The Baby Isn’t Yours

Simon’s magic, which had spread throughout the entire village, gathered like mist and formed a single sphere.

It was the very same magic sphere that Tierra had shattered in the village square some time ago.

Was it due to the sound caught in the mist’s net?

As the gathered magical mist dissipated, it exhibited various colors, unlike when it had gathered.

Among them, a new black mist seeped into the sphere, and a round head popped up from beneath the sphere.

-Kyu?-

-Tweet!-

Tierra, the mole who had emerged from the ground, shook her head as if something was amiss, perhaps due to the sound of the mist’s net.

As Tierra circled the magic sphere, a new elemental, seemingly made of water droplets, appeared and circled above the sphere, following Tierra.

-Kyuu. Kyukyu?-

-Tweet, tweet! Tweet!-

Tierra’s behavior of poking the magic sphere with her snout startled the bird, who squeaked urgently as if warning her.

Despite the bird’s warning, Tierra was undeterred and reached out with her black hand to touch the magic sphere.

And then.

-Shhh!-

Fuego, the fire snake, flared up, wrapping his tail around Tierra’s wrist and shaking his head as a warning.

Fuego revealed his fangs in a threatening manner and hissed as he playfully extended his long tongue.

Tierra quickly pulled her hand back and hid her head inside the sphere.

Her head disappeared into the ground, leaving only her rounded backside sticking out like a mound.

-Kyung!-

Tierra’s plump bottom, attached to her short, broad tail, trembled in fear.

-Kyuu, kyuuuu…!-

-Tweet! Tweet-tweet!-

-Shh! Shhhh!-

Frightened, Tierra’s muted voice resonated underground, while the bird joyfully circled above Fuego’s fiery head.

Fuego held his head high and maintained a dignified posture.

Amidst the commotion of the three spirits, Iru, in the form of a puppy, yawned, curled up in the middle of the peaceful room, and fell asleep as if indifferent to everything, as he always did.

In the tranquil room, Simon manipulated the mostly complete magic sphere that floated in mid-air, which he had enchanted with a retrieval spell.

Suddenly, Iru’s ears perked up, and he jumped up, running toward the door.

Fuego and the Elemento, who had been playing with Tierra’s round tail, also perked up and looked at the door.

Then, the door opened, and Simon, the owner of the four spirits, entered.

-Arf! Arf-arf! Arf!-

Iru, who had run ahead, quickly climbed up Simon’s shoulder, patted his cheek, and nuzzled his face affectionately.

“Oh, you’ve all been playing here, haven’t you?”

Simon, chuckling, stroked Ir’s small head that was full of coquetry.

-Tweet-tweet-tweet!-

-Kyung!-

-Shhh! Shhh! Hiss!-

The three spirits who had rushed over earlier climbed Simon’s body and caused a commotion.

Even the usually well-behaved and docile Fuego, which had the form of a snake, climbed up Simon’s wrist and shook his head, expressing joy.

Simon was bemused by their tumultuous welcome.

This blind adoration always amazed him whenever he received it. These little spirits seemed to consider him as their parent.

Elemento, which had been circling above Simon’s head, playfully flicked his wings, lightly tapping the shiny silver hair.

Happily singing a tinkling tune, Elemento flapped his wings and glided through the air.

Listening to the cheerful sound, Simon picked up the sphere that was floating in the middle of the room.

“Is this the magic sphere Tierra shattered as soon as she arrived in this village?”

-Kyu!-

Tierra shook her short and broad tail vigorously, indicating that Simon was correct.

The fact that her short, broad tail could move like that was quite surprising.

Smiling, Simon pulled out an unopened bottle of red wine and poured a glass. He then infused the gathered magic sphere with magic again.

Bang!

White light spewed out, and the sound of intertwined magic scattering like noise filled the room.

The purpose of this magic was to gather information related to Kalia.

With Kalia found, it was now simply to complete the remaining magic sphere, so Simon roughly let the sounds flow.

At that moment.

Kyaaaah!

A piercing scream, impossible to ignore, halted Simon’s actions and also brought the commotion of the spirits circling him to a halt.

As he strained his ears, the scream pierced them even more sharply.

-Save me!-

-It hurts! Save me!-

-Kyaaaaah!-

It was a cry of despair that sounded like an excruciating torture and made one’s brain feel like it was being scratched.

Tierra, as if fearing, hid her head behind Simon’s neck, and Fuego, in a threatening manner, shook his head while extending his fangs.

-Arf! Arrrr! Arf-arf!-

-Tweet! Tweet, tweet! Tweet, tweet!-

Iru, who had risen from his lowered position, barked fiercely into the air.

Elemento, trembling above Simon’s head, wailed with a tearful sound.

The voices of fairies or spirits had different vibrations from human voices. The spirits, having detected those vibrations, responded dramatically.

Simon set down his wine glass and captured the black smoke in the mist of voices.

He concentrated and tried to capture the voices more clearly.

The spirits’ screams were fierce, but the voices of the man and woman connected to them were as soft as a whisper.

Simon sorted and filtered those with the same vibrations and tone in his mind. Then he took out a scroll and spread the letters.

Soon, black letters danced on the white paper as he wrote down the words they had spoken.

[Ah, that’s right. The shadow planted in the lord’s castle brings interesting news.]

[Someone said a living dragon egg has entered the lord’s castle.]

[Someone found it near the fairy forest…]

[…Shall I steal it?]

Simon furrowed his brow.

He could hear the voices but didn’t have any definitive clues about their identities. If only they had mentioned their names…

Tap, tap, tap… Thock…

Simon’s long fingers drummed on the table.

His narrowed pupils fixated on a single word.

‘Shadow.’

The dragon egg in the lord’s castle and the shadow that stole it. Simon remembered the lord’s shadow he had encountered when he first arrived here.

The thick darkness was controlling the lord’s physical body at that time.

He thought it was a nuisance and removed it on the spot… but should he have done that?

‘Come to think of it, a part of its tail was cut off back then.’

Had it survived? If so, it might have returned to its owners…

‘Darkness, it’s a form of black magic, isn’t it?’

Black magic was a sinister power.

It preferred cruel methods, closely linked with otherworldly beings and exploiting death for power. It accumulated power faster than regular mages but corroded the soul at a faster rate, making the body weaker, susceptible to the darkness.

‘…That’s why Chimera research was most active when black magic was thriving. While studying how to replace the parts of the body eaten by the darkness.’

Imperial law prohibited black magic research, and other alliance nations had similar rules. However, somewhere, there were mad magicians practicing it in secret.

Magicians often showed fanatical obsession in their fields of study.

Simon had thought that the corpse of the Fairy Chimera discovered last time was related to these two men and women.

No, he was certain.

‘When I go back, I should try studying holy magic. As dark magic wanes, holy magic has also dwindled… Perhaps I should visit the Temple.’

He excelled in elemental magic and could manipulate the forces of nature like other magicians, but black magic wasn’t his area of expertise. He had no need to learn it until now.

However, if this peculiar black magic was related to the fairies, he had to learn it from now on.

Perhaps Kalia was also related to the fairies.

“…Kalia.”

Thinking of Kalia, Simon’s furrowed brow relaxed, and a faint warmth spread to his cold gaze.

He raised his dry hand and lightly touched his lips as if they still held her warmth.

“It wasn’t even my first kiss…”

Why was he trembling like this all of a sudden?

For some reason, he was about to bite his lips while reminiscing the taste of her lips. In fact, he boldly made a confession without her consent.

He had asked her to simply accept his sincere love rather than begging for her affection or making desperate entreaties.

Unexpectedly, Kalia didn’t push him away. She didn’t react to his sudden and cheeky confession. What did she say to his question?

“Shall I apologize?”

“…Apologize? Why?”

At her words, Simon laughed involuntarily.

He then kissed her cheek once more and stepped back.

Then Kalia’s bright red face turned away.

‘But did you just tell me that you love me?’

‘Yes, I love you. I love you, Kalia.’

‘…Simon.’

She must have been very surprised that he showed her an expression she had never seen before. Kalia looked at him with widened eyes and a bright red face.

He didn’t hear her reply to her confession, but that didn’t matter.

Because he wasn’t going to listen to her answer right away.

It was not a desperate plea to accept his heart, but a declaration to see how he would seduce her because he loved her so much.

Later that day, Kalia couldn’t look him in the eye and looked away every time with a red face, but even that reaction was enough for Simon.

In the past ten or so years, although Simon had tried to treat her like a man interested in a woman, Kalia had never noticed.

Instead of noticing, she only tilted her head, like a person hearing a foreign language that she didn’t know…

‘Lushing Kalia. It’s so cute.’

With a mischievous chuckle, Simon couldn’t endure any longer and covered his own mouth.