The residents of the Sakura Kingdom were extremely satisfied with their current lives, aside from the recent snow-monster incidents that had been spreading through the various towns.
"Have you heard? Apparently, a snow monster has appeared recently."
"I heard about it too. I thought it was just a legend, but I never expected creatures like snow monsters to actually exist!"
"The snow monster is real! It appeared near our village last time. Haha, in the end, a few of us shot at it and drove it away!"
"Really? I heard snow monsters specifically eat children. I wonder if that's true."
"Who cares? Anyway, King Dalton has already ordered the island's troops to start searching for traces of that snow monster. I'm sure it won't be long before our lives return to peace again."
No one knew when it had started, or from which village or town, but rumors of a snow monster's appearance had begun to spread.
Supposedly, the snow monster was tall, with earthy-yellow fur, and it looked very much like a gorilla.
It also had a very eye-catching, distinct blue nose.
Most importantly, this snow monster had approached villages and other human settlements several times. From the way it looked, it seemed to be attempting to attack the local villagers.
However, it seemed very afraid of flintlocks and had been frightened off by a few shots.
But it was also unusually persistent. After failing to attack one village, it immediately shifted its target elsewhere.
What no one knew was that this so-called snow monster had no intention of attacking humans at all.
It was only trying to find a companion.
That was all.
…
On the silver-white, snow-covered land, a strange-looking person was walking along in exhaustion.
There were no clothes on his body. Only his unusually thick fur rippled in the freezing wind.
As he walked, every step he took caused several drops of crimson blood to fall from his body.
His bright blue nose drew in rapid breaths.
That wound had been caused when he approached the previous village and was shot by the villagers there.
He had no name.
He also did not know what he should be called.
When he had first been born, he had been abandoned by his parents.
At the time, he was still young and did not understand what that meant.
Later, he wandered around and found several herds with appearances similar to his own, but every one of them rejected him.
Through more and more rejection, he learned that he was a reindeer.
He also learned the reason he was hated.
It was because he had a blue nose.
The leaders of every herd, along with the reindeer behind them, all stared at his blue nose with expressions full of disgust.
Until later, when the leader of an old herd took pity on him and finally, reluctantly accepted him.
He was overjoyed. He thought he had finally found his companions.
Even though those reindeer were not exactly friendly toward him, and even kept their distance from him, he was still very happy.
He simply believed that one day, he would truly become part of that herd.
However, on that day, all of his fantasies turned into bubbles and vanished.
All he remembered was accidentally eating a fruit with an extremely disgusting taste.
Then his body changed.
He went from walking on all fours to standing on two feet like a monkey.
When that group of reindeer saw him like that, there was no question about it.
Once again, he lost the companions he had dreamed of.
From then on, he could no longer find any reindeer herd willing to accept him.
Finally, while that strange fruit changed him into this form, it also gave him intelligence, causing his thoughts to change.
Since he could no longer return to a reindeer herd, he began trying to see whether he could join the "humans" referred to by the word "Human" in the Human-Human Fruit that had granted him this ability.
After gaining human intelligence, he also mastered three transformations.
He transformed into the so-called "human" form and planned to go to a human settlement, longing to be accepted by humans.
However, what he had not expected was that before he could even approach the village and show his goodwill, those humans hurriedly raised something called a flintlock.
Looking at the fear and disgust in the eyes of the humans opposite him, his intelligence told him that those people wanted to kill him.
He cried.
His body began to tremble.
When that group of humans raised those flintlocks and prepared to shoot him again, he fled.
He could not trust that he would find companions among humans.
Or rather, he did not dare to believe it.
He was unwilling to believe it.
He had already been abandoned by every reindeer herd.
If the humans were also unwilling to accept him, then he truly would be a lonely monster who should never have appeared in this world.
So, as soon as the injuries on his body improved even slightly, he immediately headed for the next human settlement.
He was currently on his way to the next place, though he already had a guess about what he would encounter there.
"Walking like that while you're injured… doesn't your body hurt?"
As he staggered forward, a soft voice rang beside his ear.
In that human's eyes, there was no disgust or fear toward him.
There was only calmness, along with a faint trace of concern.
Concern?
His body trembled.
This was the first time he had ever seen someone show him such an expression.
"Let me treat your wounds."
As he spoke, that human man began walking toward him.
He hesitated for a moment. After realizing the other person did not have that weapon called a flintlock in his hand, he made no move.
"Don't move. It'll be healed very quickly."
As he hesitated, that man had already arrived in front of him.
Whoosh.
A golden light was released from the man's hand, covering his entire body.
He only felt very warm.
Very comfortable.
After the light on his body dispersed, he discovered that the body the villagers had injured earlier had been completely healed.
"All done."
The man clapped his hands, then looked at his body and smiled. He reached out and patted his shoulder.
"Looks like you have quite the sturdy build."
That casual, gentle tone caused his eyes, which had suffered so much hurt along the way, to redden uncontrollably.
"You… aren't you… afraid of me?"
He opened his mouth and spoke haltingly in the human language he had learned through his intelligence.
His voice was filled with exhaustion, hoarseness, and that tiny bit of hope.
"Why would I be afraid of you?"
The young human man kept smiling at him.
(End of Chapter)
[200 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]