I sighed deeply, my body dropping flat onto the ground against my will.
"I’m tired."
I brought my hands to the back of my neck as I looked up at the star-filled sky above .
It was absurdly dark—no matter where you looked—after all, the sun had been devoured.
But precisely because the sun had gone out, other stars were able to shine across a vast, starry sky.
The entire cosmos revealed itself, with its galaxies and constellations.
Their light was insufficient to illuminate the land, but it was still truly beautiful.
"Starry Sky—that’s what I’ll call this land from now on." I laughed lightly as I ordered Ludwig to devour what remained of the ruined moon.
Soone had to clean up that ss in the sky.
"Did you like the na?" I asked the little rats in front of , each one more desolate than the last.
"Hey... are you guys still alive?" I poked a white rat, trying to get so kind of reaction.
Even so, it didn’t move, its glassy eyes simply staring at the horizon.
A little farther ahead of them, Love—the small pink rat—had tears in her eyes as she continuously stared at the horizon, despite her severe injuries.
The poor little rat whimpered constantly from emotional pain, completely forgetting her physically exhausted and ruined body.
"Are you serious right now?" I asked as I leaned on my knee to stand and slowly walked toward Love.
"He abandons you to die, beats you, humiliates you—and you still cry rivers of tears for him?"
Love ignored and kept crying. Clearly, her injuries would lead her to death if they weren’t treated.
Love was a smart rat—she could have treated her own wounds.
Even so, she didn’t.
I sighed in complete irritation before crouching down beside her.
FWUP
I tore the sleeve of my robe and imdiately began cleaning her wounds and making improvised splints.
For the larger wounds, I used a small bone as a needle along with threads from my clothing to stitch them closed.
"Personally, I wish I could use my healing powers on you, but I never thought about magically healing others and ended up never learning. Still, basic first aid works just fine."
I spoke without thinking much about it. The rats around us remained completely silent, not even watching help their sister who was on the brink of death.
They were far too focused on the horizon, waiting for soone who had abandoned them to co back, to regret his actions.
However, he was already dead.
There wasn’t even the slightest chance of him regretting anything and returning.
Even so, they hoped he would.
It was sad to see. In life, their father had never truly cared about them, and yet, even with him dead, they continued searching for affection that had never existed.
Cough, cough.
"I’m no expert, but the aura he had that was with you has dispersed... doesn’t that an he died? Maybe it’s ti to get up and kill soone?"
"..."
The rats kept staring at the horizon, not moving a single milliter.
I sighed.
’I think they know the truth. They just prefer to stay like this. Well, there’s nothing I can do about that.’
However, my eyes wandered over each of them—one more injured than the last...
With another sigh, I began treating them anyway, even though they didn’t react.
’I ca to kill demons... they’re just little rats...’ I thought to myself, moved by pity.
The king was my enemy. They had rely followed him blindly.
So ti passed as I treated them one by one.
They remained silent while I kept talking more and more to fill the emptiness.
"You know, monts like these are always a bit strange for ... I never really had a true relationship with any family mber."
I said with an odd smile.
"I never knew my father since he abandoned us, and my mother died shortly after I was born. Our only real conversation was with her spirit—can you believe that? As for my siblings, we were separated after my mother’s death, so we don’t know each other very well... and to top it off, my first encounter with one of them ended with us almost killing each other."
I laughed mockingly at myself.
"To be honest, I have no idea what you feel for him. When my mother died, that was it. If my siblings died, that would be it too. I’ve always been on my own—and sotis with company that might also accidentally kill ."
I laughed good-naturedly.
"I wonder... what is this feeling you have? What makes you want to sacrifice your own well-being for soone else? Why is he worth more than your own life? Don’t you deserve to be happy too? Don’t you deserve to be loved?"
Suddenly, one by one, the little rats turned their gaze toward .
"What makes him so special that he makes you feel like trash?" I asked, and Love raised her eyes to et mine.
"Everything! He was the smartest, the bravest, and the strongest. He always knew the answer for any problem."
Love said, her voice trembling.
"It was a privilege to have him as our king."
I looked into her eyes.
"Love, he was a rat," I said bluntly. "Crows are smart, lions are brave, and gorillas are the strongest. But he?"
"He wasn’t special—he just convinced you that he was. He blinded you to the rest of the world, raising you in a poisonous fog that made it impossible for you to see what is beyond or you would’ve abandoned him."
"..."
For a mont, she seed to want to refute it but couldn’t find the words.
Finally, she sighed.
"And... what... is beyond?" she asked timidly.
I laughed, amused.
"I don’t know either—I haven’t traveled that much." I laughed at my own answer, making Love frown.
"Then how can you say that?!" she shouted, forcing to hold back my laughter.
"I just think it’s logical to assu that I can’t scoop a spoonful of water from the ocean and claim that’s all the sea has to offer."
I looked up at the starry sky.
"..."
Love remained silent.
"What is the sea?"
"..."
"Pff!!!" I burst out laughing uncontrollably. "You don’t know?!"
"Sh-should I?" she stamred. "I-is it s-sothing to e-eat?!"
"Oh heavens, you really need to leave this abandoned land." I smiled, throwing myself onto my back on the ground.
I sighed as the rats approached and studied my expressions.
Love and the Royal Guard, all covered in rags and splints, climbed onto my chest and looked down at .
"But we don’t know where to go, and now without him, we don’t have an aura. We don’t even know if we’ll stay together..."
She continued voicing her doubts.
"...unless you allow us to follow you."
"You want to follow ?" I asked.
Love quickly looked around—every little rat nodded at her.
"Yes. You defeated our forr king. You proved your strength and competence. I humbly ask that you accept us as your subordinates."
[ Love and the Royal Guard wish to bind themselves to the user, making you their master. Do you wish to proceed? ]
"Are you sure about this? Know that I am a strict master, and I will take you to increasingly infernal battlefields. To , you will only ever be tools."
"Will you let us see the world?" she asked firmly.
"Every corner of it. I wouldn’t be satisfied otherwise," I said with a smile.
"That’s all I needed to know."
[ Love and the Royal Guard insist on binding themselves to the user, making you their master. Do you wish to proceed? ]
’In this case...Yes.’
WHOOSH
Suddenly, my aura surged, leaving my body and enveloping each of the small rats.
My aura was quickly absorbed into their bodies, while at the sa ti sothing left them and was drawn into .
I absorbed sothing that I didn’t know what it was.
[ The link was successfully established. ]
[ Instructions regarding the bond will be given upon evolution. Please resolve pending matters and hurry. ]
’I’m on my way. Just wait a little longer.’
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