♣To Live With Strength
♣To Live With Strength
EDESA KURA had a nasty habit of abducting and enslaving travelers. I, too, had the misfortune of being captured—as a “rare breed of animal.” They tied me up, threw me into a jute bag, and carried me off to a concentration camp.
There, I met a girl who called out to me. Moné.
She, along with her parents and older twin brother, made their living as traveling minstrels. Her dances were simple ones, and the songs she could sing were rather short. But seeing a girl her age earnestly try to perform was an adorable enough sight to warm hearts and loosen the purse strings of any adult.
Yes, Moné was a sweet girl. Despite being imprisoned in a concentration camp where screams of agony were constantly heard, she cared for me. She gave me a name: Mujimuji. She’d patted me lovingly. And all this despite me being a far cry from what one would call cute.
She and her brother had been separated from their parents and thrown in a cell. Even then, she’d secretly, silently practice her dancing to distract herself. I wondered to myself how long she’d have to live like this. I was one thing, but Moné and her brother, René, were far too young to go through this.
Such small children shouldn’t be separated from their parents, to say nothing of being thrown in a prison cell. Edesa Kura was an unforgivable country. I understood fully now why my mother had loathed that country so much.
The day after I’d reached that conclusion, René was dragged out of their cell by a stone-faced soldier. It was only by clinging together that these two were able to comfort one another amidst the pain of being separated from their parents. The mere act of separating them from their parents was terrible in and of itself, but would they go so far as to separate the children themselves?
If only I’d been bigger, more mature…I never would’ve allowed it. But sadly, I was still a child myself: only slightly older than these two. In human years, I was only fifteen years old, sixteen at best.
As he was dragged off, René shouted at me to keep Moné safe. Moné clung to the bars and called for her brother as the door mercilessly slammed shut. The other prisoners chided her, telling her not to anger the guards. And so, Moné returned to her hard bed, weeping bitter tears.
Five hours later, the door suddenly reopened.
“Moné!”
“D-Daddy!”
“Are you all right?! Oh, thank goodness… Don’t worry, we’ll leave soon! René’s behind that purple door! I have to go save Mommy, all right? Everyone, run! There’s a fire!”
Moné’s father had opened all the prison cell doors with a key. The other prisoners ran for their lives, leaving me, Moné, and her father behind. But her father was a brave man. And he willingly ran back into this burning nightmare to rescue his wife.
“I’ll come with you!” she told him.
“No! Go save René and then get out of here as fast as you can! Don’t worry! As long as we survive, we’ll meet again! Get out of here and head for De Marl! That’s the safest country for you!”
“Daddy!”
“Mujimuji, take care of René and Moné!” her father told me as he left.
“Wait, don’t go! Don’t leave me all alone! Daddy!”
We ran out into the corridor. The stench of the smoke was suffocating. There really was a fire. And prisoners and guards alike were running in the opposite direction of the smoke. Only Moné’s father headed back into the blaze.
The scent of the fire and smoke was getting closer. It was dangerous to be there, and while I didn’t know precisely what’d happened, I did know we needed to flee outside as soon as we could.
“Mujimuji! Muji! Muji!”
Moné, you must do as your father says. We must find the purple door quickly!
I tugged on Moné’s tattered cloth gown, trying to relay my thoughts. With tears running down her cheeks, she wiped her eyes with one hand and whispered, “…The purple door.”
Yes, let’s find the purple door and save René as soon as we can!
…Assuming he’s still all right…
“Aaah, ooh… Kha, kha…!” she coughed from the smoke.
“Mujimuji, mujimuji!” I cheered her on.
“There…the purple door… René, René!”
Finding the right door, Moné opened it. I could smell René…or rather, his blood. We found him lying on a bed with a red stone buried into his forehead. It was awful…!
Thankfully, the stone wasn’t poisoned in any way. It was just a red glass stone. Why would they force that into a child’s body…?
“Mujimuji! Mujimuji!” I squeaked at the boy, trying to wake him up.
“René! René, wake up! Ngha!” Moné coughed as she tried to rouse her brother.
“Ugh…”
The smoke is coming here, too…! Hurry, let’s go! The heat’s closing in on us! And what’s this odd feeling…?! Are there monsters nearby?!
It was rather likely they were. Monsters are drawn to highly populated areas with a lot of negative emotions. A large place with a lot of people fleeing in fear would be what they were looking for!
“Muji! Muji!” I urged her.
“…Yeah, I know! Nnnng!” She picked René up.
Supporting his weight between us, we managed to leave the room. The fire was close, which was very bad. If there were any flammable liquids around, this room could explode at any second. We had to run… I could smell the scent of charred flesh.
“Mujimuji!”
Over here! I can smell the outside air! Keep going, Moné! You have to get outside so you can meet your parents again!
“René! Moné!”
“Daddy! Mommy!”
“Oh, thank goodness… You two are all right…!”
It’s their parents! We were lucky enough to find them as soon as we left the room. This must be fate’s way of rewarding Moné’s kindness! But still, René was terribly ill, and their mother soon realized this. She kneeled before her children and wept, running her hand over his forehead. The sheer cruelty of doing this to a child…! I was enraged.
“There they are! Don’t let them escape!”
“Kuh! Enofa, take Mujimuji and the kids and run! I’ll distract them!”
“What are you saying?! The fire’s still spreading! Let’s hurry and run!”
“…The monsters locked up here escaped. They want to use us as bait for the monsters so they can escape safely themselves… You understand?”
“Ah!”
“Daddy…?” Moné looked to her father.
“Muji…”
No… He can’t mean to… No! He’s throwing himself against monsters for his wife and children? And there are monsters inside here, too?
No, you can’t, Moné’s Father! No number of people can defeat a monster! Not even us Mythicals can truly defeat them! You won’t survive if you do this!
“Don’t worry. We’ll meet again in De Marl. We’ll be safe there. Don’t worry about that rock either. Their medicine is advanced. I’m sure they’ll take it out of René’s forehead.”
“…Fine. But you have to make it, no matter what!” Moné’s mother said.
“I will.”
The parents embraced one last time, and the mother led her children and me to the entrance. But as we ran, the flames finally blocked our path.
“Ugh! Ah…Moné!”
“Mommy?!”
The mother took the children and me and hid in a nearby room. Thankfully, it had a window. But it had a lattice over it, preventing us from passing. Just as I was wondering what we could do about it, she began casting a spell.
“Air Mass!”
A lump of condensed air blew the lattice off the window frame. But it was…
“You can get out through here! Hurry!”
“Mommy! Mommy!”
She let Moné out first, then pushed René through the window. As she did, she spoke to me.
“Mujimuji, please! Watch over those two! You must be a Mythical, right? Help them escape…! Take them to De Marl…and if De Marl is no good, go to a roadside inn called the Rofola Lodge! Please! There’s a skilled apothecary there; I’m sure she’ll be able to do something about René’s forehead. Please…!”
She wept, imploring me—an infant like me. Yes, I might be older than these little ones, but I’m still an infant Mythical Beast. The mother embraced me and punctuated her request with one final “please,” before giving me a push to leave.
Even with the lattice broken, the window was small. Too small for an adult to pass through. Only a child could’ve passed through it.
“Run, Moné! Mujimuji will guide you somewhere safe! Take care of René! I’ll go back and bring Daddy…!”
“M-Mommy! Mommy!” Moné called out after her.
“…You have to survive…”
“Aah…!”
The smoke approached, growing larger by the second, blocking the mother’s face from view. The flames then flared up with the loud crack of burning wood. A pillar of fire burst out the window. Something flammable must have burst into flames, making every other flammable object in the room catch fire…
“M-Muji…!” I urged Moné.
She got to her feet, pulling her brother by the arm as she headed to the plains. Her expression was blank, and there was no light to her eyes.
Why? Why did such a sweet little girl have to be put through this?! Is this what the human continent is like…? Is the world really this terrible?!
“Muji muji! Mujiiii!” I cried at Moné, spurring her ahead.
“Haa, haa… Haa, haa… Ah…!”
As soon as we left the facility grounds, we found something staring at us with countless eyeballs. A monster.
No, wait…a zombie!
“Ah…!” Moné gasped in fear.
What’s a zombie doing here?! But I couldn’t dwell on this question.
We have to run, fast!
“No, no… Help me… Somebody help me… Mommy… Daddy…! Please, somebody help us!”
After that, we were miraculously saved. The zombie was so focused on toying with us that it gave us the chance we needed to run into someone strong enough to stop it. But even so, I thought the frustration smoldering in my heart would never die down.
My heart was so moved by this human child. Even as she ran, her face streaked with tears and covered in blood, soot, and mud, I could do nothing except to only cry alongside her.
I might be an infant, but I’m still the lowest grade Mythical Beast. And despite this, I could do nothing to protect a human child so much younger than me.
“Just the unusual creature I was looking for.”
“…!”
When we reached that Regalia place, René and Moné were given medical care, and I came along with them. There I was spoken to by the man who had assisted the heroes who’d tried to save us.
René and Moné were still asleep. I sat curled up with my eyes open in their room. I hopped to my feet when I saw I was in the presence of the most powerful one.
“Mujimuji!”
“Yes, they’re away right now. You were the one who called me to that place, right?”
“Mujimuji, muji! Mujimujimuji!”
“Not at all. If anything, I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to you, I found the one I was looking for.”
But despite those words, his expression was dark. This was the strongest Mythical Beast on the Mythical continent—Master Renge! He’d come to the human continent to find a proper wielder of the Stella. The wielder of the Stella must have a special heart and body, I knew that much.
I’d happened to know there was another Mythical around. So I’d used my cry to call to him and inform him of our plight. But I’d never expected the strongest Mythical Beast in the world to come to my aid. Calling it luck was an understatement.
Again, this must be Moné being rewarded for her kind heart. I’m sure of it. Still, my brother should’ve been with Master Renge. When I asked where he was, Master Renge said they were working separately at the moment.
Besides…he might be my brother, but unlike me, he’s a direct descendant of King Curalius. And me…I’m a dragon who was merely hatched from an egg that fractured off of King Curalius’s tail. My brother, who was born of an egg she laid during spawning season, is worthy of being called a direct offspring. But not me…
“So, what will you do?” Master Renge asked me. “To begin with, what are you even doing here? I can’t imagine King Curalius would let an infant like you leave the Mythical continent.”
“Mujimuji.”
“I see. You fell into an illusion pool and got separated from her. Illusion pools do send you to completely random places and appear at random times.”
“Mujimuji, muji, mujimuji, mujimujimuji!”
“I see… I’ll talk with King Curalius about it for you, then. I think it’s a good idea, personally. It’ll be a good way for you to grow and learn more.”
“Mujimuji!”
I bowed my head to him thankfully. I decided I’d keep Moné and René safe until both of them died. Their parents asked me to take care of them, and I’m sure that was something they wished they could’ve done themselves. They were pressed hard enough to put their trust in me, even though I was a strange, incomprehensible creature to them. In which case, I had a duty to meet their trust.
You can rest in peace, Moné and René’s parents. I will grow strong and protect your hatchlings. After all, I’m an infant of the dragon clan of Mushufushu—the species that reigns supreme over this world.
♣♣♣
AFTER that, Moné and René got better, and we became employees at the Rofola Lodge for the family that’d helped us. Well, I say employees, but it was in name only. Of course, being the earnest children that they are, Moné and René didn’t hesitate to help out. But since they were still small children, the family took them in and assumed the role of their guardians.
If I was a human adult, I would’ve taken them in and raised them myself. But… well, I’m neither. But really, humans grow up so quickly. It only took a year for the girl that’d saved Moné and René, Tinaris, to become the new Holy Woman and move into Fort Deshmel. And the twins turned eight.
“Here’s your order!”
“Thank you, Moné. Good on you; you got the orders right.”
“I was a little sad to see Tinaris and Nakona get older… But seeing a little girl work so hard gives me the strength to work harder, too!”
“You’re being a creep. But Moné and René really are working hard here! I’ll give you a generous tip.”
“Oh, thank you!”
The customers of the inn watched Moné and René work with delighted eyes. If only I had human limbs, I could help out around the inn, too. But I can at least—
“Oh, it’s so cute! What is this little thing!?”
“Mujimuji!”
“Ahaha, it’s got a funny cry! Are you the inn’s pet?”
“I’ve heard rumors this inn has this weird pet! That’s why I came to check the place out! But really, what are you, you little thing…?”
“It’s cute, though! Its fur is so soft. Gosh, it’s so cuddly!”
“And sweet!”
I can do this. Loiter around the inn’s sign and draw travelers—mostly women—to the inn. And then I’ll lie down on the wooden deck and offer them emotional support! I can’t do much, but I can do something!
“Say, have they stopped selling medicine here? When Tinaris was around, they’d sell medicine here all the time,” one of the guests asked Nakona over the counter.
Nakona, who was checking the guest register, looked up and said, “We still have some.” But her attitude was far from welcoming.
Her lack of enthusiasm was understandable. The Rofola Lodge’s medicine was handmade by Tinaris and was much more effective than most medicines. They always sold very well, and the stockpile ran out rather quickly. This meant that the inn’s current stock of medicine was lacking. Hence her dissatisfied expression.
“I’d like five low-grade tonics.”
“I’m sorry. Low-grade tonics are in high demand, so we only have two of them left in stock.”
“I-I see. Then I’ll take those and one medium-grade tonic.”
“Thank you for your patronage.”
“I’d like one medium-grade tonic, too. And do you have any antidotes?”
“You got it! You’re in luck; it’s our last antidote.”
When one guest asked for medicine, other people started flocking to the counter and asking to buy some too. But sadly, we didn’t have enough to meet their demand. So soon enough, we ran out of stock.
“W-We’re sold out! No more medicine!” Nakona announced, raising her hands.
The customers who hadn’t managed to buy any in time dropped their shoulders. They started asking when we’d renew the stock and when Tinaris would come back.
Tinaris’s cooking and medicines were the inn’s strongest selling points. Nakona could cook too, but she was more suited to heavy lifting. If we ran out of medicine, prospective guests might lose interest.
“Okay, okay, settle down, please! I’ll take your orders for medicine and give them to Tina. Write what medicine you need and how many bottles and then sign it. I’ll give you a claim tag, so don’t just jot it down and leave, understood?”
“Oh. I appreciate it!”
Nakona handled it all well. She wrote stuff down on an order form and made some claim tags. Her idea was to send these forms to Tinaris at Fort Deshmel and have her send the medicine back. A smart idea.
“……”
I spotted Moné staring at Nakona. What is she thinking?
♣♣♣
THAT night. Moné returned to her room and climbed onto her bed, where she spoke to her brother with clenched fists.
“Huh? You want to go gather ingredients…?”
“Yeah! I mean, we need a lot of medicine, or Big Sis Nakona’s gonna be in trouble, right? So…I thought I’d go gather some Duana flowers by the highway.”
Duana flowers are an ingredient used to make the low-grade tonic—or the healing salve, as it’s often called. It’s cheap medicine that’s beloved by travelers. After Tinaris taught her how to brew medicine using alchemy, Moné began aspiring to become an alchemical apothecary just like her.
However, brewing medicine using alchemy isn’t so simple. Tinaris makes it look easy. But that’s because she’s a Spherit Folk. The Spherit Folk can—well, could—freely convert the Air into mana. Being a Spherit Folk lets her forgo the need to use the Spherits, since she is essentially one.
She can basically use mana all she wants. It might not have always worked when she was younger, but now that she’s matured and has the Stella’s power too, there’s probably no medicine beyond her ability to make.
So if Moné was trying to become like her, it’d be a goal higher than Mount Rofola itself. I had every intention of helping her, of course, but I couldn’t blame René for being apprehensive.
The road leading up to the highway was part of the inn, but it was a five-minute walk there. It was a one-way, lightly paved road surrounded by woods. It was dangerous since you could sometimes run into wild animals from the forest.
Wouldn’t the mountain be safer, then? There’s a flower field halfway up there.
René also seemed to remember that, because he asked, “Can’t you just get it from the mountain?”
“I did get ingredients from the mountain before…” Moné started saying, then trailed off.
If she exhausts its supply of plants, she might never be able to collect ingredients there again. Giving up is a wise decision.
“How about Big Sis Tinaris’s herb garden? Can’t you just borrow some from there?” he suggested.
“No, it only has ingredients for medium or high-grade tonics. They’re rare herbs. I can only make low-grade ones, so I probably can’t use them right… And customers want the low-grade ones anyway.”
“Oh…okay then…”
Moné understands the difference. Good for her! She really has been learning and knows how to adjust to both her abilities and the customers’ demands. That’s wonderful!
“So…René, can you handle my chores tomorrow?”
“…Just take Mujimuji with you,” René said grumpily.
“I will! Mujimuji, will you come with me?” Moné asked me.
“Mujimuji!” I agreed.
Of course I will, René! I’ll keep Moné safe. No matter what may come, I will protect her!
I nodded, but René still looked concerned. As young as he was, he still felt a great deal of responsibility as her older brother. His fretting over her was understandable to me.
However, their parents had asked me to watch over them. So he had nothing to worry about.
I will guard you until the day you die. You can sleep easy tonight.
♣♣♣
THE next day, Moné took the day off and left the house for the highway with Nakona’s permission. Normally, it was a five-minute trip, but it’d take much longer while looking for herbs. She probably preferred to look in the woods and near the highway itself, too, but with more monsters popping up, she’d been told it was too dangerous.
So long as she stayed in a place people could reach, Nakona could hurry over and help her if needed. I assumed Moné knew this and would avoid trouble, but you never know…
“Be back before lunch!” Nakona called out.
“Okay!” Moné replied, waving
She headed down the road to the highway. I ran after her, finding her squatting by the roadside in search of herbs.
“Hm, here’re some Lilith and Solan flowers… But I can’t find any Duana…”
The antidote was made from Solan flowers, the antipyretic from Lilith flowers, and the healing salve was made from Duana flowers. Mixing them with water and mana produced those elementary concoctions.
Moné was practicing basic alchemy with these ingredients and water. She couldn’t make them with the same accuracy Tinaris could. She failed sometimes, and her quality wasn’t very high.
Still, the Ril family helped the twins and gave them a roof over their heads and all life’s necessities. Both Moné and René felt quite obliged to them. And so did I, of course. That’s why Moné worked so hard to help out at the inn the Ril family managed and why I was so inclined to help her.
That said…I don’t know the first thing about medicinal herbs!
“Hey, you. What’re you doing over there?” a voice suddenly called.
“Huh?”
“Muji?”
I knew someone was nearby, but I hadn’t expected them to call out to us. A young man, who looked to be breathing heavily, was approaching Moné. He had a sword sheathed at his waist, so I suspected he was some kind of traveler. He’s not thinking of abducting her, is he…?
“Mujimuji!” I barked at him menacingly.
“Whoa, what is that thing?!” the traveler flinched, stepping back.
“Mujimuji, what if it’s a guest?” Moné chided me.
“Mujimuji…” I whined.
Tch. I can’t argue when you put it that way.
I’d jumped between them to scare him away but now walked back to her side. I was still ready to pounce when needed.
“I’m sorry. Are you here for the inn?” Moné asked.
“Yes, I’ve heard the Rofola Lodge was nearby and that they sell medicine. I’m Sax from Fei Lu. My wife’s morning sickness is getting quite bad, and Fei Lu’s doctors recommended your medicine. Do you have anything for morning sickness?”
“M-Morning sickness?”
What kind of sickness is that? I wondered. Moné looked at the man, confused.
“I-I’m sorry… I’m still learning alchemy… I don’t know what ‘morning sickness’ means…”
“O-Oh, I see… I suppose a girl your age wouldn’t know. I’m sorry. When a pregnant woman feels sick, it’s called morning sickness. Different people have different symptoms, and in my wife’s case, she loses her appetite and has swelling in her feet and hands. The vomiting is pretty awful…”
“I-I see…”
Oh, so that’s what human women go through when pregnant. Apparently, as the man explained, other symptoms of morning sickness included fatigue, loss of weight, dizziness, heart palpitations, and constipation. As one approaches their term, the pressure on their internal organs can cause loss of appetite and constant urination, gastritis, and hip pain. All the symptoms this man heard from the doctors sounded quite terrible… And apparently, it was only part of them!
“I-I didn’t know getting pregnant could make you so sick…!” Moné said, visibly rattled.
“Apparently, it can,” the man said, frowning. “I only found out after my wife got pregnant…”
“W-Wow…”
That sounds scary! So that’s what human pregnancy is like… Us Mythicals are usually born from eggs, so I don’t understand why their pregnancy has to be so troublesome.
“I-I’m sorry… I don’t really know much about pregnancy…” Moné apologized.
“Oh, no, it’s fine. Anyway, the Rofola Lodge is that building up ahead, right?”
“Ah, yes. But we don’t have anyone who can brew medicine right now…”
“What?! Oh, no… After I came all the way here…”
I didn’t know where Fei Lu was located, but it didn’t sound very close. By the time he’d get back home, the sun would’ve set, and wild animals become more active during the night. He’d probably be better off staying here.
“Mujimuji, Mujimuji!”
“Hm? Oh, yeah, you’re right! We might still have some medicine in stock, so you should check at the inn anyway.”
That was a very subtle way to persuade him, Moné!
“That’s true… I’d appreciate it if you could show me what you have in stock.”
“I’ll show you the way!”
Moné was very responsible. She escorted the guest to the inn. On the way there, we ran into René, who’d come to get her since it was almost time for lunch. Upon entering the inn, the guest approached Nakona at the counter and asked her about the medicine. But, as expected, we didn’t have the medicine he needed set aside.
Nakona wrote down his order and told him to wait a few more days. The guest said he’d be heading back tomorrow, though, since he was worried about his wife.
I can understand him being concerned about his wife if she’s unwell.
Seeing this exchange, Moné hung her head.
“What’s wrong?” René asked her.
“René, I… I can’t do anything to help… If I was more like Big Sis Tinaris, I could make any medicine he needed…”
“You’re letting that get to you again? You’re just normal. But Tinaris is special. Like… Holy Woman special. You can’t be like her.”
“Boo!” Moné pouted at him.
René was right, though.
Sax—the guest—didn’t feel comfortable renting a room for one. So instead, he set up camp at the lakeside. He also borrowed a fishing rod so he could fish for dinner. A wise decision, since he needed to save money for his wife’s medicine.
Seeing this kind man who cared for his wife seemed to remind René and Moné of their parents.
“René, I’ll go look up how to make medicine for morning sickness in the study!” Moné said.
“Geez…” René sighed. “Hey, Mujimuji, bring her back when it’s time for dinner, okay?”
“Mujimuji!”
I followed Moné as she climbed up to the second floor’s study. This room was originally used by Marcus Ril’s father as the management room for the inn. Its shelves were packed with books divided by topic: cooking, magic, alchemy, as well as old ledgers and guest registers.
This was where Tinaris had studied alchemy. But like René said, she was special—the world’s last Spherit Folk. That gave her the talent to produce potions and medicine that humans and demi-humans would fail to make.
That was a gap no amount of effort on Moné’s side could reach. It’d take her decades to reach Tinaris’s level. Her human lifespan might mean she’d never reach that level at all.
So if she was intent on trying despite that, I had to help her in any way I could.
She pulled out all the alchemy books from the shelves and lined them up on the floor. She opened them and checked their table of contents one by one.
“Ah, here! Medicine for morning sickness!” she said and started flipping through the book. But as soon as she found the page she was looking for, her expression clouded over. “There are so many ingredients…”
“Mujimuji?”
“Y-You see, it says that it’s because…because different women have different symptoms! So there’s no real medicine for morning sickness. But medicine to combat individual symptoms can be useful for it.”
“Mujimuji.”
That did sound like what that man Sax needed. That’s why Moné was so depressed. But she could just make medicine to curb the symptoms, right?
“Mujimuji, Mujimuji!” I told her, prompting Moné to raise her head.
“But there are so many ingredients. I’ve never made medicine with more than three ingredients…”
“Mujimuji…”
Hmm, since a pregnant mother is going to drink this, Moné can’t very well put her at risk…
“Mujimuji?”
Did we need to sit by and wait until Tinaris made the medicine for him? Moné wanted to be an alchemical apothecary like Tinaris, right?
“I want to be like Big Sis Tinaris, but she told me medicine can have side effects that make symptoms worse. So I shouldn’t overestimate my abilities…and that medicine can cure people, but it can be like poison if not handled carefully. So I have to study a lot more. And I shouldn’t give someone medicine I didn’t make carefully.
“M-Mujimuji~.”
How admirable, Moné! Who’d believe an eight-year-old could be so responsible? Simply lovely!
But in that case, we can’t very well force it.
Is there anything else we can do— Hm?
“Mujimuji! Muji!” I jabbered, pointing to a passage with my paw.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Mujimuji— Hormone adjustment medicine?”
According to the book, women have small bits of matter called hormones in their bodies meant to promote their womanly functions. The balance of those hormones falls apart in pregnant women, which can cause the illness they feel. But the book said this hormone adjustment medicine might help alleviate it.
It was fairly weak medicine that’d only alleviate the symptoms, making them a bit easier to deal with. But all of its ingredients were findable here in Rofola, and many of them were ingredients Moné had used before.
Also, this was a medicine that had to be taken over a period of time. Just taking it once wouldn’t make the patient feel better. It had to be taken slowly over a few days. Meaning the medicine wouldn’t strain the body as much.
“I think I can make this!” Moné exclaimed.
“Mujimuji!”
“Yeah! Let’s go look for the ingredients! It says we need toetuls, Rofola mushrooms, Duana flowers, Lilith flowers, Solan flowers…and the powdered bone of the Rofola Totora fish!”
“Mujimuji!”
Moné wrote down the ingredients, vigorously got to her feet, and made to leave the study. But I urged her to stop! She forgot to put the books back on the shelf!
“Mujimujimuji!”
“Huh? Oh, the books! Big Sis Nakona would get mad if I left them like this! Thanks for telling me, Mujimuji!”
“Mujimuji!”
Moné, being the good girl that she is, put everything back the way it was before she left to look for ingredients. We went downstairs to the reception desk, and from there, Moné went out to the campsite to find Sax.
“Mister Sax!”
“Oh, you’re the girl from before… What’s wrong?”
Moné wanted to ask him for permission before she attempted the medicine. She explained what she’d found, and upon hearing it might help his wife feel a bit better, Sax nodded firmly.
“Please make it for us! I can’t stand to see my wife in so much pain. Please, if it can help her feel even a little better…!”
“O-Okay! I’ll do my best!”
And so a deal was struck. She then ran over to Tinaris’s herb garden to pick toetuls. The garden was surrounded by a firm wooden fence, and next to the fields were also potted plants and some plants grown in a small, makeshift greenhouse.
Nakona had the key to the herb garden, though. Being a strong fighter, Nakona managed all the keys for the Rofola Lodge. But Moné seemed to have forgotten that.
“Oh, the key!” she remembered as she approached the door.
Hanging her head, she returned home.
“Big Sis Nakona, can I have the key for the herb garden?”
“You’re supposed to say hello first!”
“Ah! Um…hello!”
“Good girl! So what did you need? The key to the herb garden? What for?”
Moné hid behind the doorstep like she was afraid of being scolded. Still, greeting people properly is important, especially at home. Moné explained her reasons, at which Nakona nodded in understanding.
“Do it tomorrow. It’s almost time for dinner, and you can’t take any herbs from Tina’s garden without asking her for permission. Some of those ingredients are apparently really expensive! And they can be dangerous, too.”
“Ummm… But toetuls are safe…”
“Maybe, but maybe they cost a lot. Remember how Tina had to negotiate with Mister Giyaga to get some of those plants in exchange for high-grade tonics? She might get angry if you use them without permission.”
“Oh no…!”
Are those herbs really that expensive? If they are, Moné really does need to ask for permission. What’ll you do now, Moné?
“Show me the ingredients,” Nakona said.
“H-Here,” Moné handed over the note to her.
“Let’s see…”
After examining the note, she came up with a compromise and gave it back to Moné.
“There’s an herb growing in the garden called Migu grass. It grows really fast, and Tina uses it to make bandages. They sell for fifty colts a piece, and a healing salve sells for 200 colts. Bandages are very popular with travelers because they can buy a lot of them for the price of one healing salve, and we can make them en masse, so it turns a real profit. You’ve made it before, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
It was one of the simpler medicines even a novice alchemical apothecary could make. Moné helped Tina make them from time to time.
“So if you mix Migu grass with Duana flowers, you get compress medicine. You soak a dry fabric in it and put it on an injury. Those cost 500 colts. It’s not hard to make, costs a lot, and travelers buy it, too. Could you make fifty bandages and three compress medicines by tomorrow? That’s what the clients leaving tomorrow ordered. If you can make that, I’ll use that money to buy those toetuls off of Tina.”
“Really?!”
“How about it?”
That’s a great idea! Putting it in as an order with her will give her real experience!
“I’ll do it!”
“Great! Then have it ready by tomorrow. And here’s the key to the garden. Bring it back when you’re done. Dinner will be ready in an hour, so finish collecting what you need by then.”
“Okay!”
“Mujimuji, I’m counting on you to make sure Moné doesn’t do anything naughty!”
“Mujimuji!”
I didn’t think she honestly assumed Moné would do anything naughty, but she is still an eight-year-old girl. She very well could accidentally drop a pot or something. So I swore to keep a good eye on her!
By the time Moné returned to the herb garden, the sun was beginning to dip beneath the mountain. The day had gone by awfully quick. We needed to gather all the ingredients before the sun set.
“Hm, we need this. And this…”
I wasn’t knowledgeable about herbs. But Moné knew what to gather, thanks to her studies. She put everything in a basket and covered it with a cloth.
“That just leaves…”
Moné got to her feet and checked the crops growing in the garden. She gathered the three flowers she needed from there. Many types of medicine use Duana, Lilith, and Solan flowers, so this field had many pots with those flowers. Moné gathered some Duana, then looked for Lilith and Solan flowers.
“I’ll definitely use these to make the hormone adjustment medicine!”
“Mujimuji!”
We weren’t making that medicine tonight, but she was setting it aside for tomorrow. And making that statement mattered. She can definitely make it!
“Let’s go back, Mujimuji!”
“Mujimuji!”
♣♣♣
AFTER dinner…
“Let’s do this! Time to make bandages and compress medicine!” Moné said, pumping herself up.
“Mujimuji!”
“Why am I here too…?” René grumbled.
We borrowed Tinaris’s workshop to make the medicine. We had René here to help us pack and bottle the results. To make the bandages, Moné needed to put the Migu leaves in the pot, pour in a small amount of mana, then mix it until it turned adhesive. But apparently, there was a trick to making them in large amounts. After all, the mana had to spread thoroughly and evenly across all the leaves.
Nakona had asked Moné to make fifty bandages. So, if Moné didn’t want to fail the recipe, she’d need to make five sets of ten. Upon being infused with mana, Migu leaves reinforce a living being’s natural healing prowess. By cutting them into squares and placing them into cloth bags, the bandages would be complete.
Once infused with mana, the Migu leaves become adhesive. So they had to be pressed between pieces of cloth before being placed inside the cloth bag. That’s why we had René with us.
“It turned out well! Let’s work on the compress medicine next!”
“Mujimuji!”
Next came the compress medicine. It was a liquid medicine that was to be soaked into a dry cloth and pressed against a wound. Like a bandage, it was made by boiling Migu leaves and Duana flowers in 300cc of well water while pouring mana uniformly into the concoction…
“Ngggghhh…” Moné frowned.
“Hey, you’re running out of mana.”
“I-I know…”
Using mana through the Spherits means depleting the mana in one’s body. To replenish it, one must take in mana from the Air, but that requires a special skill that was hard for humans to master.
But I’m here to help her out!
“Mujimuji!”
“Huh? Oh, my mana…” Moné muttered in surprise.
“Oh, did you do that, Mujimuji? You can use mana?” René asked me.
“Mujimuji!”
Of course I can! I might be an infant, but I’m still a Mythical Beast. A dragon, even if I am a weak one. It’d be a blow to my dignity if I couldn’t!
“Wow, I have so much mana… I feel like Big Sis Tinaris!”
Maybe I gave her too much. Adjusting the amount of mana is hard… Either way, the amount of mana sent into the concoction remained steady, and the pot began to simmer.
The concoction let out an odd stench. We needed to wait for it to cool before we bottled it, so we put a lid on the pot for today. The three compress medicines were complete.
♣♣♣
THE next day, Moné and René woke up early and found the concoction nice and cold. René helped put it into bottles.
“I did it! Thanks, René! Mujimuji!”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get it to Nakona.”
“Mujimuji!”
We cleaned up Tinaris’s workshop and handed Moné’s work over to Nakona, who was sweeping the entrance hall. She used Appraisal magic to gauge the medicine’s quality. The bandage was of average quality, and the compress medicine was high quality.
“Yeah, I’d say you pass with aplomb.”
“Then…!”
“I contacted Tina yesterday, and she said that if you can clear this task, you’re good to use her garden. So here’s the key. Do you know what you need to take?”
“Yeah! Thanks!”
This meant Tina gave Moné permission to use her toetuls! Nakona contacting her ahead of time was highly appreciated. The three of us cheerfully made our way to the herb garden to collect the ingredients.
With that, we got the toetuls and the Duana, Lilith, and Solan flowers we needed. All that remained was the Rofola mushroom and the powdered Rofola Totora fishbone. Thankfully, we could get the latter from the campsite.
Most of the fish swimming through the lake were Rofola Totora fish. There were other kinds living in the lake, of course, but the Rofola Totora was the most common. They were probably adapted to living in this lake’s water. People who loved fishing would occasionally catch Rofola Totoras half their size.
Marcus once said that Lake Rofola was home to the King of the Rofola Totora, a fish capable of swallowing people whole. But who knows if that’s true? Maybe it’s just a story to attract customers.
“We came here to collect the fish bones!” Moné said, approaching the campsite with a ceramic bowl in hand.
The camping guests who were fishing there thankfully filled the bowl with the bones of the fish they caught. It wasn’t long before she got the amount she needed. Moné thanked the guests and went to wash the bones. She then dried and crushed them into powder.
That just left the last ingredient—Rofola mushrooms. Gathering those was actually a bit difficult. Mount Rofola technically stretched over multiple large and small ridges, but it wasn’t big enough to count as a mountain range. The inn really was built at the bottom of a gigantic mountain.
The Rofola mushrooms grew on the eighth ridge of what was considered the main mountain. In other words, near the peak. Going there would be very dangerous.
“So, what are we going to do about the Rofola shrooms?” René asked.
“Well, Big Sis Tinaris taught me there’s a place you can find them without having to go as far as the eighth ridge! We can pick them there safely!”
“Huh, such a place exists? Where?”
“It’s next to the hot spring. They grow in this moist cave near there.”
“Then we can gather everything today.”
“Yeah, let’s go!”
“Mujimuji!”
♣♣♣
AND so I followed the two of them to the hot springs halfway up Mount Rofola. This natural hot spring was open for guest use. It was quite popular. The road there was paved, and the bath was partitioned into a men’s and women’s section. Bathing in them had health benefits.
Tinaris had also had the idea to use pipes to direct hot water down into the inn. But there were still too many parts of the inn that needed renovating first.
The cave Moné had heard about was behind the hot springs. It was a very dark, damp place, suitable for raising mushrooms. The air felt a bit thin inside the cave’s confined space. This cave probably resembled the environment near the mountain’s peak, allowing the Rofola mushrooms to grow there.
But I could sense a vile presence inside…
“Mujimuji! Mujimuji!” I barked warningly.
“What’s wrong, Mujimuji? Let’s go,” Moné said.
“Mujimuji! Mujimuji!”
“What, you don’t like it here?”
“Mujimuji!”
That’s right! Moné, René, there’s something bad here!
Something was lying in wait in the cave. It was drawn in by all the people in the inn but couldn’t approach because of the monster-repelling barrier. It wasn’t very strong. But given they were powerless children, the twins couldn’t afford to go inside. They at least needed Nakona with them. But I couldn’t speak in a way humans could understand. My cries only came across as “mujimuji,” and no one would take me seriously.
“Don’t worry, Mujimuji!” Moné told me. “It’s kind of cold and damp in here, but I’m not scared! Oh, are you telling me not to slip? I won’t!”
“Mujimuji!”
No, that’s not what I mean!
“You’re too overprotective, Mujimuji,” René chided me. “C’mon, let’s look for those shrooms. How many do we need?”
“Five should be enough!”
“Five, huh…?”
“Mujimuji…”
Oh, fine…. Let’s not go too deep. We can gather what we need and get out…
“…It’s getting darker,” Moné noted as we advanced deeper in.
“But the stones in the ceiling are shining and wet, so we can keep going… Why are they glowing?” René asked.
“Um, I think it’s because there’s this shining mineral called Rofola ore in there… Uncle Marcus told me about it. He said it stops glowing when exposed to outside air, so it’s useless.”
“Huh…”
Mother once told me that Rofola ore was formed when the mana used by the Elf of the Sun in an ancient war had settled into this cave and seeped into the bedrock.
Once it makes contact with the outside air, the Spherits absorb the mana within them back into the Air, which depletes the ore’s mana reserves, making them lose their ability to generate light. Having light in the cave was very helpful, but I couldn’t relax. There was no telling when the vile thing inside the cave might notice us. I was eager for us to return.
“Ah, here it is!” Moné exclaimed.
“Which one?” René asked.
“This one!”
She pointed at a blue-capped mushroom growing in between the rocks. My Appraisal magic told me it was indeed a Rofola mushroom. We even found two at the same time. That just left three more.
I snuffled the air. The mushrooms had the smell of iron mixed into their regular raw scent, making them quite distinct.
“Mujimuji.”
“You’re helping us look, Mujimuji? Thanks!”
No need for thanks, Moné. I just want to leave this dreadful place as soon as we can!
I couldn’t smell any mushrooms directly around us. But there were some a few feet away…
Sniff, sniff…
“Muji! Mujimuji!” I signaled Moné.
“Oh, here! Thanks, Mujimuji! There’s another one!”
“That’s three. Just two more.”
I couldn’t smell any more mushrooms in our direct vicinity. Maybe we should’ve returned to the entrance to see if we were overlooking any.
“No more…? Maybe we should go deeper in?” Moné asked.
“We probably can’t go in too deep,” René remarked. “It’s just a straight path, but the ground’s so scraggy… We’d have nowhere to hide, too.”
“What’s wrong with you, René?” Moné asked. “Why are you so scared? There’s a monster-repelling barrier set up around the area. We’ll be fine!”
No, no, no! Once you’re past the hot spring, you’re outside the barrier, Moné! It’s dangerous here! I can feel something really vile ahead! Oooh, if only I could tell you!
“Anyway, we can’t go any further. Big Sis Nakona would get mad at us!” René implored her.
“Grr! You’re worrying too much! We’ve got Mujimuji with us. We’ll be fine!”
“It’s dangerous even with Mujimuji here! Did you forget how that zombie chased us?!”
“Ah…!” Moné froze up.
W-Well said, René! You’re a responsible big brother!
“F-Fine…” Moné said, seemingly giving up.
“We can check by the entrance again,” René comforted her.
“Mujimuji!” I cried out.
“Whoa! What’s wrong, Mujimuji?”
“Mujiji…” I growled.
I was wrong! I was so occupied with the back of the cave, I forgot to pay attention to the entrance. I jumped to the twins’ side and growled menacingly.
Five people… No, seven, eight… Fifteen people?!
René’s eyes narrowed in realization, too.
“Huh? What? What’s going on?!” Moné squealed.
“Back away, Moné, and stay behind me,” René whispered.
“R-René?”
I continued growling, warning the two. I heard metallic sounds ahead of us, but whoever these people were, they were masking their footsteps. That was why I didn’t notice them. Their stench was foul, though… It made the smell in the cave decent by comparison.
A group of smug bandits appeared, rusted swords in their hands.
This is bad…
We were completely cut off, since we couldn’t head to the back of the cave either. I had to do something…!
“Heheheh. Finally, some new prey…” one of the bandits said upon noticing us.
“The chick in that inn is too strong, after all. They’ll make for fine hostages,” another said.
“Tch…!” René clicked his tongue.
“B-Bandits…!” Moné whined.
I can’t let them go deeper into the cave, though! What can I do…?
“Moné, run!” René told her.
“Where?!”
“Go deeper in! It might lead outside!”
“O-Okay!”
“Mujimuji!” I squealed in alarm.
N-No! You can’t go deeper in! It’s too dangerous!
But they didn’t understand my warning. The threat right in front of them was that much more vivid. The two turned around and ran. But the cave floor was rocky and hard to move on, and their short limbs meant they weren’t very quick.
The bandits sneered and jeered at them, only having to walk normally to keep up with the little ones. That only scared them that much more.
Those bandits’ expressions. Those eyes that clearly enjoyed torturing and toying with their prey. It was a cruel reminder of the time the zombie chased us.
“No, please, no! Someone help us!” Moné whispered as René led her by the arm.
And it stirred my memory, too. Of the day I’d met Moné and started living with these twins. Through no fault of their own, their parents had died, and they’d been put in danger because of a terrible power.
Why? These children haven’t harmed a soul. They deserved a peaceful, safe life. Why do sinless children have to be chased around like this? This is unforgivable. Utterly inexcusable.
Moné and René’s parents weren’t vile people, either. They had the kindness to care for their children and the courage to lay down their lives for them.
So why? Why? Why do the sinless have to suffer?
—Because they’re powerless?
That’s foolish. They’re meant to be trampled under ruthless absurdity for no other reason than they were weak?
No…!
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!” A nasal growl reached my ears.
Moné and René froze up. A black clump crept out of the darkness of the cavern. It was shaped like a lizard. A long tongue was slithering in and out of its mouth, and its red eyeballs were fixed on us.
The bandits caught up to us and then let out a startled gasp upon seeing the monster. They turned around to run.
That was it. Everything was for naught. Monsters focus on places full of people, so no matter what we do, it’ll attack us first.
“M-Mujimuji, take Moné and run! I’ll distract it!” René said.
What?!
“René?!” Moné exclaimed.
“It’s the only way! If you leave the cave, you can hide in the hot springs, and the guests should come there! Now go!”
“No! René!”
“Mujimuji, please watch over those two.”
Seeing him run off was like seeing them again. Those two parents, sacrificing themselves for their children. He looked exactly like they had that night.
But didn’t they ask you, Mujimuji…? Didn’t they ask you to watch over them? Didn’t you promise their parents that YOU would be the one to watch over their children? Why aren’t you protecting them? Will you leave one of them to die to save the other?
No. It’d just be a repetition of what happened. Another kind human will die. This human continent is all too cruel.
“———”
Mother. Oh, Air. Grant me just a sliver of your power for this one moment. I cannot stand this absurdity. In that case…let me become a force of absurdity myself!
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Nnghaaaaaa!”
All the Air in the cave reacted. I took it all in, temporarily evolving my body. A long tail with a viper’s head. Hard scales. A body the color of poison. The hind legs of a bird and the front legs of a beast. And two curled horns upon my head.
The cave felt cramped. My body grew in size, and the tip of my nose knocked the monster to the back of the cave.
“Mujimuji?!” Moné looked at me with wide eyes.
“Get behind me and on my back,” I told her.
“You can talk?!” both she and René said in surprise.
I crouched on the cave’s floor. The two of them climbed on my back, questioning all the while if I really was Mujimuji. With them atop me, I began pacing backward, with my stomach pressed against the ground.
My word! I didn’t expect to become so long and large. This cave feels so cramped…
“You’re…really Mujimuji? It’s really you, right?”
“I am a Mythical Beast named Mushufushu. By absorbing the ancient Air in this cave, I’ve been able to temporarily assume a mature form. Once we leave the cave, I will return to my former form.”
“Mushufushu…?”
“You can keep calling me Mujimuji. I do not mind.”
The Mushufushu is a type of dragon Mythical Beast. A poisonous dragon, seen as a vile creature. In my infant form, I had very little venom in me. But in this form, I could breathe a nearly endless current of toxic miasma.
Of course, I wouldn’t, for that could kill René and Moné.
“Gyaaaaaah!”
“M-Monster!”
“Mm?”
I could hear a few men screaming behind me. The bandits from earlier. I made the snake head on my tail snap at them, forcing them to run away.
Yes, run! Run with your tails between your legs. Or else I’ll crush you under my belly. Go on! Flee!
“Hmph…”
We finally left the cave. I used magic to observe our surroundings, and the bandits had already run far away from the cave. They were good at running, if nothing else.
“Mujimuji…” Moné sounded anxious.
“Right. In this form…”
“Mujimuji?”
“Hold onto me tightly.”
“Huh?” the twins uttered in unison.
As poison dragons, the Mushufushu have no wings and can’t fly. But we can use flight magic. Since the Air on this continent was so polluted, using magic was a bit of a challenge. But with my current form, it wouldn’t be an issue.
I was impressed with my mature form. This is what being an adult feels like. And with that emotion, I took flight—carrying the two of them to the eighth ridge, near the peak of Mount Rofola.
“Where are we?” René asked.
“You didn’t collect enough Rofola mushrooms, right? They should be growing around here. Go and pick some.”
I let the two scramble off my back and jerked my snout in the direction of some mushrooms I’d found using detection magic.
“Ah!” Moné exclaimed.
The two of them still looked a bit anxious. But they ran over, collected the Rofola mushrooms, and came back. I carried them again. But, just as I was about to drop them off near the inn…
“Get down,” I ordered them suddenly.
“Why?”
“I’m sorry. My time’s run out.”
I could only maintain this mature form for a short while. I landed on the flower field halfway up the mountain, put the twins down, and closed my eyes. I could feel the Air drain from my body.
“Mujimuji?!” Moné asked me, alarmed.
“I’m sorry I’m so weak. But I’ll always watch over you two and make sure you’re happy. I promised…your parents I would—”
My body shrunk. I probably wouldn’t be able to talk anymore. So I had to tell them that, at the very end. And then I reverted to my original form. The weak, tiny form of a child. A form that couldn’t speak. Or defend them.
I felt so pathetic. Why can’t I be stronger?
“Mujimuji!” Moné cried.
“Mujimujiii!” I replied.
Moné latched onto me as soon as I returned to my old form. Ah, but…my small form can curl up in her arms. And that’s something my bigger form could never do.
“…Thank you, Mujimuji,” she said, burying her face into my fur.
“Thank you! And I’m sorry you had to force yourself for us…”
“Mujimuji!” René said, petting me.
I didn’t force myself at all. Your parents left you in my care, after all. I’ll protect you with my body and the very essence of my being. After all, that’s my purpose in life.
♣♣♣
Moné stirred the alchemy pot. She’d put all the ingredients inside, and I watched them brew as I helped her pour in mana. I prayed it would be successful.
A little later, a small sparkly light rose from the concoction.
“I-It’s ready!” Moné said.
“Mujimuji!”
“Let’s bottle it up,” René said.
“Thanks!”
Moné lay down exhausted, and I carried her back to the main building on my back, which I could still do in my smaller form. She didn’t have much mana—which was standard for a human. She just needed to master the mana recovery technique. If she didn’t, she’d need me to constantly supplement mana for her, and she’d probably still deplete her own reserves and fall unconscious.
Thankfully, René had learned some cooling magic, allowing him to chill the fluid in the pot and put it in a bottle. He’d probably looked up a magic book and learned it on his own while Moné and I were looking for ingredients.
It was actually quite impressive. He hadn’t just learned magic from one of the basic elements, like fire and water, but started from an advanced element like ice. He might have some unexpected talent as a mage.
Moné took the rest of the day off while René bottled the medicine. The next day, Moné handed the finished medicine to Sax.
“So…this is the hormone adjustment medicine…?” he asked.
“For one dose, take a spoonful of the medicine and have her drink it with a glass of water. Three times a day, morning, noon, and night. It’s strong medicine, so don’t let her drink it more often than that. If you follow those instructions, her hormone balance should start stabilizing within a week, and the morning sickness should become a bit better. It’ll only lighten the symptoms. And if your doctor tells her to stop taking the medicine, do as he says.”
“Okay. For now, we’ll try this. If it goes well, I’ll come buy some more. Is that all right with you?”
“And when you do, I’ll make you more.”
“Thank you!”
After that explanation, Moné sent Sax on his way. Would it help his wife get better? Who knew? But Moné really had become more responsible. It was a heartwarming sight.
“I hope his wife gets better,” Nakona said, patting Moné’s shoulders from behind.
“Yeah,” she said, a satisfied smile on her lips.
She really had worked hard. Her effort was genuine and I couldn’t be prouder.
“But that part about you making him more if he shows up again might’ve been a bit hasty,” René noted.
“I-I mean…”
“That’s right,” Nakona said, her voice a bit cold. “You ran into trouble out there, didn’t you?”
“Ugh…” the twins groaned guiltily.
They didn’t break their promise. But the fact Moné hadn’t heeded René’s advice and got us all into trouble was true. One wrong step, and they could’ve been captured by those ne’er-do-wells and sent to Edesa Kura as slaves. Moné was a bit careless, and she should learn from that. That much was for certain!
“But I never thought Mujimuji was actually a Mythical Beast named Mushufushu,” Nakona continued. “I mean, we knew you weren’t a normal animal, but yeah…”
“Yeah, Mujimuji is a Mythical Beast. That’s awesome!” Moné said.
“Mujimuji!”
Heheh, I’m not just any Mythical. I’m a child of the current ruler of the Mythical Beasts, King Curalius!
Of course, my mature form wasn’t something I could take that much pride in. A poison dragon that spews out toxins… I could restrain myself from releasing it, of course, but I wasn’t the kind of creature meant to live in tandem with other living beings.
When I became an adult, I’d have to return to the Mythical continent. When that time came, I’d have to bid Moné and René farewell…though they’d probably have passed away by then. So don’t you worry, parents. I’ll protect your kids until the end. Watch over us until then.
“So that means someday you’ll be that big and strong again?” René asked me a little rudely.
“Mujimuji.”
“I don’t think we’ll have enough food to feed you. What do we do then, Big Sis Nakona?”
“He gets that big?” Nakona asked.
“As big as this inn.”
“Seriously…? I guess we’ll have to keep him outside. Ughhhh, I hope it won’t be a huge blow to our food budget… Maybe we should have Renge take him back to the Mythical continent next time he comes over.”
“M-Muji?!”
I can’t have that, Nakona! I still need to watch over those two until they’ve lived their lives to the fullest and passed on!
“I’m joking. Renge said that once Mythicals mature, they can assume human form. So, we can just see how things develop.”
“Really?!” The twins asked.
“Mujimuji?!”
Really!? I asked too.
If I could assume a human form when I grew up…I’d be able to stay by Moné’s side all the time, just like Master Renge!
“Then I’ll be able to talk to Mujimuji?!” Moné asked excitedly.
“I…guess so?”
“Yay, that’s great! Mujimuji, you have to grow up fast!”
“M-Mujimuji!”
Yes, I guess I have to give it my all and grow up fast! If I could assume human form and not spew toxic miasma everywhere, that’d be wonderful! I’ll work hard to grow up… But…how do you grow up, again?
I’m sure that once I grow stronger, I’ll be a bit closer to being an adult. I’ll just have to train! Train harder! I’ll live strong and bold!
I’ll live with strength!