Shadow Ruler

“For that matter, who’s that brother over there? I appreciate you getting us out of there. It’s not like he’s trying to kill us. What do you want?”

“Huh? You can talk, that’s unusual.”

“I’m a smart guy. So?”

“Well…I heard that the lord of this place was doing something underhanded, but there was no proof, so I’ve been hiding in here gathering evidence. And today, when I finally had all the information and was about to act, I saw you guys, so I helped you. So…what’s your name?”

I shook my head.

“Huh?”

“She doesn’t have one… that damn lord didn’t give Master any human warmth, a decent meal, or even a name! …At least, if her mother was still alive…she was a very nice person.”

“Well… sorry… I mean, do you know the Lady of the Estate?”

“It ain’t no big deal. She used to feed me and read books to me quite often when I was visiting. That’s about it.”

“And that cat?”

“The same, and then we’ve been secretly taking care of Master since then.”

“So that’s it… and since we don’t have much time, I’ll explain quickly, okay? Are you aware of the situation?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Then let’s get to the story. The Lord have been working in secret to get you killed through the town’s people. …I won’t let that happen to you guys. I’ve finally obtained enough evidence against him by today. It’s not polite to say that it was a coincidence that I had to deal with those things, but I felt so sorry for the poor girl, so I helped her.”

“I don’t care whether it was a coincidence or not… thank you… even that kindness couldn’t be given to Master…”

“Seriously…damn…that person is a real piece of crap…”

“So true.”

Who is this? Who is that?

I tilted my head.

“…Just so you know, the lord is the most important person in this town, and his daughter is Master.”

I was the child of this great man called Lord….

But he is always angry at me, and whenever he was in a bad mood he would hit me…

“・・・・・ Seriously, what a joke of a lord… Damn it… He shows the poor Master all kinds of disgusting things every time…”

I don’t really understand what the cat and the bird were talking about.

For me, who can’t speak, they are so accurate that I think they can see what’s going on in my mind.

“What do you mean?”

“That damn lord is a womanizer, but he only comes to give her bread and a cup of water, which is so small that you can’t even call it a meal, and is so hard that Master can’t eat it… that’s all in one day!”

And when I told him that I couldn’t speak as a result of my father’s crushing my throat, and that he had locked me up…

“Seriously… I’m going to bring you to justice…”

He became angry for me like he was doing it for himself.

He looked so scary, but he was so kind.

” So what are we supposed to do? …As you can see, Master has hardly been allowed out of that room in the five years since she was born, so she has almost no muscles, and her nutrition is barely enough to survive on the nuts and herbs we’ve been giving her…”

“That’s mostly what you guys raised her with.”

“Even if she can’t speak, we educated her to the point where she can listen and understand…”

“… Please continue to take care of her.”

” I intend to.”

“So, use this.”

In the brother’s hand was a blackish-purple, transparent, sparkling stone.

It was about the size of one of the big brother’s hands.

I only thought it was pretty, but to him and the bird, it seemed to be very rare.

“What kind of magic is in it?”

“It’s a single-shot disposable, but it’s transfer magic.”

“Huh? What’s the deal with that thing?”

“Gramps found it by accident when he was young. He kept it for a long time, just in case something happened to him, and handed it to me. That’s why I decided to use it this time.”

“Are you sure about this? I’d be grateful if it could help Master, but I don’t have anything to give you in exchange, you know?”

“I don’t mind. This is the first time I’ve seen her like this, but she’s like a precious sister to me now… don’t worry about it.”

He said that and hugged me gently.

It didn’t hurt at all, and I felt a strange warmth deep in my chest that made me feel very comfortable.

“I’m sorry, even though you’re a little girl, I can’t believe I’m suddenly hugging a girl.”

“It’s okay. She’s still young, so it’s safe. Besides, that kind of thing is rather too much for Master to understand, so I’d like to thank you in return… thank you.”

“I see. Gramps told me that it’s enough for you to grow up healthy.”

As he said this, that beautiful stone began to glitter even more.

“Where are we going?”

“It would be inconvenient if they could trace you, so is kind of random. “

“Okay… what happens to the Master after we leave?”

” I will just cover it up. I’ll just fake it with earth magic or something if I have to.”

“How can they be fooled by that?”

“Don’t worry, they will. These guys are so predictable. Besides, I’m a specialist in earth magic.”

“Okay, well, you take care of it.”

“Oh, I’ll leave everything to you. In fact, thanks to your existence, I now have more weapons to accuse that damned lord.”

“I’m counting on you. But…”

“Oh, I’ll just tell the higher-ups in private about the evidence I’ve gathered so far and the fact that I randomly transferred her and let her go, so don’t worry, I can manage it. Our family has the kind of power to do something like that. Good luck with your new life.”

The figure of the big brother who said this was gradually fading away.

A warm light enveloped us.

“Well, my little sister… I really wish I could have spent some time with you. Oh, and this! Here’s a parting gift from Gramps! Take it!”

I couldn’t speak, but I did my best to say thank you with my mouth full, and the big brother smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

He told me later that the bird said it was called a Thumbs Up.

Just before the light enveloped us and made us invisible, the cat caught the stick-like object with its tail.

Then we were enveloped in light and I lost consciousness.

“Master Wake~up~!”

I woke up to the sound of the bird’s voice and saw that above me was not the familiar ceiling, but a blue sky and white clouds.

I slowly woke up and found the cat curled up in my lap, and the bird at my head.

Then I slowly looked around and saw that I was in the middle of a meadow full of grass and small flowers, and when I looked farther away, I saw a bunch of trees, big magnificent plants.

I looked around and saw that I was surrounded by trees.

The place with all those trees is called a forest or woods.

The bird told me that this place was like a field surrounded by a forest.