Chapter 1 Part 11: People Are The Enemy

“The flowers you gave him, Senior…!”

At the same time, I spotted them.

Flowers scattered all around the child.

I shouted without thinking.

“You’re not supposed to eat those…!”

He might get a stomach ache!

Startled by my shout, the child whipped his head around.

Whoops.

I wasn’t supposed to suddenly appear and shout.

I realized my mistake too late, but it was already done.

I covered my mouth and looked at the child.

The effort I’d made was wasted in an instant.

The child bared his teeth.

“Grrr…”

A low growl emanated from him.

I asked Clam to wait in the hallway, then moved my feet.

“Sorry for shouting.

I just…”

My gaze fell on the flowers.

Realizing what I was looking at, the child flinched, then flattened himself against the floor.

He frantically started shoving the flowers into his mouth.

He must have thought I was going to take them away.

I was startled for the second time.

“No, I wasn’t trying to take them…!”

Wait, I’d seen a situation like this before?

Over the child’s image, I superimposed a puppy that kept putting things in its mouth during walks, making things difficult for its owner.

I quickly shook my head roughly.

Stop with the stray thoughts.

Maintaining eye contact with the child, I moved my feet very, very slowly.

The child was on all fours, poised to lunge at me at any moment.

I quickly raised both palms to show I wasn’t holding any weapons.

“I’m not here to hurt you.

I don’t know if you can understand me or not.”

As calmly as possible.

As carefully as possible.

Step by step…

“I really want to try getting along with you.”

My dream is to save up money and leave here with all my limbs intact.

I omitted the last part as I kept approaching the child.

The distance between us gradually closed.

The child flinched but didn’t back away or anything.

Was this a good sign?

Just as I felt a glimmer of hope,

“Hey, where are you?

You traitor!”

My body froze.

A rough tone and heavy footsteps devoid of any consideration.

“How’s it going?

Hilipa kept nagging, so I came.”

The child’s breathing suddenly became erratic.

The arrival of another person must have agitated him.

I gave up on approaching the child and slowly backed away.

“Senior Aslan.

Why are you here?”

“Are you deaf?

Just in case you misunderstand, I’m not here because of that traitor bastard Alice.

I’m here because Hilipa kept nagging.

Don’t get the wrong…”

Through the open door, fiery red hair appeared.

The child’s pupils slit viciously.

“Kyaaaaah!”

A searing pain shot through my right hand.

Blood dripped from my palm.

Aslan’s eyes also flipped inside out.

“You crazy beast bastard!”

Aslan’s body blurred momentarily.

The child’s face was mercilessly slammed into the floor.

I said shouting and suppressing with force was the worst thing to do…!

“What’s wrong with you?

He was just surprised a little…”

“Shut up, you pushover!”

His voice was loud enough to shake the room.

“You, who was treated like a pushover in the Magic Tower, are now willingly playing the pushover in front of that beast bastard?!”

“A-Aslan.”

“If you were going to be like this, why did you even come back!

Why did you come back!”

Every time Aslan shouted, the child flinched.

The child was clearly terrified of this situation.

But there was no way Aslan would know that.

“If you were going to leave, you should have stayed away forever!

What is this, a joke?!”

“Senior Aslan, that’s enough!”

Aslan even started pointing fingers.

“Get out of here right now!

I can’t stand the sight of…!”

Today, I was going to die.

I wrapped my left arm around Aslan’s neck.

Aslan’s body convulsed violently.

“You crazy bastard…!”

Aslan sprang to his feet.

My body naturally lifted into the air.

Aslan shook his head wildly, like a lion shaking its mane.

My body dangled helplessly in the air.

But I didn’t give up and covered Aslan’s mouth with my left hand.

Aslan immediately bared his teeth and bit down on my palm.

I had purposely covered his mouth with the uninjured hand, but that effort was wasted.

I spoke firmly into his ear.

“You mustn’t shout.”

Aslan’s eyes widened momentarily.

I repeated myself once more.

“I said, you mustn’t shout.”

He wouldn’t lash out again, would he?

Holding my breath, I looked at Aslan’s body, which was twitching slightly.

Suddenly, Clam’s words from earlier over tea came to mind.

Come to think of it, even when not on missions, he did things I couldn’t understand.

The fist Aslan had been clenching loosened powerlessly.

He’d always be standing by the window.

The trembling gradually subsided.

I slowly released the strength in my palm.

As if waiting for someone.

Why did that story come to mind now?

I silently looked at Aslan.

I surveyed the room, which had become a mess in an instant.

The child had crawled under the table and was hiding.

Seeing the child curled up and trembling violently, my head throbbed.

“Should I clean up the room?”

Clam, who had obediently stayed in the hallway as I’d asked, poked his head in.

Thanks for at least listening to me.

I took out my pocket watch.

“No.

I’ll do it.”

That child was now my responsibility.

I had to clean up the messes he made.

That’s what I was getting paid for.

I traced the gem embedded in my pocket watch with my finger.

A white haze rose from the floor.

The smell of blood was making me dizzy.

After opening the window, I checked the floor.

All the bloodstains had disappeared.

“Aslan.

Are you calmer now?”

Aslan said nothing.

“Guess not.

Let’s talk later.”

Looking at the wound that was healing, I called Clam.

“Clam.”

“Yes.”

“Go back to the lab with Aslan.”

Hmpf, Clam lightly puffed out his cheek.

“I have to write the observation log too.

With you two here, the child will be even more on edge.”

Hmpf, Clam’s cheek puffed out even more.

“Please.

You’re my one and only good junior, right?

You’ll do it, won’t you?”

Tch, Clam immediately deflated.

He made a salute gesture.

“Yes.

I’ll stay quietly in the lab.”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s go, Senior Aslan.”

Clam tugged at Aslan’s clothes.

I was worried he might resist again, but contrary to my expectations, Aslan walked out of the room on his own.

Clam waved at me and followed.

I waited until they were completely gone, then closed the door.

“Okay, they’re gone now.”

I placed the basket in the center of the room.

“That noisy, shouting guy is gone.

It’s just you and me now.”

The child was still curled up, glaring at me.

It seemed the child misunderstood and thought Aslan and I were on the same side.

We were on the same side, being from the Magic Tower, but somehow I felt wronged.

Not everyone here was like Aslan.

I unpacked the basket and showed the child its contents.

The child’s nostrils flared.

“You’re really hungry, right?

You ate the flowers because you were hungry.”

The child tilted his head.

He didn’t seem to understand what I was saying.

To help him understand, I picked up one of the flowers he hadn’t managed to grab earlier.

“You shouldn’t eat these.”

I crossed my arms to make an X, then clutched my stomach.

I made a pained expression, pretending it hurt.

“Your tummy might hurt.

You don’t like being in pain either, right?”

The child unconsciously nodded, then flinched.

Seeing him bury his head deeper under the table, I let out a hollow laugh.

It would be nightfall before he ate.

I knelt on one knee.

“Come here.”

The door opened and Clam exclaimed enthusiastically.

“Yes, Senior!”

Weren’t you gone?!

Clam smiled brightly.

“I was worried, so I came back to see…”

“Out.”

I ruthlessly kicked Clam out.

After closing the door again, I checked on the child.

He was wary of me, like a cat with its fur standing on end.

Every time his guard seemed to lower, an intruder would show up like a ghost, keeping us stuck in place.

I had no choice.

I backed away, leaving only the basket.

“Okay now?”

I sat down with my back against the door.

The child gauged the distance between himself and the basket, then crawled out.

Staring too intently would make him uncomfortable.

I deliberately turned my head away, pretending to be occupied elsewhere.

The child moved quickly.

“…”

The child grabbed the basket in his mouth and hid back under the table.

Uh, wait.

I knew this too.

This is what stray cats did when I fed them.

It was a problem that dogs and cats kept superimposing over the child’s image.

As I expected, the child must have been very hungry, because he buried his face in the basket.

The sound of chewing was loud.

“Shall we begin?”

Taking advantage of the child being distracted by his meal, I took out a notebook from my pocket.

The format and length of the log were completely free.

Lady Enencia said it was fine as long as she could understand it.

Truly benevolent.

Ah, if she were truly benevolent, she wouldn’t have entrusted me with a dragon hybrid.

I moved my pen.

‘Day 1.

The child is extremely sensitive.’

Wow, an exclamation of admiration slipped out.

I’d only written the first line, but I could already feel I’d messed up.

I didn’t know what to write next.

My mind was as empty as my wallet.

Where was the old me, who used to get praised by my seniors for writing good reports?

Had I forgotten how to work?

That was ridiculous.

There was no way I’d forget that after just two years off.

Denying reality, I forced my hand to move.

‘While attempting to communicate with the child, a third party appeared, causing the child to become extremely agitated.

In the ensuing commotion, he injured my hand.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa.’

My hand, unconsciously scribbling, stopped.

In the end, I accepted reality.

I had indeed forgotten.