Even after dawn, the air in the village was rough. In the morning light shining through the gaps in the barn, I raised myself up from the straw. Maro moved around restlessly inside my clothes.
Even though the dogs were barking so much last night, this little guy curled up and slept without a care in the world. …Well, did it twitch and stir once in the middle?
“…It was noisy last night, wasn’t it?”
“Kyu.”
A cry that I couldn’t tell if it was an answer or just sleepiness came back from deep inside my sleeve.
When I went outside, people were gathered around the village square. On a normal morning, this is the time when everyone disperses to the fields or the barn. Something is happening. I approached them indirectly, yet in a way that wouldn’t stand out.
What I saw through the gaps in the crowd of people was a livestock pen with a broken fence. Feathers were scattered here and there on the ground, and black, dry stains remained in the dirt. It looked like several chickens had been attacked. Not only that, but one of the dogs that should have been guarding the pen had grown cold in the corner. It was one of the voices that had barked so much last night.
“It’s a monster. No doubt about it.”
One of the village men said in a low voice. The faces around him stiffened all at once.
“To think it would come down this close to the village.”
“How many years has it been since something like this happened?”
At the word “monster,” my own spine stiffened on its own. That night I was chased out of the castle, I held my breath and took a wide detour to pass by a black shadow about the size of a dog that I saw in the forest. The exact same thing had come right up to this village.
I kept my mouth shut at the very edge of the crowd. …Don’t get involved. The usual voice echoed in my head. I am just an unknown dependent who is being fed. Besides, with all my stats at their starting values, the only thing I could do if I stepped in front of a monster is be eaten first.
Don’t stick my neck out, stay quiet in the corner, and wait for the storm to pass. That is my way of surviving. So, I had decided. I had decided, or so I thought…
Maro was moving around restlessly inside my sleeve. I thought about sharing a piece of bread with it, but it didn’t feel like that kind of mood. It poked its head out, stared intently at the edge of the village—toward the dark woods on the other side of the fence—and then pulled it back inside over and over again.
“…Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Kyu, kyu.”
It was different from our usual back-and-forth tone where we seemed to understand each other. A much tighter, shorter cry was a little too persistent to just brush aside as my imagination.
That day, the entire village was unsettled. The men repaired the broken fence, and the women kept the children inside their houses. I also joined the usual chores and carried the wood for the fence. No one thanked me or spoke to me. That was normal. However, as I carried the materials, some talk reached my ears.
“Even if you talk about patrols, how many hands do we have that can watch the edge of the village all night?”
“The opponent is a monster that tore chickens to pieces and even bit a dog to death. Can hoes and plows do anything against that?”
“What are we going to do if it comes back tonight?”
No one said anything beyond that.
As I put down the wood, I quietly looked toward the forest. The sun was already starting to set. If that thing was somewhere in that darkness, with an empty stomach—it would probably come again.
…It’s coming, huh?
I suddenly realized, and my back went cold. My sleeping place was that barn at the very edge of the village, right next to the destroyed livestock pen. If that thing came down again, the next closest thing after the chickens, the easiest thing after the dog, would probably be me sleeping empty-handed. What. In the end, is this also a problem for myself?
Thinking that, my resolve settled a little bit strangely. Since I would be the one eaten if I left it alone, I should at least know where and how it comes from. If I knew the path it took, I would have a way to run or avoid it.
Plus—that child’s face, who had shone her eyes like an idiot when looking at Maro on my shoulder last night, flickered in my mind. Theo’s house was also on the outer edge of the village. If that happened, I thought, and I pushed that thought away.
“…Just doing what I can, that’s all.”
I muttered to myself, as if telling it to no one in particular. Before night comes, I will at least check out the beast’s path in that forest. Even a coward like me should be able to do that much.
Courage, or some grand thing like that? Half of it was just not wanting to get eaten myself, and the other half was simply not wanting to hear that child cry.
The sun sinks beyond the forest. If I go, being empty-handed is a bad idea. I picked up a worn-out hoe that had been leaning against the side of the barn. It was a farming tool used to till the fields, but since they wouldn’t lend me anything as fancy as a blade, this was about the best I could do. I didn’t plan on swinging it around, but just in case.
Without telling anyone, I headed toward the edge of the village. Maro smoothly popped its head out of my sleeve. It wasn’t the usual goofy black eyes. It stared straight into the darkness of the forest, tightening its body.
“Kyu.”
A short, sharp cry.
…Ah, I know.
In the darkness deep within the forest, something large made a sound parting the underbrush. It was that presence the dogs had been terrified of last night.