To bring a chimera to life, you need the soul of pure children, not ordinary souls.
He couldn’t say a word. No, he couldn’t even think.
Faced with the children huddled together in the darkness, trembling with fear as they clung to one another for warmth, Prince Alex felt his mind go blank.
“Are you only just now starting to feel guilty?”
Jutel’s smile widened. Prince Alex could only press his lips together again. He knew how ridiculous he was being.
How many people had died because of the Black Forest he had created? To suddenly care about these children’s deaths now was nothing but hypocrisy.
“Their deaths are no different from the others. Just stand by and watch, as you always have.”
...I know.
He’s right. How are these children any different from all those who have died because of him?
But...
...This felt wrong.
Prince Alex pushed Jutel aside and continued walking.
“This is a test.”
Jutel hurriedly caught him again. There was no longer a trace of smile on his face.
“Do you really not understand why Lord Veilks went out of his way to show you the children he’s captured?”
“Why?”
“To see how you would react.”
“......”
Veilks was suspicious of both him and Prince Alex. He suspected they might have had something to do with the fake saintess scheme falling apart.
Why else would Veilks deliberately show Prince Alex the children meant to be used as ingredients? He wanted to see how Alex would react.
If Prince Alex tried to save them, there was no telling what punishment Veilks would inflict on him. Stopping his medicine would only be the beginning.
“Do you think you can save those children by yourself? Or will you ask your older brothers for help? How will you explain it to them? Will you tell them everything you’ve done?”
“......”
The strength slowly left Prince Alex’s hand. His shoulders sagged, and his head dropped. Jutel watched him {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} in silence and sighed inwardly.
“I’ll go see what’s happening first.”
So stay here and don’t do anything.
With that warning, Jutel quickly disappeared.
“......”
Even after Jutel had disappeared, Prince Alex couldn’t bring himself to raise his head.
***
“Sobs... sobs...”
“Stop crying, Jailo.”
“But... sniff...”
Trapped in a pitch-black room, Jailo sobbed harder as a hand gently patted his back.
“Where... where are we, big sis...? Sniff...”
“I don’t know either.”
“Sobs... uuu...”
Anisha’s helpless reply only made more tears well up in Jailo’s eyes.
It had been an ordinary day. After finishing his classes at the academy, he was on his way back to the orphanage. He had hurried along so the director wouldn’t worry.
He even reluctantly turned down Julia’s invitation to visit the Magic Tower together. Lately, the director had taken to waiting outside whenever the children were even a little late coming home.
But then, Jailo suddenly lost consciousness while walking. He vaguely remembered bumping into a man coming toward him, but everything after that was a blank.
When he woke up, he was lying in a strange room he’d never seen before. There wasn’t a single window, and the only light came faintly through the gap beneath the shut door.
Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could finally look around. That’s when he saw many children huddled together in the same room. They were all just as terrified as he was...
“Jailo?”
“B-Big Sis!”
Just as he was struggling to understand what was happening, someone approached him and spoke. It was Anisha.
She was the fifth child to disappear from the orphanage. Anisha had gone through the same thing as Jailo. She had lost consciousness on her way home after academy classes and woken up in this dark room.
“W-what’s going to happen to us?”
“I don’t know either...”
It had been five days since they were brought here, yet they still had no idea where they were or who had kidnapped them.
Every so often, the only door would open. Someone would come in, leave an unconscious child behind, and disappear again.
“E-Excuse me! How long do we have to stay here? Please?”
“......”
“Please send us home... Sob.”
The children instinctively knew that he was the one who had kidnapped them.
Whenever the man came in, Anisha and the others would desperately plead with him or shout for his attention, but he never responded.
He acted like he couldn’t hear them, only silently leaving the kidnapped child behind before walking out.
Jailo was the last child brought in yesterday, and no one had come today.
Anisha was just as scared as the others, but with Jailo here, who was much younger than her, she couldn’t let herself cry. After all, she was his big sister.
Clank!
“—!”
Just then, the locked door opened, and someone stepped inside. The faint light from outside fell across a face hidden behind a mask.
There was no mistaking his build. He was that man.
Is another child being brought in?
She assumed he would leave a child behind and leave again just as he’d done before.
Thud.
“.....?”
But this time, that wasn’t what happened. The man tossed something onto the floor, then shut the door and walked away.
What was that?
What did he throw in here? A stone? It looked like a tiny pebble...
Why would he throw something like that in here before leaving...?
Whoosh!
“—!”
Suddenly, blinding light flooded the pitch-black room. The children, whose eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, squeezed them shut.
But the light disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.
“What... was that?”
The children had no idea what was happening. The sudden change only frightened them further.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Then, things began to surge upward, filling the space around them.
Are those... trees?
“A-Anisha.”
Terrified, Jailo pressed against Anisha and clutched tightly at her clothes, as though she were the only person he could depend on.
“Sobs...”
“W-What is that?!”
“Waaah!”
The fear and anxiety that had been building finally reached its breaking point. Cries erupted throughout the room, and the children quickly descended into panic.
[Grrr......]
“—!”
Then a sound rang out, instantly silencing them. It was a low, eerie growl.
“—!”
Sensing something huge moving in the darkness, Anisha quickly pulled Jailo into her arms.
A-A monster!
Then those trees must be—
Only then did Anisha realize what had happened.
The Black Forest. It had appeared here!
[Grrr.]
It looked like a wolf-type monster. She couldn’t see it clearly in the darkness, but it was much larger than a grown man. Its red eyes gleamed as it surveyed the room.
“W-What is that?!”
“Waaah!”
“Mommy......”
“Sniff!”
Screams and sobs erupted again. The children instinctively backed away, desperate to put as much distance between themselves and the monster as possible.
[Grr......]
As if it had determined that there was nothing nearby that could pose a threat, the monster’s movements slowed. Surrounded by nothing but prey, it slowly scanned the room again with its red eyes, as if deciding which one to devour first.
[Kraaaah!]
Then it lunged, charging toward the prey that looked the most appealing. Straight toward Jailo and Anisha.
[Wooooo.]
Another strange cry rang out!
But there was no time to figure out where it came from. Anisha and Jailo squeezed their eyes shut as the monster came at them. They were certain they were going to die.
Thud!
[Ggghh!]
“......?”
A moment later, the sound of the monster’s groan made Anisha and Jailo hurriedly open their eyes. The monster that had leaped at them was now sprawled against the side of the room.
[Bbu!]
Floating before them was a tiny creature, its little wings fluttering rapidly. It had its short arms planted on its hips and was going, “Bu bu...”
What was that thing?
“S-Sooty!”
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