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“Kyuwut…”
Bibi pressed its tiny pink paws against the bars of the cage and watched the crying boy with wide, anxious eyes.
The way it fretted at the child’s tears made one thing obvious: whatever was between the two of them was no shallow bond.
A creature locked in a cage. A boy desperate with worry for that creature.
Something about them made me think of Kyle—who had lived so long imprisoned—and of my own frantic need to reach him.
“…They clearly care so much for each other. Does it really matter if we leave them be?”
I said it lightly, as an offhand remark—but—
“I beg your pardon? You’re suggesting we leave a creature alone, my lady? You?”
“Oh—”
“The Young Lady of House Krost—the very family that shields people from creatures—suggesting we leave a creature alone?”
There was a problem with that.
“However docile this creature might look, a creature is a creature. A beast that attacks and devours people—worse than any animal! There’s no telling when it might turn on someone!”
I had overlooked just how deeply people’s fear of creatures ran in this world.
Knox and Grace might be unusual—in this world, creatures were considered no different from pure evil. That was precisely why House Krost, which stood guard against them with the Ice Wall, was so revered.
And for the young lady of that very house to suggest leaving a creature in peace—it was no wonder the reaction was what it was.
Though, if I were being honest, I’d have said exactly the same thing myself before I met Kyle.
Well. What to do, then.
I continued thinking and glanced at the boy.
“Y-young lady…”
There he was, firing a beam of sheer desperate longing directly at me.
Ugh.
I quickly looked the other way—and found the adults looking back at me with the steady, trusting gaze of people who had complete faith in whatever I was about to decide.
These people were putting an enormous amount of pressure on me without seeming to realize it.
What exactly am I supposed to do here?
Cold sweat erupted from my scalp like a fountain.
I understood the boy’s feelings. I understood the people’s feelings. And I had no idea whose side to take.
For now—let’s start with a name.
I let out a quiet breath and asked, as though in passing—
“By the way—what’s your name?”
“I—I’m G-Guide…”
And the answer to this seemingly casual question was, unexpectedly, the thread that led me out.
“…Guide?”
A familiar name. A name I recognized.
Swiftly, the contents of the original story began to unspool in my mind.
That’s right. Guide. There was someone by that name.
The character from the novel came into sharp focus and overlaid itself on the boy in front of me.
Goodness. So this is what he looked like as a child. Remarkable how thoroughly ordinary he looks.
He might look like nothing much right now—but this one was going to be something.
And given how much things had already changed—with Kyle now under my care—
This one could reshape the world, just as Kyle might. And this time, in a direction that benefits House Krost.
Decision made, my thinking cleared.
“All right. Guide.”
“Y-yes?”
I rose from my chair and looked at the trembling little snot of a boy.
And then I extended my hand to him.
“Come with me to the duchy.”
* * *
A short while later, the disheveled boy named Guide stood in front of the butcher shop, his meager belongings gathered in a bundle.
He clutched the portable cage containing Bibi tightly against his chest. The butcher walked up to him.
“Guide, you—!”
“Y-yes?”
The man trembling with outrage loomed over the boy, who shrank back in alarm. And then the butcher’s hands landed on the child’s small shoulders.
“Why’d you have to bring that creature home and blow everything up like this?! What if you end up in prison because of it—!”
His voice broke. He couldn’t finish.
The butcher made a sound between a sob and a sigh—and then, squeezing his eyes shut—
“Fine. Go on then—go to prison for all I care!”
“What?!”
He had turned his face away and couldn’t quite bring himself to look at the boy directly.
In the man’s mind: the image of a newborn infant abandoned in the street, years ago. He had taken in a child with no place to go, and the boy had done nothing but cause trouble and wear him down ever since.
Not a day had passed without worry.
And today the child had turned up with a creature in tow, calling it his friend, refusing to let go no matter what—!
“I take you in out of nowhere and all I get is grief, and then when I tell you to get rid of that creature, all you do is cry. You need to learn what being stubborn costs you!”
“!”
Guide’s small jaw stiffened with a bruise-like tension, hair standing on end with shock.
He knew perfectly well that the owner said cruel things but meant the opposite. He knew that every harsh word came from worry and nothing else.
But the manner of speaking was so rough that—
“That is no way to talk to a child!”
People sometimes misunderstood—like the Young Lady of House Krost just now, apparently taking offense on his behalf.
“Oh my. I’m sorry—I didn’t realize you could hear me from over there.”
“Of course I could hear you! I’m not a young lady for nothing!”
“My apologies.”
The butcher let out a quiet laugh and bowed his head. Then he leaned toward the boy and murmured—
“The young lady has a bit of a temper. You think you’ll manage over there?”
“I heard that too!”
“Well! Keen ears on her as well.”
“…….”
By some twist of fate, Guide found himself watching the two of them squabble—and thought to himself, quietly:
Neither of them is exactly what you’d call normal.
But the real problem wasn’t that.
Why is the Young Lady suddenly taking me to Krost Duchy?
He didn’t know the details, but House Krost was the family that guarded the edge of the world from creatures. Which meant the people there—
They’re all terrifyingly powerful. The kind of people who cut down creatures for a living.
Duke Calypse Krost. Lord of the North.
Knox the aide, rumored to be obsessed with creature research and always found behind a gleaming monocle.
And.
Hic.
Even the five-year-old young lady herself, who carried poison needles and had just given the butcher a proper dressing-down.
The mere thought was enough to make him feel faint with dread. Guide shook his head rapidly.
He had to keep his wits about him.
“…Bibi. It’s okay. If anyone tries to hurt you, I’ll stop them.”
He wasn’t sure why the Young Lady was taking him, but he had made up his mind: he would protect his Bibi no matter what.
But a short while later—
Ohhhh no.
The moment Guide arrived at Krost Duchy, his resolution shattered into pieces.
“Good day, my lady! And who’s this little one?”
“A friend of mine!”
“My lady, welcome ba—and what creature is that the small one is carrying? Do we handle it right now?”
“No! We’re watching for the time being!”
Eek. Eek—!
Terrifying people were everywhere he looked.
He was trembling so hard he couldn’t help it. Guide hunched his shoulders and pressed the cage as close to his body as he could manage.
The escort knight who had accompanied them was unsettling enough—but every single person they encountered after passing through the gates was enormous beyond reason.
He felt like a man who had wandered into a country of giants.
Somehow he made it through the imposing castle and all its imposing inhabitants—
“Guide. How close are you and Bibi?”
They arrived at the outdoor training grounds, and the Young Lady spun on her heel and asked him out of nowhere.
If I say very close… will I get thrown out past the edge of the world too?
Tingle, tingle.
It might have looked completely inconsequential to anyone watching—but right now Guide was doing his best impression of a sharp, appraising look directed at the Young Lady Aisha.
Bibi was his one and only friend.
It had started some time ago, when he was wandering through the mountains and they crossed paths by chance.
At first he had spent most of his time running from Bibi’s sharp claws and nimble body—but then:
Chompf.
The first time Bibi had jumped onto his face, he had felt something warm and yielding and soft against his forehead.
Kyuwut?
When he turned his head, two pure, black-bean eyes were looking back at him.
Guide had known, in his bones, in that first instant. The creature was trying to say hello to him.
After that, Guide and Bibi had spent many happy hours together as friends. Usually they played in the mountains, but occasionally he brought Bibi to the butcher shop to have something to eat. On this particular visit, an overly excited Bibi had snuck into the back storage room and started helping itself to the hanging meat—and been caught—and all of this had followed.
…….
Bibi had done something wrong, yes—but it wasn’t the kind of wrong that deserved death.
Guide packed all of that indignation into his gaze and looked steadily at Lady Aisha.
