4th iteration,
Baby Yellow took in a parrot – a white, clean and pretty parrot. When her mind was in a mess, BY strangled the parrot and it was by sheer luck that the parrot survived. Perhaps because of that, it soon opened the cage and flew away never to return after that.
Some precious things were only revealed once it disappeared and it tended to penetrate deep into the mind. That was the same for the baby dragon.
The young child that only knew how to be loved,
Knew how to give love to another.
Only after the recipient of the love disappeared.
At the end of the underground corridor, there was a place that looked like it would originally be used as a storehouse of important belongings. From the darkness, white and red glistening eyes faced the baby chicken.
Kuruk… uuung…
Soon, those let out the growling sounds of beasts as they turned towards Chirpy.
They appeared like a dog and a cat but their body was that of a human’s. They were [Beastmen], who had bodies that looked the most similar to humans among the spirit beasts.
Mana could be felt from the bodies of the two beastmen, who had coarse and dirty furs around their body suggesting the hardships they’ve suffered.
The vertically cracked fissure behind them entered Yu Jitae’s sight.
It was around 2.5 metres in height. Reaching the ceiling of the underground room, it was greedily opening its mouth trying to devour anything in sight. Although the fissure was dark, it was definitely linked to another world.
This was an ‘Intersecting Spatial Fissure’.
It seemed that they had stablised a fissure that linked to another place and moved it here, with alternate dimensional magic.
The two large spirit beasts resembling humans began walking towards the baby chicken. Currently, Chirpy was a big fat baby chicken bigger than a basketball, but appeared extremely tiny and feeble in front of human-sized beasts.
Despite that, the baby chicken stood still and gazed at the two of them.
And after approaching the chicken, the two of them lowered their bodies.
Kururung… Meow…
They then lowered their heads.
These spirit beasts were actually escapees of the Spirit Beast Breeding Centre. For the past 11 months or so, the baby chicken had travelled all across Haytling, let alone Lair, fighting other spirit beast escapees. That was why the baby chicken was always injured and had to be healed and scolded by Bom.
The spirit beasts did not like the baby chicken. Their viewpoint was that they were free after finally escaping the breeding centre.
However, staying at Lair and thus having to live whilst avoiding the eyes of humans was not true freedom for these spirit beasts, who had strong homing instincts. Chirpy asserted for true freedom by saying, ‘Should we not return to our homeland,’ and succeeded in persuading them thanks to both power and a justified cause.
The baby chicken was always next to Kaeul.
Kaeul always carried the baby chicken around, and during that process, the mountainous mana of Kaeul allowed the baby chicken to become slightly stronger.
The lowly spirit beast had received the blessing of a dragon.
Thanks to that, Chirpy became more and more stronger, getting less and less wounds over time. He increased his followers and most of the surviving spirit beast escapees now served him as their leader. ‘Little Boss’ – that was what they called Chirpy.
And at last, they finally discovered the fissure which some of them had come out of, and succeeded in stabilising its intersecting space.
Although the fissure in Yu Jitae’s eyes appeared unstable and sloppy, it was the essence of the baby chicken’s hard work.
Most of the surviving spirit beast escapees had already returned to their own dimension through the fissure.
Soon, the two ‘assistants’ began having a serious conversation with their ‘Little Boss’.
Chirp chirp. Meow. Kurung. Meoooow. Chirp.
Their conversation went like the following.
Cat: How long are you planning to stay here.
Dog: That right.
Baby Chicken: Let me stay here for a little more.
Cat: If the intersection breaks here, that is the end of everything. What is wrong. It has already been over a month.
Dog: That right.
Baby Chicken: There might be more comrades we have yet to find.
Cat: Strange words. How can there be such a thing. Did we not search for them together?
Dog: There none.
Baby Chicken: …
Cat: You postponed changing to a human appearance and wanted freedom more than anyone else. So what is this on about? If you continue doing this, we can’t wait for boss either.
Cat: If you say ‘That right’ one more time, I will smack you.
Dog: …
Most of the spirit beasts had already crossed but the baby chicken stayed here and delayed it’s departure – that was what was happening right now.
Although they looked cute and insignificant at a glance, their conversation was one that would most likely be seen at a film noir. In fact, just for this, Chirpy had attacked thirty or so humans and killed seven spirit beasts that were attempting to revolt.
The baby chicken was kidnapped away from its mother’s warmth. In a foreign world, it was locked up in a cage and had its growth restricted for tens of years. After all the time it spent in a foreign world, breathing foreign oxygen… the baby chicken wanted to go home.
But in front of the situation that it had been longing for,
Chirp…
The baby chicken hesitates yet again, even today.
Then what was it, that was waiting on the other side of the fissure?
What did the world where these spirit beasts were born and nurtured look like?
Yu Jitae knew already, since he had been there several times.
After hiding his body within the shadows, Yu Jitae casually walked between the spirit beasts and entered the fissure.
Soon, a new world revealed itself in front of him.
An extremely wide sky continued until the ends of the horizons. Underneath, there was a large tree around 7,000 metres in height with countless birds and spirit beasts living within it.
This tree had the name, ‘World Tree’. It was made from a branch of the true world tree, Yggdrasil, but was currently losing power and drying up.
Around the place where the spirit beasts and beastmen were living among each other were houses with doors, windows and ceilings.
There were also fountains and sculptures.
This world was called [Anum].
It wasn’t Unit 301, but was the baby chicken’s true home.
Since it was a nearby dimension, he had visited it several times in those iterations of hazy memories whenever necessary.
Gazing down, he stared at the drying tree. In the previous iterations, the world tree had always been burned down to ashes. The Regressor had yet to touch the flow of ‘Anum’, and because he didn’t touch it, the overall flow of things would go the same way as the previous iterations.
Even if the baby chicken Chirpy, returned to this place, it would die before long.
Naturally, he wasn’t interested in the life or death of the baby chicken. This tree dying had nothing to do with him, and the countless spirit beasts living here losing their habitat was none of his business.
However, the gold hatchling of this iteration – her heart had to be unhurt. Thus, he had followed behind the baby chicken for the past few months and had placed several small devices in this world.
“Let us finish this quick and go have some food!”
He turned around. Near the centre of the world tree, there was an immensely large mechanical structure that resembled a whale. At a glance, it looked like a broken wing of an airplane. However, it reached 30 metres in length and was as big as a whale.
Next to it were beaver spirit beasts gathered together moving metal and timber with safety helmets on their head.
“Oi! Oi mate! Be careful with that, would ya!?”
One of the beaver spirit beasts shouted at the other beavers. The ones that received a mouthful were carrying something, and a mana core could be seen inside it.
“Treat it with care! It’s over if the core’s broken! We got no power source to replace that with! How would we meet our esteemed Prophet if it breaks!?”
““Sorry sir–!””
“Go again. Slowly!”
The beavers again started diligently carrying the mana core.
The Regressor gazed at the great tree that would eventually fall; and also at the countless spirit beasts living there, and the large whale-shaped mechanical structure, before turning around.
[Are you leaving already.]
Right before he was about to return, a voice echoed in his mind. He turned around again and gazed down at the large tree – the world tree was talking to him.
“Yeah. I see you’ve managed to find it.”
[We were simply listening to your commands. However, it seems that that thing is not of our dimension.]
Trees probably wouldn’t have eyes, but Yu Jitae knew that the ‘gaze’ of this tree he was stepping on was on the large mechanical structure.
“It is yours.”
[No. I am certain that over the 8,000 years of my life, I have never seen anything like it before.]
“…”
[Today of all days, we would like to ask. For what purpose have you guided us to the road of life?]
Yu Jitae did not reply. He couldn’t tell the tree that he was twisting the flow of the world simply because of the maturing of the mind of one young gold dragon.
It was as if this place, [Anum] and the [World Tree] had become a virtual set adjusted by Yu Jitae. All the organisms and even the world tree were nothing but actors and the stage of the play formulated by the Regressor.
However, there was no reason for him to tell them the truth.
[Art thou the Executor of Providence?]
The tree asked if he was a sovereign. Shaking his head, Yu Jitae opened his mouth.
“I shall return in the near future.”
[As you wish, Prophet.]
*
The baby chicken, Chirpy, would play with Kaeul during the day and sleep in Kaeul’s arms at night. To stay with her for as long as possible, it remained at Unit 301 till the end even after it’s subordinates all returned. And since Kaeul liked the ‘baby chicken’, Chirpy stayed as the baby chicken despite having a chance to humanify.
“Ahjussi. If, even if I don’t want to let him go, it is correct to let him go if he wants to, right?”
Right after realising that the baby chicken would eventually leave her, Kaeul asked him.
“Of course,” he replied.
“Even if I really, really don’t want to let him go?”
“That’s what a farewell is.”
“Even though I don’t wish for a farewell? Even then?”
“Who are you to stop him.”
“Me? A dragon that really, really, really likes Chirpy…”
Yu Jitae looked into the golden eyes of the child.
Although he was a guardian, he didn’t know what was the correct way for him to live as the guardian of the dragons. He simply had to linger on the topic everyday and ponder on.
However, he knew that even the mightiest of the powers could not protect a person’s heart, so he carefully told her.
“Kaeul.”
“Yes.”
“When there’s a beginning, there is an end.”
“Yes.”
“When there is a new encounter, there has to be farewells.”
“Yes…”
“You can’t look away from it.”
“I, I just don’t want to… I want to run away…”
“Even if you try to avoid it, you can’t. In the end, it will be right in front of you. When that happens, you might regret all the time you spent trying to avoid it.”
“…”
Then what should I do? She asked, and Yu Jitae replied.
“You must prepare for a good farewell.”
“How can there be a good farewell?” She asked again.
“…”
“That’s weird. How can farewells be good… How can there be good farewells in this world…”
Yu Jitae’s words broke a dam built inside Kaeul’s emotions. The child began crying with drops of tears dripping on the ground, and after crying for half a day, she vacantly asked.
“If we bid farewell, will there be another new encounter one day?”
There probably would be. He nodded as Kaeul asked yet again.
“Ahjussi. What are things that are required of a guardian?”
“Who knows.” He replied.
“Hmm… They should be able to heal a wounded child, and look after it right?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I think so. Bom-unni healed him whenever Chirpy was hurt. Me. I was the guardian but I couldn’t do anything… I was always sorry about that. I’m the guardian… but I’m useless…”
After that, Kaeul changed her major so that she could learn healing magic, and began learning aspects of healing magic occasionally from Bom.
For another little thing that would require her protection,
For another little thing she will meet one day in the future –
… That should have been the case.
So after returning to the dormitory,
Why was it that he found Kaeul pointing a small knife at her own hand;
Why was it that a drop of blood was travelling down the white wrist of the child onto her clothes.
Huu… when his eyes caught sight of the blonde child breathing out a hesitant sigh,
The top floor of the extravagant hotel,
The girl that slit her own wrist with a sharp dagger in the bathroom,
Her appearance that was a spitting image of Kaeul –
Images of that girl flashed past his head.
“Ahjussi?”
With surprised eyes, Kaeul looked at him.
Without saying a word, he stepped into the living room without even taking off his shoes. His expression might have scared her – Kaeul was sincerely startled and was frozen stiff.
Approaching the child, he reached his hand out and waited.
Forgetting to even give him the handle of the knife, she handed it over with the tip of the blade pointing him. Yu Jitae grabbed the knife with his hand in response and began crushing it with his grip. Like clay, the blade of the knife was reformed accordingly with the shape of his fingers. Seemingly unsatisfied with that, Yu Jitae ripped the blade like paper and threw it behind his back.
Charang–!
Fragments of the metal blade rolled across the front entrance and echoed.
When Kaeul raised her hands in surprise and fidgeted not knowing what to do, blood splattered and wetted both the ground and her arms.
“Kaeul.”
Facing the child frozen stiff from surprise, the Regressor asked with a low voice.
“What did you just do.”