A Giant Shadow
Time continued to flow, and before anyone quite realized it, the Floating Cloud Rite was only a day away.
"…Just sitting around getting waited on is starting to get old."
"Tell me about it."
I'd expected life in a nation built inside the Demonic Territory to be nonstop chaos without a moment's rest. Instead…
"At this rate they ought to drop the whole 'Demonic Territory' label."
I was sprawled on Huey's bed, grumbling the way I always did, when Huey—eyes still closed in meditation—spoke up.
"I heard they're about to, actually. The forest ecosystem's finally stabilized, so they're planning to send out envoys and start proper contact with the outside world."
They'd carved out a home in this brutal forest for more than eight hundred years, he said. Gaon was finally getting ready to step onto the world stage.
"That's probably a big part of why they decided to make clothes for you and Lucy. Perfect timing—two outside guests show up right when they need to put on a good show and lay the groundwork."
"…I'll never understand how politicians' brains work."
"So all that 'just enjoy yourselves' talk had an agenda behind it… complicated."
Cheonyu had already told me my outfit would be finished around midday and that I should come meet her with Lucy.
"Haa. What a pain."
Clothes only needed to be comfortable, didn't they? At least they'd accepted my absolute refusal to wear a skirt. Small mercies.
"Don't be like that. They said once the ceremony's over safely, they're throwing a banquet."
"If it weren't for that, I'd skip the whole thing and just sleep."
"Fufu. And they said we can keep the clothes afterward, so isn't that a win?"
Lucy was actually smiling—genuinely smiling—at the prospect of pretty new clothes.
"Lucy. You care about that kind of thing?"
Huey looked genuinely surprised.
"Of course I do, like any normal person. I simply have to decline most of the time because I'm always out front. In a relaxed situation like this, there's no reason to refuse."
She settled deeper into the cushions.
"Besides… once this journey ends someday, I imagine I'll spend my days wearing pretty clothes and eating sweets to my heart's content."
Once the journey ends, huh.
"Not a bad thought."
Frederica and Beatrice were both into that sort of thing. The three of them would get along ridiculously well.
"Ren, what will you do once you've achieved your goal and the journey is over?"
Caught up in the mood, Lucy beamed at me.
"Me? Obvious. Once I get my body back, the captain's going to work me half to death to make up for all the slack I've been cutting."
There were other things I needed to do as well, but…
"I'll have to start by paying that debt off first."
Lucy had slipped into my arms from where she'd been perched on the edge of the bed, casually draping my wing over herself. I snorted, pulled her closer, and rested my chin on the top of her head.
"And you, Master?"
She squirmed at first, trying to push my chin away, then gave up with a soft sigh and turned the question on Huey, who had been quietly watching us the whole time.
"…Me?"
"Yes. You, Master."
Huey looked like he'd never expected the question to come his way. Lucy leaned back against my chest like it was the world's most comfortable cushion and answered calmly.
…She really had started treating my body as her personal bedding.
"Well. If I make it home, I'll probably start by apologizing to my family for being so late."
Huey scratched his head, looking uncomfortable.
"Beyond that… I'm not really in a state where I can think about it yet."
"Ah… I'm sorry."
Only then did Lucy realize she'd gotten carried away. She lifted one of my wings and hid her faintly flushed face behind it.
Huey and I shared a quiet laugh at the sight of her refusing to look up out of sheer embarrassment.
That was when a voice came from outside the door.
"Chan-hui. It's me."
"Ah, Cheonyu. Come in!"
"Excuse me."
Cheonyu entered with a spring in her step that suggested Huey's voice had made her happy—until she saw Lucy and me sprawled across the bed. Her face immediately pinched into a frown.
"Tsk. You're both here again today, I see."
"This room gets a nice breeze."
"We can't understand a word anyone says outside, so there's no fun in going out."
Huey wandered around on his own often enough, but for the two of us who couldn't speak the language, going out was pretty pointless.
"Speaking of which—how's the forest investigation going?"
"…We've found another five or six bodies since that day, but nothing useful. We examined the living dead we brought back as well, but there was nothing special, so we burned them."
"Oh, right—you mentioned living dead?"
"Yeah."
"I've been here a few years myself, and this isn't the kind of place those things usually show up."
We traded updates on the past few days with Cheonyu, and then she checked the time.
"It's gotten late already. Shall we go?"
Since we'd run into each other, she suggested we all go check on the finished clothes together.
"Chan-hui. What about you?"
"I've got some business at Uncle Yang's forge."
Huey stood up with an excuse that sounded suspiciously prepared. If he got dragged along, he'd clearly be stuck suffering for hours.
"You don't need clothes fitted?"
"These are enough for me."
I tossed out a little bait, hoping not to suffer alone, but he claimed a Taoist's robes already covered that sort of thing and bolted.
"That traitor…!"
"Now, now. Let's just go. You might even enjoy it once you get used to it."
"I caught a glimpse earlier—they look rather nice. Shall we?"
In the end, Lucy and Cheonyu shoved me from behind while making the most dreadful noises, and I was hauled off once more to that terrible place.
Some time later…
"…Hoo. I'm wiped."
"Still, the clothes weren't half bad, were they?"
Cheonyu had remaining work and said she'd only see us again when the rite began tomorrow. Lucy and I headed back toward the Taoist hall, and I let out a long sigh.
"Yeah, better than I expected. Problem is I can't put them on by myself."
"Fufu. That's what I'm here for, isn't it?"
Lucy seemed thoroughly pleased with the outfit she'd tried on. She smiled the entire walk back.
Maybe I ought to tell Huey to buy her more clothes sometime. Might keep her a little less… intense.
"Oh, you're back?"
When we reached the Taoist hall, Huey was somehow already outside waiting for us.
"What are you doing out here?"
"How unusual. Master isn't the type to come out and greet people."
Huey was leaning against the building in a way that looked completely unlike him, and when he spoke his voice was awkward as anything.
"No, uh… I found a place I wanted to take you both."
He scratched his head.
"You've been cooped up in the hall this whole time. Figured you must be bored. Thought we could lighten the mood a little before everything gets hectic tomorrow."
"What do you think?"
Lucy and I looked at each other as if we'd planned it.
"…Now that you mention it, we never really got a proper look around the village."
"Someone kept saying he was too busy to take us."
True enough—Lucy had asked several times to be shown around town.
"Ahem. Anyway, if we go now we'll catch the start of the eve festival. Plenty to see."
They called it a soul-soothing rite, but it was really more of an annual festival praying for peace in the years ahead.
"I saw some food stalls earlier that looked pretty good."
"Then we're going."
"…Honestly. Mention food and you lose all self-control. You foolish bird."
I'd already moved to Huey's side in a flash. Lucy glared at me like she couldn't believe it.
"What, is this news?"
I was a fool, and I had zero self-control around food—both true. I just grinned, completely unbothered, and the look Lucy gave me was priceless.
"Haa. A self-aware fool is a terrifying thing."
She hung her head, sighed heavily, then nodded in resignation and came over to join us.
"There will be sweets, of course?"
"Of course."
And so, under a clear, bright sky, we stepped out to see the lively village.
"Oh, this is good!"
The moment we left the castle grounds I spotted a street stall and bought bread, and we strolled through town at a leisurely pace while I ate.
"Slow down a little. There's plenty more."
"I thought we wouldn't see bread again until we left this place, but apparently not."
Ssanghwa, they called it. Crispy on the outside with meat inside—something like a meat pie. The spices were different, so even with similar ingredients the flavor felt completely new.
"Ren. Lift your wings, please. They're covered in crumbs."
"Ah. Thanks."
I'd polished off two of them in no time and was patting my full stomach with a wing when Lucy pulled out a handkerchief and brushed the crumbs off for me.
We were wandering the village in high spirits when—
Rumble.
"Huh? What? It was clear just a second ago."
"It was. Is it going to rain all of a sudden?"
The sky darkened in an instant, and thunder rolled as if rain were about to fall.
The moment the thunder sounded, Huey—who had been leading the way—stopped dead.
"……."
He stared silently at the distant sky.
"Huey?"
"Master?"
He didn't so much as twitch at our voices.
"…You're kidding, right?"
His eyes went wide. The words came out in a disbelieving mutter.
Plip. Plip-plip.
Before I could even wonder what was wrong, raindrops began to fall—one, then two.
And then a sudden chill raced down my spine.
KRAAAAAAAAH—!!
From beyond the sky came a roar like some colossal beast bellowing.
Then—
CRACK-BOOM…!
"What the hell is that."
"A snake… maybe?"
Lightning split the direction the roar had come from, and for a single instant a massive shadow showed through the clouds.
"…Miri, Bari."
Two enormous shadows, shaped like giant serpents, were flying through the sky.