Chapter 210

Chapter 210: Discernment

By ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍the time the other Werewolves, who belatedly noticed the commotion, arrived, everything was already over.

Mona’s ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍ruined tent was treated as the result of a scuffle between me and Adol, and it was concluded with Archie giving the two of us a suitable punishment.

No ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍one voiced dissatisfaction with the fact that the suitable punishment was being locked in a makeshift cage and taken around the Werewolves’ village.

Mona, ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍standing beside Archie, stared at me with strange eyes, but he did not add a word to Archie’s decision.

Once ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍again confined in the makeshift cage with our limbs bound, Adol and I ended up spending the night with the tingling of fingers that blood could not reach.

Perhaps ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍the bastards had grown tired of us causing all kinds of trouble in a single day, because they placed the small cage right beside Archie’s tent.

Still, I was disappointed by the stinginess of those bastards, who gave us not even a single thing to cover ourselves with on a winter night, and was glaring at Archie’s tent.

“......I’m sorry.”

Adol, who had kept his mouth tightly shut while things proceeded, suddenly tossed that out.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

I answered lightly.

I meant it.

I was the one who let Enil take Adol away.

I was also the one who noticed Mona moving away from Archie’s tent and still took no other measure.

I had expected to some degree that something like this would happen, and I also knew this young bastard would quickly regain his own will.

Even if he did not, I was confident I could stop him in his current state, when he was not a full Werewolf.

“You almost died because of me.”

“Do I look like I’d risk my life for one kid I haven’t even known long?”

“......You still interfered. If I’d completely transformed there, I definitely would’ve died at their hands, but you didn’t just leave me alone.”

“I did it because it was worth doing. And I owe you.”

At my answer, Adol finally raised the head he had deeply lowered and looked at me.

“Owed me? For what?”

“In the cave. I owe you there.”

“Ah, that......”

Adol nodded as if remembering only then.

The bastard probably did not know exactly what debt I owed him.

He probably thought I was grateful that he dragged me all the way to the end of the cave.

Leaving aside the bastard, who did not know that he was the reason I could come to my senses inside that horrible hell, I changed the subject.

“What did Mona say?”

“......”

At my question, Adol shut his mouth again.

It was not a question I had asked expecting an answer to begin with, so I did not feel particularly offended.

“You’re curious about that? Aren’t you curious about anything else? Why aren’t you shocked after seeing me?”

Nor did I particularly care that the bastard was changing the subject in an obvious way.

I was about to say it was useless to change the subject, then realized that his face was more serious than I had thought.

Looking closely, it seemed like he might burst into tears.

I would prefer not to have that uncomfortable situation come again.

Comforting a crying child was not something I could do.

But I knew at least that changing his point of interest was effective.

“Why did you think I’d be shocked?”

When I asked, Adol hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Because I’m...... a monster.”

At that answer, I found it a little absurd and let out a hollow laugh.

The child’s aura instantly turned ominous.

“What’s funny?!”

Of course it’s funny. How could it not be?

Even so, perhaps because his blood was mixed, there were parts of him that overlapped with Archie’s face. I lightly pressed the bastard’s head, and Adol angrily pushed my hand away.

“Do you know where we are?”

At my question, Adol looked at me as if asking why I would even ask such a thing.

“A Werewolf den.”

“Right. Their den. I walked in here on my own feet to meet those bastards.”

“......Can you really say you walked in here on your own feet?”

Adol expressed a small doubt, but I ignored it.

“I’m saying it would be strange to walk in on my own feet and then be shocked by your appearance.”

However, the bastard still frowned as if he did not understand.

“I’m different from those bastards. I’m a human, but I’m like this, and those bastards were originally that kind of thing. Besides, once I transform like that, I can’t see anything around me. I don’t know what I’ll do.”

That is a serious problem.

But the bastard in the novel eventually became able to control his power as time passed.

“If your body grows a little more, you won’t lose your reason.”

“How do you know that?”

I read it in a book.

But I could not answer like that.

“Have you already forgotten? Just now, you came to your senses before killing me.”

Adol opened his mouth as if only then remembering, then pressed it tightly shut again.

“What’s the problem this time?”

“Even so, the fact that I’m a monster doesn’t change.”

When I asked, the bastard muttered quietly.

Was it because I had become an adult in a world far from fantasy?

Honestly, other than the fact that he was small, this bastard and those monsters did not look that different to me.

Besides, if that were the case, then I, who could change not only into animals but also monsters, was a monster too.

Did that really have such great meaning?

“Then I guess you are a monster.”

The fussy bastard seemed to dislike this answer too, because he glared at me again.

“Don’t say it so simply!”

“What reason is there that you can’t be a monster? The humans I know can slaughter an army of orcs in an instant with one sword. Those humans don’t seem particularly human either. Even if someone called them monsters, they’d have nothing to say.”

“There really are humans like that?”

Adol looked at me with suspicious eyes, as if he could not easily believe it.

“There are. Humans are more monstrous than you.”

If I called Ratel or Jing humans like monsters, they would probably accept it without much thought.

As long as the intent was not to pick a fight or deliberately insult them, they would likely just take it as such.

No, wait. If it were Ratel, he might just swing his fist first.

Shaking off my contemplation of the humanity of the bastard who seemed to be getting farther and farther from human, I continued.

“The word monster itself isn’t much. From the moment you can communicate and think the same way, the boundary becomes vague. In the end, humans and monsters aren’t that different.”

Thinking no matter how much I considered it, Ratel, born between two humans, seemed more monstrous than Adol, who was half mixed with Werewolf blood, I finished speaking and saw Adol staring intently at me.

Silence flowed for a moment.

“......I think I’m Archie’s son.”

The one who finally broke the silence was Adol’s small whisper.

Since it was a fact I already knew, I could not even force myself to pretend to be surprised, so I decided to stay still.

How the bastard interpreted me like that, I did not know, but his eyes widened.

And what came out were the secrets Adol had been pressing down deep inside.

“Before Amy died, I never thought about him. I never thought about anything except killing Werewolves. But...... Archie was here. He’s definitely my father. But that Archie...... forced me into existence, apparently.”

I quietly listened to the things the bastard vomited out.

“They said my mom was forced to give birth to me. That Archie forced her to have me. And that he killed her.”

There was no need to ask who had told him that.

“......”

Since it was not something I could carelessly add words to, I quietly waited for the bastard to sort through his emotions.

“Did he really do something that horrible? If he did......”

But perhaps that was useless, because the bastard could not continue and began crying again.

“How disgusting must I have been to her? What heart did she have when she raised me? If someone like that died because of me...... then what am I supposed to do?”

There were not many words I could say to him.

Because I had no way of knowing Amy’s situation or feelings, which had not been expressed in the book.

I had never been a woman, and I had never been a mother.

There would be no reason for that to happen in the future either.

It meant the range of what I could imagine was limited.

Whether the assumptions I created were hopeful or despairing, they would not be of any help.

Then there was only one thing we could do.

“We need to find out. What is true and what is false. You need to confirm it directly with your own eyes.”

It was something he had to do before he was consumed by anger and regret.

“H-how? Amy is already dead. There probably isn’t anyone left now who knew Amy.”

Adol, swallowing his sobs, looked up at me.

“Why wouldn’t there be? With this many Werewolves here, there should be at least one bastard who remembers your mom. No, at least one is certain.”

Because there was one bastard who might have even clearer memories than Mona.

“Are you talking about Archie? But there’s no way anything different from Mona’s words will come out of that bastard’s mouth. Even if it does, I can’t trust words that come out of his mouth now.”

“Well, we’ll have to see about that.”

If it was a method to rummage through someone else’s memories, I knew one too.

***

After the midnight commotion subsided, Adol, who had stopped crying, surprisingly fell asleep just like that.

No, perhaps because he had gone through such a disturbance, he had become completely exhausted.

In the bastard’s hand, Amy’s blanket was clutched tightly.

Thanks to the Werewolf bastards, who had no way of knowing how weak the human body was, the cage had not a single source of heat to block the cold of the winter night.

Despite my refusal, saying I was not so cold that I would die and ask to share even his mother’s keepsake, the kid stubbornly covered half of me with the blanket.

It seemed the fact that I had worn the blanket over my head at his house had been quite a shock to him.

After briefly looking at the bastard, whose eyes would be swollen tomorrow, I lay my body down on the cold floor and turned my gaze to the wide-open ceiling of the shoddy cage.

The sky of this world, studded with three moons, was especially bright, and on days when I slept outdoors, it would steal my gaze like this.

It was a little funny to think that the afterworld people of this world so feared was stuck in the sky.

Though thanks to the unknowable advice from someone saying that it was not merely a fabricated story, my impression had changed a little now.

If I found out more about the moons and monsters, and the promise between monsters and humans, the relationship between the two would become clearer as well.

And if the liar squirrel and Ratel’s group, who had taken charge of him, brought the holy object on time, it would not be that difficult either.

***

What appeared inside the door Ratel flung open was one ivory-colored greave.

At the infinitely chilly aura created by warm yellow light, Jing and Ria could only lose their words for a moment.

“Last time it was a sword, and this time it’s a calf guard.”

What broke the silence was Ratel’s relaxed impression.

Only then did Jing and Ria realize they had been holding their breath.

“Do you think it’s really made from a dragon’s bone?”

Ria, freed from the overwhelming pressure given by the strange feeling it emitted, muttered.

She recalled the contents of an orally passed-down legend saying that Sierra Abalan’s armor was made from the bones of dragons he had defeated.

Jing also examined the milky-white thing, which differed from ordinary greaves made of metal.

“I do not know whether it is truly a dragon, but it certainly seems to be bone.”

Having experienced seeing the vivid form of a holy object that devoured people with her own eyes, Ria could not hide her frightened expression.

But fear did not suppress curiosity, so Ria too slowly narrowed the distance with the holy object while looking back and forth between Ratel and it.

“If you get eaten right away again this time, my heart won’t survive.”

“It’s something I have to go through anyway. It’s better to get it over with quickly.”

When Ratel answered calmly and tried to approach the holy object more closely, Ria screamed and grabbed Ratel’s arm.

“Ah, you should at least let me prepare my heart!”

Ratel shook off her pitiful hand at once.

“How much time have we had until now? And now you need to prepare your heart?”

It was not wrong, but if the human heart moved that timely every time, there would be no reason for fear to exist in the world.

But Ratel had no hesitation, as if he was someone who did not need fear.

He only looked at Jing and Ria and checked the plan one last time.

“It would be nice if I could just destroy it, but as you know, this isn’t something that will be solved that easily.”

“You’ll get eaten instead, right?”

When Ria muttered worriedly, Ratel nodded once as if it was nothing much.

“Then the holy object with a full belly will be in a state where someone else can grab it. You two just need to carry it away.”

“Squeak.”

The final squeak was not a sound made by Jing or Ria.

Ria was startled by El, who had somehow come out of her outerwear pocket and climbed onto her shoulder.

“When did you come out?”

El left Ria as she fumbled at her pocket, scurried across the floor, and approached Ratel.

Ratel, who quietly watched El approach while gauging his reaction, turned his eyes back to Jing and Ria.

“While I’m gone, you two survive well on your own. It seems I can’t come out whenever I want once I’m eaten.”

His way of speaking was quite uncomfortable, but at any rate, it meant he was telling them to be careful, so Jing and Ria decided to take it as a concern.

Jing worriedly examined Ratel’s face, which held no tension and had no way of knowing that Jing and Ria were interpreting his words however they pleased, then opened his mouth.

“It will be different from when you were with Lord Ran. Being devoured by a holy object will come with greater pain than you imagine.”

“I know. It feels like your body is split into ten thousand pieces and put back together, right? We don’t know yet. Whether that thing will devour me, or whether it will just show me memories and end, like when Ran destroyed it.”

At Jing’s worry, which held the will to fill up a hundred, Ratel answered with a fed-up face.

“How can we not worry when we know how painful it is?”

“That’s right. No matter how unlike a human Ratel is, and even if your nerves are thick, enduring your body being torn to pieces must be hard.”

Ria, who had somehow joined Jing’s worry, poured out the concern she had been pressing down for a moment.

“......His nerves are like ox tendons, but it would still be hard to endure. Perhaps it would be better to make him get used to the pain in advance.”

“Then how about we pinch his cheeks with all our strength from both sides until Ratel gets eaten? Then he might naturally be able to accept pain.”

When the two mentally weakened people who had reached an exceedingly strange conclusion began glancing at his cheeks while watching his reaction, Ratel finally stepped back, not hiding his displeasure.

“Whether it’s pain like my body being ground to dust or whatever else, physically, there’s nothing wrong with my body, isn’t there? Something like that won’t be enough to......”

Ratel, who could not finish saying die anyway, closed his mouth.

At the gazes of the two looking strangely at him for suddenly stopping, he shook his head and quickly continued.

“We still don’t know, do we? It isn’t like I’ll get eaten while stupidly unprepared like Jing.”

Leaving behind Jing’s anger, asking whether he thought he had quietly tried to be eaten, Ratel turned without hesitation and placed his hand on the greave.

Jing and Ria were once again offering words like be careful or do not worry.

Because such words from the two had no effect beyond making his mind noisy, Ratel frowned.

Thinking he should quickly finish this if only to avoid hearing Jing’s and Ria’s voices, Ratel poured his power into the greave.

Ratel did not take his eyes off it as it absorbed his power and slowly lost its light.

Before long, the holy object lost all light.

Ratel raised his head and examined the surroundings that had gone quiet.

As soon as his eyes grew used to the darkness enough to tell that the place he stood in was the hallway of some building, Ratel moved his feet.

The sense of silence awakened him to the fact that he had been left alone in an empty space where neither Jing, nor Ria, nor any other humans existed, but there was no impatience.

He did not know whether that came from the familiarity of previous experience, or because of the fuss of the two who had frightened him sick, or perhaps worried over him.

At least there was no pain of his body being torn apart, which the two had cried about so much.

“Squeak?”

El, who had climbed onto Ratel’s shoulder as he stood still and chewed over the uncomfortable comfort, cautiously grabbed his clothing.

Ignoring that small grip strength, Ratel continued walking in silence. What stopped him was a voice from the stairs at the end of the corridor.

[Is someone there?]