I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 89

After hesitating for a moment, Dazar carefully opened the door and stepped inside. He wanted to see for himself. There could have been another reason why he couldn’t sense her presence.

‘Could Morocanil have followed her?’

As expected, the only one in the room was the little brat, sleeping soundly.

The child who had spent the entire day having fun was deeply asleep.

If she had left the villa in the middle of the night, leaving this little brat behind, then it must have been for something quite important.

‘Even if Morocanil had come, there would be no reason for her to go outside.’

Dazar narrowed his eyes.

“Mm……”

Just then, Axion tossed and turned. His movement disheveled the small blanket covering him.

The moment the thought that the child might be cold crossed his mind, Dazar found himself pulling the blanket back over him.

And he did so carefully, making sure the child wouldn’t catch even a cold.

“……”

Dazar looked down at the hand that had been holding the blanket only moments ago.

This child wasn’t an ordinary human, after all.

What had he just done?

As though he were an ordinary child…… No, even if he had been an ordinary child, Dazar wouldn’t have tucked him in like this.

‘Is this Vanilla’s influence?’

It could have been because they had spent the entire day talking about a family trip and playing house, treating one another like a precious family.

Perhaps it had simply become a habit.

Dazar was briefly flustered by his own unconscious actions, but he soon came up with a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Then he turned his attention back to Cilia.

His eyes moved toward Cilia’s empty bed.

‘Her body doesn’t respond to barriers, so I can’t even find out where she is.’

Since this Island of Ruben was managed by the Siasters, barriers had been placed over the entire island.

If she had been an ordinary human, he would have been able to immediately determine where she was.

But she wasn’t an ordinary human.

‘The barrier did tremble slightly earlier.’

It was possible that someone as skilled as Morocanil had carefully infiltrated the island.

Dazar had expected him to follow them under the pretext of being his monitor, so he hadn’t paid much attention to it.

Dazar frowned as an uncomfortable feeling settled in his chest.

But why did he keep connecting Morocanil and Cilia in his thoughts?

His gaze turned toward the window.

Outside, it was pitch-black.

And then.

Whooosh—

“……!”

Rain suddenly began pouring down.

Rumble. Crash!

Thunder and lightning came along with it.

“Uuung……”

Dazar heard Axion stir.

He quickly cast a barrier around the villa that blocked out sound.

It would be troublesome if the children woke up like this.

He also cast a barrier that would help them sleep deeply before leaving the villa.

That fellow surely had no idea that this place wasn’t part of the human world.

A place where the weather could swing between heaven and hell several times a day, and where strange monsters occasionally appeared.

That was the Island of Ruben.

‘Because it’s raining.’

Dazar hastily came up with a reason for his actions as he went out to find Cilia.

It didn’t fully explain why his heart had tightened with worry, but……

Dazar pretended not to know his own feelings.

 

***

 

Rumble— Crash!

Whooosh……

“Gasp. Where did this rain suddenly come from? Argh!”

“Protect me at once, human. I hate rain!”

While walking through the forest with the chuunibyou-ridden red bird, the two of us were startled by the sudden downpour.

The bird flapped its wings and quickly flew into my arms, while I instinctively scooped it up and ran around looking for somewhere to take shelter from the rain.

I ran and ran as hard as I could until I spotted a large rock up ahead with a slight hollow in its center.

‘We can take shelter there for a while.’

With rain pouring down this heavily, my vision was obscured, making it impossible to search for the tower.

There was also a risk that the lantern I had secretly brought with me would go out.

“This is why I hate this place. I didn’t come here often in the previous world for the same reason. Even if it is the source of power……”

The hollow in the middle of the rock made an excellent shelter.

I slipped inside and shook out my rain-soaked clothes when the bird suddenly said something strange.

What did it just say?

The previous world?

“That Dazar fellow is funny, too. To introduce this place to Vanilla as a villa. She’ll find out what kind of place it really is eventually. Tsk. Well…… what? Human. Why are you looking at me like that?”

I stared blankly at the bird, which had been complaining nonstop.

The bird flinched and took a step backward.

Oh.

So birds could walk backward like that, too.

How fascinating.

“You have the eyes of a predator with delicious meat right in front of it. What a truly ruthless gaze. To think even I would flinch for a moment. Not bad.”

“……”

I just couldn’t get used to these chuunibyou-like lines.

I moved closer, and the bird moved farther away at the same pace until it bumped against the wall with a thud.

I bent my knees and crouched down in front of it.

“Did you have a previous life, too?”

“D-Don’t come any closer, human. A previous life? Like Dazar?”

“Yes. You said earlier that you didn’t visit this place often even in the previous world. You meant this place in that world, right?”

“Hmm.”

The bird rubbed beneath its chin with a wing as though it were pondering the question.

It was quite a funny sight.

“I have no previous life. For one born by feeding upon the destruction of the world and one who governs chaos, there is only a single life.”

“……Then you came here directly from the previous world?”

“That’s right.”

Damn.

So it had been a bird back then, too.

I thought that since it spoke so well, perhaps it had at least been human in its previous life.

“Your gaze is very peculiar this time. For some reason, I don’t particularly like it.”

“You’re imagining things.”

“……”

I crouched there, looking outside with the bird beside me.

The rain was pouring down like crazy.

The raindrops were falling hard enough to dig slightly into the dirt, and I imagined they would hurt quite a bit if they hit someone directly.

As I blankly waited for the rain to stop, the bird suddenly spoke.

“But is there really any reason for you to stay here? From what I can tell, you’re looking for Ruben’s Tower.”

“……!”

I whipped my head around so quickly it practically made a sound.

“How did you know?”

“The only thing on this island is Ruben’s Tower. If you come out in the middle of the night and wander around looking for something, what else could it be?”

The red bird clicked its beak together as though it were laughing.

“Don’t worry. Dazar still knows nothing. Nor do I intend to tell him later. I merely wish to enjoy this amusement.”

The red bird saying that somehow rubbed me the wrong way.

Still, given the situation, I figured it would be better to play along.

“I suppose you’re a much, muuuuch greater being than someone like Dazar. You wouldn’t go reporting something like this to him, right?”

“Obviously!”

“Then you know where Ruben’s Tower is, too, right?”

“Heh. Is that even a question? Ruben’s Tower is close by. I could find it in an instant even with my eyes closed……”

I grinned and lightly nudged the bird on its rear.

The bird, pushed forward, looked back at me in bewilderment.

“Then go find it. Right now.”

 

***

 

Flap, flap, flap……

“This is the place.”

Perhaps the red bird hadn’t been lying, because it really did lead me to Ruben’s Tower.

It really was close by.

It wasn’t far from the rock where we had taken shelter from the rain earlier.

It simply hadn’t been visible because of the dense forest and the torrential rain.

After walking only a little farther, we were right in front of the tower.

I slowly looked up at the tower that rose so high it seemed to reach beyond the heavens.

‘How did I not see something this tall?’

At this height, I felt like I should have been able to see it even from the villa.

Perhaps the red bird noticed my confusion, because it casually said,

“No matter how much your body rejects magic and barriers, you can’t reject the power of chaos that created you. That power of chaos is at work here.”

“……Huh?”

“It’s the same reason you were able to tear through space and fly here this time. Normally, Dazar’s power wouldn’t be able to bring you here.”

The red bird snickered.

“You may not have known this, but even there, it was all thanks to my mighty……”

“Be quiet for a second.”

I clamped a hand over the red bird’s beak as it grinned and began rambling another chuunibyou-like speech.

It let out a muffled squawk, but I ignored it.

“Doesn’t it sound like there’s something strange nearby?”

“……Mmph.”

“Like the breathing of the monster we encountered last time…… Gasp.”

I slowly turned my head.

A hideous-looking monster was approaching us from directly behind.

It wasn’t moving as quickly as the monsters I had encountered on the previous ‘Day of the Rift,’ but it was more than enough to make me panic.

“G-Go inside! Hurry!”

“Mmph!”

I tucked the red bird under one arm and hurriedly opened the tower’s door.

The door, larger than the combined height of two or three grown men, swung open easily beneath my iron-like strength.

“Mmph……?!”

I heard the red bird gasp in surprise at my incredible strength, but I was in no state to respond to its astonishment.

I had to get away from that monster!

I hurried inside the tower and shut the door.

Boom—!

A heavy sound that could never have come from an ordinary door reverberated throughout the tower.

“Phew. It can’t get in here, right?”

“……Mmph.”

Seeing the red bird nod as though it were obvious, I finally relaxed and took in the interior of the tower.

“Huh……?”

And then my eyes immediately widened.

There was a familiar pattern.

A pattern engraved around Axion’s neck like a necklace.

The same pattern I saw every time I bathed the child and dressed him was engraved all over the walls inside the tower.