How did you end up in such a place?

Xia Jing originally wanted to ask, but ......

"There is underfloor heating inside, it's very warm......"

"That's not my problem, so why, why am I ...... here?"

"There are oranges in the room that you can try, and they are very sweet."

"What, do you prefer snacks? Anno, do you have any snacks ready? I want potato chips. ”

"Unfortunately, there's nothing here, and you still know about potato chips."

"Of course I do, although my mother never let me eat it, saying that eating it is not good for my health."

"Ah, is that so......"

"Why don't you have tea? I didn't even pour a cup of tea for the guests, how could my family's face be hung up. ”

“…… Anyway, I was the one who prepared it, right? ”

Anno complained as he disappeared to the other end of the paper door.

Xia Jing was completely ignored at all levels of meaning.

"Please, wait a minute...... Uh, that's right. Why the hell am I here? ”

"Yaya."

"Huh?"

"My name is Ya."

“…… Yaya. ”

"Oh, it doesn't hurt that Xia Jing can call him by his first name. I allow you to call it that. ”

"Wait, how do you know my name?"

"Don't ask, just sit down."

The other party completely goes his own way. However, for Xia Jing, this is an unfamiliar place, so it is naturally unlikely to take the lead. After he sat in the kotatsu with a reluctant look, he immediately rushed to the warmth.

"Come, long waiting."

Yasuno came back with a plate with a teapot and a tea bowl.

"What kind of system is this?"

Seeing Anno open the door with his foot, the girl frowned in displeasure and accused.

"I'm different from you, I don't have any tutors to speak of...... The point is, have you finished introducing yourself? Yaya. ”

"Ahhh

"Uh...... Hey, Anno. You're Anno, right? ”

"Hmm. Don't worry, you're not wrong. I'm Anno in Class A for one year. ”

"Then please listen to me, I beg you to ......"

Xia Jing said calmly.

"As soon as I woke up, I was in an inexplicable room, and I had no memory of what happened before I went to bed, and finally I met a girl who talked to herself endlessly, and I was completely confused. I don't have a clue to the extreme, so I don't even have an eyebrow about what questions I should ask now...... At the end of the day, where is this? Your home? That girl is your relative? Anyway, why do you wear Hanfu if you have nothing to do? If you don't listen to the song, it can't be a relationship that a whole family of people are interested in, right? ”

"Wait...... Wait a minute, Natsujing! How do you know I like to listen to songs! ”

"Ahh

Worst. Li Qiqian told him to keep it secret.

"I see, Anno. Do you like old-fashioned things like songs? ”

"Ya, you shut up for me."

"I can listen to rock 'n' roll, too. Remember what it was called, uh — yes, the choir. ”

"Why are you so half-hearted......

"My father admired them when he was alive. Remember there's a song called BreakOnThrough, right? ”

“…… I don't know. ”

After sighing in amazement, Yasuno filled the bowl with tea from the teapot and handed it to Natsuki.

"Anyway, let me explain it to you. Belch...... Where to start? ”

"You can start wherever you want, there's nothing I know anyway."

"That's right."

Anye thought about Xia Jing's words for a moment, and then spoke: "Ah-first of all...... This girl is my relative, yes, but this is not my home. Uh, to put it simply, it's like this girl...... Ye Ya's villa, but it has been managed by my family for generations. Well, there shouldn't be anything wrong with that, right? ”

"Where is this? In our town? ”

"Well, basically. It's kind of in ...... Let's go back to our high school. ”

Somehow, Yasuno was a little slurred.

"I see...... And then what? ”

Xia Jing urged the following.

"Uh...... Listen to me, Xia Jing. ”

At this time, Anno looked at Xia Jing as if he was hesitating.

The expression on her face changed one hundred and eighty degrees from before, and it looked inexplicably serious and heavy.

"I think I'm going to explain the next part, which I think is completely confusing."

"I also have a headache when you talk about that."

"Anyway, you have to listen to me, otherwise there won't be a start, so you try to listen to me as well as you can."

"Ahh And then what? ”

The one who opened his mouth to talk to Xia Jing, who was urging the following, was the girl Ye Ya who was sitting next to Anye.

"Don't you remember? No...... Or do you think it's a dream? ”

"What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you witness my ritual with your own eyes?"

"...... ritual? What are you talking about......"

Hair stands on end.

This familiar word made a cold sweat flow down Xia Jing's back.

Since coming to this living room to meet the girl who calls herself Ye Ya, Xia Jing has been reluctant to think about one thing.

That's right.

I've seen this face.

And in a dream.

In addition, there is a arrogant tone, a voice that seems particularly immature in comparison, and a cold appearance.

But that's ...... Right. That must have been a dream. So......

- Xia Jing's thoughts were interrupted by Anno's words.

"The so-called mourning clothes are our rituals."

"A clan?"

"Deer, we call it after the First Ancestor."

"What a thing. Doesn't that sound like you're a minority......"

"You're right, Xia Jing."

I originally wanted to make a joke in a strong way, but I didn't expect to get the other party to nod in agreement.

"Ethnic minorities...... There's nothing wrong with saying that. However, there are other more appropriate words to describe it. ”

Anno's face was the same as before, extremely serious and serious, and at the same time with a hint of sadness.

"We're not human."

“…… What? ”

"We are demons. In other words...... It's a monster. ”

“…… Hey? ”

Anno's appearance doesn't look like a joke no matter how you look at it.

"Anno, what a monster! We're very good......"

"I'm sorry, Ya, please be quiet. This guy ...... It's my friend. I was in the same class with him for a year, so I was obliged to tell him personally in my expression. ”

“…… Anno? ”

"Monsters or monsters, our race has been called so by humans since ancient times."

"Wait a minute, which shonen manga are you talking about?"

The flustered Xia Jing laughed and shook his hand and said. I thought to myself, "This is ridiculous. ”

Just run away from the fact that you already have goosebumps on your back.

"Are you fox disguised? Will there be ears or tails popping out? ”

Although Xia Jing jokingly said, the two didn't even laugh.

"No manners, don't treat us like foxes."

Ye Ya puffed out her cheeks very seriously to express her dissatisfaction, but Anye was still unmoved with a heavy expression.

Judging from the point of view of common sense, it is a joke to judge that no matter how you think it, the explanation continues......

"Xia Jing, do you know the black spider?"

“…… Black spiders? ”

"No, I don't remember."

"The Black Spider refers to the people who defy the ancient royal family."

"Ahh

Hearing Anye say this, he barely remembered. I remember that the beginning of the textbook is written.

"At the beginning, the source of light ...... It's the legend that became a household name because of the story of Kanerang. At that time, it was also the Black Spider who fought with them. ”

"Isn't it a ghost that Jin Lang extinguished?"

Xia Jing asked.

"So, exactly."

Anno - nodded in agreement.

"The black spider doesn't just refer to the people who are against the royal family...... In other words, black spiders are ghosts. Because it's different from humans, it's a monster with a human appearance, so it will be completely swept away. ”

“…… Since you're a ghost, where are your horns? ”

"I'm not kidding."

It's not all because you want to fool me with strange stories.

When the words came to his mouth, Xia Jing suddenly realized it......

…… Goosebumps on his back.

And his fingers are shaking frequently.

- Ahhhh

Xia Jing understood the reason for his trembling.

I also know why I want to laugh at Anno's words as a joke so much.

It's because of fear.

That dream. The dream of the girl who called herself Ye Ya in front of her.

In what manner did she appear in her dream?

It should have been a dream.

If it wasn't a dream, how could that kind of thing be—

"Our clan used to have a village further west away."

Ye Ya, who joined the conversation again, sounded as if it overlapped with the voice made by the other end in her dream.

"However, we lost the battle against the humans, and were eventually expelled from the village and fled to this eastern land. We fled to the mountains, and decided not to interact with humans as much as possible, and only to live a life free from the rest of the world with our own people. This was thousands of years ago...... It's just that there have been many battles with other alien races during this period, so it can't be called Ann and Leli......

In any case, the deer clan survived. We live in isolation, and some of our people merge into the lives of the human people, while exterminating other races. The fox clan you mentioned earlier seems to have fought with them three hundred years ago, but it was us who won. ”

Xia Jing couldn't help but interrupt.

"Wait. Please, wait a minute...... So, what is the difference between you and humans? ”

"There are so many different places."

Anno's voice in reply made Xia Jing's heart beat faster.

"The biggest difference is vitality. Compared to you humans, our vitality is much stronger, much stronger...... Powerful enough that it's not surprising that a human would call us ghosts. ”

“…… Stop it. ”

Xia Jing's negative voice was weak.

If you knew it, you shouldn't ask more, Xia Jing thought to herself. The question they had just asked undoubtedly brought their confessions closer to the conclusion they feared. The closer you are to that conclusion, the more difficult it is to deny them.

Because, the dream I had is the proof.

It clearly proves that Anno's words are not boring and absurd delusions-

"Please, those words that don't mean ......"

Then, Anye finally spoke: "Xia Jing, you saw it with your own eyes, didn't you?" ”

"I told you not to ......"

- Ahhhh

Xia Jing pursed his lips vigorously.

That—

"What the hell...... Even if there is only one head left, you can't die. ”

Isn't that what I'm dreaming about?

"That's not a legend, it's a fact...... At least that's true for us. ”

Xia Jing recalled the image imprinted in his mind.

The head of Yea in a birdcage.

- Only the head is left, but he can speak normally.

"It's just that I don't know if it's because of the disadvantages caused by too strong vitality, or because the blood is too pure due to the inbreeding of close relatives for more than a thousand years, and the family has gradually become abnormal in terms of species. Xia Jing, what about our 'deer' clan...... If you are born with a body, the possibility of pregnancy is very low. ”

"Basically, you can't even give birth to a man. I heard that the last time a baby boy was born was 200 years ago. ”

"So to solve that problem...... Among our people, a ritual developed. ”

"In order to give birth to a child, we have to get a human body...... In this way, the blood of human beings and ours is fused, and then a human man is used as a husband to give birth to a baby. ”

If you are pregnant and have a baby, if you usually hear your classmates talk about this kind of thing, you may laugh and say, "Please don't talk about such shocking things." But the truth he heard in his ears now was so thrilling that Xia Jing couldn't laugh at all.

It's simply parasites.

Snatching a human body and inserting it on his own head just to give birth to a baby?

Xia Jing looked at Ye Ya, who was sitting in front of him, opposite the kotatsu.

There were no scars on her slender neck.

On the contrary, this incident has become a wonderful sense of reality and hits Xia Jing.

- I can't escape that sleepy memory anymore.

"Anye, go back to ...... Answer me a question. ”

Under the shroud of fear, Xia Jing squeezed out his words.

"It's a good question, and I will decide whether to believe what you say or not."

“…… Go ahead. ”

Xia Jing first inhaled, then exhaled, then took another deep breath, and said, "Fang Yuan, she ...... What happened later? ”

Yasano's expression was clouded.

“…… Fang Yuan, she ......"

Seeing that she seemed to be unable to speak, Ye Ya accosted her.

"You saw that too, didn't you?"

Ye Ya looked at Xia Jing with determination......

"Fang Yuan is dead. Her body is here. ”

…… He said with one hand on his heart.

That attitude is so bright and fair, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is sincere.

“…… That, the one I see is ......"

"It's reality...... I arrived a little late, so I had to listen to Yaya's description. ”

- Isn't that me dreaming?

Xia Jing, who admitted this fact, was suddenly filled with some kind of emotion in his heart.

Even he himself thought it was incredible. For what springs up in the heart is neither fear nor confusion, but another emotion that is extremely practical and realistic, namely—

"Is that you?"

Wrath.

Ahh

From my point of view, it is impossible to take your word for it without doubt.

"So it's you...... Kill Fang Yuan? ”

"The murderer is not me."

“…… Don't mess with me. ”

Although Xia Jing had been trying to deceive himself before, it was a dream, but he actually remembered it clearly.

There was a phone call. Sinister voices and screams emanated from the speakers. So Xia Jing rode a bicycle. Rampage rushed to school. Rushed into the art classroom.

What I saw there was Fang Yuan, who fell to the ground, and Ye Ya, who only had her head left, and a woman wearing a Hanfu skirt.