So I'm a Snake, Who Cares?

One hundred lashes?

Get hit one hundred times?

You'd die from that. Surely you'd die.

When Phili heard Obern's words, such thoughts were all that filled his mind.

'No, why one hundred lashes in the first place? Three minutes thirty-two seconds is brother's record. Is falling short of that record grounds for one hundred lashes?'

First, he pondered 'why' and.

'It must be a lie. He's just saying that, he won't actually give one hundred lashes.'

Then he entered the denial stage.

'Aaagh! No! Why! That madman will definitely do it for real!'

Finally, he reached the stage of venting anger at the world.

Plus, just now was a bit strange.

Usually, Professor Obern always spoke with a deep voice and put on airs.

But just now, what was that?

'You'll get one hundred lashes, really one hundred!'

He's not a child!

But because of that, it seemed more real and was scarier.

As Prince Phili was clutching his head in agony, someone placed a hand on his back.

Startled, he turned to see it was Amain.

"Let's go get it over with."

"..."

"Why are you so nervous already?"

"...You won't get one hundred lashes if you fail."

"That's true. Haha."

Amain chuckled.

Who could blame Phili for almost shouting 'You commoner...!'

"Begin."

Obern declared.

What to do, traps, there seems to be one there first.

Even in that moment, seconds tick by one by one.

Once it started, his mind became even more rushed.

Something stuck to the panicking prince's face.

"Pfft."

A spider web had stuck to his face.

Damn, such bad luck. It's sticky and won't come off properly.

Why are there spiders in a newly created dungeon?

"Phili, don't worry."

Did his face-rubbing look like crying?

Rania and Amain approached Phili.

"We'll finish this right away."

Then instead of being so relaxed...

Just then, Rania moved her hands as if brushing something away.

Bang!

A sound like a drum bursting rang out in the air.

And Amain chanted something.

"Columna, Lapidia."

Rumble-

Stone protrusions suitable as handholds emerged from the ceiling.

That's when Rania lightly jumped up.

It was amazing leg strength.

She jumped up to the ceiling and grabbed the protruding stone handhold.

Then forward, moving her arms forward again and again.

Though it might be an inappropriate expression for a marchioness's daughter, she was as agile as a jungle monkey.

"Amazing!"

"Must be the Martein-style Explosive Movement technique!"

Admiration burst from the crowd.

Then something seemed to activate.

Click- Whoosh!

The sound of a trap activating.

Someone screamed in horror.

"Aqua Scutum."

But when Amain called out clearly, a mass of water formed in the air and blocked the shooting arrows.

The arrows pierced through the water, but their paths curved greatly.

They missed Rania by far.

"Hup!"

Rania crossed the passage without touching the floor once.

Then she stomped heavily on the floor ahead.

Crash!

The tiles shattered along with the mechanical devices inside.

Amain grabbed the dazed Prince Phili's wrist and pulled.

"Let's go."

The passage floor was full of obviously suspicious holes.

Originally, spears would have sprung out, or poison gas, arrows, etc. would have shot out, but.

"Were they all deactivated...!"

Nothing activated until Amain and Phili crossed.

And when they reached where Rania was.

"...One minute fifty-eight seconds."

Obern announced the time.

The cheers and shouts erupted a moment later.

"Woahhh!"

"Almost half the time!"

All the first-years cheered generously.

Even though the Second Prince's position was much higher, the first-year students possessed enough innocence to feel a sense of belonging to the Third Prince.

Even a few third-years clapped before noticing the atmosphere and stopping.

And Phili turned to look at Obern.

Surprisingly, Obern.

Raised his hand in a thumbs up.

"Uhahh..."

Phili's legs gave out and he collapsed.

His heart was still pounding.

"N-no hundred lashes."

He had survived once again.

Amain extended his hand, and Phili smiled as he took it and stood up.

But there was someone who viewed their success unfavorably.

"This is invalid!"

It was Professor Daemon.

At first it seemed like he was being unreasonable, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"Why are you finding fault?"

"They didn't properly dismantle the traps!"

Daemon was angry.

"They only temporarily disabled parts of them! By breaking the weight-sensing device."

Professor Daemon picked up a stone from the side and threw it.

Toward where Amain and Prince Phili had just walked across.

Thunk.

The stone fell to the floor, but nothing seemed wrong.

Clang!

But at that moment, iron spears shot up from the ground and deflected the stone.

It hit the ceiling and.

Ping ping!

More iron spears shot out from different holes.

Clang, crumble!

The stone was hit by several iron spears and shattered to pieces.

"See, it's working again!"

"So it wasn't completely dismantled."

Prince Phili's jaw dropped in disbelief.

The traps weren't completely dismantled.

Rania and Amain laughed awkwardly.

He almost got angry at them for laughing now.

"It was fine if we walked carefully. Running would have been dangerous."

Amain said this quite boldly.

Professors Obern and Daemon continued arguing.

"If we do it this way, my students can pass through faster!"

"Then let's see it."

"Your Highness Leon!"

It seems the Second Prince's pride was hurt too.

When Professor Daemon called, he stepped forward without refusing, as if he'd been waiting.

Then he copied Rania's method similarly.

The Second Prince instantly crossed over to where Phili's group was.

"There, forty-three seconds. Our Prince Leon's overwhelming victory."

Obern sneered at Daemon's words.

"Are you joking? It seems you can only teach students to imitate and copy."

"Take that back!"

Honestly, it wasn't good to see grown adults fighting like this in front of children.

As Phili sat sighing, someone approached and stood before him.

When he looked up, Phili was startled.

The Second Prince who had crossed the traps was standing there.

He was looking down at Phili with a slight smile.

"Ah, b-brother."

They say you can't spit on a smiling face.

But apparently you can spit with a smile.

"Who's your brother, you trash."

"..." Discover stories at empire

He could rightfully get angry at suddenly being insulted.