That time I was reincarnated as a snake (Tensura)

-Luminous Valentine POV-

While Kai and Mira were enjoying their vacation at the beach.

In the kingdom of Luberius, on the sacred mountain, within the inner sanctuary.

In a room filled with items of the highest quality, a young woman with silver hair, a slender body, a pair of sharp fangs, with heterochromatic eyes, the right one a crimson red and the left a deep blue, wearing a beautiful gothic dress and barefoot, was lying on a beautiful and intricate red sofa, made of the most precious and comfortable materials, the young woman in a resting posture, with her head resting on one of the armrests of the sofa, listened to one of her most loyal servants give his report.

"So, Louis, you're telling me that the ones responsible for the Ember Volcano disaster were just a group of five human adventurers? Are you kidding me?" I asked irritatedly.

"I'm afraid that is not the case, my lady," Louis said, shaking his head.

"According to reports from the paladins who investigated the case, on the day of the disaster, a well-known group of adventurers had disappeared. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that, prior to that day, they had been purchasing various supplies to go on an adventure. There were even people who heard them talking about going on a grand adventure that, if successful, would make them rich and famous."

"How true is this information?" I asked doubtfully.

"Magic was used to examine the memories of the witnesses. There was no sign of any mind control magic or modification of their memories," Louis stated.

I pouted at the annoyance of this case.

"How did a group of five ordinary human adventurers reach the top of the Ember Volcano, a place filled with fire-elemental monsters, and once at the top where a Fire ArchDragon lives, they created such great destruction that it not only released the flow of lava, but drove most of the monsters out of the volcano and its surroundings into human-occupied territory?" I said angrily.

This incident had the Church, I believe, completely busy trying to solve this whole mess. Not only providing paladins to protect the human settlements and eliminate the monsters before they spread further, but also helping with priests to heal all the wounded.

'The trouble I have to endure to keep the Church in good standing,' I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

"According to the investigators, they deduced that it was not a single explosion, but at least eight that occurred simultaneously. Not only scales of the ArchDragon that lived in the volcano were found, but also traces of the venom of a three-headed snake and a tempest snake. From the shape of the explosions that did not destroy these traces of venom, they speculated that they were explosive rocks. In addition, they found what appears to be the remains of an arrow made of magisteel."

"After putting all the elements together, they came to the conclusion that these were several magic arrows loaded not only with various poisons but also with explosive rock fragments as the main agent of damage. For some reason, they were not used against the dragon. Possibly the dragon was the one who detonated them in advance, not only killing the adventurers, but also seriously injuring itself, so much so that it fled to seek a safe place."

"Has it been discovered where they got those arrows? Did they have any dealings with the Nasca Empire?" He wanted to know if this guy was getting involved in the affairs of the Western Humans. If that was the case, things would be more troublesome. Using such a specialized weapon to kill that dragon and testing it so close to my territory could be a blatant provocation. Louis shook his head.

"We searched exhaustively, but found no clues that could connect them to the Nasca empire. They are currently in the process of assimilating a new kingdom. If it happens like the previous times, they would have to lack the manpower at this time to carry out a large-scale mobilization to the west."

"Fine, you may withdraw. Take care of all the consequences of this disaster as soon as possible and have the paladins return when they finish their work. It is best to be on guard," I gave him a hand signal to leave. After bowing to me, he retreated.

"What do you think?" I said to the air while I had my eyes closed.

"Although it cannot be ruled out that the Nazca Empire may be involved, I have other suspicions," a female voice said.

Out of nowhere appeared a girl wearing a sacred armor with a cape and a sword at her side. She wore a white mask that hid her face.

"Hmph… And what could they be?" I asked with a smile.

"A Magín," the girl said firmly.

I raised an eyebrow at his statement. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"After further investigation, I discovered that at the same time as the Ember Volcano raid, in four other confirmed locations, other adventurer teams also attacked dragons: a water dragon in the southern Trident Kingdom, a wind dragon in the Udoli Kingdom, a fire dragon in the Dor-Kulan Desert, and a water dragon on the coast of the Litoralia Kingdom. Together with the fire dragon on Mount Ember, that makes five."

"In all the dragon lairs, I found the same traces of destruction. The same arrows were used to kill them all. As for why so many adventurer groups risked themselves to kill dragons, after using memory-reading magic on the surviving adventurers, I found that they were all hired by various merchants at a high cost to complete the quest. The merchants even provided them with various magic items such as weapons made of magisteel, as well as other enchanted items. After the adventurers killed the dragon assigned to them, they were to retreat and would later receive the rewards. As for the body, the merchants would take care of it on the same day."

"But here is where the strange part begins: I found no trace of transportation, nor any witnesses who saw the dragons' bodies. It was as if they disappeared. It was after comparing several places thoroughly that I discovered traces of a possible third party. I found almost imperceptible traces of magicules in all places. The person responsible must be a monster."

"Not only does he have access to highly controlled materials like explosive rock, he also has ample financial resources, the skills of a great craftsman, as well as some means of instantaneous movement, possibly spatial magic, and an ability that allows him to hide his tracks. From the looks of it, his target was the dragon bodies."

He finished speaking with a shrug.

That got me thinking. "Why would a Great Majin go through all that trouble to kill a few dragons? With those weapons he could just do it himself, minimizing the risk of exposure if he wanted to stay hidden," I said to myself, tapping my chin with my finger.

"He's probably smarter than he looks. He knows that he can't hide all traces, whether it's the consequences caused by those weapons or the disappearance of so many dragons. So he looked for some scapegoats. Those adventurers were told that they could bear all the glory of death. He obviously wants them to be held accountable before the public. It's as if he knows that doing that would bring him serious consequences, so he wants to minimize the risk as much as possible."

After hearing that, my eyes lit up with clarity.

"I know, it's because I'm afraid of Milim," I said triumphantly.

The masked girl tilted her head in doubt. Seeing her doubts, I decided to tell her.

"You know about the dragon race's relationship with the Chaos Dragon, right?" I said.

To which she nodded.

"You see, after the whole Chaos Dragon incident, Milim became a bit sensitive about it. After a long time, when the dragon race was born, she established serious control over the Canaat Mountains. Anyone who thought of entering and harming the dragons would have to deal with her. Over time, the dragons there became strong enough to protect themselves. For her part, Milim found the dragonewts, which she took in as her subordinates. So she eventually stopped getting involved much in the Canaat Mountains, beyond occasionally playing with the dragons."

"But, regardless of whether Milim cares about dragons or not, no one dared to try to conquer that place for fear of Milim's retaliation. It's because of that that I also didn't take action against the dragons that were on the western side of the continent. Milim might not care if someone weak like humans kills them outside the Canaat Mountains, because it means they're outside of her jurisdiction, so they're responsible for their own lives. But if guys of my level do it, she'll tease us for bullying the weak."

"I imagine the person in charge also knows the risks of killing them, so he's trying to make the humans take the blame. That way Milim won't care much. What still puzzles me is the motive. If he knows the consequences, why would he risk it for a few simple dragon corpses? I don't think it's because of the materials. If he has such skill to create something of that level, he surely has the strength to kill an ArchDragon with a snap. He should have the strength of a Demon Lord seed. I doubt he's that new idiot pig on the council. I wonder why Guy hasn't inducted him," I said with my finger on my lips.

My companion just stretched out his hands in doubt.

I shrugged.

"Let's ignore it. It's not our problem anyway. We just have to be careful if products similar to those arrows appear on the market. That could pose a serious problem to the stability of the West, if an idiot king uses it for war," I said, leaning back comfortably.

"I doubt it. Those arrows are an anti-personnel weapon. The reason for such high destructive power is due to the explosive stone's characteristic of absorbing magicules and using them as a power-up. A perfect weapon for monsters that are concentrated magicule constructs. Something about this gives me an old-world vibe, of searching for the best weapon for each target," the masked woman said in bewilderment.

I blinked at that comment.

"Do you think it could be an otherworldly person like you?" I asked curiously.

"It's a possibility. Most beings with some strength born into this world tend to swell up quickly. Look at the pig: a few months in and it already thinks it can conquer the eastern kingdoms just because it hasn't been attacked. This mastermind has strength, but he's careful and meticulous. If he hadn't paid attention to their tracks, they would have completely disappeared after a while and no one would know he was involved."

I frowned at that possibility, every time other worlds arrive , they usually cause chaos to the world, at least this one is quieter, but that same thing makes it more dangerous.

-Guy Crimson POV-

On the frozen continent, within the ice palace, in an imposing throne room, stood a majestic ice throne. Sitting on it was the oldest of the Demon Lords, the primordial Red, the Lord of Darkness, the Devil Lord, Guy Crimson.

He was resting on his throne with his eyes closed, doing absolutely nothing, motionless like a statue. For someone like him, who had lived since the dawn of creation, life lacked substance. Having experienced all kinds of situations, life was boring to him. He spent most of his time on his frozen throne, doing nothing, or perhaps, millions of processes were going on in his mind without anyone being able to grasp them.

At the sound of the throne room doors opening, the monarch did not even flinch. Entering through the door was a maid dressed in a dark red suit and long-sleeved green gloves, her long hair an emerald green, as were her eyes. When she was near the steps of the throne, she stopped and bowed formally.

Still without opening his eyes, the monarch spoke: "What is it, Misery?"

—My apologies for disturbing you, my lord. I have something new to report that may be of interest to you.

Catching his attention, the monarch opened his blood-red eyes. "And what could it be?"

"It's like this..." the maid narrated the events, similar to what Luminous was discussing with his companion.

'Hmph... an interesting guy, you almost slipped out of Misery's grasp, that in itself may be an achievement. I don't remember feeling a new seed being born, so you're still pretty weak, but at least you show more skill than that Gorake guy. You seem to be the type that's more intellectual than strong, a bit like that Twilight kid. It's fine to be smart, but in this world you need the strength to back it up. Twilight is the example herself.'

"Does Milim already know about the situation?" I asked with a smile.

"That shouldn't be the case, my lord. As far as I know, Milim is currently focused on her territory. After adopting the dragonewts, she decided to create a kingdom for them. Since then, she spends most of her time there or in the Canaat Mountains, and hasn't interacted with others since the last Walpurgis," the maid said gracefully.

'Perfect, let's see how you deal with an irritated Milim. She may see dragons as mere pets, but they are her pets. I still remember her complaints after serving a dragon dish at the last Walpurgis,' I thought irritably.

"Fine, you may go. When you leave, remember to notify Milim that some of her pets outside the mountains were killed. But don't tell her your assumptions, let's let her have fun playing detective," I said with a smile.

'That's the only advantage I'm giving you. Come on, let's see what you're capable of. Will you manage to hide or will she find you and punish you? I look forward to seeing it.'

A small laugh escaped my lips. Without asking any questions, like a model servant, the green-haired maid left the throne room. For his part, the monarch returned to his state with his eyes closed and in complete silence, as if none of this had happened.

-KAI POV-

Unbeknownst to Kai, he was already the target of scrutiny from his waifu Luminous Valentine, as well as the antics of the Dark Lord, Guy Crimson. For his part, he found himself sailing the sea in his snake form, with an umbrella and a beach chair with Mira on it, draped over him.

—Remind me, why are you all over me? —I asked irritated.

—Because you were the one who wanted to sail out to sea and your lovely partner, that is me, agreed. But she wanted to do it in style, which brings us to our current situation —he said, while enjoying a fruit smoothie with ice that she made me prepare for him.

'Well, she's right. I was the one who wanted to sail, all because I wanted to see the land of El Dorado, or at least the one that would become El Dorado in the future. And to make it interesting, I planned to do so by sailing across the seas, traveling at over three hundred kilometers per hour thanks to my water manipulation. It would take us around seven hours. If I were in Mira's situation, I'd want to enjoy that treatment too, but I'll get my revenge. I'll make her my mount when we go to play in Jura Forest, since she boasts of her agility.'

—So, in your old world there was no magic? —Mira asked me.

"No, when Veldanava created the multiverse, he intended for each world to have its own rules, including whether or not to have magicules. My old world was what is called a completely material world, with no access to magic."

"And you say that all the knowledge you have about this world you learned in your own world, like a light novel?" she asked, puzzled.

I nodded.

"I have several theories about this. One is that the story that happens in this world is reflected in other worlds, my own for example, in the form of information, and that information reached the author of the light novels, and he published them in my world, making it common knowledge. Another is that maybe someone from this world traveled to my world, shared the information with the author, or is the author of the light novel himself."

"But, if time works in this multiverse like it did in the light novel, I'm not sure, because I don't appear in the light novel, which may be because I'm an anomaly. Maybe my world is far in the future, when everything has already happened, and by chance, the wish I had on the verge of death allowed me to be here. Even if it might trigger effects that alter the future as I know it, I'll try to prevent history from changing too much, or I might become the sinner of this world. But there's no need to worry too much, as long as I don't alter too many things, trouble will find us in almost two thousand years. By that time, we might not even care about the consequences anymore. Who knows, I still lack the experience of living for more than a hundred years, I don't know what I'll think in more than a thousand years."

Mira nodded, after all, who can be sure what it will be like in thousands of years?

"We have some time before we reach our destination. Could you tell me about that light novel? You said the protagonist was a slime who befriended Veldora, the guy we want to beat up."

"Yeah, it's funny, isn't it? That guy who lays waste to everything in his path would actually end up being a manga addict, and his friendship with that slime would allow him to calm down and stop seeking destruction all the time. Although I don't give a shit about that, when he acquires an ultimate ability I'm going to go to his territory and beat him up for almost scaring the shit out of me when I first came to this world," I said resentfully.

"The story begins with…"

And so we spent the next few hours sailing, riding the waves, fighting sea monsters that had eyes but couldn't see Mount Thai, all while I continued to tell him about the light novel, or at least what I had read. When I died, I had only read up to volume eighteen of the light novel, because I was waiting for the novel to finish publishing so I could read all the remaining volumes together. The one I know the most about is the web novel, because I did finish that one. But from what others told me, from volume fifteen onwards there started to be a lot of changes in the plot, so I know I have gaps in information. Although that would happen over a thousand years later. Also, I can't be sure that this world follows the light novel to the letter; it could be a mix of both.

In front of us we could see in the distance what looked like land. It must have been "El Dorado".

"So, did you like that Demon Lord called Luminous Valentine?" Mira asked me with a serious look.

I nodded honestly.

"At least the impression I got of her when I read the story was one I totally liked: a strong, responsible, passionate person, who cares for her own, determined when necessary, sometimes shy or daring, sometimes playful, who likes to enjoy life and doesn't look for trouble with others, besides Veldora, of course. Also, her appearance attracts me. I don't know why, but I have a liking for the concept of a vampiress. Plus, her silver hair adds a touch of beauty to her and her heterochromatic eyes give her that unique touch," I said firmly.

Mira looked at me with narrowed eyes, but I wasn't going to hide my feelings from her.

"Do you want me to be your partner?" she said to me angrily.

"I won't deny that I had such plans, but implementing them is another matter."

"Oh, and why is that?" Mira asked curiously.

"Because as far as I know, she likes girls, although spiritual life forms lack the concept of gender. It is undeniable that remaining a man or a woman affects some thoughts. Although there is the possibility of entering into a relationship with Luminous, I would not do so at the cost of changing that aspect of myself," I said resolutely.

"What if she liked you as a man, would you try?"

"Of course, in the past I dreamed that if I lived in this world I would try to make Luminous my partner," I said with a serious face.

Only to receive an incredibly strong blow from Mira to the head.

"Jealous?" I said mockingly.

"Of course, we barely established our relationship and you're already thinking of another woman," she said with his eyes rolled.

"I thought it was normal for a strong male monster to have several females?" I asked doubtfully.

"True, but the premise is that you are stronger than me to tolerate it," Mira said with a serious face.

I looked her in the eyes and said, "I am stronger than you."

"Try it. When we get to land, we'll see who's stronger. If you lose, you have to forget about Luminous and focus only on me. If you win, I'll agree to let you look for other girls, but only if we can all get along in a relationship," she said with a smile, but very serious eyes.

Seeing Mira's seriousness, I agreed.

It's all for the sake of every man's dream of having multiple girls, not for the silly reason of collection, but because when I read the light novel, I always saw Luminous as that girl whom I would have loved to introduce to my mother as my partner. But that wouldn't be a reason to lose my relationship with Mira. As a wise man once said: "A boy chooses one among many, but a man wants them all."