Chante! Go. I'm going to stop you and me in the gallon. "

No, Dad! I don't want to go! Neither Daddy nor everyone in the village wants to leave!!

No way. Chante, if I stay here, I'll catch you like my mother. Ulu, I asked for Chante.

No! Ulu, let me down! Daddy!!! Gallon!!

"- No! Dad, Gallon!

It was a dark room. Chante looked up at the ceiling and blinked several times. With a slight moonlight coming in through the window, you can see the layout of the room blurrily. What, this was my familiar room.

"... it was a dream..."

It was a nasty dream. The bitter memories of my old self, the sight as it is. I don't want to remember it again, but it's like a nightmare that I remember it many times.

Chante puts her arms around her body. My body trembled little by little. There is a lot of sweat on my back, and my pajamas stick together.

Chante pulled up the blanket around her waist and circled it inside. Still, even though it's supposed to be warm, your body won't stop shaking.

Scary... I couldn't resist being scared.

People screaming. Heat waves that burn in the forest. The smell of blood.

I feel the illusion that something like that has been evoked in real life and is still in front of me.

(I'm scared... scared... that's right)

Chante gets up with the blanket on her head and puts her foot in the shoe under the bed. You should be by Ulu's side when this happens. You can rest assured by Ulu. Chante left the door open and ran down the stairs. Then exit the dining room and open the front door. The dull moonlight was quietly illuminating the area. When I walked around the barn, I weighed the two open doors and scratched them, slightly clearing into the room.

Inside the barn, the moonlight arrives from the ceiling's bright windows, so it's not dark. In the darkness, two large eyes glowed. Ulu. Thank goodness you're here.

"Ulu....."

Looking at Ur, Chante's face finally smiled relieved. It's okay now. If you're not alone anymore, the feeling of reassurance warms your frozen heart with fear. And then...

"Uh-huh...."

Chante trembled with a voice that wasn't Ur's. However, I immediately felt relieved to think of the person in that voice. There was a man lying on his stomach. It's a tucket.

"Taketo....."

I murmured like that. I didn't mean to wake you up. But Taketo woke up upset, yelling, "Yeah..." because he was called by his name.

"Ah, oh, sorry... did you wake me up?

"... Chante?

Blurred voice. Maybe he's asleep. I had to keep him asleep, I thought so too.

Yes, but when I heard the voice of the tacket, the feelings that I was enduring drove me like I had cut the weir.

"Ta... keto...!"

The end of the words was tears. Chante ran up to Ur's body and hugged Taketo's chest. His body was much harder than Ulu's fur, but it was just as warm and reassuring.

"Hmm!? Eh!? Chante???

On the other hand, the tacket seemed so flustered that I felt sorry for myself.

"... I'm sorry. Taketo. But... I had a terrible dream. Just for now... I'll be back when I calm down. Just let me do this right now. Please."

I'm desperate, Chante. I knew it was annoying. But I just wanted to do it now. The tacket remained stuck for a while and didn't say a word.

"Okay... You can stay here as long as you want. Originally, it was named after Chante."

That's how he gently stroked Chante's head. In addition to that thought, the big hand was comfortable, and Chante forgot his fear and fell peacefully into the abyss of sleep.

(I haven't slept a night since....)

It was almost dawn, but while rubbing his sleepless eyes, the tacket went out of the barn and stretched.

I look back vaguely on last night. Last night, Chante suddenly appeared in the barn and hugged me. Chante seemed to have fallen asleep right away, but this wasn't a good time to go to bed again, as she stayed on a hug on her chest.

Her chest and body were very light and soft, which was good, but if she moved a little, it would wake her up and she couldn't move one by one.

What? This is your chance, isn't it? What kind of chance is this? What should I do? What a mess in my head.

I got bothered by the conclusion that it would be best for you not to wake her up, and I stayed still until morning.

I'm so tired. I can say it's worn out. But I didn't hate it. I was strangely glad that she relied on me.

The chante looked refreshed when she woke up, and she went back to her mother's house cheerfully and said, "I'll prepare breakfast." So, I think it would have been nice.

When he came to work, a pigeon returned to a pigeon hut in the royal palace that Taketo had given to Philippine antiquity dealer Damien. I asked you to send me the information when you got it.

In the letter from Damien,

Recently, there are people gathering in the cities of Oasis and along the streets around the Gora Desert who are ill-informed. Looks like a massive beast hunt is taking place in the Gora Desert.

It was written.

Communicate this letter to Commander Varvara at the Royal Palace Magic Beast Poaching Control Office immediately. As she exhaled the smoke from the pipe, she wrinkled between her red eyebrows and roared.

"The Gora Desert... It's close to the border with the Empire in some places....."

"Empire...?

If the tacket is still not well understood about the geography of the world, the commander distorts the edge of his mouth while sucking on the smoke pipe.

"Check the map later. The Virginian Empire. It used to be a small country called the Principality of Virginia. Twenty years ago, a revolution took place, and the emperor came to rule the country. After that, it is a troublesome country that is expanding its territory by attacking its neighbors. I became a neighbor because the country that was originally next to us was attacked."

"Heh...."

It was a tacket that only gave me a refreshing impression that it was such a wonderful country, but the commander pointed the smoke tube he had been sucking at towards us, so I panicked and stretched my spine.

"When Taket"

"Yes"

"How's Chante these days?

"Chante's?

I don't know what to answer even if asked suddenly. Oh, what happened to Chante this morning came to mind. I was confused to say that, but I've never seen Chante so upset. That would be an exception. Otherwise, it's always bright, fun and clear.

"Nothing has changed since I was in this office."

"I see....."

The commander looks out the window like he's sucking on a smoke pipe again, then looks back at the tacket.

"I guess I should tell you, too. Chante was picked up in the woods five years ago."

"What? Did you pick it up?

The commander nodded at the shock of the tacket.

"Oh, just when I was on the border guard. He fell in the woods near the border with Ulu. Ulu was dying of burns and arrow wounds all over his body. Chante was injured all over the place by Ulu's side."

"Eh...."

I remember what Chante said before. "I ran away from my home village with Ulu," he said. I cried a lot about my mom and dad.

"The problem is where they fell. It was a forest close to the border with the Empire. Moreover, the words spoken by the Protected Chante at the time are now much faded, but the intonation had an imperial accent."

"So... Chante and Ur have fled somewhere in Imperial territory...?

The commander nods at Taketo's words.

"It would be natural to think so. I don't know how much the person remembers. So I'm pretty sure I got caught up in some sort of incident and ran away."

The Virginian Empire. Is Chante's homeland there? And does her family still live there? I often wondered, but when I became a nervous neighbor, I learned from Taketo that I couldn't go back so easily.