DBS 11

The path toward Whistlon was bright and clear. Inside the wagon were Cesare, myself, and several other passengers.

There was even a child who looked to be about five years old. A gentle-looking kid, quite adorable at first glance.

Now, however, his face was a mess of tears and mucus.

“Waaah, I’m sorry, mister…!”

“Hey, kid! Why are you crying? What did I even do?!”

The child was crying loudly after seeing Cesare’s face. Cesare looked utterly baffled.

It wasn’t entirely unreasonable. All he had done was smile at the child once—but that alone had apparently been enough to make him burst into tears.

Even so, Cesare’s face was harsh, his build was bear-like, and his body was covered in scars.

“I-I don’t know what I did wrong… but I’m sorry…!”

Cesare had been trying to comfort him, but it only made things worse. The child’s crying grew louder. The mother hurriedly bowed her head while holding the child.

“I’m sorry! My child is just very shy around strangers… I don’t have much money, but please take this and forgive us…”

“Lady, do I look like a thug?! Why are you trying to give me money?!”

Just as the mother was about to cry as well, the wagon stopped at the edge of Whistlon. We got off, and the wagon drove away again.

Cesare grumbled.

“Seriously, why is that kid so rude? Crying just from looking at someone’s face…”

“Children are often frightened. You used to cry when you saw my face too.”

I recalled it—he must have been around nine years old then.

Cesare scratched the back of his head.

“No, that was… I mean, you were holding a sword when we first met! I didn’t think you were scary or anything!”

The memory made me smile faintly. We followed the direction of the signboard when Cesare suddenly spoke.

“Master, is my face really that scary? Will Xenia be scared of me too?”

Fifteen years had passed since Cesare and Xenia last saw each other. I remembered Xenia as a five-year-old child.

“I doubt she’ll be frightened. She was never timid. Though she may be surprised—you’ve changed quite a lot.”

“Tch… nothing I can do about my face.”

Cesare rubbed his cheeks as if trying to loosen his expression.

He had changed greatly. And I, too, had grown younger in appearance. Whether Xenia would even recognize us was uncertain.

By now, fifteen years had passed. Xenia would be an adult.

When we arrived at the village, Cesare looked around.

“It’s tiny. A real backwater.”

Whistlon was even smaller than expected, but that was fortunate. In a large city, finding Xenia would have taken far longer.

“Let’s drop our things at an inn first. We can ask around there.”

A modest inn came into view. When we entered, the warm-faced innkeeper greeted us.

“Welcome! Food? Lodging?”

“Both, please.”

“Please wait a moment. I’ll have the porter prepare your room.”

While waiting, we were given water at the counter.

The innkeeper asked curiously.

“Are you brothers traveling together?”

“Yes.”

“Even though the younger one looks small, he seems quite mature.”

Cesare draped an arm over my shoulder.

“Yep. My little brother here is very well-behaved. Grew up nicely, didn’t he?”

Another improvised performance, no doubt. Still, better than being treated like a subordinate.

The innkeeper continued asking questions.

“Not many travelers come here. What brings you to this place?”

“We’re looking for someone. Is there a woman named Xenia in this village?”

“Do you know Xenia?”

So she did know her. Yet the innkeeper’s expression turned subtly uneasy.

“Yes. I’m a friend of hers. Where can we find her?”

“Well… she usually stays in the flower field. If you go north, past the stream, you’ll see it.”

“Thank you. Let’s go, Cesare… brother.”

We immediately headed north.

My heart swelled at the thought that we would soon meet our youngest disciple.

Ahead, a stream came into view. In the middle of a field of flowers stood a figure with her back turned.

A small woman with a delicate frame and pink hair. A neat bob cut.

Cesare muttered beside me.

“Xenia?”

The woman slowly turned around.

Her water-blue eyes shimmered. A calm, almost indifferent gaze met mine.

It was Xenia.

She appeared to be in her late teens. Her growth had been minimal since childhood, making her instantly recognizable.

Xenia walked toward us slowly. There was no warmth in her eyes—no joy, no affection. Only emptiness, like a still lake.

It seemed she did not recognize us. That was only natural. I was no longer the man she knew. Cesare had changed as well.

She stopped in front of Cesare.

A breeze passed, making the flowers sway gently.

They stared at each other for a long moment.

Did she remember Cesare?

Watching them, I felt a slight sting in my chest. So she had forgotten me—but at least she remembered Cesare… perhaps.

“Ah!”

Cesare’s scream rang out.

Before anyone realized it, he was bound tightly by pink tentacles.

They had extended from beneath Xenia’s skirt and through gaps in her clothing.

Xenia stared at him.

“Who are you?”

The tentacles crawled over Cesare’s body and even flipped him upside down. He screamed as if he were a toy being played with.

“Xenia, you brat! That bad habit of yours is back again?!”

“Bad habit?”

“Yeah! Master nearly killed himself trying to fix that behavior!”

Seeing Cesare restrained like that brought back old memories.

We had found Xenia in a monster nest. A newborn child we could not leave behind.

At first, we thought she was just a lucky survivor. But her growth rate was abnormal, and tentacles began emerging from her body.

She was a human-monster hybrid. Her body resembled a slime, but she possessed human intelligence.

There were other differences too—she struggled to feel emotions like joy or anger, and had difficulty understanding others’ feelings.

Her curiosity, however, was strong. She used her tentacles to examine people. We had all been caught by them at some point.

“Are you mad at us? We didn’t abandon you! We came to get you after earning money—ah! Not there!”

Cesare’s scream pulled me back to the present.

Xenia was now actively manipulating her tentacles with increasing enthusiasm.

I stepped forward.

“Xenia. Let your brother down.”

She tilted her head but did not comply.

“Cesare? Brother?”

“Yes. You lived with us at Balanus Domus.”

“What’s that?”

Had she lost her memory? How much had been erased?

Still, she was alive—and that was enough.

“Do you remember me? Dane, your master.”

“My master is Lord Gainak.”

The word “master” made my breath catch slightly.

So she had another master now. Not me.

Cesare continued struggling behind her.

For now, I needed to resolve this situation.

“Let him go. He doesn’t like it.”

She looked at me quietly. Her sky-colored eyes studied me.

“That’s strange. I keep looking at you.”

Was it unconscious memory?

Her gaze flickered with something I could not quite define—affection or curiosity.

“I like you more than him. I want to play with you instead.”

—Whoosh!

Xenia released Cesare and immediately lunged toward me.

I had anticipated it and stepped back quickly.

“You dodged it?”

Her eyes sparkled with fascination.

She extended her tentacles again—faster, more numerous.

What had been two became nearly ten.

Pink tendrils writhed through the air, and her expression grew almost feverish with curiosity.

Like when dissecting frogs or lizards as a child.

“I’m curious about you. I want to catch you and play. I want to know what you are.”