#257
Helmut
Episode 257
1. From the bottom
It took quite a long time to stand up again.
He fell from the cliff to the bottom, and everything about Helmut was shattered at the bottom.
When you look up in a broken state, all you see is a cliff. There would be a sky above it, but the sky was gray. Who wants to climb up into the gray sky?
Despair leads to helplessness. Helmut was immersed in deep lethargy.
A fire without firewood can no longer burn. It seemed like all that was left of him was ashes.
His vivid and intense eyes lost their shine, and his expressionless face was filled with nothing but emptiness.
After pouring out my emotions, I felt nothing, as if I was empty. Pain, hatred, suffering.
‘Maybe I just decided not to feel it.’
Void eats away at life. I didn’t know what to do. No matter what I do, I don’t know what it means.
A monster that just breathes and lives.
Because I didn’t want that kind of life, I left this place because I wanted to be human, but in the end I ended up back where I was.
‘Just like this… … .’
I don’t want to do anything. Immersed in the emptiness that fills his lungs, Helmut chose silence and sleep.
He spent the day lying down in his seat without knowing what was going on.
That one day turned into two days, then three days, and it continued like water.
A life completely different from the one previously lived in the forest of Pahe.
The previous Helmut did not waste a single day, but the Helmut of then and now were different.
Helmut has grown, but the driving force that made him grow has disappeared.
Helmut gave up his ingrained training and lived like a corpse.
Lying down on the floor, quietly looking at the sky.
The magic energy that abounded in the forest of Pahe quickly restored his body, and the sprouts of darkness slowly regained their momentum.
Since he’s already been dealt a harsh blow once, it’s not like before, but it’s enough to exert influence on Helmut.
The body recovered, but the recovery of the mind was slow.
What moves humans is actually the mind. So Helmut was practically mortally wounded.
Helmut’s lethargy was something that could not be understood by anyone.
For the first time in his life, the white leopard was displeased with Helmut, who was becoming even more lazy than when he was a newborn.
‘Well, I was glad to see you back.’
But the joy of reunion was short-lived. In Elaga’s eyes, Helmut’s condition was completely incomprehensible.
It was strange that a baby who didn’t cry much even as a newborn suddenly began to cry, so I left him alone, and it was getting more and more annoying.
He is a weak human being and has not eaten or drank anything for several days.
The past of swinging a sword like crazy is a thing of the past, and I somehow hated seeing him lying there as if he were dead. She felt a little nervous.
‘I shouldn’t starve to death.’
Regardless of whether he had sprouts of darkness or had become stronger, in Ella’s eyes, Helmut was an extremely weak and young human.
And taking care of Helmut so that he doesn’t die is something Elaga is used to.
He still couldn’t give up the habit of taking care of something. Enough to care for other humans because of that habit.
To his disgust, Elaga continued her old habit and scolded Helmut by pushing him food.
[How long are you going to stay like that? Eat this!]
What Elaga offered Helmut was meat. Now there was a chef to prepare his game so it was ready to eat, so the beef jerky was even seasoned.
But Helmut didn’t even look at it.
Elaga scolded again.
[A guy who doesn’t hunt doesn’t deserve to eat it, but it’s given specially to commemorate his return. Hurry up and eat!]
“I do not need.”
As soon as the brief refusal was given, a ferocious growl escaped from the huge white leopard.
[Crrrrrrr.]
Elaga did not allow Helmut to reject her sincerity.
[Do you want me to shove it down your throat?]
A blue glow appeared in Elaga’s eyes. I literally mean it.
Pahe’s Forest is a world where the fittest is the law of the jungle. The weak must follow the words of the strong.
Helmut realized that he had returned from a strange place.
‘it’s annoying.’
In the outside world, Helmut has never met a person stronger than himself. He was just pushed to the side.
This situation, where he was once again in the position of the weak, stimulated Helmut’s dulled senses.
‘plaguy.’
But what can you do? Elaga was strong and could make his own words come true. And Helmut had no sword.
Helmut forced himself to chew the beef jerky and swallow it.
Elaga watched Helmut eating beef jerky with a look in his eyes that could hardly be considered a mother bird. And only after she finished eating did she leave.
Elaga did not sit around and bother Helmut all day, but
It was repeated every day. Of course, it wasn’t for long.
Elaga was a monster that had no consideration or understanding from the beginning, and why Helmut acted like that was not an important issue to him.
The only important thing is that in Elaga’s eyes, Helmut appears to be lazy, and that is unsightly.
Elaga soon reached the limit of her patience and shouted.
[How long are you going to live off of what I catch? Poor guy!]
But Helmut did not respond. In the midst of the pouring abuse, Helmut lay motionless, as if his ears were blocked.
Finally, Elaga frowned and asked.
[What on earth happened outside? Is your mother going to throw you away again, saying she doesn’t need a cursed bastard?]
Helmut’s body twitched slightly at that question.
Only then did Elaga realize.
[That’s right, that’s what it was. Somehow the situation seemed strange.]
At most, I sent him to the human world, but he came back betrayed. After a while, Elaga blurted out a word.
[You idiot.]
Those words were never intended as comfort, but were purely an accusation. For Elaga, the one who suffered was at fault. Of course, that wasn’t the case when I was hit.
[So how long are you going to live like that? To die?]
When I tapped him with his tail, Helmut let out a dry sigh.
“Leave me alone.”
For the first time, an emotion appeared on his face. That was annoying. However, the frustration was overshadowed by a sense of futility again.
It responds to a stimulus, but the response is quickly buried.
Elaga asked without hesitation.
[If I leave it alone, how long will it last?]
“… … .”
Helmut chose to remain silent instead of giving a definite answer, and ironically, Elaga read hope in his silence.
Helmut did not completely give up everything.
‘It’s not like the will to live has disappeared.’
Desire makes humans live. What Helmut needs now is to hope for something again.
‘For a human, he’s strong, so he’ll stand up again someday.’
Elaga could guarantee that much.
Isn’t Helmut the first human to survive this forest of digs and reach the outside world?
But Elaga couldn’t just leave him alone until that ‘someday’ arrived.
Elaga was a monster with poor empathy skills, and even if Helmut had been abandoned by his parents yesterday, he had the personality to look down on him today. She had put up with a lot for that.
‘I guess I should help.’
It was typical of Elaga to make her listen even if she had to beat her up.
But he also backed off quite a bit from Helmut.
Elaga decided to help Helmut in a more moderate way.
Animals live busy lives, eating, drinking, and hunting. Helmut also had to live that kind of life.
In particular, Elaga was a diligent monster. Aren’t you taking care of new things now that Helmut has left?
‘She might be helpful.’
As soon as that thought came to mind, Elaga went straight to her.
[Susan.]
When I called outside the house, a woman opened the window and showed her face.
“Yes, Elaga!”
The woman who answered quickly had neatly tied auburn hair and a pretty appearance.
An attractive human woman in her late 20s. If she looked like that even in the forest of Pahe, where there was no need to decorate or take care of anything, she must have been considered quite a beauty in the outside world.
Susan was a noblewoman. As was typical for nobles, she was caught up in a power struggle, lost her husband, and was thrown into the forest of Pahe along with her young daughter.
She was lucky. She has no powers, whether sword or magic, and it is unlikely for a human woman to survive in the forest of Pahe, but she survived after meeting Erugo.
And what’s even luckier is that he died not long after she was in Erugo’s clutches. Also, the owner of the human farm where she is.
There were also dangerous moments. As soon as Naho died, the monsters lurking near his territory greedily exposed their teeth towards vulnerable humans. It was on a different level from previous attacks.
Erugo was injured and could not do anything.
Thinking that since Naho woke up, the monster could no longer be installed, he went out of the lab and was immediately eaten alive by sharp teeth.
Other humans followed similar steps. They were helpless without Naho and Erugo, and the monsters that attacked were powerful enough to break the walls of the house where the humans were hiding.
When Elaga absorbed Naho’s core and immediately found the human farm, everything was almost over.
Many of those humans were swallowed up by the greedy monsters without even leaving a body behind.
Susan was holding her breath in Erugo’s lab, hugging her daughter tightly.
Luckily, she escaped to Erugo’s laboratory, where the door was open, and survived there for several days with only a small amount of water and food.
Erugo’s laboratory, the most solid hideout, was the only one that did not collapse despite the monsters’ onslaught.
They were the only survivors. Susan and Sarah survived because others sacrificed themselves while she ran away with her daughter.
Elaga found out their location by smell. They were startled when Elaga spoke to them outside the lab.
[Hey, humans over there. What is the condition?]
A monster that is intelligent enough to communicate with humans. Unlike the ferocious Naho, they quickly opened their hearts to Elaga, a beautiful leopard with white fur.
In fact, there was nothing Susan and Sarah could do but rely on Elaga’s mercy.
If you just hang on in the lab, it will be over once you run out of food.
“Well, we’re okay.”
[You two are the only ones who survived.]
Elaga clicked her tongue. She said that if she didn’t take care of them, these two would be eaten by monsters like other humans were.
Elaga accepted these two humans as her shadow without hesitation.
For some reason, it was a choice that felt natural to Elaga.
Just as she protected and raised Helmut, Elaga will do the same for them. Because that was Elaga’s hobby and habit.
‘I’ve raised a male, but this time it’s a female.’
And the latter definitely tasted more grown-up.
Helmut was a cute and arrogant guy, whereas Susan and Sarah were cute and friendly.
Above all, these two trusted and followed Elaga.
Elaga felt as if she had become the head of the family, seeing Susan and Sarah running out of the house to greet them as soon as they caught their prey.
It was a different experience.
‘Wounds inflicted by humans can be healed by humans.’
Elaga thought simply. And she said to Susan, who was looking at me with eyes full of trust.
[You have work to do.]
