Raga of the Dry Branch

“Rather than that, things have gotten difficult for us. Do we need to go through the entire mansion again?”

The two girls were here, and the culprit had to be somewhere inside and they spoke about another person.

“Looked older than us and looked to be in… early 30s. it seemed like the person was caught before us… my memory is… too fuzzy… maybe she was the owner of the voice which we heard.”

There were many things I wanted to ask but decided not to because they were still shaken by the incident. We could send them to the embassy so Dame Mino called for the 1st division which was looking after this place’s documents and we went to the starting place. Thinking we had to look again.

“I have a bad feeling.”

The drizzling rain was gradually turning stronger. There was still time for Al to leave his office. But Juli just stared outside the window waiting for him.

“I told him to not go… he wouldn’t have gotten himself involved in stupid things righ?”

[Just trust him. Al isn’t a child, so why act like this. Father will come back as he has no other option.]

When Poppy said that by scratching his ears, Juli laughed.

“No way, you are joking right now.”

[… ah, I am?]

“All I worry is that he is rather stupid.”

The silver eyes which looked at Poppy were full of annoyance. And Poppy’s glance at him wasn’t that pretty either.

I am becoming restless, I should be proud of myself.

Since when did Juli turn so delicate?

It was as if he left a child by the water, his nerves were all over. He was aware of the obsession their race had on the Oath, but he thought this man, who was the summoner, would be an exception. Juli wasn’t the kind to have feelings for other people.

That was what he was supposed to be, but it seemed like things changed. Somehow, it seemed like this was different. How and where would his obsessions move onto?

Would it be a simple family relationship which he wants with Al or want him as his eternal companion or… but before that, the smart body next to him, Poppy said something waving his head.

[Normally, boys grow up when they fight and get hurt.]

“… fight and get hurt?”

Juli’s eyes twitched and asked.

And Mahoren, who was looking at a report from his work, looked at them with wide eyes.

“That bastard, what nonsense is he spouting now?”

Poppy sighed at their attitude of complaining and considering him to be a reckless body.

[Am I not a dog? Why do you keep treating me like some bad guy? You see, I am the best high-ranking wolf of our race.]

“I am sorry, Poppy. Al can’t get hurt by fighting…”

[Why? My dad calls him to be a strong one, Shang-di.]

Shang-Lodihara whispered softly as she opened the newspapers with the day’s date and covered her face.

“That is like the men are ignorant or something. But our Al is…”

The smile strangely spread on her lips. Pulling the open paper closer to her face, and then said so softly no one could hear.

Then it won’t be a problem. Maybe the guys don’t know yet.

Heliciad and Faysion weren’t there, but they probably didn’t know it either. She was the only one who noticed it. Al never talked about it, so she decided to stay silent, but she was expecting stunned faces once it got out.

Huh.

Juli, who didn’t realize what she was thinking, gazed into a distant place.

“Even then, I can’t let that happen. My stupid Oath.”

He had definitely read Alkeris’s fortune, but this felt horrible.

“It isn’t even funny that the park is on the grave of a corpse.”

Dark inside. Blocked by a cold wall on all sides, the girls couldn’t escape, and one girl was here. Still, no one could complain because I had a place for myself.

I reached out and fumbled with a piece of hardened bread. Fortunately, I held the bread and glass of milk without fumbling it today.

“Hehe…”

Unknowingly I smiled happily. The girl hurriedly bit the hard bread in her mouth, but being able to chew on something so hard needs to be a blessing in itself. I never had the chance to put something into my mouth properly since I was born.

“Thanks… I had a nice meal.”

No one was there to listen to it, but I thanked them as always. I really wanted to say that to someone someday. Thank you. Thank you for saving me from that abyss-like time.

And finally, that person had come.

“You are a child who can’t see.”

The voice of a man. Ahh… the savior of the girl.

The scene changed again.

“Ahhck!”

An expensive silk dress draped over her body was torn without mercy. The pearl necklace hung around her neck along with the laughs scattered around, leaving the woman only with scars on her slender neck.

Cheeks throbbed as the strong hand hit her. Tears that she didn’t know she had in her began to shed from her eyes.

And then red blood dripping from the forehead was mixed with tears and misery on the floor.

The criticism pouring in and refusals, the meaningless repetition of pleadings and explanations left my body and mind torn. When her exhilarating emotions reached the limit, she felt her stomach throbbing in pain.

No, not this. She covered her stomach with all her might with both hands.

“How can this…!”

No, no, no, no, no, no, not me!

The face couldn’t be seen because of the dark vision. She tried shaking her hands but nothing touched her.

“Keep this one in the basement! Hurry!”

The girl cried and cried as she was dragged out by her attendant.

“Darling! No! it wasn’t me!”

The attendant lost the upper hand because of the struggling woman. Still, within a moment, the small body of the woman flew to the ground with a thump.

The woman, who was crawling on the stomach soon went towards her husband, and then as she touched something sharp she screamed in pain.

But at that moment, the husband also didn’t care for her. And that was the most painful fact for her to accept than the pain.

The woman screamed.

“I am pregnant. It is your child! Please believe me!”

But the man turned away the desperate woman’s cry.

Instead, he said looking at her made her sick.

A single cold blade slashed through the woman’s heart.

And the scene went stiff.

Both the man and the attendant of the woman left, leaving the woman to cry all alone. And looking ahead she said.

[Go back. No one should come here.]

I felt someone shaking my body, and I struggled to open my eyes. It was hazy torn curtains, broken windows and Sir Shuzlin looking at me… it was then I was back.

“Must be so tired. He fell asleep.”

“… it looked like that.”

I must have lost consciousness without knowing. But even then what was that dream? Even though I was awake I couldn’t snap out of dizziness.

Maybe because I wasn’t entirely awake yet. I touched my cheeks. Perhaps it was because of the dream’s content that my heart was pounding strangely fast and I felt sad. Was it because of the voices of my mates? The beating heart slowly calmed.

I raised my head and looked at Dame Mino and Sir Hilder who had come from 1st Division to organize documents.

As soon as I realized that I was fully awake, I thought that I delayed the work.

Sir Hilder looked at me.

“Ah! Now its done. Now, we can go into explanation.”

A youthful face was their race’s obsession clearly like Dame Mino, so I was curious about him and looked. As expected, no matter how much I looked at the face or heard the voice, this seemed like a scam.

“Fine, do it quick/”

“Are you passing this to me again?”

Was he over 15? The boy, who appeared to be barely over mid-teens, with his body only recently touching puberty, grunted softly and picked up the documents.

Unlike the cute and child-like face, he had a mature expression with long and thin eyes, an odd boy he was.

The boy, who I thought would have a good background, is said to have the ability to mind-read andwoman’s attendant, know a person’s emotions based on the color of their aura.

Moreover, despite looking young, he was also a Sir with the same level of training as Shuzlin. It was rare to see the possessor of the most effective ability to know the suspects and criminals have physical strength.

He was indeed worthy to be in the 1st Division.

“We don’t have time, so I’ll start.”