Chapter 204: 204: Guilty or Gullible?

I wanted to save that last mortal – perhaps keep him alive using potions so I could obtain all the information I needed.

And maybe perhaps, he would be so filled with gratitude for saving his life that he would teach me some magic?

Was that wishful thinking?

Even if he died, I wanted to keep his body so I could appraise it when my penalty was over.

But now... This temperamental lizard ruined my fantasy. 

The sound of flesh being torn apart was very loud in the now quiet battlefield. I glared at Sylrin who had the dead mortal's arm dangling between his jaws, and seeing him so excitedly tearing apart the body made something within me wilt.

This inconsiderate lizard!

I rushed towards him and knocked him away from the corpse.

He had no regard for my plans at all and I was upset!

First, he didn't listen to what I said, then he went on to kill without my permission and he had resisted my orders to stop fighting so many times!

Sylrin roared loudly at being unexpectedly attacked and he slashed at me in retaliation. His claws cut through my scales and ribbons of blood had started to appear, but somehow that did not stop the guilt and frustration I was feeling.

It wasn't just the confusion of the situation that got me.

A person was dead because of me, not a monster, but a human – and this lizard was casually eating their corpse like nothing was wrong.

Deep down, I knew it was his nature as a monster, but that didn't stop me from feeling conflicted.

It wasn't his fault, but I felt like I needed someone to blame.

Sylrin roared again in protest, smoke billowing out of his nostrils as he fought to push me away from his spoils. I didn't back down and we tussled around for a while before he succeeded in throwing me off. 

We were both exhausted and I felt like my head was fit to burst while Sylrin glared at me in confusion.

I could tell he would've retaliated with his flames if it was any other monster but could only glare at me and let out his flames of anger towards the forest where the mortals had escaped.

In the end, he gave me another confused glare and retreated away from me, refusing to fight.

I saw Sylrin's purple flames were threatening to spread past the battle ground and into the forest. And since I didn't want a repeat of the horrible Labyrinth rain, I used my [Venom Rain] to put out the worst of the fire.

Sylrin saw this as an opportunity and glanced at me once, before sneaking off towards one of the corpses.

But I caught him before he grabbed them and hissed at him in anger.

Where did he think he was going?

Sylrin roared in retaliation, and grabbed one of the discarded limbs despite my protests before quickly backing away.

I couldn't stand to look at the burnt, shredded bodies that looked no different from cooked meat. 

What had I done?

They should be buried. Maybe I would feel better if I did that?

Sensei read my thoughts and decided to interject.

«Stop overthinking. It was an honest kill. It would be a waste not to eat them, especially their cores.»

I laughed bitterly. An honest kill? 

"Is that something you should be saying?"

Instead of making me feel better, his words only ramped up my guilt.

«Your time is ticking.» Sensei replied. «Any longer and what little magic their cores contained would be worth nothing. Sylrin is going to take them.»

I slowly turned to the corpses, only to find that Sylrin had already pounced on them behind my back. And before I could react, he flew into the air with two corpses attached to his claws, swiftly flying off into his cave.

Sensei tutted. «And…you missed your chance.»

But hearing the nonchalance in his voice only made me boil with anger. "How can you act like you don't care! They are people!"

«Were people.» he corrected, as if that was the main point. «They are dead now. Why should it matter what happens to their bodies?»

My eyes went wide with disbelief.

How could he say something so callous?

And that troublesome lizard too.

Why was he so angry and eager to fight them, when his wound healed so quickly anyway?

I slithered around to put out more of his flames, while fuming in anger.

There were claw marks on my underbelly that still hadn't fully healed because my [Regeneration] skill was on penalty. And at my normal healing rate, it would take a while to heal completely. 

I sulked in defeat as the smoke from the scorched ground billowed around me. 

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I had gained a level from the ordeal, but I wasn't happy about it at all, and on top of it I also succeeded in making Sylrin mad at me.

Sylrin aside, I couldn't understand how Sensei could behave so nonchalantly when he had once been a human too. 

Shouldn't he be more empathetic and understand my moral dilemma? 

What a complete mess. And what an irritating bunch!

«What's the difference between the monsters you've killed and these mortals?» Sensei spoke up again. «You shouldn't hold onto such distinctions as a monster, it will only get you killed.»

"But what about their families?" I argued back.

Sensei sighed and replied. «They knew the dangers of entering the Labyrinth and knew they may not come out alive. If you want to blame someone, blame their captain whom you allowed to escape.» 

«He is the true despicable one for escaping on his own and not even attempting to save his soldiers.» 

I knew it shouldn't be any different from killing monsters, but I was still torn.

What about their families? Their wives, and maybe even their children?

They would feel so sad when their fathers did not return.

And I could even feel several pairs of eyes accusing me of their deaths.

I knew I was imagining it, but two faces I hadn't recalled in a while suddenly floated up to my thoughts, vivid and clear as day, and suddenly my snake heart felt like it would give out as it trembled with immense guilt.

However, it was Sensei's voice that pulled me from the pit of despair I was about to fall into.

«You need to stop blaming yourself. They would have killed you. They wanted to kill you. These men aren't the 'good' people that you think they are.» Sensei sighed as if he was scolding an idiot.

«Do you see that dagger?» he asked and I looked over the scorched ground to see the discarded items. 

I looked over the scorched ground to the discarded items. There were four pristine shields still standing and behind one of them was a curved dagger mostly untouched by the flames, except for its burnt hilt.

«Take note of the pattern on it and remember it well.» Sensei said in a serious tone, and I looked down to see an emblem fashioned onto the bronze of the dagger's hilt. 

It was the image of an eyeball with a nail stabbed right through it.

«That's the emblem of a thief's guild that specialises in the sale of magical creatures. These men already live in dangerous situations, they don't have families waiting for them. Their only interest is the gold they would have gotten from Sylrin's bones. I wouldn't even recommend eating their meat.»

The sheer revulsion in Sensei's voice made me stop feeling sympathetic, as I began to understand his words.

They wanted to sell my Sylrin for parts, how horrible!

I heard a slight shuffle from the direction of the cave and soon, a rather dishevelled Sylrin came out. He yawned, seemingly content after his meal as he came over to give me a rather proud stare.

And I scoffed – did he think I had fought with him over the spoils?

Since his belly was now filled, he meekly came over to me and in his own form of an apology, he nudged me with his wing. But I huffed at him and looked away. 

He glanced at me pitifully for a while before listlessly moving over to drink the water from the stream. 

Hmph!

However, with the fire gone, I was quick to notice the unusual purple colour of the water, and also the suspicious melted glass bottle that had been discarded by the side.

I rushed over to Sylrin, ordering him not to drink the water, and he roared in complaint when I pushed him away from the stream.

But when he saw his still raw claw marks on my underbelly he decided to settle down and even attempted to lick my wound, but I hissed at him to go away. 

And then, I observed the purple water of the stream.

Was this poison?

If so, when did they get the chance to pour it in?

Between the battle and the subsequent fire, there would have been no chance. Unless…

Was it that burn survivor?

Those treacherous mortals! Even in defeat, they refused to let him go!

Sylrin came over to comfort me once more and I purchased a [Healing Potion] just so he wouldn't be bothered with my injury anymore. And as soon as my wounds healed, he quietly settled down beside me, oblivious to the danger he had been in.

I was still fuming and instructed Sylrin to not touch or drink the water of the stream, at least until the purple colour faded away.

«Imagine if you weren't here?» Sensei goaded me. «If their attack didn't kill him, he would have drunk the poisoned water. And when they return later, he would be in a severely weakened state, or close to death.»

His words stung especially harshly, as I realized how naive and foolish my thoughts had been. Whether it is my previous world or this one, the fundamental governing law was the same - only the fittest survived.

Because if you are weak or hesitant, you would be trampled to death by those willing to do far shadier things to win. 

That much was clear now. 

Sylrin alone was an easy target and he needed to come back with me.

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