A Serpent's Tale
Chapter 296: Post Festival

Chapter 296: Post Festival

The light hit me so quickly that I didn’t have time to process what was happening before the immense power invaded my system and I fell unconscious.

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When I awoke much later one, I realised that it was sunrise, because I could see the sun coming up from the eastern horizon.

I groaned in discomfort as I slowly sat up, finding myself still on the roof which is good. That means that nobody has seen me yet.

If I can just return to my room now without anyone noticing, then I’ll be able to pretend like nothing happened.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch and I can’t do such a thing as they’ll likely suspect me but still. I could probably get away with it.

Anyways, I’d best get going now since I don’t hear noise coming from below. It is early morning after all, so nearly everyone is likely to be asleep, making this the best time to do this.

And just to be safe, I scanned the area and looked for any signs of anyone who might notice, but everyone inside of the orphanage was asleep, which was good.

I quickly and quietly teleported to my bedroom and landed softly on my bed.

*Sigh*

I almost wanted to just fall back asleep but I felt that that would be a bad idea, so I reluctantly got out of bed and took my bloodstained white kimono off.

When I did, I was shocked that something had been grafted onto the back of it, and that it even had this mystical aura about it.

On the back was a golden eight pointed star, with the four diagonal points smaller that the rest and the southern most point extending nearly the whole way around.

Then, in the middle of the start was what I recognised as the symbol of Lust. The same one that was on that book bound within my soul.

And to top it off there was a serpent coiling around the whole thing. Like what?

What the hell?

’Why did this whole thing appear on the back of my kimono? How did it appear there? And more importantly, what the hell am I gonna do with it now?’

’I’ll just hide it in my storage space along with the rest of my magic clothes. It seems to have some sort of mystical aura anyways, so why not keep it with the other such items.’

I put the kimono away and found myself at a loss as to what to do now. It was quite early in the morning. The only reason I woke up was because the sun was in my face.

Doing anything this early would likely arise some suspicion since everyone’s asleep because of how late they went to sleep.

’Actually, what even is the time right now?’ I thought as I turned my gaze over to my clock that I had.

’Eight fifty-two? Yeah, eight fifty-two. I imagine that some people will be waking at this hour, but not many.’

Which meant I had some time before anyone else would wake up.

And to be honest, I was still feeling a little tired even now, so maybe I’ll just sleep today away.

’That sounds nice actually. I’ll go and clean myself up, get a good meal in me and go to bed. That’ll be fine right?’

’Yeah, I’ll be fine.’

With my day basically planned out, I left my room and headed to the bathrooms and started to wash myself off.

And I decided to spend some time there since I doubt anyone would be joining me anytime soon as well.

Which meant I got some relaxation time alone in a warm bath. I would’ve fallen asleep had I not noticed the water getting colder.

When it did so, I decided to get out and see if the dining hall was open and had food prepared.

Turns out it was, though they had only just opened up, at around half nine this morning. Which was good because my bath took around half an hour anyways.

The staff were a little surprised to see someone in here so early, as they usually take another hour or two to get out of bed after this event.

I just shrugged my shoulders and got myself a large plate of food and stacked it full of meats, breads, cheeses and more, stacking it up with a second layer before I found somewhere to sit and eat.

It was kind of lonely in here, but I didn’t mind the quiet. It was actually rather nice to eat in peace for once.

Usually, there’s always a few others that are in here making some noise, but not today. Today, it was just me at this time.

’Man, I’m getting tired just eating all of this...’

*Yawn*

I even yawned, but I still had around a third of my breakfast still to eat, so I pushed on through and shoved the rest of it down my throat.

But for some reason, even after eating all of that food, bloating my belly up and then shoving it all down into my second stomach to properly digest, I still felt hungry.

I wasn’t sure why, but I felt a craving. What for exactly I didn’t know. But I did have a craving for something a little more... Filling? I guess? I’m not quite sure.

Either way, I finish eating and put my plate away and headed back to my room, arriving at around a quarter past ten, getting back into bed, throwing the covers over my body, and closing my eyes.

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When I awoke, I awoke the next morning to my delight. Seems like I slept like a rock throughout the whole day yesterday.

My friends are probably worried, or at least confused as to where I’ve been. They’ll probably be shocked to hear that I was just in my room sleeping all day.

Well, maybe not shocked per se, but still, they likely won’t be expecting such a thing.

When I got up this time, it was gone ten. Looks like I slept for a whole twenty-four hours. Kind of impressive honestly.

Either way, I got back out of bed and headed for the dining hall to get some food, where I would clean myself up afterwards.

When I met up with Asty who seemed kind of out of it. And that was weird, because I didn’t see Ash anywhere.

Normally she’d be with her most of the time as of late.

When I sat down in front of Asty, she didn’t respond. She just kind of sat there despondently, looking at her food in a daze.

"Asty?" I tried calling out to her to see if she would respond.

And she did, but not in the way that I was hoping she would.

"Tora...?" There was this dead tone to her voice. As if she were a lost spirit wandering the world to go nowhere forever.

"Asty, what’s wrong?" I reached out and took her hand, which brought some light back to her gaze. Only for a second though.

"Why did Ash leave?"

"Leave? What do you mean leave?"

Her head fell down and I could tell that she was distraught. She then answered in a monotone voice.

"She said that she was leaving, forever... After I woke up... I tried to stop her, but I was too weak to do so... And she just... Left..."

"Did she say anything about why she left?" This was really concerning. For both of them.

For Asty, this would impede her growth as an individual permanently, leaving her incapable of every truly making another friend again, let alone loving anyone again.

And for Ash... I have a feeling that things won’t end well for her if I don’t stop her.

"She said..." Asty paused as she tried to recall if Ash did say anything else.

"She said that... She had something to take care of, and she wouldn’t be coming back..."

"Did she say anything else? Anything at all? About where she was going or why she’s doing this?"

"... No..." I could feel Asty’s arm trembling in my hand, and I could see that she was about to break down.

I decided to skip having my breakfast and just take Asty back to her room and console her.

The moment I closed her door with my tail she started to cry ad she wrapped herself around me. Her arms hugging me from behind as she wailed into chest, tears streaming down her face like a river, and her tail coiling around my lower body.

I just held her in my arms gently, patting her head and rubbing her back, and letting her cry all she wanted.

And I would wait here until she felt better. Even if it took days, weeks or even months for her to recover.

Though, I hope it doesn’t come to that, as I fear that Ash might not be in this world any longer by then.