Surviving a Cruel Fairy Tale

28 – Act 1. Red Riding Hood’s Forest – Intermission

After killing the hunter, I pulled out the ax stuck in his head and slowly turned around and walked out.

Killed a person.

It was something I would never have done in the world I lived in, but I did not feel fear or regret about it.

It’s just futile.

It felt quite ephemeral that even the hunter who reigned as the king of the forest was just a mere human in the face of death.

Of course, the hunter had no choice but to kill.

He had so much blood on his hands, and he was the source of all the twists and turns in this forest, so if he wanted to eradicate evil, he had to kill him.

So I have no choice but to keep walking while holding on to the futility I feel now.

With that thought in mind, I grabbed the rope heading to the ground and slowly climbed up.

The surroundings were quiet.

Neither the tin woodman nor the hunter. In this land where everyone disappeared, there was only silence that made me wonder if it was really a dead forest.

Slow down there.

I moved my steps and headed to the place where Little Red Riding Hood was lying.

She lifted her head weakly, still leaning against the tree. She just silently looks at her own ax in my hand and at her face, then opens her mouth.

“…… Looks like it’s over.”

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“Yes.”

“Actually, this is what I had to do.”

She shook her head at that and put her ax beside it.

Everything is over.

I wanted to believe that it was over.

“Can we get out of this forest now?”

“It was that man that the forest cursed. It applied to every human who entered this place, but he was the only one he hated until his mother’s tree died.”

Does that mean that other humans are simply caught up in the human species?

With that in mind, it seemed futile to beg for the lives of the villagers as an excuse before the hunter died.

What should I do from now on?

As she said, if everything in the forest had been resolved, there would be no reason for me to stay here any longer.

In this forest, I acquired mysteries, and I was able to realize many things about the power that dwells in this body and how to use it.

So I could just go back like this, but the weak little red cloak kept bothering me.

“Can you stand?”

“…… I don’t need your help.”

“You helped me too, so why can’t I help you?”

I received a lot of help from Little Red Riding Hood.

If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have been able to come this far, and perhaps she would have died in that village and even her newly acquired body would have been reduced to someone else’s meal.

“It is not difficult to lend a shoulder.”

“…… It’s okay.”

But Little Red Riding Hood shook her head to the end and just raised her head and looked up.

I don’t know what to look for.

The only thing that could be seen draped with branches was a landscape full of twigs, but she stared at it for a while.

Very little.

Maybe it’s been a long time.

“…… You are.”

She speaks out in a timid voice.

“What are you planning to do when you get out of this forest?”

After leaving the forest, you will find another fairy tale.

Because it’s such a contract.

I saw the ending of Little Red Riding Hood’s fairy tale, but I did not know if Rumpelstiltschen would be satisfied with only one fairy tale.

“Probably travels the world.”

“Until when?”

“I don’t know about the promise.”

A journey with no deadlines.

There were no major complaints.

Of course, it is worrying that she will go through a dangerous situation like this Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, but it is just an extension of her life that ended once anyway.

On the contrary, I was even looking forward to the journey a little.

My dream was to become a fairy tale writer.

I felt as if I had finally found a clue to a dream that had never been fulfilled in real life.

“And I promised.”

“Promise?”

“I will spread the story of a certain woodcutter.”

At that, she gave a small nod of her head, then closed her mouth again.

Only silence passed between the two of us.

To be honest, if it weren’t for the common enemy of hunters, there would be no reason for us to be together like this.

A relationship where you don’t know each other and don’t even need to know each other.

So it was true that we didn’t have much to talk about under these circumstances, but I still cared about her.

May I ask?

What does she want to do after that?

I was rejected once before, and even though I had no reason to ask, questions about her future kept tickling my throat.

“…… That.”

“Writer.”

When he finally spoke up after hesitating.

She cut off my words and slowly turned her head along with the title of writer.

“All the sins of this forest are over. Maliciousness has been cut off, and the hunter who was a sinner must have fallen into hell.”

“Yes, I guess.”

I’m not even sure if hell exists, but if it does, the hunter must have fallen to the bottom of it too.

“I have done what I had to do. It’s a bit unfortunate that I didn’t see him die, but I can feel that he’s gone.”

“How?”

“Because the forest is opening little by little.”

That must be a sensation I cannot feel.

“You asked. What do you want to do when everything is over? You didn’t answer at the time, but are you still curious about that?”

“…… Curious.”

I have a crush on you.

Those expressions, words and actions, even the eyes.

It is not love. It is neither longing nor sympathy. It was a sensation that was hard to explain, but to give an example, it resembled the feeling of anxiety.

She brings anxiety to the viewer.

“Then one thing, I want you to help me.”

I’ve been curious since before.

Looking back on her now, I think I wanted to get her confidence from her, but now, for some reason, the way she spoke slowly with her lips parted, I felt her anxiety.

And the anxiety reached its peak when she raised her head.

“Kill me.”

Little Red Riding Hood’s words made my anxiety a reality.

“…… Little Red Riding Hood.”

“You asked me. When everything is over, what do you want to do after that?”

“Why is that… ….”

“The answer is fixed.”

In a quiet atmosphere, Little Red Riding Hood continued her words in silence.

“Because I have nothing to do anymore.”

“…… Will I die if I have nothing to do?”

“Life has not been very pleasant to me. Just because there’s something I need to do. I was forced to live because there were still things I couldn’t finish.”

Little Red Riding Hood says that there is no need to live forcedly now that there is no reason for that.

Her atmosphere was so calm that it was hard to believe that she was the person who asked to be killed, giving off a calm feeling.

“A life without purpose is just suffering. The penance of walking through thorny bushes that you have no choice but to endure.”

It’s too light a reason to wish for death.

…… No, can I say this is light?

Each pain is different for each individual.

Accepting and feeling. Since humans are all independent beings and have different values, it was impossible to arbitrarily conclude.

“The happiness to see in life cannot be greater than this. Fairy tale writer. I’m genuinely happy right now Because that man’s death was what I had been wishing for all these years with a feeling of vomiting blood.”

So you’re going to die at the end?

There’s no way you’d do something like that.

But if I refuse here, will Little Red Riding Hood gain any hope of living in the future? Will I give up on death and face the future?

That’s probably not the case.

Surely Little Red Riding Hood would choose death by itself.

“Can’t you?”

After her momentary hesitation, she nodded her head with a subtle smile painted on her lips.

“It’s okay though. It was an excessive request for the benefactor who killed that demon.”

Little Red Riding Hood laughed.

As if helping oneself.

It felt like the last beauty of a flower before it withered.

Is that why?

“Did you say there was nothing to do?”

Contrary to her thoughts, her mouth moved, and her naturally outstretched hand gripped her wrist.

“Then help me.”

“…… You?”

“If you consider me a benefactor, please protect my back. As you’ve seen, I’m soft and fragile, so to be honest, I don’t have the confidence to walk around this world unscathed.”

If there is no purpose in that life, if even her hope is lost.

If it’s a life I’d throw away anyway, I hope you’ll help me for that short period of time.

He’s a shy guy who can only talk like this, but at least his desire for her to live and see the future that unfolds from now on was genuine.

“…… Why?”

She asks as if wondering.

Actually, the reason could not be explained.

I just don’t want the tragedy in this forest to be all that Little Red Riding Hood has seen in my life.

“Are you in heat on me too?”

She hesitated slightly at the question, then shook her head.

“It’s not like that.”

You are definitely beautiful, but this feeling wasn’t love or lust.

Just as Little Red Riding Hood called me a benefactor, to me she was more like a benefactor who helped me through my work in the forest.

If she wants to die on her own, it’s true that I can’t easily accept it as I, who was helped by her hand.

At this, Little Red Riding Hood stared blankly at me.

As if time had stopped, those golden eyes projected my image, and time passed for a while.

“…… If I go with you, will I find greater happiness than now?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s irresponsible.”

I can’t help it.

Human happiness is different for each person.

There is no way that the absolute standard of happiness can be substituted when the blue bird of happiness has not arrived.

I can’t guarantee Little Red Riding Hood’s happiness.

If I can assure you of one thing…….

“I will make you happier than you felt in this forest. I will try to make you happy.”

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This was a deal of some sort.

Her deal is that if Little Red Riding Hood will help me go through this fairy tale world with me, I will find her the happiness she can feel in her life.

At that, she slightly opened her eyes wide and looked at me.

“…… Can you promise me?”

“This forest was a place full of tragedies, calamities, and misfortunes. I respect your life here, but if you help me, I will show you something more beautiful than that.”

“Can you give me a purpose in life?”

“It will be quite difficult just to save me, a mediocre person. I hate to say this myself, but I’m actually not that competent.”

She stretched out her hand to Little Red Riding Hood with a difficult laugh.

“So before giving up on life, I want you to trust me one last time.”

Little Red Riding Hood stared blankly at my hand.

Then I lift her head and look at her outstretched hand, once at her face, then at her again.

“…… I need it?”

“Yes.”

I don’t want the story of Little Red Riding Hood to end in tragedy.

If she had lived a life of pain due to the hunter’s malignity, now she hoped to get out of the fence and see and encounter more things.

“Then hold this hand.”

Little Red Riding Hood stared at her outstretched hand for a while, and during that time no conversation came between us.

I didn’t take her hand away, she just looked at my hand for a moment.

“…… I’ve done my part Even so?”

Looks up at me with a confused expression.

Will it be rude to Little Red Riding Hood if I say that it looks like a small animal that is frightened of seeing it for the first time?

“I need it.”

“Can I trust you?”

She nodded her head in response to her anxious question.

“I will take you out of this gloomy forest. Then we will see many things together that you have not seen before.”

As if pondering for a moment, her gaze fluctuated.

I didn’t say anything. Just wait for Little Red Riding Hood’s choice and catch your breath.

If she chooses her death until the end, I have no right to forcibly dissuade her. So I just recommend and recommend until the end.

So the time for perseverance has passed.

At last, her small, slender fingers gently caught my hand.

“If you keep that promise, I will protect you to the end. Any situation, any moment.”

That was the word that would decide Little Red Riding Hood’s future.

* * *

After a desperate struggle with the hunter, I put a small flower on the spot where the woodcutter fell for the last time before leaving.

Humans do not end with death.

The Tin Woodman said so, but at least I wanted to make a little symbol in his memory.

Even if it doesn’t reach him.

After cutting a flower and a small wooden plaque and placing it in front of him, we went back to the little cabin and started preparing to leave the forest in earnest.

And exactly two days had passed.

“Are you ready?”

“There are only a few things I need. For the rest, all you need is you.”

I scratched my cheek awkwardly at Little Red Riding Hood’s words.

I didn’t have a few things in the first place, but I was a bit suspicious that the luggage of Little Red Riding Hood, who had lived here all her life, was so simple.

“But isn’t there something important?”

“It’s all old. If you’re going to leave this place, it’s right to leave the things that hold your memories in this forest.”

“…… If you are.”

Only two days.

It was too short a time for Little Red Riding Hood to recover from his injuries and pack his things, but he said he was fine, so he had nothing to say.

Little Red Riding Hood, who had packed so simply, looked at me and said.

“Then let’s go.”

“Wolves?”

“I won’t take those children.”

That’s a bit surprising.

Of course I thought I would move with the wolves.

“Are you okay?”

“Those children belong to the forest in the first place. They’ve worked hard to help me, so there’s no reason to take them to an unfamiliar place.”

That’s right.

If you want to leave the forest and follow Little Red Riding Hood as a group, there are some restrictions.

It’s natural for wolves to roam in packs in the woods, but that’s not the case outside.

“Besides, those kids have something to do in the woods.”

“What to do?”

“Providence of nature. It’s not as important as you think.”

With that said, Little Red Riding Hood took the lead first and gestured to me.

“Let’s go now. Are you leaving the forest?”

“Uh, uh uh. Yes.”

Little Red Riding Hood became strangely active.

She was a bit awkward about the change because she hadn’t shown any interest in anything other than hunting, but she thought it was a good thing and nodded her head.

With this, the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood is over.

What will happen after this is an original story unique to Little Red Riding Hood that has no ending.

She took her slow steps after her, hoping that it would go in her good direction.

* * *

The forest after Little Red Riding Hood and the Fairy Tale Writer left.

As the hunter did not return for several days, the villagers were confused and exchanged words.

“Has the old man ever been away for so long?”

“Hey! What are you talking about! Then, when you come back, what will happen to you?”

“Yeah, that’s all. …… If the human is really dead, then maybe we’re better off now?”

There is anger that was suppressed.

The humiliation of being forced to submit to the power of the hunter, but at least according to his words, he was able to live safely.

“What can happen?”

“Isn’t it?”

Hunters are invincible.

For the villagers, that was absolute trust and hope.

A contradiction in wanting him to die but worrying about the afterlife and hoping for him to be safe. But for the villagers, it has already become a matter of course.

“Yes, that traveler. Could it be that the old man had trouble chasing the traveler?

So they turned the topic to a hopeful story, abandoning any assumptions.

“Who would have known that he would run away? It’s been a while since I’ve had fresh meat.”

“Since the old man chased him, he will be caught sooner or later. If possible, I would like you to share at least one part of your thigh.”

“It certainly looked solid.”

They immediately forgot their worries and raised the atmosphere to the fullest by talking about the future.

Not knowing that a large pack of wolves surrounded the village.