So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

But now there were hardly any dwarves visible in the deep level.

Could they have already burned to death?

It was impossible to know.

"Dunkel."

Manjin whispered carefully.

He pointed his finger down there.

The floor door leading to the deepest level was already open.

And Blue Beard was in front of the stairs leading down there.

Fortunately, there were no orange flames that addled minds here.

Perhaps it was natural since only those already entranced by fire were in the deep level.

Blue Beard's and Dunkel's eyes met.

Despite the considerable distance, Blue Beard's frown was visible.

Dunkel felt unnecessarily intimidated.

Bang bang!

The sound of writhing came from the bucket.

Right, need to stay focused.

Dunkel deliberately steadied his heart.

And finally they reached Blue Beard.

"Happy. What's going on?"

Blue Beard asked the warrior about the situation with a frown.

The warrior approached Blue Beard and explained everything that had happened so far.

Blue Beard's eyes grew wide.

He realized what Dunkel was holding was the lost Celestium bucket.

"You brought that, you?"

"Yes."

Blue Beard approached Dunkel and held out his hand.

Dunkel hesitated briefly before handing over the bucket.

Bang bang!

The sound of the snake thrashing came from the bucket once more.

"I don't know what made you change your mind, but well done."

Blue Beard praised Dunkel.

Since it was the first praise he'd heard from Blue Beard, Dunkel felt an inexplicable smile form.

And the moment Blue Beard opened the bucket's lid.

Whoosh!

A bat flew out from inside the bucket.

"Huh?"

Happy, the warrior who had guided Dunkel's group, was dumbfounded.

The bat frantically flew away and disappeared from sight.

Blue Beard silently glared at Dunkel for a moment.

Soon, he noticed there was a paper stuck to the bottom of the bucket.

Wondering what it was, he looked closely, then quickly threw the bucket aside.

Whoosh!

Instantly fire burst from inside the bucket.

"...Dunkel, are you playing games with me?"

If it was a prank, it was a malicious one. If it was an ambush, it was a sloppy one.

But Dunkel didn't panic.

From the start, it wasn't a scheme meant to even burn Blue Beard's beard.

"Has your mind cleared up?"

"Not funny."

Dunkel smiled bitterly.

It was the first time he'd played a prank on Blue Beard.

Despite always imagining ways to get back at Blue Beard.

"It's not as enjoyable as I thought."

And, after a brief pause.

"...Father."

A chilling silence descended on the scene.

Shock, astonishment.

Faces that wondered if this was some kind of joke.

Manjin and Tral looked at Dunkel with eyes about to pop out.

==

Whoosh.

Oh my!

The talisman I was carrying with my tail caught fire.

That means the magic of another talisman connected to this one has activated.

It was a linked-talisman drawn with Pelerian's help.

The talisman linked to mine was attached inside the Celestium bucket.

Since it would burn as soon as the lid was opened, at least the bucket must have reached Blue Beard's hands.

Yes, I made a bold investment.

I planned the strategy anticipating the loss of the Celestium bucket.

If the strategy succeeds, I'll become the guardian dragon of the Red Anvil Mine.

Then I'll receive regular tributes from the dwarves.

It's already a fact that I've negotiated with Helmut and Dunkel.

"Saaaaaah!"

I roared.

The dwarves who were sitting and resting hurriedly stood up.

Timing was crucial.

Actually, we moved faster than Dunkel's group.

Dunkel departed a day later than us.

And for a full day, we dug into the tunnel connecting directly above the deep level.

There are several nightmare scenarios for dwarf miners.

One of them is encountering a pack of naked mole rats while having lost illumination.

I've already overcome that situation before.

And while rarer than that, if it happens it becomes a disaster beyond imagination.

Contacting underground water veins.

Groundwater is common enough that encountering it isn't rare.

If the ground is wet when digging, you just need to avoid it.

However, very occasionally, when misfortune piles upon misfortune, you encounter a lake formed underground.

If you disturb that place where water has collected, the water pressure causes it to burst forth.

You could drown underground if you're not careful.

To prevent that, skilled miners find and avoid traces of underground lakes in advance.

This time was the opposite.

We spent a full day digging into places estimated to have underground lakes.

It was dangerous behavior.

And Helmut, an explosives expert, planted explosives throughout based on careful calculations.

"Fall back. To high ground, retreat to high ground!"

He commanded the dwarves.

"Move quickly you bastards! Don't step on the fuses!"

The dwarves ran in great excitement.

None of them were friendly with water.

Everyone retreated to high ground.

"Whew, hah."

Even the experienced Helmut looked a bit tense.

"Never thought I'd do something this thrilling before I died."

No, he wasn't tense, he was excited.

Helmut adjusted my sunglasses so they wouldn't fall off easily.

"Are you really going to be alright? It'll be very dangerous."

'I'm fine. Well, this much is nothing.'

I stuck with Helmut instead of Dunkel.

The Chimera Snake's ability was excellent for finding water veins.

Since it didn't want to separate from me, we had to stay together like this.

I put the Chimera Snake back into subspace.

What's about to happen will be quite extreme.

"Well then, I wish you luck. Prepare for detonation!"

Helmut approached the detonator.

"Three, two, one, fire!"

When he pressed the detonator.

The fuses burned at an amazing speed.

Fizzzzzzz-

And, an enormous explosion occurred.

BOOM!

The explosives blasted through the underground lake's wall.

And water began pouring out due to tremendous pressure.

"Wait for the debris to pass!"

My ears were ringing so Helmut's voice was hard to hear.

An incredible torrent of water was pouring down below.

Now that the rock fragments have passed and only pure water is pouring.

「Using Black Scales lv3」

Using Black Scales that I can now use freely.

I jumped into the water.

「Using Swimming lv1」

Swimming that I really hate.

And a terrifyingly scary water slide at that.

I flowed down with the water.

Following the hole blown open below, to the deep level.

==

"I never had a child like you."

"Because you abandoned me."

"...Did Helmut tell you?"

"Yes."

Dunkel answered with a pale face.

A baby born without hair.

Moreover, an illegitimate child.

Blue Beard refused to acknowledge Dunkel as his child.

Thus, Dunkel lived his whole life as an orphan.

"Did you come looking for me hoping for an apology?"

"No."

Dunkel spoke calmly.

"I'm going to defeat you and save the mine."

"Ha..."

Just as Blue Beard was about to mock him.

BOOM!

An explosion echoed from the high ceiling.

Rock fragments rained down everywhere.

As a result of the explosion, a hole formed in the ceiling.

Right above them.

"What!"

Rumble rumble rumble-

And then a roaring sound like something rushing in echoed.

When the startled Blue Beard looked at Dunkel and his group, they were already turning and running up to higher ground.

"Pur..."

He couldn't even finish saying "pursue."

Water streamed down from the ceiling.

Among the fierce water currents like a waterfall, there was a snake.

It was indeed that same small white snake from before.

The snake was falling precisely toward Blue Beard.

That alone wouldn't have been so frightening.

The problem was that suddenly the snake grew enormously large.

Deep in the lowest part of the mine.

The snake descends.