Tonitol, unable to give up on Veronica, persistently hits on her.
Even though she closed her eyes, Veronica couldn’t sleep because she was worried. Once awake, she found it impossible to fall back asleep. It was strange, as she could easily sleep again and again in the morning.
“Hey, Older Sister, do you only dislike partners who aren’t the same race as you?”
“…Not necessarily.”
“This might be rude to ask, but will you be alone forever?”
“Yes.”
“I see,” Tonitol replied as if to himself. Then, the sound of him scratching his head could be heard.
“Don’t you want children?”
“No.”
“I want them, though. A family. Keraino are basically solitary, and they leave when they reach a certain age. What about Dark Harpies? Do you all live together?”
“Who knows.”
If he kept asking overzealously, he’d get hit again. Besides, wasn’t it rude to ask such personal things?
“I want to live with the person I love in our own nest, have lots of children, and live together. That way, we won’t be cold even when winter comes, right? I want to spend time around a small bonfire with everyone.”
“…”
“Hey, tell me your name. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”
He heard a long sigh, as if she had been smoking tobacco.
“Veronica.”
“Wow, that’s a nice name.”
Tonitol smiled happily, having finally learned her name.
“Actually, the story about hunting a deer was a lie. Well, I tried to hunt it, but I failed. It’s funny, isn’t it?”
Veronica didn’t reply at all. As she listened to their conversation, she realized it was already morning. Tonitol was lying with his limbs sprawled out, snoring loudly. It seemed Veronica had covered him with her cloak to shield him from the sunlight.
Although she thought he was completely hopeless, he was also cute for his age. Leaving him be, Blitz continued to guide her.
“We’re almost there. We’ve gotten quite close.”
Those words made her a little nervous. She wondered what kind of place it would be. Since it was called the Land of Sweets, she imagined it would be full of sweet shops. But why were sweets so popular in a place like this?
“Hey! Wait up!”
Ugh, she had already woken up and was chasing after them? Hearing Tonitol’s voice from behind, Veronica hunched her back and hid behind a tree.
“It’s not fair to leave me behind!”
“You should go back to your territory.”
Despite Blitz’s reprimand, he seemed unwilling to give up. She understood that Keraino were generally solitary creatures. But some of them must feel lonely. He was troublesome, but she couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him.
“Hey Veronica, why don’t you at least say goodbye?”
I whispered to her while she was hiding. He must have liked the fact that we, who usually stayed quiet on this island, had arrived with so many people. Tonitol looked at us with a child-like expression.
“Sigh… I guess I have no choice. Well then, take care.”
Veronica mumbled one word and started walking again.
“Veronica! Someday, I will become a man worthy of you! When that day comes, please look me in the eye and talk to me!”
Tonitol made a straightforward confession to Veronica’s retreating back. She merely waved her hand. It felt familiar, as if she had seen this before. She remembered someone saying something similar to Karubene.
Wanting to tease him, she looked at Karubene with a half-smile. But he had an unusually serious expression.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Did you remember something?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, maybe. Heh, there was quite an ardent guy. I’m glad he’s gone.”
Karubene ran his hand through his slightly disheveled hair and followed the others. It was frustrating too, as she had been looking forward to retaliating. Usually, she would walk right behind Veronica with her Older Sister, but this time she seemed to be considerate, not approaching her.
Since there was no other option, I went to Veronica instead.
“Are you okay? Do you want to ride on Philiana’s back?”
“No, thank you.”
Then, a moment of silence. Dark Harpies have pale faces, making it difficult to tell if they are unwell.
“I hope he finds someone nice. I hope he can have a love as sudden and powerful as the lightning strike when Donner and Blitz met.”
“…I heard that woman Donner used to size up men from outside her territory.”
According to what Blitz said, Donner would watch men she was interested in from just at the edge of their territory. She would observe them for about a month, studying their hunting methods and the extent of their territory, before finally appearing before them. Wait, that’s different from Blitz’s account. He said she appeared suddenly by the river.
“She told me that when I was carrying her. The man said it was fate, but I don’t know about that.”
This means Tonitol is likely to have a hard time. Hearing this story, it seems Keraino males are not favored if they are too forward.
“She said it was like watching lightning strike far away. She was probably measuring how many thunderclouds there were with that light.”
Thunder and lightning, huh? Well, if you want to be popular, it’s important to live humbly every day. You never know when or where you might be watched.
