Dark Fantasy’s Extra

Chapter 17



My mother, she killed me dead,

My father, my flesh he fed,

My sister Marlen gathered my bones with care,

Wrapped them in silk so fair,

Under the juniper tree, laid them there.

Tweet tweet, tweet tweet,

What a beautiful bird am I to meet!

*    *    *

Long ago, in the summer when far-fetched rumors of a disease that turned people into monsters reached this small village.

A beautiful, diligent, and kind-hearted woman went for a walk with her husband, the wealthiest man in the region.

They spread a blanket under a large juniper tree and enjoyed its fragrance.

“Let me peel an apple for you.”

The woman took an apple from the fruit basket and started peeling it with a small knife.

But she accidentally cut her finger.

Red blood trickled down the blade, dripping onto her snow-white skirt.

The man was startled and worried about his wife’s hand, but she only sighed while watching the falling drops of blood.

“Ah, if only I could have a child as red and white as this.”

The man laughed heartily at his wife’s somewhat peculiar words.

Forgetting even that the knife’s tip had a small spot of rust.

Summer passed and autumn came.

His beloved wife grew increasingly ill.

No physician, no matter how expensive the medicine, could cure her illness.

Even as she was dying, she only worried about the child in her womb.

“When I die, please bury me under that juniper tree from that day.”

“No! Please, don’t leave me!”

The woman gave birth to a boy with blood-red hair and snow-white skin, then died.

The man, not confident in raising the child alone, hired another woman as a wet nurse.

“Please take care of my son. He is a precious child left by the wife I loved more than anyone.”

“Oh my, you must be heartbroken. Don’t worry. I will nurture him well.”

Soon after, the wet nurse became pregnant.

The wet nurse gave birth to a cute girl named Marlen with red hair and snow-white skin, and became the new wife.

“How could there be such a beautiful girl?”

The new wife loved her daughter.

“You are the child I love most.”

More than her husband, more than the first wife’s son.

“But Mother, my brother looks just like me?”

Marlen said.

As the girl said, the brother and sister looked very much alike.

The new wife felt uneasy whenever she saw the boy born to the previous wife.

A boy who looked exactly like Marlen…

Moreover, her husband hadn’t completely forgotten his previous wife.

He would keep remembering her whenever he saw the boy.

Even if the husband suddenly died, his fortune would be split between the boy and Marlen.

For Marlen, who should be loved more than anyone and be happier than anyone, to receive only half an inheritance…!

That’s… that’s unfair, isn’t it?

For our beautiful, lovely Marlen to have her happiness stolen by such a worthless boy.

As a mother, I absolutely cannot accept this!

Don’t you think so?

The Beast’s curse whispered to the woman.

Look at that boy.

He looks so similar because he stole your daughter’s happiness.

He stole your daughter’s hair color.

He stole your daughter’s skin color.

Even if you kill your husband with the poison you prepared, not all the money will come to you.

Because that damned brat will suck away that money!

Such thoughts kept blooming in the woman’s mind.

“Ouch! Mother! You stepped on my foot!”

The boy cried out.

“Oh my, I didn’t see you. It was a mistake. Are you hurt?”

The woman slowly lifted her foot from the boy’s instep.

It was good she wore heeled shoes today.

“Ouch! Mother! You hit my head!”

The boy cried.

“Oh my, I didn’t see you. It was a mistake.”

The woman felt a thrilling sensation down her spine from the strange pleasure left in her elbow that had struck the boy’s head.

“Ouch!…”

The boy turned startled when a flail struck his back as it passed by.

His stepmother’s eerie smile.

The boy went outside without a word.

“Mother! Can I have an apple!”

Marlen, who knew nothing, approached her mother with a bright smile.

“My precious darling!”

The woman took an apple from the large crate full of apples with a genuine smile, wiped it clean with her skirt hem, and gave it to Marlen.

“Mother! Can I have another apple?”

“Of course! Take as many as you like!”

The woman took another apple from the crate and was about to wipe it with her skirt hem.

“I want to share it with brother.”

Crunch

! The woman’s nails dug into the apple.

Juice leaked out like blood, trickling down her hand.

What did she just say?

Share with whom?

How dare… how dare you say you’ll share with that lowly thing?!

After how I raised you!

The woman’s hands trembled.

See, I told you?

That boy is your calamity.

He’s a curse on Marlen.

You can’t keep him around anymore…

The Beast’s curse whispered.

“Mother…?”

She shouldn’t show such a face to Marlen.

The woman unconsciously turned to look out the window.

Just then, the boy was returning home.

“Mother? What’s wrong?”

“…Marlen. Give me the apple back.”

“What?”

“Your brother… you said you’d share with your brother?”

“Yes! Brother’s been looking so sad lately.”

“I see. Then eat it together when he returns later.”

Marlen said alright and returned the apple.

“Marlen, go… give this bread to your father for a moment.”

“What? But lunch is already…”

“Just go give it to him. Quickly.”

“Y-yes…”

Marlen took the bread and went out the back door, trembling at her mother’s frightening expression she’d never seen before.

The man would be hunting in the forest behind with guests now, so it would take time for him to return.

“…”

The boy carefully opened the door and came in.

And he tried to sneak up to his room in the attic without being noticed by that woman.

“Child.”

“…!?”

“Go get an apple.”

“Th-that…”

“I said go get an apple?”

“…”

The boy unconsciously stepped backward.

“Now! I said go get an apple!!”

But at the woman’s fierce shout, he had no choice but to nod.

Like someone climbing the scaffold steps, he walked hesitantly with slow steps toward the crate.

“Find the best one at the very bottom.”

The woman’s chilling voice following behind.

The boy slowly opened the lid and leaned his head into the crate to look for the best apple.

Thud.

*    *    *

The firewood caught flame and the pot came to a boil.

“I’ve never had such delicious soup! It’s like a dish born just for me!”

Said the man who returned from hunting.

Though he worried about his missing son at first, he was captivated by this unprecedented culinary delight.

“I… don’t want to eat…”

Marlen said.

“I can’t wait for something this delicious to get cold! If you won’t eat it, I’ll eat it all.”

“…”

The woman watched with satisfaction as the man devoured every bit of meat without leaving a single piece.

After dinner, Marlen gathered all the bones and wrapped them in her finest clothes.

“I’m sorry…. I’m sorry brother…”

Marlen had returned home just before reaching her father, struck by an ominous feeling.

And when she carefully tiptoed to peek through the window, she met eyes with her brother boiling in the pot.

But Marlen couldn’t tell the man anything.

She was too frightened to open her mouth.

Marlen buried her brother’s bones under the large juniper tree.

That night, the ripe curse that had gathered nearby mixed with the innocent boy’s bones and soul, seeping into the juniper tree.

My mother, she killed me dead,

My father, my flesh he fed,

My sister Marlen gathered my bones with care,

Wrapped them in silk so fair,

Under the juniper tree, laid them there.

Tweet tweet, tweet tweet,

What a beautiful bird am I to meet!

The Beast of Bone Fragments born from the juniper tree sang.

The Beast of Bone Fragments destroyed the entire house.

“Save me! It’s a monster!!”

The Beast of Bone Fragments first grabbed the curse-bearing woman’s head and ripped it off.

The spine came trailing out below the severed head.

It had to eliminate competition before dinner.

“Marlen! Quick, run… Arghhhh!!!”

Next it picked up the man.

And bit into the man’s belly, full of the boy’s flesh containing magical power – the most delicious part.

The intestines packed under the belly skin burst out in strings.

The Beast of Bone Fragments devoured all of its past self within the man’s intestines.

“Brother…?”

Marlen asked, trembling.

The Beast of Bone Fragments looked at Marlen for a moment before turning its back.

And it ran toward that vast world waiting for it.

“Brother!! Brother!!”

Someone walked up behind Marlen, who was left alone calling out pitifully.

A woman with beautiful golden hair and blue eyes, wrapped in a pure white cloak, spoke.

“Wh-who are you?”

“Lady Saintess! We also… ah…”

People wearing clothes similar to hunters ran up behind Belle.

“We’re too late…”

The hunters said bitterly.

“The Beast carrying a large and ominous presence fled before we arrived. Though we return empty-handed having failed the hunt, such days happen. So none of you should mind.”

The hunters nodded without a word at Belle’s words.

“…What should we do about that child?”

One of the hunters pointed at Marlen.

“Those who wish to help may stay behind to search the collapsed house for what the child needs. Money, house deeds, and other important items should all be properly stored and returned later.”

“Ah… what a merciful and wise decision.”

The hunters all marveled and bowed their heads deeply.

“Then let us return. Even now, dangerous Beasts threaten people all around the world. They need our help.”

Belle decided to return with the others except for a few volunteers who would stay one night.

“W-wait a moment!”

Marlen called out to Belle.

“What is it?”

Belle stopped walking and turned her head to look down at Marlen.

“J-just now, my brother…!”

“That is no longer your family. It is just a dangerous Beast that must be killed. It’s cruel, but you must accept it.”

“That can’t be… but brother… brother…”

“…”

Belle went back to Marlen, knelt down and matched her eye level.

“If you’re willing, won’t you join us?”

And she held out her hand to Marlen.

“Lady Saintess!”

Though all the hunters were surprised, none tried to stop Belle.

“I see talent in you. If you train with us, you should be able to find what was once your brother before this Holy War ends.”

“C-can I find my brother?”

“Yes. It will be a difficult path, but it should be possible.”

Marlen grabbed that hand without hesitation.

And after harsh training she became a hunter, and after crossing countless battlefields, she hunted the Beast of Bone Fragments.

Though it was an iron rule to burn Beast remains, hunter Marlen brought the Beast of Bone Fragments’ remains back to her hometown even at the cost of being expelled from the Order.

And buried them under what barely remained of the juniper tree’s stump.

“Brother… I’m sorry…”


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