Luna Is a Baby
“Damn it…. Just when things were getting fun.”
The wounded man staggered over, roughly tossed aside the greatsword that resembled a Chinese cleaver, and collapsed onto the sofa. Dust rose from the old sofa, carrying a musty smell.
He suddenly recalled the past—the moment he first met an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.
In those days the man had wandered as a mercenary, killing countless people, and never once met an enemy equal to or stronger than himself. That was only natural; he possessed such immense talent that he had become a LV.6 Awakener at the young age of twenty-nine. People were nothing more than toys he could kill with ease, and fighting was a delightful game. Mercenary work was merely a means to earn easy money.
His arrogance had reached the heavens, and he believed he had no enemies—until he accepted that commission. A request to kill the boss of Eclipse, a newly formed organization. Thinking a fledgling organization was nothing to fear, the man readily nodded at the astronomical commission fee.
And for the first time, he tasted defeat. An overwhelming defeat at that. Moreover, it wasn’t even right before succeeding the commission. He was defeated by some executive of Eclipse he met outside, before he ever stormed the organization itself.
The greatsword that had always severed enemies’ necks sliced through empty air. His body, which had never flinched no matter how hard he was hit, was crushed with pathetic ease. It was his first defeat, but considering that executive was LV.7, it was an inevitable result. He had been a fool for accepting the commission so rashly just for the money.
The man was lucky to survive. The Eclipse executive had taken a liking to him. Blindfolded, he was dragged somewhere and met the boss of Eclipse there. That was how the man first encountered it—the existence known as a LV.9 Awakener.
An overwhelming presence that made him feel like he would be crushed to death just by sharing the same space. Considering that LV.10 was a near-legendary realm with fewer than ten people across all of history since Awakeners first appeared, LV.9 meant there were almost no rivals left in the entire world.
The moment he entered that space the blindfold covering his eyes vanished, but the man did not dare look at the boss. He simply pressed his forehead to the ground and prayed to live. From the slender voice he heard with only his hearing, he could only guess that the boss was a woman. There was no way he could feel something like humiliation. Humiliation was a sensation you could only feel when you were somewhat on the same level.
Fortunately the boss took a liking to the man and bestowed upon him the name Karon. And so, in a natural flow, he became a member of Eclipse, and somehow ended up receiving a fairly important post—an order to create a subordinate organization called Mudwell.
Karon, who had been able to escape from Eclipse where more than ten people stronger than him swarmed about, excitedly accepted that order and spent uneventful days carrying out the commands that came down from above. After joining Eclipse he had faced numerous strong opponents and been careful with his body, but once the threats around him disappeared he returned to his old self. Quite a long time passed, and he had just reached the realm of LV.7.
Then the Association raided Mudwell, where Karon was the boss. Karon, whose body had already been itching for a fight, actually welcomed the situation, and indeed encountered opponents he liked. Most were worthless trash, but near the end there was the group trying to escape from Crineas. Among them, an especially eye-catching beautiful woman. She was the best among all the enemies he had met so far—neither stronger nor weaker than him. A perfectly equal opponent.
When he first cut her side he had thought she was nothing special, but the real fight began after that. The fact that someone so young could fight him on equal terms after he had reached LV.7 was a bit unpleasant, but more than that, it was fun.
But the problem was that bitch who appeared at the end. Luna! The devilish brat who had killed her own uncle and his children with her own hands and swallowed the Mors Family whole! Because that bitch suddenly appeared, he was seriously injured in an instant and had no choice but to flee. Even fleeing would have been impossible if Luna had intended to chase him. And the fact that she did not chase him meant she saw him as a being not even worth chasing down to kill.
“That bitch probably sees everyone lower level than her as bugs.”
Without a doubt she would abandon anyone who did not meet her desired standards—whether family or the Family.
“Damn it….”
Karon sealed the hole in his belly with one hand. Since that time when he had stupidly taken the Eclipse boss assassination commission and met the Eclipse executive, he had never faced such an overwhelming opponent.
“LV.8, was it….”
Karon broke into a sinister, bitter smile. Just recently, the Ability Enhancer he had been researching for the past few years had been completed. It was a drug created under Eclipse’s orders, but he had not handed it over to Eclipse yet. If he used that drug, he too would be able to temporarily reach LV.8. Then twisting that bitch Luna’s neck would not be impossible either. There were still some side effects remaining, but they were worth enduring.
Imagining the expression Luna would make the moment his neck was severed, Karon burst into maniacal laughter.
“Hahahahahaha!”
“Hnnn… hnnn…….”
Luna, her mouth tightly shut, had climbed onto the hospital bed… and was sleeping nestled in my arms like a little baby. Luna was on the small side, but… that did not mean she looked like a child. Just small for her age. But looking at her like this….
“She looks like a baby.”
I want to raise her for the rest of my life. Of course, comparing our assets, I would be the one being raised…. But anyone who saw Luna right now would normally want to raise her.
Her eyelids occasionally twitched as if she were dreaming something, and her rabbit-like tightly closed mouth occasionally moved cutely, munching as if she were eating something. What was she eating? I imagined Luna nibbling grass like a rabbit in my head.
…Next time I should buy some lettuce and feed it to her. Preferably feed her lettuce with my own hands so I can watch Luna nibble the lettuce little by little.
“Mm…. Elysia…….”
I thought she was eating something in her dream, but it seemed she was eating Elysia… wait? Me?
Nestled in my arms, she twitched and trembled, then curled up and burrowed even deeper into my embrace. She really is like a baby. Hey, Luna. Want to try calling me Mommy?
At some point Adele and Tania, who had returned at some point, were glaring at Luna with displeased eyes, but they did not say anything. Maybe they were scared because Luna was stronger? I asked the two of them, but that did not seem to be it.
From what I heard, Luna had appeared and saved me right when I was about to die. As expected, Luna really was an angel. My angel…! My light…! And they say a sleeping baby looks like an angel. Therefore, sleeping Luna was indeed an angel. Want to try calling me Mommy?
By the way, why had Luna appeared there? I wondered if she had sensed my danger through some Luna-radar and flown over, but that could not realistically be possible. …Or could it? With abilities existing, maybe it was not impossible?
While I was thinking hard, Adele spoke up from beside me.
“Apparently the Mors Family had just been chasing that organization recently.”
“Is thaaat so?”
Hmm… somehow disappointing. I still think the setting where Luna sensed my crisis and rushed over in one go to save me is better. It is romantic, right? The part about how she sensed my crisis is empty, but… she is LV.8 so she must have some way to know~ is what I think.
When I voiced my thoughts, Tania looked at me with eyes that had gone completely cold. Eyes that said not to talk nonsense. For Tania to look at me with those eyes…. If she is going to send that kind of look, I would prefer she put a bit more contempt into it.
“Mmngh…….”
Luna, who had been fidgeting a little, slowly opened her eyes as if waking from sleep. Blinking her sleepy eyes, she stared blankly at my face. Then—
Peck.
“……!!!”
She suddenly lightly pressed her lips to my cheek. It was so sudden that at first I thought Luna had pressed something soft and fluffy against my cheek. I did not know it would be her lips.
Tania and Adele, sitting on either side, kicked their chairs back and shot to their feet, glaring at Luna. But—
“Mmm….”
Luna just fell back asleep, nuzzling around in my arms. The air in the hospital room grew cold.
Rattle! The door opened and Cecilia entered.
“Ugh… why is it so cold in here?”
I beamed brightly at Cecilia as she came in rubbing her arms.
“Teacher!”
“Hm? What?”
“So which one did you do it with?”
“……”
Cecilia, who had been walking this way, stopped dead in her tracks with her face turning bright red.
“I said I didn’t watch!”
And she went right back out.
You do not have to be that embarrassed!