I spread my arms as wide as I could and looked at the sky.
The lights of the stars spread out in my field of view, and I felt as if I could reach out and grab them.
Let’s grab it. Let’s do that.
“Will you go?”
“Will you dance?”
Can you go?
“You can.”
“Kunpei can go anywhere.”
“Don’t worry. We’re here.”
“With Kunpei and us, we can do anything.”
I see.
Then we have to go.
I spread the wings on my back wide and accepted these guys.
The white feathers danced around me, and I inhaled the smell of the wind deep into my nose.
“Let’s go grab a star.”
I put all the strength I had into my legs and kicked the ground.
The butterflies pushed my body up from below as I softly floated up.
I slowly rose and my wings eventually caught the wind.
“Now you can fly high, right?”
“You can fly faster now, can’t you?”
Is that so?
I’ve never flown before, so I don’t know, but if you guys say so, then I guess so.
Then I looked up at the moon shining in the middle of the sky and flapped my wings.
“Hahaha!”
Aah!
That was awesome!
“Hahaha! Whaaaaahhh!”
Turning my excited emotions into a shout, I soared straight up to the moon.
With each flap of my wings, my body soared higher and higher.
I flapped my wings harder, faster than before.
A swarm of butterflies followed me at the same speed.
Countless butterflies lined up in the night light with me, flapping their wings happily.
It’s a great feeling.
The wind on my cheeks was getting colder as I gained altitude, but it didn’t matter.
I can go anywhere I want now.
With these guys, I can do anything.
“Come back! If you go any higher, you’ll hit a wall in the sky!”
Hmm?
Whose voice is that?
“Wake up! If you accept any more spirits, you’ll die!”
What the hell.
I’m in a really good mood right now.
I don’t want you to interrupt me.
“Get a grip! Don’t surrender your will to the spirits!”
I stopped flapping my wings and spread them wide to catch the wind head-on.
The butterflies and I came to a stop in the sky.
As I balanced my suddenly stopped body, I looked down.
“Oh, yeah. There you are.”
That’s right.
The Rat Sage, Alba Germain.
A rat dressed like a wizard, with a light red light all over his body, ascended with a desperate face.
“Huff! Huff! Okay, good boy.”
Straddling a staff larger than his usual height, Alba stopped in front of my face, breathing hard.
“What is it, Alba? You look so scary.”
With sharp eyes, Alba glared at my face and chest, and then at the butterflies around me.
I felt a little uneasy at the unfamiliar expression on his face.
“Please be quiet for a minute, please… Damn, that was careless. The three outer perimeters of the seal have been breached. When that snake intervened with the transference magic, it pulled out the spirits inside you. She’s a… nuisance.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I’m really sleepy.
Like I said, I can’t understand what you’re saying.
I don’t know why I’m so flustered.
I’m sure I was angry about something just now.
Now I can’t remember what I was angry about.
Where am I?
“It’s okay. It’s okay. Leave it to me, I’m not going to let you die. Yes, I will not let you die…. The sealed formula that was broken is no longer functional… It has been acclimatized to the body over time, so if the same formula is put on top of it, it will be rejected… It’s a good idea to use what leaked to build a new one. That’s right. The spirits were born from his body, so they should be able to adapt to his body with less effort than my magic power. The amplified amount is… ah, this is a reaction to contact with Hilda’s dragon qi. Damn it, then I can’t counteract it with my power… or should I just let them consume it? No, I can’t do that when I don’t know if his body will hold up…”
The mouse in front of me is muttering something complicated with a difficult expression.
His little hand was touching my left chest while the red light was flickering.
I wonder why this rat looks so desperate.
Come to think of it, I think I know him.
I thought I knew his name until just now, eh? I wonder what it was.
But it’s a cute little rat.
I remember Shouhei used to watch cartoons with rats like this.
Shouhei?
Who’s Shouhei?
He was a very important guy, I think.
“Hm, it became something interesting?”
Before I knew it, a pitch-black snake was floating behind me.
It had a red jewel on its forehead that gave me a bad feeling.
“A soul with a power disproportionate to its weak human body… I see, so the sealing ceremony is designed to keep this monk’s body from exploding from the inside by consuming his power with his heart. How complicated. So the boy’s own power keeps the seal in place, which also keeps it strong?”
“I don’t have time to deal with you right now. Go away.”
The rat replied to the black snake’s words in an annoyed tone.
“The broken part is where I pulled up. I see. I’m not sure what to do, but I’m going to try to find out. The structure of the formula made it difficult to release from the outside, but it couldn’t withstand a crack from the inside.”
“So the broken part is where I pulled it. I see. That’s what happened when I forcibly pulled out the power that was leaking slightly from the outside. Due to the structure of the formula, it was difficult to release from the outside, but it couldn’t withstand a crack from the inside.”
“I told you to fuck off!
Suddenly the shouting rat looked at the snake.
“It’s you again! You’re the one who’s trying to take away my precious things! How much sorrow do you need to spread in this world to make you happy? You can hold a grudge all you want! You’re selfishly jealous! You selfishly try to erase it! You really are! You!”
I wonder.
Is this rat sad?
What is it that you’re so afraid of?
“Scary.”
“Poor thing.”
The butterflies began to rustle and buzz.
Butterflies begin to buzz around me and the mouse, leaving behind a greenish trail of light.
“Because Seraphy’s not here?”
Seraphy?
I wonder who that is.
“Because Seraphy was killed?”
“The devil killed Seraphy.”
“You cut down Seraphy while she was crying.”
“Because Seraphy wanted it.”
“Because Seraphy asked the devil.”
The words of the butterflies reverberated in my mind.
My heart squeaked as if it was being clenched by the faltering, painful voice.
Oh, you guys are sad, too?
You loved that Seraphy person, didn’t you?
“Seraphy was always with us.”
“Smiling with a lonely expression.”
“But she still played with us.”
“Poor Seraphy.”
“Poor devil.”
“I always wanted to be with you.”
“I wanted you to keep smiling beside me.”
“That snake…”
“The woman who came at the end…”
“Took everything away.”
It took everything away.
“Unforgivable.”
Unforgivable.
“Seraphy and the Devil’s tears.
“We’ll never forget.”
“The Bird in the sky.”
“The Lizard of the earth.”
“The fish in the sea.”
“We spirits…”
“Will never forgive…”
“That woman.”
Yes, we must not forgive.
That snake, that woman.
That devil who took everything.
“Ahahaha! What are you so excited about, Alba Germain? That’s what I call you now, my foolish brother! I was just doing what I had to do! I was just trying to take back what I created, what is mine, from that woman! And you interfered! You guys! You’re the ones who got together and tortured me into this pathetic mess! I’m the one who was robbed! Me! This Clay End, this one, has every reason to seek revenge! I am the one! Hahaha! AHahahahaha!”
The snake laughed.
It laughed loudly and wickedly.
“What the hell is Clay End? There’s no irony in that, thing of the end! Seraphy was even trying to save you! You didn’t even listen to her! Don’t you dare play the victim here!”
The rat yelled.
He sounded sad and distressed.
Screaming in grief, but still yelling.
It’s that thing that makes you sad, isn’t it?
The black snake in front of you is probably all to blame.
Then.
“Wind.”
“Life is a gentle breeze that brings forth life.”
I extended my right hand.
I opened my palm and touched the wind.
“Seraphy’s love, the scent of the wind.”
“Please, lend us your power.”
I extended my left hand.
I opened my palm and stroked the wind.
“The only thing that can hurt the woman…”
“is the wind.”
“You’re the only one.”
I raised my hands above my head and flapped my wings.
The wind began to fly through the sky, matching the trajectory of the butterflies.
This wind is a primordial wind.
In a world of chaos, it is an innocent wind that came from the sea and carried life.
It is the wind of the beginning that traveled through the sky, the earth, and the sea, and came back here again.
It is a wind that has existed in this world for a long time, but that no one has been able to find.
A wind that has seen all life and holds the memories of all life.
“Turn.”
And it was also Kazamachi Kunpei himself.
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