Chapter 245: A Case of Encounter with a Mysterious Person (2)

* * *

"Uwah!"

Kappitetron, pushed hard on the shoulder, unintentionally fell on his bottom onto the dirt of the vacant lot.

A few days had passed since he encountered the mysterious cursed child.

In other words, it was still winter, and in Serelirin, snow falling and melting repeated.

The children's playground was a vacant lot on the outskirts of town and, of course, was not paved with stone or the like.

The cold mud made slushy by the melted snow dirtied Kappitetron's clothes, and dried scallops, his snack, rolled out of his pocket.

"Oh! Hehehe, you still have food on you, huh!"

The one saying that with a vulgar laugh was his senior by two years, the bully leader Gougindatz!

This bully's physique, even though he should still be 9 years old, was already no less than an adult's, and combined with the fact that his family was wealthy and powerful, none of the boys in this town could defy this tyrant.

Grinning like that, Gougindatz's lackeys, Idakudakku and Taikomothi, stepped forward from his side and picked up the snacks Kappitetron had dropped and put them in a bag.

And after finishing picking up the snacks, these two lackeys each kicked Kappitetron meaninglessly once.

"Ow, ouch! W-What are you doing!?"

Kappitetron unintentionally raised his voice in protest.

However, Gougindatz didn't like that!

The kid leader stopped grinning and glared at the chubby boy.

"Huh!? You, don't talk back to me!! Where's your polite language? Want me to ask my dad to crush your dried fish shop!?"

What an overbearing way of speaking!

But Kappitetron had no way to resist this unreasonable demand.

The chubby boy looked down bitterly and bit his lip.

This is the epitome of the dog-eat-dog world reflected in children's society.

"Oh, but 'what are you doing.' I'm kind, so I'll tell even you, Fatty! Why I'm collecting snacks!"

After kicking Kappitetron a few more times and finally seeming to be in a better mood, Gougindatz started saying such things while grinning, even though no one was listening.

"I'm thinking of trying to call... that rumored cursed child or whatever!"

"Eh!!?"

Hearing those words, Kappitetron was greatly surprised and stared at Gougindatz with his eyes wide open.

"Hehehe! What's with that dumb face, Fatty!? ...Oh yeah, you were the first to discover it, right?"

Yes, as Gougindatz said, Kappitetron was the first discoverer.

Of that... terrifying cursed child.

What does it mean to be the "first discoverer"? Well, after him, there were several other children who encountered the strangely dressed cursed child girl.

The cursed child appears when children are not with adults and demands food.

If you give her food at that time, she will always give you a beautifully shining white churro in return (although it's inedible) and disappear like smoke.

If you don't give her food, what will happen... no one knows.

Among the children, there are various rumors being whispered as if they were true, such as "you'll be eaten" or "you'll be taken to the country of the Dark Spiky Rock Man."

"W-What are you going to do by calling it?"

Kappitetron asked with a pale face, recalling the terror of that time.

Gougindatz laughed at him through his nose.

"Of course, we're going to beat it up! There's a cursed child in our town, you know? Isn't that creepy!? I don't care if it's a girl, we'll beat the crap out of it!"

"N-No, you can't!"

Kappitetron, who knew the terror of the cursed child in question, unintentionally said that out loud.

But...

"You, don't be scared of some cursed child!"

Gougindatz, whose mood soured again, kicked Kappitetron, and he fell on the mud.

The remaining dried scallops, cleverly hidden deep in his pocket, spilled out again.

The two lackeys quickly swarmed there and collected the scallops.

"Alright! Have we gathered enough bait? Hehehe, then let's go and protect the peace of the town!"

Gougindatz and his lackeys each gave Kappitetron one more kick and then left the vacant lot, grinning.

Kappitetron, rolling on the mud, watched them intently.

He had no intention of stopping them anymore.

* * *

"Aah~, delish~~!"

"This snack is the best~!"

"No, no, the most delicious is this cookie~! Not only the rich flavor of Mekena butter, but the elegant aroma of wheat that spreads the moment you put it in your mouth makes you feel as if you're lying in a golden wheat field just by taking one bite~!"

A few hours later.

Gougindatz was walking around a deserted back alley with his two lackeys, making a commotion while greedily eating the food they had extorted from the children.

It was to lure out and get rid of the cursed child.

(Damn it! The cursed child isn't taking the bait at all!)

But after walking for a while, the cursed child in question was nowhere to be found, and Gougindatz's irritation was reaching its peak.

His brows furrowed, and veins stood out on his forehead.

"It's delicious! It's delicious!"

"Ah, I've never eaten a cookie this delicious~! The modest sweetness and slight saltiness bring out the goodness of the ingredients~! At this very moment, eating this cookie, I'm confident I'm the happiest person in the world~!"

And he glared at his two lackeys who were still making a fuss without a care.

Gougindatz started thinking about kicking the crap out of these two to relieve his irritation... right at that moment.

"Hey."

From behind them, an unfamiliar girl's voice echoed.

Hurriedly turning around, in the deserted back alley with no passersby, a girl was standing there, with the light of the setting sun at her back.

A distinctive silhouette of limbs and a head sticking out of a spiky, pitch-black rock.

Yet, her features were too well-proportioned.

The rusty red color that occasionally surfaced on the rock-like outfit.

Black hair, black eyes.

(It appeared! It freaking appeared! The rumored cursed child!)

Gougindatz, although slightly overwhelmed by the eerie presence of this cursed child who suddenly appeared, grinned while breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Give me that."

Without even minding Gougindatz's state, the cursed child pointed at their snack bag and said that expressionlessly.

It was just as the rumors said.

If you obediently hand over the food here, this cursed child should give you an inedible churro and leave.

But Gougindatz had no intention of doing that at all.

Nonchalantly putting his hand in the snack bag and grabbing the food inside, Gougindatz raised it high as if showing it off to the cursed child, and then...

"No way!"

He started greedily eating it himself, munching away!

"Who would give them to a cursed child like you! Die! Disappear! Idiot!"

While crudely insulting the cursed child like that!

"It's creepy! Cursed child! What's with that weird outfit! Creepy!"

Stuffing his mouth full of food!

Continuing to spew abuse!

"Die, die! You know what? It's better for the world if a cursed child like you dies! Hurry up and die~!"

Unbearable verbal abuse spewing from his poor vocabulary!

Mentally tormenting the other party like this and then resorting to violence.

That was Gougindatz's bullying style.

He was the king and tyrant of Serelirin's children's society.

The children he attacked like this would inevitably shed tears, submit to him, and become his punching bag as he pleased.

Even those who were initially defiant would quickly become obedient.

So this time too, it would be the same.

Gougindatz truly believed that.

But, however.

"Huh?"

The moment the cursed child, who had been silent for a while and quietly enduring the verbal abuse, let out such a clearly displeased voice with a threatening tone.

"!?"

With a loud whoosh, a sudden gust of wind occurred, originating from the cursed child.

...At least that's how it felt to Gougindatz.

Like Kappitetron, whom he had pushed, Gougindatz unintentionally fell on his bottom in an unsightly manner.

He couldn't stop shaking and sweating.

Without understanding why, he timidly looked up at the cursed child's face again.

What was there was the same as before, just a completely blank expression.

However, the atmosphere had completely changed.

Even before, it was somewhat eerie.

But the cursed child's current atmosphere was clearly in a different league from before!

The cursed child was staring intently at Gougindatz.

That was all.

But even so, it was terrifying!

And gruesome!!

Creak, creak, creak!!

"Eek...!?"

A mysterious creaking sound could be heard from the surrounding space!

"Hyaa...!?"

And an eerie, pitch-black haze started gushing out from the cursed child's body!

"Hyaaaaaaaah!!?"

Assailed by an incomprehensible fear, Gougindatz screamed pathetically, his face turning pale!

With his blessed physique and his father's financial power, he had continued to reign as the tyrant of Serelirin's children's society.

However, he had never left this safe and secure town of Serelirin.

He had never experienced the terror of unreasonable bandits or monsters.

In the end, he was just a spoiled child, a bit bigger than others.

Gougindatz, just an ordinary child, couldn't endure the light [Intimidation] that had unintentionally leaked from the cursed child.

"H-Hey! Gougin is in trouble!"

"G-Grab his shoulders! Let's run!"

The two lackeys, who weren't directly subjected to the [Intimidation], hurriedly picked up Gougindatz, who had started foaming at the mouth, and began fleeing from the spot.

They threw the snack bag they were holding on the ground and ran away at full speed, the three of them.

"............"

The cursed child, left behind, silently picked up some of the food that had spilled from the bag and put it in her mouth while remaining silent.

And while chewing, she intently followed the backs of the three fleeing with her eyes.

* * *

"Huh!!?"

When Gougindatz woke up, he was lying on a fluffy bed.

He jumped up with a start.

He looked around restlessly.

It seemed to be Gougindatz's own room.

The cursed child was no longer here.

"Haa, haa... haa."

After taking a few deep breaths, Gougindatz wiped the sweat from his forehead.

His memory was hazy.

He certainly encountered the cursed child, was terrified of it, and lost strength in his legs.

The two lackeys carried him, somehow made it home, and then...

"That's right, there I... lost consciousness..."

And he had been lying in bed since then.

Light was streaming in through a gap in the curtains of the east window.

In other words, the current time was morning.

It seemed he had been in bed for at least one night after fainting.

Having sorted out his memories, Gougindatz sank his body back into the bed with a thud.

What on earth was that cursed child?

Was it human?

Or was it a monster?

His head was filled with questions, and gradually, the terror of the cursed child began to vividly revive.

The cursed child hadn't done anything to him.

But it was terrifying.

To Gougindatz, it was the first irrational monster he had encountered.

A being on a different level from himself.

An absolute predator.

He knew from just its presence that it was such an existence.

Terrifying.

There was no way it wouldn't be terrifying.

There was no way a being that could easily hunt his life on a whim wouldn't be terrifying.

Especially for Gougindatz, who had mercilessly oppressed those he considered beneath him, the existence of a superior being was unbearably terrifying.

Because he unconsciously believed that the strong could torment the weak as they pleased.

In other words, that thing could do whatever it wanted to Gougindatz.

If he denied that, the legitimacy of Gougindatz's usual actions would be lost within him.

Gougindatz hugged his shoulders and trembled in the futon.

(Calm down, calm down, calm down... The cursed child isn't here now. This is my house. It's safe. It's safe. Calm down...)

Gougindatz repeated that over and over in his head while trembling, trying to suppress the fear that welled up from within and wouldn't stop.

His family was the richest in town, running a large store.

They had guards in front of the house to prevent suspicious people from entering.

In other words, it was fine.

If he stayed home, he would never encounter that cursed child again.

He was safe.

"Phew..."

Finally, Gougindatz calmed down here.

He let his strength go limp and relaxed his stiff body.

He took a deep breath and exhaled.

And without thinking, he rolled over.

Because his back was soaked with sweat and it was uncomfortable.

Then, on the futon in front of him.

A white, shining stick-like object was stuck in it, bathed in the morning sun.

This was... a churro.

The inedible churro that the cursed child was said to give to children!!

Gougindatz hadn't noticed at all until then, but on the futon next to his pillow, that inedible churro was thrust in and standing there!!

In other words, the cursed child!

Was already inside this house...!?

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Gougindatz's scream echoed throughout the house.

The mysterious person's thought process was like,

"What's with that guy, he's annoying."

↓

"But he dropped food and left... I have to give something in return."

↓

"Here, a churro~ (invades his home and thrusts it into the futon)"

So she didn't do it with the intention of scaring him or anything.

I'll start moving the story from the .