The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

“That’s really young, looks like it’s around the same age as Tiel.”

“What kind of beastkin do you think it is? What beastkin lived here originally?”

“It’s said that in this area...”

Clemence muttered as she looked down at the boy. The young boy was panting in pain. Clemence’s gaze landed on his blue hair.

“The Water Clan, the Everard family and their vassal clans used to live here. This boy might be the heir of one of those vassal families...”

“He could be the heir of Everard’s family, right?”

Olivier suddenly interrupted. Clemence shook her head firmly at Olivier’s words.

“Everard’s family was exterminated. The term ‘exterminated’ means that there was no heir left alive to carry on the family name... so this boy can’t be an heir of Everard.”

“But...”

Tiel, who had been quietly listening to her older siblings, suddenly interrupted. Tiel alternated her gaze between the sleeping boy and her older siblings before cautiously asking.

“He said he needed help, but what do you think happened to the beastkin here?”

“...I don’t know. We won’t know until he wakes up and tells us.”

Ian Dross replied. Tiel opened her mouth again.

“I don’t think he came here because he was injured...”

Tiel had sharp observation skills, unusually good for a seven-year-old. Indeed, as Tiel had said, the wounds on the boy’s body were all scratches and bruises, not serious injuries.

In other words, the boy had been moving around, getting scratched and bumped along the way. Did he come here looking for someone to help him?

At that moment, Ferdie shook his head.

“The beastkin living here only gather in certain areas. There are no beastkin living outside these areas. So who would he have gone to for help so far out here? He probably just got lost...”

“So, you think he wasn’t trying to ask for help here...”

Tiel pointed to the outside of the cave with her finger. An endless, pitch-black darkness. They all knew well what lay beyond that darkness.

“...The river?”

“Maybe he was trying to cross the river, to ask for help...”

The waterway was open now.

If they had a boat, they could leave. Of course, it didn’t seem like they had any boats here.

“Since it used to be Everard’s territory, the beastkin living here must all be water-dwelling beastkin, right?”

“Probably.”

“So, even without a boat, if the waterway is open, they could still go out...”

Tiel said clearly. Ferdie hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

“The beastkin living here have never left these lands.”

This was a rule established by the beastkin living in this land. They didn’t know why they made such a rule, but it was still a rule. So, Ferdie didn’t think the boy would have tried to break that rule.

But Tiel thought differently.

“But this boy is still young, so maybe he didn’t know about that rule.”

He was young and small. A child of a similar age to Tiel. Though Tiel had experienced very different circumstances, she thought she might understand what was in his heart, what might have driven him to the river...

Tiel carefully brushed the boy’s hair aside. The soft hair flowed apart under her hand.

At that moment, the boy’s brow twitched, even though he had been asleep.

“...Ugh...”

The boy, who had been tossing and turning, suddenly opened his eyes wide, as if startled by something.

“...Has Karl still not been found?” 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

“We sent a search party, but there’s still no news...”

Illum made a groaning sound.

The room they were in had a small glowstone embedded in the wall, but it didn’t make it difficult for them to see each other.

Moreover, the beastkin here had lived in the dark for so long that their eyes were sharp enough to see each other’s faces even in the dark.

“Do you think that boy really tried to cross the river? Could it be...?”

“Eren! That boy knows what he’s doing, he wouldn’t do something so reckless. He’ll probably just stand by the river for a while and then turn back. We just need to wait...”

Illum pressed his temples as if he had a headache. Just facing the current problem was overwhelming enough, and Karl kept causing trouble.

“It’s all your fault. You took him in, you should’ve taught him properly. That boy, no, he...”

“...I know. I taught him with all my heart. That’s why he grew up the way he did. I couldn’t just sit back and watch...”

Eren’s gaze shifted towards the glowstones, which were arranged regularly. Behind them was the village where the beastkin lived. The glowstones had been arranged along the path so the villagers could go about their daily lives.

Though it was called a village, it was almost like a small town. Once, many more beastkin had lived here. And before that, even more beastkin had lived here...

“....”

Eren paused his thoughts. There was no good reason to dwell on old memories.

The village, which was visible at the end of Eren’s gaze, was eerily quiet. Even though this place had no clear division between day and night, the silence was too much. Eren and Illum knew why the village had become so quiet.

“Why is this happening all of a sudden?”

Eren looked down at his arm. The glowstone cast light on his skin. His skin, darkened with spots.

This was Arcadia, a land of abundance.

But now, there was no trace of that, and the beastkin who once lived here were struggling to survive.

The reason they hadn’t left Arcadia was simple. It wasn’t that they hadn’t left... it was that they couldn’t leave.

They had been bound by the forces of darkness and could no longer live in the light.

Illum and Eren’s skin was dotted with dark patches, stained by the glowstone’s light. It was obvious that their skin, when exposed to sunlight, would not remain intact.

That was why they couldn’t leave this place. If they stood under the sun, they knew exactly what would happen to them.

But they couldn’t stop using the glowstones. Even though they had adapted to the darkness, living without any light was impossible for their daily lives.

The problem was... their condition had been deteriorating recently.

“Even though we removed all the glowstones around the ones whose condition has worsened...”

Their skin had turned dark, and their bodies were slowly falling apart. It was strange, because even those who had been avoiding using glowstones or lamps were showing the same symptoms.

A huge wave of anxiety and fear had swept over the beastkin here. Many had already died, and the number of those complaining that their darkened skin wouldn’t return was steadily increasing.

If things kept going like this...

“This is a place where the touch of the god Lyset hasn’t reached. It’s a miracle we’ve survived this long.”

Illum spoke calmly. The beastkin who had been abandoned in this land had survived here for quite some time, thanks to the lake at the center of the village.

It was said that the god Lyset had stayed by this lake for a while. The beastkin had mined glowstones and gathered food from the lake. Everything else was dying, but the fish in the lake and the plants around it grew without the need for light.

The beastkin believed that all of this was a blessing from the god Lyset, who had pitied them.

But now, even that was coming to an end. The number of fish in the lake had dwindled, the plants stopped growing, and the beastkin were dying one by one at an alarming rate...

Illum and Eren knew that soon, no living creatures would remain in this land.

“Truly... does that mean miracles no longer happen?”

Illum lifted his gaze and looked into the distance. The darkness made it hard to see, but they knew what lay beyond it.

That was the highest point in this land.

It was where the sun rose.

***

“Do you like brighter light?”

Tiel asked cautiously, squatting next to the boy while hugging her knees.