That time I was reincarnated as a snake (Tensura)

In honor of all those who spent Valentine's Day alone, I bring you an extra chapter, enjoy it.

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-Clo POV-

With the emergence of the first rays of dawn light, a new day began for me.

Who am I? I'm just a humble man.

Like many in this world, I was born into a farming family in a small village south of the city where I currently live. Although poor, my parents and I were happy together. The three of us worked the fields, looked after the herd of goats we had, and even used to fish in a nearby river when we had no money for food.

Although we had difficulties at times, it was not a bad life, but that life ended abruptly.

When I was about sixteen, an accident happened.

It was a normal day like any other, I had just fed the goats and was getting ready to have lunch with my parents, when that happened.

Without warning, a blinding light blinded my sight, my ears could only pick up ringing sounds. By the time I regained my vision, almost the entire village had been destroyed. Instead of seeing the houses I was used to, there was only a gigantic ditch hundreds of meters wide and dozens deep dug into the earth. I couldn't process what I was seeing for a while. Only later did I do so, only to feel sad about the deaths of so many of my acquaintances.

Luckily for me, my parents and some other villagers, our houses were far away from the affected area. Although the shock wave also hit us, destroying our houses, it was better than being wiped out.

Or at least that's what I thought at first. Only later did I realize that the village's crop area had been completely devastated. With winter approaching and the need to rebuild the village along with its defenses so as not to be attacked by monsters, we were in serious trouble.

It was because of the sum of all those factors that I made a decision, one that would change my destiny from that moment on.

Taking the few personal savings I had, I set out on a journey to the fortress city of GreenRock north of my village, with the goal of getting a job and sending money back to the village to get through these difficult times.

Although my parents were opposed, claiming it was unsafe, my teenage spirit dismissed their warnings as nothing, even convincing a couple of boys who, like me, had survived and wanted to do something for the village.

Together we headed into the city excited about our adventure.

...

We were so naive at that time.

After a long journey on foot, we managed to reach GreenRock City.

We thought that success awaited us, that in a short time we would make a lot of money and save the village, without knowing what really awaited us.

The boys and I, after a long journey, just wanted to rest. Following the directions given by some passers-by, we went to one of the cheapest inns. It was there that we received our first reality check.

The cost for a one-bed room for one day was a fifth of our combined savings. Not wanting to spend so much money, to the disdain of the owner, we left.

Maybe because we were too tired, we hadn't noticed the bustle of the streets. It was only now that we started to pay attention to it. Something that caught my attention was the costs of many of the foods our village grew.

Normally, when a traveling merchant came to our village, he would buy our surplus and sell us some of his goods. Now that he was here, I could see that he paid us less than a fifth of what he paid for our goods, while the goods he sold us here cost less than a third of what they did.

The bastard was taking advantage of us!

I understand that there are costs to transport the products, but my village was not very far from here. We did not usually sell ourselves in the city because it required taking a certain risk, and we did not need to because of the merchant who always came to our village regularly.

That was my second reality check: there are always clever people out there taking advantage of naive people.

With no place to rest, we decided to look for jobs.

While I got a job as a cleaner in a canteen, although they didn't pay much, it was the only job I got without having some skill.

The other two boys, to my surprise, had joined the adventurer mutual aid association. Apparently, they had heard that being an adventurer could earn a lot of money quickly. I tried to dissuade them. Although the profit part was true, that profession involved risking one's life continuously, but as hot-blooded men they ignored my words.

For my part, my new job was complicated.

At first I didn't know why a cleaner was specifically needed to be hired in a cantina. It was only when I started cleaning that I understood. A cantina, as a meeting place for many kinds of people, mainly rough men, is embroiled in continuous disputes when the customers are drunk. Although they later compensate for the damage caused so as not to be taken away by the city guards, the cantina continually needs cleaning.

Although the work was somewhat difficult, it was not much of a problem for me, someone who was used to doing heavy work on the farm. The owner of the canteen, seeing my performance, was very pleased. When the day was over and I was preparing to look for a place to spend the night, the owner, hearing my current situation, offered me a small room on the second floor at a slightly cheaper price. As long as I kept up the same performance as today, if I slacked off at work, I would lose that privilege. To which I agreed.

Time passed…

While I was working at the canteen, the other two boys who became adventurers were doing well.

Fortunately for them, they managed to get into a strong team, but only to skin and carry the corpses of monsters. Although they were often exposed to mortal dangers, which caused them many injuries, luckily they always managed to survive.

Over time they managed to learn some combat skills from the other members of their group, as well as train on their own. They slowly joined the team as fighters.

The three of us saw each other regularly. Mainly, they would go with their team to the canteen where I worked. I was no longer the cleaner, by this time I had been promoted to waiter. When they went to the canteen, they would brag to me about their adventures. To show off, they would even leave me generous tips, which I gladly accepted.

Sometimes I felt jealous of them, but little by little I began to enjoy the atmosphere of the cantina. Although noisy, there was something about it that attracted me.

We always sent a portion of our earnings back to our village and whenever we had time, we would go there to relax. Thanks to us, our village was able to overcome its difficulties and slowly return to what it was.

But the three of us did not want to return to our old life, we were happy with the current one. Although our families felt sad, they understood that it was our decision, so they could only give us their blessings to have a good life.

It was only a year after arriving in the city that another tragedy occurred.

While I was working as a waiter as usual, for some reason I had a bad feeling. It was only when I saw one of the guys who arrived at the end of my shift in tears, that I knew from his mouth what that bad feeling was that I felt.

In their latest adventure, they planned to hunt a giant ant as a commission.

To avoid taking any risks, they had prepared many traps and searched for a lone ant. It was only when they caught it that they realized it was they who had lured them into a trap. Other giant ants emerged from the ground, surrounding them.

Although his team fought tenaciously, they were unable to escape the encirclement. It was only due to the sacrifice of the other boy, who acted as a distraction, that he was able to escape with difficulty.

Like a coward, he could only escape, while watching his friend's smile as he saw that he had managed to escape the encirclement, only to be devoured by the giant ants the next moment.

I could only give him a hug to comfort him, even though I was sad too. I knew he was the one who needed the most comfort, having witnessed everything firsthand.

This reminded us both of the fragility of life: one moment you are fine and the next you can die.

We both continued with our lives, although they were no longer as happy as they used to be.

He, although he continued as an adventurer, had been left with scars after the annihilation of his former group, with which he had spent many pleasant moments. He jumped from group to group or acted alone, he did not want to suffer again from losing his companions, so he avoided becoming attached to anyone. He just lived his day to day, knowing that he could die at any moment. The pressure and his emotions ended up leading him to drink and gambling. The sunny young man he knew had disappeared since that day.

Good things happened on my part. I had been in love with the daughter of the bar owner for a long time. Although my boss was reluctant to let us go out at first, with time and my dedication, I managed to get him to accept it. She and I were completely in love, I would say it was love at first sight.

Throughout my time in the city, in addition to working, I had made it my mission to learn a lot. I didn't want anyone to take advantage of me again, like that merchant did with our village. I used some of my salary to have workers from various professions share some tips or information with me, from common things like how to preserve certain foods for longer, to how to work with wood, among others.

I even learned to read and write, something that people in my village didn't know.

You could say that everything was going very well for me. Or at least that was the case until the day I understood the weight of status.

One night, one of the city lord's nephews came to the tavern with his guards. Everything was normal at first. It was only when he got drunk that everything got out of hand. He began to use his status to act as he pleased, even attacking other customers.

When my boss tried to appease him, tragedy struck. The bastard, displeased that someone told him what to do, pulled out his sword and stabbed him to death. I, filled with rage, ran at him and dealt him several blows until he was unconscious, only to be beaten by his guards and later locked up in the city lord's dungeon for hitting someone of his status.

While I didn't regret avenging my boss and father-in-law, he was always nice to me, even when I started dating his daughter. He wasn't happy at best, but he never treated me unfairly. I owed him at least this much, though I wish I had killed that bastard instead of just beating him up.

I was worried about my girlfriend; in one day, she not only lost her father, the only family member she had left, but she also lost me. I hoped she could cope and not do something stupid like I did.

I spent almost a week in the dungeon. I was given only hard, moldy bread to eat and a little water, just enough to keep from dying while my sentence was being handed down. I thought they would prolong my stay in the cell for months, just to make me suffer more.

To my surprise, one night when I was in the darkness of my cell, someone came from outside. It was the lord of the city himself, alone, without his guards. He asked the reason for attacking his nephew. I simply told him what happened that night and how I tried to avenge my boss, to whom I owed a lot.

Happy about this, he offered me two options: wait here for months and then be sentenced to hanging or work for him, in a small project he was carrying out in secret, an intelligence network within the city, not only to protect himself from other powerful lords, but from his own relatives or subordinates. He even offered to make sure his nephew disappeared.

When I asked him why he would go to such lengths, he simply replied, "I prefer a capable and loyal subordinate to a trashy relative who only causes trouble," with a smile.

Apparently, it was because he saw my capabilities and that I was loyal to whoever helped me that he proposed this deal to me. I accepted it. That's how I became his spy.

I knew of the existence of others like me, but I did not meddle in those matters.

...

With the sunrise I started a new day.

I got up and made breakfast for myself and my dear Martha.

I had taken on several household chores now that she was weak from the birth of our son Tim. After breakfast, I kissed Martha goodbye and went to the canteen.

As usual, there were already several customers enjoying their breakfast. I approached the manager to find out how things were going that day.

I hired staff to take care of everything in the canteen a long time ago, but I like working as a bartender. It brings back memories of the past, as well as allowing me to better manage the intelligence I gather, which I would later deliver to the city lord through special means.

Although now my work had increased quite a bit since several months ago, when the city lord wanted me to establish some sort of organization to carry out missions, most of which were illegal.

Although I was initially puzzled that the city lord would ask me to do this, I even doubted that I was being tricked, but remembering how he appeared in front of my cell all those years ago, I assumed he must have his reasons, so I faithfully implemented his instructions.

As he told me, it took less than a day for the first customer to create a request. Although he tried to conceal his identity, from my extensive experience I could see at a glance that he was some rich merchant; his posture and actions told me so.

Although I must say that I found his request surprising: to kill a marquis and make it look like an accident. It seemed ridiculous to me. How could a newly established organization carry out this mission? Who would be crazy enough to carry out this mission?

To my surprise, someone familiar to me later arrived. It was the boy I had come to the city with.

Although we recognized each other, neither of us spoke about it. After taking him to the second floor and accepting the request, he left. I thought I would die trying to complete such a mission.

I won't deny it, I felt a little sad; it would be the last of our trio.

Over the next few days, the organization grew quite a bit. Every day more members came to create or complete requests. The originally empty board was now filled with requests for help. I even had to get other boards to accommodate so many requests.

I have to give the city lord credit: when he sets his mind to something, he accomplishes it pretty quickly.

Although I knew from what he told me about what the organization would be like, I must admit that I felt very uncomfortable about the number of crimes that the members committed, for which I was partly responsible.

It was only by remembering the little face of my little son Tim that I strengthened my resolve. For his future, I would do whatever was necessary. I knew that being a knight for his lord was a big job for him. The lord was fair and generous to his men. If Tim performed well, it would not be a problem to receive land as a reward.

Even if I worked for my lord's children, there wouldn't be a problem. My lord wasn't like most nobles; he was a firm believer in meritocracy. That mindset was firmly taught by him to his children. For that future, I was willing to completely stain my hands with the blood of countless people.

Several things happened during these months, from conflicts between members trying to take the same application, which stopped the moment I mentioned their recruiters.

I wonder what they did to make them so honest.

Until an accident happened to a member.

Apparently, the stupid guy didn't clean up his tracks properly, so he was discovered by the city guards. He was taken to my lord's dungeon. I assumed he would be released later, but the fact that someone was caught spread panic among the other members, panic that I had to calm down to prevent them from doing anything stupid.

As expected, a few days later, it was reported that the criminal had escaped. A reward was set for anyone who could provide information about him. I could see that some members tried to find out his information for the reward.

I just shook my head at these guys; for money they would do anything, even sell their mothers.

I felt genuine contempt for them.

But that accident showed me a flaw I hadn't considered.

Although the lives of the members were not important, it would be inconvenient if mission failures were common. So I implemented a difficulty star system, as well as temporary cards for the members.

A number of stars is engraved on them. When you completed a mission, you would receive one of these cards based on the difficulty of the mission, which I designated after receiving the request.

You were only allowed to accept applications from the highest level for which you owned at least one card.

If you wanted to acquire a request of a higher difficulty, you had to present twenty request cards of only one lower star. This new rule caused many members to ally or conspire to obtain them, which was not a bad thing.

If they cooperated, their chances of completing a more difficult task would increase. As for snatching them from other members, that was a test of their capabilities.

I even created other branches in the city, to act as decoys in case of another search by the guards. I sent the lesser-skilled members to them; they would be the perfect scapegoats to protect the more capable ones. I told the members this directly to their faces.

Not only would it serve to remind them that they were expendable, but it would also motivate them to quickly improve their skills in carrying out a request.

Today I expected it to be a normal day like any other, but I received a peculiar guest.

It was a face I had never seen before. I was surprised, not by its appearance, but by the request it created.

He wanted the information of every dragon within the human kingdoms! Two hundred gold coins for the location of each dragon!

After leaving a sack weighing more than twenty kilos, full of gold coins, he simply left, as if that amount of money was nothing to him.

"I can already see the chaos that will break out when the members see this request. Ah... I better get ready to change the location of the main headquarters," I said, shaking my head.