So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

"Uwaaah, wait..."

Madam Rila was greatly bewildered.

Being called a cool gorilla was truly a grateful compliment, especially since most visitors to the monster realm tended to keep their distance from her impressive stature. The words made her chest swell with a warmth she rarely experienced.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Moreover, the rabbit was also cute and cool, with those twitching whiskers and an unmistakable aura of confidence that seemed to sparkle around them. Their pristine white fur practically glowed in the dim light of the shop, and those alert eyes held a depth of wisdom that caught her attention.

It was even more pleasing because she was complimented by a cool monster. To receive recognition from someone who carried themselves with such natural grace – it made the praise feel twice as meaningful.

But the problem was that rabbit was hostile to boss snake.

"Saak!"

"Can only say 'saak', stupid snake."

"Sasat."

"Tiny whitey."

Whitey, really.

Madam Rila strangely understood other monsters' words well.

Especially, she could understand the boss's heart as clearly as if he was speaking directly.

Even she and the snake couldn't understand how this happened.

'Calling me small when you're just a tiny rabbit!'

"I'm bigger than you."

And it seemed the rabbit could understand the snake's words to some extent too. Read new adventures at empire

So a war of words could happen.

"Anyway we don't, need whitey snake."

"Sss..."

"I'll only take, cool big gorilla."

The snake looked at Madam Rila.

Because of her loyalty to the boss, Madam Rila couldn't stay quiet anymore.

"Stop it, boss is, good snake."

"That whitey snake is, your boss?"

"Yes, good boss."

"Can't believe it, boss must be very cool."

Well that's true.

Madam Rila's boss had cool aspects.

"That small snake, was the coolest monster, in your group?"

Madam Rila who was about to answer yes thought carefully.

She had a personality that couldn't lie well.

"That's not true, there was another big cool snake..."

"Saak!"

The snake made a shocked expression.

But certainly, there was a 'big cool snake' called Polaris Serpent.

"Boss is, that big cool snake's child."

"Ah, I see."

Contempt increased by one spoonful in the black rabbit's gaze at the snake.

"Whitey snake, riding on parents' coattails."

"Kissaaak!"

Madam Rila stopped the snake from charging.

'Rila! How could you do this to me.'

"Wh-what do you mean."

'You betrayed me!'

"But... it's true."

The snake looked like he would die from unfairness.

'Dad helped a lot... though I am a prince...'

Calling himself a prince was truly boss-like.

"Let go of cool gorilla, bad snake."

'Apologize.'

And finally the snake and rabbit confronted each other.

"Saaak!"

The snake and rabbit charged at each other.

I swear.

Madam Rila only heard a sharp collision sound.

Kaang!

The rabbit and snake passed by each other.

She couldn't tell how that thunderous sound was made.

What was certain was that the way the snake and rabbit looked at each other changed slightly.

"You have some skill. Whitey."

'You too, bla-, um, blackie.'

Madam Rila was surprised too.

Her boss had become much stronger than when he was in the great forest.

Though he surely didn't use his full power, the rabbit took that attack perfectly fine.

The snake glared at the rabbit with sharp eyes.

'But I wasn't using my full power. I didn't even use half my strength.'

"I didn't use, even half, of half."

'I didn't even use half of half of half.'

What a high-level war of words this was. Madam Rila marveled at the two animals' way with words.

That's when the rabbit made a sharp point.

"Why are you stopping her?"

"Saak?"

"I'm not forcing her, and it's not like, she can't come back. Just want, to show her around."

"..."

"Everyone wants to meet, the cool black gorilla that came in."

The snake was flustered.

"Being a boss, you can't even allow that?"

"Sa..."

"Not a good boss, then."

Madam Rila felt the flow of momentum at that moment.

The snake lost words.

The rabbit had won the war of words.

"Being a boss doesn't mean, you can do whatever you want with subordinates."

"..."

"Respect your, subordinates."

Snake, defeated!

The snake drooped his tail and came to Madam Rila.

'You can go. That rabbit is right.'

"Boss..."

'Go look around. Just come back by tomorrow.'

Madam Rila was a bit confused.

"Then what about boss?"

'I'm just...'

Whether it was really okay to follow the rabbit. Maybe the snake's real heart wished for Madam Rila not to go.

If the snake truly wished for her not to leave, Madam Rila wouldn't go.

'I don't care at ~all. I'll just work alone, lonely. I like being lonely and alone.'

"Ah."

Madam Rila nodded.

"Okay then. See you tomorrow."

'Oh, okay...'

Since he said he didn't care, nothing could be done.

Madam Rila followed the rabbit.

The snake stood frozen staring this way blankly.

"Take care."

Madam Rila waved her hand.

==

The rabbit held out its hand to Madam Rila.

Though bigger than normal rabbits, it was only half Madam Rila's height.

"Your hand."

"Ah..."

Though embarrassing, Madam Rila held out her hand.

She lightly grasped the rabbit's cotton-like hand.

The fur was soft, but the hand was stronger than expected.

Like feline predators, claws were hidden between the pads.

Those claws weren't ordinary but glinted coldly like metal.

Now she could understand how the metallic sound was made when colliding with the snake.

Since Madam Rila was an outstanding gorilla who walked on two legs, holding hands with the rabbit looked like walking with a baby's hand.

However, it didn't feel funny and somehow made her heart flutter.

"Let me, guide you."

The rabbit held Madam Rila's hand and advanced deep into the zoo.

To a place resembling a magic realm where even zookeepers rarely enter.

Madam Rila's expression became distant.

The sharp-witted rabbit noticed it right away.

"What are you, thinking about?"

"Reminds me of the great forest."

"I'm also from the great forest."

"Really?"

"Yes, but I was caught so young. Don't remember."

I see.

"What's your name?"

"Um, you can call me Rila."

Though the snake called her Madam Gorilla, for some reason she wanted to drop the 'Madam' title.