Whenever an injection was given, Leone was unexpectedly quite calm. Nightmares were like sickness to him so he probably knew instinctively that this drug was a cure for the disease.
In exchange for sedatives, we agreed not to lock the cage where he slept.
‘As soon as I locked the door, he had a nightmare attack. Of course, it could be because he was sensitive during the day. The confined space itself can escalate anxiety.’
‘Then, didn’t we ourselves add to the anxiety?’
‘I think you’re comfortable when it’s not a locked day. For now, let’s watch a little longer.’
In any case, it was the place they recognized as the place where Leone sleeped. In such a space, it seemed important to be able to enjoy the freedom to come and go at will. Is it because of hard preparation? The day passed without incident.
“The sedative works well, though.”
“Ah yes.”
“It seems that the reason I can stand next to Sir Leone is not only because of the medicine.”
“What else could it be?”
“The Teacher!”
She naturally looked away from Guruden, who was looking at her with a look as if asking if she didn’t know that.
“Because in the past, it seems that he had a harder time when he was given a sedative.”
“Haha. It was really hard, Gourden.”
Another embarrassing uproar began. She replied with an awkward smile like a machine.
“Huh. It is all thanks to Teacher.”
“No. That’s what Gourden tried. There may be sedation and discipline, but I wonder if it’s because the time with Gourden is getting longer.”
She couldn’t seem to turn her words around. She praised Gourden in reverse to get out of the embarrassing praise prison.
“Ugh. Is it like that too!”
Gourden’s face brightened.
Without Adler as the top manager, they felt like they were on the edge of a precipice and began to look more closely at Leone. Gourden and she stayed in the main building for most of the ten days. She even went to bed in the main building after cleaning out the rooms one by one in order to examine his condition as closely as possible.
“Gourden. You should go to dinner now.”
She was about to go to the annex to take off her bandages and have dinner. They took turns eating, so now it was Gourden’s turn to go.
“Since Teacher is here, I will also go to the annex and return after dinner.”
Silence fell as Gourden stormed out of the mansion.
“Trixie.”
In the meantime, Leone called her. His gaze was on her shoulder. Now that the bandage has been removed, he must be curious.
She nodded.
“Yes. Everything is fine.”
“Yes.”
Leone noded. There was little change in his expression, but somehow he seemed satisfied.
She walked over to him
“Should we go for a walk after getting ready for bed, Leone?”
“Yes.”
Leone answered in a whisper. A peaceful night was coming. How peaceful was that? She even thought that it would be nice if she could live like this in that mansion for the rest of her life.
* * *
“Here. Right?”
“To think of building a mansion like this at the foot of Mount Meto. Aristocrats are…”
On the other hand, at the darkest time past midnight.
A mansion built in a corner at the foot of Mount Meto. People flocked to the quiet mansion.
“They want him alive, you know? If you kill him, there is no reward or anything.”
“Everyone knows.”
It was a cloudy and dark day with no moon.
* * *
Leone Atarta had never been happy since being captured by humans and brought to this strange world. He was lonely, scared, and in pain. That’s all his life. Even in his dreams, even when he was awake.
As if God were saying that all he had to bear was pain. Leone always had to struggle. Even if he opens his eyes, it will be the same. Still, he opened his eyes.
Because that was the duty of life given to him. And what came into Leone’s eyes…
“Trixie.”
It was Trixie. The only person who exudes warm colors in a gray reality full of despair. She was a small human, different from the large human beings he had seen so far. Trixie seemed unwilling to threaten Leone from the start. Leone could feel it. Trixie worried about him and stroked him affectionately. Just like his ‘family’ did.
She was a rare human being.
He wanted to reject her, but at some point, his gaze began to follow Trixie. He looked her up. He wanted to be by her side. Because standing next to Trixie felt like he had been rescued from a very long nightmare.
Because she was human, it shouldn’t be like this. Because she was human… He shouldn’t have wanted to be by her side like that. That’s what he thought, but he was following her without realizing it.
Leone thought Trixie was a slightly different being.
He was a unique being different from his own people. Humans were also life, so there must be such a existence for them too. Trixie may be a mutant similar to Leone.
Unlike the bad guys… She was warm, affectionate, like his countrymen, family. Such a being. Otherwise, whenever he saw her smile, there was no way it could warm his heart.
Trixie seemed to be able to relieve him of countless nightmares if she comforted him.
Leone held out his hand. The tips of his long fingers touched her puffy, curly hair.
Tickle.
It was so itchy, it felt like it was tickling his stomach. Trixie has wavy hair, so it must be itchy.
Leone thought so and opened his mouth.
“Fine… ah.”
He had neither learned nor intended to learn the other words, but those words were deeply embedded in his brain, and he learned them at once.
‘Are you okay?’
The magical words whispered by Trixie, who held his hand. Then, for the first time, Leone’s world was bright. It was his first experience since he was brought into that world.
Trixie, who brightened up his world, even subdued ugly men with her small body. He didn’t think she was strong enough… Leone poked into Trixie’s arm. Her soft, slender arms seemed to have no muscle whatsoever. She was a weird but strong human.
“Um…”
Trixie moaned and moved her body. It seemed like she was about to wake up. Or maybe she’s having a bad dream?
Leone comforted her.
“It’s fine.”
The sun was warm.
* * *
Dawn deep in the dark blue air, Leone woke up. He felt a strange presence.
Trixie and the strange man wielding a whip that looked like a log were sleeping downstairs. It couldn’t be the strong damn knight who threatened Leone on a fictional day. Maybe he finally gave up on him, because it’s been a while since he left the house and never came back.
Thanks to that, Leone was in a good mood these days. The disappearance of knights, the absence of the sound of clanking armor. All was good.
With a peaceful mind, he thought of the man with a log. Did she call him Gourden? Leone was to the extent that even if he was standing next to him, he could be dismissed as a nuisance fly.
Then, that sudden smell, these cautious footsteps. Whose was this?
Leone got up.
They were pretty close. They were not animals that live in the forest. It smelled like a human, infuriating smell.
The night before, when he took Trixie for a walk in the woods, a strange smell came from far away. Since it didn’t harm Leone and Trixie and just watched them from a distance, he left Trixie alone so as not to make her nervous… if it came again.
‘It became fun.’
The smell of metal, light footsteps… Between the unfamiliar smells, terribly familiar things came in.
Leone noticed at once. Before arriving there, he had many such things when he was imprisoned by the person called ‘Emperor’. The mysterious people who broke in at night and attacked Leone. Every time that happened, Adler, who was guarding Leone’s room, would fight and defeat the humans.
It was the first time such uninvited guests had visited since coming to this forest. Leone got up. He just wanted to be good.
‘The damn knight.’
In the past, Leone had been beaten without a hitch, but the fortress was gradually gaining the upper hand when competing in strength. It was clear that the knight was having a hard time with Leone. Of course, when Leone gets excited, the sedative was usually given, so Leone fell asleep right away even after defeating Adler. So he couldn’t remember whether he won or lost. So, of course, Leone became curious.
Who else besides the damn knight? Could Leone win? Could he take revenge on humans?
He opened the door and came out. Leone felt better at how sharp the lives of the guests who sneaked in at night were. At the thought of biting off the neck of the man he detested most.
Really, that was… It could have been a good opportunity.
* * *
Eyes open. Her vision was dark. Seeing the blue moonlight pouring in, it seemed that it was dawn. She slowly got up. It was definitely a time when the days were getting hotter, but somehow it seemed cool. Is that why she woke up?
“… Are you there, Leone?”
Unknowingly, she called Leone.
Something was unpleasant. The mansion was quiet as always but at dawn the mansion felt bleak. Her body shuddered for nothing.
She got out of bed and checked, Leone was not in the room.
“Big… Ugh!”
Obviously, she heard that. The sound of a stranger dying in pain not far away.
‘Leone?’
A sudden thought struck her and she immediately opened the door and stepped out. It seemed to be in the lobby. As she approached, the stench that thickened gave her goosebumps.
She knew that smell.
The smell she always smelled when I went to the slaughterhouse to get bones for Leone. It was blood.
“How…”
Her heart tightened with tension. There was no way that only a small amount of blood would fill the air with such a smell.
Grabbing her trembling legs, she walked down the hallway and slowly approached the lobby. Even the bloody smell in the dark hallway. There were no horror movies. Still, she mustered up the courage. She never knew what might have happened to Leone.
Thud.
Suddenly, something heavy and black that obscured my vision fell with a thud.
“Wow!”
She thought her heart was dropping. The heavy thing drooped his limbs.
Legs and arms… ? Release… lose?
“Sah, man…?”
Person. It was a person. A person who has been seriously injured to the point of shedding blood.
The moonlight streaming in was bright, and it was clearly visible even in the dark.
My hands were shaking.
Was he dead or not?
“Trixie.”
A familiar voice was heard. Looking up, she saw Leone standing on all fours on the ledge in the middle of the stairs.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR, thank you very much for reading!
First time we heard Leone’s thoughts <3 This is not in the mangwa haha
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon to read chapters on advance.
Next post will be released on February, 8.
