To the Katus Empire (1)

No matter how you look at it, it’s strange.

Yona pretended to look out the carriage window, then quickly turned her head to look at Alec.

Alec, who had been quietly watching Yona, quickly averted his gaze.

“Hey.”

“Uh, yeah?”

Alec’s flustered reaction seemed to indicate something was up.

Thinking about it, everything had been odd since morning.

It was the same when she came down to the first-floor hall for breakfast after sleeping comfortably in bed.

Yona, who tends to oversleep, was the last to come down. When everyone saw her, they hurriedly avoided eye contact.

Only Rubina stared blankly at Yona.

And throughout breakfast, the awkward atmosphere was indescribable.

It was so bad that even Yona ate while watching others’ reactions, wondering if something had happened.

‘…Come to think of it, were they all watching me?’

Yona looked around quickly.

It was clear that everyone in the carriage was avoiding Yona’s gaze.

They were definitely watching Yona, quickly averting their eyes whenever she might make eye contact.

‘Could they have heard…?’

Last night had been a bit intense.

But she had covered her mouth tightly, so it should have been fine. They shouldn’t have heard anything—

‘…Did they hear?’

This kind of reaction could only mean they had heard, right?

No, it still doesn’t seem likely they would have heard.

And if they had heard, why hadn’t Alec done anything?

It wouldn’t be strange if he had come to pounce on her immediately, right?

‘Surely not…’

He’s definitely a vigorous young man.

He had tried to pounce on her before when he saw her naked, so at least he doesn’t have any sexual dysfunction.

Maybe they really didn’t hear after all.

Yona thought to herself.

Still, just in case, she should exercise restraint.

That’s what Yona decided.

The situation changed somewhat after arriving at Port Lukasia.

Before the incident in Evian, the plan had been to enter the Katus Empire by smuggling through Port Lukasia, but now there was no need for smuggling.

So they thought they might be able to head to Katus more easily, but an unexpected disadvantage arose here.

“…It seems the ship we had prepared has already been canceled.”

Due to the delay of several days in Evian, the ship that Ceres and Alebiang had arranged had already set sail.

They had planned to smuggle aboard that ship and had made all the preparations, but because of the delay, the ship couldn’t wait any longer, and so it came to this.

“Then what do we do?”

Yona crossed her arms and let out a huff.

They needed to go to Katus, they had come this far thinking it was the right thing to do, but now they were in a situation where there was no ship to take them to Katus.

The group stood still on the dock, filled with the overwhelming smell of the sea.

Port Lukasia wasn’t very large, but being a port, it was quite busy with fishing boats coming and going constantly.

Seagulls flew in the sky, occasionally diving down to snatch fish floating near the surface.

On this dock, Alebiang spoke to Yona with a troubled expression.

“I think we’ll have to charter a ship.”

“Is that so?”

Since this isn’t a place where passenger ships regularly operate, they have no choice but to charter a separate ship to go to Katus.

It’s fortunate that they don’t have to find a smuggling ship, but without a regular liner to Katus, the cost would undoubtedly be substantial.

But Yona didn’t really care.

While adventurers tend to be sensitive about money, Yona wasn’t the one paying for the cost of chartering the ship.

Moreover, she had become somewhat numb to money matters lately, so it mattered even less.

If they charter a ship, then they charter a ship. Anyway, Alebiang would pay for it, so it doesn’t matter.

Wouldn’t it be better to quickly charter a ship and get to Katus?

She wanted to get there quickly, take care of business, and hurry back.

It was then.

As Yona looked around, her eyes half-closed, her gaze fixed on one spot.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hey, Kaiyak.”

Raising her hand to Alec, who was asking with a puzzled expression beside her, Yona called out to Kaiyak.

Kaiyak, who had been talking with James about something, turned to look at Yona when he heard her calling.

“What is it?”

“Let’s do something together.”

Despite this sudden statement, Kaiyak didn’t say much.

“What kind of thing?”

“Just come with me for now. Oh, and Alebiang. You said the current ruler of Katus is a snake beastkin, right?”

At Yona’s unexpected question, Alebiang slowly nodded.

Katus Empire, a peculiar country where beastkin of different species take turns as emperor.

Without a doubt, the current emperor was a snake beastkin.

“That’s fine then. Well, we’ve got nothing to lose, so let’s give it a shot. Kaiyak, follow me.”

Kaiyak followed behind Yona as she walked ahead.

He wondered what she was up to, but thought that Yona must have some idea.

“If we’re talking about the snake of snakes, it’s got to be Berbaria, right?”

Yona said as she stepped over puddles of water here and there.

With each step she took, Yona’s attire changed.

From the nun’s habit she often wore for comfort, it transformed into the demon realm saint’s outfit, and each time it did, the gazes of people around turned towards Yona.

It’s impossible not to stare when a healer wearing an ordinary nun’s habit gradually changes her outfit while walking, eventually becoming an alluring woman in a black dress.

“But why did you tell me to come along?”

“Aren’t lizardmen kind of like snakes too?”

Kaiyak closed his mouth at that.

Although lizards and snakes use the same character, they are clearly different.

He had no idea where to start correcting Yona, who thought snake beastkin and lizardmen might be similar.

Where Yona and Kaiyak were approaching, a huge sailing ship was docked.

The flag of the Katus Empire was fluttering on the ship, which was still loading cargo, and amidst that, the group of people gathered there were ones Yona could recognize at a glance.

Among the dozen or so people gathered, some were wagging their tails.

And those tails were snake tails, covered entirely in dark gray scales.

“I think I know what you’re thinking, Yona.”

“Right? Aren’t I really smart?”

“Just for today, I think you’re truly smart.”

“Right? See, I told you so?”

With an “ahem,” Yona lifted her chin and put on a haughty expression, as if her nose was growing taller.

Even though there was a condition of “just for today,” Kaiyak wanted to sigh inwardly at Yona who didn’t seem to understand what that meant, but at least for now, Yona was right to do this.

“Hey there! People of the Katus Empire.”

Yona approached them boldly and called out without hesitation.

They were busy watching the loading process and didn’t seem to hear Yona’s voice, showing no reaction. It was only after Yona called out two more times that they finally turned around.

“Eh, who are youuu—”

A hissing sound slipped out between the drawn-out voice.

The person who turned around was a woman, with long pink hair braided and tied up in a bride bun, who looked at Yona.

A woman whose thick tail, reminiscent of fried shrimp, whirled around as she turned to look at Yona.

Healthy brown skin.

But what caught the eye before that were the bright red eyeballs with vertically slit black pupils.

While Yona was taken aback by the unexpected eye color of white sclera, bright red iris, and black vertical pupils, the woman asked Yona again.

“Who are…”

Every time she spoke, a tongue that was split left and right slightly showed between her lips.

Yona had seen such a tongue before.

She thought it was called a split tongue, and it was really split left and right like a snake’s tongue.

Moreover, every time the tongue moved, it made a hissing sound.

Literally — she was a human with snake-like characteristics.

But even this woman couldn’t continue speaking when she saw Yona.

Yona’s black saint’s outfit.

And behind her, a snake with ink-colored scales crawling and writhing.

The yellow-eyed snake freely roamed all over Yona’s body, finally coming up near her shoulder and looking at the snake woman as well.

“Ber… Berbaria… Are you the priestess of Berbaria-nim?”

It seems she recognizes her.

Yona sighed in relief, thinking it was fortunate.

It would have been quite troublesome to explain if she had asked who she was, but it seems she recognizes her.

Still, what’s wrong should be corrected.

“…Not a priestess, and not ‘of’ Berbaria either. Anyway, are you from the Katus Empire?”

Yona felt that this woman in front of her seemed very familiar, even as she spoke.

Is it because she’s a snake, she thought, while also realizing that she was speaking quite casually to her.

But the woman didn’t seem to mind the casual speech at all.

“Yes, yes! We’re going to the Katus Empire! We’re stopping at Kapatum and then going to Kubs!”

‘…I don’t even know where those places are…’

It hadn’t been long since Yona had even heard of Katus.

Let alone knowing the names of its cities.

“This is Kaiyak, a warrior serving the Saint here.”

“A lizardman…! Yes, yes! Warrior-nim! I am Amira Al Azrami…!”

Amira Al Azrami.

What a strange name.

“I can call you… Amira, right?”

“Yes…! Prie— no, Saint-nim!”

Yona was already starting to find Amira a bit burdensome.

She thought that being a snake beastkin, she might recognize Berbaria.

And since she was carrying Berbaria inside her and wearing the saint’s outfit, with the snake constantly circling around Yona’s body like Berbaria’s mark, she thought a snake beastkin would gasp in recognition.

So she thought if she talked to them well, they might be able to enter the Katus Empire easily, but this was too effective.

“So, Amira. We’re trying to enter the Katus Empire.”

“No problem—! I will escort you—!”

It was an ultra-luxurious inn located a bit inland from the docks of Port Lukasia.

It did have a restaurant attached, but the scale and facilities of that restaurant were on a completely different level from the inn where Yona had stayed.

And there, Yona and her companions were all gathered, sitting around with the snake beastkin who had introduced herself as Amira.

“It’s not just me going, but my companions too.”

“That’s also, no problem—!”

Amira nodded vigorously, so much so that Yona thought her pink braided hair might come undone.

Yona suddenly wondered if she was really listening to what she was saying.

“Um… wait a moment, there’s something that’s bothering me.”

It was Alebiang.

Alebiang had been tilting her head since Amira introduced herself, and it seemed she had thought of something.

“Miss Amira, earlier you sa— no, you said your full name was Amira Al Azrami. Is that correct?”

“That’s right—! Companion of the Saint-nim!”

The way of address is strange.

Yona thought so but decided not to point it out.

“…If my memory serves me correctly, the current emperor of the Katus Empire is from the snake clan, and the family name is Azrami… Is that right?”

“That’s correct—!”

“Then, Miss Amira Al Azrami… are you…”

“I am the twenty-eighth daughter of His Majesty the Emperor!”

It became quiet as if cold water had been poured over everyone.

Only Amira was grinning from ear to ear.