The Little Companion Of The Beast

Episode 1.

[ When the earth shakes, the heavens make noise… … He who takes the chosen one of the stars, will obtain the world.

[The Myth of the Founding of the Tatian Empire]

“Your Majesty! The signal has arrived.”

“… … .”

“Your Highness?”

Despite repeated calls, the man did not take his eyes off the tree standing tall in the center of the garden.

Alaza, which blooms only once every ten years.

The tree, famous for its strong fragrance and its branches stretching for a hundred miles, had to fall before it even had a chance to open its buds. The branches it had worked so hard to grow were all cut off.

The man who had crushed the flowers with his feet gave orders to the servant.

“Get Raven ready.”

“Do we really need Raven for something like this?”

“Any sprouts that could become a problem must be mercilessly eliminated. Like this.”

A hint of joy appeared on the man’s face as he looked at the crushed flower petals.

***

A desolate and barren place that doesn’t belong anywhere on the map.

Protected by deep sand swamps and powerful tornadoes, the village was completely isolated from the outside world.

The area surrounded by the barrier was not a dry sandy area, but rather a fertile land, making it seem like another world.

A structure where you can go out from the inside, but you cannot come in from the outside.

They lived mostly self-sufficiently, so toys for children to play with were rare.

At best, there were only stuffed rag dolls, balls made from polished stones, and wooden swords made from scrap wood, and the same old choices could not satisfy the curiosity of a ten-year-old.

“Miss, no matter how much I think about it, this doesn’t seem right.”

“Are you scared?”

“It’s amazing.”

Anton was older and bigger than Staria, but unfortunately, he lacked courage.

The watchtower was so dizzyingly high that my legs were shaking so much that, to be honest, I thought I was going to wet my pants.

“Hey, please come down.”

Anton tried to stop her repeatedly, but he couldn’t stop Staria, who had already made up her mind.

“Ugh, how can you survive in this dangerous world when you’re so scared?”

“You just have to stick by the side of a brave person.”

“Oh, it’s a thousand years old?”

The young man’s gaze was fixed on his young master, but her mind was too absorbed in the newly built amusement facility to notice it.

“Keep a close eye on who’s coming.”

“but…….”

“I told you not to worry?”

An ambitious work that took an entire fortnight to create. The golden eyes sparkled as if they were determined to succeed.

He got wire and made a frame and filled the space with hair. For this great invention, all the birds in the village went naked. He also drilled holes in the middle to reduce air resistance.

Staria pulled out her hair to check the wind direction and ran with the wings held tightly on her shoulders spread out.

“Now, let’s go!”

Oh my god, I can’t stand it!

Anton, who had closed his eyes while making the sign of the cross, opened them again quickly.

“Anton! I’m flying! I’m a bird! I’m really flying!”

Black hair that had absorbed the sun was fluttering in the air.

Like the magnificent black swan I once saw in a book, Staria flapped its wings powerfully.

The view from above was different from the view from below.

The vegetable garden, Uncle Bill’s blacksmith shop, Aunt Marian milking the cows, and the green roof of the house where she lived… everything was in one view. For this moment, the child was a conqueror of the sky.

“Wow!”

The exclamation was short-lived, as the arms that had been swinging up and down began to hurt.

It was at that moment that I decided it was time to go down and was looking for a place to land.

A strong gust of wind blew out of nowhere.

With a cracking sound, Staria lost one of its wings and was swept away by the gust of wind.

“Huh? Huh?!”

“miss!”

Anton’s voice seemed to fade away like an echo, and his wings spun around in circles, unable to find their direction.

The wind that had been blowing around Staria suddenly stopped, and she fell down.

“Eww! Everyone get out of the way! Get out of the way!”

The people who had just started harvesting opened their mouths in surprise.

“Oh my god, what is that?”

“Can’t you tell when you see it? It’s a bird.”

“Oh my, the bird looks just like Staria.”

Fortunately, she was received on a fluffy bundle of straw. Staria, who looked like a mess, smiled awkwardly at the people who had come running in fright and said.

“Hehe, please keep it a secret.”

“Your mouth is as heavy as a sandbag, ma’am. Don’t worry.”

***

but…….

Unfortunately, the sandbags of the ladies must have been too small. In a small village where everyone knew how many forks the village chief had, there were no secrets.

News of the tomboy’s exploits spread throughout the village and eventually reached the ears of her mother, Cassanna.

Because the record was so splendid, there were many different types of punishment, but today’s punishment was a classic among classics: kneeling and raising both hands.

“Aren’t you listening carefully?”

Staria, who was trying to cheat with the chilling voice, had to straighten her trembling arms.

“You jumped from that high place? I can’t figure out what you’re thinking. Haa, who on earth do you take after? Your mother’s mother, your maternal grandmother, always said, “Have a daughter like you.” But I don’t know why you came to be. I swear to heaven that I’ve never once been upset… …”

“… … .”

“If you do this again, I’ll marry you off to ‘that person.’ Do you understand?”

‘Huh, I thought you’d let it slide without making that threat.’

Staria snorted inwardly.

Dekala Damon Haska, a scary name that made her cry and beg for forgiveness until she was five years old.

The appearance of ‘him’ who lives in the forbidden forest, Gulas, was something like this.

It has a fearsome physique, flies on all fours, has a single blue eye, a horn on its forehead, its entire body is covered in sharp, needle-like thorns, and has sharp teeth and claws.

If we were to infer from the explanations that have been passed down by word of mouth since ancient times, it was no different from a monster.

Her maternal grandfather’s father’s father accidentally stepped into the forest and was almost eaten by ‘him’.

When she was a naive baby, she believed it completely, but as she grew up, she came to think that it was a story her mother had made up to correct her bad habits.

Now, I felt sorry for ‘that person’ who was summoned every time an accident occurred.

“If that’s what Mother wants, then there’s nothing I can do. But, does ‘that person’ want to marry me?”

“Starria!”

Cassanna was really angry when her daughter took it as a joke without any sign of reflection.

“We have to take special measures, I can’t get over this. I can’t take a single step out of the house for a week.”

“… … !!!!”

This threat worked.

For Staria, who would break out in hives if she couldn’t run around the mountains and fields, being grounded was like shaking the world. What’s more, the biggest event of the year was scheduled to take place in a few days.

“What about the harvest festival? Can I go to the harvest festival?”

“Can you go?”

“Mom, I was wrong! I won’t do it again!”

Staria belatedly grabbed Cassanna’s skirt and begged her to come, but it was in vain.

***

A harvest festival to wash away the hard work of the year and pray for a good harvest in the coming year. It was a rare day when the quiet village became bustling and noisy.

Women prepared food and drinks, men built altars for offerings, and children performed dances and songs they had practiced.

I’m the only one missing from the festival? That couldn’t have happened.

Staria won’t tolerate it.

As soon as Cassanna left, threatening to keep quiet, she tried to escape.

But Cassanna, who knew her daughter’s habits all too well, locked all the doors, including the windows. After trying for a while, she eventually gave up and just lay down on the floor.

“Ugh, this is too much.”

It was a moment when I was so sad that I almost cried.

Knock knock.

Staria jumped up at the sound and ran to the door. Anton was outside.

“Miss. I thought you might be hungry, so I packed you some roast pork.”

“As expected, there is no one else but Anton.”

A cloth-wrapped package came in through the gap under the door. Staria’s salivary glands exploded at the rich, juicy smell, saying that the familiar taste was scary. She began to eat it in a hurry, forgetting to even say thank you.

“We’re also going to have fireworks at night.”

“What?! Except me?”

Staria almost spat out the meat due to the shock.

Colorful fireworks that decorated the night sky with a loud noise that seemed to burst her eardrums. She loved fireworks so much that she wanted to become a fireworks maker when she grew up.

If I don’t see you this time, I don’t know how much longer I’ll have to wait…

“Do you want to go?”

“That’s what I’m saying! I want to go. Very. Very. Totally.”

Staria’s head hung low because her heart was like a chimney but there was no way out.

But the disappointment was short-lived, because doors that seemed like they would never open opened so easily.

As the surprised Staria gaped open her jaw and looked up, Anton shook the key.

“Did you steal it? For me?”

“that is…….”

“It must not have been easy to get rid of our mother. Anton, you are really great. I commend you!”

The moved Staria jumped up and hung on his neck.

‘I’m sure he’s reflected on it. Can you go and get him out? Anton has a hard time trying to please my daughter. I’m always grateful, you know that?’

In fact, he should have said that it was given to him by Lady Cassanna herself, but Anton was so happy to receive such a hug that he kept his mouth shut.

“If the two of you go together, you might get caught, so I’ll go to the watchtower first. Pretend to just watch, and come back when the fireworks start. Bring a whole roasted pig with you when you come. Got it?”

“Yes, Miss.”

Staria covered herself with her cloak and headed toward the bustling streets. She dodged here and there and reached the watchtower guarding the entrance to the village.

‘Huh?’

I thought there wouldn’t be anyone since the festival was in full swing…

When someone asked her out, she was known as the prettiest and smartest person in town. She was popular with everyone, but some of the women were jealous and secretly disliked Nancy. Strangely enough, even my mother told me not to get close to Nancy. She didn’t explain at length, perhaps because she thought it was educationally bad for her daughter to gossip about others. She just told me to keep my distance because she was different on the outside and inside and had a bad side.

However, Staria, who liked people so much, didn’t think badly of Nancy. One time, she had hidden from her mother’s whip, but Nancy pretended not to see her.

Staria, her playful spirit aroused, slowly approached from behind.

“woah!”

Nancy, who had been squealing, recognized her and cleared her throat.

“Staria! You surprised me! Didn’t you go to the festival?”

“What about you, sister? What are you doing squatting there?”

“Me? I have to get rid of this guy. But I can’t hear anything.”

It was strange.

The statue that Nancy was pointing at with her swollen hand did not look very big or heavy.

“I guess I double-checked. What should I do? I can’t be late. Okay, I guess I’ll need your help.”

“no, I do not want.”

I don’t know why.

I had a bad feeling and my only instinct was to run away. It was at that moment that Staria, who had been backing away, was about to run away.

The ground was spinning.

I opened my eyes wide, feeling betrayed by being hit in the back of the head by someone I trusted, but my consciousness was blurred.