Chapter 203. Payback.
Three Dragons Hotel.
An ordinary small room, its walls decorated with painted flowers and its ceiling with clouds and a golden dragon soaring through them. On a modest double bed, a bright green snake was dozing peacefully, her scales slightly rounded at the tips.
Warm sunlight filtered through the single window, creating a scene so calm and tranquil that even the housekeeper who had looked in a few minutes earlier couldn't bring herself to disturb the occupant, and left quietly instead. It was unclear whether she had restrained herself out of respect for the genuinely peaceful atmosphere or from very reasonable fear of the three-meter snake, whose vivid coloring advertised her venom's potency.
Either way, the woman resolved to knock and wear a protective amulet before entering this room again, whether the guest was present or not. Better to finish a shift at nine and leave in peace than to spend eternity here as a ghost.
The tranquility did not last long. In the next instant, Nagini shot upright with a furious hiss as a body wrapped in a robe landed on top of her.
"SEVERUS!"
"Present." He settled comfortably onto her tail with a calm nod, and she narrowed her eyes at him. Slowly, very slowly, as if afraid of startling him, Nagini began to coil around him.
"Stay still. It won't hurt. And you've already built up an immunity to my venom." The moment the 'trap' would have snapped shut, Severus vanished. He reappeared beside the television.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. It would still be very unpleasant."
"I'll be gentle," Nagini purred, sliding toward him.
"That's the last thing I want to hear from a three-meter snake." A small fireball appeared in his hand as he held it over the television, and Nagini froze. "Now slowly crawl back to the bed and close your mouth."
"You wouldn't do that."
"Shall we find out?" He bared his teeth, lowering his palm a couple of centimeters, his eyes fixed on the tense Nagini without blinking. "You know what happens when I sit down to do research. I can stay in a room for weeks."
"That's not fair! You provoke me and then act like this! You're a brute! Do you really enjoy tormenting a small, defenseless snake?!"
"A small, defenseless snake," he repeated thoughtfully, looking around the room. "I don't see one."
The moment Severus looked away, her tail whipped around him in an instant. Now he hung suspended in front of a massive, hostile snake, her eyes blazing.
"Caught you. You're not getting away this time, and you'll answer for every bit of torment you've put me through."
Knock knock.
"I beg your pardon for the interruption. Housekeeping." A slightly unsteady female voice came from behind the door, and Nagini went completely still.
"I'm a little occupied right now. Please come back in twenty minutes," Severus answered with perfect calm, as though nothing whatsoever was happening. Nagini was deeply displeased.
"Y-yes, of course."
The moment the footsteps faded, he looked back at Nagini and gave her his most radiant smile.
"Shall we continue?"
"You have a real gift for ruining the mood. But I'll get my revenge regardless!" She snaked her tail toward his left foot and tugged off his shoe, then his sock, grinning in anticipation. She plucked the feather from the painting on the wall and trailed it slowly across his heel, watching his face intently. After a full minute, his expression hadn't changed in the slightest.
"Tch. What am I supposed to do with you?" she asked, disappointed.
"Accept the situation, let me go, and put me down."
"You can get free on your own."
"I can."
"Then why aren't you?"
"I don't want to. You may have a point. I do tease you fairly often, but it's affectionate. So, all right. Go ahead and have your revenge. Just no biting. I'd have to heal the wound afterward, which means taking out the healing potion, opening it, and so on. Too much effort," Severus said plainly.
Nagini gave a disgruntled sniff and began to shrink, lowering him gradually back to the ground.
"I hate you," Nagini muttered as she climbed back onto the bed. "I will find your weakness someday!" She fixed him with a determined look.
By all means. I'll be waiting," he replied with a playful smile, inwardly wiping cold sweat from his forehead. Another second and I would have laughed out loud, and then she would never have let it go. I'll need to deal with that weakness later.
"I take it you've done what you needed to do?"
"Yes. So it's time for us to go." He extended his arm. She quickly took his arm, and a moment later, they were gone.
A minute later, the door to the room blew off its hinges. A squad of ten wizards in black suits poured in, wands drawn.
"Gone, then." The man with the scar beneath his eye surveyed the empty room with irritation. "Search everything. Put out a notice. Alive only. I have questions for him."
At that moment, Severus appeared in front of the familiar two-story shop where he had placed his herb order the day before. The herbs should have been ready, judging by the unlocked door, the "Open" sign, and the old man visible inside.
He straightened his robe and stepped in. The elderly wizard was there to meet him, looking thoroughly exhausted.
"Good morning. I'm here for my order." Five small pouches landed on the counter.
"You're early. But fine, I don't care. Seventeen thousand two hundred Qian. Take it and go." He waved him off, hoping to close the shop and get some sleep as soon as possible. It had been quite a night.
"Well, thank you for the quick turnaround. And there's no need to rush. Take care of yourself. We only live once."
"Boy, are you trying to lecture me about life?"
"Not at all. I'm simply concerned. But since I'm here, I wanted to ask: which parts of Mount Tianzi should I avoid?" The elderly wizard fixed him with a sharp look, then gave an irritated snort.
"The peaks and the ravine are marked on the map. I don't know what lives in it, but three years ago a group of over a hundred people went in and no one ever came back. If you see a cross-shaped claw mark on a tree, leave immediately. That's Zouwu territory. They're scavengers, but they'll kill without hesitation if you set foot on their territory. Last thing: don't go near the oasis in the center of the mountains. There's a Sea Serpent living there, the size of two Basilisks. But if you don't approach it, it won't touch you. That's all. Now pay and go."
"Thank you for the information." The herb pouches vanished from the counter, replaced by pouches filled with gold. "Perhaps we'll meet again sometime. And I'd close up for today if I were you. I have a feeling the clients won't leave you alone." On that cryptic note, he left the building, then disappeared, leaving the tired shop owner to stare after him. The old man didn't even bother counting the Qian. He simply pocketed them, closed the front door, and switched the "Open" sign to "Closed," with a line below it reading "Until December 15th."
He'd wanted a day off anyway. Now he had a reason. Rubbing the back of his neck and yawning widely, he opened the door behind the counter and climbed the stairs to recover from a sleepless night spent on Mount Tianzi gathering herbs.
As he made his way to a different magical market, Severus paused briefly in a Muggle alley. He changed his appearance and lightened his robe a couple of shades. He emerged into an identical trading lane, though slightly less busy. This one was run by the Green Dragon faction, who prided themselves on their rules and on treating people somewhat more decently.
The stricter standards, applied to buyers and sellers alike, meant the clientele was down by over twenty percent compared to the previous market, but in return, it offered security and at least a semblance of compliance with CWG regulations.
He was only here to book a room at one of the hotels. Afterward, he stepped into the spatial artifact, where a rather interesting scene greeted him. Two she-wolves were crouched and snarling, not taking their murderous eyes off the Phoenix, who had planted himself on the wall that Arnold had previously been chained to and was looking down at them as though they were something he had stepped in. One Qilin calf was headbutting the King of the Bloody Wolves and tugging on his tail, ears, and paws. The other two stood a short distance away, watching their brother's antics with varying degrees of alarm.
"He's taken a liking to you. Maybe you should just adopt him into the pack." Severus looked at the pack leader with an amused smile. The wolf answered with an expression of profound, previously unseen sorrow, mixed with mild irritation.
The moment the calf heard the familiar voice, his ears shot up. He found the source, let out a happy squeak like a puppy spotting its owner, and trotted quickly toward Severus. The wolf, for his part, let out a quiet exhale of relief and sidled away behind the wall.
"You managed to push that wolf to the edge of his patience in less than half an hour. Well done." Severus nodded approvingly and stroked the excited little creature's head. The King of the Bloody Wolves responded with a disgruntled growl.
"What an absolute sweetheart." Nagini stared at the tiny, defenseless creature with visible adoration. She wanted nothing more than to smother it.
The Qilin noticed Nagini's arrival and showed no fear. If anything, it began making small, eager sounds at her and reaching toward her, which thoroughly confused Nagini. Animals usually bolted from her on sight, given her coloring and her size.
Out of curiosity, she lowered herself a little closer. In the next moment, the calf pushed off from Severus's leg and stretched forward, rubbing its little nose against Nagini's nose. Nagini stared in shock.
Severus watched the scene with warmth. He knew better than anyone, except Nagini herself, the feelings and quietly painful thoughts that had been weighing on her lately, and a release like this was exactly what she needed.
"Why isn't he afraid of me?"
"He can see the future, and because of his core, that gift has been amplified several times over. It's quite possible he can see fragments of a very distant future, which is why he wasn't afraid. Most likely he saw, in one of those glimpses, that you are a very kind and caring snake." Severus stroked them both gently, a soft smile never leaving his face.
"That would explain it." But just as he said it, the other two calves approached as well, both looking at Nagini with the same quiet, earnest attention. The poor reptile was completely overwhelmed, with no idea what was happening.
"They can see people's souls as well, and yours clearly appealed to them. There's a reason you're my conscience."
He smirked and winked at her. "But let's save the playing for later."
He knelt in front of the calf that had already come to him. It immediately pressed its nose against his cheek with little anxious nudges, and he continued, "I want to understand what he saw that changed his behavior so completely."
His palm came to rest atop the little creature's head. It tilted its head to one side, eyes puzzled. "It won't hurt. I promise."
He closed his eyes and began sifting through the Qilin's memories.
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