🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 10
Even the silver wolf’s howl hadn’t made the giant venom eagle flinch, but now the monster stirred up a fierce wind.
It looked ready to unleash a brutal attack at any moment.
“Grrr!”
As the venom eagle approached, the silver wolf positioned itself so it could bite the creature’s neck the moment it came near.
It was a hair-trigger situation.
Piani was terrified. What if something happened to the silver wolf?!
[No! Go away! Don’t you dare bully our silver wolf!]
Just as Piani screamed at the top of her lungs, something even noisier rushed toward her.
“Hyah, hyah! Let’s hurry!”
The puppet maker—who had departed late because he wasn’t finished preparing— urged on his horse, which had been fed plenty of hay and carrots. The poor man’s horse, who loved its owner for taking such good care of it despite their poverty, galloped on without hesitation.
“We’re late, late!”
The old wagon packed full of dolls raced down the uneven forest path, kicking up enormous noise and clouds of dust.
Startled, the human-averse giant venom eagle immediately flew off.
But Piani, who had desperately wished for the giant bird to go away, couldn’t smile.
“Hyah, hyah!”
Because the wagon came barreling straight toward her.
“Aaaah! I’m going to get run over!”
At that moment, the injured silver wolf—slow due to its wounds—managed to grab a nearby doll in its mouth and hide in the bushes.
It planned to move once the wagon disappeared.
But the wagon didn’t leave right away. It came to a brief stop and—
“Huh? What’s this?”
The puppet maker picked something up off the ground before driving off again.
“Grrr…”
The silver wolf kept watch ahead, guarding Piani until the wagon fully disappeared from sight. Only then did it move.
But what it held in its mouth was not Piani.
“Kyack?!”
While the silver wolf was left startled, the puppet maker was examining the object he had picked up—Piani—turning her this way and that.
“A doll shaped like a person… and so strangely made, too. Who made something like this?”
And just like that, Piani ended up inside the puppet maker’s pocket.
[Silver wolf—!!]
Piani’s heart was battered by the sudden separation and equally sudden new encounter, but at least the puppet maker wasn’t a bad person.
Though every time he called me ‘cheap-looking,’ I wanted to bite him…!
Still, the puppet maker tucked the grimy Piani—whom he’d found on the roadside—into the pocket of his old blazer, leaving her head poking out. Thanks to that, Piani could admire all the changing scenery as they traveled.
Haa… Even though my heart is in chaos, the scenery is just beautiful.
He also had a strange habit: he talked to dolls.
“Sigh~ This will probably be my last business trip, huh?”
[Why?]
“I wanted to earn a lot of money and become the top doll maker in the East… revive the world of stuffed dolls…”
[Don’t worry! When I return to normal, I’ll make sure you earn big! I’ve got loyalty, you know! I’ll make sure you can spend your whole life making dolls without a single worry!]
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t much of a conversation. But the puppet maker talking to her gave Piani emotional comfort.
“Hehe. The more I look at you, the more cheap-but-cute you look. If business goes well this time, maybe I’ll try making a human-shaped doll.”
[Can you leave out the ‘cheap’ part?]
Piani assumed that after finishing his task, the puppet maker would take her back to the East.
She didn’t know what she could do once she returned, but having never left the East before, she wanted to stay there.
The Central region… I’ve never been there. It’s unfamiliar.
But then the puppet maker accepted a pouch of gold coins and sold her.
[Mister! Where did you sell our friendship?! Why are you selling me?!]
And for a measly two Kuring, at that.
Piani felt hurt and angry—but forgot all of that very quickly.
Because the man who bought her was terrifying.
Who IS this guy? He talks like a gangster!
And his eyes—
The eyes of a murderer…!
Of course, Piani had never actually seen a murderer. But still—his gaze was that intense.
Waaah! Why would such a huge, scary man buy a cute doll like me?!
Surely there was no reason a grown man would need a doll.
Gasp—! Don’t tell me he plans to use me as a chew toy for a dog?!
She pictured her head in a dog’s mouth while her legs were being yanked around by this man and wished she could just faint.
Sob… My life is over!
She cried and cried in the man’s dark, broad arms until eventually, the sound of footsteps changed.
Sniff… This sound… it’s familiar. Ah! It’s the sound I heard walking through my house’s hallway. Are we already inside? Clatter…
If only she could see. But she had to rely solely on her hearing, which was terribly uncomfortable.
Then another voice spoke.
“You’ve returned from the market today as well?”
It was a refined man’s voice.
“Yes.”
The terrifying man who bought Piani replied curtly.
Chills ran down Piani’s tiny body.
How can a person’s voice sound like THAT?!
It was like a voice echoing in a cavern.
What’s going to happen to me? Am I really destined to become a dog’s toy? Or maybe…
In terror, Piani imagined the worst things that could happen to a doll—being used as a pincushion, being beaten whenever someone needed to vent…
Mom, Dad, I’m sorry. I survived this long, but I think this is the end.
While Piani was mentally writing her last will, the men continued talking.
“There’s a rumor that something similar to what you’re searching for exists in southern Mehedin, so I sent someone to check.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“Well, I assumed you’d want to confirm it yourself. But we’ve been busy lately, so if you don’t have time to go, we can simply—”
The refined-voiced man suddenly clamped his mouth shut, as if yanked back by invisible reins. Then slowly he opened his mouth again.
“S-sir, what did you just say?”
“I said you didn’t have to.”
The man—Johannes—nearly popped his eyes out at how calmly Chris repeated himself.
“You said… it wasn’t necessary…?”
“Do you need people to repeat things three times for you to understand?”
“No, no, of course not…”
“Good. Even in a good mood, if you make me repeat myself three times, I’ll start cursing.”
Chris walked past Johannes and entered his office.
Johannes hurried after him, frowning.
“But why suddenly? You used to run around the Empire—no, the entire continent—like a madman looking for it! Don’t tell me… you’ve finally come to your senses?!”
“I didn’t know.”
Chris removed his robe. Beneath it, a fine blouse made of the Empire’s best fabric strained over his muscular back.
“Didn’t know what?”
“That you were so eager to die by my hands.”
Johannes’ facial muscles twitched violently.
“Well, since we’ve spent so many years together, I’ll at least let you choose your death day. When’s good? Tomorrow? Today?”
“…I apologize. Please stop with the frightening jokes.”
“Jokes? I was serious. But fine. I’ll show mercy.”
“Thank you. In any case… since you’re this lenient today, you really must be in a good mood.”
He wiped cold sweat from his forehead. Then he noticed Chris holding his right hand up at an odd angle.
“Why are you holding your right hand like that? Are you injured?”
“No.”
“I figured… but still…”
Johannes couldn’t even imagine Chris getting hurt on a simple outing.
This is the man who doesn’t get hurt even when slaying monsters…
He shrugged and asked,
“Then why are you holding your hand like that?”
“Because it’s in my arms.”
“…Sir? What is?”
When Chris turned, Johannes saw a grimy little doll trapped between Chris’s massive chest and large hand, only its face sticking out.
“The child I’ve been searching for all this time. I finally found her.”
“…What?!”
Johannes nearly fainted. But the one who was more shocked was Piani.
[You were looking for me?]
Impossible. Because—
[We just met TODAY?!]
