So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

In the near future, she would have to hand over the position of Mine Lord.

Then to whom...?

"Lady Rozena."

"Ah, Dunkel."

As they entered deeper into the mine, Dunkel greeted her.

Dunkel's hands were stained bright red with blood.

He had been tending to the injured dwarves until now.

"...You've worked hard."

There was a snake on Dunkel's shoulder.

The snake was proudly holding its body upright.

Rozena spoke to the snake.

"Is this how it's supposed to be done?"

'You did perfectly.'

A pen and paper moved in mid-air, writing the words.

Mentioning Roil was at the snake's request.

Thanks to that, Roil would now be able to handle the trade rights of the Red Anvil Mine.

He would be able to amass enormous wealth in the long term, of course.

Also... the snake had a cunning trick up its sleeve.

'Weapons suitable for goblin hands. This should be interesting.'

Rozena grinned.

So this snake had a friendly relationship with goblins too.

It should be very entertaining to watch from now on. What a shame, she thought.

Grinning, Rozena shouted loudly.

"Everyone!"

All the dwarves looked at Rozena.

"You've all worked hard. For the time being, I'll be taking over as the Mine Lord of the Red Anvil Mine in place of Blue Beard. If anyone has any objections, raise your hand now."

Of course, no one raised their hand.

Instead, cheers erupted.

Rozena wasn't one to put off tasks.

Perhaps that's why she immediately made a bombshell statement.

"And I'm considering Dunkel, Blue Beard's son and my adoptive son, as the next heir to the position of Mine Lord."

Shock! Unprecedented!

All the dwarves' jaws dropped.

Especially Dunkel, who was most shocked to suddenly be assigned such an important position.

"If anyone has any objections, raise your hand."

Of course, there should be tremendous backlash.

This was too radical a move, even considering how strong and respected Rozena was.

The senior dwarves would never accept Dunkel.

"This is absurd!"

Indeed, a voice of opposition burst out.

It was none other than Dunkel himself.

"Everyone else is fine with it, so why are you the only one making a fuss?"

"What? Everyone else is fine with it?"

Dunkel looked around.

There weren't cheers like before, but no one had raised their hand.

Why? Those who had despised Dunkel so much.

"I'm not handing it over right away. When you become a proper dwarf, that's when I'll appoint you."

Rozena firmly grasped Dunkel's hand.

The wounds on his palm, skinned from turning the heated valve, stung.

"You've worked hard."

Rozena smiled.

==

A centipede's applause for the touching conclusion of Dwarf Dunkel's story.

Clang clang clang.

But unlike fairy tales, real-world affairs don't neatly divide into introduction, development, turn, and conclusion.

Dunkel will have to face many trials before ascending to the position of Mine Lord.

Not all dwarves were genuinely impressed by Dunkel.

It's true that he saved the Red Anvil Mine by selflessly rushing into the flames.

But many hadn't actually witnessed his heroics.

I hope Dunkel becomes the Mine Lord.

He's my friend, and isn't it good when your friend becomes an important person?

But I had something more important than that right now.

'Prepare a warm shelter!'

"It shouldn't be too hot. Since it's from the great forest, high humidity would be good. I'll boil some water."

We were preparing for Chimera Snake's evolution.

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Everyone was moving hurriedly and noisily.

"Is it you guys evolving or the snake?"

Pelerian scolded us, but we couldn't just sit still.

We carefully lifted Chimera Snake from its pot and transplanted it to the underground garden.

We even sprayed it with the nutrient solution used when leaves wilt.

Chimera Snake had been still with its leaves curled up since yesterday.

It was worrying to see it no longer dancing.

'I'll help.'

"Hmm."

That's right, Chimera Snake isn't evolving alone.

I plan to directly assist Chimera Snake's evolution, armed with my experiences of multiple evolutions.

Normally, this would be impossible.

But it was possible between me and Chimera Snake.

'Chimera Snake, give me your hand, hand.'

Silence.

'Good, hand.'

Fortunately, one of Chimera Snake's curled vine hands slowly unfurled.

It grasped my tail.

「Using Empathy lv2.」

It's thanks to Chimera Snake's special skill.

Nothing extraordinary happened right away.

'I'm going to take a nap. Watch over me well.'

"Don't worry."

Dunkel nodded responsibly.

Often, sleep was necessary for evolution.

If we fall asleep while maintaining empathy, maybe we can intervene in the evolution?

After Chimera Snake evolves, I should name it, make the Cloud Iron Sword, and head out.

Being so organized is totally J-snake.

One good thing about becoming a snake is that my nerves have thickened.

It must be because my mental power is now 20.

I can fall asleep anytime, anywhere if I want.

That's one thing I'm very satisfied with.

And so... I fell into a deep sleep.

I came to my senses.

As if in a dream, the familiar black space appeared.

'Success!'

It was a success.

Because Chimera Snake was there too.

A single sprout had sprouted on the ground.

Seeing me, it happily fluttered its leaves.

「Evolution is possible.」

A message rang out.

「Special evolution conditions have been met.」

And in front of Chimera Snake and me, letters floated up.

──────────────

From [Seedling Chimera lv10]

...

──────────────

Oh... I can see.

──────────────

1.[Little Treant]

2.[Vine Chimera]

...

──────────────

Wow!

As expected, Chimera Snake, born with a silver spoon from the World Tree, is different from its first evolution.

My first evolution options were merely things like Little Green Snake,

But Chimera Snake's evolution options are multiple right from the start.

A 'Treant' is literally a walking tree species.

Since it's a Little Treant, I guess it becomes a small tree. That's too Groot-like, which doesn't appeal to me.

The second is Vine Chimera.

Chimera Snake used its vine hands really well.

It used them to hold my hand, and although it couldn't use them like real hands yet, maybe it could if it went this route.

Then maybe I could teach Chimera Snake swordsmanship too?

A fairly appealing option.

Everything below this seems to be special evolution routes.

I think they might reflect the 'fire' and 'bone' traits that Chimera Snake acquired.

──────────────

3.[Skeleton Chimera]

4.[Flame Moss Chimera]

...

──────────────

Both admittedly look powerful.

But honestly, the moment it becomes a Skeleton Chimera, it's no longer a plant.

I don't dislike bones, but it would lose its cute charm.

Flame Moss Chimera... why moss of all things?

I wonder if it could wriggle around like a slime.

Somehow, I feel like if it evolves into a Flame Moss Chimera, it won't be able to stick with me anymore.

Because it'd be too hot!

This is too difficult to decide.

At times like this, I wish Pelerian, the expert on magical beasts and chimeras, was here.

He's never around when you really need him.

But as always, it was important to look at the last option.

Chimera Snake had eaten a magic stone imbued with the power of Paimon, a high-ranking demon.

──────────────

5.[Demon Hunter's Vine Grass]

──────────────

The structure of the name is different.

It sounds like an alias for something that already existed.

Judging by the name 'vine grass', it's definitely in the plant category.

It would be nice if it could use vines.

But the modifier 'Demon Hunter's' is a bit puzzling.

Does it mean it gets stronger when fighting demon-like creatures?

I'm not sure if we'll ever fight demons... and I can't imagine what it would look like.

But...

Let's recall Pelerian's advice.

First, he said, "There will be options that remain in the chimera lineage and those that don't. It might be good to branch out to something else. The chimera lineage certainly has its limits."

If so, that leaves only Little Treant and Demon Hunter's Vine Grass.

However, I heard that "treants are rather unremarkable as a species."

Come to think of it, Pelerian was helpful!

In that case, I think we can narrow down the choice to one.

'Chimera snake, I think number 5 would be good. What do you think?'

I like it too.

Nod nod.

That's clearly what it's saying.

Then let's go with number 5!

「'Seedling Chimera' evolves into 'Demon Hunter's Vine Grass'.」

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