His appearance was a complete mess. He was covered in dirt, had scratches all over, and his wrappings were tattered. On top of that, he looked like he’d been drenched in all kinds of blood from whatever he’d been doing.
But despite all that, I understood why he was called pretty. Brilliant golden light peeked through here and there in his tangled and matted hair, his body was well-built, and his face was quite handsome. If I wash and dress him properly, he’d probably look radiant.
—Progenitor worked hard! Cheer up!
“Mm… Yeah, thanks.”
I guess because I’d been so angry and irritable lately, they felt I needed something good. Our kids are all connected to me, so when I’m having a hard time, that’s transmitted to them as well and makes them suffer too.
“The timing seems really off, but… I guess they thought about it, in their own way?”
“Haah, to pick this up right after causing all that chaos just yesterday.”
This is troublesome in many ways. When I asked where they picked him up, they said near Havi’s burrow. There were apparently a few more there, but they all died. They picked this one up because at least it was alive and pretty. Anyway, they picked him up right nearby. At those words, Havi was startled and said,
“Good grief. So while you were going down to chase them away, they crossed paths and climbed up? Don’t tell me this is one of those crazy ones from last time?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so though.”
Our children’s words are fragmentary. They saw him climbing up, but don’t know the reason. Well, that would be the humans’ business. Since everything else died except this one, I can’t even ask. I sighed and breathed a bit of energy into the dying human.
“Can’t be helped. I’ll have to keep this alive for now. I’ll ask when he wakes up.”
I could just kill and dispose of him, but I wasn’t readily inclined to. He was definitely pretty. Besides, our kid picked him up thinking of me, so it’d feel bad to squash him right in front of them.
Havi, who had been glaring at the human with a crumpled expression, also sighed and stood up.
“Leaving already?”
“There are human corpses in front of my burrow. I need to go clean them up quickly.”
“Ah… Right. Go with our kids. They’ll help you clean up.”
I attached three Dryads to Havi who was going home. To help clean the house together. Anyway, humans really only cause trouble in all sorts of ways.
***
What’s already been picked up can’t be helped. I should also find out why he came, and he is pretty to look at right now. I roughly washed the human man the Dryad picked up and rewrapped him. Since he’s an adult, none of the children’s clothes I had fit, so I rolled up some silk wrappings I’d received a very long time ago.
“Ah, I can’t even stay angry at this.”
Our kids’ tastes are slightly off from mine, but still, I can’t deny this is pretty. Maybe because I roughly patched up the scratches, he looks fine on the surface. After washing and wrapping him nicely, he’s quite radiant.
Sparkling golden hair like sunlight, firm and smooth skin, clean-cut lines gracefully extended. His eyes are closed, but his eye color is the very clear color of an autumn sky. Really clear and transparent, which is why it’s pretty. I poked the cheeks of the thing lying still.
“Will Miros and Raha become like this when they’re adults too?”
Since those two were hatchlings, they did have an unripe, fragile feeling. If I compare them to fruit, should I call them unripe fruit? The feeling where you can eat it but it has a green taste and is crunchy. I don’t know how to explain humans. Anyway, there was definitely a feeling that they weren’t fully grown. Especially Raha was severely overgrown.
I’ll really be careful this time. I only breathed in enough energy to barely patch up the scratches. If he can’t wake up like this and dies, that really can’t be helped. I won’t make the same mistake again. No, actually, it might not be something I need to worry about. Anyway, anyone can see this is a fully grown adult. That means he’ll have a certain degree of personality completed. He won’t be an immature individual like Miros who’d follow me like a mother, and he won’t be fragile like Raha to be crazy about me.
Right, this one is quite sturdy. So he won’t die easily at this level. When he wakes up, I’ll ask why he came and send him back right away.
But when will he wake up? Waiting is boring.
***
The human man opened his eyes a few more days later. As soon as he opened his eyes, I immediately asked,
“Who are you? Why did you come here?”
“…Where is, this…”
“My nest.”
The man looked confused. Well, of course. He was on the verge of death, and then suddenly woke up in my nest. I can understand. The man crumpled his face severely and clutched his head. I calmly waited for him to open his mouth.
He made groaning sounds and looked up at me. His half-closed eyes gradually widened, and his mouth opened. The hand that had been holding his head awkwardly fell away and hung in the air. Why is he acting like that? Oh, I forgot.
It’s because of my current appearance. He’d be surprised since I’m in my true form. I put on human form again after a long time. Did he die standing? When I waved my hand in front of his eyes, he finally started gasping for breath. Soon his gaze followed down very slowly. That’s a relief. At least he’s an adult so he didn’t die right away.
“Hello? Are you coming to your senses now? Why did you come?”
“Th-that’s… you, no, this, also not, so…”
“What’s your name? What happened? Why were you dying?”
“Dy-dying? I am, so, that is… dead, am, I?”
“No, you didn’t die. Sorry, I shortened my words too much. You almost died. I saved you.”
“Dead, alive, I am, so that is… ugh…!?”
He let out a pained groan and clutched his head with both hands. Huh? That’s strange. He should be fully recovered though? Does his head hurt? Why? I examined the thing writhing in inexplicable pain from various angles. Regardless of my questions, he screamed and rolled around unsightly.
—Kids, why is he acting like this?
Of all days, Havi didn’t come to visit today either. That means there’s no one to ask. I tried resonating with the Dryads nearby, but they just shook their heads with bewildered faces. They have no idea either.
After rolling around like that for a while, he barely managed to sit up. His head still seemed to hurt as he pressed it firmly with one hand while rolling his eyes around. Then he looked at me with a completely stupid face and opened his mouth.
“Who are, you?”
“You came to my territory, toward my nest, and you didn’t even know that?”
“…I don’t, know.”
“You called me ‘Levia-Rishian.'”
“You don’t, know either, do you?”
“No. There’s no way. I’m telling you that’s how you call me. My name cannot be expressed with your vocal organs.”
“…I have no idea what you’re saying.”
“Then just call me Levia-Rishian. That will be my name to you.”
What does a designation matter anyway? I had a feeling something was strange. Since that rude human army from before, there haven’t been any humans who came into my territory, especially this deep. Particularly not ones who came this close to the nest. There were many who crept in nibbling away like peanuts from the bottom though.
But to come all the way here and not know me—that’s strange, isn’t it? No, even if I concede a hundred times, he might not recognize my appearance. If he’s never actually seen it before. Humans are creatures that only recognize things they’ve seen directly. Even so, isn’t this too unreasonable?
“How ridiculous did you think I was?”
“Wa-wait a moment… Please wait. I have no idea, what you’re, what you, are saying, right now.”
At my question, he only makes sounds like he’s dying. He barely managed to speak, but it’s a mess. I’m slowly getting annoyed too.
“Why don’t humans answer when asked once? What do you really take me for?”
I kept him alive because his appearance was pretty and I was curious why he came all the way here. Honestly speaking, I kept him alive because he’s pretty. But no matter how pretty, if he acts this frustrating, it’s aggravating. He can’t seem to absorb what I’m saying, doesn’t answer my questions, and just makes whining sounds while rolling his eyes, which is even impudent.
“Don’t make me repeat the same thing. Before I kill you. Who are you? Why did you come here?”
Now even my words don’t come out nicely. When I snapped with a sharp voice, the man looked at me with a blank face and barely spat out words.
“I am… who?”
“…What? Are you joking?”
“Where is, this?”
At his words, I didn’t know what expression to make. Why is he acting like this now?
***
How many people do I know anyway? Especially ones I can call immediately who know humans well. Very regrettably, I forcibly dragged Havi over again.
“Ah, seriously. I said I was going to play in the water for a few days while the weather’s nice.”
“I don’t know why this is acting like this. It’s not in the books either. What should I do?”
“…Really, you’re being so annoying.”
That thing’s, the human man’s condition was really strange. He said he doesn’t know his own name and doesn’t know why he came. I wondered why he was acting like this, but it wasn’t a lie either. I could tell right away because there was no wavering in his soul. This human really doesn’t know anything.
He clearly could speak and knew how to eat, but some information wasn’t being output properly. In the end, anxious, I grabbed Havi who was playing in the water.
Havi came along shaking water off furiously and expressing all sorts of annoyance as I dragged him. Havi, who had been asking the human various things and examining him from different angles, sighed and said,
“I’m not sure, but it seems like amnesia.”
“Amnesia? I didn’t touch anything though?”
“No, that’s… humans are fragile, right?”
“Uh, well… That’s true.”
And Havi’s explanation continued. A human’s mind is very fragile and delicate, so sometimes if the shock is big, memories can be lost. At those words, I didn’t know what expression to make.
“I worked so hard to erase our kids’ memories, and there was such a method?”
“It doesn’t work on everyone. It’s random. Like the probability of lightning striking on a clear day. Most die before that. If you’re going to kill them trying to erase memories, what did you go through all that trouble for? You went through the effort because you didn’t want to kill them either.”
“So in short, this human almost died and came back to life, but was also unlucky enough to have some memories lost?”
“That’s it. It doesn’t seem like a lie.”
What is this? The wait was for nothing. The human man was still rolling his eyes with a stupid face. I’m annoyed, but his face is still pretty so I’m not angry. As expected, pretty is the best.
“Should I just throw him out?”
“Do as you like. If you throw him out now, he’ll die though.”
“…Will he die?”
“I don’t know how far back his memories go, and it’d be a bit hard for a human to go down from here alone, wouldn’t it? Looking at him, he’s obviously going to starve to death on the way down.”
“If something pretty dies, I think I’ll be a bit bothered…”
It doesn’t really matter if he dies, but I can’t say I won’t care at all. I at least wanted to know why he came. No, if he weren’t pretty, I wouldn’t have kept him alive, so is that a meaningless hypothetical?
Then, the human who had been sitting quietly and watching carefully opened his mouth slightly.
