Chapter 70: Love and Fear, the Possibility of Taking a Gamble...

"Linette, are you asleep...?"

Linni didn't sleep well on her second night in her new home.

The night I was brought back was alright. The lingering effects of the anesthesia were still in my head, and my mind was in a daze due to excessive fear and repeated blows. As soon as I relaxed, I collapsed into the arms of that gloomy boy and fainted. I don't even know how I woke up after a whole night.

But today, after carefully sleeping on this new bed, I suddenly discovered—

The mattress was so soft, and the blanket was so light. I could stretch my legs out without any problem. It felt completely different from lying in a sleeping bag. I felt incredibly comfortable, but...

I feel so insecure, I can't sleep soundly.

It's better to have a heavy, thick blanket pressing down on you, and the same goes for a firm bed. When you get up, your shoulders and back will be pressed straight up without you having to consciously straighten them...

Linni, Linni, are you an idiot?

The boy rolled over in the soft cotton blankets, drooping his eyes and cursing himself.

How can you complain that the food is too soft while eating meat, and instead miss the texture of dry bread? Please! You're not a squirrel with hard front teeth!

Thanks to Mr. Thorne, let's enjoy these days until he wants to kick us out! If you can't sleep on your side, try lying on your back...

Linni tossed and turned, finally staring wide-eyed at the ceiling above her head.

The tall ceiling supported the dark walls, and only the scattered moonlight illuminated its snow-white appearance. The boy followed the light and shadow with his purple eyes and began to daydream again.

...The tent fabric that used to be supported by iron poles was so low and short that Lynette and I were practically little mice, having to bend over to enter and exit the tent every day. If we raised it even slightly, it wouldn't withstand strong winds, and during heavy rains, we always felt like we'd be blown into the sea...

Ah, speaking of which...

If the house were blown down by the wind, we would definitely be crushed to death.

Ahhhhh, don't overthink it! This isn't some flimsy tent! It's a sturdy house made of bricks and mud!

Linni couldn't control her mind and kept thinking about dangerous things in her warm bed.

It's like he had a peaceful meal with the boy with droopy ears and confirmed that he wasn't a bad person, but as soon as he was alone, strange and bizarre fears would surge out from every corner of his mind.

What are we afraid of? We're afraid that Mr. En will suddenly change his personality, drop his mask, take out a knife, rush over and cut off his tongue and fingers to completely silence him—after all, how many murderers would let go of an eyewitness who is so close at hand?

It's normal to be afraid. Children are always afraid because they feel powerless. They might even cry uncontrollably because their mother has a new hairstyle, fearing that the other person has been replaced by a monster. Compared to his peers, Linni is already mature and incredibly brave.

But for the current situation, this courage is not enough.

"Little sister, little sister..."

"What's wrong..."

Lynette was groggily woken from her sleep.

"Have any moths gotten into the tent...?"

"No way! Ugh, why don't you have any trouble sleeping in different beds?"

"Because it's so comfortable, I don't want to open my eyes once I lie down."

Lynette, her cat ears drooping, asked her brother sleepily:

"So, what exactly happened...?"

"I..."

Through her exceptional night vision, a result of her atavistic genes, Lynette clearly saw her usually reliable—or at least seemingly very reliable—brother, his face flushed, muttering something in a low, extremely embarrassed voice:

"that......"

"Louder?"

"Well..."

"I can't hear you, brother."

After listening for a while, Lynette couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed with a thud.

"good evening."

"Hey, wait a minute, please, Lynette, I—I mean—"

No longer daring to be coy, Linni let go of her inhibitions:

"I don't want to go to the bathroom alone! Come with me!"

"!!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw his younger sister sit up abruptly.

"Wow, wow, are you really Linni?"

She raised her tail in shock and reached out to pinch the boy's cheek:

"The day that Linni, who always said 'I'll leave everything to my brother,' actually asked me for help."

"What, what are you doing?!"

Linnie was even more embarrassed by her overreaction: "I'm not going! Forget I said anything! Don't bother you—"

"No, it's not troublesome at all."

Lynette, tossing her messy, shoulder-length hair, jumped onto the floor and urged:

"Let's go quickly."

"...Why are you so eager? I'm the one who needs to go to the bathroom."

"Because it's really rare to see my brother ask me for help."

Looking into those sparkling purple eyes that matched her own, she felt genuine joy, but there wasn't a trace of complaint or blame.

“I will cherish this opportunity and remember it for the rest of my life, so brother, don’t be afraid.”

Lynette calmly patted her chest repeatedly.

"I've already memorized how to use the toilet."

"I'm not scared because of that, no, I'm not scared at all!"

"Okay, okay, I'm not scared... So can you say that sentence again?"

Which sentence?

"I want to hear the line 'Please, my best sister' again."

"...I don't think that's what I said...Wow, wow! Don't go back to bed! I told you!"

"yeah."

*

Whoosh—

"But brother, after moving into the house, you're afraid to go to the toilet alone. That's so strange."

"You don't understand..."

Through the door, Linni wearily rinsed off the water.

The owner of this house, Mr. En, is a complete killer. What if I accidentally stumble upon him washing off blood, wiping his murder weapon, or dismembering a body when I get up in the middle of the night? Should I raise my hand and say, "Thank you for your hard work, how's the evening?" Just thinking about it is both embarrassing and terrifying!

Lynette, clutching her cat-shaped nightlight, led her brother back home.

"The house is very well soundproofed; neither Fiminey nor Mr. En were woken up."

"This is a good thing, after all..."

After all, although Mr. En has always appeared very tolerant, it's hard to say whether he has a bad temper when he wakes up. What if he wakes up in a fit of anger and decides to kill someone to vent his anger?

...No, no, no, this is way too exaggerated.

Linni tried hard to convince herself not to demonize a certain boy.

Mr. En is a good man. He can even make us happy with magic tricks, and he can pinch beautiful roses with his dark nails.

It also crushed human hearts...

Oh my god, what am I thinking?!

No, I can't relax at all...

"Brother? Are you still troubled?"

Lynette kept looking back at him worriedly as she walked away:

"I don't know why you don't want to tell me, but keeping it all bottled up inside will make you sick... Wow!"

"careful!"

Linni reached out to help her, but it was too late. In the dim light, she kept looking back as she walked, and ended up tripping on the blanket and crashing into someone else's bedroom.

Bang!

"Ouch, that hurts a bit... The door to this room wasn't locked..."

Linette sat up from the carpet, feeling dizzy, and went to pick up the nightlight that had rolled to the side.

"elder brother?"

The gentle yellow light returned, illuminating the light-haired boy's face.

"You look so dazed right now, what happened again?"

"......"

Ugh! You idiot Lynette! Didn't you see the huge scratches on the doorknob when you fell in?!

"I'm sorry, Mr. En, for disturbing your sleep. We apologize and will be leaving now."

This room is the assassin's lair! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!

"...Although I'm very happy to see such a well-behaved older brother."

Lynette patted Lynette, who was bent over at almost a 180-degree angle.

"But Mr. En is not in the bedroom."

"...Eh!?"

Linni suddenly looked up at the bed in front of her.

Seriously, there wasn't even a blanket or pillow on the bed; it was completely empty.

"That's great, anyway..."

Linni let out a long sigh of relief, his relaxation evident.

"It's good that we didn't disturb the tiger's peaceful sleep."

"What kind of image does Mr. En have in your eyes?"

After a moment of silence, Lynette obediently pulled her brother along, preparing to leave.

"However, it's hard to believe that Mr. En, who is so taciturn, is actually such a playful person behind the scenes."

"Loves to play? Oh, you don't think he's out playing because he's not home in the middle of the night, do you... haha..."

Once she calmed down, Linni smiled and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.

"What else could it be for if not to play? Fontainebleau is beautiful at night, and you can see many sights that you can't see during the day. If I had Mr. En's abilities... I would also like to go out and play at night."

Linni was immediately shocked upon hearing this:

"Huh? That's too dangerous! I won't allow it! You can't do that even when you grow up, and Mr. En isn't going out to play, but to—"

"for what?"

Lynette's eyes were sharp:

"What is my brother hiding from me?"

"Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh—"

I think he was trying to kill someone? Is that something I can say?

I can't scare my little sister; after all, she's so delicate and adorable.

"Of course, it's a walk, haha, haha."

Linni told a clumsy lie.

"oh."

Lynette naturally questioned, "From nine o'clock last night to four o'clock, you mean he walked for seven hours?"

"A walk should be taken at a leisurely pace... for several hours??"

"Seven! I think he must have gone night fishing, and he wasn't having any luck..."

This was supposed to be a simple rhetorical question, so Lynette couldn't understand why her brother's expression suddenly turned sour.

"Lin, Linette."

"How...how did you know Mr. En had been gone for so long?"

"When I drew the curtains, I saw Mr. En jump off the balcony next door. What happened, brother?"

Linni was silent for a moment, then suddenly started counting on her fingers in a panic.

Last time, according to Fimini's complaint, Mr. En also left him at home just before bedtime, and when we were dragged in, the digital clock showed around midnight. Mr. En's rampage through the entire villa and his escape with us only took three hours. Today, it's been seven hours—

Linnie didn't think the gloomy Mr. En was a playful person, nor could she imagine what reason he would have to linger outside.

There's only one truth left, isn't there...?

"I'm so sleepy, I want to go back to sleep... Brother!?"

Seven hours is enough time for him to kill a hundred people back and forth, but where else besides prisons can you find so many bad guys? So there's only one truth, and that is—

Large tears suddenly welled up in the boy's eyes, and under Lynette's astonished gaze, little Lynette burst into tears, overwhelmed with grief:

"Mr. En, he must have been killed in a counterattack!"

*

"Everyone... will dissolve in the water."

Mainkuhn dryly repeated the prophecy he had learned through Faucas.

“It is true, I am a little heretic.”

Mainkuhn couldn't understand why she was still smiling.

"...You can't just watch your city be destroyed! Tell me! What are your plans?"

"Good boy, I knew you would say that."

She appreciated the half-demon's urgent roar as if she were admiring a lovely wave on the beach.

"I won't tell you the name of someone who refuses to give it up."

"What?... If you insist on knowing my name, you can call me En—believe me, I love it more than my real name!"

This was the first time Mainkun had tried to bow his head, to compromise with the powerful; he held a knife to his own neck for the sake of a truth:

"If you are still not appeased, I can cut open my trachea and remove my heart myself, just please have mercy on me in my final moments and let me die in peace!"

What good would it do me to take your life?

Fucarus simply sighed, took the boy's arm, and removed the knife from his neck:

"You can't always be like this, either pointing a knife at others or at yourself. Don't you have any other ways of communicating?"

Mainkuhn couldn't understand, he just kept shouting anxiously:

Tell me, Fucarus! I will risk my life to help you!

That merciless goddess, with a heart as hard as iron, simply smiled helplessly at the boy.

"Thank you for giving me a lively night, but dawn is breaking and I must prepare for the first trial of the day."

"You can leave now."

"Fukaros—hey!"

In the intense and dazzling white light, the figure of the god gradually dissipated, leaving only one sentence:

"Don't touch the decree to decide the cardinals."

"Otherwise, Fontaine will really be beyond saving~"

*

What?! Saying that everything dissolves in water? That's ridiculous, it must be fake!

Once again evading the patrol personnel, Mainkuhn stepped onto the sea and sped towards Fontaine.

Water is water, and people are people. How can they be mixed together? Even if you pressure cook it for hundreds of hours until the bones, flesh, and fat are tender and turned into soup, it will still be hard for your teeth to dissolve!

It must be fake. Fukaros just wants to stop me from killing myself. She's such a kind-hearted idiot... Ugh! Glug glug—

She slipped and fell straight into the sea, water rushing into her ears and submerging her mouth and nose.

"Captain, there seems to be someone who has fallen into the water over there—"

Yes, that's how it is. So many people drown in Fontainebleau every year, but very few of them disappear into the water without a trace. As long as they are pulled out in time, they can all be given a whole body. Pfft—!

Mainkun spat out the water in his mouth, slung his soaking wet overcoat over his shoulder, and heavily stepped onto the water's surface, rushing towards home.

"A boy flying on water...a miracle!"

How dare you lie to me, Fucarus!

Standing at his doorstep, Mainkuen almost convinced himself.

Ignore this prophecy; Fucarus probably just wants to protect the Cardinal who issued the decree.

"Waaaaah—"

A loud, urgent, and desperate cry interrupted all his thoughts.

"Brother Linni, don't cry, don't cry. Shall I get you some water? Shall I sing you a song?"

"Linnie! Stop crying! Your voice is hoarse!"

Little Femini's comforting words mingled with Lynette's scolding, creating a noisy and chaotic cacophony.

What happened?!

Without even putting a key in his pocket, Mainkun forcefully opened the door:

“Linnie…”

He had barely finished saying those two words when he choked up.

How do you soothe a crying child? Mainkuhn certainly didn't know how, and even if he did, his thin tongue, which was so stiff in front of people, wouldn't be able to utter a single kind word.

"Mr. En!"

But he didn't need to coax her at all. Little Linni just glanced at him, and her split voice immediately changed to a wailing tone, turning from crying to howling. She rushed over with joy:

"So you're not dead after all!"

Death? You sure know how to talk, kid...!

Mainkuen remained frozen as he let him hug his calves.

Oh my god! This is the first time Linni has been this close to me. Should I touch him, hug him, and get close to him...? How scary, I'd better not think about it.

"What happened...?"

As always, he asked questions slowly, and Fimini immediately and skillfully responded:

"Brother Linni, I noticed you weren't home all night."

His expression was normal when he said the first half of the sentence, but it immediately became subtle when he said the second half.

"...So I thought you were dead."

Mainkuhn didn't react: "?"

"...I don't know what my brother is thinking either."

Lynette coughed lightly, a hint of helplessness on her face as she relaxed:

"No matter how I explained, she wouldn't listen. She cried very sadly, for a very long time, and for a very inexplicable reason, which even woke up Fimini."

"...It's not just a random occurrence!"

Mainkun clearly felt the little thing on his leg suddenly harden for a moment, and the arm holding his thigh began to tremble with shame.

“You, you don’t understand anything—Mr. En is, he is—he does very dangerous work! It’s normal for me to be worried!”

"!"

Mainkuhn finally understood why he was crying.

So that's how it is. Of the three children, only Linni knew I was an assassin. When I didn't return for a long time, he naturally assumed I was in danger while doing something bad... But surely he didn't have to cry? Wasn't he always quite afraid of me?

"...Brother En said he was just an ordinary guard at Mo Mang Palace?"

"...Ugh! This is so annoying!"

The child who had been hugging the leg immediately stopped and casually wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"I just remembered it wrong!"

Why are you looking at me like that...?

He turned his face away from the half-demon's golden, vertical pupils, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks.

"I'm not worried about you, I'm just worried about whether the meal tickets will disappear."

"......"

"Okay, okay! Stop looking at me! I admit, I'm a little panicked! Why are you all damp? Go change your clothes!"

"......"

Those big, round eyes were fixed on Linni's tearful gaze.

"I'm very strong..."

The cat tried to comfort it.

"I won't die."

"Ugh, so annoying! I know! I know you're strong!"

The boy suddenly kicked the boy's wet hind leg, becoming enraged and embarrassed.

"I just feel so sad and can't stop crying when I think about the possibility of you dying...!"

After he kicked her, he seemed to realize what he had done, and he jumped up in fright, hurriedly pulling Lynette back to hide.

"That's it! I was just being paranoid! It was my fault! You go now! I'm so sleepy, I want to sleep!"

"How rude of you, brother."

"Are you alright? Your voice is so hoarse, Fimini will get you some lozenges... Brother, you need to change your clothes quickly!"

Is there a possibility of dying...?

The three children were making a ruckus in front of him, their lively and adorable appearance making him very happy. Mainkuen slowly twitched his ears as he watched them.

You actually cried because of such a small possibility. Although I'm glad you care about me, you're still just a child, Linni.

But as he watched, a strange and intense feeling of panic suddenly overwhelmed Mainkun.

Just in case, I mean just in case.

If what Fucarus said is true.

There is a real possibility that the people of Fontainebleau might dissolve into the sea.

My family, friends, teachers—they all have the possibility of dying...

The cat thought for a moment.

"......"

We're doomed.

Linni, I want to cry too.

-----------------------

Author's note: I wrote a bit too much and missed publishing it before midnight.

Waaaaaah, my little red flower!