Levinas's Resolve
Levinas, do you trust me?"
Levinas flinched, her body trembling as she looked up at Sofia. The unexpected words made her eyes dart left and right. "Did you really say that?"
"Y-yes, she did." Sofia cleared her throat and glanced away, looking as though she'd committed some crime.
"Stupid idiot…?"
I'd heard far worse insults before. By my standards, "stupid idiot" barely counted as profanity. Maybe Sofia had softened it for me? As I studied her face to uncover the truth, Levinas spoke first.
"King…! Don't say bad words…!"
Levinas's ears stood straight up. Even Saebyeok's usually expressionless ears twitched. Perhaps to the children, "stupid idiot" was a truly terrible insult.
"S-sorry…"
Children and adults had different standards. I finally understood why Sofia had whispered it. "Winter, don't use profanity. It's completely useless."
"R-right…"
"How did a child like you even learn such words…?" Sofia clicked her tongue, clearly displeased that I'd used profanity so casually. "I'm sorry."
Anxious, I clutched my tail with both hands. Sofia approached and gently placed her hand on my head. "I'm not angry, so don't worry."
"You're not?"
"No. I'm only saddened that you learned such words."
"Oh…"
To Sofia, I was still just a child. Of course she'd feel sorry hearing that a child had picked up bad language. If Levinas or Saebyeok ever swore so freely, I'd probably feel the same way.
"Then I won't use bad words anymore."
"Good thinking." Sofia's kind hand stroked my head. When I let go of my tail, it bounced back and swayed gently. "Sofia, what happened to the radical beastkin?"
"You don't need to worry about that. It's something the adults will handle."
"Mm… okay." I was an adult too, but she probably meant adults like Sofia or the Guild Master. If that was the case, there was nothing more I could do. All I could do was trust the adults who cared for Levinas.
"Levinas, I'll finish my morning work and come back. Let's play together all afternoon."
"O-okay…!" Levinas fidgeted but still showed her joy. Her emotions clearly hadn't fully healed yet. I decided to try a little harder for her sake.
**
After Winter left for the hunting grounds, Saebyeok went to catch up on sleep. Everyone else also headed off to work. Left alone, Levinas sat on the park grass with nothing to do, kicking her feet back and forth. When is King coming back? When will Darkness wake up?
While waiting for her family, Levinas decided to play by herself out of boredom. Papapak—! Using her horned rabbit's unique digging technique, she began to dig into the ground. She widened the hole she'd dug with King, but for some reason, it wasn't fun. It had definitely been fun before. Why wasn't it now? Levinas tilted her head in confusion.
Looking down at her dirt-covered hands, she chose a different game. The carrot boat placed in the corner of the pond. She climbed aboard and sat down. Too scared to row far by herself, she simply dipped the oar into the water. Splash, splash— The sound of water echoed just like when she'd played with King, but again, it wasn't fun.
That was when Levinas realized it. All her joy came from being with her family. "…No fun."
Until King came back, she'd go collect empty bottles. Levinas wobbled out of the boat. Today she'd set a new record for bottle collecting. She'd gather lots and brag to Shark about it.
Levinas pulled her cart and wandered around the park and beyond. "A bottle!" A beer bottle sat beside a trash can outside the park. When she picked it up, she noticed something foreign inside. Who keeps putting stuff in bottles?
Levinas used a stick to fish out the object. What appeared was a neatly folded piece of paper. "Huh…"
The folding style resembled that of the radical beastkin. Frightened, Levinas carefully unfolded it. Written inside were messy numbers. She knew exactly what they meant—coordinates. Thanks to what the scary radical beastkin adult had taught her.
"……"
They wanted her to come here. Levinas understood instinctively. She considered telling her family, but decided to stay quiet. The radical beastkin were people who wielded "death" as a weapon. She didn't want to put her family through something terrible.
"Levinas has to…"
To protect everyone, she had to go. Even though she was scared, Levinas decided to try her best.
**
Deep in the night, when everyone was asleep, Levinas opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Winter sleeping peacefully. She wanted to hug her one last time. But if she did, the sensitive King might wake up.
Levinas said her silent goodbyes to everyone in her heart, then slipped out of the house without a sound, taking only her precious Animal King card. Using the horned rabbit burrow she'd dug in the guild park, she escaped outside.
The place Levinas headed to was a remote mountain with no signs of people. Sniff, sniff— For some reason, the mountain smelled strongly of King. It must have been her imagination, born from lingering attachment. She already missed King so much.
Levinas sniffled and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. She couldn't be like this. She had the bravery King had taught her. Clenching her fists, Levinas began climbing the mountain again.
"…So you came." Deep in the mountains, someone wearing a fox mask appeared from within the forest. Levinas trembled at the sight of the terrifying mask. "S-sorry…"
"It's fine. A child's rebellion is common enough."
"Th-then…!"
"There won't be a second chance for forgiveness." Light gleamed from the eye holes of the mask. Levinas's face crumpled at the killing intent she'd never felt in the guild. "I'm sorry… I won't do it again…"
"…You still haven't fixed that way of speaking even outside."
The commanding tone mixed with casual speech. It was the way Levinas had been spoken to her entire life. Naturally, she slipped back into the radical beastkin's speech pattern. "I-I'll fix my speech…"
"Looks like you learned something out there after all."
"Yes…"
She'd copied the way King spoke, the one who was always loved. At her pitiful appearance, the snake-masked man nearby sneered. "Boss, this girl's reckless. Shouldn't we punish her?"
"She's reflecting, so it's fine."
"…Understood."
Levinas clutched her clothes under the snake man's cold gaze. She knew it meant "I'll deal with you later." "I'm sorry…"
"If you know you're sorry, why did you pull this stunt?" The vertically slit snake eyes were terrifying. King had endured worse than this—how had she done it? Levinas's eyes welled with tears as she murmured her own name, recalling memories from the past.
"Levinas…"
Long, long ago, she'd had gentle parents who called her name kindly. She couldn't remember their faces, but their voices remained vivid. Levinas. The kind mother's voice, and the world's most reliable father's voice. Those two voices were the only happy memories Levinas possessed.
That was why Levinas loved it most when someone called her by name. Just hearing her name spoken gently made her feel the greatest happiness in the world. However, the radical beastkin never called her by name. They only used difficult titles, so Levinas had started saying her own name herself.
"Levinas…"
Ah. She would never be called by her name again. Emptiness settled in Levinas's eyes. "I wish you'd call Levinas by her name…"
"What?" Levinas voiced a wish that would never come true. And yet, there had always been someone who made Levinas's wishes come true.
"Levinas." From somewhere in the mountains came a voice that shouldn't have been there. It was the voice of the person she loved most in the world. "W-Winter?"
Life returned to Levinas's eyes. If Winter was here, it would be dangerous! She quickly glanced at the fox and snake masks, but they seemed unaware. "It's okay. We have good ears, remember? Even if we talk like this, only we can hear it."
That's right. King and I had much better hearing than other beastkin. Though horned rabbits were weak, they had the best ears in the world. That was also why Levinas had been able to escape.
"Levinas, don't answer. Just listen, okay?" Yes. I understand, King. Levinas answered only in her heart. "Remember when we played games together at the arcade?" Yes! I remember! It was so much fun! A smile bloomed on her face at the happy memory.
"You won even when you played however you wanted, right?" It was only possible because King helped! "We're going to do that again. Just run and dodge the scary snake. Can you do it?"
But the fox and snake are strong… Levinas answered only in her heart. Yet somehow, King responded as if she'd read her mind. "You don't need to worry. I'm not alone. Levinas, do you trust me?"
"…Yes." She had never once doubted her. That was why Levinas decided to trust King, who had come to help her once again.