Chapter 220

Varen and I properly settled down beneath a massive old tree, leaning our backs against the trunk as we sat side by side.

Somewhere nearby, people were frantically running around preparing plans to infiltrate the royal palace.

Elsewhere, screams that sounded like flesh being torn apart continued endlessly.

Even if I didn't want to hear them, the noise was unavoidable, and my mental stamina was being shredded in real time.

Yet despite all of that, something happening right in front of me overwhelmed every bit of stress entirely.

"Grrr, sniff!"

"What? You picked this from a cliff? Why would you do something so dangerous, baby?"

"Grrr, sniff!"

"Aww, you brought it because it smelled nice? Thank you."

Flowers of every imaginable color surrounded me.

After the magical creatures saw how happy I'd been over the flower the fire fox brought me, they immediately started competing with each other.

Each one insisted their flower was the prettiest and shoved it toward me proudly.

And every single time, I smiled so brightly my eyes curved shut.

"Awoo, awooong!"

"...Baby, how did you even carry that here?"

"Awoooong!!"

At some point, a beaver with six front teeth even dragged over an entire tree.

It was a flowering tree covered in small white blossoms.

The magical creatures showered me with affection like a bombardment, and standing in the center of it all, I couldn't stop smiling.

Once enough flowers piled up one by one, I gathered them together into a giant bouquet. Then a purple skylark brought over a ribbon suitable for tying them together.

Humming cheerfully to myself, I buried myself among the flowers.

I spent so long chatting with the little creatures that I lost all track of time.

Before I realized it, the sun was already beginning to set.

And Varen, who had silently remained beside me the entire time, finally spoke.

"Ceryl, this is the happiest I've ever seen you."

"You think so too?"

When I answered with a goofy grin, Varen reached out toward me.

His massive palm gently caressed my cheek.

"Seeing you this happy... I don't even feel jealous anymore."

I let out a snort of laughter at that.

He was saying that now, but just a little earlier he'd been glaring murderously at the male magical creatures.

Still, since he was trying to make a mature declaration about not getting jealous anymore, I smiled and played along.

"I love being able to communicate with magical creatures. They were already cute before, but talking to them directly makes them even more lovable than I imagined."

"Unlike humans, magical creatures are pure. They don't lie."

Just as Varen said, magical creatures really were incredibly pure.

Their happiness consisted of nothing more than eating delicious food until they were full.

The younger magical creatures traveled around in little groups, adventuring through the forest.

Some climbed trees.

Others wandered off searching for valleys.

Some gathered piles of sour fruit and shared them around.

The older magical creatures stretched out beneath warm sunlight and napped lazily.

Meanwhile, love quietly bloomed among them too.

There were even magical creatures of entirely different species grooming and licking one another affectionately.

As I watched the peaceful scene with contentment, a magical creature no larger than my palm suddenly scampered onto my thigh.

Aside from the extra black eye embedded in its forehead, it looked exactly like a squirrel.

"Kushi, kushikushi."

"Your butt itches? Why?"

The squirrel explained where it hurt, then abruptly lifted its tiny thumb-sized backside and showed me the affected area.

Visually, nothing seemed wrong.

Since it'd already shoved itself at me anyway, I casually played with its fluffy tail while continuing the conversation.

After a brief examination, the diagnosis turned out to be simple indigestion from eating unripe acorns.

Since there wasn't any medicine suitable for magical creatures, all I could prescribe was skipping a meal.

The offended squirrel scampered away up a tree in a huff.

Watching its retreating figure fondly, I suddenly became overwhelmed by inexplicable melancholy.

"Varen, do you know what the best thing about talking to magical creatures is?"

"What?"

"Being able to immediately know where they hurt. That's the best part."

Thinking about traces of the past no longer made me cry.

But whenever I remembered my one and only younger brother, a dull ache still lingered deep inside my chest.

"I keep thinking about how nice it would've been if I could've talked to Berry too."

Varen no longer misunderstood whenever I mentioned Berry.

I'd already explained several times that Berry was an animal similar to magical creatures rather than a human, specifically a dog.

And that Berry had been my only family in my previous world.

Instead, whenever I talked about Berry, Varen would quietly move closer and share his warmth with me.

As if telling me that now, he was the one beside me.

Whenever he did that, I leaned my head against his shoulder.

And now I could finally talk about Berry while smiling.

"I used to imagine it sometimes. Even just once, I wanted to have a conversation with Berry."

"If you could've spoken together, what would've you wanted to ask?"

"I wanted to ask whether anything hurt."

Apparently my answer wasn't what he'd expected.

Varen looked down at me with puzzled eyes.

I kept my gaze fixed on the colorful bouquet while reminiscing about the years I'd spent with Berry.

"Animals can't talk. So a lot of the time, you only realize they're sick after it's already too late."

"I see."

"I was a doctor who treated animals. Every night, I'd tell Berry the same thing. Berry, if anything hurts, make sure you tell me. Your big brother will fix everything for you."

Even though Berry couldn't understand me.

Living together with an animal destined to have a much shorter lifespan than humans, I'd always been hyperaware of my companion dog's health.

Whenever Berry napped, I'd randomly press against his soft stomach to palpate it.

Whenever we returned from walks, I'd carefully inspect his joints.

Every evening, I'd open the mouth of that giant dog and brush his teeth personally.

And every year, I performed his medical examinations myself.

"I worried more about Berry's health than my own. That's how I caught the illness in his head early."

Thankfully, Berry's meningitis had been discovered in its early stages.

But the vicious disease still made his old age painful.

He'd always been a dog that only relieved himself outside, but eventually he couldn't even walk properly anymore, so I had to put diapers on him.

And tug-of-war—which had been his favorite game—became impossible too because violently shaking his head was dangerous.

Even though I discovered Berry's illness early, I still cried every day drowning in regret.

"And even then, I kept thinking how nice it would've been if I'd noticed even earlier. Then he would've suffered less. He would've had even one more healthy day. I just kept regretting it."

Moisture quietly crept into my voice.

Varen lowered his head and pressed a kiss against my forehead.

Then he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and held my hand gently as he spoke.

"That child must've been happy. Because he lived with you."

"Haha... I want to ask him that too."

"Sounds like you have many things you want to ask."

"Of course. We lived together for eighteen years. Imagine how much I'd want to say."

"Then tell me everything. I'll listen."

Varen's voice beside my ear calmed me instantly.

Leaning against him, I slowly closed my eyes.

If I could travel back in time with my current ability, the things I'd want to say to the animal I loved most...

"I'm sorry for always coming home late... for leaving you alone so often."

"Even the time spent waiting for you must've made him happy."

"I'm sorry I couldn't take you to more places because I was always busy."

"Anywhere would have been exciting as long as he went there with you."

I confessed all the lingering regrets I'd carried about Berry, and before I could even finish speaking, Varen answered in his place.

I'd thought this before, but Berry and Varen really shared a surprising number of similarities.

Maybe that was why Varen's words comforted me so deeply.

I smiled faintly with my eyes closed before slowly opening them again.

Even now, my hands still vividly remembered the sensation of stroking that furry body for eighteen years.

And now Varen was filling the emptiness left in those lonely hands.

Tightening my grip around our intertwined fingers, I spoke in a much lighter voice.

"Near the end, it felt like Berry couldn't even remember me anymore. He had dementia too."

"Dementia?"

"It's a disease where memories gradually disappear."

"Ah... what a horrible illness."

Varen frowned as though merely hearing about it was painful.

I snorted softly and moved my hand through the air as though petting something invisible.

"Even when the memories disappeared, habits stayed behind. Whenever I petted him like this, Berry would squint only one eye. He did it right until the day he died."

The hand drifting aimlessly through empty air while remembering Berry was suddenly pulled away by Varen.

He repeatedly kissed the back of my hand.

"You must've loved that child very much."

"Of course. Before I met you, Berry was the reason I lived."

"Hmm..."

For a while he seemed to be listening quietly, but then a dissatisfied breath slipped from Varen's mouth.

I hurriedly changed the subject.

"Actually, when I first fell into this world, I wondered if maybe Berry was the one calling me here. I came to this place the day right after he died."

Eventually I'd learned that the one who truly dragged me into this world had been the original Ceryl.

But even so, the lingering attachment left inside my heart still refused to disappear completely.

I glanced up at Varen and asked,

"Do you think Berry might've come to this world too? Like I did?"

"You said he died."

"...Maybe he was reborn here."

"I see. If he was reborn as one of this world's magical creatures, I'd like to meet him too."

"Hey, what kind of nonsense is that?"

Something about that assumption deeply bothered me.

I immediately straightened my posture and turned to face Varen directly.

Then, frowning intensely, I raised my voice.

"If anything, he should've been reborn as a human. Our Berry died at eighteen years old. If a human dies at eighteen, they're still basically just a student."