23-23 Cursed Child (1/2)

Today was the first time the boy had ever killed anyone.

”Can you ...... do it well, ......?

The boy was terrified.

The boy was afraid to see blood, even though he was a demon, a being with the cursed blood of the demon race, which is hated by everyone in this world.

To see blood.

Because it was to see his own blood.

Ever since he was born, he was beaten, kicked, and not treated like a human being.

If I say something, they hit me.

If you make eye contact, they hit you.

Even if he didn't say anything, just by being there, he would always be kicked.

He was born that way.

Sometimes I wondered.

Why was I being treated so badly?

I've wondered.

But I never said it out loud.

Once, when he did, he was beaten so badly that his face changed shape and he was left with only water for three days.

He was beaten so badly that his face changed shape.

But he did not want to do it to others.

Because he knew the pain of doing it.

It wasn't that he was particularly compassionate or sensitive to other people's feelings.

It was fundamentally different from that.

The boy ”knows” what the other person is thinking.

If he wants to, he can see what is going on in the other person's mind.

Therefore, when this is known, the boy is further oppressed.

I can't believe I know what they're thinking.

They'll know how I feel.

They'd know.

The secret's out.

That's why it's creepy, scary, unpleasant.

A creature that looks like a person, but is really creepy.

That's why they're called .......

They were shunned and isolated, and the number of times they were beaten severely just for looking at them increased.

And so the boy was hated and beaten at every turn.

To be beaten for a reason.

To be kicked and stomped on for no reason.

That was the norm.

Kicked and punched over and over again, on a daily basis.

The sensation of pain became ingrained in his body.

So it never occurred to the boy to do it to others.

He didn't even want to be hit himself, but he didn't want to make the other person feel the same thing.

For a child who could ”feel” the other person, it was a double pain.

So the boy has never hurt anyone.

No matter how badly he was hit, it was better than hitting himself.

That's how I've lived my life.

But today I have to do it.

I have to not only hurt you, I have to kill you.

Otherwise, they'll hurt you worse.

Not just you, but the other slaves, all of them.

So you have to kill them.

”Do as I say, and I'll give you a good meal.

Because that's what the man said.

So we have to kill them.

Every last one of them. Every adult, every child. Everyone.

Then you won't hit me for no reason anymore.

And I'll feed you a good meal every day.

Because that man promised me that.

That man beats himself.

He hits all of us.

But he's never failed to keep a promise before.

If he broke a promise, he got beat up.

When he keeps his word, he's praised.

So I kill.

Because of a promise.

I could never read that man's mind.

It was like he was using some magical tool to do it.

It happened all the time.

But he promised me.

And today I can be of service to others.

I'm proud to think that.

I might die today.

But I can help my country.

I'm proud of that.

You should be proud of that.

That's what they told me when I left.

A country called the Magical Empire that has neglected and oppressed you and us since we were born.