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Track 1
Location: Alleyway
…
……
Nagi? What are you up to, standing as still as a statue in a place like this?
Shhh… keep it down a little.
Don’t come any closer either.
I’m bracing myself for death at the moment.
Hm? And why is that?
Hiss… hisssss…~
Oh, it looks like we have quite the beauty hidden in the darkness here.
Yeah… those glowing eyes.
It has to be a sign that it’ll strike at the slightest movement…
After being caught under this snake’s gaze, there is only one thing a humble florist on his way back from a delivery could do when he’s on death’s door…
And that’s picking the best way to die.
“The best way to die”?
Interesting, those are pretty bold words coming from said humble florist. What kind of death did you decide on?
For starters, snakes have poisonous fangs. So getting bit and dying from the poison is an option.
But poison would take a long time to spread through my body, so it’ll be long and painful. The same would go for something like aconite[1].
So I’d like to avoid that option if I can.
Is that so?
There’s also being swallowed whole, but that would be painful and it would take too long for me to be digested.
It’d be like how pitcher plants work.
True, but it doesn’t look big enough to manage something like that.
Well then, the only option left would be for it to wrap around my neck and suffocate m—
Hm? Oh, it’s you, Kuguri-san.
You’re only now realizing?
Sorry, I was in such a panic I didn’t notice you.
That’s a rather interesting way to panic.
Nevermind that, is this snake really so vicious?
Hisssss…!
Oh, if you get any closer, it’ll—
Track 2
Location: Alleyway
Ufufu, well aren’t you just the cutest?
Hisssss ♪
It ended up wrapping itself around your arm like it was shaking it, Kuguri-san…
I’m picking up a strong, foreboding scent… I can see black roses[2] behind you too.
Hiss… hissss~
Hmm… It seems this little one’s a pet snake.
Its cage was left open by accident, and it ended up in this alley when it wandered out for a little stroll.
It might’ve had a little scare when you suddenly froze up after it wanted to ask you how to get back home.
You can understand it…? That’s amazing.
I’m sensing there might even be something god-like at play here.
It’s just like talking to a dog or cat.
But… they’re quiet and voiceless creatures. The fact that they can’t cry or scream is why I prefer them.
I prefer that even more in humans.
…
…Nagi? What’s the matter?
……
Did the snake’s gaze turn you into stone?[3]
………
Or is there perhaps something on my face?
…! Bwah…!
B-Being this up close to someone so beautiful, that’s… bad for the heart…
What a strange boy you are, suddenly going all quiet like that.
Oh. It’s just that you said you usually prefer humans quiet, Kuguri-san…
Yet here I was going on and on about the best way to die…
So you not only stopped talking… but you even held your breath?
Ufufu, you have such an odd way of thinking.
I don’t hate people with interesting things to say, you know.
You don’t hate them… Okay, good. That’s a relief.
Now, how about we take this little one back to its owner?
Hiss~!
I’ll tell some of my funniest tales on the way, then.
My leg hath been bitten by a snake, bringing me to a tragic end. O’ snake…
…We won’t be needing any of that.
Hisssss!
Got it. I’ll shut up then.
Translation Notes
(1): AKA wolf’s bane. A type of plant species containing a potent and fast acting poison.
(2): Symobolizes mourning, mystery, loss, and elegance. They don’t occur naturally in nature.
(3): Referring to Medusa, a figure in mythos said to have turned humans into stone upon direct eye contact.