The Daughter of Evil - Volume 2 - Chapter 2.11

✿CHAPTER 2, SECTION 1, SCENE 1✿
✿Michaela~Elphegort’s “Lake of Amusement”~

At the moment is a vast lake.

A valiant breeze and a cloudless sky.

This is the most suitable weather for birds to fly in the sky.

If you pass through the Eldoh’s Forest, there’s a huge lake at the north. The lake seems to be referred by the humans as the “Lake of Amusement”. Every “Millenium Tree” Festival, the elderly people respectfully invite the youth to come together and tell the legends of the lake. According to the legends, this lake is used to serve the Earth God, Eldoh’s spirits, who come frolicking on a full moon night.

When these spirits frolic, they produce famous gems called “Stones of the Wild Spirits”. When you take home these gems and buried them on the ground, the ground will have a large harvest.

I miss hearing these legends, but unfortunately, the old people are only half-right. A long time ago, we spirits often came to the lake to play. At that time, there were a lot of people who had special abilities to see spirits with their naked eye. Because of these people, the legend was believed and there were intentions of bringing the spirits back to obtain the “Stones of the Wild Spirits”.

And that’s pretty much of what is true. But to say that spirits can make “Stones of the Wild Spirits” is nonsense.

Originally, spirits don’t eat things of nature, but of course, animal forms are a different matter. Although spirits don’t feel hunger, they have a habit of eating tasty things. Amongst the most popular is the Trauben Fruit.

Trauben is a bluish purple fruit that grows in the west coast; it seems to be related in some way with winemaking. When spirits come here to play, there is always ones that are gluttonous that look for trauben that children left behind and they bring them back to the forest. Probably someone saw this scene with a moonlit trauben that was mistaken as a gem, which is why we have a legend about the “Stones of the Wild Spirits”.

As the saying goes, to see is to believe; that’s why I’m going to that lake and take back those Trauben, saying that it’s not true.

Doing so is a violation of Eldoh-san’s regulations, but now is the day to get those fruits back. I’m sure immediately saying it to them shouldn’t be a problem. Moreover, even Eldoh-san says that almost no human can see a spirit’s animal form. The only reason for the prohibition order is Eldoh-san’s too much cautiuousness. Even though the forest is a very good place, for the spirits, living thousands of years in the same place feels pretty boring.

Looking down from the sky, I could get a clear glance of the growing Trauben. The west bank of the lake is completely dyed bluish-purple. At the northwest of the lake, there is a small village with a brewery (that seems to be brewing trauben) inhabited by humans.

Returning to their homeland, I suddenly got that nostalgic feeling. Everything was the same as before; without any changes.

I landed on a nearby branch of the orchard, in front of the goal of this trip. Seeing the freshly grown trauben made me involuntarily swallow my saliva. Although I feel a bit uneasy eating the trauben grown by the humans, a little bit wouldn’t hurt, would it? I’m sure the humans wouldn’t mind.

First, I tried to the taste the flavor. The mellow sweetness and the slightly sour taste quickly spread in my mouth. Well, it’s really tasty! Did these get tastier than before or is it just because I’ve never eaten one for a long time now? Or did the humans’ gardening skills improve? What really caused this to happen, I wonder?

Knowing that we birds are small, there’s no way I can bring back a lot of fruits. So I picked the dark ones that looked very delicious and grasped them inside my claws. Just tasting them is enough.

If everyone likes it, I’ll remember to invite them next time and enjoy it together.

(Ah, but then again, if we eat too much, it might pose a problem for the humans)

Prior to that, keeping it hidden from Eldoh-san would also be a problem.

I got up and flew to the sky. Probably because the greedy me took too many fruits, I stumbled during flight; insisting to fly to the forest shouldn’t be a problem.

I tried to flap my wings but I suddenly felt something close behind. When I looked behind, I immediately saw a huge shadow.

“Hey?”

Obviously, the shadow was targeting me, and gradually catching up on me at a great speed.

Aware of the danger approaching, I tried to speed up as well but it was still no match for the other huge pair of wings. Six sharp stout claws were going to catch me.

“I beg you! Not again! I- I’m Michaela!”

Although I’m afraid to shout, it seems as though the other one couldn’t here. Evidently attacking me, it couldn’t be a spirit nor a forest partner.

Subsequently, my body felt an impact. The other one’s claws grasped my whole body. Because of the intense pain, I let go of the trauben I had been grasping. At that moment, the attacker let go of my body and went chasing for the fallen fruit.

Aaaah, what just happened. He (or was it a she?) just wanted those trauben? I’m saved…… I guess. Even so, I found out that my wings had a very serious injury.

My right wing was completely unable to move; blood scattered in the air.

This is bad, REALLY BAD, I’m falling down!

My body lost control and rotated spirally as it dropped to the ground.