Chapter 25: Rattle Gillant.
It seems only one Zilant was after us—no new killing intent.
Descending the slope slowly, we find the Zilant sprawled where the incline eases.
I poke it with the cool scythe—no twitch.
“No response. Just a corpse…”
“Obviously,” Tarte says.
Up close, it’s not just a giant snake.
Bat-like wings and clawed forelimbs stand out, its spiky, rugged face and scaled body looking sword-proof.
The tail’s tip rattles like a rattlesnake.
“Rattle Zilant!” Dokurobaru shrieks.
“Its venom resists army antidotes!”
Showing her the rattling tail, she recognizes it.
Its venom, a mix of toxins that change frequently, renders previous antidotes unreliable—a tricky beast.
“Let’s take it back to use,” Tarte suggests.
“Yes! We need its venom glands for Hime Basilisk!” Dokurobaru agrees.
A universal antidote is a mythical relic.
Specific antidotes match specific venoms, but Rattle Zilant’s shifting toxins make pre-preparation impossible.
Hime Basilisk, however, can analyze and produce reliable antidote materials without the hassle.
“It escaped!” Dokurobaru cries.
“We’ll miss snack time dragging this heavy thing!” Tarte complains.
The ground near the Zilant’s head shimmers, and it’s slurped into the earth like sinking into water.
Dokurobaru, thinking it escaped, slaps the ground frantically.
It’s Tarte’s [Memory Junk Box], limitless in size and capacity.
The gluttonous toddler, prioritizing snacks, hops on Illegal Pitch, smacking the saddle to hurry Dokurobaru.
“Tarte’s got it. Let’s get to the cabin,” I say.
“Tarte-chan? That huge thing?”
“She’s a glutton—swallows anything.”
Chased by the Zilant, we took a detour but reach the cabin before the seniors on foot.
Emerging from the forest by a stream, not the path, we startle Shusendu-senpai, watering her armored dragon, who collapses in shock.
“Gods… I thought a beast attacked!”
She mistook our Koketris for a monster.
“Venomous Zilants? Sanders went to warn other units?”
Informed of the Rattle Zilant and our retreat, Shusendu gathers the support team and army officers to discuss.
She hands Tarte an apple and cookies, which she munches happily.
“Aray, you’re safe. Fast as expected…”
The seniors arrive on foot.
I relay Sanders’ discovery of multiple Zilants, number unknown, and their faces pale.
“Aray, support team’s returning to the academy. You and Dokurobaru, hurry,” Shusendu orders.
Non-knight support teams leave only messenger horses and retreat immediately.
Knight-course seniors stay to fortify the cabin with the army, awaiting the other unit.
Sanders will decide next steps upon return.
The army, with many soldiers and injured, can’t withdraw today, so they defend the cabin.
“But I’m…” Dokurobaru hesitates.
As a hunt team healer, leaving is deserting her post.
“Buchonarudo-senpai’s unit has a healer. Prioritize antidote prep,” Shusendu says.
“You’re not knight-course. Ignore Wannabe-sensei’s opinion,” a senior adds.
“Don’t tell him—he’d order us to ‘hold the base,’” another warns.
The knight seniors decide to ignore Wannabe’s orders.
Strong as he is, he’s got no respect…
“Understood. Give this to the healer-senpai,” Dokurobaru says.
She pulls a vial from her potion box, jotting instructions for a knight senior.
It’s a stasis potion—halts condition worsening but also recovery, delaying venom spread.
Patients enter suspended animation, requiring Proserpine’s antidote within a day at the academy’s infirmary.
“Hurry! Zilants could appear anytime!” Shusendu urges.
The support team rushes out.
Unprepared for combat, we’d be helpless against sub-dragons.
No leisurely walk—everyone runs, the armored dragon stomping faster than usual.
At the knights’ pasture base, we stop, and Shusendu reports the Rattle Zilant to the knights.
The Koketris team heads to the academy first.
Galloping through the main gate, Hernest and Mujihidane intercept us.
Lurking to grill returnees about the hunt, they save me the trouble of finding them.
“What’s up? Just you back?”
“Need to make antidote fast. Take Sakura Hime to Proserpine-sensei’s infirmary, now!”
“Sakura Hime… Got it, I’m on it.”
Hernest catches on hearing Hime Basilisk is needed and dashes off.
Mujihidane follows us to the infirmary in the central admin building, where Proserpine is treating Dokurobaru’s transported soldier.
“Sensei! Rattle Zilants appeared!”
“Troublesome… Hope we have enough materials…”
Proserpine, hearing of the Zilants, ponders supplies.
“We have a Zilant corpse for venom gland extraction…”
“Great job, my disciple Panasha!”
“Aray-kun killed it, though…”
“Disciple or nephew, same thing! Get it to the dissection room!”
In the crafts building’s dissection room, Tarte releases the Zilant, which slithers out midair and coils on the floor.
Too long for the table, we lift the head for venom glands, but it’s too heavy for me alone.
Dokurobaru’s dwarf strength helps.
Proserpine arrives with her black-and-white speckled Hime Basilisk, [Midnight’s Black King]—aka Black Sesame, too clunky to say.
Hernest brings Sakura Hime.
“What’s this? You brought the whole thing?!”
Proserpine’s shocked—normally, only the head is brought.
She has us lower it for inspection.
“Three years old… If there’s more, parents are breeding nearby,” she says.
This 9-meter female juvenile could’ve reached 12 meters in two years, mature enough to breed.
“My dear nephew—”
Her “dear nephew” tone spells trouble.
“—gimme this♪”
Hands clasped, she begs for the whole Zilant with puppy eyes.
What a greedy aunt…
“Monopolizing a sub-dragon’s materials?”
“Monopolize? How crude! Knights just blow them up, so an intact Rattle Zilant is rare. It’s worth more than its parts!”
Neck-snapping kills are unusual—most Zilants end up blasted or riddled.
An intact specimen for dissection is unprecedented at the academy, more valuable for research than materials.
Proserpine wants to dissect it, eyeing Duke Honmani for a budget boost.
She only wants the liver, not fangs or hide, but I’ve no use for a liver.
Still, is this okay?
“Materials from training are supposed to be shared…”
“You’re not in the training roster,” she points out.
“Oh…”
She’s right—I’m not a participant.
I took it down solo, so no one can complain.
Chopping it up for parts would risk budget cuts, she whines.
“Fine, use it as you like.”
“That’s my nephew! Come to my lab, marry my disciple!”
“Sensei, what?!”
Her only disciple is Dokurobaru, who protests being offered up.
I’m still the mischievous little brother…
“Now, Panasha, learn how to extract venom glands.”
Proserpine demonstrates, dissecting the head while Mujihidane watches eagerly.
One gland is removed—only one needed, as both basilisks are here.
The basilisks, held by me and Hernest, thrash at the sight of the gland—its venom’s potency clear.
Split and fed, they gobble it, convulse, then resume eating, now resistant.
Their horns can now produce Rattle Zilant antidote materials.
“Give me two horns each!” Tarte orders.
The basilisks’ horns—two each—drop off at her command.
Horns regrow if shed naturally, but cutting stunts regrowth until the stump falls.
Tarte, pitying them, chose shedding, but didn’t expect voice-triggered drops.
Proserpine’s eyes widen.
“What is she…?”
“A spirit… or something,” I mumble.
We haul the Zilant to the storage fridge, locking it.
Proserpine keeps the key, vowing, “That knight reject won’t touch it!”
No theft worries.
With materials ready, antidote-making begins tonight.
Proserpine uses advanced research building equipment off-limits to general-course students like us.
She arranges for Dokurobaru to use the crafts building’s mixing room.
I’m sent to the dorm to rest—senior artificers support them, and I can’t make antidotes.
My only role would be singing to cheer Dokurobaru.
After days of wiping down with hot water, a bath feels divine.
Soaking, eyeing the piggy toy while playing with Tarte and a duck toy, Hernest barges in.
The piggy won’t vanish…
“You killed that Zilant, right? How?”
I don’t want to say…
He’d try it himself.
He gauges strength against my weakness—if I tell, he’ll hunt Zilants tomorrow.
Time to dodge.
“Merciful Viviana protected us. It was her power, no doubt.”
“Viviana…?”
“Not wrong,” Tarte smirks.