There were a total of six children in the Serpent family. Excluding Ash, they were all prodigies with at least one outstanding ability, but their unity was absolutely terrible. Should I say it was the result of fiercely competing for the Family Head position since childhood? Among them, the one who was especially active was Baron, the eldest son of the Serpent family.
‘In the original work, he was a villain no different from Lucius’s right-hand man. He’s also the most likely Family Head candidate.’
In this worldview, there existed a power called ‘Special Ability.’ It was something like a special power that only some beastmen blessed by the Creator El possessed. The more special the type of ability, the more noble treatment one received.
That was exactly why the Serpent family children received special treatment. Because all siblings except Ash possessed that special ability. Damn it, wouldn’t it have been nice if Ash had that good thing too?
‘After Baron, the ones with high rank are the twin brothers Theo and Tian, Baron’s lackeys.’
Like the other siblings, Baron and the twin brothers were especially vicious in temperament. All sorts of insulting remarks were basic, and I remember there were often scenes of them inflicting violence on Ash. I had two choices given to me. Would I submit to violence like in the original work, or would I resist the violence?
“Don’t do it!”
My steps stopped at the commotion heard from somewhere. The moment I unconsciously turned my head to find the source of the sound, my body froze. I saw twin brothers smiling while grabbing a young boy by the collar.
“Geez, you don’t understand words. When these kind brothers personally offer to play with you.”
“I don’t want to! I said I don’t want to do a summoned beast duel! You’re planning to kill all my summoned beasts again!”
“If you don’t like that, you just have to hand over your summoned beast cards to us, right?”
I examined the appearance of the boy who was fuming while being held by the collar. That wheat-colored hair and noticeably lovely appearance was definitely…… the third son of the Serpent family, Aiden Serpent.
In the Serpent family where ability became rank, Aiden was the character with the second-lowest magical ability after Ash. He was also a growth-type character who secretly admired Kiss, the only one who recognized his abilities.
‘Then the twins are probably the second and third sons, Theo and Tian.’
Just as I was quietly organizing the characters in my mind, Aiden, who had finally had enough, bit down hard on Theo’s hand. Tian, who had been watching that scene irritably, ground his teeth and raised his hand.
“How dare this bastard……!”
“Hyung-nim.”
The noisy corridor instantly became quiet. The eyes of the twin brothers who discovered me sparkled like beasts that had found new prey. Theo, who released Aiden’s collar as if throwing it, approached closer.
“Well, well, mute Ash is speaking first for once. You’ve only been hiding every day.”
“Are you going to play with us instead? I’m delighted. My beloved brother wants to hang out.”
The Theo & Tian brothers looked a little different from other beastmen. Being Siamese twins, they were human up to the neck, but from the neck up they had a violent appearance with two snake heads attached. And my first impression upon meeting them face-to-face, with their appearance that would make anyone feel intimidated, was…….
‘The villain brothers I only saw in the novel are really right before my eyes!’
I strode up to the twins who were looking at me with puzzled expressions as I smiled overwhelmingly like an award-winning actor at a film festival, and suddenly grabbed their hands.
“C-can I really play with you?”
“……What?”
“Not Aiden hyung-nim, but me—I want to play with you hyung-nims. Please, I’m begging you.”
The brothers who had frozen for a moment simultaneously burst into laughter. The forked tongues that showed slightly each time they laughed were art. And what about the scales on their necks that sparkled whenever they received sunlight? Just as I was quickly composing myself right before drool could flow, the brothers who had barely finished laughing opened their mouths.
“This bastard…… he’s sick, but hasn’t something gone wrong with his head?”
“Alright, fine. But we get to decide what we play.”
Seeing that even Aiden, who had inadvertently received help, had an expression like ‘Has he gone crazy?’, I could tell how much Ash had lived under the oppression of these twins. But what can I do? Just think about it—characters from a novel you liked suddenly appearing before your eyes one day. Wouldn’t anyone get excited?
“Of course! As much as you want. What should we play? Should we compete in horseback riding? Or hunting?”
I nodded my head with sparkling eyes as if I’d been waiting. The brothers, who had been exchanging glances with each other, suddenly grabbed my cheeks. Even with my cheeks pressed firmly, I looked straight at the brothers.
“Well, how about the ‘fetch’ game we always played?”
“……”
“You’re a puppy our family raises, aren’t you?”
In this novel, humans were at the bottom of the caste system. Ash, being human, would have certainly been born on the streets and died on the streets if Lucius hadn’t adopted him.
The way such an Ash survived in this household was by becoming a faithful subordinate to the existing Serpent family siblings. While faithfully carrying out the siblings’ unreasonable and violent orders.
The siblings’ hands fiddled with the choker fastened around Ash’s neck. It was a touch containing the silent warning of ‘Don’t act out and crawl obediently.’ I broke the tense atmosphere and opened my mouth.
“Woof.”
The laughter vanished from the faces of the brothers who had been smiling leisurely. Regardless, I grabbed the brothers’ large hands with crazed eyes while breaking out in cold sweat.
“That’s great, so great. I’m really good at fetching things. My jaw strength is extraordinary……”
“……”
“But if I fetch things well…… could you give me the first shed skin from this year? It’s absolutely not in a suspicious way. My heart has always pounded when I see your hyung-nims’ well-maintained scales.”
Pretending not to hear Aiden’s voice muttering “I think it is in a suspicious way,” I slyly stroked the scales that rose on the brothers’ hands. The brothers, who had made a creeped-out expression for a moment, roughly swatted my hand away as if they’d been molested.
Their expressions seemed to deeply understand the phrase that a drooling dog is scarier than a biting dog. The brothers, who seemed to have briefly lost their minds and barely regained their senses, soon shouted in a welcoming voice.
“H-Hyung-nim!”
At the murderous intent felt from somewhere, my spine went cold and goosebumps rose all over my body. When I slowly turned my head, I locked eyes with a large man looking down at me with cold eyes.
‘This man is definitely……’
A scar that greatly crossed one eye, a solid physique as if wrapped in murderous intent, and bulging veins visible protruding on his forearms. My body froze at the majestic appearance that seemed to embody the very concept of ‘villain.’ The man, who had been silently looking down at me, spoke in a growling voice.
“What are you doing here? Ash.”
It was the main villain of the original work, Baron Serpent.
* * *
To summarize FluffyChron in one sentence…… it was ‘a beastmen’s scramble for the genie.'”
In this world, there existed a ‘Primordial Evil’ that would definitely grant one wish of whoever summoned it. To summon this entity, one had to eliminate the six guardians appearing in legend and obtain all six summoning seals.
At some point, those guardians appeared in the empire, so anyone with desire became desperate to hunt those guardians. Therefore, the characters appearing in this novel had one thing in common. That was having a wish they wanted to fulfill even at the cost of their lives.
For example, Ash, whom I possessed into, had a wish to live long because he was terminal. Kiss, who lost his birth mother for political reasons, had a wish to become emperor, and Baron had a wish to become the Family Head of the Serpent family. However, since only one person could become the master of the legendary summoned beast, Baron ended up giving Ash one order.
[There’s only one way a useless bastard like you can contribute to the family. Help me collect the summoning seals. Then at least you can die honorably in the end.]
Ash, whose normal thinking had become difficult due to long-term violence and gaslighting, couldn’t refuse Baron’s unreasonable order. After being used to his heart’s content until his already poor health deteriorated further, he was eventually abandoned by Baron and had his evil deeds up to that point judged by Kiss’s sword.
“Theo, Tian.”
“Y-yes.”
“I told you not to associate with humans unnecessarily.”
It was a cold tone with no emotion whatsoever. Just as I was keeping my mouth shut since there was nothing good about stepping forward unnecessarily, Baron, who had turned around, raised one hand. Then he suddenly slapped my cheek.
Smack!
My vision flashed and my body swayed. It seemed like I tasted blood, as if the tender flesh inside my cheek had burst. Baron, who grabbed the collar of me staggering hard after losing my balance, opened his mouth.
“And you, have you already forgotten my warning not to leave your bedroom?”
“Ugh……”
“I told you not to trail that lowly human smell all over the corridor.”
I felt something flowing from my philtrum. He must have hit me so hard that even my nose started bleeding. I forcibly suppressed my surging emotions and lowered my gaze. Unless I became stronger, there was nothing good about lunging at Baron, who currently held absolute power within the Serpent family.
“I apologize, hyung-nim.”
“No, education of this level doesn’t work on stupid species like you.”
When Baron raised his hand in the air again, the twin brothers watching the situation from behind giggled as if it was amusing. Just as I faced the crisis of another jaw being knocked off, Aiden stood in the way.
“What’s this?”
A sharp gaze pierced Aiden who had fearlessly blocked the way. Aiden, who had been hesitating, opened his mouth.
“I-in the future, hyung-nim’s precious hands that will become the Family Head of the Serpent family cannot be used for such trivial matters.”
“……”
“I will educate him separately, I apologize.”
At Aiden’s words, Baron’s expression softened a bit and he released my collar as if throwing it. My insides were boiling, but what can I do? It’s a household that operates thoroughly based on hierarchy.
‘No, but even so, do I have to keep enduring this kind of treatment?’
I thought carefully. No, when I have less than a year left to live anyway, why should I endure this? Rather than being used by Baron for the rest of my life like Ash in the original work, I’d rather refreshingly…….
‘Wouldn’t it be better to pull off a refreshing rebellion?’
As soon as I finished judging, my decision was made. I suddenly grabbed the wrist of Baron, who was about to leave with an unpleasant expression. Baron, who had hesitated, turned his head with a menacing expression.
“Right now, that filthy hand on whose body……”
“Hey, you fucking bastard.”
Silence flowed at my appearance hurling profanity. I smiled in the atmosphere that had rapidly become chilly. I’m going to die in a year anyway, so what is there to be afraid of? While I was feeling proud, Baron, whose expression was gradually becoming fierce, muttered in a voice as if grinding his teeth.
“What did you just say?”
“Are you the only precious child? I’m a precious child too. As long as I was adopted into the Serpent family, we use the same surname equally, so why the fuss? Huh? Will you die if you can’t make a fuss? Is there some incurable disease where you die if you can’t make a fuss?”
“……”
“What are you staring at? Want to throw down with Yakuza rules?”
It was both funny and refreshing to have words that the original Ash would never say flowing out one after another.
Baron, who had let out a hollow laugh at my appearance swaggering and provoking, strode forward. Then he punched my abdomen without warning. I collapsed to the floor clutching my stomach at the sensation of my organs twisting.
“Now that you’ve received your death sentence, I see you’ve completely lost your mind.”
“That’s exactly right.”
I spat blood onto my palm and continued speaking.
“I’m going to die soon anyway, so I’m not afraid of anything. So it’s better not to mess with me.”
“……”
“Who knows? I might take one more person with me because I’m lonely going alone.”
“What makes you think you can act like this?”
“I told you earlier.”
I smeared the blood I’d spat onto my palm on my face like a madman. With my face instantly covered in blood, I grinned.
“I’m a precious child too.”
Baron’s expression, which had been laughing as if it was absurd, suddenly hardened. Baron, who felt something off and slowly turned his head, saw Lucius standing there looking this way expressionlessly. Lucius, who had been alternately looking at me with my face covered in blood and Baron holding my collar, asked in a low, sunken voice.
“What is this about? Baron.”
This is the prestigious villain family, the Serpent family.
A crazy household where you can’t survive unless you’re more vicious.
