Chapter 53 – What Is Magic.
“Why did you go to Mr. Donard first? You could have gone with me.”
Usher grumbled grumpily that Belka seemed to like Donnar. She had joked about it before, but somehow it gave Donard a sense of crisis when she saw the innocent girl.
“Because he seems hesitant.”
“Belka is more out-of-the-way than I thought.”
“Is it?”
The girl tilted her head at his words. She was strangely far-sighted, covering her face to the point that even now she wears her mask.
“It’s not like that, it’s like that. Anyway, it’s good if you keep going with me.”
Usher knew that what she was saying was far-fetched, but she feared that if she didn’t do something like this, something would happen to Belka without her knowledge. She was worried and she couldn’t help it. Even though she seemed to know anything and do anything, she used to act like a child who knew nothing.
“If you like Usher, I like you too.”
Even now, when she saw the girl who said that she would listen to his insistence as if it were natural, she felt that way even more. When she lived in the woods, she just thought Belka was a unique personality. But she remembers that maybe it was when she went through Mac’s work that she realized a little bit that it was a different problem than her personality. At the time, it was so sudden and shocking that he was distracted, but because of Pan’s incident, he had more time to think more calmly, and he could more clearly feel the sense of incongruity with Belka, who was different from other people.
But how can you explain that sense of incongruity? Because he couldn’t figure it out, Usher forced himself even though he knew this was wrong. That’s how they were holding each other’s hands and walking between the carriages without thinking. At first glance, the scent of grass with moisture was pushed by the wind. It was definitely different from the harsh, metallic smell of sand that I had been smelling in the wilderness so far. The smell of grass that reminds us that it has been out of the woods for some time. Let Usher look around to find the source of the smell.
“Usher, look over there.”
“Where? Where!”
The girl was pointing at him as if he had already found the source of the grassy smell he was looking for. Usher followed the tips of her slender fingers to a meadow with grass growing up to their calves. He felt better at the scene, which felt fresh and different from the desolate desert where no sign of life had been felt in the wagon he had been through so far. Usher came out of the forest after learning the truth about Mack and the village, as if being driven out by giant insects attacking the village, but he was also more familiar with the smell of grass than the smell of sand in the wilderness.
“Belka, let’s go quickly!”
When he hurried the girl happily, he heard Donnar’s voice behind them along with a clearing of his cough.
“Keuheum! These guys, haven’t they forgotten anything?”
“Yeah? What is that?”
Usher, following the voice and seeing Donnar, was soon able to spot the white horse with him. What is so sad about it, with a tear dripping from an eye the size of a big drop.
“Ah.”
Only then did he remember that they had a horse they rode on before joining this caravan. Come to think of it, he had never been to see him since joining the guild.
– Hee hee!
The sight of the horse weeping in full sadness aroused Usher’s feelings of guilt, perhaps realizing that he had forgotten even his own existence. Come to think of it, I don’t think he ever gave me food?
“I gave it to you. Hildis Beanie and the food itself are similar, so what?”
Donard answered his curiosity.
“This guy could starve to death if he did something wrong. Take care. It’s just grass. I have to feed Hildis Beanie.”
Donard said so and went to the carriage. Now I see that several coachmen were feeding the grass in the meadow, each with a Hildis Beanie. More than that, Usher frowned when Donar disappeared, revealing the figure of Rogi hiding behind him. He was the one who tried to do something mean to the girl, even though he was only an attempt.
“Why are you here?”
“Ugh, I’m just here to catch rabbits!”
When he asked with a disapproving look, Rogi made an angry excuse.
“Rabbit? Do rabbits live here too?”
“Huh? Uh. Those guys live everywhere.”
Fortunately, his excuse was enough to get Usher’s attention. Even in the forest, rabbits were fairly easy to see, so he was very happy. Usher, excited at the idea that the horse would fill his stomach and see the rabbit, tried to take his horse with him, but the horse was already gone.
“Huh? Where did you suddenly go…”
– Hee-hee!
I was able to find it right away when I turned around at the sound of the horse’s neighing. The sight of the horse poking its head at Belka as if in a frenzy.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t pay more attention to you. But maybe the distance is too close?”
The girl couldn’t help but be troubled by the behavior of such words. Usher remembered something he had momentarily forgotten. The fact that even if that horse is a beautiful horse on the surface, it is a horny word that reveals a woman.
-Hee hee?
He grabbed the muzzle of the horse that had dared to fool Belka with both hands. The horse rolled his eyes in a cold sweat, trying to pretend to be naive and ignorant, but Usher had already seen everything.
“I think I told Belka not to flirt.”
As he talked to the horse while making direct eye contact, the horse’s cold sweat increased more and more.
-Hee hee!!!
The pitiful scream of the horse echoed through the meadow, and the eyes of the Hilldisbinies gathered at the sound for a moment, then grazing as if nothing had happened. After a while.
“Quietly fill your stomach and go back.”
Usher, who entered the meadow, said while glaring at his horse, and the horse, whose face looked like it was bruised, was quietly grazing. Logi looked at him with a tired expression.
“Is that how you treat horses?”
He had never heard of him breaking his horse into fistfights, at least. I thought it was possible in the first place, but I had nothing to say when I saw it in reality. Even so, Logi didn’t stop glancing at Belka. The girl was looking up at the sky with a look she didn’t know what she was thinking right now. If you follow the line of sight, it seems like you are looking at the cloud zone.
“By the way, aren’t you going to catch rabbits?”
“Ugh, I’m going to catch you now!”
Rogi, stung by Usher’s constant vigilance, took one last look at the girl and moved on to catch the rabbit.
“Belka, what are you looking at?”
As Usher watched the horses graze, he approached Belka and asked.
“Cloud.”
“Looking back, it seems to have gotten bigger.”
The big wall of clouds I saw from afar was bigger than I thought, so it ran like that during the day. I was now right in front of the Cloud Zone. At this point, I couldn’t imagine the size of the layer-by-layer cloud barrier. Suddenly the girl murmured.
“How long do I have to be held like that?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
He couldn’t hear her words properly and asked back, but Belka didn’t bother talking. Then Usher realized that the grass nearby was making a rustling sound. As if little creatures were moving under it. Nervous that some strange creatures might come out, he was surprised to see them coming out of the grass.
“A rabbit… Is it?”
They were all little rabbits. However, unlike the forest rabbit Usher knew, it was small and had a different appearance.
“The rabbits I know look more rugged.”
Still, the rabbits, who had a cute appearance and fluffy wheat-colored fur, were less repulsive than he had known. Many rabbits flocked to Belka’s side and twitched their cute noses, making me want to pinch them. It was okay to catch forest rabbits and eat them grilled or made into soup. The rabbits here seem to be in pain if they do that. Belka smiled faintly and patted the rabbits’ heads, probably liking the rabbits approaching her without hesitation.
As surprising as it was to see the rabbits approaching without fear of man, it was a familiar sight to Usher. After spending time with the girl, there were often times when animals living in the forest would come up and act cute. Her Usher, who was with her, was happy to receive the animals’ charms along with her. Even if you lift one and hold it in your arms like now, instead of struggling, the rabbit calmly accepted your touch with its small and fluffy body. It was the time when the horse that had been grazing under his watch was spending time with the rabbits who had gathered, whether or not they looked at them with an unfair eye.
“Hey, I caught a rabbit.”
As if he had rolled on the ground, the muddy Rogi approached with a rabbit.
“What is all this?”
Logi looked at the scene in front of him in despair. Rabbits are small, but they are agile animals. It took a lot of effort to catch such a rabbit. When he came back, he saw Usher and Belka playing with rabbits who didn’t run away casually, and all their efforts were in vain.
“What, I really caught it.”
Rogi wanted to hit Usher, who asked why he came back, but he couldn’t help but sigh because he was stabbed so badly. Besides, he didn’t even have the confidence to fight and win. Rogi approached Belka, putting his foot down to keep from stepping on the rabbits.
“Now, this.”
And he held out the rabbit he had caught. There were so many rabbits around her, so I wondered if it would be meaningful to give her, but the important thing for her Rogi was the opportunity to apologize to her. Every time she thinks of what she’s done, she can’t stand the horrible feeling of shame that comes to her. She was always looking for an excuse to apologize for escaping Usher’s guard, and this was the excuse. But he soon knew something was wrong. Because the girl, who hadn’t been okay until just now, froze as soon as she realized that he was handing her a rabbit.
As Logi hears the punishment of Truce for his sins, he realizes what a terrible thing he had done to the girl he had been sleeping with. When Pan made him do it, he had only a vague idea that it was wrong. The story of Truth taking on the crime and being punished was not realistic because it was before he was punished, and he impulsively tried to do that to the girl again. He belatedly apologized, but with that alone, he felt guilty and informed the adults that Pan, not Truss, was the culprit.
But the guilt did not lessen in the slightest. No, seeing the way Pan was being punished, it rather grew to the point where he couldn’t handle it. I wanted to properly apologize to Belka, but I couldn’t dare to approach her, so she just hung around.
“How long are you going to keep chasing after them?”
“Mister?!”
Rogi was taken aback by Donnar’s voice. Among his elders, it was Donard who was on the friendly side, but that made it all the more difficult to raise my head in front of him. Because he knew what he had done. At that time, he passed without saying anything, but this time he thought he was being scolded.
“I’m not scolding you. Don’t be so scared.”
“Then why?”
If you are wondering if Donar, who usually scolds Rogi when he jokes, doesn’t scold him.
“Do you want to apologize to that girl?”
“That!”
“I have a good method, can you tell me?”
Logi was taken aback by Donnar’s words. He was an adult the boy could trust, and what he said was quite trustworthy. He informs them that the area near the cloud area where they have arrived is an environment where plants can grow, so there is a wide meadow. And there are many animals living in this meadow. It was said that there was a rabbit among them.
“If it’s a rabbit.”
“It’s small and cute, so you keep it as a pet, right?”
Rabbits were one of the most common creatures because of their ability to reproduce and adapt to the environment. There are many kinds, and they are popular for both pets and food. Thanks to her cute appearance, it was not uncommon for girls to say that she had raised her at least once. Only then did Logi know what his intentions were.
“You want me to catch that rabbit and present it to you?”
“Yes.”
It was clear that there were many rabbits living in these meadows. At worst, some of them even lived in the wilderness.
“If possible, catch it by yourself. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter if you ask for it. You have to catch it yourself and give it as a gift. Is it effective?”
“That rabbit is easy to catch!”
Although he was furious at Donar’s words that stimulated his pride, Logi decided to hunt rabbits himself, even if it was a little hard, as Donar’s advice. Even though the rabbits here were smaller and different in color than he had known, they were rabbits after all. The little rabbit that quickly ran away was harder to catch than I thought, but I was able to catch one rabbit to present to the girl by throwing my body and rolling on the ground. To hand it to the girl as her apology.
Yes, it was to apologize. Rogi was embarrassed to see the frozen girl. Maybe you hate rabbits? She thought about doing it, but for some reason there were so many rabbits around and she didn’t drive them away and even pet them. It’s a strange behavior to see that he hates rabbits. He played all sorts of pranks, and she knew that she didn’t hate rabbits as much as he knew how girls react when they didn’t like them.
What’s so sad about it? The girl slowly held out her trembling hand as she looked at the rabbit he was handing. As if you really don’t want to receive it, but you have no choice but to give it out. It was when Rogi was about to stop handing her rabbits at the sight of such a girl.
“Oops! You don’t even know it’s trying to free you!”
The rabbit, which suddenly twisted violently in Rogi’s hand, kicked his hand with its hind leg and, either by accident or intentionally, went into Belka’s arms, who was reaching for it. Then she reflexively returned her outstretched hand and hugged the rabbit, who had come into her product, so that it would not be hurt. As her bunny jumped in, the girl’s mask fell off, revealing her bare face. She looked down at the rabbit that jumped into her arms with the gold that seemed to overflow at any moment, but didn’t overflow in the end.
“No. You could have lived a little longer. But why?”
Belka’s murmurs were very small, but not so much that she could not hear them. She’s like, what the hell is she talking about? It was as if she was talking to an animal, but she couldn’t make out the meaning of it. She knew that her personality was unique, but she thought that animals and horses could communicate, and she seemed cute when she talked to them. But when she sees the rabbit standing up in her arms as if to answer the girl, and kissing her on the cheek, her nose and mouth, isn’t she really talking? She thought to do.
“It’s tickling, it’s tickling.”
Besides, she seemed to be not just kissing, but even giving intimate licks. Still, she was filled with sadness, not joy, in her golden light. At this point, Rogi wanted to ask why the girl was sad. That’s not to say when her rabbit is waiting for her Belka to say goodbye to her, telling her not to be sad, and not being able to disturb her acceptance of her actions. The rabbit jumped out of her arms as suddenly as it escaped Rogi’s hands.
“Ah!”
Belka reached out as if trying to catch a rabbit trying to escape from her arms, but unfortunately her hand stirred the air around her. While Rogi and Usher, who were watching the scene, missed the timing to catch it because it was too sudden for them to catch it, the rabbit ran across the gap of the people gathered around it. In the direction the rabbit ran away, there were Hildisbini and Donnar who were grazing, and Usher tried to tell Donnar to catch the rabbit.
“Uncle Donnar!”
“Why? Anything…?”
“There’s a rabbit…!”
But the next moment, Donnar and Usher stopped talking at the same time. It might have been fortunate if the rabbit had been able to escape. It was about the time the rabbit passed near Hildisbini. Hill This Beanie, who had been grazing peacefully just a moment ago, moved her head quickly and snatched up a rabbit that had run away and threw it into the air. The image of the little rabbit thrown high into the sky was slowly etched into the eyes of everyone present.
It couldn’t have been, but I felt the rabbit being tossed into the air fall very slowly. It was so slow that you could clearly see teeth marks dripping with red blood on the rabbit’s back. In time, even the sight of a rabbit entering its three-pronged mouth was imprinted on their eyes.
-Do Do Do Dog Do Dog
Hill This Beanie, who had been lowering her head from grazing, lifted her head and the sound of her chewing something hard resounded between them. A savory smell hit my nostrils as the fresh air blew. It was definitely not the obscure iron smell that was mixed in the dry sand that I had smelled in the wilderness, but a bloody red scent. In the midst of everyone staring blankly at Hildisbini. It gulped, passed its neck, and grazed the grass in the meadow as if to say that nothing had happened.
Hildisbini, who had turned into a seasoned hunter in an instant, quickly returned to being a docile herbivore. Amidst the suffocating silence. Usher was the first to turn to her Belka, and all eyes on her were on her. The girl’s skin was turning her white face pale.
-Tadaktaktak
Evening time came again. Donnar and Rogi stared blankly at the fire in the hearth sparks. Usher and Belka usually sat next to Donnar, so they never sat together, but now they didn’t come out to eat. It was Donar who spoke first.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would turn out like that.”
It’s not that Hildisbini don’t eat meat. However, she usually picked up corpses and stuff, even if she ate them, and never actively hunted them. Donard could confidently say that it was the first time such a thing had happened. If not, at night, since she has never seen what a hilldis beanie is doing, she may have been hunting the little creatures as actively as she had just before. However, even if he originally had such a side, the problem was that he revealed such a side when the rabbit Rogi gifted to her girl ran away. Donard tried to use gibberish to comfort Rogi, but dinner was another problem.
“I’m done tonight too.”
What came out for dinner was a whole roast rabbit that gave a glimpse of what it looked like before it was alive.
