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Chapter 8: The World is Colorful (2)
Bell pointed at the dragon’s clear, transparent pupils and shouted. “Blue-color.” Then she pointed outside the transparent glass window. “Blue-color!” The clear sky is blue. The warm sun is golden. “White-color! Clou-! White-color!” “Yes, yes. Clouds are white.” Bell stomped her feet in the air. Realizing the child’s intent, the dragon lowered her to the ground, and she hurriedly ran over to tightly hug the Emperor’s leg. “This! Red-color!” Bell pointed at the red color on the Emperor’s garments. “Pur-color!” Next, the cufflinks attached to Ethan’s shirt sleeves. “Purp-color!” And the color of the rug on the floor. “Tee-hee, smiling!” She pointed at the Emperor’s smiling face and looked happy. A colorful world seen for the very first time. The faces of the people she encountered for the first time. Slipping out through the crack of the open door, Bell went around roaming the hallway and observing the people one by one. “Hell-o!” When Bell pressed her palms tightly to the sides of her face and greeted them, the people nodded their heads and smiled. “Hello.” A smiling face and a greeting were returned together. Their expressions and emotions were very clearly visible.(It’s pretty.) The world had changed. As the black smoke was driven away, the achromatic tones transformed into a colorful spectrum. And yet, they say this was all thanks to Bell’s power.(I want to see more.) Did the orphanage director or Sister Lily smile warmly like this too? What kind of faces do the other people at the orphanage have? Is the forest really green? How colorful is the flower garden? Curiosity welled up thickly inside the child who had finally encountered the proper world. It was the moment the child came to have a dream for the first time. She wanted to see a clean and transparent world, unblemished. She hoped that everything she would encounter would sparkle in its complete, true colors.(I can see it!) And Bell had the power to do just that. “Look at that cowlick.” Bell pointed at the necktie of Ethan, who had somehow approached her side. “Th- this! What colo- this?” Ethan, who had scooped up the thoroughly excited child into his arms, answered indifferently. “Purple.” “Purp-color!” “Pur, ple, color.” “Pu-pl.” Seeing Bell grinning and following his words, Ethan let out a faint smile. “Are you that happy?” Facing Ethan’s smile, Bell abruptly grabbed his face. “This! Tee-hee, smiling.” She was too happy. So much so that she wanted to keep looking at it. “Yup!” Bell’s belly rumbled loudly and enthusiastically in response. “Let’s go eat.” Ethan hoisted Bell up and tucked her under his arm. And a moment later. “Brocco-! Gree-!” Bell’s color-matching game continued right through the meal. “Broccoli. Green.” “Nose! Purp-color?” “Hah. Green beans. Green bean color.” This was already going on for two hours. Exhausted by the endless color game and meal, Ethan replied half-heartedly. “Ethan. Have some patience, will you?” If you’re like that, how are you going to handle ‘Why attack?’ later on. The Emperor, looking similarly somewhat exhausted, weakly scolded Ethan. Whether he did or not, the excited Bell pointed at the Emperor’s hair and shouted cheerfully. “Pin-color!” “That’s right. My hair is pink, isn’t it?” The Emperor, gently toying with his fine pink hair, smiled with his green eyes crinkled. “What color do you think green beans are?” Naturally approaching Bell’s side, the Emperor seated the child on his lap. “Mmm. Red-color?” “Correct, you got it right. Shall we taste it to see if it tastes red too?” “Yup!” Bell quickly opened her mouth. Expertly popping two green beans into the child’s mouth, the Emperor had her chew them thoroughly. “How is it? Does it taste like the color red?” “Yup!” “Then what color do you think this yellow egg yolk tastes like? Want to try some?” “Yup.” “I guess the ones with experience really are different, Your Grace.” Aspe, who had entered the palace early in the morning, whispered into Ethan’s ear. Startled, Ethan reflexively threw a punch at him, but Aspe skillfully ducked his head down to dodge it as if he were used to it. “You should watch and learn a bit.” “Oh cripes, you scared me.” “Oh cr- sp-ked.” “Don’t go teaching her weird things.” Seeing Bell imitate Ethan’s words right away, Aspe criticized him. “Right, Ethan. Speak nicely from now on.” “Look. Even Your Majesty, who has prior experience…….” “Do you want to get a smack-smack?” Seeing Ethan clutch his dining knife while verbally threatening to hit him, Aspe quickly shut his mouth. “Smack!” In a short span of time, only Bell’s vocabulary had increased massively. Now that people’s lip movements were clearly visible, mimicking speech had become even easier. “Now, orange carrots, munch munch.” “Munch munch.” The Emperor skillfully popped food into the child’s mouth. It was right when Ethan was watching that sight with a sullen expression. The dragon, having toured the imperial palace thoroughly, returned. “The purification only reached the imperial palace grounds.” “Does that mean the power is weak?” “No.” The dragon denied the Emperor’s question. “It’s that it’s too strong.” Isn’t being strong a good thing? The dragon’s expression was utterly dark. “Those who live in the dark night might have already noticed.” It meant Bell’s life was being targeted. Realizing that meaning, the Emperor and Ethan asked almost simultaneously. “Isn’t there a way to stop it in advance?” “Is there a way to kill them?” “There is no way to stop it. There is a way to kill them, though.” The dragon’s gaze—having managed to single out and hear that remark—landed on Bell. “If it’s the guardian’s power, it’s possible.” “You’re telling this pebble to fight those guys?” The Emperor stopped Ethan’s gaze from instantly turning fierce. “Calm down a bit.” Ethan was excessively sensitive to issues like this. For the Emperor, who knew the reason why, all he could do was calm him down. Meeting the glare of Ethan shooting daggers at him, the dragon asked, “Do you know the identity of those who live in the dark night?” “We are tracking them, but we haven’t found out anything.” The Emperor answered instead. They knew almost nothing about the disaster. Neither the purpose nor the identity of those who live in the dark night. They didn’t even know how the disaster had receded in the first place. Thanks to that, they were in a situation where they simply let small disasters—which remained like scars across the empire and caused trouble—be and watched over them unattended.(However, if there is a lineage of the stars, they would be able to solve the disaster.) The dragon’s curse was also one of those disasters. Bell’s power, which had solved it in an instant, would become the sole key to solving future disasters. However, Bell was barely two years old. She needed time to grow sufficiently.(And it would be even better if it could be resolved before then.) Information was necessary for a resolution. The Emperor briefly explained the events at the time the disaster struck, the incidents that occurred thereafter, and the current situation facing the empire. “There are five residual disasters currently confirmed. We don’t know where or what else might break out.” “I see.” Having quietly listened to the situation, the dragon nodded heavily. “……Those guys are…….” And finally, his mouth opened. “Stars.” “Stars?” Ethan reacted sharply. Bell, who had been diligently chewing away, couldn’t understand the situation and only blinked her eyes. Ethan gently covered Bell’s ears—who was looking at him blankly—with his palm. “Why would stars try to kill the lineage of the stars?” A sense of suspicion was felt in his lowered voice. “Because they are un-discovered stars. They hate humans more than anyone else, curse the world, and harbor a deep murderous intent toward the lineage of the stars.” The dragon, Argares, recalled the events of three years ago. Nameless stars that had suddenly appeared with black smoke surrounded him and chanted a ‘reversed spell.’ “If ether vanishes, the world loses its balance and collapses.” Countless stars will turn into meteorites and fall to the surface. The unrelenting heat of the sun melting people’s skins and burning their bones, with horrifying screams running rampant—that sight would be no different from hell. “Those guys intend to erase the maintenance of ether’s balance.” Maintaining the balance of ether. Dragons. Spirits. And humans. Among them, humans—the most fragile entities—would vanish like dust with even the slightest crack. “They contaminated our minds to make us kill you. Because if the two balances break, a single pillar won’t be able to prop up the world.” However, there was another reason why ‘Those Who Live in the Dark Night’ targeted only dragons and humans. “If we disappear and you humans go extinct, the spirits will lose their power instantly.” Losing power meant losing light right away. The spirits would be buried in eternal darkness, and nature would shatter to pieces, leaving even its traces to vanish. And if that happened……. “The undiscovered stars will become spirits.” They will become spirits themselves, re-establish the balance of ether, and recreate a world for themselves.
