WTBFCY Chapter 40

Watching Snow dangle in front of her, Regina desperately grabbed onto Noah's arm. The suddenly captured Snow flailed just as frantically.

"No, Noah!"

"Myaaow! Let go, human!"

But Noah didn't release the cat, raising his arm higher to avoid her hands. If this faerie cat molted, the first one hurt would be Regina, right beside him. Even if faeries couldn't kill other faeries, that didn't mean they couldn't wound them. Immortal or not, pain was still pain.

"Even if you and the cat can talk to each other, it's dangerous. I can't allow it."

"He's not dangerous! I promise!"

When Noah—so much taller than her—lifted his arm high, Regina hopped up and down with both hands outstretched. Then, deciding it was hopeless, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

The sudden embrace made Noah flinch, loosening his grip just enough for the cat to kick off his hand with its hind legs, twist through the air, and land on the ground.

"What—"

"Snow, quickly, come here!"

"Meow!"

At her call, Snow dashed over and dove into Regina's arms. She immediately clutched the cat tight to her chest and fled into the inn like she was running for her life.

Suddenly hugging him like that—she claimed to be turning eighteen soon, but her behavior was pure early adolescence.

Exasperated, Noah watched Regina's retreating back. The way she scrambled inside, terrified he might chase her, made him swallow what had become his habitual sigh.

Regina, who'd fled inside, collected the room key from the innkeeper. Then, grumbling irritably, she climbed to the second floor.

"Honestly, killing things isn't some children's game. Threatening to kill at every turn! Isn't that too much? I was such a fool to hope, even for a moment, that he might be a good person."

"That's right, Regina. You've finally realized it! You truly were a fool. When that man was dying, you shouldn't have saved him—you should have run."

"...Your tone is kind of unpleasant, Snow?"

"My tone isn't what matters right now, Regina. Think about it. If you'd run away back then, by now neither you nor I would be living in fear for our lives. We'd be stretching our legs out comfortably without a care in the world, right?"

"But if I hadn't helped him then, Noah might have died?"

Still speaking with that naive attachment, Regina made Snow strike his own chest with his front paw in frustration.

"Whether human or cat, once you're born, you have to survive on your own. The world's hard enough without people helping or being helped—that's a luxury. If that man had died then, it would've been his fate, not your fault. Each person for themselves—you know what that means? Repeat after me: each person for themselves."

"...Each person for themselves?"

"Look out for your own life."

"...Look out for my own life?"

It didn't quite sound right, but Regina found herself repeating Snow's words in confusion. He smiled, pleased, and patted her leg with his front paw.

"Exactly, Regina! Doesn't being ruthless feel great? Ah, what a relief. Now, now, hurry and pack so we can run away together. I refuse to spend even one more day with that barbarian who tried to kill me the moment he saw my adorable face!"

"......"

"Regina, pack already, will you? Why are you just standing there?"

The meddling sister-in-law is more hateful than the opponent—wasn't that the saying? Regina watched Snow bounce excitedly around her luggage, then pinched his cheeks between two fingers and released them.

Snow gave a squeak and jumped, looking up at her with a betrayed expression as if asking what that was for.

"You venomous-tongued cat."

"What? What did I say? I only spoke the truth."

Meowing long and aggrieved, Snow started toward the window, then spotted Noah still standing in front of the inn and turned right back around.

"Weren't you leaving?"

"Hmph, I'm tired. I'll go out later when that ruffian leaves. And I'll be back for dinner, so have my meal ready. For your information, I like dried anchovies."

Snow hopped onto the bed and settled in. Regina walked past him to the table, set down her bag, and grabbed only the wanted poster with Rose's face and her coin purse.

"All right, then we'll go out together later. It might be dangerous if Noah's nearby."

"Regina, you're going out too?"

"Yeah, I need to go into town to find someone. I'll be back before dark too."

At her words, Snow—who'd been lying with his eyes closed but ears perked—lifted his head curiously. He pressed his nose to the poster she was holding and looked up at her.

"You're looking for this human on the poster? If that's all, I could help with that."

"What? How?"

"Almost all the cats around here are my subordinates. I can ask around. But I expect a fair share of the reward money."

With his cute face, he licked his front paw and made an extremely practical proposal. Regina nodded quickly.

"Sure, I'll do that."

"Good! Then lend me that poster."

Declaring the deal made, Snow stood up and walked down toward Regina's legs, weaving a figure-eight between her feet.

"Oh, okay. But this is the only copy I have, so I can't lose it. Ah, I'll put it in a small pouch and hang it around your neck."

"Do that."

Snow lifted his chin smoothly as Regina fastened the pouch around his neck.

Seeing her tie the opening loosely so the poster could be easily inserted and removed later, he gave a short satisfied meow. Then he hopped back up to the window to check if Noah was still there.

"Mm, that ruffian's gone. Perfect. I'll go and come back quickly, so you wait here, Regina. It takes time to gather the subordinates."

"Okay, got it. Thanks, Snow."

At Regina's thanks, Snow shrugged his shoulders arrogantly, then went out the window. Standing on the short roof below, he suddenly turned back and poked his head inside.

"Oh, about the reward ratio—I'm a conscientious cat, so I won't ask for much. Let's go fifty-fifty."

"Huh? Sure. Fine."

The reward money didn't matter much to Regina, so she nodded absently. Snow asked with a serious expression.

"Ah, but who gets the five?"

"......?"

For a second, Regina blinked with a blank expression, wondering what he meant. Seeing that, Snow giggled.

"Silly Regina."

Then he pulled his head back and ran across the roof. Only then realizing she'd been teased, Regina rushed to the window with a reddened face and leaned out, but he was already far away, walking along a wall down the street. His tail held high and leisurely.

Thwang, bang!

Meanwhile, Noah had asked the innkeeper for a place to practice shooting and was now in the empty lot behind the building. Testing the new gun Maverick had given him, he paused at the unfamiliar sensation in his hand.

"The recoil's weaker than I expected. But the firepower's incomparably stronger."

Moreover, bullets normally flew straight, but these spun in a spiral—probably due to the intense explosive force at the muzzle.

Normally that recoil would have dislocated his shoulder or shattered the gun itself, but both his shoulder and the pistol were perfectly fine.

"Is this the power of the black star fragments?"

Because it was physically impossible, Noah couldn't shake his discomfort even after firing. It was nothing short of magic. A power that shouldn't exist in this world.

"...Well, the existence of faeries is unrealistic to begin with."

He too had once struggled to accept that he was a mixed-blood black faerie.

That sense of disconnect when faeries—who only existed in fairy tales—suddenly appeared before his eyes. The process of denying it again and again before finally being forced to accept had been truly agonizing.

Recalling that sensation of crossing from reality into the unreal, he gave a bitter smile.

'Do you know how hard this is for me? How hard?'

Yes, he knew. He'd been through it too. If he and Regina weren't natural enemies, perhaps at their first meeting he might have comforted her instead of threatening her life. He might have gently consoled her from his own experience, telling her not to be afraid.

Remembering Regina's purple eyes, wide with terror, Noah shook off the distraction and raised his gun again. He aimed at a small stone he'd placed opposite and pulled the trigger. Thwang—the bullet flew and shattered the stone instantly.

The star fragments, undoubtedly extracted from the Faerie King. Whatever their true nature, their power was overwhelmingly formidable.

Bang, bang bang bang!

He fired repeatedly, watching the spinning bullets. With each shot, the unfamiliar sensation became more familiar in his hands.

He didn't know when another black faerie might target him, so he needed to master this weapon completely before then. As he was now, he'd struggle to defeat even a strong mid-tier faerie, let alone an upper-tier one.

Noah's grip tightened on the pistol.

A gaze watched him from high in a tree. A small bird with white plumage stared down at Noah in the clearing with glossy black eyes, then fluttered up. After flying for some time, it landed on a slender woman's fingertip.

"Good work."

The pale-skinned woman whispered softly, placing her hand over the white bird's eyes. Shortly after, a black shadow slipped from the bird's head and seeped into her palm. Simultaneously, the bird's black eyes turned pale blue.

"Well? Did you find them, Abigail?"

At the question directed at her, the woman turned to look at the boy sitting beside her.

"Yes. I found them, Asel."

Abigail kept her hand over the bird's head, staying still for a moment before nodding. She needed time to absorb the memories taken from the bird.

"They're in Hoern territory now. But are you really going to chase after them? If Lord Sashar finds out you acted on your own without telling him, you'll be in trouble."

Abigail stroked the bird's head—its eyes now returned to blue—and asked worriedly.

"It's fine. Lord Sashar wanted them dead too. He'll be pleased if we kill them for him, right?"

"I wonder. I'm still worried. Owen was killed by that mixed-blood faerie too, you know. What if you get hurt?"

"Ha, me? By that snot-nosed brat? Abigail, you worry too much. And Owen had barely humanized, as you know. You can't compare that clueless fool to us."

"Still..."

"Don't worry, Abigail. I can't stand how Cedric looks down on me! I take a young form because I like this child's memories, not because I'm younger than that bastard!"

Asel cut off Abigail's words, venting his complaints, then stood up. The place they'd been sitting was atop a clock tower overlooking the entire town.

"Asel..."

Worry filled Abigail's hazy sky-blue eyes. Unable to bear that gaze, Asel grumbled.

"Well, if you're that worried, come along."

Sunset approached from the distance, gradually submerging the village. Abigail brushed her silver hair—scattered by the winter wind—behind her ear and nodded.

"Yes, Asel. I'll come with you."

The white bird freed from Abigail's hand spread its wings wide and soared into the reddening sky.

"Then let's leave right away. For Hoern territory."

As Asel stepped from the clock tower into empty air, black shadows gathered beneath his feet. They solidified from their liquid form and soon took the shape of a bird.

Abigail took Asel's offered hand and stepped onto the black shadow. Riding the rapidly moving shadow, she tried to calm her anxiously churning heart.