Chapter 121

“Kyle. You’re still awake?”

I checked the clock. It was already nine in the evening, nearly nighttime.

He should have been asleep by now.

“You know, Aisha.”

Kyle closed the door behind him and approached me with unusual seriousness.

Carefully.

That was not a word that suited Kyle at all.

“Are you worried about something?”

When I asked, he silently shook his head.

“Do you remember promising that if I went and listened to their conversation, you’d let me sleep with you again like before?”

Ah. So that’s what he came to talk about.

I had actually been wondering when he would bring it up.

Because so many people had visited my room over the past few days, Kyle had not been able to spend any time alone with me.

Wiggle, wiggle.

I scooted over to make room for Kyle to lie down and patted the blanket firmly with my little palm.

“Of course! You didn’t find out much, but you did what I asked. Let’s sleep together tonight!”

I giggled as I said it. Kyle nodded, and with a pop, transformed into a cat.

“Meow.”

Kyle lightly leaped onto the bed and burrowed into my arms.

Being like this suddenly reminded me of the old days.

Back when I had not known Kyle was actually a person, I always slept with him in my arms.

Whenever I went into my bedroom, Kyle was always asleep on my bed.

“This makes it feel like we’ve gone back to the old days. Right?”

I carefully pulled the blanket over him.

Kyle, who had his face buried against me, purred.

“Meeooow.”

Wow.

It had been a long time since I heard Kyle meow.

A giggle escaped me before I could stop it.

“Kyle. When you talk like that, I can’t understand a single thing you’re saying.”

“Meow?”

“Meow?”

When I copied him, he narrowed his eyes into thin lines and tilted his head.

“Meeow?”

It was almost as though he were asking how a human like me knew how to speak cat.

“I only copied you because I couldn’t understand what you were saying.”

I curled my body around him so that Kyle could sleep comfortably and stroked his soft white fur.

Then Kyle suddenly raised his head and tapped the glass bottle with one soft front paw.

It seemed as though he wanted me to check something.

“Oh, this? Don’t worry. I’ve been changing it once every six hours... Hm?”

But something was strange.

Mai had definitely replaced it two hours ago, so it should have been almost empty.

For some reason, the bottle was already half full.

“It’s filling up faster than usual... Why?”

It did not really matter since I could just replace it, but this was the first time I had checked it at night, so I was a little surprised.

Does magical energy accumulate faster around this time?

I would not be able to change the bottle while I was asleep.

At this rate, it seemed better to replace it now even though it was not full yet.

“Oh, you’re clever. Were you telling me to change the bottle? Somehow, you seem smarter as a cat than you do as a human.”

I stroked his head in praise, then replaced it with a fresh glass bottle.

It was time to sleep.

“Yaaawn.”

After spending all day dealing with people coming to visit me, I could not stop yawning.

As I curled into a ball, I felt Kyle’s soft, warm body in my arms.

“Kyle. Do you still think my arms are your home?”

“Meow.”

Pop!

At those words, Kyle poked his face out from my arms and nodded.

His eyes were burning so intensely that it was almost overwhelming.

Wow.

I could tell what his answer was just from that expression.

“Hehe. But you’re bigger now, so you should become independent too. When you grow up, like a normal person... yaaawn....”

A huge yawn split my mouth, and as though I had been put under a spell, my eyes slowly drifted shut.

I had told him he should become independent, but it was just something that slipped out while I was half asleep.

I had not meant it seriously at all.

But the next morning.

“Mmm. Kyle...”

I reached out unconsciously to touch him, but the place where I should have felt a soft ball of fur was empty.

“Mm? Are you already awake?”

I rubbed my closed eyes and sat up—

“......?”

There was a letter sitting on the bedside table.

“What’s this?”

At ? NоvеIight ? (Original source) first, I thought Kyle had written it as a joke.

But as I began reading the letter properly, the color gradually drained from my face.

“What is this? What... what is this...”

Tap!

I hurriedly pulled out the IV needle, flung the bedroom door open, and rushed into the hallway.

Then I shouted loudly enough to shake the corridor.

“Kyle! Where did Kyle go!”

The letter said that he was going back to the end of the world.

***

[Kyle still cannot write, so I am transcribing his words for him. Ah, for reference, this is Assistant Knox.

After you collapsed at the Academy, we brushed it off as nothing serious for the sake of your recovery, but in truth, we detected something unusual in your magical energy.

To get straight to the point, your magical energy is identical to Kyle’s. We will need to investigate further for the details, but it seems that through some chance event, Kyle’s magical energy entered your body.]

It wasn’t some chance event.

It was that scene I saw in the dream.

When I died, Kyle poured his magical energy into me to bring me back to life.

[The problem is that Kyle has entered a growth period, and every time you come into physical contact with him, the magical energy inside your body is affected. That appears to be why you have recently suffered nausea or fainted.

And his growth is accelerating with each passing day. He seems to feel it himself.

They say that soon, merely being in the same space as him may put you in danger... so he has decided to remain at the end of the world until his growth period is over.]

The unbelievable contents of the letter kept repeating themselves in my head.

As I ran down the corridor, the tears I had been trying to hold back began gathering in my eyes.

[This decision was Kyle’s own. He seems to have been deeply shocked after seeing you collapse.

He was the one who first told us that he wanted to remain in the north until he could control his magical energy.]

That’s ridiculous.

He can’t do anything without me.

He’ll whimper like a puppy that lost its owner.

[For reference, I have also chosen to go north with Kyle so that I can observe and study his condition.

I argued considerably with His Grace over this... but what can I do? I simply told him I would resign. To someone like me who loves researching monsters, studying a demon is like a dream come true.]

Bang!

“Father!”

The moment I threw open the door to the Duke’s office, I shouted between ragged breaths.

“Where’s Kyle?”

He sat in his chair and looked at me without the slightest surprise.

He already knew everything.

[I would like to end the letter here, but this boy keeps hovering beside me saying he has something else he wants to leave behind. Kyle insists that I write this part down.]

“Where did Kyle go?!”

“Aisha. Calm down first.”

“There’s no way Kyle would leave without even saying goodbye to me!”

Father rose from his seat and tried to embrace me, but I had already lost all reason and shoved his hand away.

The movement snapped the rope tied around my wrist.

“Aisha!”

Crash!

The glass bottle fell to the floor and shattered with a horrible sound.

Calypse hurriedly slid his hands beneath my arms and lifted me up.

[I do not know what he means by it, but apparently he still thinks your arms are his home.]

“Why did you send him away without telling me! He should have at least said goodbye!”

“This is exactly why Kyle wanted to leave without you knowing.”

[So he says you must wait for him until he comes home.]

“Waaaah!”

The final line of the letter flashed through my mind.

I burst into tears like a little child and buried myself in Calypse’s arms.

It was too sudden.

All I had done was collapse and wake up again, but he had suddenly become far too grown-up.

He was still allowed to act childish.

I would not punish him anymore.

He could bother me all day long if he wanted.

But Kyle had left.

***

At that same time, outside the ducal castle.

“Why is it snowing? Was snow in the forecast today?”

The knights standing guard around the castle as usual looked up.

Without warning, snow had begun pouring from the sky.

“It’s the north. That’s just how it is. It’s not like the weather does what people want.”

“That’s true.”

They did not know it, but Aisha’s power, resonating with her emotions, was making snow fall like tears.

The snow clouds spread far and wide.

From around the ducal castle to the entirety of the north.

From the north to the central region.

“Your Majesty, it’s snowing outside!”

“......?”

The royal office.

Grace, who had been reviewing documents, looked beyond the window at the attendant’s shout and gave a small gasp.

“Snow this heavy in the central region... This has never happened before.”

And then—

“Snow?”

The Kingdom of Doctia.

Avin, who had been out for a walk, raised his head and pulled one hand from his trouser pocket.

A snowflake, something he had touched once before, settled onto his palm and melted into moisture.

“This reminds me of Aisha. I wonder how she’s doing?”

“You’re thinking about that little brat right now? It’s snowing in the tropics. Has the whole world gone insane?”

Despite Mister Tree’s disgruntled complaining, Avin only grinned.

That day.

The sudden snow that covered the entire continent, including the Frozen Kingdom and the Kingdom of Doctia, did not stop until Aisha cried herself to sleep.

And Kyle, who had said he would return soon, did not appear again for several years.

It was a very long, bitter night.

<I Am the 5-Year-Old Spy Who Kidnapped the Villain>, Part 1 — End.