I awoke in anxiety, wondering who was calling my name. The voice came from behind me, so I cautiously turned around and was astounded to see the beast sitting on a branch of the tree outside the tree house, calling my name.
I waved my hand and asked, "hi, how are you?" with a phony laugh in my mouth.
Don't ask me why I said that; it was fear that made me say it.
He then inquired, "Did you have a decent rest?" I replied, "I had a better rest," and thanked him for the fruits he had brought me the day before.
Wait a minute, there's something strange here. How am I understanding this beast; did I learn its language while sleeping? No, the correct answer is the opposite. The beast learned our language in a single night and speaks like a native speaker.
This beast's body must be stuffed with brains, I thought at the time to myself.
I slowly approached the beast, which was sitting on a tree branch, so I decided to climb it, but it suddenly jumped towards me and stopped me. It stated that "you are not in perfect condition; you are weak," and that if you fall, you would injure yourself. It displayed more humanity than the humans I've seen before; at this point, I'm not sure who is the true beast here.
Now I'm relieved that he's not dangerous and that he understands me.
I have a lot of questions, the first of which is why Rin and Browny aren't awake yet. Because of my worry, I forgot to ask the beast his name and instead asked him this question. He responded that Browny had lost most of its life source and that it will take time to replenish, and that something inside Rin's body was slowly killing her life source, so it claimed it is treating her and that there is nothing to worry about.
"Something is killing Rin within! "What exactly is that?" I was shocked to hear this, but after a few seconds I remembered that she had been bitten by a scorpion, thus it had to be the case, the treatment we did was inadequate, yeah, it had to be the case.
I began crying and fell to my knees, pleading with the beast to save her life, saying things like "I will offer my life in return for her life."
The beast laughed and questioned, "Do you think that will make her happy? what is the meaning of life?" and urged me to stand up and not to worry. We then decided to go for a walk.
We both began heading in the direction of the fruit tree, and when I saw the broken shining rock, I remembered the horror we felt the day before when we saw the beast. Who would have predicted this outcome?
Then I observed the fruit trees, but they appear to be a little dry, with half of the trees' leaves shed as if they were dying.
I immediately remembered the bubbles I saw yesterday and asked the beast about them, as well as why the tree was dying.
I also asked about his name and how I should address him. He stated I could call him whatever I wanted because I couldn't spell his name with such a low life force.
I'm not sure why someone requires a life force to call someone's name. Anyway, he looked like an imp from a story my grandmother told me, although he's a little bigger than I imagined. So, I gave him the name Dearg.
Then I asked Dearg to explain the bubbles I saw the day before.
He laughed and said, "You're an interesting fellow."
I'm not sure why he said that, but it appears like he's not going to hurt me anytime soon, which made me pleased. He began by describing how everything around us has some life in it, and how he merely transferred some of the trees' life power to Browny and Rin, which is why the tree appears half dead. He also emphasized that trees should not be concerned since, because they are connected to the ground, they will restore their life force more quickly.
Now that I understand a little bit more about bubbles, I'm more intrigued by this life force concept.
Dearg began picking fruits and walked back towards the tree house; I, too, collected some fruits from the ground and hurried behind him.
He jumped and entered the tree house as usual, while I was using the stairs. He dropped the fruits near Browny and Rin and instructed me to keep the fruit I was holding away from them. So, I went to the corner of the room and stored the fruit I had collected.
Dearg began chanting the spell he used the day before, and a similar bubble emerged from the freshly picked fruits and entered Browny and Rin's bodies. The fruits became dry and appeared to have lost all of their liquid within, symbolizing that the fruits had lost their life force stored within them.
I questioned Dearg about Rin's condition, and he said that she is recovering pretty rapidly. I was relieved to hear that and thanked him once again.
He stared at Rin for a few seconds, then turned towards me, as if he wanted to ask me something, but he stopped and walked out of the tree house.
He went and sat outside the tree house, and I decided to sit next to him. When I sat beside him, my stomach grumbled; I hadn't eaten anything since the morning.
Dearg suggested that I eat the fruits I had kept in the corner. He noticed I was hungry and advised me to save some fruits. I gave him some of the fruits.
I had a lot of questions, so I started asking them one by one. I explained to him how Rin and Browny could feel his presence yet I couldn't, despite being extremely close to the buried location. I questioned why Rin and Browny were the only ones affected.
Dearg gave a short look and added, "Perhaps their souls are weak." I didn't comprehend what he said, but I interpreted it as something about mental fortitude.
Rin is undoubtedly the least intelligent, yet I have never met a stronger girl than Rin in terms of mental fortitude. She was always bold and courageous, even going up against Dearg to defend Browny. So, I didn't totally believe Dearg's response; maybe he's hiding something or simply doesn't want to tell, I reasoned.
Then, almost out of nowhere, Dearg began to ask questions regarding the book I had given him to read. He began to question the identities of these Gods and Demons.
I replied that they are the creatures who made us; I'm not very good at these things. I barely know a bit since Rin used to lecture me when I did something wrong.
Dearg asked me to tell him everything I knew about them, so I began by explaining how God created everything, how God and mankind became separated, and how God saved us from Demons once more.
He paused for a moment before responding with a few questions.
He inquired, "If God is so strong, why doesn't he completely annihilate the demon?"
Is it because he lacks the strength to do so, or does he offer them the opportunity to become good?
I chuckled at these questions and responded that demons are evil and will never change into good people.
Then Dearg asked, "Does it mean God doesn't have the power to exterminate demons?"
I'm confused right now. All of his questions are forbidden to the human race; if I asked them in my village, they would simply label me as a demon child.
Because Dearg isn't a human and Rin wasn't nearby, I told him straight out that I don't believe in these Gods.
Now that I'm witnessing an imp-like creature in front of me, I can't say I don't believe in demons. But his character is nothing like what we've read in our stories.
Dearg inquired as to how humanity became separated from gods.
I told them about how our forefathers ate the forbidden fruit.
When Dearg heard this, he burst out laughing and claimed he might know who gave them the fruit.
I was utterly taken aback when I heard him say this; I'm talking about the first human on Earth when God created humanity, and Dearg just stated that he knew the one who gave humans forbidden fruit.
Dearg does not appear to be a liar; he also read the book completely. He may know the book better than I do at this point because he learned our language after reading it.
I asked him who he was or what it was that had given our forefathers the forbidden fruit.
He repeatedly reminded me that my life force is so low that I am unable to spell Dearg's real name. He also said that the person he is referring to is far more formidable than him, so at this point, I am even unable to sound his initial letter.
At this point, I realized Dearg isn't just any regular imp; he's a God-class entity.
I pushed Dearg to explain both the universe and the things that exist beyond the earth. Dearg pulled me aside and told me not to think too hard. However, he also stated that after Rin awoke, he wants to confirm something, and dependent on the outcome, he even brings us with him.
When he said these lines, he appeared serious. I'm not sure what he meant when he said he'd take us with him, or what he likes to confirm. He is mysterious and surprising in every way. Dearg's explanations have piqued my interest.
I made the decision to first check Rin and Browny's health.
Dearg went out to pick some fruits and did the same life force transfer procedure as before.
Dearg owes my gratitude since, without him, Rin would not have escaped the scorpion poison. So, I decided to stay to the end and see what Dearg wanted to confirm from us.