Serpent's Brew
I spat out a huge mouthful of the drink I'd been savoring and suddenly felt like crawling into a corner to cry with Rai.
Arnel's a savage!
Why are you making such a fuss? You're not even a real snake! I'm the one who drank it!
After living as a snake for ten years, it feels like family!
Get a grip, you spirit!
I staggered to my feet, but it wasn't the alcohol that made me sway. The shock was simply too much.
Sister… fed me snake!
I trusted her!
She should have warned me before I gulped it down!
“Are you all right, Jeanie?”
“Sister! How could you make me drink snake?”
“……It’s good for the skin.”
I had been on the verge of tears, but I paused to carefully examine Arnel’s skin—still looking like she was in her twenties even though she was nearing forty. My judgment was swift and calm.
I sat back down without another word.
“This liquor tastes wonderful.”
So that was the secret to maintaining such skin in the harsh jungle sunlight.
Master!
“What now?”
Sob! These savages!
“Goat or snake, what’s the difference.”
I declared my mental victory.
“Who are you talking to, Jeanie?”
“Nothing.”
Whether Rai was wailing beside me or not, the night passed in a pleasant haze. Apparently my tolerance was quite high.
***
“It wasn’t.”
The next morning, I writhed on the floor like a salted earthworm, overwhelmed by the worst hangover of my life.
My first hangover ever.
You really drank a lot.
“Ugh……”
The feast had been more enjoyable than expected. Between the warm welcome and the sweet liquor, I’d poured it down without restraint.
When I finally came to, I was in a strange house with drool on my cheek and no memory of how I’d gotten there.
I knew who I was, but not where I was.
“Ugh, I’m dying……”
It’s the serpent’s curse!
“You damned spirit.”
I clutched my throbbing head and glared at the still-sulking Rai.
He was treating me like some heartless villain just because I’d drunk a little snake liquor.
Since when had he become such an animal lover?
Master, you’re awful! How could you do that to a snake?
“What? Who was it that made me drink snake corpses in the first place? It was you—ack!”
I’d been about to scold him as usual, but the moment I raised my voice my skull rang like a struck bell.
It felt as though someone had slammed a metal gong against the top of my head.
Rai burst into laughter at the sight of me rolling helplessly across the floor.
Kyahaha!
I wanted to strangle him, but even shouting made my head pound. All I could manage was a weak, teeth-grinding mutter.
“Stop laughing, you……”
My warning only made him laugh harder, clutching his belly.
A wolf, laughing while holding its stomach!
Infuriating. A spirit who delighted in its master’s suffering.
Rai always looked his happiest whenever I was laid low by warp sickness or exhaustion.
The only one I could rely on was……
“Ugh…… Help me, Undine.”
Master!
“Water! I need water.”
Oh my, you sounded so desperate I thought something terrible had happened.
I gulped down the water Undine conjured, scooping the floating spheres out of the air like fruit.
After drinking my fill, I felt marginally more alive.
At least the hangover was nothing compared to warp sickness.
“Thank you, Undine.”
Not at all! Is there anything else I can do?
“There is. Kill that wolf for me?”
Ahaha!
Undine just laughed brightly, taking it as a joke.
She should have sensed my sincerity.
Once I’d caught my breath, I finally looked around the unfamiliar house.
It was built from woven bamboo-like stalks, airy and bright with sunlight filtering through the walls.
This had to be Arnel’s home. The presence approaching outside felt exactly like hers.
The door opened.
“Awake already, Jeanie?”
It was her. My ability to sense presences was getting quite reliable.
“The sun’s high. Want to go bathe at the river while you’re up?”
“Yes!”
A jungle bath! As a certified bathing addict, I couldn’t possibly refuse.
I sprang up in excitement—then immediately regretted it as my head throbbed.
I’d have to move slowly.
***
The river cutting through the jungle shimmered with an exquisite blend of blue and green. The water was so clear that fish swimming in the shallows looked close enough to touch.
Unlike city rivers choked with trash, this one was pristine enough to drink from.
I dipped my toes in with a small gasp of wonder.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Different from the city, isn’t it?”
It was a bright afternoon, around two o’clock. We weren’t the only ones who’d come to bathe. Children played with a ball in the shallows while adults waded waist-deep, washing their hair or swimming leisurely.
All of them were completely naked.
The jungle tribe didn’t bother with formal clothing anyway. Since it was only women, I stripped without hesitation.
If any man dared peek, I’d simply blow his head off.
“Over there is nicer.”
Arnel pointed to a cluster of large rocks along the outer edge of the river. The current looked gentler there, and the water pooled calmly behind the stones.
I followed her.
Near the rocks I spotted familiar faces—villagers I’d laughed and drunk with the night before. After a casual nod of greeting, I washed my hair like everyone else.
Once I’d rinsed off and swum a little, the current proved stronger than expected, so I climbed onto a rock to sunbathe.
Squeezing the water from my hair, I let the warmth soak into my skin. A little hum escaped me.
Bathing really did lift my mood.
Then a child scrambled up onto a higher rock and, without hesitation, leaped into the river.
Splash. Water droplets reached me, and I laughed.
“The kids even dive here?”
I turned to Arnel without thinking—and froze.
Far too many eyes were fixed on me.
Every tribesman nearby was staring.
Had I done something wrong? Why were they all looking so intently?
Following their gazes, I realized most of them were focused on my pale hands, chest, and shoulders.
Because of my skin color. I was the only one here with fair skin.
“Jeanie.”
“Yes?”
“The way you are right now……”
It wasn’t as if they’d never seen pale skin before.
Ah. But perhaps they’d never seen it bare.
“You look like a goddess.”
“What?”
Sudden flattery out of nowhere.
“Like the goddess of light from the old myths, descended upon us.”
“……That’s ridiculous. You’re only saying that because I’m the only one with white skin and golden hair……”
“No. It’s true, Jeanie. You’re dazzlingly beautiful. I have a rather refined eye for such things.”
“Hahaha!”
“Everyone here thinks the same.”
Why was she doing this…… Ah! I threw up my iron wall and shouted.
“Enough! No matter what you say, I’m not falling for it!”
“For what?”
“I’m not doing any healing service today! Do you know how exhausting that is?”
She was obviously buttering me up.
She was sorely mistaken if she thought a few compliments would work.
“Oh my, I’m simply admiring your beauty. Look at yourself. That radiant golden hair, that luminous skin. Men would surely go blind and walk straight into the sun if they saw you.”
How could she say something so embarrassing without even changing expression?
Of course I had followers, but only Bright counted, and even that had been going on so long it barely registered anymore.
“I assure you, your beauty borders on the divine. The gods themselves would never call this thought blasphemous. After all, it’s simply the truth.”
“Ugh……”
I couldn’t take it.
“Fine! I’ll heal everyone today, so stop!”
“That wasn’t my intention at all.”
“I’ll do it, so please stop! Just stop!”
“You’re weak to praise, Jeanie.”
If it had been a man complimenting my looks, I could have snorted. But hearing it from another woman left me oddly flustered, an itch I couldn’t scratch rising in my throat.