Lately, I've had all the same nightmares.
Remember that day when your father and mother left me in the dark woods.
For me, it was the happiest memory and the one I hated the most.
"--Keira, I need a favor from you today."
The same mother's smile as usual.
Back then I assumed that was a natural smile.
So glad you relied on me as a child.
"If you give me a little help, I'll have fun with my family again."
The same kind words of your father as usual.
But that, too, is just a word without any emotions caged.
Back then, I believed it easily and wanted to be useful - I stepped one foot into the dark woods.
- I shouldn't have been born.
I hear such a dark, heart-eroding voice in my ear.
A voice I don't know with anybody--but I'm sure this is the voice of my heart.
Unfalse authenticity that never comes out of your mouth.
- Why should I be the only one seeing this?
My family abandoned me because I had such dark magic.
I could almost be eaten by demons alive.
- I don't want to be alone.
If Greff hadn't picked me up, I would have died wild somewhere.
Without Rose and Lamb, I would still not have been able to open my heart to anyone.
But if I stay with the Grefs, my dark magic could hurt everyone.
I don't like that.
Then I'll be the one...
- If that man is with me, he will not be hurt.
In my ear, such a voice sounded.
... That man, Mr. Usato, will accept me.
It understands my suffering.
It teaches me how to handle dark magic.
He turns a fake smile on me, just like the Grefs.
You're gonna hurt somebody. You're gonna stop my magic.
- I'm sure he wouldn't turn me down.
That's right.
It is so decided.
The look on his face, the words weren't empty.
So...
●
"--- …"
- Is this exactly what you call the worst mood?
Waking from my dreams and covering my eyes with my hands to block the sunlight that plunges me out of the window, I remember the dream I had earlier and I am irritated by a tremendous aversion.
They made me understand how ugly I am and how much I only think about myself.
"Keira?"
"Huh!?"
I get out of bed and I look up at me staring at my hand, and I look up unexpectedly at the voice I've been called.
"Usato......"
Coming in through the empty door was Usat, the demon tribe, who helped us where the demons were attacking us.
Someone who is the same user of dark magic as me, but is so sweet that I don't think he has the same magic as me.
When he realized what I looked like when he woke up, he gave a soothing look and sat down in a nearby chair.
"Morning. How are you feeling? Remember I used a lot of magic yesterday and I passed out?"
"... excuse me"
Of course, I remember.
I trained on my own without following Mr. Usato's words and fell at the end of it.
And - I lied to this guy.
With a strange look on his face at what I apologized for, he smiles at me for not making it up.
"I'm not going to get sick. I trained until I fell, too. Instead, it's like the real deal after you fall... Ah... this is the one you shouldn't be referring to. Ha ha."
Sometimes, but there is a unique time in Mr. Usato's conversation.
You're not talking to anyone, but you're reacting like you're talking to someone, but is he unique?
"Keira, shall we take the morning training off"
"...? Huh!?"
"The magic will still be restored, and we need to rest a little longer."
No, no, no, no.
I accidentally give my voice back roughly to Usat, who labors this one.
"Wow, I'm fine! I can do it!"
"No.... So is magic, but I can't even do what I can with it stuck. We'll take a break in the morning until the magic recovers."
"I'm already..."
Even though the goal is clear.
But I can't talk about it.
I can't tell the truth because I lied to you.
"Already?"
"... nothing"
I can't say anything more to Usat, who leans his neck with a smile on his face.
He sighs small at me like that just because he can't help it, he goes on and utters words.
"Do you want to go get some fish?"
"... Yes?"
Huh... fish?
I accidentally zeroed my voice in love with Usato's sudden suggestion.
A river that flows deliberately and quietly.
The more you peek into the surface, the clearer the water is to the bottom of the water, and you can see several fish swimming.
"... cold"
I don't know what that means. I was coming with Mr. Usato to a river that was flowing near the settlement.
Sitting on the bank of the river, soaking only his bare feet in water, he turns his gaze to Usato, who is royal in the middle of the river.
"When it comes to the river, it's fishing, but on second thought, I don't have a fishing pole, and I can't make one. Then you just have to come up with the idea of reversal. I don't need a fishing rod...!"
"Ho......"
"Huh, don't compliment me."
Mr. Usato, with a satisfying grin, takes the user-demon owl on his shoulder at some point.
"Mr. Usato, what are you...?"
"As you can see, it's a fish catch."
"Mi-no, right?"
... What, with your bare hands?
As a matter of course, I'm surprised you took off your shoes and went into the river, but are you serious about catching them with your bare hands?
If a demon king was before a man was resurrected. Still, the nature of the demon king's realm today and the animals there are quite energized, so river fish shouldn't be that easy to make.
"Grab it? No, no - Nair, the curse of restraint."
When Bosoli and Mr. Usato whine about something, his right hand is overshadowed by the black magic of dark magic.
Waving up that fist, he slammed it to the surface at an unstoppable speed in his eyes.
"--- Cu Fall Fist!"
Moment - The water bursts from where Mr. Usato slapped his fist.
When something purple rushes through the water, puffiness and ten or so fish float. He's breathing, but somehow he can't seem to move.
"Oops..."
When Mr. Usato caught about six fish early, the remaining four, who were just floating, moved vigorously as if they had breathed back.
"Yes, how did you do it now?!?"
"Huh? Ah... su, I stunned the fish with the momentum I hit the water"
"Can you do that with dark magic too?!?"
If I can do it, I want to do it too.
When I ask him that thought in cage, Mr. Usato can be blatantly wolfish.
"No, this doesn't really matter about dark magic. It's a technique that you can do with your arms and other elements."
"Arm strength...? U, is Mr. Usato also amazing in arm strength? You're a monster!!"
"Hohoo!"
The owl on Mr. Usat's shoulder held his mouth with his wings and shook his little body.
No, think about it, that's what happened when you protected us from the Hangwolf herd. He was throwing Hangwolf with tremendous force from the Demon Clan, and given that power, it's not surprising.
"Oh, come on, what's a laugh?"
"Hooo."
An owl that flies off his shoulder so that he can pull his cheeks and escape from an angry Usato.
While winging the universe, the owl headed for my shoulder...... YEAH!?
Suddenly, an owl jumped on my shoulder, so I'm surprised to jump.
"Ugh, Usato, how, how?"
"This guy got away to a smart spot.... the kid will be fine. Basically, I love you, and I won't hurt you."
"Ho ho ho."
Geez, if you try to calm down, you might be very dear...... the ringing sounds a little strange though.
Try reaching out to this kid on the shoulder and he'll give you his head, and he looks like he understands the language.
When I stroke it in fear, it narrows my eyes to make me feel good.
"Ho."
……
Oh, this is a creature that totally frightens people.
Maybe a lot of people must have been fascinated by this kid.
Like he had been possessed for a while. Why, Mr. Usat, who had caught the fish, raises his right hand.
The shoulder owl then jumped up, staying in Mr. Usato's right arm and flew straight to his shoulder.
"Well, the fish has been taken and we should go back."
"... Yes"
I accidentally zero out my fainted voice, but Mr. Usato laughs at me like that.
"Ha, you can like this guy when you get home"
"Are you sure?!?"
"Howa!?"
I embarrass myself for making a loud noise while I go down the roadless path that leads to the settlement where the Grefs are with Usat.
"Have you changed your mood?"
……?
"Yesterday's training, you seemed in such a hurry. I hope I feel better when I restore my magic."
Indeed, I have ignored Mr. Usat's words and trained him to be able to handle my magic. I was so impotent that I ran out of magic because of it that I also bothered Mr. Usato.
"Mr. Greff was worried about Ram and Rosé."
"The Grefs..."
The moment I hear the Greffs' names, I get a nasty imagination on my mind.
It's the worst future my magic has ever hit the Grefs, hurting them, and finally taking their lives.
I don't like it.
I don't want you to do that.
Tell yourself that if you learn how to use dark magic, you will be fine, but you cannot erase the imagination that came to your mind.
"Um, Mr. Usato"
"Hmm?"
"I… can I follow your journey?"
I had unconsciously spoken those words.
It was already too late when he realized, and Mr. Usato, who stopped on the spot, said nothing silently.
Having learned the fear I remember of that reaction, I opened my mouth with my emotions intact.
"Wow, I don't want to hurt anybody! No Greff, no Rose, no Lamb... no one else... whoa!"
……
"So, Mr. Usato would stop me, and teach me about dark magic -"
"Keira. Sorry, I can't do that"
For a moment, I couldn't understand what Mr. Usato was talking about.
"Our journey has a purpose. I can't take you for that purpose."
"Why, …"
"It's an important mission. I can't put you in danger."
Is that true?
Maybe they're saying the right thing and saying no.
Aren't you lying to me as a child?
Such a voice of suspicion echoes in my head.
Pushing in heartless words, I still desperately appeal.
"Wow, I can't remember how to handle magic like this! So...... Huh!"
"It's okay, I know... you don't have to lie"
I'm even finding out you're lying.
Mr. Usato leaves me like this. Like your father and mother, like when you tried to feed me on demons you didn't want.
No, no, no, no.
Mr. Usato still talks to me, trembling with agitation.
"I was wrong. What you don't believe in is not your magic. Yourself."
"Oh, my God! You can't believe it!!"
I make my voice absurd against Mr. Usato in a calm tone.
Asked me face to face, I noticed.
I didn't believe in myself.
"I was abandoned and deserved it! I was born with dark magic! For your father and mother, they dumped you because you weren't a good kid!!"
……
"I was the only one who thought it was my family, it was a lie! I was just scared of me and they hated me all the time!!"
I know it's wrong to complain to Mr. Usato about this, but he can't stop the black emotions gushing from the depths of his heart.
"I would have survived for a long time and had Greff not picked me up, I would not have had to worry about Rose, Ram or hurting me!! I would not have been neglected by the people around me and struggled with Greff!! Because I am there, everyone would be scared and the people I care about would be unhappy!"
"... Keira"
"Oh, my God, if I die in the dark woods then -"
"Keirah!!"
Mr. Usato returns to me with a loud voice.
A Mr. Usato in front of me has the black magic of dark magic wrapped around his arms, looking behind me.
"Don't turn around. Slowly, walk over here."
"Usato, ……?"
"I'll take care of that guy who came out of your body (...). So...!"
——— Right behind you, there's something.
If you look at my feet, the dark magic that I was unconsciously activating is spreading at my feet, and it's flowing behind my back.
I accidentally turned around, frustrated by the feeling of massive magic falling out of my body.
there---,
"--- Death Ndesimae"
Something black, thin as a skeleton, far beyond my height.
It shook down at me with its knife-like fingers galloping.