IPDT 52

“What do you mean something went wrong when I’m the one who fixed him! Right after brainwashing, memories get confused, so it’s normal for them to be like this for a little while!”

While I was scolding Jibril for spouting nonsense, the child looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

“Wh-where are my mom and dad…”

“I was about to ask about that anyway, so this is perfect.”

I stared intently at the child and asked.

“Where did you come from?”

“I-I, well, where did I come from…?”

It seemed his head was a jumble because the brainwashing had just been broken. And I couldn’t just put up with his whining until he got better. Hmm, at this rate, I have no choice. I cupped the child’s cheeks. The child stared quietly into my eyes. Even while trembling in fear, it seemed I wasn’t that scary to him.

“Don’t be surprised if the kid gets a little dumb again, Jibril.”

“What are you trying to do?”

Instead of wasting my breath answering Jibril, I let a mana-infused voice flow toward the child.

“I’ll ask you one more time. Where did you come from?”

The child’s eyes, which had regained their focus, became hazy again. A startled Jibril opened his mouth to shout at me, but he quieted down when Yul, who had drawn his sword, stopped him.

“…I came from a village.”

In the meantime, the child answered as if muttering. I threw the next question.

“What kind of village?”

“The village where the flower was first planted.”

“Do you know who planted it first?”

“That, I don’t… really know.”

In this state, he couldn’t lie. So the child’s answer of ‘I don’t know’ must be the truth. That’s a shame. Phew, as I let out a sigh, Jibril broke into my conversation with the child.

“A village, you say? How many people are living there?”

Jibril asked in a desperate voice. Well, Jibril was a human with the goal of rebuilding the Eastern Continent. He must be curious how many humans were living in the place the child called a village. Since I fully understood Jibril’s feelings, I gave the child permission.

“You can answer the other human’s question.”

“Most of the people who used to live in the Eastern Continent are there.”

The moment the child opened his mouth, Jibril’s eyes widened.

“Most of them?”

“Not long after the monsters appeared, a rumor went around that a safe place had been established. The kingdom couldn’t protect us, but they said that village, at least, was safe from the monsters.”

Jibril’s pupils trembled greatly. The words that the kingdom couldn’t protect them must have pierced him like a thorn. After all, he was the man who had been the prince of the Eastern Continent’s kingdom. Jibril, who had been chewing his lip like a guilty man, clung to the child with a desperate face.

“So, was that village safe?”

“There were no monsters.”

“Does that mean there was something else?”

Jibril might be hoping to hear that the village was ‘the safest place.’ But the child, blinking like a doll, did not grant Jibril’s wish.

“In the village… they choose someone once a week. And they leave the village with the hooded ones, and they said the people who left like that would become offerings for a new god.”

“A new god? What in the world is that.”

“…”

The child’s lips parted. However, he couldn’t answer right away, as if hesitating about something. Jibril’s brow furrowed menacingly.

“Damn it, what in the world is this new god that everyone—!”

“A dragon.”

The moment the word flowed from the child’s lips, everyone was enveloped in silence.

“A dragon will be in the place of the new god.”

The one who broke the long silence was Jibril. Jibril whipped his head around and looked at me.

“What is this nonsense. A dragon? Do you know something? A dragon is your master.”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about either?”

I was the dragon, so it was a mystery to me why I would suddenly be in the place of a god. First of all, I have no intention of doing so, so is it okay for them to decide this on their own without the consent of the person involved? I didn’t know what foolish thoughts the humans were having, but it felt unfair.

I pressed the child, who was blinking blankly.

“Why is a dragon in the place of a god, answer me.”

“…The world is going to be destroyed anyway. When the world is destroyed, God won’t save us. God only exists as a voice from a faraway place. But a dragon is different. If we follow its will, the dragon will save us.”

Will? The word that came from the child’s mouth was as irritating as a hangnail. It was when I opened my mouth to ask what that ‘will’ was. Jibril beat me to it.

“What kind of bullshit is this? A dragon will save someone when the world is being destroyed? A dragon isn’t a god. What power does a dragon have when the world is being destroyed… Kid, do you really think you can be saved?”

“Yes.”

“Ha, I’m suddenly feeling resentment toward humans I’ve never even met. What did they teach a child?”

I’m not affirming Jibril’s badmouthing of dragons right in front of me, but I did agree with the part about who a dragon could save when the world is being destroyed. Because I am not a being that saves anyone.

As I stood still and looked down at the two humans, I belatedly realized that a shadow had fallen over my head. I lifted my head and there was Yul.

“What about the bomb?”

“Huh?”

“You’re not asking why they attacked you with a bomb?”

Oh, right, I should have asked that too. I had forgotten for a moment. I belatedly met the child’s eyes and opened my mouth.

“Why did you bring your friend and the bomb?”

“You purified the flower bed. But even if you interfere like that, you can’t stop the destruction. No matter how much you struggle, it will be irreversible.”

As soon as the child’s clear words ended, Jibril made a serious face.

“They knew exactly what we were doing and sent people. Which means… someone is watching us from somewhere.”

I stared intently at Jibril, who was biting his fingertips as if anxious.

“Jibril.”

“What.”

“Don’t move and stand right there.”

“…Huh?”

I turned my back to the child and strode toward Jibril. Jibril, who blinked his eyes wide in confusion, shuffled backward. I moved faster than him and grabbed him firmly by the collar. Jibril’s body was instantly pulled toward me.

“No, wait. Don’t tell me you suspect me?”

“Just stay still for a bit!”

“W-wait! It’s not me!”

Ignoring Jibril, who raised both arms in the air as if to proclaim his innocence, I shot my hand out to his neck. A frightened Jibril squeezed his eyes shut. Thanks to that, I was able to grab it without any interference.

I held up what I had caught from the nape of Jibril’s neck so it could be seen clearly. I felt Yul, who had been rushing toward Jibril and me, stop in his tracks.

“Jibril, open your eyes.”

Jibril, who had his eyes squeezed shut, cautiously lifted his eyelids. His eyes met squarely with the creature caught in my hand.

“Ugh! What is this!”

“You can tell by looking at it. It’s a leech.”

What I had found on the nape of Jibril’s neck was a hideous-looking leech. I saw it the moment I heard Jibril’s words, ‘someone is watching us from somewhere.’ I stared silently at the leech that was desperately squirming to escape from between my index finger and thumb.

“Y-you’re telling me something like that was on my body?”

“Yes. They were probably observing us through this bug.”

The ones who could control bugs were the elves, a race intimate with nature. Of course, if they were in their right minds, they would never think of using bugs. Because they were a race that cherished bugs as a part of nature.

But if they were dreaming of destruction, what would they shy away from? I took the struggling leech in my hand and crushed it. The plump leech was squashed flat and spat out something like black fluid.

“Wait… ugh, I don’t feel so good.”

Seeing the leech fall in a lump, Jibril retched. Doesn’t he know he looks even filthier, pounding his chest and gagging?

I moved far away from Jibril and used a cleaning spell. The traces on my hand disappeared as if they had been washed away. Just then, Yul roughly snatched my hand.

“Yul?”

Yul turned my hand over and back, examining it meticulously. What is he doing? I had no idea, but I let Yul do as he pleased for the time being. After scrutinizing my hand for a long time, Yul opened his mouth with a hardened face.

“Don’t make me worry.”

“You’re worried about me?”

Yul didn’t answer and just gazed at me. Looking into those black eyes, it felt as if I had heard his voice even though I hadn’t heard an answer. A voice saying that he was ‘worried.’

I smiled broadly. Why does looking at Yul make me feel so good?

“I’ll try not to make you worry.”