4 Isekai 101

"Are you serious?"

The female voice asked, the sound of disbelief apparent in her voice.

The snake tilted his head as if thinking if he should tease the female voice or if he should just come clean.

'No, I just had a hunch...'

"And that was enough for you to try and anger me? Hehe, you really are a funny snake." the female voice seemed to be slightly amused.

The snake strangely felt like the voice is only acting tougher than it actually is, and by the sound of it, he couldn't help but picture a delicate and beautiful young girl.

It subconsciously made him trust her even though he didn't know why.

But the voice said it had lived for quite a while so she can't be that young as she sounds like.

He wanted to ask, but he didn't deem it very gentlesnakely to ask a lady for her age.

After thinking a moment more about what the figure behind the voice might look like, the snake regained the focus in its eyes as it thought of something.

'Can you not call me a snake, we are in a den full of them.'

After a soft chuckle, the female voice asked, sounding more and more amused, yet also somewhat playful as the conversation got along.

"But I'm not wrong, right?"

'Yea, I guess...'

The snake lost the focus in its eyes again as it got lost in its thoughts yet again.

'I need to think of a name for myself. Maybe like, some heroic name from one of the novels I've read about? Like a great hero or a legendary man... Wait since I'm a monster why don't I go with being a villain? But too much attention caused by evil deeds would make me a target for everyone who wants to play the hero. And if this world is full of hypocrisy like the last one, that would be a pain in my tail.'

The snakes thought started wandering like a blind man in the mist. The mist didn't obstruct him because with or without it he would be lost.

A gentle female voice suddenly stopped the snakes train of thought that was leading nowhere.

"Why don't I give you a name?"

'Eeh?'

The snake was taken aback for a moment what because of the sudden interruption and what because of what the voice said.

'But I don't even know who you are, and this is the first time we have ever met...'

"Well, we didn't meet yet. Remember? I'm not really here, I'm talking into your head."

Hearing the voice say that, the snake looked upwards, but then let out a soft breath. Thinking there is no point in rebuking her for that.

'Alright, that is fair enough, not helping your case, but fair enough.

So can we start by you telling me your name first?'

To the snake's surprise, he could hear a faint sound of what should be the voice clearing her throat in order to make a perfect presentation of herself.

"Behold, for my name is Carla. The temporary overseer of this dungeon!"

The snake froze for a moment after the introduction ended, trying to hold in the laugh that would surely hit the girls pride. It wouldn't be nice if he went that far, right?

'Hmmm, she makes herself sound so big while being only a substitute.'

But to tease her for a bit would be a waste of the moment.

"Hey!"

Carla shouted, but her voice didn't contain anger, but only some irritation. If this was the snakes previous life, he would even say she was trying to sound cute. Though by the sound of it, she wasn't acting.

'Sorry, I lost myself for a bit. Could you please tell me more details, as you have noticed I am very new to this world.'

Being a newcomer anywhere requires one to adapt to the situation in order to survive, or to be strong enough to make others adapt to himself. The latter requires one to have overwhelming power, but that isn't something little snake has now.

Not being sure if she should laugh or cry because of the snake's bluntness, Carla decided to just ignore what she heard and move on.

"Fine, but only because I am bored here by myself. First off, this planet that we are on is called Aequalis. It is split into three areas, the western continent majorly inhabited by the Bravemane Kingdom. The eastern continent mostly inhabited by the Heavenly Path Alliance. And the last part that takes up almost as much space as the two continents combined, the Monster Isles. The Monster Isles are a cluster of many islands that can be found anywhere in between the two continents. It was named by humans but we who live here call it by another name, Goddess Sanctuary Isles."

Carla explained, unconcealed pride in her voice as if to point out how knowledgeable she is.

'Let's go in order then, what kind of kingdom is this Bravemane kingdom?'

The information is one of the key factors needed in making a plan for the future, knowing about the leading powers of this world would make the stay in it easier. It would also mean to have more information about possible dangers.

Almost as if getting into her teacher mode, Carla began to recite what she knew about the Bravemane Kingdom, trying to say all the important information she could think of.

"Well, as the name says, it is ruled by the Bravemane royal family, it has a king as it's leading figure, I believe Dominik Bravemane is the current king, Archmage Julius is his right-hand man, the power over the country is mainly split between..."

'Wait! Full stop!' Hearing a word that to this day he only heard within games and novels, little snake put a stop to Carla's lecture in order to confirm something that has crossed his mind a few times since he crossed over.

'You said Archmage, that means there are mages here, which means there is actual magic here?!'

The little snake couldn't conceal excitement in his voice. Will one of his childhood dreams really come true in this new world?

Carla immediately stopped her lecture, sounding slightly annoyed that the little snake would get so worked up over something that should be obvious by now. But most annoying was the fact that the snake so rudely interrupted her while she was doing her best to teach him what she knew.

"You yourself are a magical beast, why are you surprised? There are also all kinds of demihumans, gods, demons, monsters and all sorts of things. Don't you have those in your previous world?"

Carla already guessed the answer to her question by the snake's reaction, but she still asked just to be sure. A world with only humans? That sounds very plain and boring.

Feeling the collision of his and her common senses, little snake noticed why his reaction would be seen as overreacting.

'No, we don't, well, didn't have those things where I came from. By the way, you seem very relaxed about the fact that I am not from this world...'

All the talk of the other world and previous life suddenly made the little snake realise that it completely missed the fact that Carla didn't make a scene like it would have happened in his previous life. Talking about this subject would either end up in being called a liar or being deemed insane. And to the snake's surprise, Carla just went along with his story, or rather, seemed to know more than him about what happened to him.

"Well, I could say that I am very surprised and that I don't believe you, but... You are not the first one to cross over. Sorry to break your bubble." Carla plainly destroyed the hopes little snake had for becoming an amazingly unique isekai protagonist without batting an eye.

'So this isekai theme is not so uncommon here... That should make my life here a bit easier. I think. Are the others that cross over also born as whatever their luck gives them?'

Hoping to get some answers that might shed a light on what happened to him in order to end up this way, little snake lost all interest of teasing Carla, afraid that she would withhold information from him because he doesn't look sincere enough.

Carla noticed his change in attitude and softly smiled. The little snake had no way of seeing it but it was a very warm smile.

"No, you see, those that cross from other worlds to this one are mostly summoned here intentionally to fill out some purpose. And it really depends on the one who does the summoning."

Little snake started to go over what he heard to try and make sense of all of it, as well as to remember by heart all the things Carla is teaching him out of the kindness of her heart. She might think she fooled him into thinking she is helping him because she has nothing else to do, but little snake knows that is only partially true.

Since the start of their conversation until now, there is a pretty distinct difference in Carla's tone. Mainly there is a slight tint of loneliness that is gradually fading from her voice, while she keeps sounding more energetic and playful as they go along.

The little snake suddenly came to a realisation that slightly shocked him. Why is it that I feel so close to that girl as if I want to protect her?

Maybe because I am a monster inside the dungeon that she is overseeing? And that makes her my superior?

Trying to steer away from that train of thought, little snake asked with a trace of panic in his voice.

'Are there heroes in this world?'

Being asked that question from out of the blue made Carla a bit surprised, but she just wrote it off as little snake fantasising about being a hero.

"In a way, yes, but not in the way you might think. A hero can be named anyone who has proven themselves to the world as an upright individual that possesses enough power to cull the evil. Qualifications you don't really have."

Little snake collected his thoughts, setting aside the weirdness of his emotions. A slight blush was hidden under his scales which are darker than the darkest of nights.

'Right, sorry about that. Then, do you know who summoned me here, was it you?'

The little snake came up with a possibility, but it was quickly extinguished by Carla's response.

"I wasn't the one who summoned you, sadly I don't have that kind of power, only rare few can actually pull it off without side effects. No, in your case it isn't the 'who' summoned you but 'what' summoned you."

Once she finished her sentence, she suddenly went quiet, with only a mumble here and there confirming she didn't leave yet.

'Are you alright?'

Waiting for a few minutes for her to get out of her stupor in vain, little snake asked Carla to bring her back to the topic.

"Ah, forgive me, I am just trying to make sense of your case."

Little snake flinched for a moment, realising there might be some disappointing news about what could have happened to him.

'In conclusion, you don't know what might have caused this to me?'

While thinking for a moment about what the little snake said, Carla pondered and finally said, "I do and don't know."

The lack of sarcasm and playfulness made the little snake a bit confused, she couldn't be playing a joke on him, right?

'would you care to explain?'

"Well, we can both agree that you came here by the law of reincarnation, and not summoning. We can enforce this fact because your body and soul are perfectly melded, meaning you are a snake by both the body and the soul. This wouldn't be possible by any summoning that I know of. So this makes me think that it was caused by some kind of natural anomaly. It must be some kind of dimensional linking portal that your soul passed through by accident. So we know that something happened and that it happened after or during your death, but we don't know what."

Carla took a moment of silence to see how well will the little snake process the information that was given to him, curious if he will get upset over the information that he died.

'So what caused this is some supernatural phenomena that aren't supposed to exist in my world?'

"..."

The silence took over the conversation while Carla and the little snake both waited for the other to say something. Carla realised that the little snake didn't have any reaction to the dying part and started wondering, did he maybe misunderstand something.

"Are you not surprised about the fact that you died, moments before coming here?"

Realising why Carla got concerned, the little snake thought for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. If someone were to see him now, he would look to them like a very concentrated snake.

Suddenly, just before Carla was about to say something, the little snake started talking, 'I knew I died, it is isekai 101 if you get reborn as a monster. But there is one thing that has me worried...'

Carla came to a sudden realisation when she said, with a sympathetic voice. "You must be worried about your family and loved ones from your past life, I am sure they will somehow get over the loss of you and keep the memory of you in their hearts."

Some confusion could be seen on the little snakes face until he noticed he is partially at fault for the created confusion when he started to say what is on his mind.

'What are you on about, I was wondering about something related to the phenomena that could be the cause of my reincarnation in another world. Say, could this phenomenon have four to eight wheels, be able to carry a lot of cargo and honk very loud?'

The sympathy in Carla's voice instantly vanished upon hearing what sounded to her like a mad man's rambling.

"W-what are you on about, this sort of phenomena that can cause what happened to you shouldn't have a physical constitution but be more like a tear in the fabrics of time and space."