Chapter 37
I stared wide-eyed at Valentino, who was harshly criticizing the old man.
As I suspected, his memories must have been distorted by dream manipulation. If what Valentino said was true, then the old man had been a despicable monster who abused and abandoned a small mouse.
But that wasn’t all. As if Valentino’s words had lit a spark, the other animals began to agree one by one.
— Valentino’s right, nya! My owner forced me into water even though I hate it, nya! Ugh, what a devilish human, nya!
— Caw! My owner broke my wing! I can’t even fly anymore! Caw!
— Humans are terrible. They only torment us! Quack!
— Yeah… they said they loved me… that we’d be together forever… but they abandoned me.
The animals were writhing in pain from those false memories.
How could their happy memories with their owners turn into something so cruel?
For some reason, tears welled in my eyes as I thought of Lulu.
The panda I had taken care of back in Echo Land, Lulu, had been horribly abused since birth. Because of that, she was terrified of me—and of all humans—from the very start.
Her fur was patchy, her skin inflamed. Her nose was scabbed, her whiskers cut.
Just lifting my hand would make her panic and roll on the ground in fear…
If I had been Lulu, I probably would’ve hated humans enough to want to tear them apart.
That’s how deeply she had been hurt—both body and soul.
So I didn’t rush her. I waited patiently until Lulu opened her heart on her own. Gradually, she did—and in time, she became my dear friend and family.
My time with Lulu was a great joy. But if Lulu were now suffering like these other animals, trapped in false memories… Just imagining it made my heart ache.
“Valentino. Everyone.”
I spoke in a serious tone, drawing their attention. All the animals turned toward me.
“Your owners didn’t abandon you. They’re probably still worried sick and searching desperately for you.”
— But they did abandon me! My owner must hate me!
“What are you saying? How could anyone hate such adorable creatures like you? Think about it carefully—were your owners really the kind of people who hurt you? Doesn’t that sound strange?”
At my words, the noisy animals grew quiet, lost in thought.
I continued gently, looking at their confused faces.
“You’ve just been manipulated by Lunatis. There’s no such thing as an owner who doesn’t love their beloved companion.”
— So… our owners didn’t really abandon us? That was all a lie…?
“Of course. Don’t you remember the happy times you had with them?”
— Ah! There was that one time, woof! It was pouring rain, but my owner still took me out for a walk! I was so, so happy, woof!
— …Now that you mention it, my owner brought me this huge block of cheese because I love it so much, squeak.
— And my lazy owner, who always just slept around, stayed up all night when I was sick, nya.
Starting with Buddy, the animals began chattering excitedly about their fond memories.
“That’s right. Your owners loved you so much they’d have given their lives for you.”
Because I, too, love Lulu, Ruby, and all the other monsters I’ve tamed that much. I’d gladly give my life for them.
I was sure those animals’ owners felt the same.
— Yeah, woof! My owner used to pet me every day and say, ‘Buddy, I love you more than anything in the world!’ I didn’t know what it meant, but hearing it always made me so happy, woof!
— Mine used to make silly baby noises and shove their smelly lips at me, nya. I blocked them with my paw, of course, nya.
— They did that to me too, squeak. I bit them out of annoyance, but they said even the bite marks were cute, squeak. Hopeless, squeak. But… why did I forget all this until now, squeak?
As Valentino murmured in confusion, the others began agreeing one after another.
— It’s true, quack. My owner never hurt me, quack. They even saved me from the humans who did, quack!
— My wing… it was broken when an eagle attacked me, caw! My owner took me in and healed me. Why did I ever think it was them who broke it, caw?
Yes! They were finally realizing their memories had been tampered with!
Just as I was about to drive the final nail in—
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Lunatis’s cold voice cut through the air. She glanced over the animals regaining their memories, then fixed her icy stare on me.
“…Zoe. Don’t tell me this is your doing?”
Her pupils narrowed with fury, glinting dangerously.
For an ordinary human, that glare alone would’ve been enough to make them scream and run. But I met her gaze calmly and spoke evenly.
“Lunatis. Restore the animals’ memories. Who are you to come between them and their owners?”
“Ha, don’t make me laugh! What do you know? I told them not to trust humans! Looks like they all need to be re-educated.”
As she muttered, the crescent mark on her forehead began to glow with blinding light.
“Sleep, all of you. Forever. From now on, you’ll live happily in your dreams.”
With those words, the animals collapsed one by one to the ground.
Damn it—we were so close!
“You too, Zoe.”
With a gesture from Lunatis, the passageway to the outside sealed shut, turning the place into a perfect prison.
She couldn’t control me through dreams, so she was trying to trap me here instead.
At this rate, the animals might be imprisoned forever in Lunatis’s dream world.
Just as I was about to summon Atika to subdue Lunatis—
BOOM!
A deafening crash split the air as cracks spread across the wall. Then—bang!—a massive hole burst open.
From the other side of the hole, familiar silhouettes appeared.
“Zoe, we’ve come to rescue you.”
“And me too, Zoe—! Kyuu!”
Luan, his once-neat black hair now in disarray, and Ruby, back to her original size, stood there looking at me.
“Luan, Ruby! You came to save me!”
“Who are you people?! How did you even find this place?!”
Lunatis bared her long, sharp fangs, glaring at the intruders who had violated her domain.
Luan met her gaze coldly, then turned toward me, who was standing behind her.
“Honestly, Zoe—you really can’t be left alone, can you?”
Seeing I was safe, he exhaled in relief and murmured in his usual calm tone.
Then, tightening his grip on his sword, he began striding toward Lunatis.
“I’ll take her down right now.”
Luan’s violet eyes gleamed with murderous intent, ready to strike her down in a single blow.
Wait, no—that’s bad!
“L–Luan, hold on! You can’t cut her down! That cat—”
“This time, your objections won’t stop me.”
He cut me off firmly, pointing his blade at Lunatis’s throat.
Lunatis glared back, her vertical pupils narrowing in rage.
“To think humans found this place… I’ll kill you for the animals’ safety.”
Wait—what?! The cat we’ve been searching for… is Lunatis?!
“That human… you can’t stop him! He was such a menace even when finding the dungeon—he kept threatening me to hurry up and locate you, Zoe! I was the one who was worried about you!”
Ruby, covered in dirt, grumbled toward me. She must’ve gone through a lot to get here.
“Kyuu… It was hard since there were so many mixed scents, but I still found you, Zoe! I did great, right?! I’m way more useful than that cranky human, huh?!”
“Yes. You did amazing, Ruby.”
I praised the little one for her efforts, then turned quickly back to Luan.
“Luan, wait! I’m fine—really! And that cat—she’s the one Sophia’s been looking for!”
