Chapter 89

“Kyuuut....”

Feri fiddled with the iron bars with her tiny pink hands, staring at the crying boy.

The way she fidgeted anxiously at the sound of the child’s sobs made it clear that the two of them were close.

A monster trapped inside an iron cage. A boy worried about that monster.

Watching them reminded me of Kyle, who had spent so long imprisoned, and of how desperately I had wanted to save him.

“...They obviously like each other. Wouldn’t it be all right to simply leave them alone?”

I had meant it as a casual suggestion, but—

“What? D-did you just say we should leave the monster alone? You, Lady Aisha?”

“Uh....”

“The young lady of the Kreutz family, which protects people from monsters, is suggesting that we let one go?”

There was a problem.

“No matter how docile that creature looks, a monster is still a monster. They attack and devour people—they’re beasts worse than any animal! There’s no telling when or how it might attack!”

I had overlooked how poorly monsters were regarded by ordinary people.

People like Knox and Grace were the unusual ones. In this world, monsters were considered virtually synonymous with evil.

That was precisely why the Kreutz family, which had erected the ice barrier to hold them back, was so deeply respected.

Naturally, people would react this way when the young lady of that very family suggested simply leaving a monster alone.

Then again, I probably would have said exactly the same thing before I met Kyle.

Hmm. What am I supposed to do about this?

Still pondering, I looked at the boy.

“L-Lady Aisha....”

He was directing a desperate glittering eyes beam at me.

Urgh.

Unable to withstand the pressure, I whipped my head away again.

“Lady Aisha.”

This time, I found the adults nodding solemnly, their determined gazes telling me they trusted my judgment.

Seriously, these people are putting way too much pressure on me.

What exactly do you expect me to dooo?

Cold sweat erupted from the top of my head like a fountain.

I understood how the boy felt, but I also understood everyone else. I had no idea whose side I should take.

Let’s at least ask his name first.

I let out a long sigh and asked as though it were merely an afterthought.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“M-my name is G-Guide....”

And the solution to the situation unexpectedly popped out from the most unlikely place.

“...Guide?”

My eyes widened at the familiar name. I was certain I had heard it somewhere before.

The contents of the original novel swiftly unfolded inside my head.

That’s right. Guide. There was a character like that, wasn’t there?

The Guide described in the novel rapidly took shape in my mind, overlapping with the boy before me.

Wow. So when he was little, he looked like... a booger.

He might look like that now, but this boy would grow into someone extraordinary.

And now that circumstances had changed—and Kyle was already with me—

He might be able to change the world just like Kyle. And in a way that benefits the Kreutz family.

Once I made my decision, my thoughts became perfectly clear.

“All right, Guide.”

“Y-yes?”

I rose from my chair and looked at the trembling little booger of a boy.

Then—

“You. Come to the Kreutz estate with me.”

I held out my hand to him.

***

A short while later, the shaggy-haired Guide packed his few belongings and stood in front of the butcher shop.

He clutched the portable iron cage containing Bibi tightly against his chest as the butcher approached him.

“Guide. You...!”

“Y-yes?”

The boy recoiled in fright when he saw the owner trembling with rage.

The butcher seized the child’s small shoulders with both hands.

“Why did you have to bring that damned monster here and turn this into such a mess? What if you end up being thrown into prison because of it...!”

Unable to finish, the butcher made a plaintive sound before blurting out—

“Fine! Just go to prison, then!”

“Whaaat?!”

He squeezed his eyes shut, unable even to look at Guide.

A memory surfaced in the butcher’s mind of the newborn baby he had found abandoned by the roadside several years ago.

He had taken in an orphan with nowhere to go, only for the child to cause one bizarre incident after another and constantly give him grief.

Not a single day had passed peacefully while he was raising him.

And today, of all things, the boy had brought home some monster and insisted it was his friend...!

“I picked up a brat like you and suffered every hardship imaginable raising you, and when I told you to get rid of that damned monster, all you did was cry! If you’re going to be that stubborn, then perhaps being thrown into prison will finally teach you a lesson!”

“!”

Guide’s hair stood on end in shock, and a walnut-shaped dimple appeared in his tiny chin.

He knew the butcher sounded harsh, but he was actually a kind man.

He also knew that everything the man said came from concern for him.

But his manner of speaking was so rough that—

“How can you say something like that to a child?!”

Sometimes people misunderstood him, just as Lady Aisha had.

“Oh dear. I thought I said that quietly. You heard me?”

“Of course I did! I’m not a young lady for nothing!”

“My apologies.”

The butcher chuckled and bowed his head before whispering to the boy.

“Her personality is certainly something. Are you sure you’ll be all right going with her?”

“I can still hear you!”

“Oh dear. You heard me again?”

“.......”

Guide found himself watching the two of them bicker and muttered inwardly.

Both of you have quite the personality....

But that was not the real problem.

Why is Lady Aisha suddenly taking me to the Kreutz estate?

He did not know much about it, but the Kreutz family guarded the end of the world, where monsters swarmed.

That meant the estate was—

It’s a place filled with nothing but terrifying people strong enough to kill monsters.

Duke Calypse, ruler of the north.

Assistant Knox, who was supposedly obsessed with monster research and always wore a glittering monocle.

And then—

Hic.

Lady Aisha herself, who carried poison needles despite being only five years old and possessed enough force of personality to shout down the butcher.

Guide shook his head furiously. The very thought frightened him so badly that he felt ready to faint.

He had to keep his wits about him.

“...Bibi. It’s all right. If anyone tries to k-kill you, I’ll protect you.”

He did not know why Lady Aisha wanted to take him with her, but he firmly resolved to protect his Bibi no matter what.

However, a short while later—

Hwaaa....

Guide’s determination shattered into pieces the moment he arrived at the Kreutz estate.

“Good day, Lady Aisha! By the way, who’s that little brat?”

“My friend!”

“Lady Aisha! Good day—what’s that monster the brat is carrying? Should I dispose of it immediately?”

“No! We’re going to observe it for now!”

Eek. Eeeek!

Terrifying people wandered everywhere.

Guide began trembling without even realizing it. Hunching his shoulders, he tried to conceal the portable iron cage as much as possible.

Lady Aisha’s escort knight had been intimidating enough, but every person they encountered after entering the castle grounds seemed enormous.

Guide felt as though his own body had shrunk after entering a land of giants.

After passing through the vast castle and its equally enormous inhabitants—

“Guide. How close are you and Bibi?”

Upon reaching the outdoor training grounds, Lady Aisha abruptly turned around and asked him the question.

If I say we’re very close... will they exile me beyond the end of the world along with her?

Glare.

To anyone else, Guide’s expression would have looked utterly harmless, but he was doing his very best to glare sharply at Lady Aisha.

Bibi was his one and only friend.

They had met by chance not long ago while he was walking through the mountains.

At first, Bibi’s sharp claws and swift movements had kept him too busy running away to do anything else.

Plop.

The first time Bibi pounced on his face, he felt a warm, soft belly pressed against his forehead.

Kyuuut?

Then he turned his head and saw a pair of innocent eyes like little black beans.

The moment Guide saw Bibi’s face, instinct told him that the creature merely wanted to greet him.

After that, Guide and Bibi spent many happy hours together as friends.

They usually played in the mountains, but he occasionally brought Bibi to the butcher shop to give her something to eat.

Then an excited Bibi had stolen meat from the storage room and been caught, leading to the current disaster.

.......

Bibi had done something wrong, that much was true.

But it was hardly a crime worth dying for.

Guide filled his glare with every ounce of that indignation and fixed it on Lady Aisha.