* * *
“Uncle Hark!”
The place I ran to after fleeing from the shrine was Uncle Hark’s wheat field. I thought I had to inform Hark, Granny Grute’s son, about what happened to her remains.
“Oh? What’s wrong, Emi?”
Uncle stopped weeding and stood up, asking me in his usual relaxed tone.
“Granny became bread…!”
“Hm?”
“Granny glowed and became bread!!”
Ah! My lack of conversation skills due to being inarticulate is frustrating! I can’t properly explain what happened!
However, in response to my flustered state, Uncle Hark’s reaction was very calm.
He looked puzzled for a moment, but quickly regained his smile and stroked my head.
“Calm down, Emi.”
“……..”
I took a deep breath.
That’s right, as Uncle says, I should calm down a bit.
I steadied my ragged breathing.
Filling my chest with the fresh scent of the wheat fields carried by the wind.
“So you saw it, huh?”
“!!!”
My heart thumped loudly.
I inadvertently held my breath.
Looking up, there was Uncle’s face.
The same gentle, usual smile.
……There wasn’t a shred remaining of the sorrow over his loved one’s passing that was definitely there when I met him this morning.
I unconsciously backed away.
“You witnessed the ‘Sacrificial Bread Offering Ritual’ for the first time. That’s why you’re confused, isn’t it? I understand how you feel.”
“Sacrificial…Bread…Offering…?!”
What is this guy saying…?!
“But there’s no need to panic, Emi. And no need to grieve. Through that ritual, my mother’s body was offered to our god, the Harvest God Muwidgi, becoming nourishment for them. And in exchange, the Harvest God bestowed the nourishment for us to live on. Thanks to that, we can avoid starvation and grow even more wheat. We can further expand the wheat fields. Isn’t that wonderful? ……Look, Emi.”
Saying that, Uncle turned his face sideways to gaze at the horizon.
Gazing at the wheat fields stretching all the way to the horizon with an enraptured expression.
“Isn’t it a beautiful wheat field? When presented with this beautiful scenery, one would think a person’s life and death is a trivial, insignificant occurrence, wouldn’t you say…?”
……………………
Uncle Hark smiled with a broad grin.
He was serious.
This uncle was seriously uttering those lines.
Seriously dismissing his loved one’s death as ‘trivial’ and indulging in the beauty of the wheat fields.
There’s something wrong here.
Isn’t there something wrong?
There is something wrong.
An abnormality peeking through that can’t simply be dismissed as “this village’s unique perspective on life and death.”
That’s right, it’s abnormal.
This uncle who instantly forgot the grief over his loved one’s passing.
And my own thoughts that might accept what the uncle says without any doubts if I let my guard down.
Something inside my head is desperately screaming.
Telling me to flee.
Telling me not to listen any further.
That’s how it feels.
“……..”
“Oh, wait Emi! Where are you going?!”
Ignoring Uncle’s voice calling out to stop me, I started running again.
* * *
Running.
Mindlessly running.
The villagers I pass by wave with smiles, but I ignore them and keep running.
To begin with.
There’s something wrong with this village to begin with.
Everyone is too kind.
Too kind towards me.
I’m the cursed child.
For the sole reason of having black hair and black eyes, I’ve been scorned, hated, and persecuted wherever I went my whole life.
Yet the people of this village, how did they act?
They accepted me without discrimination, without bullying me, accepting me as a fellow villager and helping me.
That’s just too much.
……Sure, up until now there were occasional kind people too.
But every single villager is kind.
This is……simply too much, no matter how you look at it.
There’s something off about this village.
And my own thinking that never noticed anything off is……starting to seem a bit off itself, I feel.
<Zzzz……Zzzzzz……>
I hear that strange noise again.
I stop and scan my surroundings cautiously, but once more I can’t discern where this sound is coming from.
“Oh, there you are. Good morning, Miss!”
Here, a villager calls out to me.
It’s Ronte.
Behind him are his wife Itakk and another person……a shaggy, reddish-brown long-haired man, Seejin.
All three are smiling merrily at me.
Even Seejin, who smiled kindly at me.
“Emi, was it? Actually, I was looking for you……to apologize.”
Seejin showed an apologetic expression, scratching his head with a friendly smile.
“The other day, I rudely insulted you as the ‘cursed child’ and such……I’m truly sorry about that. Looking back, I don’t even know why I said such things……I’m honestly ashamed of myself!”
No.
His tone, his comportment, his personality, all of it is completely different from Seejin I met before.
While I remain silent, Ronte folds his knees to match my eye level and gently asks,
“Actually, Seejin here has decided to settle in Grounoddka Village too! He’ll be a fellow wheat farmer with us! So why don’t you forgive him and make amends, hmm?”
<Zzzzzz!! ……Zzzzzzzz!!>
The noise intensifies.
But Ronte and the others don’t seem to notice this sound at all.
I realize this sound isn’t coming from anywhere around me.
This noise is only resonating inside my head.
“I apologize <Zzzz> sincerely <Zzzzzz!> Please forgive me <Zzzzzzzzzzzz!>!”
Seejin also meets my gaze and extends his hand for a handshake.
But the noise is unbearable.
The noise is so loud that I can’t make out what Seejin is saying at all.
I don’t understand what’s happening.
What is happening to me right now?
What is this village?
I’m confused.
The three of them look at me with concerned expressions as I remain unresponsive.
It’s sickening.
<Zzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzz!!>
The intense noise.
I feel dizzy.
<Zzzzzzzz……ooooooozzzzzz!>
“……..Eh?”
That’s when it happened.
<Zzzzooooooooooozzzoozzooooooozzzzzzoooooooooooo!>
Another distinct sound began mixing with the noise.
The desperate scream of a woman!
The scream of a woman yelling with all her might!
<Oooooooooozzzzzzzz……UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!>
The noise gradually subsides while the woman’s voice grows louder.
An awfully nostalgic voice.
That’s right.
I’m familiar with this voice.
……Familiar?
What am I saying?!
This isn’t at that level of just being ‘familiar’!
Why did I forget?!
This voice belongs to someone precious!
Someone who has been with me since I was born, my dearest, dearest partner!!
This person is……this person is……!!
<OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I finally connected aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!>
It’s Extra-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
<Aaaa! Emi! ……sniff! Emiiiiii!! I can finally reach you with my voice at last! Uwaaaaaaan!!!>
Wait a minute!
Wait, Extra-sama!
Don’t cry, please tell me!
What happened to me, to Extra-sama…?!
Ugh?!
The moment I heard Extra-sama’s voice, an abnormality occurred in my body.
I inadvertently crouched down, clutching my stomach.
“H-Hey?! What’s wrong?! You’ve been acting strange for a while now?! Are you okay, Miss?!”
Ronte said something, but I couldn’t hear him.
Because right now, my body is…!!
……Being overwhelmed by an indescribable hunger, an excruciating starvation!!!
Gugyuuuuuuurururururururu!!!
A stomach growl resounding like the roar of a ferocious large monster echoed across the quiet wheat fields!!
“Are…are you hungry?!”
Ronte approached me with a concerned look.
Don’t.
Don’t come any closer.
Don’t approach me right now.
No.
No no.
Right now, to me, you……
….only look like meat!!!
<Don’t do it!!>
Extra-sama’s scream stopped my hand.
I was about to instinctively grab Ronte’s throat and devour his bloody flesh.
Ah, that was dangerous.
<Emi, let’s flee! To the forest……flee to the forest!!>
I released my hand from Ronte’s throat.
It was a close call, but a red mark remained on his throat.
I think it will heal soon, so please forgive that much.
“Ah……ah……?!”
Leaving the shaken, trembling Ronte and the two rushing towards him behind, I ran off toward the forest.
* * *
“Uncle Hark!”
The place I ran to after fleeing from the shrine was Uncle Hark’s wheat field. I thought I had to inform Hark, Granny Grute’s son, about what happened to her remains.
“Oh? What’s wrong, Emi?”
Uncle stopped weeding and stood up, asking me in his usual relaxed tone.
“Granny became bread…!”
“Hm?”
“Granny glowed and became bread!!”
Ah! My lack of conversation skills due to being inarticulate is frustrating! I can’t properly explain what happened!
However, in response to my flustered state, Uncle Hark’s reaction was very calm.
He looked puzzled for a moment, but quickly regained his smile and stroked my head.
“Calm down, Emi.”
“……..”
I took a deep breath.
That’s right, as Uncle says, I should calm down a bit.
I steadied my ragged breathing.
Filling my chest with the fresh scent of the wheat fields carried by the wind.
“So you saw it, huh?”
“!!!”
My heart thumped loudly.
I inadvertently held my breath.
Looking up, there was Uncle’s face.
The same gentle, usual smile.
……There wasn’t a shred remaining of the sorrow over his loved one’s passing that was definitely there when I met him this morning.
I unconsciously backed away.
“You witnessed the ‘Sacrificial Bread Offering Ritual’ for the first time. That’s why you’re confused, isn’t it? I understand how you feel.”
“Sacrificial…Bread…Offering…?!”
What is this guy saying…?!
“But there’s no need to panic, Emi. And no need to grieve. Through that ritual, my mother’s body was offered to our god, the Harvest God Muwidgi, becoming nourishment for them. And in exchange, the Harvest God bestowed the nourishment for us to live on. Thanks to that, we can avoid starvation and grow even more wheat. We can further expand the wheat fields. Isn’t that wonderful? ……Look, Emi.”
Saying that, Uncle turned his face sideways to gaze at the horizon.
Gazing at the wheat fields stretching all the way to the horizon with an enraptured expression.
“Isn’t it a beautiful wheat field? When presented with this beautiful scenery, one would think a person’s life and death is a trivial, insignificant occurrence, wouldn’t you say…?”
……………………
Uncle Hark smiled with a broad grin.
He was serious.
This uncle was seriously uttering those lines.
Seriously dismissing his loved one’s death as ‘trivial’ and indulging in the beauty of the wheat fields.
There’s something wrong here.
Isn’t there something wrong?
There is something wrong.
An abnormality peeking through that can’t simply be dismissed as “this village’s unique perspective on life and death.”
That’s right, it’s abnormal.
This uncle who instantly forgot the grief over his loved one’s passing.
And my own thoughts that might accept what the uncle says without any doubts if I let my guard down.
Something inside my head is desperately screaming.
Telling me to flee.
Telling me not to listen any further.
That’s how it feels.
“……..”
“Oh, wait Emi! Where are you going?!”
Ignoring Uncle’s voice calling out to stop me, I started running again.
* * *
Running.
Mindlessly running.
The villagers I pass by wave with smiles, but I ignore them and keep running.
To begin with.
There’s something wrong with this village to begin with.
Everyone is too kind.
Too kind towards me.
I’m the cursed child.
For the sole reason of having black hair and black eyes, I’ve been scorned, hated, and persecuted wherever I went my whole life.
Yet the people of this village, how did they act?
They accepted me without discrimination, without bullying me, accepting me as a fellow villager and helping me.
That’s just too much.
……Sure, up until now there were occasional kind people too.
But every single villager is kind.
This is……simply too much, no matter how you look at it.
There’s something off about this village.
And my own thinking that never noticed anything off is……starting to seem a bit off itself, I feel.
<Zzzz……Zzzzzz……>
I hear that strange noise again.
I stop and scan my surroundings cautiously, but once more I can’t discern where this sound is coming from.
“Oh, there you are. Good morning, Miss!”
Here, a villager calls out to me.
It’s Ronte.
Behind him are his wife Itakk and another person……a shaggy, reddish-brown long-haired man, Seejin.
All three are smiling merrily at me.
Even Seejin, who smiled kindly at me.
“Emi, was it? Actually, I was looking for you……to apologize.”
Seejin showed an apologetic expression, scratching his head with a friendly smile.
“The other day, I rudely insulted you as the ‘cursed child’ and such……I’m truly sorry about that. Looking back, I don’t even know why I said such things……I’m honestly ashamed of myself!”
No.
His tone, his comportment, his personality, all of it is completely different from Seejin I met before.
While I remain silent, Ronte folds his knees to match my eye level and gently asks,
“Actually, Seejin here has decided to settle in Grounoddka Village too! He’ll be a fellow wheat farmer with us! So why don’t you forgive him and make amends, hmm?”
<Zzzzzz!! ……Zzzzzzzz!!>
The noise intensifies.
But Ronte and the others don’t seem to notice this sound at all.
I realize this sound isn’t coming from anywhere around me.
This noise is only resonating inside my head.
“I apologize <Zzzz> sincerely <Zzzzzz!> Please forgive me <Zzzzzzzzzzzz!>!”
Seejin also meets my gaze and extends his hand for a handshake.
But the noise is unbearable.
The noise is so loud that I can’t make out what Seejin is saying at all.
I don’t understand what’s happening.
What is happening to me right now?
What is this village?
I’m confused.
The three of them look at me with concerned expressions as I remain unresponsive.
It’s sickening.
<Zzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzz!!>
The intense noise.
I feel dizzy.
<Zzzzzzzz……ooooooozzzzzz!>
“……..Eh?”
That’s when it happened.
<Zzzzooooooooooozzzoozzooooooozzzzzzoooooooooooo!>
Another distinct sound began mixing with the noise.
The desperate scream of a woman!
The scream of a woman yelling with all her might!
<Oooooooooozzzzzzzz……UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!>
The noise gradually subsides while the woman’s voice grows louder.
An awfully nostalgic voice.
That’s right.
I’m familiar with this voice.
……Familiar?
What am I saying?!
This isn’t at that level of just being ‘familiar’!
Why did I forget?!
This voice belongs to someone precious!
Someone who has been with me since I was born, my dearest, dearest partner!!
This person is……this person is……!!
<OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I finally connected aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!>
It’s Extra-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
<Aaaa! Emi! ……sniff! Emiiiiii!! I can finally reach you with my voice at last! Uwaaaaaaan!!!>
Wait a minute!
Wait, Extra-sama!
Don’t cry, please tell me!
What happened to me, to Extra-sama…?!
Ugh?!
The moment I heard Extra-sama’s voice, an abnormality occurred in my body.
I inadvertently crouched down, clutching my stomach.
“H-Hey?! What’s wrong?! You’ve been acting strange for a while now?! Are you okay, Miss?!”
Ronte said something, but I couldn’t hear him.
Because right now, my body is…!!
……Being overwhelmed by an indescribable hunger, an excruciating starvation!!!
Gugyuuuuuuurururururururu!!!
A stomach growl resounding like the roar of a ferocious large monster echoed across the quiet wheat fields!!
“Are…are you hungry?!”
Ronte approached me with a concerned look.
Don’t.
Don’t come any closer.
Don’t approach me right now.
No.
No no.
Right now, to me, you……
….only look like meat!!!
<Don’t do it!!>
Extra-sama’s scream stopped my hand.
I was about to instinctively grab Ronte’s throat and devour his bloody flesh.
Ah, that was dangerous.
<Emi, let’s flee! To the forest……flee to the forest!!>
I released my hand from Ronte’s throat.
It was a close call, but a red mark remained on his throat.
I think it will heal soon, so please forgive that much.
“Ah……ah……?!”
Leaving the shaken, trembling Ronte and the two rushing towards him behind, I ran off toward the forest.
