The Forked Tongue
"Haha, but I did buy you a hat, didn't I? It's a pretty expensive one, too — brand new. Cut me a little slack. I really didn't have a choice."
"Haaah... Even so, you said we'd be leaving early, and then you make me work anyway? Don't you think that's a bit much?"
As a bribe, a gift, and... compensation, the Team Leader had bought me a pretty hat.
Whether she was trying to keep at least one of her promises, or whether dragging me outside had been her plan from the start, I couldn't say. Either way, after a little over thirty minutes of shopping at the department store, the two of us were now sitting in a café like this.
"You're not wrong, but I really didn't have a choice. A hero contacted me directly, and turning her down completely would've been a little..."
"A little?"
"She's scary."
"Eh...?"
...No, hold on. She was the one who'd set this meeting up without so much as a proper discussion with me. Why was she suddenly telling me this now?
A scary hero?
The idea that a hero like that had gone out of her way to privately ask the Team Leader to arrange a meeting with me was... well, it was enough to make me genuinely nervous.
The Eodeokshini girl I'd met a few days ago — Batori, with those adorable little dokkaebi horns — had been genuinely cute. Like, actually cute.
This job involved dealing with all kinds of difficult situations, after all. Some of the heroes who came to the Welfare Bureau suffered from severe PTSD, and because of that... they occasionally turned the office into a complete disaster zone. There was that one time a hero with pyrokinetic powers had tried to burn the whole place down. And another with the ability to grow to giant size who'd attempted to use it indoors...
I couldn't help but worry.
"...So, what kind of hero is she?"
"Ah, well... She's a hero you've almost certainly never heard of. She's a bit of an unusual case. So... anyway, she should be here soon. Just drink your coffee and wait."
"......"
My anxiety only grew. But the Team Leader had gone and bought me an expensive hat, so I couldn't exactly just walk away either. I sat there drinking my coffee and waited.
Five minutes passed... then ten?
I was too worried to keep track of the exact time, but after a little while, a woman joined us at our table. And I truly... had no idea who she was.
"......"
"......"
I didn't know what to say, and she was staring at me so intently I could feel it boring through me. We just sat there, watching each other in silence.
Her hair and eyes were both pitch-black... but her pupils were slit vertically, like a reptile's.
Who is she?
The Team Leader had definitely said she was a hero, but she was absolutely not one I recognized.
"So this is the hypnosis user?"
"Yeah, the ace of our Welfare Bureau. For now... I think it would be best if you two introduced yourselves."
It was the other woman who broke the long silence.
The way she addressed the Team Leader so casually, calling her by name without a second thought, suggested they'd known each other for some time. Then again, the Team Leader was a former hero herself. Considering this woman had contacted her privately to set this meeting up, that much was obvious.
Was it because this cold-looking beauty had a low, slightly husky voice? Or was it those reptilian eyes? Either way, she came across as a little frightening. ...Not knowing who she was only made it worse.
"Alright, Charlotte? This one's a hero, but... it's hard to say much more than that in a place like this. I'll just give you her name. This is Saran. She's a snake-type mutant."
"Ah, hello...! I'm Charlotte, an employee of the Hero Association's Welfare Bureau. Um, Miss Saran? It's a pleasure to meet you...?"
"Yeah."
"......"
Wow. That was blunt.
To be honest, she was a stunningly beautiful woman with a terribly cold and intimidating air — not the kind of person you wanted to greet first. I'd still answered politely, of course. What I got back was a single, extremely short word.
Saran, though. Was that a single-syllable name? In a world where Korean names and English names were all mixed together, it didn't really matter, but a one-syllable name still felt unusual.
"Haha... Sorry about that, Charlotte. She's always been a bit blunt. No social skills, pretty quiet, does whatever she wants."
"...Haha."
...I get that she's trying to be playful. I get that she's just trying to lighten the mood a little. But in this situation, it was starting to sound less like a joke and more like the honest truth, and that wasn't my fault.
Right. It wasn't. Probably... definitely?
"Saran, you're the one who wanted this meeting. Try talking properly. Or would it be better if I gave you two some space?"
"Yeah."
"Haha... sheesh, fine. I'll step out, so at least try to have a conversation. And don't bully our team's ace, okay?"
"Yeah."
"Sheesh. Charlotte? Hang in there for a bit. If you handle this well, next time I'll... hmm... treat you to some expensive snacks, at least?"
"...Alright."
This was a meeting my boss had arranged. I could hardly start arguing with my superior about not wanting to do it now — especially with the person in question sitting right in front of me. I just quietly nodded, anxiety churning in my stomach.
"Hypnosis user?"
"Pardon?"
"I asked if you're a hypnosis user."
"Ah, yes. That's right. It's not as broken as people make it out to be... more like light suggestion? And even that takes a bit of preparation."
"I see."
"Haha..."
The hero stared at me with those sharp eyes as she questioned me. I had no memory of a hero named Saran, and I didn't recall any snake beastfolk heroes either.
Wait.
"How strong is your hypnosis?"
"......"
"If you hypnotize me and give a command, can you find out things even I don't consciously know?"
"......"
Saran was saying something to me. I knew I should be answering her honestly, but I was finding it incredibly difficult to focus on her words.
Because.
"Are you listening to me?"
"Your tongue......"
"...My tongue?"
"...The tip of your tongue is forked...?"
The tip of her tongue was split. Her tongue actually looked like a snake's...!
"What about it."
"Whoa..."
It was incredibly fascinating.
Most of the beastfolk heroes I'd met so far had perfectly ordinary, human-looking tongues. Even when they didn't, the basic shape of the tongue itself was usually pretty similar. Mammalian beastfolk like dog-types had tongues that looked more or less the same, right? Every now and then, you'd get feline beastfolk with a few little barbs or rasps on their tongues, but aside from that, they were all pretty much alike...
"Would it be alright if I took a closer look at your tongue? Just once?"
"...What?"
This was the first time in my life I'd ever met a snake beastfolk — someone whose tongue was actually different! I was so amazed that I completely forgot how terrifying she was and just blurted the question out.
"I've never seen a snake among the mutant-type Awakened before, you see...? S-so your tongue is just so fascinating, and I was wondering if I could take a look, just once? If possible, if you could stick it out just a tiny bit, just a little......"
"......"
"Ah."
"......"
"I-I'm sorry..."
A mistake. And I'd made a spectacular one, in front of someone who looked scary as hell.
It wasn't even her face I was asking to see — I'd gone and asked her to show me her tongue, like some kind of pervert. I really had been that curious, that fascinated, but still. The person sitting across from me was... an incredibly intimidating hero.
That expressionless face of hers had gone cold, the look of someone who'd just laid eyes on a completely unhinged pervert.
Ah.
I'd really done it now.
"...Let's talk first."
"Ah, yes, yes...!"
"We skipped the official procedures to set this meeting up, so. First. We'll talk first, and after that, hypnosis user — I'll give you what you want."
"......!!"
...She'll do it!?
I would've understood if she'd punched me or slapped me across the face after I said that. Instead, she was telling me she'd do it once we were done talking, and I couldn't help but be genuinely shocked.
But at the same time... the promise of seeing a snake's tongue started to change my entire attitude.
"What did you need me for? I'll help you however I can. I'll go above and beyond if I have to — I'll find a way, I swear! Just tell me anything. What's been troubling you? What's been making things so hard for you, Miss Saran?"
I mean, she'd said she'd show me her snake tongue!
A snake beastfolk's tongue, something I'd never seen even once in my life?
Saran, who until a moment ago had been nothing but a terrifying person in my mind, had suddenly become something of a benefactor. And so I threw myself into it with genuine passion.
A snake's tongue.
A snake......
Forked at both tips, far longer than a human's.... And from what I knew, they could even sense things through it, so if I got to see it up close... even more... ah. She opened her mouth. I can see her tongue.
"...I don't know what my problem is."
"...Pardon?"
...The answer that came out of that open mouth was not what I'd expected.
She'd gone to the trouble of asking a retired senior hero — the Team Leader — to arrange a meeting with me, and the first thing she said was that she didn't know what her own problem was?
Then why set this meeting up at all?
My head started spinning all over again.
"But I feel so stuffy. So miserable. I don't know what's wrong, but."
"Ah..."
"I just feel trapped. Something's... I don't know."
"I see."
But with Saran's next words, I started to get a picture. There were times when even a person themselves couldn't understand their own mind or physical condition, and people who couldn't accurately grasp their own state were far more common than you'd think. No matter how incredible the ability they'd awakened, no matter how strong a hero they were.
In the end, people were still people.
"I'll definitely help you. So from here on, I'd like you to be as honest as possible — even if you have to think about it a little — and answer me well."
I gently pushed my coffee aside as I said it.
This wasn't an early leave anymore. I was properly counseling a hero. And yet I was going to give it my all — because a snake beastfolk's tongue was more than enough to light a fire under me. It was almost too much motivation, honestly!