The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 113
“If you’d like, I can make it brighter. Or dimmer, if you prefer.”
Tiel spoke carefully. The boy—Karl—stared at Tiel, the nearby knights, and the other children with a dazed expression, murmuring to himself.
“How······?”
Karl knew of the legend of light. He couldn’t help but know. Everyone living in this land yearned most desperately for the Light Ability spoken of in that very legend.
The promise that the Light Ability would bring morning to a land where dawn never came—it was the last hope of all who dwelled here.
Karl carried that hope deep in his own heart. Perhaps one day—perhaps one day someone would truly manifest the Light Ability. Then morning would come to this land, and the Beast-folk living here could finally walk in light.
Of course, the Beast-folk living here thought somewhat differently than Karl did, but in any case, that was what Karl believed.
And yet······.
“Hmm, is she still startled by the light? Should I make it dimmer for her?”
Tiel looked up at Ludian and asked. Ludian rested his hand on top of Tiel’s head and stroked it gently as he spoke.
“Don’t you think it’s fine as is? If it gets any weaker, won’t it become too hard to see?”
“But······.”
“Then try dimming it just a little.”
“Like this?”
“Yes, that’s right, that’s perfect.”
What in the world was happening?
A small flame flickered in the girl’s palm. Karl looked at that light again and again. No matter how many times he looked, it was unmistakably light.
‘It’s definitely······ the Light Ability from the legend.’
Had the legendary Light Ability truly been manifested? By this small girl? And what Karl truly could not understand was not the fact that this little girl possessed the Light Ability.
“Our Tiel is a genius! As long as we’re with Tiel, walking through the night is no problem at all!”
‘She’s using the Light Ability like it’s just a Luminous Stone or a lantern!’
Karl felt as though he might scream. In a daze, he stared at the boy and girl for a long moment before finally collecting himself and turning his gaze back to Tiel.
And then.
“······!”
He seized Tiel’s wrist.
“Are you insane?”
“······If you wish to die that badly.”
“I’ll knock you out again and leave you behind.”
The children, seeing Tiel’s wrist seized, each uttered a cold remark. But Karl had no mind to react to each of their threats. Something else was far more urgent right now.
“The, the Light Ability······!”
“Huh······?”
“Help me, please! Please help me!”
Karl cried out desperately. The children, who had been rushing to separate Karl from Tiel’s side, faltered. They looked directly at Karl and asked.
“What do you mean? Speak properly.”
“······Everyone living here might die soon!”
The boy cried out. His sea-blue eyes trembled with instability. Tiel listened carefully to Karl’s words. It was strange—the boy was not weeping, yet he looked as though he were.
Karl explained to the children everything that had happened in this place. A land where morning never comes, where light does not exist. How the Beast-folk had managed to survive here, and······.
How black blemishes appeared on the skin of those exposed to light, and how all the Beast-folk whose blemishes spread across their entire bodies had died.
***
“What on earth······.”
Tiel, who had heard all of Karl’s words, fell into confusion. So it meant that the Beast-folk here were all dying from some unknown disease.
‘Can you even call it a disease······?’
A disease caused by exposure to light? Even the light of a Luminous Stone and a lantern would cause blemishes on their skin? Then there was no need to see what would happen to them if they were exposed to sunlight.
‘They would die······.’
This land was not a place where morning never comes—it had become a place where morning can never come. If morning arrived, they would all perish······.
This was a land untouched even by moonlight.
A place robbed of all light. Forcing morning upon such a land might, after all, be poison.
“······Wait?”
Tiel, who had been pondering gravely, suddenly seized Karl’s wrist.
“Tiel!”
“You shouldn’t grab an unrelated boy’s wrist so carelessly!”
“I told you to let go quickly!”
“Tiel······.”
“You’re all making a fuss over nothing······.”
Ferdi, Olivier, Ludian, Iandros, and Clemens, in that order.
Tiel brushed aside her brothers’ objections for the moment and, keeping hold of Karl’s wrist, examined his body carefully from all angles.
“······Something’s wrong.”
“What is?”
“You just said it—that blemishes appear on the skin when exposed to light. But this boy doesn’t have any······.”
Tiel examined Karl’s skin as she spoke. Only after hearing her words did Karl start in surprise and look down at his own skin. Despite being exposed to Tiel’s light for quite some time now, no blemishes had appeared. His skin was completely unmarred.
“Then could it have all been a lie?”
“Why would he lie about this? What would he gain from lying to us?”
“It seems suspicious though.”
The children added their remarks one by one. Karl, bewildered, scratched and kneaded his forearms in protest.
“I, I don’t know why it’s not changing either. I’m telling you, it definitely happened before······.”
Karl spoke with aggrieved urgency. Iandros, who had been listening quietly to his words, raised an eyebrow.
“Speak formally. You are not my friend.”
“······I’m not sure why it’s not changing······.”
Karl spoke with evident grievance. The boy truly was aggrieved. The dark spots had definitely appeared on his body before, just as they did on the other Beast-folk.
‘But why aren’t they appearing now? Could the Light Ability be something different?’
Karl gazed at the small girl before him. Like a delicate, fragile bubble, she produced a light in her palm that was warmer and firmer than anyone else’s.
Warmer than a campfire, firmer than a Luminous Stone······. Karl found himself thinking that this girl, surely, could truly solve the problems of this land.
“So you were going to ask for help, then?”
At that moment, Tiel asked the boy. Her tone used no formal language—she spoke as one would to a friend, in a manner both comfortable and unguarded. Karl nodded without hesitation at her words.
“Yes, if I cross the river and ask for help somewhere, maybe, maybe there would be some kind of solution······.”
This time, Iandros, who had been listening quietly, interjected.
“You said blemishes appear when you touch light? And if those blemishes cover your entire body, you die?”
“Dying doesn’t matter. As long as I can ask for help, then······.”
In the boy’s eyes there gleamed a hint of resolve. The children exchanged glances for a moment. This was not a problem they could solve among themselves. It was a problem that required bringing a capable adult to address it.
“Why not tell the military physician stationed here about this and have him examine the condition of others as well?”
Ferdi suggested. Iandros pondered for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders.
“A military physician can only treat external injuries and simple illnesses, so you shouldn’t expect the skill of a physician from the Imperial Palace. But there’s no harm in showing him. Given that people are dying by the day······.”
Iandros’s words were tantamount to permission. Karl’s face brightened. Yet Iandros added in a cold and measured tone.
“This is a land touched by the power of Orpheo, God of Darkness. We have no power to resolve this—that much is certain. We will examine matters since you have asked for help, but you should not harbor great expectations.”
Iandros’s words were firm. Yet Karl was not disheartened. The boy nodded his small head.
“Yes.”
“Good then. Guide us to where they are. Knight Order! We move again. Prepare supplies and check the horses.”
At Iandros’s command, the knights who had been standing watch moved with perfect coordination. The children exchanged a few more brief words with the boy while the knights readied themselves again.
And in that moment, they realized they had not asked the most important question.
“What’s······ your name?”
“Karl.”
“Karl?”
“······It’s Karl.”
The boy answered readily. Tiel silently sounded out Karl’s name in her mind. His name felt good to say—it filled her mouth completely when spoken······.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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