The thief then fell silent, as if the agonized howl he’d let out clogged his throat. I could hear the men screaming and moaning, calling out for help and begging the animals to stop. But little by little, their voices were replaced with the sound of something being torn off and eventually followed by silence.
The only thing I could see was the back of one animal. But I heard the growling of several more.
I silently accepted that my life was over. It was short and its end came all too quickly. My only way of surviving this was for the animals to not notice me and leave, but my ark was wide open, and my gaze was locked with one of theirs.
What was that red, blood-like fluid dripping from its mouth? I was afraid to ask and didn’t really want to know. So, I closed my eyes.
Just hurry up and end this… What is this even? A nightmare? I’m probably not gonna wake up in a hospital after being hit by that bike, am I…?
When that thief dangled me in the air from my legs, it really did hurt, after all…
The animals sniffed my scent curiously.
Is this gonna be one of those cases where they decide to raise me as one of their young or something…?
“Gaaaah!”
“You mustn’t harm her.” A mysterious voice echoed out.
The voice seemed to echo at first, but it gradually became clear. Was that a man’s voice? Maybe one of the bandits…? Whatever it was, it made the animal bolt away from me with a yelp. And the next moment, a mysterious young man with hair as black as night peered down at me. He was dressed oddly and clearly wasn’t there with the bandits.
“…You didn’t have to kill them… You lot have taken it too far…”
“Humans, burn, territory.”
“Burn, kill.”
“Our kind, many, dead.”
“Humans, unforgivable. More! Kill!”
Those voices spoke not so much in words as utterances… But those sounds they produced were thick with anger and rage.
Wait…the animals are talking? Is this some kind of baby power?
“I know. But revenge will not bring back your lost kinsmen or restore your land. Even I can do nothing about those who have died.”
The voices simply returned a wordless growl.
“You should migrate to the Mythical Continent. Go east from here. If you see humans along the way, you mustn’t attack or devour them. Do so, and they will hunt you down. And they far outnumber you. Once you reach the eastern tip of this land, ask the water dragon Lenne to help you cross the sea. Mention my name and he will ferry you. You wish to protect your clan, yes? Then restrain yourselves for now and make your way east.”
“…Under, stood. Will do, as you say. Clan, I protect.”
“That’s a good boy.”
…Did he just talk to those animals…?
Baby superpowers are amazing, I thought to myself. I always heard stories about babies being able to understand what animals say, but…
The animals’ presence grew further away, and the man peered down at me again. He was a beautiful young man… He felt like he’d come from another world altogether compared to those filthy, smelly men from earlier. He had black hair and dark eyes, just like a Japanese person…
And that figure! He’s like a model or an idol or something…! I only ever saw people that pretty on TV!
But the gaze in his eyes was so sad…
Did he come here to save me? Did he tell the animals to come here? Who is he…?
“I went ahead and did it, didn’t I…? What am I going to do? I can’t raise a baby…”
Wait, whaaaaaaaat?!
The young man dropped his shoulders in a spectacular show of regret. He then crossed his arms and brought a finger to his lips in contemplation, after which he cradled his head in both arms…
This guy’s totally regretting this!
“Leaving the baby to those beasts is… Yes, I couldn’t do that. They’ve got their hands full just staying alive, and besides, I can’t leave a pack of demon wolves with a baby and expect them to raise it… But I can’t do this either! What am I supposed to do?!”
Well, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, either, mister! But, uhh, thanks for saving me! Really! From the bottom of my heart!
If I’d have stayed with those thugs, I’d have lost either my sanity or my life. This man effectively saved my life.
“Aah…” I cooed as I reached my hands out toward him.
I wanted to at least show him my gratitude. At hearing my voice, the young man looked at me with a pale face, his eyes full of anxiety…
This guy… He’s a nice person.
He wouldn’t be this worried and anxious if he wasn’t. Those bandits earlier weren’t occupied with actually raising me—they just wanted to take advantage of me, to use me. And the way they handled me was awful.
But by comparison, this man was pale with concern over the question of what to do with me. Only a kind, good-hearted person would make that kind of face. But still…I couldn’t bring myself to ask someone who was this afraid of the idea of caring for a baby to raise me…though, that said, I couldn’t speak to begin with!
And since he’d saved me, I wanted to return the favor, somehow. But even that was out of my reach, since I was a baby. All I could do was coo and babble while I tried to withstand my empty stomach…
You’ll have to forgive me when it comes to going to the bathroom, though. My body can’t help that. I mean, I am a baby! I really don’t have many options in the way of repaying favors!
“…For today, I’ll just take you to my place. And tomorrow, we’ll check along the human highways. Maybe we’ll find a traveler kind enough to take care of you… Not anyone like those people from earlier, though. Hmm…”
The man bent over and picked up my ark. The ark rocked ever so slightly—he’d picked me up rather carefully. And with his face so close to mine, his handsome features became all the clearer.
…This guy really is a pretty boy. Like, wow.
But he did have an odd pattern on his forehead… Like a tattoo. Is he from some Amazonian tribe? Except he wasn’t going around half-naked…and looked more Japanese to me than tribal.
“Aaah, aaaaaaah.” I cooed.
Who are you? And, erm, thanks for saving me.
I couldn’t convey anything meaningful to him, but I had to at least try. He did save my life.
“Hm? What is it…? You’re such a strange baby. Are all human babies this smart? You don’t have to thank me. I just saved you without thinking of the consequences, and I can’t raise you. Forgive me.”