The red-and-gold of sunset shimmered in his eyes, warped by tears.
In the empty snowfields, Mephisto had once been happy to see a small, modest flower bloom.
To his father, Sheir, such things were “corruption,” but to a Mephisto only newly born, even flowers born of negative emotions were simply a joy.
Once, he had met squirrel beastkin who had come to present acorns at the castle.
They had been cute and guileless, and it had been hard to accept that one day they would vanish.
He had wished for this world to endure.
At the time, for Mephisto, that had been the right answer.
But Sheir had never understood.
He hadn’t understood why Mephisto had called him “Father” and tried to force them into the frame of a family, or why Mephisto had such a special attachment to the world and to his family.
A tear fell from the baby bird’s eye
Grrrr!
Yip!
It was Karmirach.
The four-legged black beast had black horns atop its head, and a strange arrangement of six jewel-like “eyes” set into each side.
Grrrrrr...
Karmirach’s body shuddered, almost as if laughing.
—To think I’d get to eat a Lord.
Shlrrrk!
It opened its mouth wide.
“Pii...!”
Mephisto squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the pain of being torn apart.
But what made him open them was a voice he had never expected to hear.
“Hello, son.”
Drip, drip—tears that had been pooling in Mephisto’s eyes began to fall in a steady stream, like raindrops.
'Son?'
Before he could even turn the word over in his mind—
“Mefi!”
He was in a small embrace smelling faintly of warm bread.
Guru hugged her baby bird so tight it was hard to breathe.
“Piii!”
Mephisto rubbed his cheek against her as she held him.
Veilach, seeing he was unharmed, shook his head, while Lukshifer hopped down from Guru’s head to pat Mephisto comfortingly.
But the joy of being rescued didn’t last. In Mephisto’s vision appeared the black beast.
'Whine, whimper.'
Karmirach was lying flat in front of Sheir, tail down, in a posture of submission.
Mephisto sniffled.
“Pipi– pii!”
Unable to hold it in, he pointed at Karmirach with a wing, tattling to Guru that “that thing” had tried to eat him, that it had been terrifying.
“Did it?”
The reply, however, came from Sheir.
Flinch!
Mephisto’s shoulders jumped, and Guru placed the stiff baby bird on her head as she rose to her feet.
Whimper, whimper.
Karmirach still circled Sheir with its tail tucked.
Guru puffed her cheeks in a pout.
It had carried Mephisto off so viciously, and now that Sheir was here it was pretending to be meek—how sly.
“Shei Mistew, pwease punwish da bad doggie weaw hard.”
Hmph! Guru snorted as she spoke. Sheir gave a quiet “Hm” and thought [N O V E L I G H T] for a moment, then said,
“Do whatever you like. Anything is fine.”
“Gwuu?”
Yip!
At the decision to leave it to her, Karmirach jumped in alarm.
Guru hesitated.
“But...”
“If you don’t want to—”
“I-I don’t mind, but...!”
Holding a fork in both hands, she rolled her big eyes.
Why was he suddenly handing this to her? Could it be...
'A test?!'
He might be testing whether she could really use her strength well.
Then she had to do well!
Her lips trembled nervously. She hadn’t even been this shaky at her kindergarten interview...!
“B-bad doggie... um...”
Drawing it out, she edged slowly toward Karmirach.
Would her skills work? What if it resisted? If she failed miserably in front of him...
She pictured Sheir smirking in her head, mocking, You thought you could drive me out with just that?
'No way!'
First, to test obedience, she held out her hand.
“Paw.”
Karmirach extended a forepaw like a well-trained dog.
“Sit. Lie down. Roll over. Bang! Stand up!”
It obeyed every order, even rising to stand on its hind legs with forepaws raised skyward.
“Oooh...!”
She clapped her hands.
“Then... doggie dance!”
Karmirach’s legs twitched as it began to dance.
“Oooooh!”
“Pii!”
“Kyuu!”
Clap clap clap clap!
Guru, Mephisto, and Lukshifer applauded the show.
Confidence swelling, Guru shouted,
“Okay! Hewe goes! Open, Yo-wang!”
“Kyut!”
Lukshifer leapt, and an otherworldly chill swept over the snowfield.
[Would you like to make ‘Karmirach Nognir’ your follower?]
Karmirach looked at Sheir as if hesitating, but soon accepted the position of follower.
Step one—success!
'Thump-thump goes my heawt.'
Guru wiped sweat from her brow. Unlike with Veilach, a huge amount of mana had drained away all at once.
Her vision swam, but she straightened and shook her head, clenching her fists.
She could still do this.
Now it was time to Squeeze-Squeeze a new form.
“Gwuu wiww tuwn you into a wittwe chihuahua...”
She chuckled darkly, her voice sluggish from mana loss, like someone drunk.
Just then, Veilach tugged at her sleeve.
“Ung?”
“Myu!”
He pointed once at Karmirach, once at Mephisto, then mimed popping something in his mouth and chewing.
“Ah, you mean give Mefi to eat? Like that time with the takoyaki?”
When she caught on, Veilach made a big circle in agreement.
“Pit?”
Mephisto tilted his head, but Veilach just waved for him to eat.
“Okay. Bad doggie...! Tuwn into takoyaki Mefi wuvs so much...!”
'Yelp!'
[Activating skill: Squeeze-Squeeze.]
Karmirach’s lumpy form warped like clay until it became a round takoyaki ball.
“D-did it!”
But the triumph lasted only a moment.
As if rebelling, the takoyaki began to slowly grow.
“Ahhh!”
Before it could get too big, Mephisto zipped forward and shoved it into his beak in one gulp.
He swallowed without chewing.
“Phew—”
Guru’s legs nearly gave out, but Sheir caught her before she could collapse, lifting her into his arms.
“You overdid it.”
“Huuung...”
Her vision spun. She must have overexerted herself.
“It seems this is your limit for now.”
“N-no... Gwuu can...”
She drooped over his shoulder like laundry, mumbling.
If it had been Jurim, she would’ve recovered to peak condition from the skill [Happiness Together]...
To get Daddy back, she would have to make Sheir’s body for him.
Fighting off the pull of sleep, she murmured,
“Daddy...”
Sheir patted her back as her words slurred.
“Gwuu... wanna see Daddy...”
“Yes.”
Pat, pat.
The gentle touch blurred her vision.
Her heart was anxious, but sleep was pouring into her eyes.
What if she was too weak to get Daddy back?
Tears threatened to spill, but her body wouldn’t move.
Only a fragile voice kept calling for Jurim.
“Daddy...”
Pat, pat.
“Give him back...”
Pat, pat.
“...Alright...”
Hearing Sheir’s final answer in her ear, Guru drifted into sleep.
Meanwhile, Mephisto watched her with a resolute expression.
As soon as her eyes closed, the baby bird absorbed Karmirach’s power, light swirling around him.
Sheir, holding the sleeping Guru, looked back at Mephisto.
Veilach narrowed his eyes at the glow.
It was exactly as he’d expected.
If it came to it, Mephisto would need power to face Sheir. That was why Veilach had told him to eat Karmirach’s strength.
When the light faded, white feathers scattered.
From between them emerged a child with white curly hair.
On his snow-pale face, golden eyes tinged red like the sunset blinked slowly.
In the form of a human child shaped after his old self, Mephisto spoke with difficulty.
“...Lord Sheir.”
At the sound of his name, Sheir looked genuinely taken aback.

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