The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a dim light; perhaps the old oil lamp of a cabin.
I felt like my head was spinning, but it didn't matter now.
Memories flooded my mind immediately when I woke up, and that's when I noticed he was with me; Anser Ciro, after we fell into that hole...
What happened?
I looked around, and that's when I recognized Anser's profile, lying on the bed next to me.
"Anser!" I quickly got up and went to her side; I noticed the bandages. His torso was almost completely bandaged, especially the area around his ribs. "Damn...how was that possible?"
I sighed, then placed my hand on Anser's forehead. Apparently, he was starting to get a fever.
I looked around, trying to find a rag that would help me wet it and regulate his temperature.
"Human."
A female voice, almost like a whisper, made me turn around immediately.
My eyes widened in surprise.
She was a demon, with reddish skin, long horns, and long, completely messy pink hair. Leaving aside the fact that she was naked, and covered in blood, she had a pair of yellow eyes that I found somewhat disconcerting.
"What…" I stood up, facing her. "What are you doing here? Who are you?"
I said quickly, taking Anser's sword that was next to her on the bed, and then pointing the blade directly under the girl's chin.
"Don't be afraid," Soon, from within her hair, she pulled out a branch of something resembling rice stalks. "Me don't eat humans."
Slowly, I lowered the sword, and instead I took the rice from her hand; and indeed, they were branches of yellow rice. "…"
However, things like rice are not supposed to exist in the developing world. In fact, they shouldn't exist.
"Where did you get it from?"
She pointed to the cabin door, which was open.
"Trees, river, mud, but dangerous plagues of demons. There sweet, green, and corn." She said all that using her hands as signs. "Me help you. You help me."
Open your eyes for a moment, corn?
That's even stranger...
"What do you need help with?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"You tell me what's there." Then she went to the corner of the cabin. With the long nail of her index finger, she rubbed it against the wall, causing her nail to catch fire, and then lit an unlit oil lamp.
Now with the whole cabin filled with light, I could see a shelf the size of the cabin wall, which was entirely filled with books.
"What the…"
However, how can she have so many books?
"Where did you get all those books?" I said, approaching the shelf, noticing how worn they were, but still well cared for.
"Me explore. Ruins on the lower level."
And soon, she ran for the door. Without letting her go, I ran after her.
"Wait! Did you bring us here?" I looked around, outside the cabin, until I could see her bending over a river, filling a bucket with water.
She simply ran off with the bucket inside.
I watched her from outside the cabin, as she climbed the shelves in search of a rag, which she then gently wet and placed on Anser's forehead.
That answers my question.
Even so, it was strange to me to know that a female demon doesn't have the same instincts as a male demon, well, at least the instincts to eat humans.
Rather, it seemed more like she was killing the other demons.
So, remembering what she said, I set out to explore the area where she said she had found rice.
At this point, and before Anser wakes up, I need to at least give him something to eat...
_
All demons live by their instincts. At least the demons of lower levels.
The demons of the first two levels are difficult to outwit; they are clever, as they are in charge of punishing those humans who were evil in life.
But, in the event that any of these souls were capable if they flee from those two levels, the demons from the lower levels will eat them.
An example of such demons are cannibal demons.
And also the fairies. They are slaves of demons, but they also steal souls to feed on them, leaving the shell of the last thing that remains of the human body on the ground.
Is there any possibility of a demon that doesn't eat human flesh or human souls? No, there isn't. No demon is that benevolent in what it eats.
There are no exceptions, they are all savages, and they will all kill on instinct.
That was my introduction to demons in my novel.
However, by this point, the exceptions no longer surprised me so much.
"Phew..."
I finished killing some demons that tried to kill me when I arrived at the rice field, and then I was finally able to freely explore the rice field.
I fell into the rice field.
The water came up to my knees. It wasn't that deep, but...
I guess it's okay…
I picked some rice; most of it was in incredibly good condition, so I quickly set about gathering enough to cook something decent.
As I put my hand in the deep water to pull off the branches, I noticed something pricking my hand. "OW!"
I took my hand out of the water, and it was a crab.
"…"
Strange. Extremely strange that he's still alive.
I put my hand in deeper, and felt tiny crabs like fine sand.
At least I'll be able to give Anser some meat, hehe.
I took approximately four kilos of rice with me, as well as crabs, corn, and even some pears that I found on the way back.
I never thought there were things like this in this world; it seemed more like my world than hell.
A growl made me stop. Looking through some trees, I noticed it was a demon, but not just any demon; it resembled a...cow?!
"…Milk?" I smiled without realizing it; the demon, noticing, backed away, terrified. "Hehe, come here little cow, I won't kill you, just give me milk…"
And with that, I ran from one side to the other chasing the cow until finally, I was able to catch it. I knocked it out, then hoisted it onto my shoulder, using my strength to carry it with me along with the rest of the things I collected.
Upon arriving outside the cabin, I left the cow lying next to it, then removed the branches from the rice, leaving the branches near the cow so that when it woke up it could eat them. Although, honestly, I don't know if it eat the same as a cow from my world. But trying it won't be a bother at all.
When I finished, I brought inside the cabin the bucket full of rice and corn, another with the crabs, and a final one with the pears I picked.
Upon entering, I could see the demon girl sitting in the corner of the cabin, watching Anser, who had just woken up.
"Anser! You're awake, what a relief...how are you feeling?" Leave the buckets at the entrance, then go towards him.
However, instead of looking hurt...annoyed.
I could see the demon girl snooping around the buckets, curious, picking up a pear.
"…"
And on the other hand, Anser said nothing, even ignoring me.
Why was he so angry now?
"Why are you angry? Are you hungry? Do your ribs hurt?" I said, then placed my hand on his forehead. He no longer had a fever, but perhaps he was still in pain.
"Leave me alone."
And with that, he turned around, lying down again, and turning his back to me.
Seriously...why was he so angry with me?!
"Anser! What's wrong with you?" I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. "If you're hungry... I'll cook for you, you rest, okay? Please stop being so angry..."
Those cold behaviors make me suspect that something bad happened, but I don't remember what it was.
I let go of him, and then he went towards the buckets, grabbed them and left, with the demon girl discreetly following me.
Soon, I started washing everything in the river, the demon girl imitating me, and washing what I had already washed.
It doesn't matter, any help is...well...comforting...
As soon as the cow woke up, I put the demon girl to work feeding the cow, while I tried to milk it. We were able to get some milk, which was the same as the one from my world...I still don't know.
"What's that?" The demon girl said, licking the milk. "It tastes...good..."
"Hey, Anser will also drink from there...you know?"
And without realizing it, I finished cooking.
Rice cooked with crab and corn kernels, also rice pudding, and now he was finishing cutting some pears.
"…"
The demon girl kept staring at me, but I didn't pay any attention to it; she'd probably never been near a human before, I guess that's normal.
"…What's your name? I can't call you demon girl...can I?" I said, trying to joke with her, but of course she didn't understand that.
"Me demon, but not name."
She murmured.
And I don't know why I'm surprised, she's a demon, demons don't have names.
"Can I give you a name then? It will be nice, I promise."
The girl looked at me, with those emotionless yellow eyes.
Then I sighed and tried to think of a name.
"Hmm...what do you think of Ryuka? It sounds like the name of a dragon warrior, doesn't it?"
"…What is dragon?" Yes, I expected that...
"That doesn't matter now..." I sighed, then took a piece of pear and gave it to him. "Try it, are they sweet?"
Ryuka took the piece of pear and then ate it.
Her pupils dilated, then she finished eating it, and then she looked at me attentively, while behind her her demon tail moved from side to side.
"Do you want another piece?"
She looked at me, then extended her hand.
"You really want it, huh?" I sighed, then gave her another piece. "Here, here, this will be the last one. I'll also give you what I cook to eat, okay?"
As the sky seemed to darken, Ryuka and I were already inside.
I brought a plate of food from what I cooked to Anser, as well as to Ryuka. While they were eating, I set about using some of the rags Ryuka had to sew her a dress.
I'm no expert at sewing clothes, right? But I do remember a few things when Marie did it.
…
Who is Marie?
I think I'm going crazy in this place...
"…" I could hear Anser make a face when it was his turn to eat the rice pudding.
I looked at him, then sighed.
"You have to eat everything, you need strength, whether you like what I cooked or not, understand?"
However, Anser did not eat it; instead, he ate the chopped pear.
"Learn from Ryuka, she's eating everything without making a face."
"Did you give that thing a name?"
"She's not a 'thing'…" I sighed, then went towards him. "It's Ryuka, and she helped us; if it weren't for her, you would have died already."
Anser simply frowned, still unwilling to eat the rice pudding.
"Come on! It doesn't taste that bad! I swear I know how to cook, even though you've never seen me do it..."
I took the spoon, grabbed some rice pudding, and then grabbed Anser's chin, guiding the spoon to his mouth.
"Open…don't make me feel bad for bringing you here with me..."
Honestly, I should have thought twice before bringing him in. If Ryuka hadn't appeared, Anser would have died, and the ending I'm looking for... well, it wouldn't have been possible.
Finally, Anser opened his mouth, letting me feed him.
I chewed slowly, then swallowed, and that's when I noticed his face relax.
"Sweet..."
"Hmph, of course it's sweet. It has milk in it, so it's sweet."
I gave him another spoonful; simply put, if I fed him, he was able to eat. Like a child.
If Anser were a child, he would be a really tantrum-throwing child.
But a cute one.
"Anser."
Ryuka's voice made me turn around.
"Did you learn to say Anser's name? How cute! Why don't you try mine?" I said, with a smile. If she could say my real name better than that old man who mispronounced it, and now everyone calls me by that wrong name...I'll take her with us, of course. "Try saying: Jeon Kwonoo."
"Jeon…" Hearing her murmur my name made me feel the pride I feel when a child's first word is "dad" or "mom."
"Isn't your name Ji Noo?" Anser asked, now grabbing the spoon to continue eating on his own.
I shook my head. That old man really...
"My name is Jeon Kwonoo, but when I checked in at Anarxie, the old man who helped me misheard my name..."
"Jeon…" I heard Anser murmur, as if he were trying to remember.
Even so, I know he'll forget it.
It's a common name, so it's often forgotten.
"Anyway...it doesn't matter."
Soon, I went over to where I was making the dress for Ryuka, and then I put it on her.
It fit him perfectly, a great relief.
"…What is this?" She said, looking at the skirt of the dress.
"It's a dress, it makes you look pretty."
"What does "pretty" mean?"
"Are you sure you don't have a dictionary?"
Speaking of dictionaries...
"That's right, you said you wanted me to help you by reading something, right? What is it you want me to read?"
Soon, the girl hurried to the shelf, taking out a thick, old book.
I took the book once she handed it to me; before opening it to read the contents, I noticed that it was written in English.
"…"
I frowned again, more things written in English...even though this language no longer exists in this world.
The cover said...
'Little Red Riding Hood.'
***
I don't know when the day will be when you can read this.
Hello. I don't know who you are currently reading this; I doubt anyone can read this book, which is based on the notes of a woman who became a demon.
That's a very vague way of explaining it, I know.
But it's not like she suddenly started feeling sick and turned into a demon. No. She was born a demon, with a demon's body, but an inhuman soul. Why? Because such goodness isn't human.
The year I'm writing this isn't important. This book will only serve to tell you the story of this girl.
She doesn't have a name.
I met her while I was running away from demons.
Apparently, she's been cursed since childhood. I can't say how old she is now. She has the body of a twelve-year-old girl. But maybe she's older. I don't care, since she's still a child.
Looking into her golden eyes, I noticed they were lifeless.
She doesn't have the instinct to kill like the other demons. She defended herself against the demons who tried to eat her. But I never saw her motivated to do it.
Exploring the ruins with her chasing me, perhaps out of curiosity—I doubt she'd ever seen a human before—I was able to find a scroll, which was written in an unknown language, but, I saw a drawing of the demon when she was younger, and on her head was pointed with an arrow the following word:
'Amnesia.'
A demon with amnesia was impossible. Everyone is born 'perfect'.
Until something else causes it.
I decided to investigate her further, and I noticed that she learns quickly from others.
But he also begins to feel human emotions.
She smiled when she saw me crash into a tree.
And then she bumped into one, and laughed at her clumsiness.
But something was wrong.
And now I know what it is.
She is cursed.
I tried to get her out of the level where she was trapped, but the next morning, she disappeared.
I searched everywhere, and decided to go back to where I found her to look for her. And that's when I noticed she was lying behind some tree debris. I tried to wake her up, but it was no use. She was dead.
I dug in the ground and buried her, then proceeded to leave, with the promise to return next year to clean her grave.
That's when I went back, and I found her again. She wasn't dead, she was alive. But she no longer remembered me, and she smiled less than she used to when she bumped into a tree.
Upon studying her, I realized that she did not have amnesia.
She was cursed.
When a human finds her, she will be there, but the next day, she will die, for an indefinite time. Because the following year when I went to see her, she was still buried in the grave I had dug for her.
I decided to build this cabin just for her.
During my visits, I encouraged her to learn the human language, and also to learn my language.
She always left notes on a table, along with clothes for when she woke up. And every time I came back, and found her dead on the floor, I would put her in bed. 'She's just sleeping,' that's what I'll always say if anyone asks me. You should say the same. I told her that every time she woke up, and I wasn't there, she would look for humans who would help her end her curse.
I cannot do it, since I am looking for a dangerous demon, and I cannot expose her to that danger.
I don't know when I'll be back, but...
A soul as lonely and kind as hers, trapped in the same cycle of being unable to escape this world, repeating everything once in her life, only to then die...
I suppose she must feel lonely, even if she doesn't remember it, but her heart must feel it.
I would like to help her, but there are monsters that must remain as they are for the sake of the balance of this world.
However, if you are able to help her, do so.
She will be eternally grateful to be able to escape this place and discover the wonders this world has to offer, far from the chaotic side of this world.
During my trip, I came to the conclusion that, in this world, there are cursed people.
Not because of demon curses, or curses like this girl's.
If not curses caused by themselves.
Curses they call 'bad karma' but which are entirely their own fault. Cowards for not accepting them.
And may this book help her to learn about the world.
And to you, to understand that she is not a danger, however, the real danger is the world in which we live.
And in this life, it is I, Ciar Necro.
***
"Ryuka said that at this hour the demons do not attack, as they fear the darkness of this world…" I said, while helping Anser to his feet, helping him put on his coat, and getting ready to leave.
Unfortunately, I couldn't finish reading the book Ryuka gave me, because she fell asleep when I was only halfway through it.
I tried to wake her up, but she never did.
Perhaps she was really tired.
And perhaps we shouldn't bother her anymore. I suppose it's difficult for her to live in a world where demons try to eat you all the time.
I wrote a note, leaving it on the table, along with some plates of food so that when he woke up, he wouldn't be hungry.
"We'll be visiting you soon, along with the others, Ryuka…" Let Anser out first, before closing the door behind us, turn to look at her. "Oh, and thank you. Thank you for everything, Ryuka."
I've never met such a kind demon before.
So, I will never forget her.