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IBP 54
* * *
“Hi, bunny!”
I didn't give up.
Instead, I wandered around the cottage to find a way to help Belief, meeting animal friends along the way.
I met numerous animal friends, especially the birds.
I planned to ask them about how Belief had been living while I explored the area.
However, these friends only gave me the information that Belief stayed inside the cottage the entire time and was extremely reluctant to go outside.
And...
“Wow! Are you Jjek-jjeki's friend? Me too!”
“Ahem. Is that so? It's quite surprising that Jjek-jjeki has a human friend!”
The birds, who seemed less intelligent than Jjek-jjeki, just repeated similar things and circled around me.
Still, they were kind friends.
“Here! Eat some of this!”
I shared the cookies I had brought from the Duke's residence.
“Wow! Such food in this barren mine!”
And as expected, the animals never forgot to repay a kindness.
“Huh. What is this?”
I chuckled softly as I accepted the glass stones they handed me.
‘Oh, this... it's a stone I've never seen before!’
It seemed to be a stone found only in the loki mine. I collected the stones they gave me.
And though I wasn't very skilled at it, I used my light ability to treat the sick birds.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
But then...
“...Huh?”
After I had held several of the stones the birds gave me like currency...
Light no longer flowed from my hands.
‘That's strange. I know I'm not great at using my ability, but...’
...Could it really be this unresponsive?
While I was feeling puzzled, a mouse that had been diligently eating suddenly spoke up.
“Geez. Humans really don't know anything.”
“Eh?”
“Do you have any idea how precious those stones are! All the animals know.”
...The moment I looked at the stones again, something clicked. Moreover, I felt like I had seen this stone before.
“...”
“Oh, you startled me! Why are you standing there?”
...That was when Belief appeared.
Seeing the rabbits, mice, and numerous birds lingering around me, he frowned deeply.
“You.”
“Why are you asking why I'm talking to the bunny? It's not just the bunny; there are mice and birds too!”
Hearing me chatter, he covered his ears.
“Gasp, are your ears bleeding? Want me to take a look?”
Belief curled his lips into a mischievous smirk.
“...”
“You say I'm like a very noisy bird?”
The corners of my eyes drooped.
‘I must be hated.’
Still, I remained spirited.
I held out a small stone toward him and spoke.
“Um, a bunny gave me this... Do you want one too, Mr. Belief?”
Seeing that I had diligently collected them, he flinched.
“Huh, animal friends gave these to me, it's nothing weird...”
I stepped closer to him, trying to hand over the sparkling, glass-like stone.
“...”
However, he flinched and hurriedly backed away.
“Hup, you don't want it? You say you want to keep your contact with this land to a minimum...?”
I looked at his retreating back with curiosity.
‘What is it? Why?’
I felt as though he was hiding something.
‘But this stone is actually very precious.’
I had just realized the true nature of the stone.
‘This might be...’
I tucked the sparkling stone into my pocket.
Before I knew it, the sun was setting overhead.
It meant the 24 hours he had promised me were coming to an end.
* * *
That evening, inside the cottage.
I sat facing Belief.
“Today...”
“You're asking how it was following you around today? I think there's a reason why I'm the only one who can understand your words, Mr. Belief.”
And now, I had to tell him that story.
“You see, actually, I can understand the language of animals. That's how I was able to decipher the scriptures! The scripture I read earlier said there are two cases of people who can speak the language of animals.”
“...”
“One case is when they can freely use both human and animal languages, and the other is when they are in a state where they cannot speak human language.”
Did I hit too close to home?
His face gradually turned bright red.
“And I secretly peeked at the decoded scriptures, and people there said that the second type of person is under a curse.”
“...”
“Why is it that I can communicate with you, Mr. Belief?”
His body flinched.
“Do you think you've been cursed to speak the language of animals instead of human language?”
Startled by the word 'curse,' he bolted upright.
Like someone whose secret, which should never have been revealed, had been exposed.
‘Well, in a place where divine blessings are valued above all else, a curse is the worst kind of weakness.’
That must be why he had no choice but to build a cottage and live in the loki mine.
Just like stray dogs who hide in the mountains because they don't want to spread germs.
But there was something more important.
I stared at him and took a deep breath.
“Or else...”
The moment I closed my eyes tight and was about to say the next words...
What was left before my eyes was...!
“Huh, what is this! That's too much!”
...To teleport me all the way back to solar village in an instant!
I have something I absolutely need to tell him!
* * *
“Huff, huff...”
The path from solar village back up to the cottage was too cold for me alone.
“Hmph, it's so dark...”
“If life as a stray dog is so hard, just beg from people until you drop dead.”
I kept remembering the things people used to say back when I lived as a stray, before I met my older sister.
‘I'm scared...’
Choco, the leader who protected me, had told me.
He said that if we encountered large packs of stray dogs, small puppies like me would be eaten in one bite.
‘Back then, Choco saved me.’
Now, I had to save myself.
In the darkness, I constantly comforted myself.
But was it because I was scared? I kept hearing hallucinations.
I saw a giant mountain hare hopping around.
It was the rabbit that had given me the sparkling stone earlier.
I put my hand in my pocket and thought.
‘Yes, I have to save Mr. Belief.’
I saw a small stone beneath the rabbit's feet.
A stone with a particularly sparkling surface.
‘I know what this stone is.’
Because Belief had cut me off earlier, I couldn't tell him properly, but...
Staring at the stone, I tucked the one from my pocket away.
‘Teacher, just wait a little! I'll make it so you can speak!’
[No Entry]
...In an atmosphere so bleak it gave me goosebumps on my cheeks.
I trotted toward Belief, who was standing like a soldier guarding the small cottage.
Although I couldn't get too close because of something like a barrier.
“Why did I come back?”
“...”
“I came to save you, Mr. Belief!”
He had a surprised expression, as if wondering how I could understand him so instantly.
However, his linguistic ability had deteriorated even further.
As if he realized this fact as well, he tried to move one step further away from me.
I took a bold step toward him.
Every time I took one step forward, Belief moved one step further away.
“...”
Toward the retreating Belief, I shouted loudly.
“I came to tell you that neither this land nor you are cursed!”
When Belief gradually slowed his pace, I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“I know why you can't speak, Mr. Belief!”
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