The Green-Eyed Child and the Shadow over the Mountains

The dragon’s blessing turned out to be far more useful than I had ever anticipated. First of all, the mere fact that I, the one “loved by the dragon,” had arrived completely transformed the atmosphere inside the castle. When the wizened, stick-thin Viscount Visconti repeatedly wiped his brow while telling me this, I thought he was just offering polite flattery—but it was the absolute truth. Despite the rampant rumors that a monster wave of nearly ten thousand was closing in, almost none of the residents were fleeing to other territories.

Instead of running away, the people of the Visconti territory gathered every single day in front of the lord’s castle where I stayed. They prayed, calling out my name as if I were some kind of god, begging for Visconti’s blessing, mercy, and victory.

I threw on the overcoat Sir Jager had brought for me and stepped outside.

A biting, razor-sharp wind howled around us. I casually brushed back my wildly tangled hair.

“It’s freezing.”

“Then why on earth do you keep coming out here?”

Sigret, buried under a thick scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, grumbled in displeasure. But it was obvious he didn’t truly mean it. After all, it was Sigret who had informed me of the citizens’ presence in the first place when I hadn’t even known they were gathering. If he had genuinely wanted me to ignore them, he wouldn’t have bothered telling me.

“There’s a child out there.”

Before stepping out, I had looked down through the window. A man and a woman who appeared to be a married couple were holding a newborn baby high above their heads. They held the child up so that I, looking down from my high vantage point, could see clearly.

Even though I knew people would keep gathering precisely because I came out every day, the moment I saw that sight, I had no choice but to step outside once more. Today is the last time. I muttered the words to myself, though I couldn’t tell if it was a promise or a declaration. Sigret muttered back that he sincerely hoped so, before burying his reddened nose deeper into his scarf.

Those who had been waiting for me dropped to their knees. Pressing their foreheads against the filthy ground covered in half-melted, muddy snow, they called out to me.

“O Incarnation of the Dragon…”

Among them was the couple cradling the baby. I approached them as they stood at the very front of the crowd. Crouching down before them, I took the mother’s hand. It was as cold as ice.

“You’ve only recently given birth, haven’t you?”

The woman’s hand trembled as she replied that it had been ten days. Please, stand up. I whispered the words gently, but she refused to rise. I caught the eye of the man who was watching me while holding the baby in one arm. He wrapped his hand around his wife’s shoulder and helped her up.

“Everyone, stand up. What are you doing out here in this freezing weather?”

The ones hesitating and watching my reaction were those who had newly arrived today, while the ones who immediately stood up were the seasoned veterans (?) of the crowd. I spotted a few faces I had grown familiar with over the past few days, frowning slightly before letting my expression soften. Once everyone in sight had risen, I stood up as well.

“Sigret.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Is it not common sense that a woman needs to recuperate after childbirth?”

Even though it had been over ten years since I transmigrated into this world, I had spent the vast majority of my time confined to my room, so there was still a lot I didn’t know. That was why I asked—just in case they truly didn’t know any better and had come all this way. If that were the case, I fully intended to establish an educational institution for commoners as soon as we successfully repelled the monster wave.

“It is indeed common sense.”

“And that exposing a newborn baby to a freezing wind is dangerous?”

“That is also common sense.”

I checked on the baby cradled in the man’s arms. Whether from the bitter cold or something else, the child’s complexion was pale and turning a faint shade of blue.

“Please save us.”

The man went to drop to his knees again, so I quickly grabbed his arm to stop him. I reached out, took the baby into my own arms, and placed my hand beneath its nose. It was still breathing. Unbuttoning my overcoat, I tucked the infant inside against my chest to shield it.

“Please save our child.”

“That… doesn’t seem like something you should be begging me for.”

The couple dropped to their knees once more. I could feel the baby squirming slightly against my chest. Holding my overcoat tightly closed so the freezing wind wouldn’t get in, I looked down at them. The man spoke to me in a voice thick with tears. I listened to his words, sniffing back the cold air as a truly absurd tale began to unfold.

“Every single night, a demon comes to us and demands that we hand over Nick.”

A demon? I glanced toward Sigret. Sigret merely shrugged his shoulders.

Viscount Visconti, who had finally hurried outside to join us, cut into the conversation.

“Does the child happen to have green eyes?”

I thought about checking right then and there, but decided against it for now. This was a baby that had already been exposed to a winter wind harsh enough to make adults suffer. I didn’t want to expose the child to the cold again just to inspect its eyes.

“Yes, he does,” the man answered, his forehead pressed flat against the ground.

“For now, it would be best to send them back inside,” Sigret suggested.

“Right.”

The weather was far too cold to keep them standing out here indefinitely, so that seemed like the best course of action. Dismissing the rest of the crowd, I kept only the couple with me. I brought the two of them along as I returned to the lord’s castle.

Viscount Visconti looked incredibly uncomfortable at the fact that commoners had been brought into his own bedchamber—and were now sitting side-by-side with him. It was almost laughable. Ignoring his blatant discomfort, I urged him to explain.

To summarize his explanation into a single sentence, it was this: Whenever a child with green eyes is born, a demon comes to claim them.

“A demon?”

“So they say.”

Viscount Visconti started to wipe his brow, but when his arm nearly brushed against the commoner sitting right next to him, he flinched violently in horror and scrambled to create some distance. Switching his handkerchief to his other hand, he firmly pressed it against his forehead.

“It’s nothing more than a rumor bandied about by ignorant rustics. Nothing has ever been officially verified.”

“I saw it with my own two eyes!” the woman cried out.

I parted my overcoat to check on the baby. Now that some warmth had returned to its body, clear mucus was dripping from its tiny nose. Oh dear, you must have been freezing. Pulling out a handkerchief, I gently wiped it away.

“What about the casualties?”

“Pardon?”

“Has a green-eyed child actually disappeared or died because of this?”

Viscount Visconti cleared his throat. It seemed he hadn’t bothered to investigate since it only concerned commoners.

“Seven years ago, Noah and Cecil’s child vanished. Children have frequently gone missing in the neighboring villages as well.”

“And they were never found?”

The woman lowered her head, her face dark with grief.

“They were all found as corpses… torn limb from limb and scattered across the forest…”

The baby began to fuss. I handed the child back to the woman. Receiving the infant with utmost care, she held it tightly against her chest as if trying to hide it from the world. As the baby began to cry, she broke down in tears along with it. Leaning back against the sofa, I caught Sigret’s eye. Once this matter is settled, let’s get rid of this piece of firewood. Sigret gave a firm nod.

“Is this phenomenon unique to the Visconti territory?”

No answer came. The couple had never left this territory in their lives, and Viscount Visconti had never paid any attention to the ‘green-eyed baby disappearances,’ so there was no way they would know. Making no effort to hide my displeasure, I quietly stared at the Viscount. Unable to endure the suffocating silence for even five minutes, the Viscount scrambled to his feet and practically fled the room. If he failed to keep his parting promise of looking into the matter as quickly as possible… well. What should I do with him?

“Sigret.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know Lamier?” I asked while staring down at a massive map.

Sigret, who had been reviewing and checking the troop deployment status with a grave expression, lifted his head.

“Sir Weaver?”

“Yeah.”

Lamier also possessed eyes the color of fresh, green sprouts. If this ‘demon’ wasn’t unique to the Visconti territory, then well… he might know something about it. It was a week’s journey from here to the Ipsent territory, and since the Weaver territory was located right next to Ipsent, the distance between us was actually quite close.

However, asking him to travel all the way from the Imperial Capital to this place would have been far too demanding. A horde of monsters was right under our noses… well, not quite, but they were roughly three days away. By the time Lamier arrived, we wouldn’t have the luxury of sitting down for a chat.

“Shall I summon him?”

“Huh?”

“He has likely already arrived at the Ipsent territory by now.”

Why on earth would he be there?

“I heard he volunteered for the subjugation army.”

First he volunteered for the Aphelion expeditionary force, and now this. Does military blood run through his veins or something? That sounds absolutely horrifying… I shook my head, momentarily picturing Lamier as a low-ranking conscript.

“No, let’s just send a letter. Tell him to reply if he knows anything.”

He probably didn’t join up because he had a soldier’s temperament, but rather to protect his own territory, since the Weaver lands fell within the radius of the monster wave. If that was the case, it wouldn’t be right to pull him away to this side. I should leave him to defend his own hometown.

The monsters that were supposed to be three days away still hadn’t descended even after a week had passed. And the scouts sent out to investigate the anomaly… had not returned. Not a single one of them.

The atmosphere inside the meeting room was pitch black. My head throbbed painfully, forcing me to firmly press my temples.

“The scout we sent out this time… did you say he was a Sword Expert?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the Knight Commander, who had lost his subordinate, replied. He looked as if he wanted to add something more, but ultimately shut his mouth.

“Is it usually like this?”

Every gaze in the room locked onto me. I cupped my cheek before resting my hand against my mouth. Perhaps my question was too vague, because no one stepped forward to answer. Letting out a sigh, I rephrased the question.

“Weren’t we told that the monsters are coming down because they’ve run out of food? If that’s the case, shouldn’t they be rushing down in a frenzied stampede? They shouldn’t have anything to eat up there, so why aren’t they moving? Do they usually drag their feet like this?”

“Your Highness, that is…” Viscount Visconti replied, looking thoroughly at a loss. “I do not know. We have never encountered a situation like this before.”

“Commander Elindo.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think is the reason a knight who is a Sword Expert failed his scouting mission?”

The Knight Commander bit his lower lip. Lowering the hand that had been propping up my chin, I gripped the armrest of my chair. I lightly scratched the smooth wooden surface with my fingernails before giving it a few sharp taps. Still, he offered no response.

“What are the chances that this isn’t a typical monster wave?”

“Pardon?”

I was currently weighing the possibility that we were dealing with the exact same type of incident I had experienced back in the Rotenmeyer territory.

A horde of seventeen thousand orcs, and the demon race that commanded them.

Monsters were inherently stronger and far more ferocious than humans, but their intelligence was notoriously low. If they were descending simply because they were starving, there was absolutely no reason for them to delay their march. Even humans lose their minds when driven by extreme hunger; there was no way monsters could possess the restraint to endure starvation. Unless a powerful entity—namely, someone from the demon race—was exerting absolute control over them, this situation defied all logic.

However, bringing up the ‘demon race’ right now would sound like nothing more than wild, groundless speculation. In this world, demons were entities that belonged strictly to legends and folklore.

Then, my thoughts drifted back to Nick, the baby currently sleeping in the Lord’s bedchamber, his parents, and the entity they had called a ‘demon’ in sheer terror. Viscount Visconti had mentioned that tales of a demon abducting green-eyed children were quite famous among the territories bordering the Abas Mountains.

What if… a demon or a member of the demon race that had been sealed within the mountains had somehow awakened?

Well, for now, it was nothing more than a crude hypothesis. I didn’t want to throw the situation into further chaos by pushing a radical claim born from a terrifying memory. Shifting gears, I inquired about the situation in other regions. The response came back that the battle had not yet begun in earnest anywhere else. Masking my growing anxiety, I brought the meeting to a close. The moment the council adjourned, five scouting parties—each composed of three Sword Experts—swiftly departed from the lord’s castle.

When I returned to the Lord’s bedchamber to get some much-needed rest, an unexpected present was waiting for me. No, could this even be considered a present? Well, if it was a gift, it was certainly a rather perplexing one.

“Your Highness!”

Lamier, who was currently cradling Nick in his arms, greeted me brightly. Why on earth is he here? I whipped around to look at Sigret, who was following closely behind me.

“Did I happen to forget to mention it to you?”

I clicked my tongue at his nonchalant question. I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but Lamier was faster. Flying over to my side in an instant, Lamier beamed radiantly as a torrent of words spilled from his lips.

“Your Highness, have you been well? The weather has grown so cold, how is your health? Has anything troubled you?”

“One question at a time.”

Lamier offered a bright “Yes!” as he kept pace with me while I walked over to the sofa. The moment I took my seat at the head of the couch, both Lamier and Sigret promptly sat down on the sofa directly opposite me without even waiting for my permission. I stared at Lamier, who was holding Nick in a protective embrace, and couldn’t help but let out a helpless laugh. Among the people I had missed since coming to the Grand Duchy, Lamier was certainly one of them. I just hadn’t expected to see his face again so incredibly soon…

After quietly studying Lamier’s face for a moment, I finally spoke.

“Are you actually allowed to be here?”

Being glad to see him was one thing, but my confusion was another entirely. Lamier gave a wide smile and nodded his head vigorously.