[Episode 172]
“But that’s not your fault. It was her choice. That’s all.”
At her words, I furrowed my brows. I know. The fact that there is nothing I can do now, and that I just wanted to know the truth.
‘I don’t know how to tell my father.’
Wasn’t that what I killed in the end?
“That person could have given up on you, but he didn’t.”
“You thought you couldn’t kill a child. You wouldn’t have known I was a dragon.”
I would have thought that it would be solved by just having a child. However, the result may have been different from what was expected.
“Isn’t the past that I want to know more than I thought amazing? I don’t understand why you wanted to know this.”
She said while chewing on green radish.
It really was an act that didn’t show any sincerity.
“Because if I didn’t know, I would have thought my whole life would mean something.”
After my mother’s death, I would have constantly doubted why I had to go to that bitch and spend such a sad time.
“I have no regrets.”
I can’t help it even if my dad hates me for this.
‘It’s an effort, because I can do it again.’
Upon hearing my words, Purple shrugged.
“It’s a strange thing. You were on the verge of death when I first saved you.”
Purple narrowed her eyes and looked at me.
“Stop torturing the child.”
The snow leopard came up behind me, put its arm around my shoulder, and spoke ferociously.
“Oh, since when did you decide to have a cat?”
“I’m better than all the old lizards.”
“Isn’t it called self-consciousness?”
Magic energy flew between the two like sparks. Normally, I would have dried up, but now I don’t feel like that at all.
“I’ll just go in. Thanks for letting me know.”
I don’t know why people bothered to do something so simple.
“Looking into the past is quite exhausting. It wasn’t that I was trying to bully you. Well, even though you coveted it.”
As if she read my mind, she added. I nodded and smiled lightly.
“hey.”
I turned around and went, but a snow leopard called me.
“It’s not your fault, so don’t dig a hole for nothing.”
“i know.”
“…what do you know?”
I really knew.
no fault of mine I just wanted to live, and my mother wouldn’t have put her will into conceiving me.
I decided not to think that being born was a sin.
“I’m just going to talk to my dad.”
After all, it must have been the truth about death that he wanted to know for a long time.
* * *
“I can’t believe that’s a real young lizard.”
“I would have told you not to call it a lizard.”
“So… how long are you going to stay hidden? For a noble person.”
Snow Leopard nodded his head and looked up. Suddenly, a bright white light appeared in the sky, and Arma popped out.
“I didn’t expect to live and live and witness God again. What are you doing?”
“Well, I came because I had something to look for. that.”
Arma raised her index finger while floating in the air with a lofty face that didn’t even feel playful.
“Give it to me.”
“This one?”
The snow leopard grabbed the black cat dangling from its shoulder and shook it by the scruff of its neck.
“Yes, that’s what I was looking for.”
“As expected, the malice was quite high, so I held it, but this is an existence that has crossed the line that should not be crossed.”
“I didn’t allow it.”
Kyaaaaagh!
The black cat wailed sharply, swinging its paws with its claws erect.
“I had a hard time finding it.”
Arma said while snatching the black cat’s neck with her small hand. The cat kept hissing.
Something dark was trickling around him.
“Ugh, dirty.”
The snow leopard shook his hand lightly and stepped back.
“A star keeper or something like that dares to invade my world without permission.”
“Kyaaaaaagh!”
“You can’t even take human form anymore. You should have given up on that.”
Arma grabbed the black cat by the neck and shook it lightly.
“I want them to be happy enough in my world. And there will be no place for you to intervene in that gap.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! That’s that’s mine! I grow it, I purify it, I make it perfect…! Kyaaaaaagh!”
A human face protruded from the cat’s body and screamed like a scream, but just by Arma holding the cat’s neck tightly, he became a cat again and screamed.
“I can finally make faces in front of my kids.”
Arma muttered coldly. As Arma exerted all her strength, the cat’s body began to twist back and forth.
“The opponent was bad. If it wasn’t for me, I would have been able to survive.”
“Quaaaaagh!”
“You didn’t have anything to take from the beginning.”
As soon as Arma finished speaking, the cat turned into black powder and disappeared.
“Wow, you’re scared.”
Snow Leopard shrugged and murmured.
“If you didn’t have that, you wouldn’t have been born either. Isn’t that heartless?”
“I also have a mission given to me. It’s to protect those children. And that mission has just been completed.”
Arma laughed innocently.
The mission has been completed, so now all that remains is for that child to live on its own and for the child’s soul to be safely born.
“I must deliver this good news to the pretty girl.”
“To be nasty.”
Arma glanced at the two of them and then disappeared.
* * *
“Dad, are you busy?”
“No, I almost finished it.”
“Yeah, I’ll do my best from now on. You don’t have to go anywhere anymore.”
As if he had noticed the hidden meaning of my words, Dad was silent for a while before putting down the pen.
“Did you find out everything you wanted to know?”
“huh.”
“But why don’t you look good? Who bullied you?”
“I think it was right that I made my father sad.”
“why? Do you think your mother died because she conceived you?”
My body stiffened at my father’s words.
I was hesitating because I didn’t know what to say, but Dad casually brought out the core of my hesitation.
“…yes.”
Dad narrowed his eyes.
“You are misunderstanding something. Eirin.”
“yes?”
“I knew that her body was weakening. Both she and me.”
Dad got up and sat down on the sofa. I hesitated and carefully put my butt across from Dad.
“She decided to give birth to you and I decided to respect her choice to give birth to you. I think I was talking about this.”
Dad said with his chin on his chin. Like talking about something that really doesn’t matter.
“What I wanted to know was why you had to go to that bastard instead of me, and how you, who were never born, were born in a grave… that’s what I was curious about.”
Dad said.
He let out a short sigh, reached out and tousled my hair lightly, then smiled lightly.
“Actually…”
I carefully told my father what had happened.
And everything, even the story I just heard from Purple.
After hearing everything, my dad didn’t say anything for a while, looked at me blankly, then got up from his seat and approached me.
“You have suffered.”
Dad held me tight in his arms.
“Yeah, that happened. It must have been a lot of heartache.”
I opened my eyes wide at my dad’s words, then bit my lip and shook my head from side to side.
“Be happy now.”
Dad whispered softly as he held me in his arms.
“Be happy, that’s all you have to do.”
‘It’s warm…’
It felt good to bury my face in a friendly embrace. I smiled awkwardly and nodded, and Dad laughed.
“Okay, now if I’ve decided to stop flying, I’ll have to take over the job properly.”
“…yes.”
“And let’s spend a lot of time together.”
At Dad’s words, I opened my eyes wide and raised my head.
“Forever I…”
Dad put his forehead to my forehead and rubbed it lightly.
“Because I won’t be able to stay by your side.”
“…dad.”
“I know, of course, that this is a story in the very distant future. But it is a story that will surely come someday.”
Dad gave a light laugh as I raised my eyes sharply with the feeling of my heart pounding.
“Come to think of it, your older brothers are graduating soon and coming back. Are you going to carry on with the business you said?”
“yes.”
I nodded vigorously, and Dad smiled lightly.
I was just shaking off the story that I thought was frustrating, but somehow my heart felt lighter.
‘Is this the end…’
I let out a short breath.
There is still work to be done with the star keeper, but as long as I am happy, it will be fine since I said there will be no problem.
‘This must have been it.’
I held my father’s hand tightly. Then my father came to hold my hand with the same strength.
It seemed that the end would come soon.
It seemed that the end was approaching even in this terrible and long-lasting relationship.
The wind blew in through the open windows. It was a pleasant wind.
