Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha

"That concludes all the requests...... That didn't take long, surprisingly."

When I say that while I take a water bath in the lake, Augley nods and answers that I was doing the same.

"Right. I thought it would take two or three days, so that's good. It's mostly because of Felicie."

The Felicie is not here right now.

And Lorraine.

They are dropping mud elsewhere.

With a man on a boulder, that's not how it works.

I'm not going to do it, but if I go for a peek, Lorraine will see me thundering.

If they do that with a soggy body, you'll hear the end of your life signal.

I will never go.

"You don't know what's lucky..."

These are words I uttered referring to the disturbances that took place in the village in general.

Without all that stuff, Felicie wouldn't have cooperated, and I can't help but think that this is exactly what the injury merits.

Augley says to this as she looks at my body.

"Sure. The same goes for you... You're blue and white, but you have a body that looks solid and human. I wanted to see when it was bone."

Now, me and Augley are taking it all off except for downstairs.

Inevitably, my body looks round too, but it's not the kind of body I have to worry about body exposure anymore, like when it was the boneman Skeleton or the corpse-eating ghost Ghoul.

A little blue and white is certainly true, but that is all.

The mask doesn't come off the same way, but the mud also comes in between the masks.

I changed shape with Gunya and washed my face as well, and now it is the shape that covers the lower half of my face.

Probably the most to take this form these days.

Even when going into and out of town, if you're blind, the guards will let you through without suspicion for now.

"How miserable it was when it was a bone. It's just a mess. Not that it was a good time when the corpse-eating ghost Ghoul... but for once, the words could be spoken. I might have felt like my life was opening up."

"I don't think the life of the corpse eater Ghoul... but if it's people's consciousness, it's life. There's something like you, so I've been thinking about it lately because I can't even talk to the corpse eater Ghoul around here."

"Oh, I think that sometimes too...... you probably can't"

I don't know why, but I've never had a decent willingness to communicate with the corpse-eating ghost Ghoul I've met before.

I was quite conscious at that stage.

Me and the other corpse-eating ghosts Ghoul...... what was the difference between them?

You mean you were a person originally? Did the dragon ever eat you?

I don't know.

What the hell is a demon in the first place......

Lorraine's been researching and researching a lot, and I'm squeezing my missing head and thinking, but I still don't have an answer.

It's a question that people have been thinking about, because it's close to looking for answers to what "demons are”, so naturally, I guess.

Lorraine would certainly be a genius, but to this day many such figures would have come into being.

Nonetheless, we know very little about demons.

Especially with regard to its origins... even though there are many theories, there is nothing that can be said to be definitive.

I guess I'll just have to look and keep thinking.

"High-ranking demons... even though you normally talk about vampires, vampires, and thousand-year-old dragons, the Enchanted Dragons. Is it like a monkey relationship to people? It's strange."

That's what Augley said, but I don't have an answer for this either.

Hopefully one day we'll find out.

I don't think so.

"Sorry, I guess I made you think a little too much. I was gonna do a little public speaking."

That's what Augley said about me looking a little crazy.

Sure, there's a part of me that thought it through, but it's not like I'm depressed or I want to die.

I was just wondering about the creature.

"No, don't worry about it because I did, too. It's just weird..."

"Really? That would have been good...... I guess it's time to take some mud. What do you say?"

Augley turns around and asks me if all the mud is taken.

Well, I see a skinny, but even, adventurous figure.

It won't be a problem.

I got the same confirmation, got dressed and headed to the point I promised Lorraine and the others.

◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆

"You refreshed each other. Now you won't even complain to the pawn owner of the inn. Okay, let's go."

Rendezvous and Lorraine said so.

It was kind of fresh because we were looking at each other's misery earlier.

It was very easy on the way home.

Especially when passing through the breeding grounds of watery flying dragons (Mime Wyvern).

On the outbound route, I was quite concerned about when I would be attacked.

I don't pay any attention on my way home, but I know I don't have to be nervous all the time either.

It looked like Felicie at all.

As it were, it would have been easier if we had gone back to the village, but things are not going so easily.

We went straight to the village, and we came to such a point, and we saw something strange.

"... Is that... a person?

That's what Felicie said, but we already noticed.

It was visible from a great distance in my eyes, and I told Lorraine and Augley with my gaze, even without my mouth, and on top of that I tried to change the path somewhat, but somehow the other side appeared after a while in the direction we were going.

Obviously suspicious.

I know it's suspicious, but I can't seem to avoid it.

We can't help it, we're in the middle of getting close to that “person”.

Felicie is tough when she has something because she has to defend herself, but she's also afraid to do it by herself here.

It should be safest to go with you.

And we got to just before the person.

I don't know what to do, but there's only one way.

In other words, talk close.

Wearing a robe, I could see an arm to stop.

You look like an old man...

"... if. If, old man there. If you're having any difficulty, we can talk..."

The moment I spoke to him like that, a terrible shock struck my abdomen.