The Shadow Snake and the Forced Seal

Dandelion looked at the Red Spider Lily before her. Frankly, even after inviting this person in, she still wanted to ask, ‘Did you misread the calendar and mistake today for April Fools’ Day, just to mess with me?’

But since it involved Saint Lily, she had to take it seriously, even if it seemed absurd.

The mention of Saint Lily’s sister, however, added a layer of credibility to the information.

After all, knowing Saint Lily, she guarded her sister fiercely. Dandelion was one of the few who even knew of her existence, and that was only by chance.

It wasn’t something you could just casually bring up, no matter how close you were.

“Lily’s sister…”

“Died in mid-April from a ‘Forced Seal’,” Red Spider Lily said, as if anticipating the question.

“Is that so? It seems you’ve already encountered it~” Dandelion deduced the general nature of Red Spider Lily’s ability and nodded thoughtfully.

“Ruoruo was a good child.” Red Spider Lily smiled.

“Tch.” Dandelion clicked her tongue. “You’d better not let Lily find out~”

“Oh~ So that means Miss Dandelion won’t be tattling?~”

Dandelion just rolled her eyes.

Red Spider Lily laughed awkwardly and looked away.

A brief silence fell.

“Is there any more information?”

“Hmm… The ‘Forced Seal’ was carried out by the C-rank squad ‘War Shadow’. Something about a forest school, I think~”

“Forest school?” Dandelion pondered. “The repairs at Yucai Middle School won’t be done anytime soon. As for forest schools in Hehe City, there’s only that ‘Hehe Forest Nature Academy’.”

“They usually host summer camps and collaborate with many schools for intensive training sessions. Naturally, they have all the necessary materials.”

As Dandelion spoke, she looked at Red Spider Lily, who responded by clapping. “As expected of Miss Dandelion~”

Was it because she was annoying?

Why was she so provoking?

“But what kind of situation would warrant a ‘Forced Seal’ from ‘War Shadow’? Could Su Mo have appeared?”

“Ahem~” Red Spider Lily covered her mouth and coughed to the side.

“Alright, that guess is a bit far-fetched~” Dandelion glanced at her. “If it were Su Mo, it’s hard to say who would be forcing the seal on whom~”

“…”

Red Spider Lily wiped the corner of her mouth and blinked. “By the way, um, ‘Shadow Snake’. Does Miss Dandelion know about it?”

“Hmm…”

Dandelion froze, her expression shifting.

“Seems like you do~” Red Spider Lily understood immediately. “What is it?”

“…” Dandelion didn’t answer. After a moment, she glared at Red Spider Lily. “You’d better not be lying to me! It had better really be related to Lily!”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Ah…” Dandelion let out a long breath and poured herself a cup of herbal tea. She needed to calm her irritation.

“‘Shadow Snake’ is a term that—” Dandelion paused, choosing her words. “You don’t need to know too much. Simply put, it’s a reason to enforce a ‘Forced Seal’ on a certain area to prevent some bad event, without telling the public.”

“So ‘Shadow Snake’ doesn’t exist?” Red Spider Lily blinked.

“Miss Red Spider Lily, you must already have some understanding of ‘Shadow Snake,’ right?” Dandelion asked.

“Yes.” There was no point hiding it. “It can take any form, can’t be detected by any means, has incredible survivability, can survive in any situation. First appeared in the ‘Binhai City Ocean Hotel Incident’?”

“That’s a convenient setup, isn’t it?” Dandelion pressed her hands together in Commander Ikari’s pose, looking at Red Spider Lily.

“Convenient?”

“Suppose it did exist originally, and may still be active in this world today.” Dandelion asked, “How do you find it?”

“Uh… precognition?” Red Spider Lily had considered this answer.

“Exactly.” She took a sip of tea. “So a precognitive sees a harmful event and decides to forcibly seal it to minimize losses.”

“Or a precognitive sees ‘Shadow Snake’ causing chaos and, to prevent greater harm, uses a ‘Forced Seal’ to suppress it, reducing losses.”

“Is there a difference?” Dandelion shrugged.

“…” Red Spider Lily fell silent. Difference? Naturally, the difference lay in what the precognitive saw, but only they knew that. She seemed to grasp the convenience of ‘Shadow Snake’—a universal excuse for inexplicable actions. With so many precedents, it was widely accepted. Indeed, its existence could never be disproven.

“How do you know all this?” Red Spider Lily asked. “This shouldn’t be common knowledge for a D-rank squad~”

“I was a member of a D-rank squad in Hehe City, okay! Now I’m not even a security guard. Because of some online comments, I can’t return alongside Lily. It’s quite a headache~” Dandelion paused, looking at Red Spider Lily. “What’s my ending?”

“…” Red Spider Lily stared at her. “Truth or lie?”

“I don’t think we have enough affection to spare each other’s feelings.” Dandelion’s expression was calm.

“Dead. Before Saint Lily, actually. But probably because our bond isn’t strong enough, I didn’t see much useful information~” Red Spider Lily smiled and spread her hands.

“Is that so?”

“Miss Dandelion, want to bond a little more? Maybe I could see more?”

“No thanks.” Dandelion pulled her chair away, obvious disgust on her face. After a moment of calm, she continued, “I have a guess. Even if you saw more, including my death, it probably wouldn’t be my real death.”

“Could Miss Dandelion escape by shedding her shell?”

“I mean, my death was also designed by someone, you idiot!” Dandelion couldn’t help but curse.

“By whom? Ah… a precognitive?” Red Spider Lily caught on.

“Hmph~” Dandelion turned away, elegantly lifting her white porcelain cup. “If we want to stop ‘Shadow Snake’s ‘Forced Seal,’ then we’re going up against a precognitive.”

“…” Had they been talking this long? As the tea touched her lips, she realized it had gone cold. Dandelion shook her head silently, then added, “But precognition isn’t omniscience. It sees only fragments, only the future. If we prepare well, it might be possible to save someone without being noticed.”

“But there’s one case where that won’t work…”

She didn’t finish the sentence.

“…”

Red Spider Lily’s eyes turned cold. She drained the remaining tea in one gulp and finished the thought, “The person we save is exactly the one they want to eliminate.”

……