That time I was reincarnated as a snake (Tensura)

Another new day in this beautiful but dangerous world, which, for almost two months that I have lived in it, I can consider my home.

There may be a risk of death with the arrival of legions of pigeons seeking to end the development of technology in this world, but let's be honest, what world doesn't have its share of shit? From worlds with reckless gods who toy with mortals in endless wars, to worlds with zombie apocalypses, to ones with a purple potato who is part of the family planning agency who wants to snap his fingers, and let's not forget that world where there are giants attacking walls.

I definitely prefer this world and its shit in comparison.

I woke up to the dawn of a new morning in the fortress city Mira and I infiltrated to gather information the night before. Without the constant threat of being attacked in my sleep by another monster, I was able to relax like never before since I came to this world; I just wanted to be lazy and rest in our small temporary base.

But there is no time to waste, so I stretched my body and got ready for a new day of work.

Like the night before, I set out to continue gathering intelligence from the cliché adventurers I encountered. Mira didn't seem interested in accompanying me, so it was a solo mission. I can understand Mira, what's the point of having her spy if she doesn't know what information is relevant and what isn't.

"I'll continue gathering information, I'll be back in a while. If the humans get close to the base, kill them without leaving any witnesses or traces. No one cares about their disappearance anyway," leaving a reminder to Mira I melted into my shadow.

When I saw the city again from the shadows, there was a huge contrast between day and night. While the night had only bars and brothels creating a party atmosphere, during the day it was much more lively. Rows of carts with goods could be seen leaving the city, while others were entering. On the main streets, countless stalls could be seen selling various goods, from common fruits and vegetables to monster parts I knew from the Jura Forest. It gave the complete feeling of being in those medieval cities in isekai anime.

My attention was drawn to groups of guys in leather armor leaving the city. They were the cliché adventurers of this world, out of curiosity I decided to follow the group that seemed the largest and most professional, maybe I would learn something from them.

Unnoticed, I infiltrated the shadow of the one I thought was the leader. I came to that conclusion because he had a huge two-handed sword, walked with his chest held high, always at the front as if to show that everyone else was following him, and he was the one with the best set of equipment. He was clearly the leader, I think.

I could see them leaving the city towards the forest. It looked like they were going hunting, an excellent opportunity for me to see what human adventurers are capable of.

Or so I thought, it wasn't until they entered the forest that I was speechless at what I saw.

A dignified adventurer team of over fifteen members, wearing full sets of armor and weapons, and even including a couple of mages, were engaged in a life-or-death struggle with a horned bear.

Yes, a horned bear, that guy who became a joke because one dies all the time!

If I were to look at it from the perspective of any of the party members, I'd say it was an epic fight: them giving their all against an incredibly strong monster, while the shield users stepped forward to hold back the beast; their fellow rogues snuck up on their flanks to distract it with wounds caused by their sharp daggers, always careful not to get involved in any of their companions' attacks.

The swordsmen, taking advantage of the shield users' cover, attacked the bear at irregular intervals so that it could not respond. All this while the archers, with their great aim, continuously shot arrows at it, giving cover to the rest of the group, while creating more wounds.

And finally, the wizards, with their magic chants, collected magicules from the air and formed fireball spells, which were fired at the horned bear when the rest of their companions moved away so as not to be involved. These were the ones that caused the most damage to the monster.

The battle had become a war of attrition. However, the humans were at a disadvantage; although the horned bear had been injured, it still had a lot of stamina. On the other hand, the humans were reaching their limits, not to mention that they always had to be on alert.

A small carelessness and it could result in some members being killed, leading to loss of combat power and inevitable group death.

But it was there that the leader rushed in and, with his exquisite sword skills, dodged the bear's claws and made a powerful leap several meters into the air, raised his sword high and, with a swift movement, using the force of the fall and the weight of his sword, slashed downwards, decapitating the horned bear in one fell swoop.

The head fell to the ground, creating a dry sound, but for all the members of the group it meant the trumpets of victory.

That would be from their perspective, while from mine...

He could see a group of weaklings who couldn't even cause large wounds on the bear's skin no matter how many cuts they gave it. Their weapons were probably made of common steel, so they didn't cause much damage to the monsters, except for the two magicians who did seriously hurt the bear with their spells; the rest were just distractions.

They didn't seem to use any skills, they didn't use any fighting spirit, they didn't even have magisteel weapons, except for the leader.

Yes, the leader had a magisteel sword, that's why he was able to decapitate him!

Though from the faint magic fluctuations on that sword, I'd say it's not pure magisteel, but a normal steel sword with a small amount of magisteel added to it.

After finishing off the bear, everyone was able to relax. Some even sat on the ground to catch their breath after the heated battle.

"We did it guys, we can finally consider ourselves Advanced Hunters," the leader said excitedly.

"Finally! With this we are at the top echelon of the Adventurer Mutual Aid Association," another member said.

"Now we will receive better benefits, such as better equipment and discounts," said another.

...

While they celebrated with mutual compliments for their great skills, I was left thoughtful at the sight of some new information.

'So they're part of the Adventurer's Mutual Aid Association. If I recall correctly, that's the precursor organization to the establishment of the free guild of the future. I didn't think their roots went back so many centuries.'

'Wait, wasn't it said that that organization didn't know how to classify the danger level of monsters, and that's why it had a gigantic number of member deaths?'

I took another look at the group of boys who were celebrating their victory. I could only shake my head at the sad future that awaited them.

'But the existence of such an organization helps me with my plans. They should have a lot of information that could be useful to me, although it may not be entirely correct. At least it's better than continuing to eavesdrop on conversations.'

I decided to continue spying on the group until they returned to the association to which they belonged.

After celebrating for a while, the group got down to business. With skills practiced many times, they began to extract the most valuable parts from the carcass of the horned bear: from its sharp horn, its claws, some pieces of its meat, its fur, even its male apparatus. I have no idea what they hope to do with that. Will there be rumors that it can stimulate the males' gun like in my past life?

After several minutes, they gathered everything up and prepared to return to the city.

By the time we returned, the sun was already high in the sky. The group continued along the main street until they came close to what looked like a fort in the center of the city. Surely that was where the defense army and the lord of this city would be stationed.

Nearby, several two-story wooden buildings could be seen.

The group entered what seemed to be the largest building compared to the rest. As they entered, I could hear people screaming all around, and I could smell the smell of sweat filling the entire establishment, as well as the smell of roasted meat and alcohol.

The whole scene was a carbon copy of what one would expect from an adventurer's guild: a counter to the left of the entrance, with several beautiful receptionists serving lines of adventurers; to the right could be seen a medieval fantasy cantina-like space, with many wooden tables, and several adventurers chatting or drinking in groups; on the back wall could be seen a notice board, the place where quests were posted.

The group that followed headed to the tables to eat, while the leader and another member took the things they collected and headed to the counter. There they had to wait their turn. Meanwhile, I continued to look around in curiosity; seeing this lively atmosphere, I could completely feel that medieval fantasy air. It was no longer just seeing it on the screen, I could now feel everything.

But to my disappointment, I didn't find any cat girls or elves, although that's to be expected. In this era, most races were enemies of each other; multiracial coexistence was an impossible dream to imagine. Even after more than a thousand years, things remained the same.

While I was distracted, the leader's turn finally came. After the receptionist checked the items and calculated their prices, she gave them their payment.

"Adding up all the items, plus the commission for the subjugation mission, it comes to a total of fifty silver coins and thirty copper coins. Here you go," the receptionist said as she handed them a small cloth sack filled with silver and copper coins.

"Thank you, Ellen. Don't forget to increase the rank of our group. We have advanced," the leader said.

"I know, Roy, but the branch chief isn't here right now. Only he can approve the promotion to Advanced rank. You'll have to wait for him to return in a few weeks," Ellen said helplessly.

"What bad luck, I hope he comes back soon," Roy said, dissatisfied.

With that done, Roy and his companion went with the rest of the group. I continued to listen to their conversations for a while.

Some trivial things, like what to do with the money, upcoming hunting targets, some escort missions for rich merchants, etc.

When I thought I wouldn't hear anything interesting, there was finally something that caught my attention.

"Can you believe a new Demon Lord has appeared?" Roy said.

"I know, wasn't it bad enough that there were already six? Now there's a seventh," said another member.

"What was his name? I forgot," said another half-drunk.

"I think it was Kazaream or Kazalim," said another, equally drunk.

"It's the curse lord Kazalim," Roy said.

"It is said that he always wears a mask to hide his face and wherever he goes he brings death with his curses. He must be a madman who likes to see his victims suffer," said another.

"Who knows, but as a newcomer, he is surely the weakest of them all. Also, I heard that he took the lands near the eastern kingdoms. Either he is confident or a fool. Those kingdoms are very strong because they have always opposed being annexed by the Nasca Empire. Maybe he won't last as long as the last newcomer. Except for the first six, every time a new Demon Lord appears, he is always defeated within a few years," Roy said disdainfully.

This was good gossip. Apparently Kazalim just joined the council. That means the puppet nation of Jistav has been born, or whatever it was called before Clayman took it over. I'm only interested in that place because of the ruins of the kingdom of ultrasorcery, the kingdom Milim destroyed, which at the time was the most advanced place of its time, although if Milim didn't destroy it, sooner or later the angels would do the job.

But the important thing is the other information. There are currently seven Demon Lords. Discounting the useless Kazalim, the other six are the real deal. So, the first generation of Demon Lords (Guy, Milim and Ramiris) and the second generation (Dagruel, Luminous and Dino) are already complete. If I remember correctly, it wasn't until the last Tenma war before canon that Carrion, Frey and Clayman joined the council.

According to Luminous, this period of time is when "Demon Lords" would come out from under the rocks, obviously alluding to the fact that many Demon Lord seeds were born who believed themselves to be true Demon Lords. Some would form alliances and attack others, some would provoke the six strongest and die miserably. It is said that there were over twenty members in the council at this time.

Although it might pose some problems, I think this is good for me. With so many Demon Lord seeds hatching and creating chaos, it will be easier for me to fish in troubled waters.

Happy with the information, I decided to return to my base to tell Mira the news.

When I came back, I could see a pile of human corpses in a corner of the warehouse.

"Looks like you were busy for a while," I said to Mira.

"Not much. Most of them came in groups, apparently they were part of a local gang. When they saw that some members had disappeared, they wanted to know the reason," she said.

"Did you make sure to eliminate the entire gang?" I said in a serious tone.

"Relax, I interrogated them before killing them. They revealed the location of the rest of the members. I killed them and ate them," she said in a relaxed tone.

"What about you, anything interesting to share?" she said in a curious tone.

"Some things." So I told him what I found out today.

"So, you're saying that there will most likely be many more Demon Lord seeds born in the coming centuries? Wouldn't that be a problem for us?" she said doubtfully.

"If everyone acted as a group, of course, it would be a lot of trouble. But, as I told you, Demon Lords, even Demon Lord seeds, are monsters who have achieved great strength without relying on anyone. They are proud, conceited, and most importantly, they are ambitious."

"They will never settle for what they have, knowing that they could have more. So they will naturally fight amongst themselves for it. That will bring chaos and it is in the midst of that chaos that we can get opportunities to grow faster," I told him confidently.

"Or die?" she said with a blank look.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you, I promise," I said like a gentleman.

"You? With that little strength you have?" she said sarcastically.

"Well, maybe I can't do it now, but give me a few years and you'll see," I said confidently.

"Mmm, we'll see," she said expectantly.

Seeing that Mira looked expectant at my statement, it meant that this was something she expected from me, so as a man/snake I had to achieve it and rub it in her face.

Not wanting to go out and investigate again, I decided to take a break and reflect on my future plans.

'I know what period of history I'm in now: there are at least seventeen hundred years until Rimuru appears, two hundred until the next Tenma war. Kazalim has just joined the council as the seventh seat. There are fourteen hundred years until Veldora is sealed. Many Demon Lord seeds are expected to be born in the next few decades, what should I do?'

I thought for several minutes without coming to any conclusion.

'Even though I'd like to go straight to Ramiris, so she can teach me about spirit magic, as well as help me gain elemental resistances, I know that's a bad idea.'

'Why? Is that what you're asking? Because she's a chatterbox, she doesn't know how to keep secrets. If I want her to help me, I need to offer her something in return and the best way to do that is to entertain her.

The problem with that is that it could trigger a lot of butterfly effects, from her becoming attached to me, like she did with Rimuru, to it potentially harming her later reunion with the slime.

But what I'm most worried about is that he'll tell his best friends, Guy Crimson and Milim Nava, about me. While Guy might not even bother with someone as small as me, I'm sure to catch the attention of a bored Milim, and in order to survive her, I must become her friend, which triggers a lot of trouble down the road. Now that I remember Milim, I should save some Monster Honey just in case I happen to meet her.

At least with honey I could keep him from killing me.

'Wait, Milim! Why didn't I remember that?' I screamed in my mind as I remembered a fact I hadn't considered.

'My goal for evolving with the dragon factor was to go to the Canaat Mountains to eat dragons, but in this period of time Milim is still very active outside her territory. She goes to the Canaat Mountains to have fun. If I go there, I'm sure to meet her, and I'm not sure if she won't be upset that I'm eating the descendants of her best friend.'

'Damn it! What do I do now? I can't go with Ramiris because she might gossip to Guy or Milim, and I can't go to the Canaat Mountains because I might run into Milim and she might tell Guy and Ramiris. Everything I had planned ends with me exposed to Guy Crimson, the guy I least want to know about me,' I thought helplessly.

'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?' I thought desperately.

After racking my brains for something that would allow me to gain the dragon factor and that didn't involve being exposed, after almost an hour of thinking, I figured it out.

'I got it. As the adventurers said last night, there have been dragons that have been killed before, obviously referring to the ones in the Canaat Mountains. That means that ever since the race was born, there have been individuals who have left the mountains, perhaps to seek entertainment by slaughtering like Veldora, or simply to see the world.'

'That's my chance. It's impossible for Guy or Milim to keep track of all the individuals of that race, plus the destruction they cause. My best option is to steal the dragons' bodies after some other being kills them. That way, fame won't fall on me, maybe I'll help behind the scenes to make that happen.'

'Mmm, I think it's a good idea, but this plan has several problems to implement.'

'First, I cannot be visible, I must find several scapegoats to bear the blame for this plan. Should they be discovered, I might sacrifice them. They must be in charge of managing everything from intelligence gathering to find the targets, as well as preparing individuals who do not know of the plan to kill the dragons and bear the fame or infamy, as well as the means to kill dragons without involving me in any way. I cannot leave my traces at the scene; the strong could trace it back to me.'

'It would be best if I used the humans for this plan. As Veldanava's favored race, they enjoy a certain amount of protection from the strong. As long as they don't step out of line, most of them don't care what the humans do.'

'The problem is maintaining loyalty. Even if I were to use human fear or greed to my advantage, there will always be the risk of betrayal, and for a plan this delicate I cannot take those risks.'

'The best solution I can think of is the ever-reliable brainwashing. I just need to create ideas, give hints, lead someone's thinking in a direction and I could do my whole plan in complete secrecy, because even the leader of the whole operation isn't even aware that he's a puppet, kind of like Shisui's kotoamatsukami.'

'Now that's being a puppet master, unlike Clayman's jester, who only knows how to use intimidation, coercion and people's ambition to control them.'

'And look how it turned out: all his plans exposed by a lovesick subordinate, hahaha. He deserved it. If you want true loyalty in your subordinates, you must earn it with your actions, not try to impose it.'

'That buffoon aside, I need to gain some sort of hypnosis ability in order to carry out this plan.'

'Yes, I just laughed at Clayman for being a manipulator, but I plan to dispose of them if they become aware of my plans or my existence.'

'As for other problems like funding or the means to kill the dragons, those can be resolved later. Money can be stolen, I never said I had to earn it. The strength I've gained is for something, if I don't use it for my own benefit , then what's the point?'

As for means of killing, I have some ideas, but they are in development, as although dragons are semi-material life forms, so only serious damage is needed to their physical body, not just anything can harm them with their tough scales, not if I want to remain anonymous.'

'Well, it's decided, I need to learn hypnosis.'

______________________

Author's notes:

As you can see, the plans Kai wanted to follow went straight to the trash, all because of the risks of exposure they entailed.

It may seem cowardly to some, but you would do the same if you had to face the possibility of being discovered and confronted by Guy Crimson with the measly strength of a –B rank. Remember, that guy will kill if he doesn't find you interesting, and if you interest him, he will try to bring you under his command or destroy you.

A new training session begins for Kai. Relax, this time it won't be so hard. I'll try not to cover too much of the chapter but not make it seem like he got it too easy.

Kai plans to create a shadow organization to carry out his next plans, one where he will be the mind behind the scenes that no one will be aware of its existence.

I accept suggestions for names for the organization following these rules:

An organization with that name cannot exist in any work of fiction, fantasy, or reality itself.The name should evoke mystery and darkness.It can't be related to Kai in any way.

If you leave a name that I like before 48 hours have passed before this chapter comes out, it may become the official name.

Come on guys, try it. I know some of you complain that authors don't take their readers into account. I try to take them into account, but you don't participate much. Let this be a first activity for everyone: try to come up with a name that you think sounds cool, since it will be recurring in the fanfic.