episode_0017

＊

“Well, Billy, the window’s open again.”

Kunat, standing in front of the window that was supposedly fixed, yet open again, approached me and snickered.

“I can see that. I was wondering if you thought I was blind, but my eyes are perfectly fine, so shut your trap.”

“Of course, I know you have no intention of hiding your animosity towards demons, but to react so fiercely to a kind word, did you have a bad dream last night?”

“Would smashing your fangs shut your mouth quietly and send you back to Hell?”

“Oh, how scary.”

“Get over here.”

Kunat mockingly jumped nimbly through the open window and escaped outside.

I irritably closed the window, but soon opened it again.

Something strange caught my eye just before I closed it.

“… What’s this?”

There were areas on the dusty window frame where the dust had been wiped away in round, speckled patterns.

I could tell they were fingerprints.

“… What is it?”

I placed my finger on the marks.

The size of the marks was much smaller than my finger.

This meant the owner of these fingerprints wasn’t me.

“… Did someone play a prank in the middle of the night?”

Could it be that someone’s playful touch, not the sea breeze, had been opening the window all this time?

Why?

Who?

What kind of prank is opening a window that’s so fun that they open it and run away every day?

I scratched my head and sighed.

If someone had been opening my window all along, there are only three possible candidates.

And, as far as I know, only one of those three would pull such a silly prank.

“It must be Sola.”

“Ugh, you idiot.”

I heard Kunat’s curse from outside the window.

When I leaned out the window to look for him, Kunat quickly ran away.

“That son of a bitch… no, that cat bastard.”

I slammed the window shut hard enough to break it and picked up the shirt I had taken off last night and put it back on.

＊

“Ugh, I really didn’t do it!”

I interrogated Sola at breakfast, where everyone was gathered, but Sola vehemently denied it.

Sola looked truly wronged, thumping her chest as if she was frustrated.

However, Sola’s acting skills always exploded when she was teasing someone, so I coldly questioned her.

“Don’t just say you didn’t do it, think about it. Who else would play such a prank besides you?”

“There’s Lucia too! And Anna!”

“So, you’re saying Lucia played that prank?”

“No… not really.”

Sola hesitated.

Even she realized Lucia wasn’t the type to play such pranks.

Of course, since Lucia had recently become physically strong, she had been running around and being active with Sola, enjoying her newfound ability to run up hills,

But she didn’t enjoy playing mean pranks or teasing others like Sola did.

Sola knew this well, so she closed her mouth as if she was at a loss for words.

“Then, was it Anna who played that prank?”

“No, not really, but…”

Sola had no choice but to agree with me again and nod.

It wasn’t that Anna had no mischievousness, but she didn’t play childish pranks like Sola.

In the first place, she was the only one in her 20s out of the three girls on the island, and thanks to her experience helping her father make various dangerous blades, she seemed quite mature.

Anna’s mischievousness never went beyond a few playful jokes.

“Then, it must be you after all.”

“No, I get what you’re saying, Father. But I really didn’t do it!”

“Sola…”

“No, really? I was sleeping!”

I raised my finger.

“You haven’t been up to the lighthouse lately.”

“Huh? W-Well, no?”

The day I returned to the island covered in blood, when Sola realized the world had ended, she stopped working as a lighthouse keeper.

There would be no more ships coming, so what good was the lighthouse?

Rather, she thought that lighting the lighthouse might attract monsters, which could be a big problem, so Sola no longer lit the lighthouse.

“I think you’ve been doing this silly prank because you had to stay awake to light the lighthouse every night, but now you have nothing to do at night.”

“W-Well, Father, your reasoning makes perfect sense, but I really didn’t do it!”

Sola flailed her legs as she protested.

By now, even I was starting to doubt whether Sola was really innocent.

I looked at Lucia.

“Lucia, did you see anything?”

“H-Huh? Me? W-Well, I… didn’t see… anything…”

Lucia stuttered and lowered her head.

Since she had gained the freedom to move her body as she pleased, I thought her stuttering habit was getting better, but it seemed she still needed more time to fully recover.

“See, Lucia didn’t see me walking around at night!”

“She must not have seen you because she was sleeping.”

“I was sleeping too, you know?”

“No… Sigh, fine…”

I sighed and turned to Anna.

“Anna, what do you think?”

“… I don’t know.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Anna replied briefly.

She didn’t seem to want to get involved in this conversation.

Well, unlike Sola, who had nothing to do, Anna’s days were still busy.

Even though the world had ended, the monastery was still dusty, the fields still needed tending, and managing the fruit trees was still her job.

Anna had too much to do to waste her time and energy on such trivial matters.

I nodded and wrapped up the conversation.

“Alright, I understand. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Oh, so you finally believe in my innocence, Father!”

“… Sure.”

I had to let it slide like this again.

I sighed and spoke to Anna.

“Are you busy today?”

“Well, I can’t say anything other than as much as usual.”

“It’ll be a bit easier from now on. Sola will help you.”

“Huh? Why me?”

Sola shrugged and asked.

“You’re not managing the lighthouse anymore. You should help Anna.”

“Ehhhh.”

Sola made a disgusted face, and Anna also showed reluctance and opened her mouth.

“Father… well, if Sola helps… it’ll only increase the workload. You know that.”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“Things like field work and managing fruit trees require delicacy… Sola is a bit…”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

Sola echoed Anna’s words without realizing it was an insult to herself.

“And… Lucia has already offered to help.”

“Lucia?”

When I turned to look at Lucia, Lucia flinched when our eyes met and nodded.

“Yes, now I’m not… weak… anymore…”

“I see. That’s good. To be honest, I was a little worried about leaving everything to Anna. She seemed tired too.”

“I appreciate the thought.”

Anna smiled and replied.

I glanced at Sola.

Sola was leaning back on the chair, tilting it back and forth precariously.

She looked so relaxed as soon as I stopped investigating the culprit.

I felt a little annoyed for no reason.

I stared at Sola and opened my mouth.

“Sola isn’t the culprit.”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“Sola isn’t suitable for working with Anna.”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“Then, Sola can clean the monastery instead of Anna.”

“That’s right, that’s… huh?”

“Did you say that’s right?”

“Uh, wait a minute. That’s a little unfair. Father. Is this right?”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

“Eeeeeek”

Sola cringed and trembled as if she was resentful.

It feels good to get one over on our monastery’s representative prankster.

It seems I’m still not mature enough, even at this age.

Anna quietly got up from her chair and started clearing the breakfast dishes onto a tray.

Thinking that Anna might be more mature than me, I helped Anna clear the dishes.

＊

After breakfast, Anna and Lucia diligently tended to the fields together.

Although it was only a small garden, it was an important asset to the monastery, growing everything from vegetables for the island’s residents to medicinal herbs for wounds.

Anna, who was squatting down and cultivating the field, quietly opened her mouth.

“Lucia, you’ll have to suffer for a while.”

“… Huh?”

“You can tell by looking at the fields, but it doesn’t look like we’ll get anything this month.”

“Ah… Yeah,”

“For the time being, it seems like you and the Father will have to survive on the food you find outside.”

“O-Oh, I see.”

Lucia nodded and replied in a trembling voice.

Anna looked at Lucia and paused for a moment.

Is this timid Lucia really the same Lucia I saw last night?

Last night, the Lucia that Anna saw was closer to a beast in human skin than a human.

The demon that possessed her… what was it, a wolf? It would be more convincing to say that Lucia last night was a wolf wearing Lucia’s skin, as she was so animalistic.

The hostility she showed because she thought I was going to harm the Father, and the feminine expression and gestures she showed as she became aware of her own sexuality and affection for the Father.

‘… I’m probably quite a beast myself for rubbing my chest against Lucia’s breasts,’

Lucia was sitting quietly and demurely in a very modest posture.

As if the hot breaths and the wiggling waist and pelvis that she had violently spewed out last night were all an illusion, the Lucia of today was showing a completely different appearance.

Her red eyes, which froze her opponent like those of a wild beast, had returned to their clear sky-blue color as if nothing had happened, and the unique erotic scent that emanated from her body had also transformed into the fragrant scent of a young girl.

Anna asked quietly.

“I’m just asking to be sure.”

“H-Huh?”

“Do you remember? Last night.”

Lucia’s face turned bright red in an instant, and she bowed her head and shook it slightly up and down.

The sight was so cute that even Anna couldn’t help but chuckle and say,

“Ah, I see. Then…”

“…”

“Are you going to go see him again?”

Lucia shook her head again.

“… I want to go.”

“Alright,”

Anna shook her head.

“But you can’t.”

“Huh? W-Why?”

“The Father is watching out for it.”

“Ah…”

“He might be waiting awake, so you can’t for the time being. Understood?”

“… Yes, I understand.”

Anna felt a little worried.

At Lucia’s age, she would have already opened her eyes to sexual things.

However, from Anna’s point of view, Lucia had only taken her first steps yesterday.

As the saying goes, “A thief who learns late doesn’t know when day breaks,” so could she resist the pleasure and impulses that she had belatedly tasted?

Anna asked again, as if giving a warning.

“Can you endure it?”

“Yes, I can endure it. Don’t worry.”

“Really?”

“Yes… on the ship… if I ask the Father to hug me… it’ll be okay.”

“… Then… if I rub against him… a little… it’ll feel… good… right?”

Is it because Lucia’s face is red?

In Anna’s eyes, the Lucia’s eyes that bowed her head seemed to be slightly tinged with red for a moment.

The next day,

Sola’s unfair cries echoed from the morning.

“Sola, you’re the culprit after all!”

“I’m not!”

“I was watching the window all night yesterday, and no one came! Seeing that you stopped playing pranks as soon as you were suspected, you must be the culprit, Sola!”

“Aaaaaagh, I’m not!”

Lucia and Anna pretended not to notice and ate breakfast.

Lucia thought that she would definitely have to get meat for Sola when she went outside the island next time.