The place was better described as a forest path bordering a lake, rather than a rear garden.

The spacious backyard, which could properly be called a rear garden, neatly maintained by a gardener’s touch, was connected to the forest that met the boundaries of the Lord’s estate. Since most of the forest was private property belonging to the Lord, they seemed to consider the entire area up to that point as their rear garden.

Venturing deeper from the backyard, the forest path by the lake was densely overgrown with thickets and trees. As they ventured a bit deeper into the woods, which might have been scary on a pitch-black night, fireflies flew around profusely just as the Lord had said, making it neither dark nor frightening. Between the leaves, fireflies flickered like yellow and white stars over the lake, accompanied by the deep, refreshing scent of the forest and the trees that seemed to be sleeping cozily.

Even though autumn had already deepened, the forest scent was so thick, and Isaac was surprised that a forest at night could be so gentle. With this much, it seemed rare to find a more beautiful walking path, just as the Lord had so proudly boasted.

Taking a deep breath of the forest air and exhaling quietly, Isaac looked up at the starry sky before lowering his gaze. Far ahead, obscured by the bushes and then reappearing, he saw the man and woman walking slowly. The Lord’s daughter and the Prince were strolling along the forest path. Walking far behind them, Isaac was fulfilling his role as an escort guard…… Even though all he was doing was just watching them.

The Lord’s guards, numbering a dozen or so including Isaac’s own horse, were guarding the area inconspicuously here and there, so there was no real need to escort him, and to begin with, that Prince was not someone who needed a guard anyway. Moreover, when Isaac had tried to follow a few steps behind the Prince, the Lord had subtly caught his eye and signaled him, so Isaac had deliberately fallen far back.

Since it wasn’t an open plain, their figures were frequently obscured by bushes or trees, but from the perspective of the Lord or his daughter, it might actually be more advantageous for achieving their desired goals.

Right, well, a night forest is a place that can bring leaps and bounds of progress to a relationship between a man and a woman.

“…….”

Isaac tapped his chest, which had sunken into depression once again, and slouched his shoulders. The moment he did, he saw black tails tapping his ankles.

「But looking at him, isn’t the man a bit of a waste?」

「The woman must have a lot of money.」

「No, looking at his face, he looks like he’d be terrible in a fight. Even though he looks indifferent and doesn’t seem to care about his surroundings, his temper is probably awful. If she gets on his bad side, he might even hit her.」

「Oh my, poor woman. Jumping into a fire pit carrying brushwood.」

“…….”

‘Did the neighborhood aunties gather around……. No, but how could these punks, who didn’t even reach my knees, see so clearly when their vision should be completely blocked by the bushes?’ Isaac coldly swatted away the black tails tapping his ankles.

“Will you punks keep quiet?!”

「Oh my, oh my, he’s been looking like he’s at a funeral since earlier, and now he’s yelling at us? Why are you glaring like that?」

「You don’t like us?」

「How could I not like you? Anyone would fall for pureblood witches as beautiful and lovely as us,」the cats chattered happily among themselves. Looking down at them with deadpan eyes, Isaac finally let out a deep sigh.

“Yeah, must be nice, must be nice. It must be nice being purebloods……. Are half-bloods common? Does it happen often that a witch and a human get together?”

Come to think of it, he had met witches a few times, but he had never seen another half-blood. They must exist somewhere, but he had never even heard of one.

The cats perked their ears up, looked at each other, and said,「Well, not really?」

「Unless they are quite the oddball, why would they go out of their way to make a baby with a human? Witch babies are much stronger, live longer, and use magic better.」

「Plus, it’s a human. Humans are completely useless for anything other than occasionally sucking life force or mating?」

「Of course, since our Manbang is still a virgin, he wouldn’t know, but witches are fundamentally born far, farr, farrr more suited for carnal desires than humans.」

「Some unique kids like Kali do enjoy playing around with humans, but even then, it rarely results in a baby.」

“No, the baby part doesn’t really matter…….”

Isaac mumbled before shutting his mouth. Suddenly, all the strength drained from his shoulders, and he wondered what the point of any of it was. As expected, witches belonged with witches, and humans with humans. That was the most natural and fitting way of things.

‘I’m getting depressed again……,’ Isaac sighed and crouched down. The cats rolled their eyes roundly, then pulled their heads back to meet his eye level. Even crouching, Isaac was still taller, but as one of them placed a front paw on Isaac’s knee, it mewed.

「Still, it’s obvious that witches are much less exclusive to other species than humans.」

「So hurry up and find the tinderbox, and let’s go to the Land of Dark Moon.」

“……, Maybe that would be for the best.”

His whispered words contained half-sincerity. Should he just leave all this depression and regret behind in the human world and cross over to that land? Then maybe he would forget this tingling, aching feeling too.

‘That would be nice,’ he suddenly thought.

Burying his face in his knees and falling deep into thought, Isaac felt a soft tail gently stroke the back of his hand in a comforting motion.

「Don’t be so sad. Everything in the world passes.」

「Even if it’s agonizingly hard, time flows.」

「So don’t suffer, let’s go to the Land of Dark Moon. That place will be much more generous to you than the human world.」

「Since you’re a half-blood, you’re a deliciously rare half-blood.」

「Yep, yep. This kind of taste is rare even among purebloods. You’ll make a very good prey.」

“……. You punks really……!”

The narrative had gone completely sideways at the end. Grabbing the scruff of the necks of the punks who were practically drooling, Isaac shook them violently.

“Ack! Is this why you brought me here, to beat me up?! To beat me up?!”

「You were resting peacefully at home today, and then you asked us to bring you all this way?! Such ingratitude!」

“Who asked you to?! Not coming is what helps me! Come to think of it, who was the one running wild in the banquet hall earlier?! Do you know how terrified I was?!”

「You asked for help! You grabbed onto us and asked for help, and now you’re talking nonsense?!」

“When did I?!”

「You asked to meet a succubus?!」

Hearing the cat’s yowling retort, Isaac stopped speaking. Holding one cat in each hand, realizing only now that the other one was missing and wondering where it went, he looked back and forth between them.

“Succubus? Yeah, I did want to meet one. Does a succubus live near here?”

「Of course, the third one went to get him.」

「It’s taking a bit of time because he locked his door and is resisting, saying he doesn’t want to come.」

So that’s why these punks had the audacity to run wild in the banquet hall, Isaac set the two cats back down on the ground. They sniffed and grumbled, grooming their fur as if highly offended. Stroking their heads gently, Isaac looked at them with his large eyes, though he didn’t push them away.

“Succubus……, right, I should meet that one.”

Right, that was the most important thing right now.

Suddenly, the face of the young man consumed by terror surfaced in his mind. The face that rotted away in an instant. That could be the face of a young girl, the face of a mother, or even the face of a baby.

Isaac shook his head vigorously and took a deep breath. He had to try whatever he could. The reason he had to meet the succubus now was because he needed to learn how to suck human life force without harming them.

「Don’t worry. It’s a bit murky for you since you’ve lived as a human in the human world for so long, but eating human life force is very basic, so you’ll get the hang of it right away.」

「Of course. Once you get the knack of it, you’ll be fine. Succubi are innately born for that, so they’ll teach you easily.」

Isaac rested his chin on his hand as he looked down at the two chattering cats.

“A succubus…… a succubus is a magical beast that hides in people’s dreams and steals their life force. Do they even have a physical body?”

「It varies from succubus to succubus, but most don’t have a physical body, so they possess other things. Usually small bugs or flying animals. If they stay a bit longer, they sometimes possess humans. And if they stay even longer, they take on a human form and live pretending to be human.」

「In other words, a succubus living while pretending to be human is the oldest and most capable succubus.」

「So you should thank us.」

‘What’s with this bizarre conclusion that’s so typical of these punks out of nowhere……,’ Isaac thought, before suddenly realizing, Ah.

“So the succubus you went to get right now is a succubus that looks like a human?”

It doesn’t really matter, but it would be much more comfortable dealing with a human form than some hideous, bizarrely shaped creature. As Isaac thought this and nodded his head,

「You saw it earlier, didn’t you?」

The cat suddenly said.

Isaac stopped nodding and looked blankly at the blinking cat.

“……. Huh?”

「You saw it earlier. You even talked to it quite a bit.」

「Ah, did you already ask it?」,「Then did we go get it for nothing?」, the chattering cats looked blankly at Isaac. Then, Isaac pointed a finger at himself, asking, “When did I?”

*Rustle.*

A loud sound of someone pushing through the bushes came from behind. Turning towards the sound, the first thing that entered Isaac’s vision was the third cat, now a giant black tiger the size of a house.

Even though he had seen it multiple times and thought he was used to it, seeing those massive eyes right in front of his nose made Isaac startle and stumble backward in surprise. Only then did he notice the ‘corpse’ the giant tiger was carrying in its mouth.

——A person hanging limply like a rag.

Perhaps amused by Isaac’s startled expression, the tiger let out a malicious laugh and gave a long roar,「NYARGH——.」In the process, the person it was holding in its mouth plummeted to the ground with a thud.

“Ack!”

The scream definitely belonged to a woman. As if confirming the owner of that voice he thought he had heard somewhere, the person hurriedly picked themselves up and stumbled backward, their small stature becoming apparent. Dressed in pajamas as if dragged out of bed, her bare feet were pale and soft, appearing to have never done a day of hard labor.

“I told you I hated it. I told you I hate getting mixed up with them.”

Grumbling in annoyance, the eyes that glared in this direction were briefly visible through her disheveled, scattered hair. Not only her eyes, but her neat, beautifully featured face.

“——.”

‘Elie,’ Isaac’s lips twitched, but no sound came out.