Around the Campfire #2

“......No good.”

I ran out of concentration and fell backward.

The fluffy grass covering the base, cut short like a lawn, catches me.

A green, grassy smell drifts up softly.

“Still hard, is it?”

Sitting cross-legged and floating grill greens over the fire to roast them, the old man mutters softly.

“Hard.”

“I see.”

And after that, we both fall silent.

When I look up, there's a pink sky.

Through it, orange clouds dyed by the sunset drift slowly, slowly by.

“Myoogomyogosshugoo! Myoogomyogosshugoo!”

Somewhere far off, the Myogomyogoshugo are singing.

But night is coming soon.

In less than an hour, it will likely become quiet.

<Um...... please don't lose heart, Emi.>

Omake-sama, being considerate, tries to comfort me.

Yeah, thank you, Omake-sama.

“Haah......”

But a sigh slips out in spite of myself, you know.

Today, too, my efforts bore no fruit.

I still haven't managed to reproduce and master the old man's 【Invisible Hand】 on my own.

“Come now, come now! What are you making such gloomy faces for! The hot pot is ready!”

With that, the perverted old geezer rapped the rim of the bubbling pot he'd been cooking over the fire with a ladle—kan kan.

These cooking utensils, and the seasonings used to flavor the pot, were things the perverted old geezer had carried in on his back.

This perverted old geezer is a pervert, but he's a former special-grade adventurer and a veteran with plenty of camping experience.

Thanks to the perverted old geezer showing up, the old man's and my meals have gotten a whole lot better.

Freed from the two options of ‘raw, or roasted whole’, we can now enjoy all kinds of meals.

......Well, since I get hungry with just normal meals, I still eat various things raw whenever I enter the forest to hunt.

<Come on, Emi! Let's have a change of mood! Stop sulking, it's time to eat!>

I'm not sulking or anything.

I sluggishly sit up and take a bowl from the perverted old geezer.

“Thank you.”

“You're very welcome!”

Today's menu is “Zamago Toad Demon Realm-Style Hot Pot”.

It's a dish made by butchering freshly caught Zamago Toads and simmering them with various edible wild greens and a miso-like seasoning.

The toad meat, cut into big chunks, glistens in the light of the campfire and the sunset.

Looks delicious.

Like chicken.

By the way, Zamago Toads are poisonous creatures, and if you don't butcher them properly, (ordinary people) cannot eat them (though I ate them without worrying about poison).

But they are actually a luxury ingredient, and I hear there are many gourmets who adore them.

A toad that's like a pufferfish.

Jururi.

“Thank you, Earthcell-dono...... well then, shall we dig in.”

The old man says his thanks and brings the bowl to his lips.

“Ohh...... another day we've managed to stay alive. To the Panty God, I give thanks......”

The perverted old geezer offered a prayer to the god he believed in.

No way, there's no such god.

<There is.>

There actually is!!

<Ah, but please don't misunderstand. The Panty God is a lesser god born of the Clothing God, a god who governs the craft of making panties and such. By no means a god of perverts, you understand?>

Well, obviously!

Like there'd be a god of perverts!

<No, a Pervert God who governs perverts does exist.>

There actually is!!

◇ ◇ ◇

With a pachi, pachi, pachiri, the campfire pops.

Before I know it, it's gotten pretty dark around us, the noisy Myogomyogoshugo have gone to sleep, and now only the cries of the Shumicappe ring out quietly.

“Foooh~~~! Emi-chan, you really do eat a lot!”

The perverted old geezer narrowed his eyes at the bottom of the pot and said it with a satisfied look.

“Is that bad?”

“Of course not! A child's job is to eat plenty and grow big!”

“......That's right. Children...... that's right......”

The old man...... upon hearing the perverted old geezer's words, looked pained, his eyes turning distant.

Most likely, his conscience is aching over that grave sin he once mentioned committing.

“............”

As for that, I say nothing.

As long as he doesn't try to die, I have nothing to say.

Nothing I could say, either.

Because it's a problem the old man has to face.

He can suffer on his own.

“............”

But, like.

Right after a delicious meal, like.

I really wish he'd stop putting out that gloomy vibe.

It's killing my good mood.

<Why not bring something up, and try to change the subject?>

Bring something up?

Omake-sama, that kind of thing is what I'm worst at.

“Hum, hum, hu~m! On Nuidosten's, lofty peak~! Upon its summit, there shines~......”

I glance at the chatty perverted old geezer, who's useful at times like this, but it's no good.

He's cheerfully singing some song I don't know while clearing up the pot.

Ehh......

This heavy mood that suddenly sprang up, I'm the one who has to fix it?

<You needn't overthink it, Emi. Ask about anything at all that's on your mind.>

Hmm, on my mind, huh......

Hmm............

“Ah.”

That sound, which leaked from my mouth in spite of myself, seemed to ring out better than expected; not only the old man, but even the singing perverted old geezer turned toward me.

“......What is it?”

The old man asks me.

Flustered by the sudden attention, I open my mouth anyway.

Come to think of it, there was something I wanted to ask someone.

It's a question I've always had, living in this world called Ardyst.

I think it's a topic not really suited to lifting a heavy mood—or rather, one that might make the mood even heavier.

“There's something, I don't understand.”

“What is it?”

“Why is it, that black hair and black eyes, make you a cursed child?”

It's common knowledge in this world.

In every country, even in a mountain village cut off from everything, a belief all humans share.

And, for some reason, knowledge Omake-sama didn't have.

“Why...... even if you ask me why, well......”

The old man scratched his head.

“All one can say is, that's what people say, isn't it?”

The perverted old geezer also tilted his head, fiddling with his mustache, as he said it.

“That's, what people say?”

“That's right. That is, what people say. ‘Black-haired, black-eyed people are cursed children who bring misfortune on those around them.’ Have you ever heard the old tale of ‘The Cursed Princess of Henecate’?”

“What's that?”

“It's an old tale everyone knows, in every country. Usually, parents tell it to their children at bedtime...... ah, sorry......”

“Don't care. Go on.”

“Do you want to hear what it's about?”

“I want to.”

“......All right. I'll just sum it up.”

The old man crossed his arms and began to speak slowly, choosing his words.

“‘Long ago, there was a rich country called Henecate. To its king, a beautiful girl was born. But the child had black hair and black eyes......’”

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

“‘As a result, rich Henecate was struck by a plague, and was destroyed.’”

Huh?

“‘The end.’”

“It just ends!”

I retorted in spite of myself.

“What's that? Makes no sense. As a story, it's not even interesting.”

“I think so too, but...... anyway, that is the kind of story ‘The Cursed Princess of Henecate’ is.”

“Hmm......”

I take a deep breath and calm myself down.

“In other words, because there are old tales like that, black hair and black eyes are hated and discriminated against. Is that it?”

“Hmmm......”

The old man groaned and fell silent.

In his place, it was the perverted old geezer who continued.

“That's not all of it...... there are any number of similar tales. A recent one would be Pepu of Heketto, eh?”

“What's that.”

“The tale of the Pepu Duchy in the Heketto Kingdom. It was a few decades ago...... in the ducal house there, a black-haired, black-eyed boy was born.”

Once again the old man takes over, and begins to tell it......

“And a few years later, the Pepu Duchy was caught in a volcanic eruption, and was destroyed.”

Whaaat!?

“Isn't the time before they get destroyed, way too short, every time?”

“Well, even if you say so...... that's the kind of story it is, it can't be helped.”

“Anyway, the point is, stories like that are lying around all over the world! And so...... it's hard on you, Emi-chan...... black hair and black eyes are said to mark a cursed child.”

“............”

I was lost for words in spite of myself.

No matter where I go, black hair and black eyes are hated.

Why? Because there are legends and old tales that everyone in the world knows, and in them, black hair and black eyes are sung of as bringers of misfortune.

I'd half expected there was some reason like that.

But, that wasn't all.

Not just old tales, but as a matter of fact, in this world, black hair and black eyes are truly beings that bring misfortune, and it seemed actual cases had proven it.

<This is...... a deeply rooted problem...... I had never heard the stories they're telling until now. In other words, the Isekai Reincarnation Broadcasts, my source of knowledge about this world, have never once covered this story. Even though it's a story that many people all over the world know.>

Never once, covered......

<Let me be blunt. It is being censored. The Isekai Reincarnation Broadcasts are watched by the gods of other worlds besides Ardyst, too. In other words, the gods of Ardyst want to hide the problem of black hair and black eyes from those other worlds' gods. And concealment on that scale is easy with the power of a god.>

Just...... why?

<I don't know...... I am, after all...... a forgotten, leftover ‘Vessel of a God’. I never had dealings with the other gods, and much of what they think is beyond me.>

“............”

The problem of black hair and black eyes, of cursed children.

This story I'd asked about, unable to help being curious, did make the mood even heavier, just as I feared, and far from answering my question, it only deepened the mystery.

The crackling of the campfire echoes all around.

“Old man.”

“What.”

And then I ask, in spite of myself.

“Do you hate me?”

Something I had intentionally avoided asking until now.

“Why.”

“Because I'm a cursed child.”

I stare fixedly into the old man's eyes.

“............”

The old man looked down and sighed.

Then he slowly gets up and starts walking.

He approaches me slowly, and then......

He rapped my head—kotsun.

“Ow.”

It doesn't hurt, but I say it anyway.

The old man roughly tousled my hair.

Then, he plopped down beside me—dosun.

“You know, I'm grateful to you.”

“............”

“Because of your words, ‘If you want to live, then live’, I am who I am now. Though I do feel I was threatened rather violently......”

The old man went on with a wry smile.

“Even so, thanks to you, I am alive now. Every day is hard...... and sometimes painful, but it's fairly fun, you know? Thanks to you.”

“............”

“Thank you, Emi.”

“............”

The old man said it with his eyes still on the campfire.

......Didn't anyone teach you to look a person in the eye when you thank them?

Not that I mind.

My vision's a little blurry too.

And I don't want him to see that.

““............””

Ah, silence.

Silence, after all.

But it's less a heavy silence than an embarrassed one.

“......What about you, old geezer?”

“Foh?”

And then, in spite of myself, I asked the geezer too.

“Me, a cursed child, you don't mind?”

The same question as before.

The geezer smiled gently and, just like the old man, patted my head.

“I don't mind at all! True, one often hears tales of misfortune where a cursed child was about, but that's not all there is! Do you know a man called Yogin!?”

“......I've, heard of him.”

“That fellow! He's an adventurer from about my own generation, and despite his black hair and black eyes, he accomplished a great many feats and made people happy, a tremendous fellow! I don't know what he's up to now, but anyway, there are fellows like that too!”

“............”

“And besides, me! Before anything about cursed children or whatnot......”

And he tightly gripped my small hand with both of his.

“I'm on the side of all cute girls!”

He gave a playful wink—pachin.

He smoothly lets go with both hands.

Then, what was left on my palm was......

Panties.

“To lift a gloomy mood, first you put on brightly colored underwear! I'll give those panties to you, Emi-chan, so by all means BUBEEEEEEEEEE!!?”

For now, I punched him flying, seriously, though not enough to kill him.

Well, like this, another noisy night in the demon realm wears on.

The pink sky gradually turns purple, then black, and before I know it, it's already full night.

......I've realized something.

For all I say, I'd come to like life at this base quite a lot.

At first, I thought my life here would only be until I mastered 【Invisible Hand】, or something like that.

For now, it's still pretty inconvenient, but.

Someday I'll build a finer, warmer house at this base, and eat delicious meals with Omake-sama, and the old man and the others.

Enough that such a future flickers in my head.

But, from this day on.

In a corner of my mind, one fear I couldn't erase took up residence.

Because I'm here.

Because I'm a cursed child.

That someday, some irreversible misfortune might come to the old man and the others.

That fear.

At last, the problem of black-haired, black-eyed cursed children has come up.

Why are the black-haired and black-eyed discriminated against in Ardyst?

The answer: ‘because in this world, black hair and black eyes do, as a matter of fact, often bring misfortune’.

But the real mystery, why black hair and black eyes bring misfortune, still remains.

But, you know, to be blunt, you know, as far as the story of ‘The Omake Reincarnator’ goes, you know, that isn't the main mystery.

The real mystery of this story, never yet mentioned directly but shown again and again, is......

No, but, well, that, I'm sorry for writing so suggestively, but in fact even that doesn't really matter.

The heart of this story is the sight of Emi, a superhuman heroine, rampaging, sometimes hilariously, and sometimes tragically.