70 Episode 8 Near * (1/2)

It's snowing hard.

Shiro snow is falling from the sky, softly landing on the ground.

The people on the street are brushing the snow off their shoulders, running along the street, and hurrying home to their families and hot meals.

Today is the eve of the festival.

It is the day before Pentecost, the celebration of the birth of the Messiah.

Wives are in the kitchen early to prepare the feast, while husbands are busy preparing gifts for their families.

The children help the adults prepare and think about the gifts they will receive from their parents.

Since the Emperor's birthday yesterday, Nova Lemuria has been in a festive mood.

The Emperor of Lemuria is celebrating, and he's feeling good about it. ......

The Emperor of Lemuria was in a festive mood as he celebrated the birthday of the Emperor of Nova Lemuria, and today he ordered the distribution of bread to the poor, which he usually complained was putting pressure on his finances, as well as soup with meat.

Everyone was upbeat and laughing.

Hence, ......

No one noticed.

A skinny girl, dirty as a rag, lying in a dirty alleyway.

The snow fell silently on her body.

The girl's eyes were vacant, as if she didn't have the strength to shake off the snow, and she was slowly climbing the stairs to death.

(......Dying, is it?)

The girl wondered absentmindedly.

That might be good, she thought.

For the past year, she had managed to survive by scavenging garbage and sometimes pickpocketing.

She believed that one day someone would help her, that God would help her.

Well, indeed, a helping hand was extended to all the vagrants except the girl.

Thanks to a man named Hercule, a very ungodly piece of human waste, but more vain than most, many children were spared.

But that hand was not extended to the girl.

The hand only swept away the girl.

Because she was a nightmare.

Nightmare.

It's been around ...... since ancient times, before the birth of Messianism, before the founding of the Lemurian Empire.

It is a race that became extinct long, long ago ...... 10,000 years ago.

They have high intelligence, amazing physical abilities, immense magical power, and a long lifespan. ......

It is said that the Nightmare race once conquered the world with their abilities that surpassed all races.

But they became corrupted by their power. ......

They were rebelled against by other races, fell from their position, massacred, persecuted, and finally destroyed.

But their blood has never died out.

In rare cases, there are those who cause ...... ancestry.

That was the girl.

Nightmares have three characteristics.

One is a devilish tail that grows out of their hips.

The other is the evil eye in each eye.

And a black horn sprouts from its head.

Originally born to human parents, the girl did not have any of these features, but ......

In the event that you're not sure what you're looking for, you'll be able to find out more about it here.

As a result of the birth of the Nightmare, the relationship between the girl's parents suddenly went cold and they divorced.

The girl was taken in by her mother, but ......

The girl, who was the direct cause of the divorce, was never loved by her mother and continued to be abused.

Eventually, the mother remarried a man with children who had predeceased his wife. ......

She was kicked out of her home at the age of eleven by her mother, who feared that she would break off the engagement because she had a child of a demon (nightmare).

”You're not my daughter!　You're not my daughter! You can't have Nightmare blood in your veins. Don't you ever show that side of yourself to me again!

I should never have given birth to you. Because of him and you, they'll think I have Nightmare blood in my veins. Don't you ever speak to me again!

The girl's parents' words were still stuck in her ears.

In the past, ......

Before the girl's body developed the characteristics of a demon (nightmare), she was well loved by her parents.

The girl's birthday coincided with the eve of ......

The girl's birthday coincided with the Vigil, and she received gifts, warm meals, and love from her parents on both the Vigil and the Vigil.

Now, all she can get is cold, hunger and loneliness.

(......, I'm tired.)

No matter how long she lives, there is no one who can say a kind word to her.

When everyone found out that the girl was a Nightmare, they threw stones and curses at her.

Even the kind-hearted messianic priests, the bureaucrats and soldiers who were protecting the orphans under the orders of the emperor, did not treat the girl as a human being, chased her away and did not help her.

In the bustle of the city, children could be heard begging for sweets and stuffed animals.

It's a happiness that the girl once enjoyed, and now she can't get it even if she tried.

(...... birthday, wasn't it ...... today)

( birthday, wasn't it? Today.) Memories of the good old days flashed through the girl's mind like a running lantern.