Chapter 46: Yggdrasil’s Past (1)

Imperial Calendar Year —. December 24th. (Past)

“Hyaaawn.”

The winter morning was chilly. That’s why I chose to stay buried in my blankets instead of getting out of bed.

It was a pleasant day. Covered in a warm blanket in a moderately cool room, I felt like I could fall asleep again.

But I had to get up. If I let my mind drift off and fell asleep, I felt like the time I could spend with Mommy today would disappear. Knowing Mommy’s personality, she would never wake me if I was sleeping soundly.

However, I couldn’t give up the blanket, so I got out of bed with it draped over my shoulders.

The cold air brushed past my exposed ankles, bringing a refreshing coolness.

Thanks to the blanket, I wasn’t cold.
I casually lifted my head and looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

[8:47 AM]

There was still plenty of time before Mommy arrived. But there was no time to spare.

I had to finish preparing before Mommy came.

“She said she’d come at lunchtime… so I’ll do the food later. Should I clean first?”

I hadn’t cleaned the house often, so it was better to do it today. Since it was my birthday anyway, wouldn’t it be nicer to celebrate in a clean place?

Now that I had something to do, I immediately started. I opened the door and ran towards the kitchen. The storage room attached to the kitchen was there.

Opening the storage door and entering, I saw the unlit lamp had grown cold.

“…Still, it’s probably better to keep the lamp lit.”

It definitely wasn’t because the storage room was dark and scary. It just seemed like it would be nice if it were bright.

Really…

Finishing my thought, I came out of the dusty storage room and headed towards Mommy’s room. There should be a magic stone there.

The magic stone in the lamp seemed to have already lost its power and gone out. So, I needed to replace it with a new one.

On the way to Mommy’s room, the blanket became cumbersome, so I just tossed it onto the living room floor and stomped my feet.

Perhaps because I was running around, I felt warm and wasn’t cold even without the blanket. The cool air lifted my spirits.

Entering Mommy’s room, I saw elegant furniture. Since we were commoners, all the furniture was made of wood, but the room somehow felt graceful.

After looking around the room for a moment, I found two magic stones on the desk Mommy used.

One glowed faintly, and the other looked brand new.
Naturally, I took the magic stone full of mana and went back to the storage room.

I felt it before I left earlier, but the storage room was too eerie. There wasn’t a single window, and the lamp was off, so if the door closed, you couldn’t see anything.

I quickly picked up the lamp that stood cold beside the door.

“Heavy…”

I clicked my tongue at the lamp, which was still too heavy for me to lift, and placed it back on the floor.

“Let’s just leave it like this. Hmm.”

Giving up quickly, I crouched down, pulled out the empty magic stone, and threw it in the trash.

Then I inserted the new magic stone I brought into the lamp.

“Ooh.”

The magic stone inserted into the lamp began to glow softly. They say this lamp is also a magic tool, but I don’t know the details.

Setting the brightness to maximum, I pushed the heavy lamp to the center of the storage room.

As the storage room brightened, I retrieved a rag and a duster from among the food and items piled up everywhere.

“Shall I start with the storage room then? Ah, before that.”

I remembered something I had forgotten until now.

I hurried to the kitchen, picked up the concave cat bowl, went to the corner where the cat food was kept, and filled it.

I almost forgot to give Chouchou her meal.

Holding the bowl filled with food, I opened the house door and called for Chouchou.

“Chouchou-! Time for breakfast!”

The child’s voice echoed throughout the forest. Then.

Rustle.

A sound came from the bush of branches to my right.
But Chouchou wasn’t visible there.

“…Was I imagining things?”

Perhaps a wild animal just came out of curiosity. Ignoring it, I waited for Chouchou to come.

After about 3 minutes, I started to see Chouchou approaching from the front.

“Ugh! Chouchou!”

Chouchou the cat stumbled and fell on her way home. Startled, I hastily slipped on my shoes crookedly and ran towards Chouchou.

“Pant. Pant.”

Panting heavily as if exhausted, Chouchou just blinked her eyes. I asked her,

“Chouchou. Did something happen?”

Talking to a cat was strange, but since Chouchou was my only friend, I sometimes spoke to her.

“Haak.”

Chouchou met my eyes with tired eyes, then squeezed them shut and struggled to get up.

“Chouchou, are you really okay…?”

I felt needlessly worried. No matter how big Chouchou was for a cat, she was still just a small animal.

Suddenly, I noticed a large wound on the inside of Chouchou’s leg as she passed me.

“Chouchou!!”

Feeling a chill, I ran, picked Chouchou up, and headed towards the house.

Pat-pat-pat-pat.

The cat wasn’t much smaller than me, so she was heavy, and I broke out in a sweat.

I opened the front door and carried Chouchou into the living room.

Chouchou’s pure white fur began to clump together, soaked in blood.

“Don’t worry, Chouchou. I know how to treat wounds.”

Mommy always came home injured somehow. It would be nice if she got treated at the Temple, but she said receiving treatment from me was better.

I hurriedly brought the first-aid kit from my room and treated Chouchou’s leg.

Closing the wound to stop the bleeding, applying ointment, and bandaging it was just basic first aid, but Mommy’s divine power was imbued in them, so she should be fine within the day.

“Phew…”

If it weren’t for the medical supplies Mommy made, Chouchou would have been in pain for a long time.

“…Meow.”

I smiled at Chouchou, who cried out as if thanking me. Come to think of it, how did Chouchou get hurt like that?

“Chouchou. The wound… do you know where you got hurt?”

“……”

Chouchou’s blue eyes, just staring steadily into mine, looked particularly weary today.

“…Okay. I won’t ask.”

Chouchou, meeting my gaze, blinked slowly.

“…Aren’t you hungry? Eat this while I clean.”

I brought the bowl I had left at the entrance and placed it in front of Chouchou.

“Ah. That position must be uncomfortable.”

I wondered if she could eat sitting down, but.

“Chomp chomp chomp.”

As if the wound was nothing, Chouchou immediately buried her face in the bowl.

“Call me if you want more.”

“Myaah-.”

Chouchou replied like that but didn’t lift her face from the bowl. She must have been extremely hungry.

Now that I had fed Chouchou, I started cleaning.

First was the storage room.

“Ugh. There are cobwebs too! But I don’t see any spiders.”

Looking closely, I saw tiny spiders frozen dead on the storage room floor.

“…I should throw these out quickly.”

I cleared the dead spiders and insects from the floor and dusted the corners of the walls and ceiling with the duster.

Of course, I covered my nose and mouth with a handkerchief and climbed onto food sacks to reach the ceiling corners.

After wiping the floor with a rag, the now clean storage room came into view.

“Heehee. It’s clean!”

With a pleasant start, I cleaned the other rooms one by one.

Among them, Mommy’s room was comparatively the neatest and cleanest.

“Well, Mommy is barely home anyway.”

The only potential issue was dust.

After finishing all the cleaning, I looked at the clock.

[11:03 AM]

“Niheehee! Mommy’s coming soon!”

I felt happy. Mommy, whom I hadn’t seen for two days, was coming from lunchtime and staying until tomorrow morning.

That meant I could be with Mommy all day long.

“Chouchou! Today I’m going to build a snowman with Mommy! I’ll make a huge one and give it to Mommy as a present!”

I was already excited. It was definitely going to be incredibly fun. Because everything I do with Mommy is fun!

“Myaa-.”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Chouchou?”

Chouchou, who had finished her bowl and was lying down, suddenly got up and approached me.

“Chouchou. Lie down quickly. It’ll be bad if your wound opens up.”

“Myaa.”

Ignoring me, Chouchou just let out incomprehensible cries towards me.

Chouchou’s eyes stared directly at me. Chouchou was a really smart cat, so I could tell just by looking at her eyes like this.

“Chouchou. Did something really happen?”

“Myaa.”

Chouchou sensed something. Chouchou, possessing sensory organs unknown to humans, was telling me.

It’s dangerous.

“Chouchou?”

“Myaaaa!!”

I approached Chouchou, who suddenly started growling towards the door outside.

Then, Chouchou whipped her head around to look at me, pausing for a moment with determined eyes.

Finally.

Thud-thud-thud.

“Ah. Chouchou! Come back! Your wound isn’t healed yet!”

Chouchou went outside through the window I had left open for ventilation while cleaning.

Chouchou, having gone out like that, didn’t return even after several minutes.

“Where did that fool Chouchou go.”

Worried, I opened the front door and looked around the house, but found nothing. Having no choice, I returned home and looked at the clock again.

[11:37 AM]

It was about time to prepare lunch.

“Should I try making Mommy’s favorite tomato pasta!”

Looking at it this way, you wouldn’t know whose birthday it was.

The tomato pasta was made smoothly. I took fresh tomatoes from the clean storage room, boiled the pasta noodles Mommy bought a few days ago in hot water until soft.

I prepared the tomatoes for the pasta sauce and poured it over the softened pasta noodles.

“Heehee. Mommy will like it when she comes, right?”

Since Mommy was often away from home, my cooking skills improved.

I felt like I might even be a better cook than Mommy now.

I plated the tomato pasta and placed it on the dining table. I also brought a magic stone enchanted with a warming spell to keep the food from getting cold.

And then I waited for Mommy.

The clock showed 12:04 PM.

I figured there would be some distance from the Temple, so I decided to wait.

While waiting, lost in the mood, I hummed songs or repeatedly looked at the clock.

Sitting at the dining table, I swung my still-short legs back and forth to pass the time.

However.

[12:45 PM]

[1:27 PM]

[3:51 PM]

…

…

…

Mommy didn’t come, even as evening arrived.

“…I’ll just write in my diary.”

The bitter smile didn’t fade. The sweat pouring from my eyes, which had been flowing since who knows when, didn’t stop.

Still, I smiled. Today was the day Mommy was supposed to return. She might be late, but I wanted to spend even that short time with her.

If she came at night, we could just read a fairy tale together. If I couldn’t stay awake and fell asleep, it was okay if she just sang me a lullaby before leaving.

That was all I wished for.

I returned to my room and sat at the desk. Then I opened my diary and placed the pen on the page after the one I wrote on previously.

The tear ducts, dripping steadily, still hadn’t stopped. No, they flowed even more fiercely.

“Sob… Aaahk.”

Sounds escaped my lips involuntarily. I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to cry over something like this.

But. My chest hurt so much.

Maybe that was why.

“…I hate Mommy.”

That was all I could say.

Leaving my hateful Mommy behind, I considered just going to sleep, but my body didn’t seem to want to.

I put on a thick outer coat in my room, opened the front door, and stood in front of it.

I checked the time before going out. 7:26 PM.

Since it was winter, the sky had already darkened. I didn’t like dark places. Because they were scary.

That’s why I disliked the color black. And I disliked the night too.

Looking at the pitch-black sky, my body trembled. I wanted to go back inside right away. But my feet wouldn’t move, staying rooted to the spot.

I wore fur gloves and a scarf, but my face couldn’t be protected.

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but my mind felt like it was reaching its limit.

Just as my vision started to blur.

“Myaaaaaaaaa!!!”

A cat’s cry spread widely throughout the mountains.

“…Chouchou. Where on earth are you doing what.”

Chouchou, who had been injured, hadn’t come back since lunchtime. I was worried, but this sound was definitely…

“Will she be okay…”

My hands, frozen despite wearing gloves, were stiffening.

“…Let’s go find Chouchou.”

Judging by the source of the sound, it was slightly far from here.

Before I could even take a few steps towards where Chouchou’s cry came from.

“@–%^:@–.”

An unintelligible sound came from the opposite direction of where I was heading.

Hearing the sound for the first time, my body tensed. I hastily turned to run back home, but….

Fwip!

The moment I turned, something embedded itself into my thigh.

“Kyaaaaak!”

Immense pain washed over me. I had been hurt before , but never this much.

“#/@_-@.”

The sound I just heard came from right behind me.

Forgetting the pain at the creepy sound, I immediately got up and ran straight for the house.

Glancing down as I ran, I saw something sharp stuck in my thigh. Thanks to that, even running was difficult.

I barely managed to reach the front door, but.

“Myaaaaa!”

Hearing the sound from behind again, I inadvertently turned around.

“Chouchou!!”

Chouchou appeared on the snowy ground that was melting from the blood I shed. But Chouchou wasn’t in good condition either.

The wound I saw at lunchtime hadn’t healed at all. Because the bandage had come off. In addition, Chouchou’s body was covered in wounds.

But I couldn’t go to Chouchou. I too saw the opponent Chouchou was growling at.

“<\ ₩{=<\ .”

A hideous person muttering strange words. No, a monster.

Mommy had told me about them before. Beings whose whole bodies were purple and whose faces didn’t look human.

A Majin.

One of them had come here.

“Ah… Ah, aaah.”

Gripped by fear, I couldn’t react at all. Then….

“Myaaaak!”

I saw Chouchou thrown far away by the Majin’s kick.

That Majin began to mutter something. Then, other Majin gradually gathered around it, increasing their number to four.

I could only watch helplessly as they approached. My body had already lost control due to fear, and my mind was blank.

A helpless 8-year-old human who could do nothing.

“H-Help-.”

She was a perfect prey.

Stab.

“Kkghhhh!”

Slash.

“Kyaaaak!! It hurts! It hurts!!”

Crack.

“Kghhh!! Hur…! Sob!”

Even if I writhed in pain, they didn’t stop. Until my consciousness broke.

The tears that had stopped flowed again, mixed with blood. I coughed up blood, and crimson blood flowed endlessly from the blades embedded in my abdomen and back.

I even wished to die from blood loss, just to be freed from this pain.

They didn’t stop there; they picked up my limp body, threw me against the house wall, and played with me like a toy.

Eventually, they didn’t just eat me after stabbing, cutting, and breaking me.

The cannibalistic Majin seemed to have decided to take me back and eat me with their kin.

I was on the verge of losing consciousness, like a broken doll.

It hurt.

It still hurts now.

It’s agonizing.

My abdomen, back, face, and… just my entire body was in agony.

I wanted to faint, but this body, unable to abandon hope for Mommy, made me so angry.

A single belief that if Mommy came, she would save me.

But Mommy didn’t come, even while I was being kidnapped.

The sad feelings vanished before I knew it.

In their place, emptiness remained.

The pain disappeared.

In its place, endless aching settled.

I was kidnapped by the Majin, but I didn’t die.

Thrown like food into their storage, several nights passed. But they didn’t come for me.

Finding it strange, I moved my body with difficulty. It was barely at the level of crawling on the floor with my arms.

Crawling out of the storage, I looked at the Majin village.

“……”

It wasn’t a village anymore. Only the burnt remains of the village were there.

“…Can I, survive.”

Days had passed since coming here, and my mouth and throat were already cracked.

I forced my body up.

The blood that had flowed from all over my body had scabbed over.

The bleeding had stopped.

“…Let’s go.”

I took one step after another. My feet barely moved, stumbling and bumping into things, I escaped the Majin village.

Living like that in an unknown forest, I casually looked up at the sky.

It was a purple sky.

“Demon Realm…”

This too, I heard from Mommy.

I had to escape from here as soon as possible.

Finding food and enduring in the forest, I got out of the woods. Seeing the snowy fields, it seemed it was still winter.

Then, while wandering aimlessly.

I found a human village.

Everyone there ignored me. No one helped. I tried to ask for help, but….

I no longer had the strength or stamina to move.

Fortunately, there was an uncontaminated forest nearby.

It seemed I could live there. If I needed things occasionally, I could visit the village.

But right now, I didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger.

It seemed I had to rest here today. I leaned against the wall of a shabby house and closed my eyes.

I’m tired and weak.

It seems I can sleep here when I come to the village after staying in the forest.

I had a feeling that the shabby house behind me was uninhabited.

Drip. Drip.

Now it’s even raining.

Looking up at the sky, dark clouds covered the sun. Storm clouds.

At that sight, my mouth opened on its own.

“I really hate Mommy…”

In my eyes, looking up at the raining sky.

Something, whether rainwater or tears, flowed down.

At some point, only emptiness remained within me.