multiple sessions. And when Vira was informed of his death, his only response was, "Ohh," before leaving Peter to handle everything. Setting aside that wannabe prick, even when Woof died, Vira hadn't spoken a single word.
Hell, the fact that he was speaking such a long sentence without a concise point was weird in itself. He never said anything unnecessary. And yet, this was probably the most Vira had spoken in a single moment.
And he wasn't finished yet.
While saying the words, "It's all too natural for me to love these guys," Vira gently caressed Viper's head. After a moment of silence, he spoke again.
"And they don't live as long… With their feeble lifespans, most of them have already left me."
Hearing these words, Nicolas seemed to calm down. He recalled Luna often talking about Vira, and from those memories, he knew that being compared to an animal was probably the highest indication of a bond in Vira's book. At least, no human aside from her had ever come close.
As the memories played in his mind, Nicolas simply sighed and said nothing. As he walked toward the door, Vira spoke again.
"You won't be able to get past his security."
"You investigated me?" Nicolas asked in a questioning tone, though he didn't seem to care about the answer.
"As the hope of my group, they do things even when I don't ask," Vira replied.
"Guess there's that. But don't worry, I asked people to help me," said Nicolas.
"Your guards won't respond. They work for me now after leaving you. And the one who agreed to help is already working for your target," Vira said, slowly walking toward the door where Nicolas had stopped.
When he reached the now-despairing man, Vira spoke again.
"Why don't you work for me? I'll bring him to you. Also, I don't know whether or not Luna would blame you for dying, but I know for sure she would blame you for refusing to help me."
Vira himself didn't understand why he had spoken so much. This wasn't the first time he had invited someone to join him, but never before had he spoken this long or in such a... caring tone.
But it worked. He had gained a reliable and talented worker. And as for loyalty—
In Nicolas's own words, "he will serve vira till his life ends."