In apartment 29 of district D, a mother sat quietly by a fire, warming herself up with her three children- an older brother and two younger twin sisters.

These people were all snake people, and as such had human arms which came out of their sides, however they did not have any legs, and moved around by slithering along on their tails.

Their faces and upper bodies resembled humans much more than they did snakes. While their eyes were slit like those of a cat, their tongues were long and split, and fangs peeked out of their mouths, aside from these features, they looked more human than they did beast.

They even had hair, though this differed from person to person.

This mother sat by the fire comforting her children, who were blissfully unaware of the events of the day.

The mother however, was shivering.

A man had come by her home just earlier this day- a member of the military police. He informed her that the man who lived in this home was determined to be a dissenter of the provider, and was punished and taken away for such blasphemy.

To the mother, this meant that she would have to take the responsibility of going out to work on her own, and she would have to leave her young children in the house alone without an adult to take care of them.

However, this was not what she was concerned about.

Right now the thing she was most concerned about was the very fact that her husband had been labeled as a dissenter.

A heretic, as far as snakemen were concerned.

There was absolutely no sign of her husband harboring any doubts or hesitation towards the graciousness of the provider.

This news came as a complete surprise to the woman.

She was now at risk of being labeled as a dissenter due to the mere association with another dissenter. Her children were not safe either.

It wasn't unheard of for entire families to be taken away on mere suspicion of dissent.

"We will be watching you carefully. Ensure that you follow protocol to the letter, or we will have reason to suspect that the dissent has spread to your entire family."

This was what the guard told the mother when he had informed her of her husbands recent actions, and that he would not be returning home.

Right now, this mother was running her mind ragged trying to figure out what she needed to do just to keep herself and her family from being taken away as well, however as she was thinking this, she heard a knock on her own door.

'Could it be the police!?!? Are they back to arrest me so soon!?!?! I haven't even gone outside!!!! Have they found some reason to incriminate me already!!??!'

The woman got up, placing the twins on her lap back on the couch before rushing over to the door. If it was not someone here to arrest here, but rather someone here to inform her of something else, then taking too long to open the door might breed suspicion.

She had to quickly present herself and show that she held no intention to go against the provider or those who served him. There was no other way. For the sake of herself and for the sake of her children, she would not allow even a single slip up.

She rushed to the door and opened it wide, showing complete transparency regarding her home, children, and lifestyle.

Yet, despite her expectations of meeting a member of the military police, she instead saw a single parchment at the door.

"Mail? At this time of night?"

There was a note attached to the parchment. Stepping out of the door the woman looked around, however she did not see anyone nearby.

It appeared that they had left the package and ran away.

The woman bent down to pick up the letter, giving it a quick read, but upon reading the contents of the letter her thin eyes widened.

Her breathing became ragged and she began to sweat profusely as she looked around, ensuring that nobody was nearby.

"T-t-t-this..."

Her hands were trembling uncontrollable to the point where she dropped the letter, fumbling around with it before letting it float to the ground as she stared into space with a complete look of horror.

"N-no....no.... no..... no..."

She put her hands to her face, completely overcome by fear.

"This can't be.... I didn't do this... I have no part of this..... I have no part of this!!"

The woman frantically looked around, unsure what to do.

She was terrified.

She had heard earlier about a certain incident where a piece of meat was stolen from the collection stations.

A piece of meat which had been produced by the provider, the only person in this city who held the capability to control life and produce food.

It would be an unthinkable sin to steal one of these sacred provisions without doing the appropriate work to earn it.

And it was because work resulted in reward, and not the other way around, that her own husband had been arrested.

One was not allowed to simply eat and then work to pay it off. That was not how things worked here. There was no such thing as credit.

It was the provider who graciously worked day in and day out to provide the entire city with food and consumables, transforming the sand itself into meat.

To steal the meat without paying for it with ones own labor was equivalent to spitting on the hard labor of the provider to exchange the sand for the meat.

And yet, the criminal to such an event had escaped earlier today for reasons unknown.

To be able to steal a piece of meat off the heavily guarded carts in the first place was unthinkable, however somehow they had done it, and escaped without so much as their identity being revealed.

Yet right here, right now, that stolen piece of meat was in front of this woman.

This was more than enough for her and her entire family to be incriminated as dissenters.

If a guard was to round the corner at this moment and witness this package in front of the woman, it would be all over for her.

So what should she do?

She had two options, and neither of them were preferable.

The first was to get rid of it by either throwing this piece of meat away and hiding all forms of evidence, or to place it at the apartment of someone else, shifting the blame onto them.

However, this held the risk of her own involvement being discovered. If it was found out that she tried to hide the meat or give it to someone else, her status as a dissenter would be set in stone.

The other option was to immediately run to the police and report the incident as it was.

To take the piece of meat to them, return it, and hope that they would not associate her with the crime.

Yet this too carried risk.

She was already under suspicion of dissent. If she were to get wrapped up in another event, even if there was no definite proof of her dissent, and even if she had done exactly as a person loyal to the provider would, they might still find it too suspicious to let her go.

"No....no....no..... what do I do??? What do I do!?!?! The people who stole this....."

The woman gazed at the note which had fallen to the ground with horror.

-The slaves of the antiheroes.

The antiheroes.

The beings of legend who were rumored to eventually take over the monster realm, should they be allowed to grow in power without being quelled.

They were beings who threatened the rule of the provider, and enemies of the state of the snakemen.

Without a doubt, this was something which had to be reported.

It contained information of an outside threat.

This was something beyond mere dissent. This was an attack on the provider and his people.

And so, this woman picked up the letter and resolved herself.

"I.... I have to turn this in..... there is clear proof here that it was not me, but instead these 'slaves of the antiheroes' who performed such an act.... hiding this information from the military would only put myself under further suspicion.... even if it is a risk, I will keep my loyalty to the provider, and tell him everything...."

And so, the woman grabbed the meat, and looked back into her own home at the three children waiting on the couch.

"I'm going out for a bit. Be good while I'm gone, and don't leave the house. Alright?"

"Alright....."

"Bye, mom."

"Bye bye..."

The three children waved as their mother shut the door, and headed off.

----

"Humans? What are you doing in this village?"

In front of Lance, Charlotte, Pierre, and Melody was a young girl who had the tail of a snake and the upper body of a human, wearing what looked like a long shirt to cover herself.

"Uh...."

The four looked to each other,

The door had unexpectedly opened when they had been passing by, but now they were faced with this small girl.

"We're just.... people who are passing through this town....", Pierre said quietly. "Don't mind us, little girl."

The young girl thinned her eyes at the four, clearly suspicious of them.

"Passing through? That would mean that you're not here to visit the provider, right?"

"Er.... we're not here to visit him....", Lance said. "Why?"

The young girl nodded and opened her door.

"I don't know why you humans are here in the village, but come inside. I want to talk to you."

The other three looked at Melody for confirmation of whether it would be alright to trust this girl, but without hesitation Melody stepped into the small home, crouching down to enter the low entrance.

"Then I'll be coming in.", she said calmly.

The other three merely shrugged their shoulders before following.

'If Melody thinks it's alright, then I suppose it's alright.'

The four filed into the home.

Inside was a small mattress which had a blanket hanging over it, and a small stove. There was even a table for the four to sit at, and they all filed over to the table, sitting down.

The young girl walked over to the table as well, hopping onto one of the stools and resting both of her elbows on the table.

"Who are you?", she asked directly.

The four looked to each other, however Melody quickly took control of the conversation.

"You can ask us who we are, but I would like to ask you the same thing. Who are you? Why are you living here away from the residential district in this run down shack?"

The young girl twirled her hair in her finger as she replied.

"Fine then. If you answer my question, I'll answer yours. Ah, here."

The girl jumped off of the stool and headed over to the oven, where a pot was sitting. Grabbing some cooking mitts, she took the pot and brought it over to the table, where she set it on a potholder. As she took the lid off the pot steam filled the air and the aroma of a stew filled the noses of the four.

"I was cooking for myself and for the soldier, but since you four look hungry you can have some too."

The young girl grabbed a number of wooden bowls and used a ladle to dish out portions to each of the five, and then another which she set aside.

"It's not poison, you know. Look. I'm eating it too."

The girl blew on her soup before putting a spoonful in her mouth, and the other three reluctantly began to eat.

"Ah... this is very good..."

"Mmm...."

"Thank you, little girl...."

Charlotte, Lance, and Pierre voiced their gratitude.

Melody, who was eating silently, then spoke to the young girl.

"You're the only person thus far who hasn't been scared of us, if we don't count that blind old man who probably couldn't even see us clearly. Why are you not scared of us humans?"

"Is there a reason for a snakeman to be scared of a human?"

Melody seemed to think on the child's response before speaking.

"You're not wrong. Usually there wouldn't be. After all, most snakemen are monsters of the 5th tier as far as I have seen. Some have even reached the 6th. These are levels which are extremely rare among humans."

"Hmm... are you saying that some humans can become as strong as snakemen?", the girl asked while taking another sip of the stew.

"There are some. I know there was one who reached the 7th tier back in the Empire."

"That's pretty amazing. But we've gotten off topic, haven't we? Why are you here in the snakemen village? I'll answer your questions after you've told me who you are."

Melody nodded.

"Fine then. Lance, do you have the flag on you?"

"I do."

Lance pulled out of the pocket of his trenchcoat and held up the flag of the Dictatorship- the demonic hand which seemed to squeeze at the very heart of the world, splattering blood everywhere as it closed in on each and every nation.

"We are the slaves of the antiheroes. And we are here to expand the Dictatorship which they rule."

"Hmm.... more dictators, eh? Just like that false leader?"

The young girl continued to sip on her own stew as she casually stated something which would be considered high treason, and get her arrested for making such a comment.

"We may serve dictators, but they are nothing like the person who rules over this city. While they do control the citizens in some places, they truly care about them, and they will not betray them or harm them. Unlike the ruler here.", Charlotte argued.

The young girl held her spoon in her mouth as she grabbed the pot, bringing it back over to the stove. She didn't seem to care so much.

"That's great and all, but a dictator is a dictator, right? If they control everyone, then aren't they just pretending to be better than they really are?"

The girl plopped down on her seat again, ready to converse with the four, who were at a loss for words, unsure how to respond.

"Now then.... I guess I'll tell you who I am. My name is Pliara.  I made this shack myself from the garbage that people threw out. The soldier looks after me and lies about my existence. It's because of him that I don't get arrested. He's pretty generous, so in exchange for my cooking skills he provides me with the ingredients and food from his own payment, and I cook him meals. He should be returning any time soon. But don't worry, he won't arrest you all. After all, if he was going to arrest me for dissenting he would've done it a long time ago."

"I see.", Melody said. "Then, that brings up a number of questions. Particularly, why is everything in this city so regulated? And why then is this area not regulated as harshly, to the point where only a single soldier keeps an eye on you?"

"Well of course the provider wants to regulate everything. If he doesn't, then he can't tell anyone what to do. And as for me, I'm what you call an irregularity in this city. Nobody but that soldier ever comes by here, so I just happened to get lucky that I'm still here under his protection. If I were anywhere else but this garbage dump, I would've been taken away long ago.", the girl responded.

"And why are people so scared of us humans? Do they believe that we are powerful creatures, and you're the only one who knows the truth about us? Or is there another reason?"

The young girl grabbed one of her pigtails and twirled it in her finger while looking to the side.

"Probably something to do with outsiders being deemed as evil. The provider is a wimp, you know. He doesn't want anyone else coming into this city, so he kills off anyone who isn't registered. It's his way of making sure that the people don't get any strange ideas and go against him, or something like that."

"Hmm...."

Lance had a face of irritation and anger, and spoke up.

"That's dirty. To cut off all outside influence just to make sure that nobody learns the truth of things...."

"The more I hear about this provider the more I hate him.", Pierre stated with a cold gaze.

Charlotte took the hand of the young girl, and looked her directly in the eyes.

"We'll help you.", she said firmly.

The young girl smiled lightly.

"Thanks. But if you really think you can do something about it, then you'll probably make things a whole lot worse. Every time an outsider has made their way into the village it's been quite a ruckus. A whole lot of people die every time an outsider gets in and begins spreading ideals."

Melody became interested as the girl made this statement.

"Are you telling me people have come to this village before?"

The girl nodded.

"Ah yeah. It was a group that kinda reminded me of your four, except they were dressed a lot differently. They were humans who snuck their way in somehow, and I gave them some food and talked with them for a bit. Though, I was only 5 at the time. They wore some fancy metal armor made from bronze and carried spears. They said they were from the Empire as well, and were on some sort of scouting expedition."

Pierre too took an interest to this.

"They were from the Empire? Tell me more about them."

The young girl put a finger to her cheek in thought.

"Well, I remember the leader. His name was Klyde. He talked a whole lot with me and was real friendly. He said that he had two sons and a wife waiting for him in his home, but before he returned he needed to get some information on this village."

"And what happened to that man and his unit?", Charlotte asked.

"As far as I heard, the soldier told me that they were caught and killed. He made contact with too many people and the guards learned of his infiltration, so they were caught. Anyways, try not to end up like that man, ok?"

The young girl looked earnestly at the four.

Before she seemed rough and indifferent, but right now she seemed to have sincere concern for the four and what happened to them. Perhaps she had quite enjoyed talking with those people before, and had not spoken with anyone else since aside from this 'soldier'.

"Don't worry about us! We'll be fine. What you should be worried about is yourself!", Lance exclaimed as he pat her on the head, causing her to crouch down while squinting.

"Alright I got it. Stop touching me. Dirty humans. They'll trace your germs and arrest me or something."

"Haha!"

The four continued talking with the young girl for quite a while before there was a knocking at the door.

It was a specific pattern which was unlike a usual knock, and upon hearing this the young girl seemed to brighten up, rushing to the door happily to open it.

"Soldier! You've returned!! I've made some stew for you, and there are some visitors here just like last time!!"

A snakeman with the appearance of being in his late 20's walked into the home with a tired smile. He was relatively built, and took off his coat and hat, hanging them on the door.

"Oh, is that so? Hello, visitors. Ah, might you all be the ones who were causing such an uproar today? There have been a lot of reports recently, and even just now things got heated up before I left my post."

The guard sat down at the table, and Melody kept a quick eye on him to scout him out.

He took the bowl which had been set aside for him and began eating, and Pliara sat next to him with a smile.

"Is the stew good, soldier?!"

"It's very good. Thank you, Pliara."

The soldier patted her head, rubbing her hair and messing it all up.

"Hehe..."

Lance stared oddly at the two, but shrugged, coming to the conclusion that they were somewhat like a family.

"What do you mean by things got heated up?", he asked the soldier.

"Ah, well there were some reports which were causing quite a disturbance. First a piece of meat goes missing, and then someone comes in and reports that the meat was found with a certain message on it. 'We are aware that your husband was sick and could not work. Here is a piece of meat. Please use this to feed your family. -The Slaves of the antiheroes', so it said. This caused quite a stir among the police force, and it was decided that the matter would be taken to the provider. After all, the message shows that some outsiders have made their way into the city, and are trying to influence the people."

The soldier then glared at the four.

"So? I take it you four are the outsiders?"

While the other three squirmed with concern that they had been caught and found out, Melody merely grinned.

"Why yes. We are. So, are you going to arrest us? If you do, please make sure we get taken right to this provider of yours. I must have a word with him, after all."