The elders are targeting her?
Of course, she was aware of that.
Hadn’t Nisha warned her? Moreover, she had seen numerous magical traps along the way. But Arthur was not one to be easily caught by such things, so she ignored them.
But why was Lucart saying such things?
Shekina tilted her head in confusion.
“With Arthur here, I didn’t worry much. Why, is there a problem?”
Lucart narrowed his eyes.
What’s the problem?
Was she asking if there was a problem with being in a life-threatening situation? Lucart couldn’t understand this homunculus at all.
“Someone is trying to kill you, and it doesn’t bother you?”
“Yep.”
Shekina replied nonchalantly.
“Such things happen often. That’s just life.”
Indeed, that was true.
Although she was too preoccupied to recall, Shekina’s mind held memories spanning 90 years. And those memories always ended in death, not by choice but by others’ hands.
Someone trying to kill her? It’s not a big deal.
It wasn’t a big deal.
She had experienced it too many times.
Not just deaths by the system. Her family members had tried to kill her, friends too.
She was used to receiving malice from others. It had always been that way.
“I don’t understand.”
But Lucart couldn’t understand Shekina. No, he didn’t want to understand.
Death is equal to everyone. No matter how strong a demon is, no matter how great, everyone dies eventually. Lucart was no exception.
That’s why he feared death.
He eliminated those who wanted him dead. He sent those who tried to obstruct his life to the other side. He lived that way.
But this young homunculus, only three years old, talked about death threats as if they were a matter of course. Lucart murmured again that he couldn’t understand and looked down at Shekina.
“Life is precious.”
He sighed briefly and continued.
“If someone tries to harm you, retaliate equally.”
Shekina blinked her large eyes multiple times.
Someone who tries to harm her life.
Too many to count.
In this life, it’s the system guy, then Lucifer. And what about the priests?
Moreover…
‘If the demons return to the demon world, all the homunculus will die.’
Even if they were friendly now, it was because they saw her as a homunculus.
Would Shekina survive if it was known she was human?
‘Never.’
They would surely kill her.
They would say she mocked the demons despite being human.
Shekina smiled bitterly.
“What if it was you, boss?”
“What?”
“What if you tried to kill me, boss?”
Lucart’s expression became more distorted. He looked as if he couldn’t understand what he was hearing.
“Do you think I would harm you?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re the boss.”
“…….….”
Lucart let out a long sigh.
“Such a thing…”.
Then he hesitated for a moment.
Could he say such a thing would never happen?
Could he be certain?
Lucart unknowingly swallowed his words.
“It’s late. Go to bed. We will reach the capital in a few days, so you need to conserve your strength until then.”
Guessing Lucart’s thoughts to some extent, Shekina smiled.
“For me,”
Shekina fiddled with her hands. Her living, moving hands.
“If I can live my own way, I am not afraid of dying.”
Throughout her life, she had faced many unjust deaths.
Deaths not her fault.
Deaths not her choice.
Each time, Shekina felt powerless and resentful.
That’s why now, if she could live properly, that is, choose her life and the moment of her death, she wasn’t afraid of dying.
“I will choose my own death.”
Because now she was living ‘properly.’
Behind Shekina’s bitter smile stood Lucart, with a rigid face.
***
“……What’s they’re talking about?”
Pardes, who had been watching Lucart and Shekina from a second-floor window, spoke.
The twins, who had a snowball fight with Dehan and had come in to warm up, had just finished their baths. They noticed Shekina was missing and found her talking with Lucart.
Both of them had serious expressions, and Pardes, curious about their conversation, used an artifact he had made earlier to eavesdrop.
What he heard was shocking.
– There were traps along the way here. Traps that could have killed you if you weren’t careful.
Traps?
They could have died?
Pardes felt a chill. He hadn’t known anything about it!
But Shekina knew?
– This sort of thing happens all the time. That’s life.
And then he overheard something even more astonishing…
“This is so annoying, seriously.”
Pardes ground his teeth and messed up his bangs.
Shekina is young.
Younger than him.
Why is she so calm about dying? Why doesn’t she care if someone is trying to kill her?
– For me, if I can live my own way, I’m not afraid of dying.
“What nonsense is that?”
Why would she say that? Why is a three-year-old child so indifferent to death? What reason does she have?
His chest felt tight, a corner of his heart ached, and his head throbbed.
To be honest, homunculus are single entities. Even though he and Merdes are twins, their appearances are the only similarity. Their inner components are completely different, so their personalities and abilities are different too.
That’s why they called each other brothers outside, but didn’t truly think of themselves that way. Brothers? They were just artificial beings with no shared blood.
So even though Shekina became their youngest sister, he only found her cute. A cute and interesting child. That’s all he thought.
But it was strange.
As time passed, Shekina grew more endearing. He became worried about her, wanted to protect her, and found her even more lovable. So the idea of Shekina talking about ‘death’ terrified Pardes.
“Brother. What are you doing?”
At that moment, Merdes, who had just finished his bath, approached. He tilted his head and rested it on Pardes’ shoulder.
“Is that Shekina? What’s she doing there? And why is the Demon King with her?”
Pardes opened his mouth to answer the curious Merdes.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“What do you think would happen if I died?”
“If you died?”
Merdes pursed his lips and pondered.
Pardes thought it was a strange question to consider, but he waited patiently, not fully understanding the emotions that came with imagining Merdes’ death.
“I don’t know. I guess I’d have to wait until it happens to find out.”
“Right?”
Pardes nodded. Then he asked the real question he wanted to ask.
“What about Shekina?”
“Not Shekina! Why would she die? She can’t die!”
As Pardes expected, Merdes was horrified and shouted. Pardes smiled broadly.
“Yeah. I knew it. I’m not crazy.”
“Why? What’s wrong? Did something happen to Shekina? Is the Demon King doing something to her?”
“Shut up. Go away.”
“Hey, brother!”
Pardes pushed Merdes’ face away and focused on Shekina again.
Shekina, who looked somewhat exhausted.
“Watch closely, Sekina. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”
Now that his feelings were clear, their mission was evident.
***
Two days later, they arrived at the capital together.
“Guard duty complete!”
“Complete! But the job’s not over!”
“Keep protecting her!”
Came the enthusiastic shouts,
“If everything just goes to hell…”
And Shekina’s drained voice, sounding utterly exhausted.
