# 257
Helmut
Episode 257
1.
It took quite a long time to stand up again from the floor.
He fell from the cliff to the bottom, and everything about Helmut was shattered at the bottom.
When you look up in a broken state, all you see is a cliff. There would be a sky above it, but the sky was gray. Who wants to climb up into the gray sky?
Despair leads to helplessness. Helmut was immersed in deep lethargy.
A fire without firewood can no longer burn. It seemed like all that was left of him was ashes.
His vivid and intense eyes lost their shine, and his expressionless face was filled with nothing but emptiness.
After pouring out my emotions, I felt nothing, as if I was empty. Pain, hatred, suffering.
‘Maybe I decided not to feel it.’
Void eats away at life. I didn’t know what to do. No matter what I do, I don’t know what it means.
A monster that just breathes and lives.
I didn’t want that kind of life, so I left this place because I wanted to be human, but in the end, I ended up back where I was.
‘Just like this…’
I don’t want to do anything. Immersed in the emptiness that fills his lungs, Helmut chose silence and sleep.
He spent the day lying down in his seat without knowing what was going on.
That one day became two days, three days, and so on.
A life completely different from the one previously lived in the forest of Pahe.
The previous Helmut did not waste a single day, but the Helmut of then and now were different.
Helmut has grown, but the driving force that made him grow has disappeared.
Helmut gave up his ingrained training and lived like a corpse.
I lay down on the floor and quietly looked at the sky.
The magic energy that was abundant in the forest of Pahe quickly restored his body, and the sprouts of darkness gradually regained their momentum.
Since he’s already been dealt a harsh blow once, it’s not like before, but it’s enough to exert influence on Helmut.
The body recovered, but the recovery of the mind was slow.
What moves humans is actually the mind. So Helmut was practically mortally wounded.
Helmut’s lethargy was something that could not be understood by anyone.
The white leopard was displeased with Helmut, who for the first time in his life was becoming even more lazy than when he was a newborn.
‘Well, it was nice to see you back.’
But the joy of reunion was short-lived. In Elaga’s eyes, Helmut’s condition was completely incomprehensible.
It was strange that the baby, who didn’t cry much even as a newborn, suddenly began to cry, so I left him alone, and it became more and more annoying.
He is a weak human being and has not eaten or drank anything for several days.
The past of swinging a sword like crazy is a thing of the past, and I somehow hated seeing him lying there as if he were dead. I felt a little nervous.
‘I shouldn’t starve to death.’
Regardless of whether he had sprouts of darkness or had become stronger, in Ella’s eyes, Helmut was an extremely weak and young human.
And taking care of Helmut so that he doesn’t die is something Elaga is used to.
He still couldn’t give up the habit of taking care of something. Enough to care for other humans because of that habit.
To his disgust, Elaga continued her old habit and scolded Helmut by pushing him food.
[How long are you going to stay like that? Eat this!]
What Elaga offered Helmut was meat. Now there was a chef to prepare his game so it was ready to eat, so the beef jerky was even seasoned.
But Helmut didn’t even look at it.
Elaga scolded again.
[Those who don’t hunt don’t deserve to eat it, but it’s given specially to commemorate their return. Hurry up and eat!]
“There’s no need.”
As soon as the brief refusal was given, a ferocious growl escaped from the huge white leopard.
[Crrrrrrr.]
Elaga did not allow Helmut to reject his sincerity.
[Do you want me to shove it down your throat?] A
blue glow appeared in Elaga’s eyes. I literally mean it.
The Forest of Pahe is a world where the fittest of the fittest. The weak must follow the words of the strong.
Helmut realized that he had returned from a strange place.
‘it’s annoying.’
In the outside world, Helmut has never met a person stronger than himself. I just lost out on the number of pages.
This situation, where he was once again in the position of the weak, stimulated Helmut’s dulled senses.
‘plaguy.’
But what can you do? Elaga was strong and could carry out his words. And Helmut had no sword.
Helmut forced himself to chew the beef jerky and swallow it.
Elaga watched Helmut eating beef jerky with a look in his eyes that could hardly be considered a mother bird. And he left only after the meal was over.
Elaga sat around all day and didn’t bother Helmut, but
it was repeated every day. Of course it wasn’t long.
Elaga was a monster that had no consideration or understanding from the beginning, and why Helmut acted like that was not an important issue to him.
The only important thing is that in Elaga’s eyes, Helmut appears to be lazy and that is unsightly.
Elaga soon reached the limit of her patience and shouted.
[How long are you going to live off of what I catch? What a poor guy!]
But Helmut did not reply. Amidst the pouring abuse, Helmut lay motionless, as if he had plugged his ears.
Finally, Elaga frowned and asked.
[What on earth happened outside? Is your mother going to abandon you again, saying she doesn’t need a cursed bastard?]
Helmut’s body flinched slightly at that question.
Only then did Elaga realize.
[I see, it was something like that. [I heard his condition was strange.]
I sent him to the human world, but he came back betrayed. After a while, Elaga blurted out a word.
[You idiot.]
Those words were not intended as consolation, but rather pure criticism. For Elaga, the one who suffered was at fault. Of course, that wasn’t the case when I was hit.
[So how long are you going to live like that? To die?]
When I tapped him with his tail, Helmut let out a dry sigh.
“Leave me alone.”
For the first time, an emotion appeared on his face. That was annoying. However, the frustration was overshadowed by a sense of futility again.
It responds to a stimulus, but the response is quickly buried.
Elaga asked without hesitation.
[How long will it last if we leave it alone?]
“….”
Helmut chose to remain silent instead of giving a definite answer, and ironically, Elaga read hope in his silence.
Helmut did not completely give up everything.
‘It’s not like the will to live has gone out.’
Desire makes humans live. Now what Helmut needs is to hope for something again.
‘For a human, he’s strong, so he’ll stand up again someday.’
Elaga could guarantee that much.
Isn’t Helmut the first human to survive this forest of digs and reach the outside world?
But Elaga couldn’t just leave him alone until that ‘someday’ arrived.
Elaga was a monster with a poor ability to empathize, and even if Helmut had been abandoned by his parents yesterday, he had the personality to be looked down upon today. That being said, I endured a lot.
‘I guess I should help.’
It was typical of Elaga to make her listen even if she had to beat her up.
But he also backed off quite a bit from Helmut.
Elaga decided to help Helmut in a more moderate way.
Animals live busy lives, eating, drinking, and hunting. Helmut also had to live that kind of life.
In particular, Elaga was a diligent monster. Aren’t you taking care of new things now that Helmut has left?
‘She might be helpful.’
As soon as that thought came to mind, Elaga went straight to her.
[Susan.]
When I called outside the house, a woman opened the window and showed her face.
“Yes, Elaga!”
The woman who answered quickly had a pretty appearance with neatly tied auburn hair.
An attractive human woman in her late 20s. If she looked like that even in the forest of digs with no decoration or care at all, she would have been considered quite a beauty in the outside world.
Susan was a noblewoman. As was typical for nobles, she was caught up in a power struggle, lost her husband, and was thrown into the forest of Pahe along with her young daughter.
She was lucky. It would be difficult for a human woman without any power, be it a sword or magic, to survive in the Forest of Pahe, but she survived after meeting Erugo.
And what’s even luckier is that he died not long after she was in Erugo’s clutches. Also, the owner of the human farm where she is.
There were also dangerous moments. As soon as Naho died, the monsters lurking near his territory greedily exposed their teeth towards vulnerable humans. It was on a different level from previous attacks.
Erugo was injured and could not do anything.
Thinking that since Naho woke up, the monster could no longer be installed, he went out of the lab and was immediately eaten alive by sharp teeth.
Other humans followed similar steps. They were helpless without Naho and Erugo, and the monsters that attacked were powerful enough to break the walls of the house where the humans were hiding.
When Elaga absorbed Naho’s core and immediately found the human farm, everything was almost over.
Many of those humans were swallowed up by the greedy monsters without even leaving a body behind.
Susan was holding her breath in Erugo’s lab, hugging her daughter tightly.
Luckily, she escaped to Erugo’s laboratory, where the door was open, and survived there for several days with only a small amount of water and food.
Erugo’s laboratory, the most solid hideout, was the only one that did not collapse despite the monsters’ onslaught.
They were the only survivors. Susan and Sarah survived because others became sacrifices while she ran away with her daughter.
Elaga found out their location by smell. They were startled when Elaga spoke to them outside the lab.
[Hey, humans over there. What is the condition?]
A monster that is intelligent enough to communicate with humans. Unlike the ferocious Naho, they quickly opened their hearts to Elaga, a beautiful leopard with white fur.
In fact, there was nothing Susan and Sarah could do but rely on Elaga’s mercy.
If you just hang on in the lab, it will be over once you run out of food.
“We are okay.”
[You two are the only ones who survived.]
Elaga clicked her tongue. If you don’t take care of them, these two will be eaten by monsters like other humans.
Elaga accepted these two humans as her shadow without hesitation.
For some reason, it was a choice that felt natural to Elaga.
Just as she protected and raised Helmut, Elaga will do the same for them. Because that was Elaga’s hobby and habit.
‘I’ve raised a male, but this time I’m wondering if it’s a female.’
And the latter definitely tasted more grown-up.
Helmut was a cute and arrogant guy, whereas Susan and Sarah were cute and friendly.
Above all, these two trusted and followed Elaga.
Elaga felt as if she had become the head of the family, seeing Susan and Sarah running out of the house to greet them as soon as they caught their prey.
It was a different experience.
‘Wounds inflicted by humans can be healed by humans.’
Elaga thought simply. And then I spoke to Susan, who looked at me with eyes full of trust.
[You have work to do.]
