As I closed the door and turned around, I caught sight of the two snails that had come up near the railing—whether to avoid the water pouring from the ceiling or to prepare to shoot their venomous darts, I couldn’t tell.
As expected of spirit beasts, both of them had venomous darts clutched in their tube-like mouths.
Apparently, they had grown wary upon seeing the monks of Podarlap Palace bowing to me, thinking something was wrong.
They were grateful, yes, but now the descendants of their enemies were offering worship?
It wouldn’t have been surprising if one of those darts had ended up in the back of my head earlier.
Thankfully, it seemed the snail couple were still maintaining some level of rationality.
‘Ugh! I knew something like this would happen because of that damned Heavenly Master business!’
A burning frustration rose inside me as I confronted this absurd reality.
I hadn’t even had a chance to enjoy the privileges of being the Heavenly Master for a single decent moment, and yet it felt like I was already stuck cleaning up the mess left behind by the ancestors of Podarlap Palace.
It had barely even been a single day since I got this “Heavenly Master” title, and already I wanted to throw it away.
If I had to choose between the favor of a bunch of bald men or the favor of spirit beasts, obviously I’d choose the latter, right?
The bald man combo holds absolutely zero appeal for me—aside from being hairless, there’s not a single aspect that sparks even the slightest interest.
On the other hand, snails that shoot venomous darts shaped like harpoons—something I’d never even seen in my past life?
If I could get close to creatures like that, the title of Heavenly Master would be no better than a piece of toilet paper.
‘Whatever.’
After gulping down my nerves, I smiled and spoke.
Judging by the fact that they hadn’t immediately fired those darts and instead seemed to ask what my relationship with the monks was, there was at least a chance we could resolve this through conversation.
“Hahaha... I suppose we should talk a little. But let me just say up front—this is definitely not what you're thinking. Seriously. I’m in kind of an unfair situation myself, you know?”
The snail couple still stared at me with skeptical eyes.
That’s when Cheong-yu Sojeo and Cho chimed in to back me up.
—Shiaa. 『He’s in a complicated situation. Would you be willing to hear us out first?』
—Tssrrr. 『My dad’s not a bad person.』
—Chrrr.
—Piii!
The other kids all chimed in too, and one of the snails—presumably the husband—glanced at us with one eye and his wife with the other, before finally speaking.
[Very well, let’s hear what you have to say. I hope, for your sake, that this isn’t some kind of trick.]
To build some trust, I stepped forward and sat down next to them by the railing.
After all, meaningful conversation should always happen at eye level.
As I’d planned, I decided to start by explaining that I was the victim here.
“I know this is going to sound hard to believe, but—well, let’s just say those people are totally misunderstanding something. I’m kind of getting caught up in it too.”
[You’re a victim?]
[A victim?]
“Well...”
As I paused, trying to figure out the best way to explain, Cheong-yu Sojeo stepped in to help.
—Shiaa. 『They’ve had this story passed down for generations. It says whoever wakes the two of you will become your leader. So when So-ryong woke you both, they assumed their future leader had arrived. That’s why they’re acting like that. But So-ryong never ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) intended to become your leader.』
She really had a knack for summarizing things. In just a few sentences, she clearly laid out the entire situation for the two of them.
The wife snail responded in disbelief.
[Waking us makes him their leader?]
“Yes, really. I didn’t want any of this. I just couldn’t walk past the two of you while you were asleep...”
Putting on the most wronged expression I could muster, I added in a tone that suggested it was simply my overwhelming love for venomous creatures—and not humanity—that compelled me to act.
The husband snail responded with outrage.
[That’s exactly the kind of scheme you’d expect from thieves! I understand perfectly now! Forcing someone to be your leader when they don’t want to? Sounds like the kind of trick you’d use to claim someone else’s territory!]
“Sniff... You understand me!”
I had been a bit worried that even with Cheong-yu Sojeo’s concise explanation, things might still be unclear—but it seemed the message got through.
The snail husband continued, now with a fierce tone.
[Don’t worry, Benefactor. We won’t let them force anything on you that you don’t want!]
[That’s right!]
[Now that we’ve said it—let’s go wipe those scoundrels out in one blow!]
[Let’s go, old man!]
They must be a pretty hot-blooded couple, because the moment the conversation ended, they were already rushing off to punish the monks of Podarlap Palace.
Although, “rushing” might be a bit generous.
How fast can a snail really move, anyway?
[Those bastards! Putting us to sleep wasn’t enough—they dare put our benefactor in a tight spot!]
[This time we’ll settle it once and for all! We’ll drive them out of this place!]
Creeeeep.
Creeep.
At a blistering pace of one centimeter per second, they began to crawl forward.
Watching their slow, squishy progress somehow lifted my spirits.
It was kind of... healing, really.
In my past life, snails had become trendy as pets.
Some people even sold edible snails as exotic pets.
Back then, I used to wonder: why the hell would anyone raise something so slow and boring?
When you raise animals, part of the appeal is their reactions to food, the sense of bonding, or at least some lively movement. Snails had none of that.
But seeing these two now, it really felt like time was moving slower in this corner of the world—like the rest of the chaos couldn’t reach us here.
‘Ah... so this is why people raise snails.’
Their slow, gentle movement seemed to ease the sharp edges of my nerves and bring a rare sense of peace.
As I turned my head, I saw that the other kids were watching them too—staring blankly, probably feeling the same way I did.
After a while...
The two snails, despite giving it their all, hadn’t moved very far from the railing.
Noticing our stares, they stopped, looked around with their stalk-like eyes, and said sheepishly,
[Ahem. We’re not very fast, you see...]
[Benefactor, could you carry us on your shoulders?]
I stepped in front of them and said in a calming tone,
“Let’s just all take a deep breath for now.”
[Why?]
[Why not?]
Because unless we were going to obliterate Podarlap Palace today, sending these two into battle was a terrible idea.
And honestly, even if I didn’t want the role of Heavenly Master, I had to avoid a direct clash if I wanted to get these two out safely.
They might say they’d leave it all to me, but people change their tune once blood gets spilled.
“I’m not sure how long it’s been since the two of you fell asleep, but there are a lot of their descendants around now.”
[How many? I can take care of a few hundred at once.]
[Yeah! Even if a thousand came, we’d be fine!]
Maybe they each had a few hundred venomous darts inside them? These two certainly had the confidence of a one-snail army.
But inside Podarlap Palace alone, there were way more monks than that.
Add in the nearby villages, and the number of people would be astronomical.
As I told them this, disbelief colored their voices.
Which made sense—when Podarlap Palace first settled here centuries ago, the population must have been tiny.
“That may have been true in the past, but now? There are way more people.”
[W-what?]
[Is that really true?]
“Yes. The monks belong to Podarlap Palace, and now a large village has formed around here. There are a lot of people.”
[Even with the passage of time... that many...]
‘I guess I’ll have to show them.’
Just as I thought I should go fetch Hwa-eun to show them the outside world...
I heard her voice inside my head.
『So-ryong, what’s going on? I’m right outside the door where you are.』
She must have woken up from all the noise and run over here.
“Just a moment. I’ll show you what’s outside.”
I told the snails to wait for a bit, then asked Hwa-eun to help clear the people from the entrance.
From her tone and movements, it seemed like she had just woken up and was planning to chase all the monks out—but that would be impossible.
『So-ryong, I woke up the head of the Hwaho Grass Division!』
“Y-you did!?”
“Yes!”
“How did you do it?”
“They turned out to be Wow—snails.”
“Wow?”
“Yes, the ceiling of Podarlap Palace was sealed off, and the place was surrounded by buildings, so there was no humidity. They’d fallen into hibernation on a tree and just stayed asleep.”
“As expected of you, So-ryong. That’s amazing.”
“Hehe. Anyway, Hwa-eun, could I ask you to request the monks outside to step back a bit? This used to be the Wow’s home, and now that they’ve woken up, they seem ready to drive out all the monks from Podarlap Palace.
To help them understand that it’s no longer possible, I think we need to show them what the place looks like now.”
“Got it!”
As Hwa-eun replied, we heard movement from outside. I carefully lifted the two snails, placing one on each shoulder.
“I’ll show you the outside. Looks like morning is breaking, too.”
Soon, the dim early light began to shine through a hole in the ceiling, and Hwa-eun’s voice came from beyond the door.
『So-ryong, everything’s ready.』
“Understood.”
Before stepping outside, I turned to the snails.
“Before I show you the outside, please try not to attack anyone, no matter how upset you get.”
[...Very well.]
[All right.]
As I approached the entrance and pushed open the door, I saw Hwa-eun waiting there.
“So-ryong.”
The snails, clearly still on guard, twitched at the sight of her, holding venomous darts in their mouths as they eyed her suspiciously.
[Who is that?]
[Who is she?]
“Oh, she’s my partner.”
As soon as I introduced Hwa-eun as my partner, the male snail nodded and said,
[Ah, your third partner.]
“...Excuse me?”
“...What?”
Hwa-eun and I blinked at the same time.
Then, the male snail used his eye stalk to gesture behind me.
[Over there—aren’t those your partners too? Don’t humans usually keep multiple mates?]
I turned around to find the snail pointing at Yo-hwa and Cheong-yu Sojeo.
As I froze with a stunned expression, wondering what the hell this snail was implying, Hwa-eun’s furious voice snapped through the air.
“I—I’m the first one!”
“Hwa-eun?”
“What?! Of course I’m the first!”
She was so flustered by the mention of being the third that she didn’t even realize what she was saying, so I calmly pointed out the actual problem.
“Uh, I think the order is not really the issue here...”
“...Ah.”
As I corrected her, a red flush rose in Hwa-eun’s cheeks. Just then, replacing Cheong-yu Sojeo with her mature self, the Golden-Crowned Spirit Queen Cheong-yu and Yo-hwa swept in and grabbed Hwa-eun.
—Shiaa. Right, Hwa-eun is the first. Right, Yo-hwa?
—Heehee!
Still completely lost, Hwa-eun looked from side to side, bewildered by the two at her flanks.
***
—Pfft!
—Sssssing. Thunk!
A venomous dart shot by the male snail lodged itself into the edge of a nearby pillar.
Dorje, who had been secretly watching from behind it, yelped and ducked his head.
“Hiiieek!”
“Um, elder?”
Since we’d agreed not to attack anyone, I gave the snail a gentle reminder. He turned and made an excuse.
[I only meant to scare him. Just scare him.]
“Understood.”
Well, I couldn’t really stop him from scaring people. If anything, this was still an incredibly rational snail.
With the two still perched on my shoulders, I stepped out toward the entrance of Podarlap Palace. The palace was built on a low hill, so from the gate, we could clearly see the buildings and homes sprawled out below.
Glancing at my shoulders, I saw the snails peeking down at the scene, their eyes retracting whenever a raindrop hit them and then extending again. After a moment of silence, they both spoke in slightly embarrassed tones.
[Oh dear. This is a bit awkward.]
[An entire village has sprung up while we were asleep.]
Even with all their “we can take on a thousand!” confidence, the sheer scale of the population clearly caught them off guard.
Then, after a brief pause, the two of them spoke almost simultaneously.
[Looks like we’ll have to move.]
[It’s a shame—we really grew fond of this place, but it’s time to go.]
My ears perked up at the mention of moving.
I had been worried they might be too rooted here to leave, but apparently not.
Since I was already planning to bring them with me, I took this as a perfect opportunity and asked,
“So this isn’t where you were born or raised?”
Their answer was utterly unexpected.
[My wife and I were wandering across the world. One day we saw this tall mountain and decided to climb it. It was so beautiful here that we made it our home.]
[Yes, we settled here about five years ago.]
Good grief. At a pace of one centimeter per second, how in the world did they ever climb the Himalayas?
These really were extraordinary spirit beasts.
Quietly impressed, I made a suggestion.
“Then... how about coming with me? It’s warmer where I live, so you wouldn’t need to hibernate in winter.
And there are other spirit beasts, so even if you do fall asleep, they’ll keep watch over you.”
[Would that be all right?]
[Could we really do that?]
“Of course.”
It had been a casual offer, but they responded with bright, eager voices.
[If you’d do that for us, then we’ll treat you as our eternal benefactor. Moving on our own takes ages, after all...]
[Yes, we’ll see you as our lifelong benefactor.]
The deal was done.
Smiling, I replied at once.
“Welcome.”
Just as I was about to officially welcome them into the family—
Hwa-eun’s voice sounded in my mind.
『So-ryong, by the way... what are you going to name them?』
“Oh, right—they need names.”
Naming was no trivial matter—it was a major event.
I turned to the couple.
“Do the two of you already have names?”
[We named ourselves when we first arrived here and saw that pond. My wife is Yeonji—Lotus Pond—and I am Yeoncheon—Heavenly Abyss.]
The flower of the pond and the sky above it.
There was a large lake just outside Podarlap Palace. That must have inspired their names.
They were lovely names, so there was no need for me to name them again.
Still, I couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
I didn’t get to name them myself.
Noticing my wistful expression, Hwa-eun smiled and said in my mind:
『So-ryong, why not give them their spirit beast names? That hasn’t been done yet for our clan.』
“Oh—right!”
A spirit beast name, not just a regular one. That meant a scientific name.
Except for Yeolbi the fart beetle, I hadn’t yet given official designations to any of the Ten Venomous Beasts or the Twenty-Four Venoms.
I thought I’d named Seol, Bing, and Dong, but it turned out the Five Venoms Clan had already done that. Most of the others had been named by Hwa-eun’s ancestors before I ever showed up.
However, the Podarlap Division’s “Family” had only been designated by distant observation. The ancestors had simply assigned them a place, without giving proper names.
In a clear voice, I spoke to Hwa-eun:
『Then let’s go with Crimson Poison Harpoon Snail.』
The Crimson Poison Harpoon Snail.
My very first scientific name in the Central Plains.
