Monsters and demonic beasts attack people. That was an indisputable proposition. It had been that way for hundreds of years, and he’d thought it was a proposition that would never be broken in the future either.
But now an exception had appeared right before his eyes.
Taeyon tensed his muscles tightly as if ready to leap out at any moment and asked the woman.
“What are you? Are you a demonic beast too?”
She looked human. To be precise, she looked like a white fox beastkin. However, considering the unique and strange patterns the demonic beasts had shown recently, there was no law saying there couldn’t be a demonic beast that looked human, could speak, and could command other demonic beasts.
The woman slowly looked at Kaniel behind Taeyon, then unfastened and held out a cloak thickly covered with fur. Though she wore nothing beneath it but a thin dress, she didn’t tremble in the slightest.
“First, it would be best to have that person put this on.”
“…I believe I asked what your identity was.”
“I’m human.”
“I’ve never heard of humans handling demonic beasts.”
Taeyon spoke sharply in a low voice. The idea of humans and demonic beasts getting along intimately was unpleasant to the point of being chilling.
After a moment of silence, the woman turned her gaze and smiled faintly while stroking the winged cat.
“Haven’t you heard that such an ability exists? I’m an ability user. I’ve tamed this one and keep it as a guard.”
“A guard?”
“The forest is a harsh place for a woman to live alone.”
Then she held the cloak out further. Kaniel shook his head at Taeyon, who looked back at him. He was trying to insist there was no need to make such a decision because of him, but seeing that, Taeyon instead took three steps forward and accepted the cloak as if he’d made up his mind.
Needless to say, the cloak was immediately draped over Kaniel’s shoulders. At his murmured “I’m sorry,” Taeyon smiled slightly and shook his head, then tied the cloak’s strings.
“Thank you for the cloak.”
“Will you come to my cabin?”
It was a suspicious invitation. The way she’d appeared here was suspicious, the fact that she lived alone in this forest by herself as she claimed was suspicious, and the sudden invitation was suspicious. Normally he wouldn’t have paid any attention to such a strange invitation.
“It’s merely goodwill. If you don’t want to, I’ll withdraw now.”
“…No. I’ll gladly accept your invitation.”
But right now Taeyon had Kaniel to look after. And he was shivering from the cold at that.
And so Kaniel and Taeyon came to visit the home of a woman who was exactly like a witch from a children’s fairy tale.
* * *
As soon as they entered the cabin, warmth could be felt. It was thanks to firewood burning in the fireplace.
“I’ll bring out tea, so please sit in front of the fireplace.”
The first to claim the spot in front of the fireplace was the winged cat. The cat, having gone to lie down in the warmest place, yawned widely then took out a ball of yarn from a basket and started tapping it with its front paws. Judging by its actions alone, it seemed like a real cat rather than a demonic beast.
However, Taeyon didn’t let his guard down. That was a monster that could transform into something huge and attack others at any time.
“Ah, it’s warm…”
Following that, Kaniel went to squat in front of the fireplace. It was hot and dry, but right now that was just right. If they’d stayed in that cave a little longer, he might have gotten frostbite.
As he warmed his hands and feet, Taeyon approached and sat down as if to block the space between him and the cat.
“Taeyon, you should warm yourself by the fire too.”
“Mm.”
Thinking that Taeyon’s body must have gotten cold after walking around bare-chested the whole time, Kaniel pulled his hand and brought it close to the fireplace. But surprisingly, Taeyon’s hand was much warmer than Kaniel’s.
Could it be that beastkin don’t feel the cold well? Of course, thinking of their animal forms, they had lots of fur so it seemed like they wouldn’t feel the cold much. But right now he was in beastkin form, so aside from having ears and a tail, there wasn’t much difference from humans, right?
As he fumbled in confusion, Taeyon took his hands and started massaging them.
“No, it’s fine, I’m fine…!”
“They’re cold.”
“They’ll warm up soon.”
“They’ll warm up faster like this.”
He was a man impossible to win against with words.
The problem was that Kaniel didn’t want to win either. He wasn’t particularly good-natured himself, but strangely with Taeyon, he wanted to be obediently well-behaved.
That was a different kind of desire, going beyond the desire to prove he was helpful and act so as not to be abandoned. However, Kaniel himself didn’t realize this fact.
He just thought that Taeyon was someone who, though he seemed cold at first, became this affectionate when you got close to him.
Surely he’s just as affectionate to other people too.
“It’s warm herb tea.”
The woman who brought out crude teacups on a tray handed two cups to Taeyon and set down a teacup for the cat on the floor. It seemed to be milk. Normally cats shouldn’t drink milk, but since it was a demonic beast, maybe it was okay.
Kaniel also naturally reached out his hand to receive a teacup, but strangely Taeyon didn’t give it to him right away. He only handed it over after the woman sat down and took a sip of her tea.
Even Kaniel, who was dull about such matters, couldn’t help but notice that Taeyon was wary of the woman. Yet the woman merely maintained her expressionless face calmly.
“Aren’t you worried poison might be smeared on the teacup?”
“……”
“I’m joking.”
“You have no talent for jokes.”
At the cold retort, the woman shrugged.
“By the way, how did you find us?”
That was something Kaniel was curious about too. Though the cave was close to the cabin, it wasn’t a place where signs of presence would be audible.
“There aren’t many monsters in this area, but they still appear from time to time and mess up the surroundings. So I take walks around here morning and evening.”
As she said this, the woman stroked the cat’s head.
“Then this one discovered your footprints.”
It was clear she hadn’t planned to let this pass peacefully at first. Otherwise there would have been no reason to send the cat first. Appearing later to calm the cat was probably because she’d realized only then that they weren’t enemies.
If so, that meant the woman had separate enemies. Enemies that were the reason she had to live hidden alone in this forest.
“I’d like to hear about your ability.”
“What I said earlier is everything.”
“You said you could tame demonic beasts, was it? How safe is that? Isn’t there a possibility of losing control?”
Taeyon’s tone as he spoke had a faint murderous intent mixed in. His wariness was evident.
The woman picked up the cat and moved it onto her lap. The cat, which had complained with a meow at being lifted, once placed on her lap showed its belly and lay down as if pleased.
“In five years, I haven’t lost control even once. She’s not a dangerous child. Since you’ve come as guests, surely you won’t be rude to the homeowner.”
It was a warning that the cat was no different from the owner of this cabin. As she said this while stroking the cat, the woman’s expression was tender and affectionate.
The cat too was enjoying the touch with a pleased expression. Just like the monsters on the Floating Island did.
Kaniel became a bit confused. He’d thought that unlike the Floating Island, monsters on the Surface were ferocious and savage beasts, but there was a demonic beast that wasn’t like that.
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
Taeyon answered while hiding his displeased expression.
Only then did the woman create something like a smile on her face. A woman living alone in a place like this, clutching only one cat demonic beast. What kind of story might she have?
“Then shall we get to the main point now? A snake monster has settled in a pond near here. Will you drive that snake away?”
“Is that the price for providing a warm bed?”
“I’ll also provide a meal and travel supplies. Blankets, cloaks, a tent big enough for two people, and simple cooking utensils as well.”
Those weren’t bad conditions. A meal and warm bed alone would be somewhat of a loss, but with travel supplies added on top, it was enough.
“Fine. I’ll finish it off tomorrow.”
“No. Please drive it away.”
“…I can’t kill it?”
“No. You just need to send it far away so it can’t return here.”
“You know that’s harder, right?”
The woman smiled knowingly.
Well, if she just wanted it killed, she could have the cat demonic beast do it.
Since capturing a living thing is several times harder than killing it, she must have proposed this deal to a person on purpose. Though as someone who disliked monsters, it was something Taeyon didn’t want to do—to drive away a demonic beast without killing it—travel supplies were necessary to leave this place safely.
“Understood. I’ll drive it away.”
“Then for now… let’s treat your wounds first.”
“Thank you.”
The woman, who’d brought a medicine box from somewhere, crushed medicinal herbs and applied the juice to Kaniel’s bruised knees and scratched wounds.
It stung a little, but Kaniel behaved obediently.
The woman checked Kaniel’s wrist, then looking at the bracelet and the scratched wounds near it, asked.
