31 – Claim of Ownership (4)
How long was it held like that?
How long had I been lying there, buried in soft flesh and touch?
Watching my blood vessels glow red and then slowly sink –
“…Is it okay if I wake up?”
I asked the hand that held my body tightly.
“Be careful.”
As it is gently released,
I felt my fingers shaking a little, as if I was disappointed.
I briefly saw my mother smiling, which was somewhat lacking.
Her eyebrows were smiling, but the corners of her eyes were not.
Her lips were trying to rise, but the corners of her mouth remained drooped.
Was it that shocking that I pushed him away?
If it’s so hard, what on earth should I do?
I loved you as a mother.
I wanted to be by your side as a family.
I kept worrying about the fact that my mom couldn’t look at me like that.
“If you’re worried about people, it will happen soon.
So, why don’t you finish your work now?”
Eyes that tried to stare for a moment.
Maybe we’ve seen each other too many times before we know it, but my mother’s favor was given to me first.
With a quick snap of your finger, you can make people stand,
Hide her red horns and tail again and return to being ‘Madame Tutuère’.
“In order to completely eliminate pollution, those who spread the pollution must be eliminated.
I think they probably have a den not far away. Would you like to find it together?”
“I will do so.”
After a moment of hesitation, she stretched out her feet and followed her mother, who had taken the lead.
I slowly walked along the path where purple lines flashed.
The closer I got, the more stones there were than dirt.
The trees were gradually disappearing.
And soon, I was able to find a cave.
Mom’s was hidden among the dense trees and grass.
At least the stones were covered with green moss, so it was far from desolate.
This is –
“It’s natural.
Rather than being with nature, demons prefer to devour it and extract strength from it.
That’s why – it’s the opposite of me.
In fact, they are the ones who cannot get along with any living being.”
Mom said that and snapped her fingers again.
He created a sphere emitting red light and sent it into the cave.
“Ah, there you are. Couldn’t you run away yet?”
Soon, he motioned to me and tried to go deeper into the cave.
“Wouldn’t it be dangerous?”
“They say that to catch a dragon, you have to go into the cave.
Rather, the more you are inside, the less room you have to move around, so you end up being pushed against the wall.
…This is an experience.”
Those words couldn’t have sounded so bitter.
My mother and I first met when we found a red-haired woman with a wound on her back from being hunted.
After that, I was once again surrounded by numerous knights wearing armor.
It was a journey she set out to heal those wounds.
Wasn’t this something you were determined to do so that people could accept you once again?
But I…
“Well, that’s it. Now it’s our turn to go hunting.
Are you ready?”
My emotions were fluctuating.
I became less confident in the things I was trying to do.
But, for now –
“…Yes.”
Now I had to do what I could.
Whether I talk to my mom later,
Apologize for something that only hurt you…
First of all, I came to catch demons.
***
“This is oil.
We also use it when cooking,
If it meets fire, it can become a very terrible weapon.”
Saying that, Mom slowly let something out of her hand.
It was transparent and yellow, flowing through the floor at a very fast speed.
“I know, but why…”
“It’s best to be safe.
Anyway, the request was to remove contamination.
More than anything, there are only three demons inside…
Everyone was tense, waiting for the intruder to come in.
If we go in, it will actually make things more difficult for us. Yes?”
“So…”
“Burn it with fire.
There will be no pain.”
I didn’t understand that.
…I hate to say this, but I burned a knight to death.
I, no one else, was the one who screamed horribly and rolled over to my death.
I saw it before my eyes.
There was no way I could understand the statement that it was not painful.
“You have a suspicious face.
Okay, then let me explain.
What happens if you hold your breath?”
“…I can’t breathe, right?”
“Then what if I strangle you?”
“You’ll die. But why?”
Starting with simple questions,
Mom seemed to be asking a strange riddle again.
“Okay. So, in a very hot place, can you breathe?”
With just one question, I realized the intention.
“…You don’t die by burning.”
“I couldn’t breathe, so I just collapsed.
It’s a similar reason why hunters set fire to rabbit holes.”
It was indeed a scary and cruel story, but
At the same time, it was a very safe method from my perspective.
It was also an excellent choice for me, who cannot use much magic yet.
“Hmm… Still, I have to say it feels a little cruel.”
Nevertheless, I couldn’t shake off the bad thoughts.
The desperate scream of a knight dying in flames.
Arms and legs rolling in all directions and swinging to avoid the end…
When I dared to imagine that pain, I felt like my hands and feet were getting cold.
“There is no need to imagine the end of our enemies.
Harming people, kidnapping them and manipulating them.
They are destroying nature… And we don’t know what they will do in the future.
Do you want to leave them alone?”
But, as expected, my mother was right.
I lit a small spark between my thumb and forefinger.
Just before I tried to drop it,
Some strange noises began to be heard from inside the cave.
Voices were clashing here and there, resonating.
And that soon turned into shouting.
“Hurry up. I think they’ve noticed the oil.”
It was an instant to put down the spark,
The same thing happened when the fire spread into the cave.
It was always a beautiful sight to see the red waves lapping and brightly illuminating the dark space –
“Russell!”
With a jerk, my body was grabbed and pulled into my arms,
At the same time, the roar of fire was heard from directly above.
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The horse of red fire was running powerfully over the hand holding the shield.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
As soon as it passed, her mother immediately stopped me and dusted her body here and there.
Just watching the red horse run high into the sky and disappear,
I just saw it flying into the air with its brilliant mane fluttering and twinkling stars.
Mom was looking at me with a serious look on her face.
“You’re possessed by fire. And that too.
I should have told you in advance that there are more than just one or two things you need to be careful about…”
The body is kneaded and the cheeks are rubbed.
I stared blankly for a long time at the yellow eyes staring at me as they kept clapping in front of my eyes –
“Oh, ah?”
I slowly realized what had happened.
A hot face.
Clothes with a burnt smell.
I was able to come to my senses only after seeing all the hairs on the back of my hands scorched and dried.
“Uh, uh…”
“I’m coming to my senses.”
Looking at the fire in front of me, I just thought it was beautiful.
I didn’t even know that the heat was consuming me.
If it wasn’t for my mom, I would have been there…
“Russell!”
“Yes, yes!”
“…Let’s go. It looks like the work here is over.”
Without even thinking of rejecting the outstretched hand,
I leaned against my mother’s body, which I thought I hated just a moment ago.
And then slowly, he walked away from the burning cave.
…Trying to ignore the shouting that came with the sound of something collapsing,
I didn’t even dare to check the place engulfed in flames again.
***
When I went to the place where people had been left on the ground, the soldier who had purified the mana first was helping other people up.
Then they found us,
“Hey, who’s there!”
He was startled and picked up the sword lying on the floor.
Unlike when he was being controlled, the posture he held up his sword was much more like a ‘soldier’.
There was no doubt that he was completely back to normal.
“I’m from Ruzek Village.
I’m here to remove the pollution spread by the demons, are you okay?”
He could not easily let his guard down even after hearing the words,
He seemed quite surprised when he saw the book I was holding.
“Are you… A wizard?
You look very young.”
“Yes. Of course, it’s still not enough, but…”
For a moment, Mom, no,
I guess it’s right to call her Madame Tutuère in front of other people and think that way.
Before I knew it, I changed to her black hair and eyes,
I took a moment to look at my mother, who had the appearance of a lineman dressed in perfect armor.
It was my mother who made it possible to accomplish all of this.
If it wasn’t for me… I might not have ended up getting hurt.
But I,
“So you saved me and these people from the demons?”
It cannot be said that all of this was done by a red dragon called Dracea Rosaria.
She nodded, but her mind was not at ease.
“…Oh my god. Thank you, really, thank you!
When I was caught by those demons, I thought I was going to die…!”
Even when I received gratitude, I couldn’t be truly happy.
This feeling of doing something wrong.
Even if I look to the side with that heavy feeling,
My mother, who was quietly waiting for the others to wake up, showed no reaction.
“Ah, then, wizard.
When you killed the demons, did you at least rescue their bodies?
Or was there anything strange in that cave?”
For a moment, I struggled with this dark feeling that seemed to keep weighing me down.
The soldier asked me with a very serious expression.
Inside the cave that I had not been able to look into.
“Well, I think… It might be a little difficult to go in directly.
Actually, I just pushed the fire into the entrance.”
“I set it on fire… D.
Then, may I ask you to confirm?
Unless the demons are definitely dead – “
“That seems difficult.”
The person who stopped him as he tried to continue his conversation was none other than… Madame Tutuère.
He was so excited that he withdrew his sword and tried to approach me,
Blocking her path with a shield, she brightened her eyes.
“Wizard Russell not only saves you,
You used too much effort to deal with the demons as a secluded beggar.
There are at least two people who cannot wake up right away.
Why not aim to step away now and check back later?”
“Yeah, but… Um… It makes sense.”
Just as my mother said, I was definitely exhausted.
Even though I tried to force myself to straighten my body to make it feel like it was getting heavier, the condition was the same.
“Then, would you please help the others?
I woke up, but the others didn’t wake up…”
The person he showed me as he gently moved out of the way was none other than the captured woman.
The clothes were a little disheveled, but it wasn’t anything to worry about.
That’s why she immediately got down on her knees and lifted her eyelids slightly to see,
That moment when I grabbed her shoulder and shook her slightly.
“Ugh…”
Isn’t it coming, clinging to me with its arms, with a single word in silence?
The moment I tried to shake off the embarrassment of what had happened so quickly,
Oops.
As I lose my strength,
It ended up being crushed by the body.
Even if I groan and try to shake it off,
That time when I wanted to reach out and clean my body, but I couldn’t touch it, and I didn’t know what to do.
“It’s warm…”
In the end, I had no choice but to stiffen as the movement pushed deeper into me.
…Because my mother’s eyes looking at me had lost focus.
