Chapter 126: Do We Know Each Other?

Su You didn’t hesitate at all. She stepped forward, dragging the black snake with her, ready to hand it over to Meike.

Although she admitted that everything the black snake said was true, that didn’t affect her decision to side with Meike.

It wasn’t just because she wanted to recruit Meike—more importantly, she really couldn’t afford to offend him right now.

Even though Meike definitely wouldn’t attack her at the moment, if she showed even the slightest intention of speaking up for the snake, things would get complicated.

Besides, Su You had no interest in lowering Meike’s initial favorability or loyalty toward her and her territory just to save a snake.

The black snake seemed to sense her intentions. It had been limp and lifeless, but suddenly began to struggle desperately.

As it thrashed, some wounds on its body—which had been barely noticeable and seemed to be healing—split open again, fresh blood dripping out.

‘I can die, but I want this human to kill me. If I’m going to be roasted, I want her to do it!’

Su You: “???”

Su You was stunned for a moment, glancing at the black snake in confusion. She didn’t understand why this suddenly had anything to do with her.

Meike sneered, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You just want to use this chance to escape, don’t you?”

The black snake rolled its eyes—literally rolled them, and Su You saw it with her own eyes.

‘Oh, please. As if I could run away. I just want to die at this human’s hands. At least she can cook, so my meat won’t go to waste. I’m a hundred-year-old snake spirit, after all. If you waste my meat, I’ll die with regrets!’

There was so much to unpack in the snake’s words that Su You didn’t even know where to start. But right now, her main concern was the same as Meike’s—

“We know each other?”

“You two know each other?”

The black snake snorted, sounding rather imposing, but its next words carried a hint of grievance.

‘How could we not know each other? I gave you those stones! And that boar!’

Su You froze, then suddenly realized what was going on.

So this black snake was the “mysterious creature” who had traded her stones for roasted berries and later tossed her a wild boar?

But…

Su You looked at the snake in her hand—it wasn’t even as thick or as long as her arm. She just couldn’t connect it to the “mysterious creature” that had caused such a commotion before, wiping out stone monsters and killing a wild boar.

Sensing Su You’s doubtful gaze, the black snake instantly bristled—well, not literally, since it had no fur.

Its scales stood on end, clearly agitated by her skepticism.

‘What’s with that look? If I hadn’t… if I weren’t so badly injured, would I be like this?’ In a way, the black snake was actually pretty good at reading the situation.

It hadn’t expected this mage—Meike—to care so much about cooking skills.

Previously, it had kept mocking him because it figured it wouldn’t survive anyway. If it was going to die, it might as well go out cursing!

But now things seemed to be taking a turn, so it wisely stopped provoking Meike.

Su You didn’t know what the snake was thinking, but she did start to feel a bit more inclined to keep it alive.

As long as it didn’t affect Meike’s favorability, of course.

Between the black snake and Meike, Meike was definitely the higher priority. The only reason she wanted to keep the snake was because of a certain respawn mechanic.

The respawn mechanism for creatures like the black snake was similar to that of mines: each area had a limited number of resource points, which included not only minerals but also biological resources.

If the black snake really was the “mysterious creature,” then it was actually a “boss beast”—a special resource. Killing one would yield a lot of loot, and, judging by her previous experience with the fire demon boss, maybe even a treasure chest.

But these creatures weren’t easy to deal with. The only reason the black snake was in such bad shape was because it had fought another boss beast and both sides were badly wounded. Then it tangled with Meike and ended up like this.

If the black snake had been at full health, Meike might not have been able to beat it—at best, it would have been a draw, and the snake might even have had a slight edge. The odds would have been about sixty-forty, with the snake at sixty.

A creature that even a high-level mage couldn’t easily defeat—that said a lot about the snake’s combat power.

The respawn mechanic for boss beasts was: each area had a fixed number of them. As long as one lived, it remained the “boss” of the area. Only if it died would a new boss beast spawn to take its place.

The black snake wasn’t exactly friendly to her, but at least it was neutral. Having a neutral boss beast around was much better than having a new, aggressive one that might attack humans on sight.

Su You weighed the pros and cons, then handed the black snake to Meike. At the same time, she spoke up:

“Mage, I am the lord of this territory. I’d like to invite you to join us.” Before Meike could respond, Su You continued, “I know, given the current state of the territory, it’s impossible to expect a high-level mage like you to join. But I might have something you want.”

Meike took the black snake. He’d planned to leave the territory and deal with the snake elsewhere, but after hearing Su You’s words, he turned to her, signaling her to go on.

He didn’t think Su You’s invitation was naive—he’d heard countless such invitations before and was used to it.

In the past, he would have ignored such offers and left straight away.

But maybe it was the black snake’s comment about the lord’s cooking that got to him, so Meike was willing to stay and listen.

Maybe you could call it a soft spot for good cooks.

“You seem to enjoy cooking? I happen to have a book about it.” As she spoke, Su You took out a high-level cooking skill book.

She held it with the back facing Meike, so he couldn’t see the title, but he could guess what it was.

(End of chapter)"

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