Chapter 34: The Curse of General Hebi

The girls and I cautiously walked into the town after forcing open its gates. The town itself seemed dead as no one was outside.

"That's strange. The town looked so lively from that hill. Could it have been an illusion?" Touwa wondered aloud.

As we walked through the barren streets, I had a feeling that we were being watched. When I looked toward the house, I saw eyes watching us. When they noticed I was looking at them, they quickly disappeared. I was about to tell the others about this when some guards surrounded us. They quickly grabbed us so we had no chance to fight back. I heard the girls trying to break free, but to no avail.

"Well, well! Look what we have here! Some hapless adventurers! Such a pity that they will never leave this place!" a woman's voice said from behind the guards.

They quickly parted and revealed a beautiful woman with the lower half of a snake. She smiled at us evilly, like she was enjoying this.

"What do you want with us?" I asked, not very intimidated.

"What a silly thing to ask, little girl! I'm here to make you beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah… That guard earlier was really pretty alright," I scoffed.

"You saw that, did you? No matter. Men are so much harder to make beautiful. But you all are the perfect specimen! All of you are young and beautiful! Ah! How I adore you all!"

"Would you drop the act already, ***** (female dog)?!" Mari exclaimed, not having any of the woman's theatrics.

"***** (female dog)?! How dare you! I am General Hebi of the Evil King's army! You will pay for that!"

Hebi started chanting to herself while glaring at Mari. I could see the hatred in her cat-like eyes. Suddenly, she stopped chanting and sneered at Mari.

"You call that magic?! What'd you do to me?! Blow air in my direction?!" Mari laughed, mocking Hebi since nothing seemed to happen.

"U-um… Mari? W-what's wrong with your head?" I asked, not believing my eyes.

"What do you m-?"

She was suddenly cut off as she was turned into a little red rabbit.

"MARI!" we shouted, renewing our efforts to break free.

"It's no use! You cannot break free from my guards!" Hebi laughed.

All the girls somehow got one arm free and focused their attacks at Hebi. Unfortunately, she saw them coming and dodged the attacks. However, Yuri fired a second attack, which grazed Hebi's face.

"WHY YOU INSUFFERABLE! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO REGRET THAT!"

Hebi started chanting furiously. All around me, the girls started turning into rabbits, one by one, until I was the only one left.

"Well, well. It looks like you're all alone. I guess that means you want to be even more beautiful, right?" Hebi said to me, forcing a smile.

Afraid to say anything otherwise, I nodded meekly.

"Good! You'll be spending the rest of your life with me, then!"

How do I end up in these situations?

My now rabbit friends were scooped up and put into a cage. I was afraid they would end up on Hebi's plate since she was eyeing them hungrily. Hebi had the guard that was holding me carry me to her mansion. The guard took me to a room and locked me inside. The room was a pretty pink color with a comfy looking bed in the corner. Unfortunately, there were no windows so the only way out would be through the locked door.

I knew I should have learned some Skills or at least got some equipment! I have to figure out how to save everyone and defeat Hebi on my own. Maybe if I defeat her, everyone will turn back to normal. Maybe after this, they'll see why I can't rely solely on them.

After contemplating how to escape for hours, the door suddenly opened. A hooded guard poked his head in cautiously.

"Mistress Hebi has requested your presence. She asks that you come willingly, lest you want your friends to die a most gruesome death," the guard announced solemnly as if he was sorry for me.

"Ok. Do I have to put on any cuffs or anything?"

"No. Mistress Hebi will see you as a guest as long as you don't betray her trust."

How very thoughtful! Man, Hebi is one upstanding lamia! Sheesh! Nothing like blackmailing someone into cooperating.

I reluctantly followed the guard through the mansion. Finally, the guard led me through a door. The door led to a large dining room with a long table. Hebi was sitting at the far end of the table.

"I'm glad you could make it! Was he too rough with you, Ms…? My goodness! I haven't even asked your name!" she exclaimed, feigning politeness.

"I'm Hana. No, he wasn't too rough with me. What do you want with me?" I asked impassively.

"Lighten up, Hana! I'm not going to eat you! I just want to have dinner with you and learn more about you! Is that so bad?"

"No, but turning my friends into rabbits is," I muttered.

"What was that?" Hebi asked with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"N-nothing! I was just commenting on how beautiful you are," I replied, emphasizing the word beautiful.

"Y-you're a sweet one, unlike those savages you were with. Come! Eat with me! Anything you want, I'll have my servants make it for you!"

I bit my tongue and nodded. Man, this lady really knew how to push my buttons! I sat at the end opposite of her.

"Aw! Why don't you sit closer? I'm always so lonely!" Hebi whined.

Sighing, I got up and moved down a chair.

"Closer!"

I moved down another chair.

"C'mon! Closer!"

Eventually, I ended up sitting right next to my most favorite lamia. Why does this have to happen to me?

"Tell me about yourself! I want to know more about you!" Hebi said between bites.

"What do you want to know?" I sighed, careful not to anger her.

"I want to know everything! Where you're from, what you like to do, your favorite food… Everything!"

"Far away. Gardening. Miso."

"Fascinating! In return, I'll tell you about myself!"

As Hebi told me her life story, I continued eating, only half listening. When I was almost finished, something she said caught my interest.

"Can you repeat that, please?"

"Why?" Hebi eyed me suspiciously.

"I'm terribly sorry, beautiful and venerated Mistress Hebi. I was so enraptured by your beauty that I missed what you said," I exaggerated, secretly wanting to barf after saying all that nonsense.

"O-oh! T-there's no need to apologize! I completely understand. Anyone would get caught up in my beauty, wouldn't they?" Hebi replied, blushing. "As I was saying before, I learned all my magic from the Evil King. He taught me how to use my most powerful spell Transformation. Ah! How I love that spell! Too bad it doesn't work as well on men. Though it helps that once the spell is cast, nobody can disobey me without dying."

So that's why that guard died! He was probably going to warn us about her magic.

"Can you tell me how this spell works, O Beautiful One? I would love to know how you use such splendid magic!"

"W-why of course! To use Transform, I have to picture whatever I want an object or person to be transformed into. Once I do that, I can cast the spell after uttering an incantation. Unfortunately, if someone interrupts my concentration, the spell fails and nothing happens. Also, if someone takes off my necklace without permission, then all of my previous spells are broken. It's terrible, isn't it? If someone were to do that, all of my hard work would have been for nothing!"

While Hebi continued with her life story, I looked at her neck. There, I found a small emerald necklace that I hadn't noticed before. How am I supposed to take it off? I know! It's going to be a long shot, but it's worth a shot.

"Um… Mistress Hebi?" I asked, feigning embarrassment.

"What is it? Are you ok, Hana?"

"Um… I'm not sure how to say it, but… I… I think I l-love you!"

Hebi's face turned tomato red after she heard my response.

"R-really?! L-love me?! O-oh my! T-this is wonderful news!" she stammered excitedly.

"Um… can I have a hug? Y-you're just so beautiful, I can't hold myself back anymore!"

I threw myself into Hebi's open arms. While she was cooing over me, I undid the clasp on her necklace. Then, I put the necklace in my pocket, hoping she wouldn't notice. Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Hebi seemed oblivious to this as she coddled me affectionately.

"What are you doing to Hana, you witch?!" a familiar voice shouted from the doorway.

Hebi and I both looked up and saw Mari and the others standing there, ready to fight. Mari seemed to be blushing furiously for some reason.

"How did you all break free from my spell?!" Hebi exclaimed, incredulous.

When she felt her neck, everything clicked. Hebi turned to me angrily.

"HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME! I-I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME! WAS IT ALL JUST A LIE?!" she shouted, pushing me away.

Oddly enough, she looked hurt and on the verge of tears.

"W-what?! L-love you?! W-what did you do to her, y-you… y-you!" Mari sputtered, unable to come up with an insult.

"Jealous?" Hebi smirked, forgetting about my betrayal. "Hana said so herself. She turned all red and embarrassed and said, 'I… I think I l-love you!'"

"W-what?! H-Hana, did you? F-for real?" Mari turned to me, looking as hurt as Hebi did earlier.

"Uh… yeah… I did say something along those lines…" I mumbled, not sure where this was going.

"RARR! PREPARE TO DIE, YOU UGLY OLD HAG! ONLY ONE OF US CAN HAVE HANA'S AFFECTION!" Mari shouted, murder in her eyes.

"YOU'RE ON, YOU LITTLE WENCH! HANA ONLY LIKES MATURE WOMEN, RIGHT DARLING?" Hebi asked, looking at me for confirmation.

What is wrong with those two? Since when did Mari like me like that? Since when did I like either of them like that? Sure I said I loved Hebi, but that was just to break the spell! Come on! This situation is getting out of hand!

Hebi and Mari engaged each other in ferocious combat. At first, it was just punching and kicking, but it soon turned into an all out war. As she was fighting, Hebi muttered to herself.

"Guys! We need to distract Hebi so she can't cast her spell! I'm sure Mari can handle her by herself! Just come up with some kind of diversion!" I shouted over the chaos.

The girls glanced at me, giving me a weird look.

"What?"

Suddenly, Yuri pushed me in between the two battling girls. Immediately, Hebi stopped chanting and embraced me.

"SHE'S MINE! I WON'T LET YOU HAVE HER!" Hebi shouted as she held me protectively.

"WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU TAKE HANA! GIVE HER BACK!" Mari shouted, trying in vain to pull me away from the lamia.

"Enough already! Are you ready, Shitai?" Yuri asked, exasperated.

"I can kill her?" she asked, hope in her eyes.

"Yes. She's an enemy, isn't she?"

With an inhuman screech, Shitai lunged at Hebi and stabbed her in the shoulder. As Hebi screamed in pain, she let go of me, allowing Mari to grab me.

"HAHAHA! LOOKS LIKE I WIN!" Mari gloated.

Before Hebi could respond, Shitai stabbed her in the throat. As I watched the light fade from Hebi's eyes, I felt kind of sorry for her. Maybe she just wanted someone to enjoy life with. After all, she seemed delighted when I didn't try to attack her or anything. Outside, I heard a loud cheer erupt. Soon after, hundreds of people entered the dining room.

"Is she dead?" one of the male villagers asked hopefully.

Before we could respond, a group of people cautiously walked over to Hebi's body and examined it. A quick look told them the answer they wanted to hear. After they nodded to the others, another cheer erupted from the group.

"We can't thank you enough, brave adventurers! We never thought we would be free from Hebi's spell! This is a wondrous day! You all will go down in the village's history!" the man said, nearly in tears.

"Join us in a celebration of your valiant efforts!" a woman suggested.

"We'd love too, but I'm afraid we mu-"

"Let's party!" Akino exclaimed, cutting Touwa off.

The villagers roared in excitement at her eagerness. They ran out of the room, ready to get this party started. After they left, everyone turned to me.

"Are you ok, Hana? She didn't hurt you, did she?" Yuri asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about all of you though?"

"Well, I can't say I enjoyed the experience, but it wasn't painful or anything. Though, on second thought, it was painful when we broke free of the cage since we were all crammed into a cage…"

"Are you ok, Mari? You were acting kind of strange when you saw Hebi hugging me."

"O-of course I'm fine, stupid! T-that was all just an act to… throw Hebi off!" she replied, still blushing.

"Are you sure? You look redder than usual. Do you have a fever?" Yuri teased.

At this comment, Mari turned even redder.

"I-I'm not red, B-Bubblehead! J-just forget it! F-forget everything I said before!" she exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

"Ok. Ok. I get it. Sorry for asking," Yuri responded, chuckling softly.

"So… who's ready for a party?" I asked, changing subjects.

"Me! I'm ready!" Akino exclaimed excitedly.

With that, we headed outside, towards the party in our honor.