After realizing that the two of them had to share the same room, Iris fixed her gaze on the bed for no reason.
The room that the King of Siere gave to his son was spacious and splendid. The bed was large, so it seemed comfortable enough for the two of them to lie down, but because of Hayer’s large size, it was not enough to lie far apart.
When they were looking for a topic of conversation due to awkwardness, and darting their eyes around, a scream sounded from outside. The two ran to the window and looked out without anyone saying anything first.
A man holding a child was screaming.
“My son is not a monster! He’s not!”
“A newborn baby can’t be that big!”
“I said no! Get away, I’ll blow your neck off if you get any closer to me!”
Iris halted because she couldn’t immediately understand why the baby was called a monster, but Hayer jumped out of the window and went outside.
As he approached, the man holding the child swung a rusty dagger blade.
“Go! Go away!”
But Hayer did not care at all about the slow, blunt blade he wielded, and seized his arm and suppressed him at once. And quickly took the child away with the other hand.
The father of the child sobbed and screamed.
“I said he’s not a monster! My son…”
But soon, he knew that Hayer had no intention of harming the child.
Hayer was checking the child’s face hidden in a thick blanket. Then he cursed and shoved people away and laid the baby on the floor. The child’s father had suffocated the child in the blanket while fighting to keep him from being taken away.
He was on high alert to control his strength, knowing that he could break the child’s bones if he applied the wrong force. Then he pressed the chest to get the child’s breath back.
The child’s father was tearing his hair apart in fear next to him. His face had a shadow of despair at the thought that he might have killed his son.
While endlessly trying to resuscitate at a constant speed, the child’s cry returned. Hayer finally let go at the sound of the cry.
The child’s father sobbed and picked him up.
“Thank you! Thank you…”
“Take him to a doctor.”
The father ran with his son at his words, and Hayer told the remaining people.
“That child is not a monster. Monsters don’t have the same body structure as humans. It doesn’t matter how it looks. Just because you have eyes, you don’t see with those eyes, and just because you have a mouth, you don’t speak with your mouth. The same goes for monsters in whatever form they exist in.”
So if you saw it with your eyes, suffocated, and cried out loud, it was a person. All the monsters Hayer had been dealing with so far were like that.
He thought that if one day the sacred tree made the monsters stronger, there might be further evolution. More and more human-like monsters would exist, so they may replace humans.
He thought that such a disgusting moment might come.
As he was engulfed in such negative thoughts, Iris grabbed him and turned him around.
“Hayer!”
Following her feeble strength, Hayer turned.
He met Iris’s eyes, who was looking at him from the front.
If the world really ended, if it was certain, would there be meaning in the time we survive until that moment?
When Hayer thought about that, Iris’s face in front of him changed his mind.
If he could have time with her, he preferred two hours rather than an hour, a week rather than a day, and eternity rather than a moment.
His time with her was better long than short, so he got a reason for his present life. He thought maybe those feelings were love.
It was simple, but that feeling of wanting to be together for a long time.
Hayer opened his mouth.
“Room… I’m glad we share a room.”
“All of a sudden, in this situation…”
“In this situation, that’s the most fortunate thing for me. I’m happy.”
“……”
“That you won’t be going back to your own room tonight…”
Hearing his earnest voice, Iris put down her numerous questions for a moment and stared at Hayer’s face.
After saving the child, Hayer’s expression could only be described in one word when Iris had just turned him around.
Despair.
Endless despair.
The expression scared Iris for a moment, but she didn’t back down. If Hayer was in despair, she had to help if he couldn’t get out of it on his own. She had to get him out of that abyss.
Iris couldn’t understand the situation, but after taking a deep breath and regaining as much composure as possible, she opened her mouth.
“I honestly don’t know if I can share a room with you yet.”
“That’s too much. Your partner is so excited.”
“You know. Not yet… I’m still kind of embarrassed.”
“Why are you embarrassed to share a room with me when you want to get married?”
“It shows my whole life.”
“I won’t look, then. Can I live with my eyes closed in the room?”
“That’s not what I’m saying… Ha, seriously.”
The argument with Hayer temporarily melted the rigidity between the two.
Iris continued.
“Explain to me. What was going on?”
“Hmm.”
Hayer checked the surroundings for a moment and said.
“It would be better to talk about this in a situation where everyone is gathered.”
He moved to gather his subordinates, clasping Iris’s hand.
Iris made no objection about moving hand in hand in such a crowded place, because she felt the anxiety that still lingered in his face and actions.
After a while, the Knights of Tejas gathered in the widest room of Hayer and Iris.
Leaning against the window, Hayer looked at Iris and his subordinates before opening his mouth.
“I’m sure there’s someone who saw the commotion earlier, right?”
At his words, several knights raised their hands to indicate that they saw the disturbance caused by the newborn baby. Hayer nodded and continued.
“As you may vaguely know. There’s something you need to know about the monsters.”
True to his words, Annamaria and Hencke, who vaguely knew what the captain would say, gritted their teeth and avoided eye contact.
Hayer opened his mouth after checking the expressions of his subordinates.
“As you may have noticed, the monsters are mimicking the forms of life that are common in the region. Just looking at the monsters on the southern border mimicking the shape of a tree, you can see it.”
His subordinates were concentrating on Hayer’s words, and after a pause he eventually continued.
“However, in the case of the southern border, it seems that the monsters have no longer properly evolved the way they imitate its form because the sacred tree was cut down. So, like a walking monster, growth would have ended in a form that could not be completely called any creature.”
Those who saw the commotion earlier, and Iris, too, understood to some extent what Hayer was trying to say.
She asked in a subdued voice.
“…Do you mean that monsters can also imitate humans?”
Hayer nodded slowly at her words.
“It seems so. I’ve seen it once on the southern border, and in the desert… I had to cut it.”
Then he looked at his pale-faced subordinates.
In the end, all these words were the cornerstone of what he was about to say.
“So we all know, and I think we should go to the Siere capital.”
“…What do you mean, Captain?”
When asked by Ian, a Knight of Tejas, Hayer opened his mouth again.
“The most common thing in the capital are people.”
“……”
“I could tell at a glance that the monster I saw was actually not human. She looks like a child, but she’s about as tall as an adult woman. But it might be different there. There are two sacred trees close to the capital, and they must be growing monsters without ever being cut down. So, maybe, it’s a more perfect human form than I’ve ever seen.”
Hayer could not stop explaining, even though he knew despair was hanging over his subordinates’ faces.
“So, the monsters that we will meet endlessly when we arrive in the capital and head to the place where the sacred tree is located are probably in the form of a human. The child I saw earlier wasn’t even that big for his age. However, seeing a child and suspecting that they might be a monster would mean that the monsters in the capital have already become much closer to humans.”
After his words, there was a moment of silence, and Camille, the youngest of the Knights, ran to the window and began to vomit.
At the southern border, the Knights of Tejas cut down the monsters with the intention of protecting Luwan. To extend, it was a strong sense of duty to protect humans. However, what should be cut down in the future was probably a human neck. Even if it was not a person.
Annamaria asked.
“…Captain.”
“Yes.”
“What if there’s no distinction?”
At her words, Hayer closed his eyes for a moment and opened his mouth.
“Let’s go. Let’s go, let’s make a distinction somehow. We have no choice but to find a way.”
If you don’t find a way.
Hayer thought that there might be a moment when he would cut his opponent in an uncertain state before he was in danger.
But he couldn’t bring it up because his subordinates were already in too much shock.
afterword
on the bright side what hayer said about spending time with iris was so romantic and sweet im sobbing yes beloved that IS love!
After realizing that the two of them had to share the same room, Iris fixed her gaze on the bed for no reason.
The room that the King of Siere gave to his son was spacious and splendid. The bed was large, so it seemed comfortable enough for the two of them to lie down, but because of Hayer’s large size, it was not enough to lie far apart.
When they were looking for a topic of conversation due to awkwardness, and darting their eyes around, a scream sounded from outside. The two ran to the window and looked out without anyone saying anything first.
A man holding a child was screaming.
“My son is not a monster! He’s not!”
“A newborn baby can’t be that big!”
“I said no! Get away, I’ll blow your neck off if you get any closer to me!”
Iris halted because she couldn’t immediately understand why the baby was called a monster, but Hayer jumped out of the window and went outside.
As he approached, the man holding the child swung a rusty dagger blade.
“Go! Go away!”
But Hayer did not care at all about the slow, blunt blade he wielded, and seized his arm and suppressed him at once. And quickly took the child away with the other hand.
The father of the child sobbed and screamed.
“I said he’s not a monster! My son…”
But soon, he knew that Hayer had no intention of harming the child.
Hayer was checking the child’s face hidden in a thick blanket. Then he cursed and shoved people away and laid the baby on the floor. The child’s father had suffocated the child in the blanket while fighting to keep him from being taken away.
He was on high alert to control his strength, knowing that he could break the child’s bones if he applied the wrong force. Then he pressed the chest to get the child’s breath back.
The child’s father was tearing his hair apart in fear next to him. His face had a shadow of despair at the thought that he might have killed his son.
While endlessly trying to resuscitate at a constant speed, the child’s cry returned. Hayer finally let go at the sound of the cry.
The child’s father sobbed and picked him up.
“Thank you! Thank you…”
“Take him to a doctor.”
The father ran with his son at his words, and Hayer told the remaining people.
“That child is not a monster. Monsters don’t have the same body structure as humans. It doesn’t matter how it looks. Just because you have eyes, you don’t see with those eyes, and just because you have a mouth, you don’t speak with your mouth. The same goes for monsters in whatever form they exist in.”
So if you saw it with your eyes, suffocated, and cried out loud, it was a person. All the monsters Hayer had been dealing with so far were like that.
He thought that if one day the sacred tree made the monsters stronger, there might be further evolution. More and more human-like monsters would exist, so they may replace humans.
He thought that such a disgusting moment might come.
As he was engulfed in such negative thoughts, Iris grabbed him and turned him around.
“Hayer!”
Following her feeble strength, Hayer turned.
He met Iris’s eyes, who was looking at him from the front.
If the world really ended, if it was certain, would there be meaning in the time we survive until that moment?
When Hayer thought about that, Iris’s face in front of him changed his mind.
If he could have time with her, he preferred two hours rather than an hour, a week rather than a day, and eternity rather than a moment.
His time with her was better long than short, so he got a reason for his present life. He thought maybe those feelings were love.
It was simple, but that feeling of wanting to be together for a long time.
Hayer opened his mouth.
“Room… I’m glad we share a room.”
“All of a sudden, in this situation…”
“In this situation, that’s the most fortunate thing for me. I’m happy.”
“……”
“That you won’t be going back to your own room tonight…”
Hearing his earnest voice, Iris put down her numerous questions for a moment and stared at Hayer’s face.
After saving the child, Hayer’s expression could only be described in one word when Iris had just turned him around.
Despair.
Endless despair.
The expression scared Iris for a moment, but she didn’t back down. If Hayer was in despair, she had to help if he couldn’t get out of it on his own. She had to get him out of that abyss.
Iris couldn’t understand the situation, but after taking a deep breath and regaining as much composure as possible, she opened her mouth.
“I honestly don’t know if I can share a room with you yet.”
“That’s too much. Your partner is so excited.”
“You know. Not yet… I’m still kind of embarrassed.”
“Why are you embarrassed to share a room with me when you want to get married?”
“It shows my whole life.”
“I won’t look, then. Can I live with my eyes closed in the room?”
“That’s not what I’m saying… Ha, seriously.”
The argument with Hayer temporarily melted the rigidity between the two.
Iris continued.
“Explain to me. What was going on?”
“Hmm.”
Hayer checked the surroundings for a moment and said.
“It would be better to talk about this in a situation where everyone is gathered.”
He moved to gather his subordinates, clasping Iris’s hand.
Iris made no objection about moving hand in hand in such a crowded place, because she felt the anxiety that still lingered in his face and actions.
After a while, the Knights of Tejas gathered in the widest room of Hayer and Iris.
Leaning against the window, Hayer looked at Iris and his subordinates before opening his mouth.
“I’m sure there’s someone who saw the commotion earlier, right?”
At his words, several knights raised their hands to indicate that they saw the disturbance caused by the newborn baby. Hayer nodded and continued.
“As you may vaguely know. There’s something you need to know about the monsters.”
True to his words, Annamaria and Hencke, who vaguely knew what the captain would say, gritted their teeth and avoided eye contact.
Hayer opened his mouth after checking the expressions of his subordinates.
“As you may have noticed, the monsters are mimicking the forms of life that are common in the region. Just looking at the monsters on the southern border mimicking the shape of a tree, you can see it.”
His subordinates were concentrating on Hayer’s words, and after a pause he eventually continued.
“However, in the case of the southern border, it seems that the monsters have no longer properly evolved the way they imitate its form because the sacred tree was cut down. So, like a walking monster, growth would have ended in a form that could not be completely called any creature.”
Those who saw the commotion earlier, and Iris, too, understood to some extent what Hayer was trying to say.
She asked in a subdued voice.
“…Do you mean that monsters can also imitate humans?”
Hayer nodded slowly at her words.
“It seems so. I’ve seen it once on the southern border, and in the desert… I had to cut it.”
Then he looked at his pale-faced subordinates.
In the end, all these words were the cornerstone of what he was about to say.
“So we all know, and I think we should go to the Siere capital.”
“…What do you mean, Captain?”
When asked by Ian, a Knight of Tejas, Hayer opened his mouth again.
“The most common thing in the capital are people.”
“……”
“I could tell at a glance that the monster I saw was actually not human. She looks like a child, but she’s about as tall as an adult woman. But it might be different there. There are two sacred trees close to the capital, and they must be growing monsters without ever being cut down. So, maybe, it’s a more perfect human form than I’ve ever seen.”
Hayer could not stop explaining, even though he knew despair was hanging over his subordinates’ faces.
“So, the monsters that we will meet endlessly when we arrive in the capital and head to the place where the sacred tree is located are probably in the form of a human. The child I saw earlier wasn’t even that big for his age. However, seeing a child and suspecting that they might be a monster would mean that the monsters in the capital have already become much closer to humans.”
After his words, there was a moment of silence, and Camille, the youngest of the Knights, ran to the window and began to vomit.
At the southern border, the Knights of Tejas cut down the monsters with the intention of protecting Luwan. To extend, it was a strong sense of duty to protect humans. However, what should be cut down in the future was probably a human neck. Even if it was not a person.
Annamaria asked.
“…Captain.”
“Yes.”
“What if there’s no distinction?”
At her words, Hayer closed his eyes for a moment and opened his mouth.
“Let’s go. Let’s go, let’s make a distinction somehow. We have no choice but to find a way.”
If you don’t find a way.
Hayer thought that there might be a moment when he would cut his opponent in an uncertain state before he was in danger.
But he couldn’t bring it up because his subordinates were already in too much shock.
afterword
on the bright side what hayer said about spending time with iris was so romantic and sweet im sobbing yes beloved that IS love!
