Ch.1179The Inside of a Naga is Red

The Kingdom of Nagas, Nastaria, is said to be located beside a river about a month’s walking distance from the Emerald Lake.

It’s an ambiguous distance—far if you consider it far, close if you consider it close.

“A month…?”

After promising to provide a safe place to rest, I honestly found it ridiculous that it would take a month just to get there.

In a month, not only would I recover from my injuries, but even Nigel and Jahan would be up and about, with enough time left over for exercise if they felt like it.

I’m talking about actual exercise, not population growth activities.

By the time we reached the Naga Kingdom, a comfortable retreat would be completely useless.

In other words, I suspected these Naga fellows might have deceived me with meaningless false advertising.

“Don’t worry. If we travel along the river, three days at most will be sufficient.”

Of course, that wasn’t the case.

Hiyalbaer had only mentioned it was a month’s journey on foot, never saying it would actually take a month to arrive.

—-

Splash!

Water spray and headwind whirled like a typhoon.

A small boat carrying five people cut through the river at an insane speed, like a racing car with broken brakes.

Supported by the hands of Nagas swimming beneath the surface.

“Amazing speed… If I hadn’t deployed a mana barrier, we might have been blown away.”

Ophelia van Sigmillus scattered the headwind with her mana barrier and let out an incredulous laugh.

“I know. Is this really possible with just physical strength?”

The travel speed was unbelievable even to me. The swimming skills of the Nagas who had jumped into the river seemed as if they had motors attached to their tails.

“Ah, that’s thanks to Naga-raja’s blessing and the rapids spell!”

The Naga sitting across from me answered with excitement, like a nerd discussing a familiar topic.

Though snake-like like other Nagas, her face was round and her teeth small, making her somewhat cute if you looked at her that way.

Her name was… Lakshi, wasn’t it?

She was a female Naga that Hiyalbaer had assigned as our companion when he went to the front of the procession, saying he needed to lead his subordinates.

Though female, her chest was flat like male Nagas, perhaps a physical characteristic of the Naga race.

Anyway, Lakshi, who ended up traveling with us for this reason, had quite a talkative and energetic personality.

At first, she seemed somewhat intimidated by me, but within hours she was chattering away about various topics.

Thanks to her, I learned several facts about Nagas—from seemingly useful information to knowledge that made me wonder if it was really necessary.

For example, the Naga Kingdom of Nastaria is a stone city built beside a wide riverbank, normally concealed by spells so that from the outside it appears to be just a plain.

“Nagas seem quite versed in sorcery?”

“Is that so? For us, it’s just natural…”

From the rapids spell mentioned earlier to the illusion spell concealing an entire city—it seemed Nagas were a race with a developed culture of sorcery.

Sorcery… I don’t have good memories of it. All the sorcerers I’ve met so far were Meiharin’s subordinates—in other words, my enemies.

“Rather, Baron Median’s gauntlet seems like an extraordinarily excellent magical item!”

“Oh, this?”

I slightly raised Frosting as I asked.

This is certainly a high-performance magical item.

The netherworld’s cold has become almost useless, but its durability has been endlessly strengthened by the blood of defeated enemies to an unbelievable degree.

It withstood everything even as my winter armor was completely shattered—at this point, isn’t it as strong as a dragon’s scales?

“Yes! My level is too shallow to identify the nature of the sorcery, but just the magical power emanating from it is enough to tell it’s no ordinary magical item!”

Magical power…? Can Nagas see such things? That’s interesting.

I hope it’s not one of those things where you achieve enlightenment after training and instantly regenerate all your wounds, or become the strongest of your race, or something like that.

—-

Another random fact.

Nagas shed their skin once a year, and each time their bodies grow larger and harder.

If they survive for a hundred years, at the moment of shedding their hundredth skin, they disappear leaving behind a single egg, as if they had been pregnant?

“Surely not the males too…?”

“Um… I’m not sure about that! No male has lived long enough to complete the ‘flesh-shedding’!”

I asked wondering if male Nagas also laid eggs, but it seems they’re not that bizarre a race after all.

Anyway, the Naga born from that egg grows to resemble the one who disappeared after leaving the egg, and in extremely rare cases, may even remember the life of that Naga.

Therefore, a Naga who has lived for a hundred years is considered to be reborn and respected like an elder despite their young age.

So they don’t give them new names, but add the number of reincarnations to their original name, calling them “ooo the nth life.”

This was quite an interesting story too. Whether it’s truly reincarnation or some remnant of a soul overlaid on a fetus, I honestly don’t know.

“Those who are reborn like that are qualified to become priestesses serving Naga-raja. It’s an honor.”

“Priestesses?”

“Ah, priestesses are, well… they’re high-ranking individuals!”

Lakshi flicked her tongue briefly as if unsure how to explain, then proceeded to give a detailed explanation of Naga politics and social structure.

Nagas have no concept of family and raise children communally, with future roles determined by qualities that emerge as they grow.

These roles are broadly divided into four categories.

The production class responsible for securing food and producing goods; the labor class dedicated to simple non-combat work like construction.

The warrior class responsible for combat, and the priestess class overseeing national governance. Naga society is divided into these four classes.

However, this doesn’t mean there’s a strict hierarchy like some caste system—apart from the priestess class, the other three are on equal footing.

Of course, the warrior class receives implicit respect for risking their lives, but that’s not inequality—it’s only natural.

Anyway, only those who have reincarnated qualify to become priestesses and reside in the grand temple.

Since priestesses are the only privileged class that can serve Naga-raja directly and determine national policies, allowing just anyone would be disrespectful and discriminatory.

“So that’s the structure… quite an interesting story.”

Ophelia, who had been pretending not to be interested but was listening to everything, muttered quietly.

A completely different ecology and social structure from humans. From an academic perspective, it was certainly quite interesting.

No concept of family, roles determined for life shortly after birth, and a social system where certain classes handle all production and distribute it to all members according to need.

Just hearing about it, it sounds like quite an ideal system, doesn’t it?

In reality, it’s a system that would collapse the moment the ruling priestess class becomes corrupt, but since Naga-raja thoroughly controls them, it’s impossible for them to pursue self-interest.

…So the socialist paradise that the castrated man fervently proclaimed was here all along.

No wonder they maintain an uncomfortable upright posture despite their snake-like body structure. Regardless of their appearance, they’re quite red on the inside.

In my original world, this would be the ideology of an enemy nation that should be eradicated… but this is not Earth, it’s another world. They haven’t harmed us, so there’s no reason to be hostile.

Let them live as they please.

—-

A day later, Nigel and Jahan, who had been unconscious from injuries and exhaustion, finally woke up.

Though they regained consciousness, they hadn’t recovered their strength, so they had no choice but to remain lying down, unable to support themselves.

Anyway, once awake, they asked me about what had happened, and upon hearing my answer, they were relieved and happy that we had somehow won.

However, the conversation drifted to the topic of spoils, leading to the tragedy of me having to demonstrate my acquired ability in front of everyone.

When I told them I had killed the dragon and gained its ability, everyone’s eyes sparkled and they begged to see it just once, leaving me no way to refuse.

So, really with no other choice, while Lakshi was briefly away, I squeezed my eyes shut and showed them once.

“Bweeeeeh…”

The ability to create and spit out—no, spray—fresh, clean water.

“……”

“……”

“……”

The reactions of my companions were mostly as I expected.

“Um… hmm… uh… that’s, impressive… I suppose…”

Nigel looked at me with a blank face as if he had seen something indescribable, then slightly turned his head, bit his lips tightly, and shrugged his shoulders.

“Pfft, ah, I mean… huff, I can’t hold it in anymore. What is that? Are you trying to make me die of laughter, miss?”

“It, it does seem to have some mana in it, and it’s certainly a good power, but—pfft, I mean, what kind of…!”

Leonore Wittelsbach burst into laughter holding her stomach, and Ophelia also failed to suppress her laughter, coughing through her mana herb smoke as she laughed.

“Hmm… tactically, it seems quite useful. It means we don’t need to search for water sources…”

At least Jahan offered a serious appreciation… though only in content and voice. The laughter he barely concealed was evident in the trembling corners of his eyes.

Yeah, laugh all you want. Even I find it funny, so I can’t blame you. I took out a mana herb I had received from Ophelia, lit it, and let out a deep sigh.

“…Can I drink it?”

At Lena’s quiet question, I dropped the mana herb I was holding.

Wait, Lena, what are you saying…?

It was a statement shocking enough to make even me, who was almost entirely positive about my cute adopted sister’s opinions, completely dumbfounded.

“No, no! I didn’t mean anything strange! It’s just, for water, the most important thing is whether it can be used as drinking water, right? That’s why I asked!”

Realizing the meaning of her words from my reaction, Lena, her face bright red, hurriedly offered an explanation that was close to damage control.

Of course, that didn’t bring back my mana herb that had already been carried away by the wind.

—-

It was drinkable.

I didn’t feed it to Lena—I checked it myself. It felt a bit unsettling, like I was regurgitating something.

Of course, even though it was verified as potable water, I had no intention of actually giving it to others to drink.

Even if I did, no one in their right mind would volunteer to drink this unless they were dying of thirst.

…Right?