The reappearance of demonic beasts in the northwestern desert region happened less than a month after the Prince had returned.

At this far quicker-than-expected emergence, the leadership of the subjugation squad grew grave.

If they appeared this fast, it was a mutant strain. Mutants evolved rapidly in response to a perceived threat, making them far more unpredictable and ferocious. A mutant of a species that was already strong and cunning to begin with—the leadership clutched their heads in dismay, but their actions were swift.

‘Even a moment’s delay means civilian casualties will multiply.’

It was at dawn the very next day after the news broke that the Prince stood at the vanguard and led the subjugation squad out. And that day was exactly three days before the new moon.

‘Of all times, it has to overlap with the new moon…… What if I went with you?’

‘No need.’

‘Then would you at least take some of my blood with you?’

Knowing a fierce glare would return, Isaac asked anyway. The Prince didn’t seem to entirely look down on Isaac’s skills as a guardsman, but he absolutely never took him along on beast subjugations. And despite drinking his fill until Isaac suffered from anemia during the new moon, he hated extracting blood to take separately.

‘I will be back soon, so wait for me.’

‘If it hurts too much, or if you’re struggling, or in danger, remember that you can use a wish.’

‘That belongs to you.’

‘……My wish is for you to be safe and free from pain, Your Highness.’

Seeming to smile faintly, the Prince lightly stroked Isaac’s cheek and left. Watching him swiftly recede into the distance from the fortress walls, leading the most valiant subjugation squad in the nation, Isaac momentarily considered using his wish right then to ensure the Prince wouldn’t suffer even a single scratch on the battlefield. However, he failed because the cats rejected the idea, claiming that only the person who made the first wish had the right to use it until the end.

But he wasn’t overly worried.

The Prince had been to the battlefield countless times, but he had never been injured severely enough to risk his life.

He merely prayed that the Prince would safely endure the agony of the new moon in the middle of a distant battlefield.

So,

He never dreamed that shortly after the new moon passed, the Prince would return with a victory report of having eradicated the mutant beasts by their roots—while sustaining injuries so severe he could barely support his own body.

The attack on the night of the new moon when the horrific pain of the curse struck, and the mutant that had evolved into the most vicious kind of its species—one could say these were among the causes. But the real reason the Prince, who had held out without a single scratch while relentlessly slashing beasts until dawn even under those conditions, suddenly suffered a fatal wound, was because he had narrowly intercepted a desperate, dying beast that threw itself at the young boy commander, the Prince’s cousin, in a final attempt at mutual destruction.

Taking an attack that was impossible to block without sacrificing himself, the Prince succeeded in saving his cousin and severing the beast’s life then and there, but his own torso was mercilessly chewed and torn to shreds by the beast.

Had it been an ordinary person, they would have died instantly. Returning with such grave injuries, the Prince immediately collapsed onto his bed. It took two full days for the court physicians, who hovered in the blood-reeking bedchamber, to finally announce that he had ‘passed the critical point.’

During all that time, Isaac, who had been sitting slightly apart watching the Prince and the physicians, could only approach the bedside after the exhausted physicians withdrew during the day after staying up for two straight nights.

The Prince was asleep. His face, which had been as ghastly blue as a corpse, had barely returned to a slight human pallor.

When he arrived at the palace, he had been awake. His piercing blue eyes, set in a corpse-like face covered in blood, had looked at Isaac. At that moment, frowning as if showing he didn’t want Isaac to see him like this, he spat out through gritted teeth, ‘I’m fine, go wait outside,’ before closing his eyes. But Isaac remained stubbornly rooted in the corner of the bedchamber and did not leave.

“Telling me to stay away even at a time like this is a bit much. You didn’t even take me to the battlefield.”

Isaac grumbled softly. The Prince remained motionless, eyes closed.

Isaac reached out a hesitant hand. He wanted to stroke his face, but feared he might wake him. Still, wanting to touch him even a little, he carefully touched the back of the Prince’s hand. Then, leaning his head to check the Prince’s breathing, he swallowed a sigh and rested his forehead just barely touching the Prince’s shoulder.

「He won’t die, he won’t die.」

「Ah, I told you from the beginning he wouldn’t die! I told you to get some sleep, why are you acting so pathetic staying up for two days!」

The cats, who had been anxiously hovering around the physicians and getting chased out by the servants a hundred times (and sneaking back in a hundred times), finally quieted down a bit. Now that there was no one else around, they crawled back out and wandered around, chattering away.

“Will you be quiet? Do I need to bring out the birdcage?”

Isaac threatened in a near-whisper. Realizing his words held absolute sincerity, the brats opened their mouths wide in a silent hiss of protest. One of them, after sullenly licking its front paw, began habitually licking the tinderbox it was hugging under its belly fat.

When Isaac had earlier tried to quickly use the tinderbox to wish for the Prince to heal, he had been coldly rejected. The cats claimed that no matter what the Prince told him, he couldn’t use it unless the master who made the wish permitted it. Isaac glared resentfully at the wooden box.

“That damn tinderbox is utterly useless when we actually need it.”

「WHAT?!」

「Useless? Did you say useless?!」

「After we did everything you asked, look at this ungrateful Manbang-ie!」

“Shut up. I’m feeling twisted right now, so don’t provoke me.”

「Is he going through late puberty? What’s wrong with him?!」

“If you aren’t going to be quiet, get out.”

He barely moved his lips, speaking like the rustling wind, but it was no use. When he turned his head to retort to the cats, the Prince had opened his eyes. *Ba-dump,* his heart dropped.

The Prince moved his lips as if to say something, but no sound came out. Isaac quickly dampened a clean cloth with water and wet the Prince’s parched lips. Fearing he might get sick if he swallowed right away, Isaac slowly trickled tiny drops of water into his mouth for a long time. Finally, a hoarse, dry voice flowed from the Prince’s lips.

“I told you to stay out.”

“I was out, and I just came in because the court physicians said you were fine now.”

Isaac lied casually. The piercing blue eyes stared right through him, but he pretended not to notice.

Though the Prince looked haggard, that sharp gaze and the breathy sigh of displeasure were just like his usual self, which put Isaac’s mind at ease.

“…… It would be great if my blood worked in a situation like this too. You never know, would you like to try drinking a little as a test?”

As soon as Isaac spoke, the Prince’s eyes grew fierce. Glancing at him from the corner of his eye, Isaac flinched at how chilling that gaze was.

“I am the only one who can harm your body. Even if it’s yourself, you cannot do it without my permission.”

‘No, I’m saying you can just give me permission……’ Isaac wanted to say, but the Prince’s aura was so frosty he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth. Just then, the servant, who had been constantly listening for movement in the room, entered carrying medicinal soup. And relayed that the young cousin had been waiting for hours to visit the sickbed.

When the Prince’s permission fell, the boy immediately entered.

The boy, who had been depressed, almost crumbled his expression when he saw the Prince sitting up in bed, but barely managed to compose himself and approached to bow respectfully.

The boy had already visited several times during that period. However, he couldn’t enter the inner chamber where the court physicians were examining the Prince, and would just wait in the outer reception room for news before returning.

According to what Isaac heard, the boy had shown outstanding performance in this subjugation. The young boy, whose cheeks still held the flush of youth, displayed incredible prowess on his very first deployment, contributing greatly to the war effort. The soldiers hadn’t stopped praising the emergence of a new young hero.

Then, on the final day, as the new moon was breaking, the boy almost lost his life to a single moment’s mistake, and in that split second, the Prince substituted his own body to save him.

‘—You cut it, he said,’

That was what the boy had blurted out blankly while standing dazed outside the bedchamber doors when the physicians were frantically treating the Prince during his first visit.

He hadn’t been speaking to Isaac, who had told him he couldn’t enter right now. It wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, but rather spoken like a soliloquy, his voice dripping like tears, full of regret and guilt.

‘Even with his torso pierced by the beast’s fangs, he told me. You cut it.’

‘You sever its breath. You take the merit. This is what you must do from now on.’

Even in that absolutely critical moment of life and death, he had coldly assessed everything and made a decision. That this was the work the boy had to inherit.

‘Next time, I will surely—surely overcome it with my own strength.’

Shedding thick tears, the boy whispered in front of the closed doors.

Seeing the eyes firmly etched with resolve and determination, Isaac thought this boy would inevitably grow into greatness. He felt he understood why the Prince kept the boy close and nurtured him.

Now, the boy was asking about the Prince’s health and offering words of gratitude with a composed face, as if he had never shed those tears. The Prince also treated him exactly as he usually did.

Perhaps the boy really could become a new hero.

The demonic beasts and monsters appearing in various regions were gradually, very slowly, growing weaker. It was said to be the effect of the power they gained from witches weakening as the witches disappeared. Perhaps in the very distant future, a world might come where both the demonic beasts and the heroes brave enough to fight them all vanish.

“……”

The boy did not stay long and left. As per the court physicians’ orders, there would be no more visitors for the afternoon, and the Prince closed his eyes to rest.

Isaac pondered whether to secretly mix his blood into the Prince’s medicine during this time, but gave up after about 3 seconds of thought. He wasn’t confident he wouldn’t get caught.

「You’d get caught anyway. Do you think a witch’s blood is some kind of panacea?」

「It only works a tiiiny bit to temporarily alleviate the witch’s curse.」

The cats, returning from wandering somewhere covered in grass seeds, chattered.

Isaac, who had been silently watching the Prince, picked up one of them and started brushing it while asking.

“About that balance. Whether it’s the balance of the universe or the balance of the world, you said a world-scale wish couldn’t be granted because of it.”

「Huh? It can be granted. What do you think our tinderbox is!」

「*Yawn*, as long as you pay the price, anything can be granted.」

“For example, if I ask to rid this world of demonic beasts, what kind of price would have to be paid?”

「Well? A volcanic eruption could bury an entire city, a tsunami could sweep away a whole country, or surprisingly, it might just be a light famine for a few years. It’s a very low probability, but nothing at all might happen. Who knows.」

“Hmm…… But even if we continually subjugate and eradicate the demonic beasts as they appear, things like that don’t happen. Why can’t it be done with a wish?”

「Eradicating them with human strength is the result of expending that much human energy.」

Waiting for its turn to be brushed, one cat kicked off seeds with its hind legs and spoke. Dust flew up, so Isaac quickly set down the adequately brushed one from his lap and picked up the other. The brushed one hopped onto the bed, licked its paws, and began to wash its face.

「In the first place, Mr. Moisture being born in that shape and form is probably because the demonic beasts are excessively overflowing. A corresponding energy is needed to eliminate the beasts. All things must be in balance.」

‘That shape and form……’ Isaac thought for a moment about grabbing the brat and brushing its fur backward, but decided to let it slide out of his utmost good heart.

“Then, if I were to ask to rid the world of demonic beasts, could I preview the most highly probable reality of what would happen?”

「Hm?」

The three cats wrinkled their noses. The rolling eyes clearly showed signs of annoyance.

“If we remove demonic beasts from the world? The calculations for that will be a bit complex.”

「The more complex the equation to balance the universe becomes, the higher the chance of error compared to a normal wish. We wouldn’t really recommend it.」

“Still, I want to know what would happen. Show me.”

If demonic beasts disappeared from the world.

Someday, a world without demonic beasts and monsters might arrive. But it would be a long time until then, and countless victims would be produced. Also, incidents where the Prince gets hurt like this could happen again.

If the price to pay is bearable, wouldn’t it be good to make that wish?

While Isaac held onto the last one and brushed it, the wrinkles on the three cats’ noses deepened. They feigned ignorance and tried to change the subject, but Isaac didn’t let the cat go and kept brushing it until finally, it shrieked, 「Ah, let go! Let go and we’ll show you or whatever!」

And then,

Isaac suddenly found himself sitting blankly in a room where the cats had vanished.

“……?”

Nothing else had changed. He was still sitting in the Prince’s bedchamber, and the Prince was lying on the bed next to him. The sunlight shining outside was the same; everything was exactly as it was.

“What is this…… Weren’t you going to show me? Where did the cats go,”

Isaac, looking around, stopped moving.

The Prince lying on the bed was terrifyingly emaciated. He looked like nothing but skin stretched over bones, and his blackened, discolored skin looked as if it would crumble at any moment.

“Ky—”

As his heart dropped and he jumped up to rush to the Prince, Isaac realized in that instant.

Ah. Right.

That’s right.

The Prince, who went on a subjugation mission last month, returned after eliminating the last remaining demonic beast in the human world.

An oracle descended declaring that this world now solely belonged to humans.

Everyone rejoiced and held festivals, and the Prince and the subjugation squad, who became heroes of the human world, were honored with endless praise. Now, there would be no more people losing their lives, their families, or their homes to unexpected beast attacks, and people could live in peace with peace of mind.

While everyone was rejoicing like that,

.

.

.

A plague broke out.

The plague started among the subjugation squad.

The soldiers of the squad suddenly collapsed with high fevers one by one, unable to eat or drink anything, writhing in agony. Their skin blackened and rotted away in an instant, and they eventually dried up and died like burnt ashes. And after they died, the symptoms spread to those who had been nursing them.

The Prince was no exception.

The Prince, who had gone to bed without any issues, suddenly began to suffer from a massive high fever that night. He suffered horribly at even the lightest touch, and unable to swallow even a sip of water, he blackened and dried up in a flash.

And so, right now, the Prince was dying every minute, every second.

“……”

Isaac clutched his own throat as if strangling himself.

Watching the Prince lying helpless before his eyes, he felt as if his own heart was being hacked to pieces.

Unable to even breathe properly, Isaac crouched down, and faint whispers from someone outside the open window drifted into his ears.

“—……The commander died this morning. And immediately his wife showed symptoms. They were isolated and locked up right away……”

“—According to the physician, Prince Kyan probably won’t last much longer either……”

“—Then what about that witch? What do we do about that witch? They say witches don’t catch diseases.”

“—Still…… the higher-ups say we can’t just leave that witch alone, just in case……”

“—They say they’ll kill the witch as soon as Prince Kyan passes away……”

Looking at the window, Isaac choked up, his throat tightening as he gasped for air.

‘Passes away, Prince Kyan?’

‘How could such a thing happen? The person who drove the demonic beasts out of this world.’

Isaac looked frantically back at the bed. And he discovered that the Prince, who had been unconscious in agony all this time, was looking at him.

Their eyes met. Even though his face was contorted in pain, those ice-blue eyes remained unchanged, making Isaac’s breath hitch. Barely holding back his tears, Isaac dragged his trembling steps toward him.

“PRINCE KYAN…!”

「Our Manbang-ie is crying again.」

「What’s there to cry about. Just run away quickly before Mr. Moisture dies.」

「Right, right. Running away when Mr. Moisture isn’t around is a piece of cake.」

Isaac, who was just about to fall onto the bed, stopped dead, looking at the black cat lying on its stomach on the Prince’s forearm.

He remained frozen like a stone statue in that leaning posture, then slowly, very slowly, looked at the Prince with fearful eyes.

The Prince was lying on the bed exactly as Isaac remembered him—though a bit thinner and paler than usual, with bandages wrapped around his body. He wasn’t drying up and dying black, nor was he in agony. He was merely resting his body, injured by the demonic beast, with his eyes calmly closed to endure the pain.

“……, ……Ugh, ah……”

Isaac slid down and collapsed right there. His whole body was drenched in cold sweat.

“Wow…… really, that was too, horrific……”

He opened his mouth to somehow regain a sense of reality, but the words didn’t come out properly. His heart still tingled as if sliced by a knife.

It was terrible. Just thinking about it made his vision go dark.

‘No. I can absolutely never make that wish.’

He would never make a wish to rid the world of demonic beasts, or any wish that would impact the world, even if it wasn’t that. Isaac made up his mind, clutching his pounding heart.

「Why? If getting rid of demonic beasts only costs a few thousand human lives, it’s a hugely profitable trade, isn’t it?」

「Exactly? Getting a wish like that granted for such a small price is the tinderbox being incredibly generous! Buying world peace for just a few human lives.」

「Well, after a while humans will just start fighting among themselves again, so it would only be temporary peace anyway,」 the cats chattered.

‘These heartless things……’ Isaac was so terrified he rubbed his head, which was starting to throb with a headache, and lay down on the carpet. 「Oh my, what’s a homeless person doing in the Prince’s palace,」 the cats whispered.

「When demonic beasts disappear, the things that exist to eliminate demonic beasts are bound to disappear with them. It’s an unsurprising future. If human lives get better that way, isn’t that fine too?」

One of the cats asked. Isaac thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“No.”

The happiness of the majority obtained by forcing the minority to be sacrificed.

Some might say it’s rational. But if that minority includes the person most precious to you. No, even if it doesn’t,

“I don’t want to do that.”

Isaac closed his eyes, feeling the sunlight pouring through the leaves in the yard. The countless unseen victims scattered across this world flickered brightly behind his eyelids before blurring away.