I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

76 – Fox (4)

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Since when did I stand alone?

It was not a metaphorical expression about life, but literally, I was standing alone.

No one can be seen, and no trace or sound of any beast or monster can be heard at all.

I could not see a single tree, which had been frustratingly blocking my view with its damp body.

No, it wasn’t just the trees.

I was standing alone in an empty place with no sky, no land, no river, no soil, no horizon.

“… Huh?”

I made a dumb voice and stopped walking.

I don’t know what happened.

I was definitely walking after the fox.

I realized that the moment when my life would end was approaching, so I left the side of my loved one and followed the mysterious flame made of my magical power.

Where on earth is this and why am I here?

I slowly raised my head and looked around.

All I could see was the refreshing green and transparent blue colors that covered the entire world, slowly moving up and down, mixing to and fro.

Only the clear sound of water droplets falling on the surface of the water was heard occasionally and irregularly.

It felt like I was inside a large soap bubble.

“…Am I already dead?”

Maybe this is the afterlife.

Such a thought suddenly rose to the surface of my thoughts.

If this is the afterlife,

Have I come to heaven, or have I come to hell?

In the doctrine of the Goddess religion, it is said that there is a time to look back on the life you have lived and judge whether you are destined for heaven or hell. When I came to my senses, I was here.

Of course, this place where I am now is not at all similar to the heavens and hells described in the books I have read in my life.

I could not help but be convinced that I was in the afterlife because I could not feel the pain of the demonic energy festering and exploding inside my dying body, which I had clearly felt until I was walking in the rain.

Well, no matter how much it is the doctrine of the Goddess religion, there is no one in this world who has died in person and then come back alive and written about the experience, so it may be natural that this place looks completely different from my imagination.

Is it because the pain and discomfort that filled my entire body has disappeared?

The beautiful blue light that filled this unidentified space looked so beautiful.

The clear sound of water drops that I occasionally hear also comforted my heart, which had become crushed and helpless due to the series of terrible misfortunes, and brought me rest.

At least in hell it wouldn’t have been like this.

I walked slowly, thinking optimistically.

“Still, it’s a lot different than I thought.”

It was a strange feeling.

There is no distinction between the ground and the sky, so I have no sense of perspective, and I don’t even know what I’m standing on in the first place.

Soft light flowed from all over the world, regardless of top or bottom, but not even a single shadow appeared under my feet.

I could clearly hear myself talking to myself, but I couldn’t hear my footsteps, and I could hear my breathing again.

Wait, breathing?

I reflexively put my hand under my nose.

I could feel my breath on the tips of my fingers.

I can breathe.

That too very well.

When I rolled the soles of my feet, I felt a somewhat firm touch, and when I stroked my body, a vivid touch ran across my skin.

I thought the afterlife was the world of the soul, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

With a vague feeling, I was slowly walking through this turquoise world that looked like the inside of this transparent emerald. At some point, I was able to spot a dot in the air.

After trying several times to see if I could cover it with my hand and touch it, I was finally able to realize that it was something very far away.

Since there was no distinction between the ground and the air, it seemed like a dot floating in the air.

An object that first appeared in this world.

I slowly walked towards that something.

It was so far away that it could barely be seen as a dot, so I had to walk for a long time to reach it, but it didn’t take long to realize what the dot was.

“…A person… No, a woman?”

I could see that it was the shape of a woman.

At that moment, the feeling of elation that suddenly bloomed in my heart spread to every corner of my body.

Mom?

Lila?

Or is it Maria’s older sister?

I’m sure it’s not Sylvia.

Perhaps it is the goddess who will decide where I will fall, heaven or hell?

I started running towards the figure of a woman seen in the distance.

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The closer I got, the more clearly I could see.

First of all, it definitely wasn’t the person I knew, and if you look at the way it moved little by little, it was a living person, not a statue or sculpture.

She was sitting on a chair made of thin tree branches, and judging by the leaves and flowers hanging from the ends of the branches sprouting from the chair, it seemed that the chair itself was a tree that had grown in the shape of the chair.

The woman had wet, shiny green hair hanging down, her skin was yellow like the color of a fresh lemon, and she was wearing a green dress the exact same color as her hair.

At the ends of her legs, which were clearly exposed under her dress, were thin tree branches that were not her feet.

Although she had a human appearance, she was clearly not human.

When I got close enough to judge it, she slowly turned to me and said,

“I was waiting for you to wake up.”

A soft and gentle voice was heard.

I stopped in her tracks and looked at her blankly.

It was a being that I had never seen or heard of anywhere in my life.

I have never heard of such demons or monsters, or of such a form of god.

What on earth is she?

And how should I respond?

I was taken aback by her foreign appearance and suddenly my eyes fell on her hand.

A small fire fox was sitting on her palm, quietly accepting her touch.

“…That fox.”

“Oh, he’s such a good kid, isn’t he?”

She smiled and responded to my self-talk in an embarrassed voice.

“This child brought you to me. “Be sure to thank me later.”

She smiled and scratched the fox under its chin.

Child? Later?

That fox is just a flame created by my magic. What does that mean?

Why does fire magic maintain its form in the first place?

The effect of my spell should have ended a long time ago.

I slowly countered her words.

“… That fox is my magic,”

“Well, not really.”

The woman slowly placed her fox on her lap and looked at me.

Even her eyes were green like her hair.

Her hair, eyes, and even her clothes were the exact same color, so it felt somewhat different.

For a moment, I wondered if her teeth and tongue would also be green.

Considering that she was capable of such foolish thoughts, it seemed like she wasn’t threatening me or causing me any tension.

“This child is not magic. Of course, it’s not even a fox.”

“…What on earth is that?”

“And you’re not a wizard either. Ash.”

“Do you know me?”

“Okay then. “This kid told me everything.”

The woman stroked her fox’s head and looked at me with her kind eyes.

“Ash. “Poor kid.”

“…”

“The child who was supposed to be our master.”

“…Yes?”

I looked at her in shock as she suddenly said something strange.

When she saw me like that, she covered her mouth with her sleeve and smiled slightly.

Then, hmm, she cleared her throat and said.

“Can I introduce myself?”

“…Yes,”

In response to her polite question, I slowly nodded her head.

“It’s nice to meet you… If fate had taken the right path, we might have met a little earlier, but it was too bad that that didn’t happen.”

“…Uh, nice to meet you.”

Seeing her expression of deep regret, I scratched my head and said something stupid.

She smiled brightly.

As reminiscent of the clear yellow skin, I felt as if the freshness of the scent and color of fresh fruit was refreshingly washing the inside of my eyes.

“Even though I have no name, everyone who knows me calls me the Green Lady.”

“The woman in green?”

I don’t know.

In any story, in any book,

It was a name I had never heard or read before.

She seemed to understand my question and nodded her head.

“If I were to introduce myself in an easy-to-understand way, I guess I could say it like this.”

“…”

“Queen of the spirits living in this forest.”

“… Yes?”

She slowly lowered her head and spoke as I asked in confusion.

“And you are the child who was destined to become our rightful master. Ash.”

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