I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 88

……Fortunately, nothing happened until I left the villa. I had been worried that Dazar might catch me.

“Phew. All right, then. Shall we look for the tower?”

The villa was near the sea, and behind it was a dense forest.

From the beach, the island hadn’t looked very large, but now that I was alone and had to search for the tower, it felt a little overwhelming.

I stood at the entrance to the forest and looked inside. The sun had already set, and darkness had swallowed the forest whole. Somehow, it looked rather eerie.

But as someone with nerves of steel who had enjoyed watching horror movies in my previous life as a way to kill time, this much wasn’t particularly frightening.

‘I could’ve sworn I just saw a human head sticking out of the ground over there, but that must’ve been my imagination. Haha.’

See? I wasn’t scared.

They say a mother’s heart should be as strong as steel……

“Eek!”

I had just confidently stepped into the forest when I suddenly jumped at the sight of a red bird appearing beside me.

Because it had just popped into existence out of thin air!

“W-What? Dazar’s bird……?”

Those fierce-looking eyes and that beak that somehow seemed full of mischief definitely belonged to the red bird Dazar kept. It seemed to have followed me all the way here.

How strange. It definitely hadn’t been there when we tore through space and flew here. How had it gotten here?

Questions sprouted in my mind as I stared intently at the bird sitting on a branch at eye level, staring blankly back at me……

“What are you looking at?”

“……Huh?”

Had that bird just spoken?

My eyes went wide and my mouth fell open. I must have looked like an idiot, but I couldn’t help it.

A bird could talk! A bird!

……No, wait. In a fantasy world overflowing with magic and barriers, was a talking bird really that strange?

“You…… can talk?”

The bird rubbed its face with its wing and then said—

Yes, it really did.

“What? Never seen a talking bird before?”

Just as one would expect from Dazar’s bird, it had quite an attitude.

My surprise at the talking bird lasted only a moment. Then, amazed by its sheer rudeness, I resumed walking.

“Ah. Maybe I’ve been feeling weak lately. I’m seeing things and hearing voices. Sigh. I should get some of the loach extract Carl drinks.”

“H-Hey, human. Stop for a moment.”

The red bird seemed to be trying to stop me, but I paid it no attention and walked faster. I could feel the flustered bird flapping its wings as it chased after me.

“Human! Did I not tell you to stop? How dare you ignore me. Do you know who I am……!”

“Who are you?”

I asked with sparkling eyes.

The red bird hurriedly flew in front of me, blocked my path, landed on the ground, then lifted its head and spoke in a dignified voice.

“I am the one who became a god by feeding upon the destruction of the world. Born from chaos and hatred, I am the great and awe-inspiring……”

“Hmm.”

When I seemed to be listening attentively, the red bird puffed itself up and began listing all the reasons it was such an incredible being.

It was something about being the antithesis of a god……

Something about even gods being unable to do anything to it……

Something about Dazar being nothing more than putty in its hands……

After listening to it for quite some time, I came to a conclusion.

‘Even birds can get a chuunibyou complex.’

How fascinating.

I stared blankly down at the red bird, which had landed on the ground and was puffing itself up as much as possible. Dazar had seemed to suffer from chuunibyou when he was young. Perhaps the bird had been influenced by him.

Could it be that the reason the bird had never said anything whenever it encountered me was because Dazar had deliberately kept it from speaking?

Because he couldn’t exactly show other people a bird that was slightly unhinged?

“Yeah, yeah. I see. How amazing.”

I replied in a soulless voice while nodding enthusiastically.

As was typical of chuunibyou patients, the bird had apparently eaten its sense of social awareness for breakfast. It smiled in satisfaction.

“Heh heh. Now do you understand my greatness? In fact, thanks to me, you also……”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re really amazing.”

I even applauded as I encouraged it.

In this harsh world, being reborn as a bird must have been hard enough. And now it had to suffer from chuunibyou, too. How difficult must its life have been?

I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for it.

Having learned from my previous life that people suffering from chuunibyou tended to be extremely sensitive souls, I carefully smiled and held out my hand.

“Anyway, Great Bird, what brings you here? Dazar didn’t tell you to spy on me, did he?”

“Do you think I would accept an order from that bastard? Dazar is nothing to me. With a single punch from me, I could……”

“Ahaha, yes, yes. So why are you here, then? And how did you even find me?”

Right. So Dazar hadn’t sent it.

When the red bird appeared, I wondered if perhaps Dazar had ordered it to follow me.

Apparently not.

Perhaps my question about whether it had been ordered by Dazar had offended its pride. The bird flapped its wings irritably before suddenly stopping and answering.

“It’s like the feeling a god gets from watching over his creations and enjoying himself. I haven’t been born from chaos for very long, but somehow, I feel as though I can understand the heart of the god who stands opposite me. Of course, I also wanted to watch Dazar suffer.”

“……Ah.”

I had no idea what it was talking about, but I nodded as though I more or less understood.

You shouldn’t try to understand chuunibyou.

The red bird hopped onto my outstretched hand and continued chattering.

“Anyway, this island managed by the Siasters is not part of an ordinary dimension. This is a place beyond the rift they manage. If one were to be precise, it is not part of the human world. I found it fascinating that such a lowly human would fearlessly set foot in a place like this, so I decided to follow you.”

Somehow, I found myself believing it this time.

Perhaps because it spoke in a rather serious voice.

“This isn’t part of the human world?”

At my question, the red bird’s eyes gleamed.

 

***

 

Dazar’s eyes flew open.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

He had just awakened from a nightmare. He slowly sat up.

It had definitely been a dream about the day the previous world perished.

“……Ha.”

Dazar brushed back his sweat-dampened hair and let out a small laugh.

It was a laugh filled with self-mockery.

The day the world had perished because of his choice.

Wasn’t it rather ridiculous that he was dreaming about that day when he couldn’t even remember it in its entirety?

This was the fate of someone who had committed an unforgivable sin.

Dazar accepted the pain and closed his eyes.

“……”

And yet, he was an endlessly selfish man.

For her sake alone, he had turned his back on the gods and cast countless lives aside.

All for one reason.

To meet her again.

……I want to remember her completely.

Dazar suddenly found himself thinking that.

“If that’s the case, there should have been more things I could remember.”

Whenever he felt the empty spaces in his memories that had been taken from him as the price of the curse, he felt as though his heart had been hollowed out.

Was it because he had come to this ‘Island of Ruben,’ which came around every year?

The Transcendents of the Siaster family came to this island every year to make sure that Ruben’s Tower was still intact.

That was the destiny bestowed upon them.

It was an important and weighty duty, heavy enough to deserve the name ‘destiny.’

“And yet, a family trip to a place like this.”

The light returned to Dazar’s previously sunken eyes.

He had remembered what happened at the beach earlier that day.

At Vanilla’s insistence, he had scooped sand onto a shovel and given it to Cilia.

And then she……

‘It’s reeeally delicious, husband.’

Under Vanilla’s relentless urging, she forced a smile and spoke as though she were reading from a book.

As if she had no choice.

“……Heh.”

It was rather funny.

“……Yeah. It is funny.”

The Guardian, Dazar, playing house with children.

Did that even make sense?

Dazar narrowed his eyes and rose from his seat.

Until just a moment ago, his head had felt heavy and clogged.

But remembering Cilia’s crumpled expression when he had called her his wife had somehow made him feel much better.

Then he suddenly realized that he couldn’t sense ‘his’ presence anywhere around him.

That fellow was always by his side whenever he came to this island.

Where had he gone?

If there was anything that could interest that fellow……

‘That little brat, perhaps.’

Since this was the Ruben of this world, apparently it had piqued his interest.

He would sometimes secretly linger around that little brat.

And now that woman was there, too……

‘This won’t do.’

He usually didn’t cause any particular trouble, but things were a little different here.

Strictly speaking, this place was not part of the human world.

Rather, it was practically his cradle.

Perhaps because of that, whenever he came here, he became a little more eccentric and impulsive.

“Just in case.”

Dazar erased his presence and cautiously left his room.

If he walked just a little way down the hall, he would reach the room where the little brat and Cilia were staying.

He only intended to take a quick look.

Just to see whether he could sense that fellow’s presence.

“……?”

When Dazar arrived at the door, he slowly tilted his head.

Something was strange.

No matter how far he extended his senses, there was only one presence inside the room.

More precisely, it was only the little brat’s presence.

“……Where did she go?”

Dazar narrowed his eyes.