MTM 3

Zed opened his eyes as he heard the sound of birds chirping and twittering. He remained still and carefully listened, then he frowned. It was not because he felt unpleasant, but because it was a sound he had not heard for a very long time.

“Is this a dream…”

Zed briefly murmured and turned his gaze toward the sunlight that streamed through the gap in the window, then he quickly stood up.

Flap. The birds that were huddled together on the tree branch outside the window flew away in surprise at the movement.

“Where is this place…”

Zed looked around. The ceiling was so low that his head could almost touch it, pale dust floated in the air, and the logs covered with mold and moss were patched with planks that looked like rags.

The soaked floor had no even corner and every small movement made a creaking sound. In the corners lay traces of rats and cobwebs, and the fireplace that had only ashes was black with soot.

The old sofa where Zed had been lying looked like the only thing that could still be called intact.

“How did I end up in a place like this…”

Feeling confused, Zed quickly checked around his neck. Fortunately, the ruby necklace was still there. Feeling relieved, he started to move toward the leather bag placed in the corner.

Wobble.

He saw a black shape fall back from the backrest of the sofa.

“Who is there?”

Zed immediately took a defensive stance and searched for a weapon. But the greatsword he used was long gone, and every dagger he had hidden for self-defense was also missing.

“Damn it…”

Zed clenched his teeth. He did not know how much time had passed since he had lost consciousness, but with such serious wounds, there was no way he could have come this far alone. He found it hard to believe that someone had saved his life. It could have been another enemy using goodwill as bait, as it always had been.

He held his breath while waiting. Then, from behind the backrest, the black shape slowly poked out its head. No, not a head. A lump of black soot-like slime bulged out.

“Ah… hello?”

The black shape greeted him shyly with large blue eyes and waved a small round hand.

Zed suddenly lost all strength.

“What is this soot?”

“I, I am not soot! I have a name…!”

The black shape hurriedly shouted. Zed was slightly surprised because it spoke human language so clearly. From appearance alone, it was definitely a monster, a low residual kind without a defined form.

Wriggle.

The black shape noticed Zed’s guard loosen slightly and crawled out from under the sofa, muttering.

“I have a name too… even when you talked in your sleep, you never asked me my name…”

It sounded like it was sulking because he had not asked.

Zed stomped his foot on the floor, telling it not to come closer, and asked.

“What is your name?”

“My name is Harto!”

As if he had been waiting, Harto answered loudly and stretched in a long shape. Zed wondered how such a useless thing had followed him here.

“Harto? Even the name is unimpressive.”

“…Hehe. You are the first person who has called my name.”

“……”

Despite Zed’s blunt reply, Harto spoke brightly and kept gladly wriggle his body. Zed judged there was no longer a need for vigilance as he watched the scene. It was smaller than a slime from the Demon Realm, and its energy was so weak it hardly had any power. There was no reason to kill it.

“You are a monster, right?”

Zed asked while taking back his leather bag.

“Yes… I am a monster, but… I can also take human form…”

“You can transform into a human?”

“Yes. But… not now…”

Harto shouted cheerfully at first, then answered in a small voice as his body floated softly above the ground. He looked like a large piece of fungus.

Zed decided not to care about the claim that it could turn human. Monsters that could speak often mimicked human language or lied without meaning.

After confirming that nothing inside his bag was lost, Zed began to search the cabin.

“What are you doing?”

Harto followed behind and asked. Zed, annoyed, pushed Harto away with his foot and answered.

“Looking for traces.”

“Traces?”

“It is clear someone lived here…”

Zed muttered while looking at the pot, the utensils, the few clothes, and the cloak that belonged to Harto, then turned back.

“Do you know who brought me here?”

“I did!”

“Someone treated my wounds too, do you know who?”

“I did!”

As Harto bounced up and down and shouted, Zed let out a sigh.

“If you keep lying…”

“I am not lying! I really did all of it, Zed…!”

“You… my name…”

Zed looked surprised, as if he had not expected Harto to know his name, and Harto lifted himself proudly.

“How could I only know your name? I also know your affiliation and your age! And… you called me your ally.”

Harto spoke shyly while wriggling his body. The small round hands that bulged out rubbed his cheeks in a circle. His emotion was so clear that Zed, at first dumbfounded, decided to hear what had happened before judging further.

“Yes. You mean you were the one who brought me here and the one who treated me? Then explain everything to me from the beginning to the end.”

“Yes. I understand. But… before that, do you have something to say to me?”

“……?”

Harto’s bright blue eyes stared at Zed.

“……”

“……”

“Okay. I get it.”

In the end, Zed sighed as if he could not win and cleared his throat.

“Thank you.”

“…Yes!”

Harto laughed happily and jumped high into the air. Because of that, one of the planks nailed to the ceiling came loose and fell on his head.

“Ouch!”

Harto fell to the floor, and though embarrassed, he puffed up his soft body, pleased by the praise.

“……”

On the other hand, Zed thought again that he might have been deceived by a monster.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“Ah. There is such a spell?”

After Harto told Zed about finding him in the cave, bringing him to the cabin, caring for him, and the words he spoke in his sleep, Zed explained that it was because of something called a suggestion spell.

“If I ever lose consciousness, I cast an awakening suggestion on myself as a defense mechanism.”

“Wow…”

That was why he had asked Harto in a cold tone about his affiliation, age, and if he was an enemy or an ally. Harto had thought he was just talking in his sleep. He never realized it was part of that magic.

“But you mean I really told you my name and my group?”

“Yes.”

“And I called you an ally too?”

“Yes.”

Zed looked at Harto, who was blinking his large eyes and answered, and he became serious.

It was strange. A suggestion spell was a type of defense mechanism. When it sensed a presence, it identified danger and treated the target as an enemy, attacking first. But this time, even though Harto was a monster, it had recognized him as an ally.

Was it simply because that creature had been judged harmless? Or was Harto making up the whole story?

Zed still could not lower his guard against Harto.

“But are your hands really fine?”

At that moment, Harto asked Zed.

Zed clenched his hands. They were perfectly fine, with not a single broken finger. Harto had said both his hands were burning with black fire, but there was not even a burn mark left.

That black creature had said it fed him the medicine. But Zed had no memory of it. He also did not remember how he had hidden his body in the cave, or in this forest.

Regardless, he was about to die and had been saved by this monster.

“Why can you not take human form right now?”

“Ah…?”

When Zed, who had gathered his thoughts, asked, Harto looked flustered. He felt too embarrassed to admit that he had eaten a raw berry that rolled on the floor the night before and became weak because of it.

“That is… when my body gets a bit weak, it becomes like this…”

When Harto spoke vaguely, Zed’s eyes narrowed.

“Why did you become weak?”

Grrr!

“Ah!”

Zed snorted when he heard the loud growl that came from his stomach.

“I think I know the reason.”

“I did not eat dinner last night…”

“Because of one meal?”

“Y-yes…”

Zed thought it ridiculous that such a weak creature would suffer just from skipping one meal.

He immediately searched through his bag and took out a loaf of bread. It was the same big bread that Harto had coveted before. Back then, it had looked like nothing more than a large loaf, but now it looked like a bar of gold.

Gulp.

Seeing Harto swallow his saliva with wide bright eyes, Zed broke off a piece of bread and gave it to him.

“Th… thank you…”

“Why did you not eat it?”

“Hm?”

“My food supply.”

“Ah…”

Harto hesitated, wondering if he should tell the truth that he had almost eaten it.

Pat.

“……!”

Then Zed suddenly reached out with the hand that was not holding bread and placed it on Harto’s head.

“Good boy.”

His large warm palm gently stroked Harto’s head.