"Hey!"
Chesion, who came to his senses, looked around. As if the Milky Way in the night sky had fallen to the ground, the trees were shining brilliantly.
'Fresh green forest? Why am I doing this here? What about hunting festivals?'
Chession realized that he was floating in the middle of the lake of purification. He swam out of the lake.
The first person to greet him was Charlie. Charlie set up his claws and wrote on the dirt floor.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"It's okay. By the way... Ugh."
Little by little, memories began to come to mind. When Mori felt something and went out of the cave, a black snake bit his ankle.
After that, he couldn't control his body. The pain of tearing his body sank into the abyss, and at some point, the pain disappeared. It felt like someone had moved him to a shore while he was submerged in the deep sea.
Charlie continued to write.
"The witch saved you."
"...What?"
"That woman, witch."
Charlie pointed somewhere with his front paw. He saw a woman sitting crouched with red eyes and fangs exposed.
With tears in her eyes, she spread her black wings that looked like those of a witch.
Mori.
No. It was Gremory.
"If I had known this would happen, it would have happened... I was going to show you this in the first place."
"..."
"I'm sorry. After all, I shouldn't have been by your side, as a living sacrifice."
"A living sacrifice? What does that mean? Wait, I'll go over there!"
"Don't come close!"
Gremory jawed sharply and bit back. She was out of her mind due to the aftermath of her emotions. The witch's instinct, which had been suppressed for a long time, was squeezing through the gaps in her uneasy emotions.
Her vision was red, and she wanted to drink blood by eating Chession's flesh. The sound of her heart pounding echoed in her head, and she was about to go crazy.
She couldn't stay here anymore. It seemed that if she let her mind go a little, she would do something terrible to Chession.
"I'm sorry for making you go through this. Chession. I was selfish. I knew that witches and humans couldn't mix, but I got greedy. Because of that, you became dangerous."
"..."
"I'm leaving now. And I hope you will buy as many holy relics as possible to put a shield on the Grand Duchy. Before the witch attacked again. About 100 holy relics should be enough."
Gremory stood up slowly, spreading the wings of a huge witch. Chession hurried to Gremory.
"Mori, wait. Don't go like this, at least explain what happened! Yes? How will I live if you go like this?"
"I don't have the face to look at your face. And if I continue to be like this.. Maybe I'll hurt you. I can't believe myself."
"Please, Mori...!"
"And I signed a contract with your sister to protect you. So it's right for me to leave. Because you will be safe without me."
Gremory spread her black wings and flew up quickly.
"Thank you for all this time."
Chession followed her, but he couldn't keep up with her speed. Missing her, Chession looked up at the dark and empty night sky.
***
The news that Grand Duke Chession Ethel had given up hunting was widely circulated.
Along with him, the news of the disappearance of Mori, a maid who participated in the hunting festival.
Kurchen postponed his return to the estate and remained in the Grand Duke of Ethel. It was to find Gremory, who was said to have gone missing in the hunting grounds. After staying at the Grand Duke of Ethel, he asked Chession for details.
"So, my friend, what the hell happened that night?"
"...I don't remember well. When I woke up, I was in the middle of a forest of fresh greenery, and Mori had disappeared."
"Hmm, was there a monster in the forest that cursed the spirit world?"
"I think so."
Chession, who couldn't bear to say that Mori was a witch, surrounded him.
"Hmm, Grand Duke. The eyes are not of the living. Don't blame yourself too much. It's not all the Grand Duke's fault. Who would have thought that such a monster would be in the forest?"
"..."
"Let's start the search from the hunting ground. Our Belita is not a person who will die easily, so she must be alive somewhere. She was good at survival and fighting from a young age. She roamed the forest where monsters lived like her own house."
Kurchen patted Chession's shoulder with a rough hand. Chession stared into the air in silence.
The search lasted for a week, but Gremory was not found. As time passed, the atmosphere of the Grand Duke's residence became a portrait house.
The next night, Chession left the Grand Duke's residence without falling. Isolene and Anna couldn't fall asleep even though it was late at night. The two talked calmly in Isolene's room.
"Isolene, Miss Mori is fine, right?"
"Then, our Mori are not people who will die easily. Could a child who just beat the dragon killed by ordinary monsters?"
"That's right."
"Don't worry too much, we'll find her soon."
Isolene's face was full of sorrow as she spoke quite hopefully. Anna whimpered and wiped away tears from her sleeve.
"How can our young lady Mori spend a few nights without a soft blanket? She must be very hungry because she can't even eat raw meat..."
"When she comes back, you can let her enjoy it to the fullest."
"By the way, Isolene. I have something to tell you. It may be just my imagination, but would you like to listen to me?"
"What is it?"
"Miss Mori. Doesn't it sound like she's an ordinary person? No matter how much she is from the northern snowfields."
"That's right. She can create strange drugs, help catch dragons easily, transform into cats, and do anything, even if she seems a little lacking."
"So, maybe Miss Mori is something other than a human? She's a witch... I've been secretly thinking. Could it be that the witch was enjoying a break in the Grand Duke's residence and left when the time came?"
Isolene laughed.
"What kind of witch is a witch? You're still young, so you're very Imaginative. Mori is just a bit of a standout and unusual person."
"What do you think you would do if shr were a real witch?"
"What? Witch or whatever, Mori is just Mori. A member of the Grand Duke's family. So I hope she can come back soon."
Isolene stared out the dark window. The night sky on the first day of the month was without even moonlight.
***
As the search dragged on, the work piled up. Chession decided to spend the day locked in his office.
After 12 hours of work, Chession stretched out on the sofa and slept. After overdoing it for several days, he didn't even have the strength to walk to the bedroom.
Even though he was so tired, he didn't forget to keep the window open a little. Maybe a black cat will come to his house.
Chession, who was napping on the sofa, woke up to a strange feeling. His mind seemed to be awake at first glance, but his body did not move as if it had become a stone.
Maybe it's because he's overdoing it these days that he's being pressed by something. In an undesirable way. Just as he was wriggling to move his body somehow, he heard a voice that was not unfamiliar.
-Older brother.
Older brother? Who is your older brother? My only sister is Iris, so get rid of the ghosts.
- Brother. I'm having a hard time, so stop moving and look at me for a moment!
The voice he was familiar with and missed became clearer. Chession then stopped moving.
He could see the face he missed through my blurred vision. Black hair and white face. And a girl with a good impression.
It was Iris.
- Gremory has now gone to the Forbidden Zone on the east side of the continent. There, she eats monsters and suppresses her appetite as long as she wants to eat people.
That's what appetite is. What does that mean? Chession's fingers twitched.
There were many things he wanted to ask. Is Gremory okay now? What the hell happened to her? What are all the words that were said about offerings? But his mouth didn't open at all.
- My brother was defecated by a witch, which greatly shook Gremory's feelings. Because of that, her appetite exploded as much as she had been suppressing. That's why Gremory doesn't want to come home. She's afraid she'll hurt her family.
"..."
- And... Ugh! Why are you so angry? The ties are about to come loose!
Iris hurriedly left her last words.
- Go to the 'ham' that my sister gave you.
With that, the ties were released. Chession jumped up and looked around. There was no one in Iris's place. Only the cold air of the night was coming in through the open window
'What was it just now?'
Was it a simple bad dream created by eagerness, or was it really the manifestation of Iris?
Feeling like walking in a dream, Chession headed to the room where the ham was stored.
Comments
Post a Comment