Chapter 226 – (Day 104 of the Demon Continent – In Front of the Door)
It becomes night.
The moon opens its eyes and faces the world,
Those breathing below close their eyes for a moment for the moon.
But sometimes you want to make eye contact with the moon. Even as drowsiness slowly creeps in, there are particularly quiet nights when you want to breathe in the emptiness of the night air.
“… “
Kaede’s feet step on the light grass in the yard. Unable to sleep, her gait is irregular and unstable, unlike usual.
She is now walking with images of her two daughters and her husband in her mind.
However, even when she thinks of the image of her family that makes her smile, Kaede’s face is rather cold and expressionless.
“Why are you so serious?”
The only person who questions Kaede’s unfamiliar appearance is the great witch who enjoys the night more than the day.
“Why is someone like her snoring and falling asleep at 9 o’clock?”
“Chichi.”
Did she not feel any presence? Or maybe I was so lost in my worries that I didn’t hear the trembling of the broom on a moonlit night.
Kaede smiles awkwardly and gives Chichi a brief greeting. As a proud wolf woman wandering the continent, she doesn’t seem to be very happy about showing her weak side.
“Just… I had something to think about. “I wonder if she can sleep because even though she closes her eyes, she keeps thinking about it.”
“Ugh.”
Between the two, who are not close but not at all uncomfortable, moderate noise and silence are repeated.
The sound of night bugs, the sound of the wind,
The sounds of the demon world heard beyond the wall.
And, after quietly listening to them, the conversation between the two begins again.
“Chichi, what were you doing this late at night? “I don’t even pay attention.”
“I was resting.”
“I usually sleep to rest.”
“It’s a waste. Night is the best time to savor mana, but we just pass it up by sleeping.”
“Don’t you usually sleep well? “I saw him tossing and turning in his sleep with his entire belly exposed a few times.”
“What are you saying!? I don’t care if I don’t sleep. “If you meditate while slowly circulating mana throughout your body, you’ll feel much more refreshed than if you sleep, right?”
It’s okay even if I don’t sleep…
Is it possible to go against the basic instincts of living things? Kaede took her steps while swallowing her doubts.
Three small stairs in front of the door.
A brick staircase with a flower bed on the right.
Among them, she sits on the top shelf and twists her body slightly to face the flower bed so that her tail does not accidentally touch the flower bed and damage the flowers.
“… Actually, Kaede, I had something to talk about with you.”
“I thought so.”
“I didn’t know.”
Flowers in the flower bed.
Kaede continues her words with her eyes focused on the small flowers fluttering in the night air.
“But, before that, would you please listen to what I have to say?”
“I guess so.”
“I decided to take the kids on an outing after the sun rose today.”
Blossom. A strange person who lives his whole life quietly, without moving, rooted in the ground.
“I don’t want to go.”
“Hmph.”
It may have hurt the flowers if she said they were ugly, but Kaede had no choice but to pet them in pity.
Perhaps she is projecting herself onto those flowers.
“No, I’m not sure. I want to go. There is nothing more enjoyable than holding the hands of my fern-like daughters and going on an outing. But she has a bad feeling about something.”
Knock-
Kaede ended up plucking one of her flowers. When she thought she was going to miss it, she was already quietly tilting her head as the stems and flower buds were broken in her hands.
“Ah! Oh my, I’m going to get scolded by Miss Eva.”
Yesterday and today, nothing really happened. Things like this keep happening. The ominous feeling continues to grow.
“It’s not just because of these minor mistakes that I have a bad feeling. Just… Something is strange. Actually, I am not very happy with this Demon Continent itself.”
“Hmm-“
In some ways, Kaede’s words are nothing more than groundless nonsense or complaints, but Chichi listens to her words with sincerity.
“That’s it. I have nothing more to say. I just wanted to tell someone. Thank you for listening.”
“Why are you not happy with the Demon Continent?”
“It’s really hard to explain. Just, um… I am a small person… There are times when I feel trapped in this little house.”
“And?”
“I’m worried about the children. It’s already been over three months since I came here. Now the day has come when children have enough strength in their legs to start jumping. But we’re still here, there’s no way to get back, we haven’t found out anything about this place called God’s Garden, and we don’t know how long we’ll live like this. And… “
The conversation seemed to stop for a moment.
But at the end of that thin silence,
Kaede couldn’t choose her last sentence easily, so she hesitated, took her time, and finished her sentence carefully.
“It’s scary.”
What was so scary was that Kaede’s body began to visibly tremble.
Once she let out her inner thoughts, her weakness kept showing up.
Her breathing became heavy. Under the quiet moonlight, it felt so cold.
“W-that’s scary… I understand what you mean… ?”
Thanks to her barely able to hold on to reason, a cool-headed and clear insight followed. A disgusting bug was shaking inside her, eating away at her own heart.
“Shit! I didn’t mean to say something like this. I guess I started it for no reason. Just forget it. Chichi, you didn’t hear anything… “
Chichi’s eyes turned to Kaede’s fingertips. Kaede’s fingers, which were already trembling so much that she could not hide them, reminded her of a frightened rabbit or mouse.
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
Kaede also turned her gaze to her fingertips. It was hard for her to believe that every single one of her trembling knuckles was hers, but she screamed so clearly that the vibrations could not deny the reality.
“You felt it too, right?”
“Stop! I need to sleep now. My, Karin and Karen will be asking me to carry them tomorrow too, so I should go to bed quickly. Thank you for listening… “
Kaede quickly got up from her seat, breaking into a cold sweat in the cold air. She stumbled for a moment, not even able to keep her balance, but she tried to escape with her legs toward the small, comfortable room.
However, Chichi said after that,
She shouts out something about herself that Kaede cannot say.
“Around noon today, I felt mana for the first time.”
Please stop.
Don’t say anymore.
“You felt it too. He’s better than I in this regard. But I saw more clearly. “It was so vivid that it hurt my eyes.”
Don’t add flesh.
Don’t turn on the light.
Just leave it like this, curled up quietly.
“I already told Neva and Philmark. To Eva too.”
“… Please don’t tell me. Please say no.”
Kaede covers her eyes with her trembling palms. She doesn’t have enough nights. She doesn’t want to face anything, so she makes her own eye patch with her thick hands and tries to escape.
But the Bright Moon Witch cries out behind her wandering beastman mercenary’s shabby back.
“It’s the devil.”
Be firm. Her words are already full of confidence.
“I saw the devil. She had a more ominous mana than I had ever seen before. At that level, you can’t even use the word dangerous. It’s a disaster. A disaster for everything on earth.”
From Chichi’s words,
Or, to escape from that terrible fact, Kaede immediately opened the door and ran out.
She’s not trying to run away because she’s scared.
She’s not scared.
No matter how much she repeated and encouraged herself, the cold sweat wouldn’t stop. She was so cold. Her coldness seemed to penetrate her bones.
“Hey, hey… “
Her cold and fearful feet headed towards the master bedroom where Delin and her children were sleeping.
I wanted to see the three people’s faces right now. I couldn’t stand it. I felt like my heart would explode if I didn’t see it right now.
“Quick, queak…” “
However, Kaede could not turn the doorknob in front of her door.
Why, why?
I want to break down the door as quickly as possible and go in and hug everyone.
Yet, her body did not move.
However, she couldn’t hold on to anything and just sat there and melted.
“Hehe, hehe… “
Because the children, who were very excited about going on an outing tomorrow, are sleeping.
Because Delrin, who must have worked for hours putting those children to sleep, is sleeping.
“Kkiiing… “
I couldn’t open the door.
I couldn’t even think about it.
Kaede felt as if a chain had been wrapped around her neck.
Her body didn’t listen to me.
I felt a sense of discomfort in my own body, as if someone was controlling it.
“No. No… “
The name of the author who uses that vile spell is ‘Precious’.
These precious everyday moments of happiness that will never be seen again,
With my passionately loving husband,
So cute, just like her and her husband,
Two daughters that won’t hurt even if you put it in their eyes,
A curse keeps being placed in a corner of Kaede’s heart.
If you can’t protect it,
Everyone will die.
