Beetroot

‘Are you crazy?”

I thought while looking at the man who was lying on the stretcher. I know who he is. He is Harriet Riser, the emperor’s aide and a top notch knight. Five colonies of ogres were turned into Mugwort fields by him in just one day and their flag disappeared.

‘He had a fight with me.’

He tried to cross my mountain range without permission. Of course I won and I made a very pretty bowl from his armour. However… He is stronger now and humans seem to grow up fast. I don’t know when my one year old body will grow.

‘But why did he suddenly faint?’

It’s a shame, but I don’t care. I have more important things to think about. I suddenly moved my eyes to the woman who I noticed. The woman who was missing her left arm was standing firmly whilst squeezing one of her lobes. All humans here will wonder why I chose this woman, but I won’t tell you. Not because I can’t say, but because I have no intention of telling you. Because the woman in front of my eyes is a ‘cage artist.’ She was the continent’s strongest necromancer.

“Hey Kid!”

I smiled brightly at her

Cage Artist. A necromancer that is able to raise the dead and use their power. If they are powerful, they can call a legion so they are a painful shaman to fight. Because this fact is not well known, it is unlikely for many to know her identity.

‘That’s why she’s an appropriate escort.’

Her story spread to me whilst I was stuck on the mountain range. Intermediate level knight expeditions would rush to kill one. There were great rumours about her killing twenty wyverns to make them all undead. Or rumours of her annihilating King Jacques, who tried to assassinate her one morning. I knew of her very well. Because Cage was the cause of these rumours, I wanted to fight her once. Unfortunately, she didn’t come to the mountain range where I was, so I couldn’t fight her.

‘But I’m meeting you now.’

Of course, now I am only a one year old so I cannot fight Cage. Cage was also the ‘sword’ I chose. It means that she has to protect me.

‘I wonder why Cage is willing to serve a child.’

Whatever reason she had, it was a good thing. If Cage were attached to my side, I would be safe from assassinations.

“Oh!”

I reached out towards Cage but she stepped back. What? I didn’t do anything. I stared at her.

“Uma”

Even though I used the cute voice of a child, Cage stepped back again. At a glance, I saw that her cheeks were red under her robe. I wanted to know if she was afraid to get sick but what’s the use? Either way, Cage is ignoring my favour.

‘So hot.’

The room was hot so I was dripping with sweat and I felt annoyingly feverish. I sniffed my runny nose and looked at Cage. It was at this moment that Cage, who had retreated and was avoiding my gaze, hurriedly approached me. She looked at me in surprise and grasped my arm before I tried to pull it away.

‘It hurts!’

“Oh!”

This body is too weak! I tried struggling, but for Cage, my rebellion would feel like the buzzing of a fly. Damn. Why am I so small in comparison to all of you…!

“What’s going on, Cage.”

It was Lynn’s voice. She was looking at me with a worried face. After all, she’s the only one who understands me. She’s not like those other insignificant humans. I pout my lips at her.

“I think the princess is hurting so why don’t you let go of her hand…”

Cage released my hand before Lynn could finish talking. Then she looked around in a hurry and dragged a large, human man over.

“What is it?”

I look up at the man who was pulled towards me.

“That’s… I’m Ver, a therapist, my lady.”

Are you really a therapist? I looked at Cage but she ignored my gaze.

“This guy is so shy and quiet… …anyway I’ve dragged you to take a look at the lady.”

Ver glanced at Lynn as if he were asking her for permission. Lynn, who hesitated for a moment, nodded. Hey. Lynn. Why didn’t you ask my doctor first? You are a trivial human being. I won’t bless you anymore. I pouted and left my wrist to Ver.

“Let’s take a look.”

He took my hand and it wasn’t long before his eyes widened in surprise.

“You have to bring a fuse.”

“Yes?”

Lynn said with a smile when he didn’t elaborate further.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t worry, her mana is just leaking.”

I looked at myself. It can’t be, I look perfectly fine? This quack…

“This little body’s mana is a 5 star level mana. This was obviously forced mana. If you don’t cure it right away, her life will be at risk!”

Lynn’s mouth gaped and Cage shook her head as if she already knew what it was. The humans in the room started grumbling. It was so hot I kept sweating even though I’m a fire witch.

“You kept twitching your shoulders. Why didn’t I notice…”

I was happily thinking about becoming an emperor.

“You must have been terribly ill.”

No, child I was not.

“How can you endure without crying?”

Do I need to endure listening to you?

“I just relied on your laughter. How could I just rely on that?”

My body originally contained 5 star mana…

“It’s Eskina’s blessing, isn’t it?”

It’s not the blessing of that old dragon, I’m strong!

“I’m going to call a doctor right away!”

Hey, you crazy guys!

“Ahhrgh”

No matter how much I shouted, none of the humans here could understand me.

 

Ah, just do as you please.

*********************************************

 

“I can tell that she still has mana, but fortunately it won’t hurt her because I quickly took action.”

The doctor said. Cage listened silently and nodded.

“For the time being, her mana is completely stable. You see?”

Cage’s dark eyes flashed violently as she guessed who the unscrupulous man that put mana into the body of this little girl would be.

“I’ll be over there. If you have any other problems, please do not hesitate to contact me.”

He left the room. As soon as Cage heard the sound of the closing door, she approached the Princess who was sleeping in her cradle. The Princess fell asleep while sucking her thumb so it was now laying quietly next to her mouth.

‘…12th princess.’

Cage looked at her with an expressionless face. She was the strongest necromancer on the continent. She has lived on the battlefield for many seasons so she knew that she would one day close her eyes on one in the future. However,

‘I made a promise with the emperor.’

I swore on the river of death. For that reason, I was forced to return to the Hasis empire and I was chosen to become an escort. It was unpleasant. I was angry. I just wanted to kill the prince or princess and run away. Cage had thought so before she saw Leona.

‘…she’s small.’

Cage thought as she looked at the white haired child in front of her. When I first saw Leona, I thought she was very small. She was so small that I felt like she would break if I touched her but she didn’t look weak. She reminded me of the sun… My eyes became swollen as I felt like I was looking at the face of the sun. It was so strange. A surprising sensation flowed through my blood. It was similar to what I felt when faced with the overbearing pressure of a strong person. So I was curious but I didn’t even notice that it was because of mana leakage. Cage frowned. It would have been nice to notice earlier. Even though it would have been painful for anyone, it must have been especially hard for a baby to endure. I couldn’t even feel it. Cage felt guilty for being unable to notice as she didn’t know that Leona was a 5 star mage from the beginning.

“Woah.”

At this time, the princess rolled over. Her plump arms and legs spread out. Her skin looked bouncy.

‘I want to touch.’

Cage raised her shoulders in surprise at her own opinion and thought, you can’t do this. Cage shook her head but instinct made her act before she could reason. She ran her fingertips through Leona’s grey hair and ran them down towards her face. Fuzzy hair was wrapped around her finger.

‘…it’s like the fur of a rabbit.’

It’s not only because of Leona’s hair colour that I compared her to a rabbit. When I first saw her with her eyes wide open, she looked like a baby rabbit. A frightened rabbit but also a rabbit that won’t escape. A rabbit that will become stronger until she becomes a predator. But a rabbit is just a rabbit. They can’t go to the upper levels of a food chain.

‘If so…

Cage touched the cheeks of the imperial princess without realising as her nails dug into her skin.

‘If so…’

Cage raised her hand, while observing the girl, and spread her palm out towards the ceiling.

“Death Cutter.”

The blade which carried killing intentions was blown away. The assassin, who was hiding, immediately died on the spot and collapsed onto the floor. The fishy smell of blood poured out, however, Cage could only smell the scent of the soft baby. Her lips turned upwards slightly.

‘I will protect you.’

She thought as she raised her hand to lightly stroke Leona’s cheeks.

‘It’s soft…’

She wanted to keep touching her cheeks.