133 133 "Important Being" (1/2)

”Haha ...... haha ...... haha ......

The boy was running alone in the night desert.

Many times along the way he gets caught in the sand and falls down, but still he stands up and runs across the night desert.

He was away from the palace he was in, away from the city, and through the desert.

Running aimlessly. But he runs in a direction as if he knows where he's going.

Haha ......ha ...... mom ...... dad ......

With tears in the corner of his eyes, the boy Shin mutters.

The mother and father in his mutterings are not really his parents.

His father is unknown, and his mother is already dead.

And Shin is traumatized by his mother's death.

The manticores, who are supposed to be demons, pick Shin up in the desert.

They helped Shin live with his own mother as the manticore.

But the manticore that had taken his place died.

At that time, Shin remembered the trauma of losing his mother and shut himself away, preferring to die a debilitating death.

But he was able to regain consciousness thanks to his sister and Kyou and others.

But that doesn't erase the trauma of the detached palace where his own mother died.

I want to run away.

Shin was running through the desert with that one thought in mind.

He doesn't belong in that palace. The manticore that found him was where he belonged.

And so, as he ran through the nighttime desert, Shin saw a shadow of something.

As Shin gets closer, the figure becomes clearer and clearer, and by the time he recognizes the shape, Shin has a smile on his face.

”...... Dad!

It was the half of the manticore that had picked up Shin.

He'd been watching near the city since he'd left Shin in Kyou's care.

There's no way Shin would mistake the manticore that has raised him, so he smiles and makes his way toward the demon at once.

But the next moment came to Shin with a shock that belied his expectations.

Stop right there. Human.

Countless needles shoot out from the manticore's tail.

It shoots toward Shin's feet as he is about to run up to it, and when Shin sees it, he stops in place as if he were frozen.

...... Huh?

The events in front of you are stunned, and you open your mouth.

However, the words from the manticore are hard for him to believe, as if to drive home the point.

”Do not come near me comfortably, human.

These were words that she couldn't imagine from the manticore that had raised her as a father figure.

These cold words, as if to a stranger, pierced Shin's heart.

Why ...... why ...... why, dad ......?

As Shin, spilling tears, tried to waddle closer, the manticore's poisonous needle is released again at his feet.

I told you to stay away. I told you to stay away...any closer and you're dead. Human.

”------

The words spoken by the being who should have been your father's replacement.

It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with them.

It's not just a matter of time before you are able to get your hands on a new pair of shoes. ...!

But even so, Shin tried to approach the manticore in front of him, and at the moment when he walked to the point where their hands touched, he saw the manticore in front of him sighing, and when Shin saw that, he had a look of relief on his face--

I warned you about ....... Don't hate me.

The next moment, the manticore turns its murderous face and shoots the poisonous needle from its tail at Shin's body.

......!

Looking at the countless poisonous needles approaching from in front of him, Shin felt himself despairing, but somewhere inside, he felt a sense of relief.

Why was he relieved for a moment when he might die from this?

As if seeing through the question, a manticore voice arrives.

”I don't know what you're running from, but ...... it's not fair to ask me for that escape.

(...... escape ......?)

Those words from the Manticore make Shin wonder in his mind.

What am I running away from?

From that detached palace?　From the trauma that happened over there?

The people over there, from the servants and royalty?

Looking at the poisonous needle approaching, Shin reflected on the events up to that point like a lantern.

It's true that the place was traumatic for me.

But it wasn't just that.

There were also happy times there. I remember the warmth I felt with my family.

The moment my sister wrapped herself around me, I stopped shaking, but only slightly.

But when she accepted a duel with her brother, Masoudha, to defend her, I trembled with fear again.