Shadowed Gaze: The Highserk War Saga - Chapter 32

Walm, carrying a basket on his back and a suitable stick in his hand, was walking around in the forest. All this was to maintain a rich diet.

It was difficult to completely satisfy the family’s hunger with just the field. While his parents were dedicated to farming, Walm was in the mountains, devoted to gathering wild plants.

It wasn’t just 12-year-old Walm. His brother, two years his senior, was also with him. They climbed the slope, searching, and filled the basket as they brushed aside fallen leaves.

It was heavy labor for a child’s body, but strangely, it didn’t feel like hard work.

His brother, as if to entice Walm, started running through the forest. Walm hesitated slightly but thought that showing behavior appropriate for his age was necessary sometimes.

As he ran, Walm became engrossed and chased after his brother. He caught up with his slower brother and patted him on the back.

“I caught up with you.”

Walm said with a triumphant face, though there was a slight sense of shame. His lungs screamed and his legs shook, but a win was a win.

“You’re fast for a little guy,” his brother said, patting Walm’s head.

“Look, Walm.”

His brother pointed towards a large spread of berry bushes.

“Wow.”

Walm praised his brother. They had seen small berry bushes before, but they were often a source of conflict with the neighborhood brats due to competition.

But this was the frontier. With many slopes and poor footing, this place near the Demonic Territory had been a sanctuary that didn’t allow intruders.

“Let’s keep this a secret from the others. You’re still growing.”

Walm and his brother stuffed their cheeks full of berries. Their hands turned red, and a sweet and sour smell emanated from their nails and mouths.

It was a sanctuary where no beasts dared to come, but birds targeting the berries sometimes gathered. Seeing this, Walm’s eyes sparkled.

“There are even birds. It’s great that food comes to us.”

“Ah, really, you’re so cold. Don’t you think the birds are pretty or cute? Big bro is worried. Dad and Mom are also worried because Walm doesn’t show his affection openly.”

Being worried by a much younger boy would seem quite comical. Nevertheless, this goodwill was both irritating and warm to Walm.

“Well, but it’s still a feast, right?”

Walm’s brother agreed with him, a dark smile on his face. Using berries as bait and creating traps from vines, twigs, and branches, Walm and his brother had gathered enough protein and vitamins for the family’s meal, triumphantly returning home.

“Ah, uh, aaaaahhhhh?!”

The world seemed to freeze. Walm clutched his head in pain, as if his brain was being stirred, unable to open his eyes due to the intense agony.

He couldn’t grasp the situation. What was he doing? Walm kept asking himself until he reached an answer.

That’s right. His work was finished. He had to go home. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw a railway crossing light glowing red in front of him.

The sound of the crossing, “clang, clang, clang, clang,” echoed endlessly. It was a familiar path, one that Raizou Takakura had passed through thousands of times.

A ten-car train passed by with a loud noise. The people inside were moving too fast for their faces to be recognized.

He was forgetting something. What was he forgetting? The barrier with warning colors slowly rose. That’s right. He had to go home. Raizou continued walking towards his house.

Strangely, only the streetlights and houses on his way home were faintly lit. When a perplexed Raizou looked back, he saw an unseeable darkness spreading. It was undoubtedly approaching slowly.

He mustn’t be swallowed by it. Raizou instinctively understood that.

Turning right at the corner, then left at the crossroad, and taking a shortcut through the park.

Raizou heard a sound that shouldn’t exist.

The swing, which should have been empty, was moving slowly. A translucent figure was there. The sound of someone innocently running up the slide echoed.

He was almost at his apartment. The old exterior came into view. Raizou stopped in his tracks. In front of him, he saw himself collapsed.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Walm’s thoughts plunged into a crucible of chaos, but a ray of light descended. That’s right. Raizou Takakura was dead.

The wrinkles had disappeared from his hands. When he touched his head, he felt the sensation of lush hair. Walm sighed, not trying to hide his fatigue.

Where the corpse had been, a black hole appeared. The more Walm looked at it, the stranger it seemed, and he smiled bitterly.

Somehow, black dwarves had surrounded Walm and the black hole.

Except for the area around the apartment, the world was entirely painted black.

“Are you telling me to enter?”

When Walm asked, one of the black dwarves clapped its short hands, and the action rippled among the others.

“A send-off, huh? Well, I don’t dislike it.”

As Walm stepped in, he slowly sank.

The black dwarves clapped as if praising a child. Walm felt like he was being mocked, but the ridiculous scene made him smile.

On closer inspection, the black dwarves had a certain charm.

Surrendering to the dream-like strange sensation, Walm let himself drift into a light doze.