TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 4

On the second day of their stay at the hunting lodge, Albin, who had planned to cling to Zeman just like the day before, realized that Zeman seemed to be deliberately avoiding him.

Early in the morning, Zeman announced that he was going hunting in the forest.

This border village had limited resources. The supplies they had bought yesterday mainly consisted of beans, grains, a few miscellaneous vegetables, and some cheese, but no meat.  

Eating bland chestnut porridge, Albin couldn’t help but crave some meat.  

But hunting sounded dangerous. Mr. Zeman looked so frail—how could he feel at ease?  

They were only staying here for three days. It wasn’t absolutely necessary to eat meat, making hunting seem entirely unnecessary, almost like an excuse.  

“What if Mr. Zeman faints somewhere again?” he fretted.  

“I’ll be fine.” Zeman gently patted his head, refusing to take him along no matter what. Resolutely heading out, he sternly warned Albin not to wander around.  

Unable to stop him, Albin could only watch helplessly as Zeman left.

Was it because he had stuck to him all day yesterday, annoying him?  

Or did Zeman think Albin wouldn’t be of any help even if he tagged along?  

“Hmph, when he gets back, I won’t talk to him either!”  

Pouting, he rolled around on the straw, feeling that Zeman had been acting strangely ever since he woke up that morning.  

“If only I could use magic…”  

The thought surfaced again, and he murmured to himself.  

Come to think of it, since this was a magical comic, and he was one of its characters, it was quite likely that he had magic powers!  

If that were true, why shouldn’t he start practicing right away? There was no harm in preparing before confirming it!  

An idea sparked in Albin’s mind. He sat up from the straw and looked down at his hands.  

—

His hands began to emit a faint magical glow, though it was too weak to achieve a healing effect—his abilities were clearly raw and underdeveloped.  

“It doesn’t seem to work…” he muttered in disappointment.  

【Don’t rush…】  

Wait!  

Hands?  

The emerald green snake suddenly realized something was wrong.  

It raised its head slowly, a piece of bread still in its mouth, and saw the white-haired boy crouched in front of it. His red eyes gleamed with interest as he seriously attempted to heal the snake’s injury.  

Plop—  

The wet piece of bread fell to the ground.  

The green snake was dumbfounded.  

This… this was the child whose blood and flesh could alleviate its curse?  

Wasn’t he supposed to be human?  

【You… why can you understand me?】  

Humans shouldn’t be able to understand. It must be a guess! There’s no way he could actually comprehend its words!  

“Huh? I don’t know either.”  

Albin had found the nearly starved snake after hearing its voice. He had seen snakes like this before at a classmate’s house; it was called a green snake, nonvenomous and often kept as a pet. They were even difficult to raise.  

At first, he thought he was hallucinating. But after a brief conversation, he confirmed he could really understand the snake’s language!  

Magic and snake-speak—it reminded him of a certain magical story from his past life.  

He was a Parselmouth! (Confirmed!)  

How cool!  

While Albin was still confused, the green snake’s mind was reeling.  

Humans shouldn’t be able to understand the language of magical creatures; only magical creatures could understand each other.  

But this child could. Did that mean… he was also a magical creature?  

Was he one of its kin?  

【Alright, fine.】 The snake nodded with feigned dignity. 【You can keep practicing on me.】  

Only high-level magical creatures could take human form. How could this little one, already in human form, not even know how to use magic energy?  

Very well. Lord Emerald would guide him!  

Besides, its magical energy hadn’t recovered yet. Zeman probably wouldn’t notice.  

Wait—no!  

It suddenly realized something.  

Magic wasn’t exclusive to humans.  

If this child was a magical creature, he should only be able to use magical energy, not magic.  

Though the two forces were similar—humans and magical creatures were originally of the same source—the energy Albin had just used on it was pure and gentle, completely unlike the murky and violent magical energy.  

The snake remained dazed throughout Albin’s magical massage.  

Was this child human or magical creature?  

—

In the forest, charred corpses of magical creatures littered the ground at Zeman’s feet.  

He looked at his hands, his expression icy.  

The magical energy output was still excessive.  

Either he couldn’t use it at all, or he couldn’t stop once he started. The magical energy was always resisting him.  

Controlling the cursed magical energy was proving even harder than he had expected. He needed to strengthen his control.  

If he couldn’t suppress the curse, things would go south.  

Zeman thought of what the green snake had told him last night.  

He didn’t need to rely on an innocent child’s flesh and blood to barely survive. Using the “medicine” to maintain his sanity was just drinking poison to quench his thirst.  

Giving his sanity to someone else, whether to “medicine” or the “curse,” was equally pathetic.  

Yet he could lose control at any moment, kill the child, or fail to resist the temptation to drink the child’s blood.  

Humanity couldn’t withstand such a test. The best solution was to stay away from the child.  

His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. He glanced sideways at the person entering the forest.  

It was a cheerful young man with golden hair swept to the side, his refined and elegant appearance as if he could step onto a stage at any moment.  

The blond youth waved enthusiastically. “Hey, Zeman! So you’re here! The Sun Church has gone mad looking for their missing Saint and the Pope. What’s going on?”  

He sighed. “I was nearby, and my foresight showed you were here, so I came over. What happened?”  

Zeman stared at him for a moment before speaking coldly. “You’re just in time.”  

“Hm? Need something from me?”  

“There’s something I need your help with.”  

“You… need my help?” The blond youth’s eyes widened, his voice rising in disbelief. “Are you really Zeman? Prove it! What’s the first thing I said to you when we met?”  

Of course, Zeman remembered. At that time, he had already been the Sun Church’s Saint and a devout follower of the Sun God. The man before him had been the Saint of the Love and Destiny God.  

And this man had said to him:  

“Hey there! I’m Edward. I have a feeling you’ll become someone extraordinary and do things no one could imagine, so let’s be friends!”  

Back then, Zeman, chosen as the Sun’s Saint and destined to be the next Pope, had believed him. Only later did he realize Edward said that to almost everyone.  

Zeman coldly replied, “Something stupid.”  

Hearing his disdain, Edward waved his hand dismissively.  

“Ah, so you really are Zeman.” His expression turned serious. “What is it? If you’re asking for my help, it must be big. I’d even follow you into the Abyss.”  

For Zeman to seek his help, it must be a daunting task.  

Edward braced himself.  

Zeman calmly said, “I need you to look after a child.”  

What?  

Edward froze. 

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