Chapter 72
“Dried jerky and rock-hard bread again?”
“If you don’t want it, then starve.”
“This isn’t even enough to fill me up.”
The grumbling soldier took his ration and slumped down next to Kaisa, gazing up at the dark night sky.
“When the hell is this damn war going to end?”
Due to the prolonged succession struggle, Barhad was effectively in a state of civil war.
Those within the royal castle were so blinded by their power struggle that they had forgotten about the war raging on the Sephiros Plain.
As days passed, reinforcements and supplies dwindled.
Though they risked their lives for their country, surviving at the front lines was no easy feat.
Hunger, exhaustion, and endless battles wore the soldiers down to the bone.
Then one day, when their fatigue reached its peak—
“Ambush!”
The rabbit tribe’s night raid had begun.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
By the time a soldier struck the alarm bell, it was already too late.
Even though the serpent tribe’s physical abilities far surpassed the other races, their strength had already been severely depleted by the long war.
Worse yet, they were outnumbered.
“Everyone, take up your weapons!”
Kaisa gripped his weapon and swung it toward the enemies charging at him.
The situation was dire.
How many had he killed already?
His cheek was wet with hot blood, his palm burned from gripping his weapon too tightly—yet there was still no escape route in sight.
“This isn’t good. We have to retreat!”
A panicked soldier grabbed Kaisa’s arm.
“Our formation’s collapsed! If we stay here, we’re all just throwing our lives away!”
He was right. Kaisa had to think rationally.
No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t win a war alone.
“The retreat path—”
Just as Kaisa was scanning his surroundings with cold precision—
Something heavy struck his back.
“Look out!”
A soldier had thrown himself in front of Kaisa and took the arrow meant for him. Kaisa stared down blankly at the fallen soldier. The face was familiar.
“I’ve got a little brother about your age.”
The man had always looked out for Kaisa, wondering why someone so young had ended up on the battlefield.
“Run… go…”
The soldier gasped his final words and then went still.
“Why… did you do that?”
Kaisa couldn’t understand it.
Even in this moment, his hollow soul felt nothing.
He wasn’t someone worth dying for.
But there was no time to dwell on that.
“You monster! Die!”
Kaisa’s face was well-known to both allies and enemies alike—after all, he had slaughtered dozens of rabbit soldiers every day.
“Get him!”
Hundreds of eyes turned toward him. His instincts screamed a warning.
He couldn’t win this fight.
If he wanted to survive, he had to run.
Leaving the soldier’s body behind, Kaisa fled the battlefield.
“Haa… haa…”
He barely escaped, but his wounds were too severe to make it back to serpent territory.
Using the last of his strength, he reverted to his animal form.
At only fourteen years old, Kaisa’s body was still small—just the right size to hide in the undergrowth.
His black scales blended perfectly with the darkness.
As he struggled to steady his breathing in the bushes—
“Are you hurt?”
A gentle voice spoke.
Through the brush, a girl crouched down.
Wavy, silvery hair and soft pink eyes.
Judging by her frame and bones, she was definitely a rabbit.
The front line where the battle had occurred was close to the border.
He must have wandered into a rabbit village while fleeing in his injured state.
“Hey, are you okay?”
She spotted the trail of blood on the ground and approached—only to freeze when she saw what he was.
“You’re…”
The war between the serpent and rabbit tribes was raging.
What must she have thought, seeing an injured serpent before her eyes?
Startled, she gasped and stood up.
Step, step.
Her footsteps grew distant.
She was clearly going to fetch soldiers.
‘So this is the end.’
It was cold.
His entire body felt like it was freezing over.
All the deaths he had witnessed flashed before his eyes.
Now, he was about to join them.
He wasn’t afraid of death—but he regretted how empty and meaningless his life had been.
As he slowly closed his eyes—
“…?”
A burning warmth touched his scales. Kaisa flinched and opened his eyes again.
“Ah!”
The girl, even more startled than he was, quickly pulled her hand back.
After a moment, she took a deep breath and began setting down the items she had been carrying in her arms:
A worn blanket, a piece of hard black bread, and some crushed herbs.
‘She didn’t go to get soldiers?’
While Kaisa blinked in confusion, the girl examined his wound, her expression darkening.
“You’ve lost too much blood.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she pressed the herbs onto his wound.
“People are so cruel. What did an ordinary snake like you ever do wrong…”
As the war dragged on and hatred between the two tribes deepened, even normal animals sometimes suffered.
Hunters scoured the forests, capturing or tormenting them for sport.
She must have thought Kaisa was one of those harmless creatures.
“Here, eat this.”
She held out the bread to him.
Kaisa stared at her suspiciously.
Supplies were scarce for the rabbits too.
‘Why?’
He couldn’t understand this kindness. It only made him more wary.
“You don’t want it?”
Hissss—
Kaisa instinctively made a threatening noise.
The girl’s face turned pale at the sight of his gleaming eyes in the dark.
She hesitated, lips trembling—then her ears perked up.
“The bell… curfew time.”
The sun had already set.
“I—I have to go!”
Kaisa silently watched her run off toward the village.
It was nothing more than cheap pity. He’d never see her again anyway.
‘I need to recover first.’
Even though the bleeding had stopped thanks to the herbs, his body still felt heavy as wet cotton.
If he fell asleep now, he wasn’t sure he’d ever wake up.
‘…Whatever.’
It didn’t matter anymore. Even if this was the end.
Just then, a sweet scent brushed his nose.
Half-conscious, Kaisa’s gaze shifted to the old blanket.
The one the girl had brought.
It was worn, clearly something she used herself.
But for some reason—
It felt warm. And it smelled… comforting.
Kaisa hesitated, then burrowed into it.
The chill of his scales slowly gave way to a gentle warmth.
Drowsiness crept over him, and before he knew it, he had fallen into a deep sleep.
A few weeks later, his body had mostly recovered.
Surprisingly, the girl’s inexplicable kindness hadn’t stopped.
“Hi. I brought you something you can eat today.”
Lately, Kaisa hadn’t been able to eat much at all.
Snakes were carnivorous by nature.
But eating bread in front of the rabbit girl might give away that he wasn’t a normal animal.
Yet he couldn’t exactly start catching mice or bugs like a real snake either.
Seeing him grow thinner by the day, the girl’s worry deepened.
Finally, one day, she arrived looking proud of herself.
“What do you think?”
With trembling hands, she opened a small box.
Ribbit.
A few tiny frogs hopped inside.
“I heard snakes like mice and frogs… I couldn’t catch mice, but frogs were easier.”
For once, even Kaisa was taken aback.
She genuinely intended to feed him frogs.
“You don’t like frogs either?”
When he turned his head away, refusing to eat, her face fell.
She had clearly thought this time would be a success.
“Then… I’ll just let them go back to the stream.”
Her small hands were covered in mud and scratches.
She must have scraped them while catching the frogs—for his sake.
‘Why would she do that?’
Her every action baffled him.
He couldn’t understand her at all.
She was unlike anyone he had ever met.
And maybe that was why—he began to feel something strange whenever he saw her.
When he looked at her bare neck, he felt an odd hunger.
When she seemed downhearted, he felt the urge to draw near.
Just like now.
“Huh?”
The girl’s eyes widened as she felt something brush against her hand.
When Kaisa rubbed his head against her soft palm, her pale cheeks instantly flushed red.
