The Little Companion Of The Beast

Episode 7.

I tried to strain my vocal cords, but all that came out was a wheezing sound. No matter how loud I shouted, it was no use.

‘Why, why are you doing this?’

It’s been a few days since I’ve been through hell, and now I even lost my voice.

There was no way the maid would notice Staria’s pitiful circumstances.

“The butler told me to serve you with utmost care. Stay still. If you keep moving, I will put you in handcuffs.”

What kind of furrow is this?

Staria froze stiffly. Her expression was stiff and her voice was cold. The maid was too serious to be joking. When she realized that the promise to tie her up was no joke, her shoulders hunched involuntarily.

The child who had been receiving only love and affection since she was in her mother’s womb. She was not shy and loved everything, so she monopolized attention and love, but she was not immune to this kind of cold treatment.

Have you ever felt like the whole world was trying to crush you? You felt like you were going crazy, but all you could do was endure it.

In a place where there was no one to ask for help, the naked child had to endure the ordeal with his whole body… … .

All the courage I had held on to became meaningless and I started to feel very discouraged. I felt like I was losing my confidence and shrinking.

While Staria was holding back from getting her hair stuck in her mouth, her socks were taken off and she disintegrated in midair.

The maids came up to me naked and soaped me up thoroughly. When I was covered in bubbles, the eldest maid poured water from the bathtub over me and asked.

“What is the temperature?”

It’s a little hot, but that’s okay.

She answered right away, but her lips just moved and no sound came out. The most senior maid asked again, but Staria’s answer was not conveyed. Then the maid next to her spoke.

“I see you can’t speak.”

“You’re mute? The butler didn’t say anything?”

“Can’t you even hear it?”

It seems she wasn’t the only one who was paying attention. The maids who misunderstood Staria broke the silence and started talking. Among them, the maid with freckles on both cheeks was the most talkative.

“Is this person the main character of the rumor?”

“You saw your lord carrying it around, didn’t you?”

“I say this because I can’t believe it. If you had shown interest in a male, that would be one thing, but if your lord had shown interest in a female, it would have turned the forest upside down.”

“yes.”

“Will this human be Veraquin’s mistress?”

“I don’t know about that. What’s clear is that he’ll stay in the castle. If he goes back to the cabin, he’ll come out as a corpse… … .”

Since the topic was the topic, there was no way to not listen. Staria tilted her upper body toward the direction of the conversation and perked up her ears. The topic of conversation flowed around here and there and eventually turned into gossip.

“Butler, aren’t you annoyed?”

“That’s right, he’s like a neat freak. How much does he act like he’s so great? He talks so much that my ears feel like they’re going to bleed when I listen to him. Sometimes, I see him and he doesn’t even have any tact.”

“One or two days? Ignore it. By the way, I think the reason my lord hasn’t been able to find a partner until now is not because he’s not interested, but because he has a unique taste.”

“The females will be howling for a while, so you should wear earplugs.”

A camaraderie was blossoming amidst the back-and-forth gossip.

They say it’s a comedy when seen from afar, but a tragedy when seen up close.

In contrast to the situation Staria was in, the maids were noisy. The atmosphere, which was almost harmonious, was ordinary as usual, and felt out of place.

Staria listened more intently. She could forget the reality she was in if she got lost in the maids’ nonsense. It felt like the guilt she was feeling was being relieved.

I was thinking that I wish the story would never end. Maybe it was because I was listening too intently. I ended up getting suspicious. The short-haired maid spoke, hushing the people around her.

“Everyone, be quiet! This guy doesn’t seem to be mute.”

“Hey, no way.”

“I was wondering if it was true, but my head was blown off. I’m sure he was listening to what we were talking about.”

“You really heard everything we said? Aren’t you going to tell your lord?”

The maids were in an uproar.

The only action Staria could take in the gaze that seemed to tear at her flesh was to tilt her head. Even with her innocent expression that seemed to know nothing, she could not eradicate the root of her suspicion.

Eventually, the most senior maid suggested that they check.

“How?”

“It is said that when humans come out of their mother’s womb, they hold them upside down and spank their buttocks to see if they are normal or not.”

“By hitting me?”

“They say that if you cry, it’s normal, and if you don’t cry, it’s abnormal.”

It’s ruined.

As her mother said, superficial knowledge kills people. Staria never thought she would experience that firsthand.

The time of oblivion also ended.

***

The Verakin Castle, which had been in hibernation, stirred and woke up.

It was to welcome a guest after 45 years, but the guest was a ten-year-old human, so the employees were at a loss and were at a loss. Even though they dressed, ate, and lived like humans, their culture was not the same.

If they saw something, they would imitate it, but except for a few, the tribe never went outside their entire lives. It wasn’t even prohibited by law, but they all lived inside, muttering. Could it be called an old custom?

The habit of being reluctant to go outside is because procrastination has become a way of life that has been passed down through generations. With time running out, we end up putting things off until we never get a chance again.

‘If we leave it like this, a disaster will occur.’

Taylor, who had been watching, took command.

“Who is it! Who put a knife in the vase? You should put flowers in it!”

“Why does the meat still look alive and moving? Humans don’t enjoy eating raw food! Bring me the blood.”

“You’re bringing a torch while I’m lighting the candles? You’re going to burn down the whole table?!”

Even though they say they will do it, they are only reprimanded, so the faces of the subordinates are yellow. There is only one person who can free them from the head of the house who is being tormented.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Haska, who was watching from a distance from the commotion. Perhaps reading his earnest feelings, he spoke.

“Just keep it simple.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I got a little excited after meeting a human for the first time in a long time.”

“on the sly?”

“I was very excited.”

Strangely, the butler Taylor went outside as soon as he woke up. It was because he wanted to see and feel another world other than the forest. As an adventurer, he had traveled all over the continent and had made quite a few human friends… … . But now he could no longer see them. He had grown old enough to be engraved on a tombstone. Because of the big and small memories of the past, Taylor could not help but be friendly to the human he had met after such a long time.

“How bad is it? I can only see the whites of my eyes.”

“Actually, I resemble the only human I’ve ever recognized. I’m a descendant of a legendary being… … . My life was saved.”

That may be why I was more concerned.

Taylor, realizing that he had acted out of character, pushed up his glasses and tried to calm his excitement.

“By the way, my lord, you have absolutely no contact with humans, so how did you become involved?”

It just occurred to me that the pharmacist was saying something strange.

‘A very special star will fall to you in the distant future. Hold it in your arms so that it can shine brightly. It is the star that will end your misfortune.’

The circumstances are too strange to be considered nonsense.

If the special star is a metaphor for an underdeveloped human being… … .

Even if it was true, it wouldn’t have changed anything. It wouldn’t have had any particular effect on Haska.

A life where today is the same as yesterday, tomorrow is the same as today, and so on. I lived while I was born, and I became the leader while fighting. I didn’t feel the need to end the misfortune. No, I became so dull that I couldn’t even tell if I was unhappy or not.

Whether you are unhappy or not, it doesn’t interfere with your life at all, so why bother putting in the effort to end it? Only people who are pessimistic about the future do that. He, who lives while he lives, didn’t want tomorrow to be different from today.

So Haska had no intention of caring for the immature human who had become a variable. So he had to find another way.

“Find out the useful ones and find the ones that are related to the immature humans.”

“Find it?”

“Tell him to take care of it.”

If you can just say that you will provide enough financial support, then I think it is safe to say that you have kept your promise.

This was a method that Haska came up with because he was reluctant to leave humans in the forest.

“What if I don’t have it?”

“Whether it’s a distant relative or a neighbor, there must be one.”

“You shouldn’t just hand it over to anyone without any verification. There are some terrible people who pretend to take good care of you in front of you but abuse you behind your back. Rather… … .”

Taylor, who had repeatedly tried to persuade him to give up one of the spare rooms in the castle, had to keep his mouth shut.

This was because Haska wiggled his index finger as if telling him not to bring it up anymore.