Free Web NovelThe woman lifted me gently with soft hands. Cradled fully in her arms, I let out a long, loose yawn.
Then the man with black hair and violet eyes lightly pinched my cheek.
"You little rascal, you can’t make your mother suffer so much."
"Suffer? Where would you find a child as well-behaved as Ceryl?"
"Haha, that’s true."
The man took me from the woman’s arms. He lifted me high with both hands and broke into a wide smile, his face full of love.
"An angel has come to the Lavier family. Don’t you think so, dear?"
Lavier... what was that? freēwēbηovel.c૦m
It was a word that felt both familiar and unfamiliar. As I blinked my sleepy eyes, the man pulled me back into his arms.
He smoothed down my short black hair and pressed a kiss to my round forehead.
"Ceryl, you are our hope."
Listening to the man’s lullaby-like voice, I drifted off to sleep. There was so much I should have been thinking about, but nothing would stay in my mind.
***
When I opened my eyes again, I could tell the surroundings had changed. The two people who had been holding me were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, I could now walk on my own two feet. Getting out of bed, I looked around.
The walls of the bedroom were covered in wallpaper patterned with delicate flowers. A canopy bed stood in the high-ceilinged room.
Dim moonlight streamed in through the wide-open window. As I looked outside, an unexplainable sense of longing washed over me.
Then, the sound of someone’s footsteps approached. Without hesitation, the door to the bedroom was flung open.
A man who resembled the one who had held me stood there. He had jet-black hair and violet eyes that gleamed even in the darkness.
"Ceryl Lavier, pack your things. From now on, you’ll be living with me."
At his words, a response slipped out of my mouth without passing through my thoughts.
"What about my parents?"
"Your parents couldn’t shake off the pursuit of the national army. They’re not coming back."
"......"
"Soldiers will be here soon too. Hurry."
As I looked at the man’s back while he turned away, another question rose in my mind.
Uncle, were my parents really killed by soldiers?
Then why is it that you, who left with them, don’t have a single wound?
But the words only circled inside my mouth and never came out.
My parents had told me that no matter what happened, I had to survive. That alone kept my young lips sealed.
I roughly stuffed some clothes into a travel bag and began to walk with heavy steps. After one last look at the house I had lived in for twelve years since birth, I followed after my uncle.
***
The moment I stepped outside, the scene changed again. The hand that had just been holding a bag now looked a little bigger.
The table I sat at was filled with food. It wasn’t lavish, but there was no shortage either.
My uncle, seated at the head of the table, was reading a newspaper. Without taking his eyes off the print, he tossed a remark at me.
"So they’ve already built a fourth magical creature management facility."
"......"
"Before long, there’ll be a fifth."
He folded the newspaper and set it down on the table with a dull tap, then looked at me. His eyes were the same violet as mine, but his gaze carried a clear, biting coldness.
"King Laskar is very interested in magical creatures. A truly pathetic man."
"...Why is he pathetic?"
"Why do you think? Use your head."
The new king had built magical creature management facilities all across the country. And he captured every kind of magical creature.
Officially, it was to tame them for military use, but the truth was different. He was searching for something specific.
"...He’s looking for a dragon, isn’t he?"
"That’s right. Doesn’t that sound pathetic to you too? Even if he finds one, it’ll be useless."
I nodded as I imagined the king I had never seen.
Then I lifted my spoon and brought some thin soup to my mouth. It was overly salty, stinging my tongue, but I couldn’t show it in front of my uncle.
My uncle clicked his tongue repeatedly, showing his displeasure.
"Tch, he thinks anyone can form a heart contract just by capturing a dragon. What a fool."
"......"
"Still, it works out well for me that the king doesn’t know the secret. I don’t have the power to capture a dragon myself."
I had heard about dragons so often since birth that the words felt worn into my ears, but I had no real knowledge of them.
All the books my parents had kept had been burned and lost. So I had no choice but to learn from what my uncle told me.
But the dragons my uncle described were nothing like the ones my parents had spoken of. So I never truly listened.
My uncle tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, muttering to himself.
"Ah... just one would be enough. If I can get my hands on a Dravergh heart, I can reclaim royal authority."
"......"
"I hope that foolish king hurries things along."
What even is a dragon?
No matter how strong it was, wasn’t it just another magical creature in the end?
Instead of answering him, I swallowed my thoughts.
***
Once again, I looked around at another changed setting. It was smaller than the house I had lived in as a child, but it was a neatly arranged study.
My uncle sat down in his desk chair and placed the documents he had been holding onto the desk. His violet eyes gleamed with anticipation.
"Ceryl, the time has finally come. King Laskar has succeeded in stealing a Dravergh egg."
"......"
"I’ve received word that it’s being kept in the fifth magical creature management facility. It’s a stroke of luck. They’re recruiting a large number of staff right now."
He held out a document toward me. It was my resume, already completely filled out.
I raised a weak hand and ran my finger over the space where my name was written.
"Ceryl... Aylos."
"That’s right. The name you’ll be using from now on."
"...Aylos means..."
My uncle smiled, pulling one corner of his mouth upward. Yellowed teeth showed, and his eyes glinted with greed.
"It’s the ancestral family of dragon hunters. The perfect name for someone who will torture dragons, don’t you think?"
"......"
"Ceryl, you should be happy. The time has finally come for you to repay your debt."
Using the alias Aylos, I would torture a dragon and extract the name of the captured hatchling.
My uncle was telling me to repay the debt of raising me with my life.
I lifted my tired head and looked at him. Instead of speaking recklessly, I chose silence.
My uncle easily misunderstood my lack of response. He shrugged and pretended to look regretful.
"Your uncle doesn’t want to send you somewhere dangerous either. But Days is too young, and I’m already old."
Days, my cousin and my uncle’s son, was only three years younger than me. In fact, he had already come of age not long ago.
So saying he was too young to be sent to a magical creature management facility was nothing more than an excuse.
But it didn’t matter. My concern lay elsewhere.
"Ceryl, don’t tell me you dislike working for the Lavier family."
"...No."
"Then are you afraid?"
Yes, I’m afraid.
No matter how much I think, there’s no way to escape my uncle.
No matter how many times I calculate it, after losing all my parents’ inheritance, I can’t survive on my own.
More than anything, I’m afraid of myself... for not having the courage to break free from this.
"...I’ll go."
Once again, the truth I couldn’t say sank deep into my chest.
The feelings that had piled up layer upon layer turned into a vicious poison. The poison coiled inside me devoured even the faintest remaining hope.
***
When I opened my eyes again, a familiar scene greeted me.
Crumbled stone walls covered in moss. Stale air and a narrow bed.
It was my room in the fifth magical creature management facility. It was deep night, with moonlight filtering through a small window.
But I couldn’t fall asleep easily. I tossed and turned. After months of poor sleep, my nerves were on edge, and because of that, I was even more sensitive to any sound.
I covered my ears against the distant sounds of death, but in the end, I had no choice but to get up.
Still in my nightclothes, I headed toward one of the cages.
Inside, a magical creature lay collapsed, unable to eat, breathing in ragged gasps.
'It hurts... it hurts, it hurts...'
It kept repeating that it hurt. I crouched down and looked at the exhausted creature.
'It hurts... so much, sob, it hurts...'
"...Does it hurt a lot?"
'Hh, help, help me... sob, it hurts...'
The voice ringing in my head made the strength leave my legs. I sank down onto the floor.
And I just stared at the magical creature. No—I couldn’t do anything else but stare.
"I’m sorry... I’m sorry I can’t help you, sob, I’m sorry..."
'I’m scared... it hurts...'
"Ugh... I’m sorry... I’m not a doctor, sob..."
It hurts, I’m scared, help me, send me home.
Dozens of magical creatures cried out in pain all at once.
The voices of the injured and sick creatures filled my mind. Even if I didn’t want to hear them, they kept pouring in, tormenting me.
And there was only one thing I, who was not a doctor, could do for them.
'It hurts so much... just kill me instead...'
"...ugh, ngh, ugh..."
To end a pain worse than death.
To release them from this hell and send them to a world of eternal peace.
