I stand beside the sleeping girl, looking down at her.

I wonder why, but just gazing at her now makes me feel happy. That's why I'm deliberately watching her without waking her up.
I've already threatened the uninvited guest who appeared earlier, so it should be fine to stay like this for a while.

I decided to spend this time for as long as possible without touching her.

Is she human, I wonder? Her body is soft and not rugged, so she doesn't seem to be of the Azure Demon Tribe. Her ears are round, so she's likely not of the Jade Demon Tribe either. If she were one of the beings called the Scarlet Demon Tribe, I wouldn't be able to tell by her appearance alone.

Perhaps, like me, she doesn't belong to any specific tribe... She might be one of the beings called the Scarlet Demon Tribe.
Well, that's something to look forward to after she wakes up. I'll anticipate her telling me the answer in that clear voice of hers──

I was thinking such things while watching her. I don't know how much time had passed. No, my very awareness of time itself had vanished.

In any case, her clothes are strange. I have no memory of seeing anything like them anywhere in this world.

A blue as vivid as the waters of Lake Noisied, though it should be slightly clouded with white. As far as I know, neither humans nor the Jade Demon Tribe had anyone who could create a dye of this color.
I recall hearing that a human scholar, captivated by that color, tried boiling down the lake's water to use as a dye, and that artisans tried to replicate the hue with a technique called layered dyeing, but no one could ever reproduce it.

When I heard that story and went to see the lake, I didn't feel anything in particular... but seeing her wearing a color so similar to it strongly captures my attention.

On a whim, I sit down beside her. She's warm. But this warmth is different from that of a bonfire or a flame. Should I describe it as something that works not on the skin, but within the body?
That is the kind of warmth she possesses.

While still sitting, I peered into her face. It felt even warmer. As I felt it, I also felt a little light, as if I were floating.
Was it like sleepiness? No, that's not it. Like a stubborn part of me was being drawn out? No, that's not it either. I can't describe it well. Or rather, I just don't understand it.

A warm something that even I myself don't understand. And though I don't understand it, there isn't the slightest bit of anxiety. Far from anxiety, it feels terribly nostalgic, gentle, and so pleasant that I want to stay close...

Why do I feel this way?
I have no memory of ever being close to anyone in this world.
Nowhere in this world that spreads out around me was there anyone to be close to. Nor was there anyone I wanted to be close to.

I did have worthy rivals, ones with whom I could find genuine joy in fighting, staking our very lives. They made the depths of my body ache with a burning heat.
Lightning shot through my core, the heat in my gut mingling with the chill on my back. I would tremble and shiver, crying out and writhing as we fought to the death—for days on end, we would clash with all our might.

That, too, was a very pleasant, desirable thing. But the pleasantness I feel now is completely different from that.

I don't understand. Without taking my eyes off her face, I bring my own even closer.
I don't understand. Why I don't look away, why I press my face toward hers.

I didn't realize it. That at that moment, she opened her eyes.