Vol 4. Chapter 12: Youlan and Yuan’er

Several weeks earlier, around the time when Yuan'er had first encountered Youlan.

In the Kingdom of Modor, tens of thousands of miles away from the Snow Night Empire, atop a mountain—

As night descended, this primeval mountain forest instantly fell into deathly silence. Everything became so quiet that even a falling needle could have been heard. All sorts of nocturnal magical beasts began to emerge, and their strange roars gradually spread throughout the mountain forest.

At this moment,

after nightfall, little Yuan'er, who had just finished washing up beside the river, couldn't help sucking in a cold breath. She anxiously looked around at the unidentified magical beasts that had appeared from who knew where, their eyes glowing red.

"M-Magical beasts..."

Even though her body now contained a vast amount of Shadow of Silence Power, making her a Demon King-class existence feared by countless living creatures, Yuan'er was still only a child in her early teens at heart. Yuan'er had already been afraid of the dark to begin with, and after accidentally stepping on and shattering her glowing magic stone, the pitch-black surroundings had immediately thrown her into a panic.

Under these circumstances, seeing so many unknown magical beasts around her caused the string called reason inside Yuan'er's mind to snap completely. Clearly, little Yuan'er still thought of herself as an ordinary child. And for an ordinary child, encountering a pack of magical beasts in a pitch-black forest in the middle of the night was undoubtedly terrifying enough to scare them to death.

?!!

"AAAAAAAH!! Sister Youlan!! Sister Youlan, save meeeeeeeeeeeee!!"

Unable to suppress her fear of the dark any longer, Yuan'er's mismatched red-and-blue eyes instantly filled with tears, and her petite body trembled uncontrollably. The next moment, driven by terror, Yuan'er immediately ran toward where Youlan was without even looking back!

In an instant,

a portion of the black Shadow of Silence Power within Yuan'er's body erupted violently due to its instinct to protect its master, sweeping across the entire mountain forest with unstoppable force.

The nocturnal magical beasts subjected to this power suddenly felt their blood run cold, as though the Grim Reaper had swung his scythe and placed its blade directly against their necks.

The magical beasts near Yuan'er were called Black Moon Panthers, a species of nocturnal magical beast that lived in groups. Originally, they had simply wanted to come out at night to hunt for food...

Only to emerge from their cave and immediately see the terrifying monster known as Yuan'er standing beside the stream, frightening them so badly that they froze on the spot and didn't dare move.

And when the fluctuations of Shadow of Silence Power swept over them, the entire group of magical beasts was, unsurprisingly, scared completely out of their wits!

Driven by instinct after nearly having their souls frightened out of their bodies, the Black Moon Panthers instantly unleashed all the magical power within them and began fleeing frantically in every direction while letting out one terrified howl after another.

"Awooo! Awooooowoooooo!!"

However, after hearing the magical beasts' frightened howls, Yuan'er's little heart nearly leaped straight out of her chest.

After all,

from Yuan'er's perspective, the magical beasts were letting out vicious roars and preparing to rush over and eat her!

"AAAAAAH!! Don't eat me! Sister Youlan, save me!"

Scared half to death, Yuan'er instinctively mobilized even more Shadow of Silence Power to accelerate.

And the release of even more Shadow of Silence Power further terrified the magical beasts, making their cries even more heart-rending. In turn, the increasingly terrifying howls of the magical beasts further intensified Yuan'er's fear...

And so,

under the influence of this vicious cycle, the entire mountain forest descended into utter chaos.

If the nearby area hadn't already been surrounded by a barrier jointly established by the Guardians of the Red Moon Tower, the peace of the entire Kingdom of Modor might very well have vanished forever.

Meanwhile,

several thousand meters away, the honey-haired woman who was lying in a hammock between two trees with her eyes closed and resting couldn't help furrowing her brows slightly. Her right eye slowly opened, revealing a somewhat weary deep-blue eye beneath it, and she helplessly looked toward the streak of black light rapidly approaching from the distance.

"Sigh, how many times do I have to tell her..."

The ones who should be afraid were those magical beasts.

Not her, a Demon King-class existence.

However,

when the pink-haired girl reached the hammock,

the honey-haired woman's intention of lecturing Yuan'er once again was, unsurprisingly, temporarily dispelled upon seeing little Yuan'er's pale face and tear-filled eyes. Before the honey-haired woman could even speak, Yuan'er anxiously pointed behind herself.

"Sister Youlan! T-There are magical beasts! Magical beasts want to eat me! Quick, quick, help me!"

"..."

Faced with Yuan'er's terrified words, black lines immediately appeared across the forehead of the honey-haired woman—Youlan.

At that moment,

Youlan suddenly felt that she had a long and difficult road ahead of her.

After helplessly shaking her head, Youlan slowly sat up from the hammock.

"Calm down, little one. There aren't any magical beasts chasing you..."

"Hm? N-No magical beasts? R-Really?"

Hearing this, Yuan'er nervously turned around and looked toward the silent forest behind her. The scene she had imagined, with countless magical beasts charging toward her, was nowhere to be seen.

"Eh?"

Seeing this, Yuan'er couldn't help letting out a cute cry of surprise. After looking left and right and confirming that there really weren't any magical beasts pursuing her, countless question marks seemed to pop up above the little girl's head.

"Eh? Where did those magical beasts from just now go?"

"Sigh."

Faced with this girl who could sometimes be remarkably slow-witted, Youlan couldn't help feeling mentally exhausted. As she raised a hand and patted the girl's shoulder to comfort her, Youlan emphasized once again:

"Yuan'er, I've told you many times already. You don't need to be afraid of those magical beasts. You're a Demon King-class Abyss Demon. They're the ones who should be afraid of you. Don't get frightened like this just because you see a few Third or Fourth-Tier magical beasts. You're going to completely disgrace the Demon King-class."

"S-Sorry, Sister Youlan..."

Only after hearing this did Yuan'er seem to remember what she actually was. She lowered her head guiltily.

"Sorry, Sister Youlan. I disturbed your rest..."

"..."

Seeing Yuan'er react like this, Youlan abandoned the idea of scolding her and silently lay back down on the hammock woven from vines.

"Forget it. Since nothing happened, you should go rest too. Tomorrow morning, I still need to teach you how to compress the Nihility Cannon."

With that,

Youlan stopped paying attention to Yuan'er and silently closed her eyes.

...

However,

she hadn't kept them closed for very long before Youlan expressionlessly opened her somewhat weary eyes again. The feeling of someone staring at her made it utterly impossible for her to rest. Thus, pursing her lips, Youlan glanced sideways toward the 'culprit' standing nearby.

Namely, our little Yuan'er.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you going to rest?"

"Um, I'm a little afraid of the dark..."

Glancing around at the pitch-black forest, where it seemed as though some bizarre creature might leap out at any moment, Yuan'er couldn't help tightly clutching her skirt with her little hands.

"Um, Sister Youlan, can I sleep with you tonight? I'm afraid of the dark. I don't dare sleep alone..."

"No. Go rest by yourself. You need to learn to be independent."

Youlan answered without hesitation, completely ignoring Yuan'er's subsequent pleading as she simply closed her eyes again.

However,

...

'Stare~'

...

Sigh.

Feeling the pleading gaze that Yuan'er kept directing toward her, along with the increasingly uneasy atmosphere surrounding the girl, Youlan remained silent with her eyes closed for several minutes.

In the end, however, she still couldn't withstand Yuan'er's watery eyes.

Finally, the honey-haired woman looked at the pink-haired girl beside her with complicated feelings.

Seriously,

she had never seen such a cowardly Demon King-class existence before...

"Just so you know, a bed woven from vines isn't particularly comfortable to sleep on."

"I-It's fine! I-I don't care!"

Seeing this, Youlan said nothing more and merely replied indifferently:

"Fine, then. Only for one night... Come up..."

"?! Mm!!"

Seeing that Youlan had agreed, Yuan'er immediately raised her little hands and wiped away the tears around her eyes. After taking off her little shoes and outer clothes, she excitedly climbed onto Youlan's hammock.

Then, completely disregarding Youlan's somewhat 'resistant' movements, Yuan'er wrapped her arms around Youlan's slender waist without another word and immediately burrowed beneath the blanket.

Youlan was left speechless.

However, considering that the little girl was genuinely afraid of the dark, Youlan decided not to say anything more. Although she disliked physical contact with other people, she could tolerate it for one night.

Narrowing her eyes slightly, a deep-blue glow gradually rippled through Youlan's eyes.

Guided by that light, countless vines converged from all directions, weaving and intertwining beside Youlan until the hammock had soon doubled in size.

Then, so that she could finally get some peaceful rest for the remainder of the night, Youlan slowly raised her hand and gently patted Yuan'er on the back through the blanket.

As though soothing her.

Feeling Youlan's body warmth, the comforting pats against her back, and the intense sense of security she felt whenever she was with Youlan, Yuan'er gradually stopped trembling. Her restless and anxious heart returned to tranquility, and the black Shadow of Silence Power surrounding her gradually dispersed as the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} girl's emotions stabilized.

...

Some time later,

having regained her composure, Yuan'er slowly shifted her body and poked her little head out from beneath the blanket. She curiously looked toward the honey-haired woman beside her, her mismatched red-and-blue eyes blinking repeatedly.

Although her eyes were closed,

Youlan could still feel Yuan'er's gaze.

"What is it now?"

Instead of answering Youlan's question immediately, Yuan'er carefully studied Youlan's face for a moment before slowly remarking:

"Sister Youlan, you're really gentle..."

"Hm?"

Hearing the little girl's answer, Youlan actually failed to suppress a laugh for once, as though she had just heard some top-tier joke. Then, the honey-haired woman slightly opened her right eye and glanced at the little girl pressed tightly against her with that half-lidded deep-blue eye.

"You're calling me gentle? You're the first person who's ever used that word to describe me."

"Hm? Aren't you?"

"At least, not in anyone else's eyes."

"Other people? Enmm, I don't care about that... As long as I think Sister Youlan is gentle, that's enough."

"..."

Meeting Yuan'er's pure, innocent eyes, a faint trace of bitterness appeared on Youlan's face. Several times, she opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, only to close it again.

"Think whatever you want."

"Then I'll keep thinking Sister Youlan is really gentle!"

Under Youlan's slightly complicated gaze, Yuan'er declared in a somewhat willful tone.

"Oh, right, Sister Youlan."

"What is it now?"

"Sister Youlan, that Mommy you mentioned before... what kind of person is she? Is she gentle like you?"

"Her..."

"W-What... is she like?"

"Much gentler than I am. Not only gentle, but also powerful, beautiful, kind, strong, and patient... It's just that sometimes, she's a little too innocent, even a bit silly..."