Goddess Kaleidoscope

"How did it get like this?"

"We've run into something tough!"

The seaweed spirit reached out and pulled back the "front curtain," revealing a beautiful but disheveled face—it was Hydra, the snake girl who had been given a human body by Lud.

Among the entourage that accompanied Ludwig to Oyster Harbor, the only "hidden character" whose identity was not publicly revealed was Hydra, who resided within the Book of Ashes. Summoning her required a continuous drain on divine power, so she usually remained dormant within the book.

Lude later resolved to get rid of Evanrus, so on the day Evanrus left Oyster Harbor, he secretly summoned Hydra, who transformed into a giant snake and followed the ship, waiting for an opportunity to kill the notorious fat man halfway there.

To make the assassination appear more like an accident, Ludwig meticulously prepared a script and demanded that Hydra act out his instructions precisely.

The assassination was a great success. Hydra's true form is, after all, a top-tier magical beast lord, and it has also received the worship of the lizardman clan, so it possesses a certain degree of divinity and is on par with dragons. Slaying an armed merchant ship is naturally a piece of cake for it.

However, out of caution and to confuse the situation, Lud instructed Hydra not to rush back after killing Evanrus, but to stay in the waters near the attack site for a while longer. She was not required to attack merchant ships again; she was only to show her face in public from time to time to make her presence known. She was strictly forbidden from killing people indiscriminately.

So Hydra, who was loyal to Lud, strictly followed orders and drifted in the sea for many more days, frightening people everywhere.

Everything was going smoothly until Hydra, a complete novice in geography, unknowingly wandered into the sea area near the outskirts of the royal capital. Upon learning that a monster lord had appeared in their territorial waters, seriously threatening maritime trade and affecting the interests of the royal merchant guild, the Duran royal family immediately mobilized the royal navy to hunt down the giant serpent.

The fleet consisted of six large warships. Ordinary armed merchant ships would not be willing to carry more than a few enchanted crossbow bolts, while regular troops used them as regular ammunition.

In addition, the Duran royal family mobilized a large number of mages to accompany the navy on the expedition. These included not only the royal family's own court mages, but also reinforcements temporarily borrowed from the Three-Man Tower, with a renowned water-based archmage personally leading the team.

This reinforced, mixed fleet was powerful enough to challenge the Sea Dragon head-on. Hydra, unaware that it was being targeted by humans, ended up running headlong into this fleet.

The battle left the Hydra in a terrible state. Humans had made ample preparations, while the Hydra, forbidden by Rud to kill, could only defend itself and was eventually forced to flee wounded.

Hydra, who escaped alive, pitifully told Rudd what had happened to her, and finally prostrated herself on the ground in fear and trembling, begging her master for forgiveness.

After hearing this, Lu De couldn't help but sigh, thinking that she really couldn't be blamed for the situation, so he said softly.

"Get up. You did a great job on this mission. I'll reward you handsomely. You just said you were injured. Let me see."

"Uh, this..."

"Don't worry, I'll heal your wounds."

Upon hearing Lude ask to see her injuries, the snake girl, who was prostrate on the ground, suddenly became very complicated, her gratitude seemingly mixed with a subtle, unspeakable feeling.

However, the snake woman was terrified of Ludr to the core. All his commands were absolute, and she dared not entertain the slightest thought of disobeying him. This deep-seated fear even surpassed her basic survival instincts!

After all, she had been preserved in sulfur powder by Lud for a month and a half, and then underwent the bone-pulling and tendon-pulling process to reshape her body. It's no exaggeration to say that she had personally experienced things far more terrifying than death.

So after only a very brief hesitation, the snake girl stood up and, in front of Lud, took off her seaweed outfit, revealing her humanoid body that perfectly fit Lud's XP. Then, under Lud's dumbfounded gaze, she turned around, bent down, and pointed to the left side.

"The wound is here."

"..."

To be honest, when the beautiful snake girl stood naked in front of him in such an incredibly submissive pose, even Lu De, a self-proclaimed strong-willed cop, subconsciously had over a dozen gigabytes of horrible images flash through his mind.

Such a great butt, it's such a waste to use it for pooping!

End of this chapter

Since being recruited, Hydra the snake girl has been used as a tool by Lude, specifically for doing shady "dirty work." The first time was dealing with the poisoned lizardmen, and the second time was assassinating Evanrus.

To be honest, Snake Girl did a good job in both jobs. She worked very hard and was very obedient. Her fear of Rudd was deep-rooted. She firmly believed that Rudd was Hedtaka, a "super demon" who could enslave even the gods!

This fear made the snake girl completely afraid to disobey any of Lude's orders, but it also had a side effect: under the influence of fear, she would imagine all sorts of strange things.

For example, right now, when Lud insists on checking her wounds, Hydra's first thought is that "that thing" is finally coming!

With utmost deference, Hydra voluntarily exposed her "broken buttocks" to Lud. She believed she knew what was about to happen and was mentally prepared, even feeling a little anticipation and excitement.

However, the expected rude and forceful "Demon Rush" did not arrive. Instead, a warm, almost imperceptible caressing sensation acted on the wound where the Exploding Enchantment Arrow had pierced her skin. The pain quickly disappeared without a trace, but a sense of loss welled up in the snake girl's heart.

"Huh? That's it?"

Lude was unaware of the snake girl's subtle psychological changes. He admitted that when she took off her clothes earlier, he had some almost instinctive reactions, but when he thought of Hydra's true form, he ultimately couldn't get over the mental hurdle.

Moreover, Lude has been working at a high intensity lately, and even if he really wanted to, he would be too tired to do it.

So after only a brief glimpse, Lud used divine magic to heal Hydra's wounds, restoring its split buttocks to their original state.

"I've healed your wound, thank you for your hard work!"

"Master, then... what's next?"

"Next? You don't need to do anything else, just get some rest. Oh, right! Clean up all this seafood on the floor."

"..."

Unaware of the fleeting disappointment in the Snake Girl's eyes, Lud lowered his head and continued working on the documents at hand. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, startling the Snake Girl. She knew her existence was a secret, but then a very familiar voice came from the doorway.

"Master, I'm coming in."

Without waiting for Lude's reply, Aina pushed open the door and entered. As soon as she entered, she saw Hydra, who was completely naked. The two stared at each other in surprise.

"Hey! You're not that..."

“Aina, you’ve come at the right time. I’m not in a rush. Take Hydra to the bathroom to take a shower and give her a change of clothes. There shouldn’t be anyone else around at this hour, so don’t let anyone else see us.”

Without looking up, Lud gave a few instructions and continued processing the documents, while Aina left the office with Hydra.

The two non-human beauties first dealt with the pile of trash, then went to the bathroom in the hospital's office area. This area was originally a tavern's storage room, which the dwarves had converted into a shower room. The water tank, heated automatically by rune magic, had a 24-hour supply of hot water.

Hydra went into the bathroom, and Aina pointed to one of the stalls, telling her to go in and wash up. But the snake girl had never used such a thing before, so looking at everything in front of her, her face showed complete bewilderment, like a country bumpkin.

Although Lud gave her a name and human form, Hydra herself didn't know how to live like a human. Just learning to dress herself was already a huge headache for her, and she had no concept of taking a bath at all.

So Hydra stared at the bathroom for a long time, and finally could only awkwardly ask Aina for help.

"I...I don't know how to use this."

"It's very simple! You know, just wring this out, rub it on your body, rinse it with water, and it'll be clean!"

No matter how enthusiastically Aina demonstrated, Hydra, using a human contraption for the first time, was completely bewildered. Finally, Aina, at her wits' end, simply rolled up her sleeves and offered to give Hydra a bath.

Under Aina's manipulation, Hydra's entire body was quickly covered in milky white soap suds. This experience was quite novel for the snake girl, but she didn't find it unpleasant.

Both knew each other's true identities. In Aina's eyes, Hydra was a junior disciple, and she simply felt that as a senior, she was taking care of her junior. Hydra, on the other hand, knew that Aina was a goddess, but like herself, she was a servant obeying her master, only that Aina was more favored.

Snake Girl doesn't understand workplace dynamics, but she knows the law of the jungle. In the Virtual Forest where she once lived, the weak rely on the strong for protection while being enslaved by them—a common survival model.

At that time, the Hydra was the tyrant of the forest. The lizardmen worshipped her, and many snakes that were not related to her by blood followed her lead.

But now that a more powerful Lud has appeared, Hydra has gone from being the enslaver to the enslaved. Unable to muster any will to resist, she is now only thinking about how to better please her master. Therefore, she feels it is necessary to take this opportunity to ask the more favored Aina for advice.

"Th-that...senpai."

"Wait a minute! What did you just call me?"

"S-senpai..."

Aina, who was washing the snake girl's hair, suddenly heard the other woman address her as "senpai" and immediately showed a very pleased expression. Although the snake girl, whose back was to her, couldn't see Aina's expression, it wasn't hard to tell from the tone of her voice that Aina was in a good mood.

The snake woman thought to herself that this was a good start, and then asked a question.

"Senior, may I ask you some questions?"

"Yes, no problem! Feel free to ask me, your senior, for advice."

"I...I want to know, what does Master like?"

"Master? You mean Master? Hmm... He likes quite a lot of things, let me think... hot pot, spicy chicken, deep-fried pork..."

Aina rattled off more than a dozen dishes in one breath, her mouth watering as she spoke. Hydra, however, was completely bewildered, wondering what all this nonsense was.

Having vaguely realized that her "senior" might not be very smart, the snake girl could only ask her questions more specifically.

"Senior, I don't know what you just said. Could you explain in detail what I should do to please my master? Please, I really want to know."

"Let me think... um... mmm..."

After stammering for a while, Aina suddenly realized that the Hydra question seemed to have touched on her "blind spot".

Fortunately, at this moment, Aina suddenly remembered Shanis, who had stayed in her hometown. It seemed that Shanis had secretly shown her some strange little picture books, saying that as long as she did what was written in them, her master would definitely not be able to resist.

So Aina immediately put what she had learned to use, passing on the secret technique that Shanis had taught her to Hydra, who listened intently!

End of this chapter

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the last batch of 5,000 patients is expected to be discharged within the next week, and the daily new cases across the Viscount's territory will drop to single digits. Afterwards, the hospital will make corresponding adjustments, with the infectious disease department continuing to treat patients, while other departments will..."

Inside the council chamber, Viscount Maup was attentively listening to the latest report on the epidemic. However, this meeting was different from usual. Ludwig, who was in charge of all anti-epidemic work, was not present. Instead, he sent his female disciple Romian to report on his behalf.

The Viscount himself had little prejudice against the half-dragon girl, who was Rude's disciple, a priestess skilled in medicine, and had contributed greatly to the fight against the epidemic, earning much praise. But ultimately, she was not as composed and experienced as Rude, nor as reassuring as a savior.

However, to be honest, the pandemic is now in its final stages and is about to end. Even without Ludwig overseeing the situation, it's unlikely that things will collapse. But Viscount Maup is not an ungrateful person. Ludwig has been very kind to him, both personally and professionally, and he sincerely hopes that Ludwig can celebrate with the whole city on the day of victory.

At this moment, Romian finished reading the report, and the Viscount also snapped out of his reverie, smiling and nodding at Romian.

"Thank you for your hard work, Priestess Romian."

Soon, the routine meeting ended, and Romian was about to get up and leave when she saw a dark-skinned female elf quickly walk into the meeting room.

"Sister Xiu, what's wrong...?"

"Xiao An, come back with me quickly, your master's condition has worsened!"

"What!?"

The sudden bad news instantly turned the previously relaxed atmosphere in the meeting room tense. Romian was stunned, completely unaware that the document had slipped from her hand. After regaining her senses, she rushed out without thinking.

Later that day, news of Ludwig's worsening condition spread rapidly throughout the city, becoming almost common knowledge.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the Medicine God Cult and Priest Lud have made their names known to everyone in Oyster Harbor.

While the common people at the bottom of feudal society were indeed ignorant and cowardly, hiding selfishness and cunning beneath their appearance, they also had a simple and honest side. They were not beyond redemption and knew how to repay kindness.

At this moment, Lu De was lying in the intensive care unit that he had personally designed and supervised the construction of. Nurses took turns watching over his bed 24 hours a day. The priest's duty room was less than ten meters away from the ward door. As soon as the bell rang, the priest would rush over to provide emergency care.

On the sickbed, Ludwig lay peacefully with his eyes closed. Closest to him was Romian, whose face was full of worry. Around them were Viscount Maup and priests from various sects. The atmosphere in the room was quiet and oppressive.

Lud's condition began to deteriorate further yesterday afternoon. Romian was also present at the time, accompanying the teacher on a routine rounds in the ward. Halfway through the rounds, Lud showed signs of weakness, his breathing gradually became rapid, and he eventually collapsed to the ground, leaning against the wall.

This sudden weakness had been flaring up on Rude from time to time lately. Romian wanted to use divine magic to alleviate his pain, but Rude stopped her, telling her not to waste her magic on him.

When Rudd had a few previous episodes of illness, priests from other sects were present. Out of respect for Rudd, they tried to treat him, using various divine spells in turn, but Rudd's body simply accepted them without showing any effect.