Wind Elemental 

Child exploitation/sexual slavery, cannibalism, and orgies.

A world where everyone is happy, where everyone is equal.
This was only possible thanks to the existence of the one and only living god, Nefeshé.
Through her divine workings, righteousness always filled the world, and everyone cared for one another, reaching out to help.
As long as Nefeshé’s compassion was present throughout the world.

But even a god could not foresee one thing.
That is…desire.
Like a beast lurking within people’s hearts, constantly eyeing its prey.
Unable to realize how dangerous this could be, Nefeshé became prey to the flood of desire that surged forth.
What humans desired was the power of the Elementals dwelling within her.
Their evil hands relentlessly pursued her, until every last ounce of power drained from her.
And then… the power of the four Elementals was inherited by four people.

The power of fire went to Avenius.
The power of water went to Salacia.
The power of earth went to Telseuras.
And the power of wind went to Möwe.

After Nefeshé’s disappearance and the inheritance of the Elemental powers, this world’s fragile balance shattered. People fought over power, creating an endless stream of tragedies.
Human desires know no bounds.
They devour with greed, and when their plates are empty, they seek more food.

What’s next? What’s next? What’s next?

That is the true nature of humans.

The next! The next! The next!

Beasts. People are beasts too.

A desert region where rain barely falls.
Here too, humans lived according to their desires.

“Hehe, never thought we’d find such a fine specimen in the middle of the desert!”

Two shabbily dressed men cast leering glances at the dazed girl standing before them.
She wore tattered clothes over her head and held a jade-colored dagger disproportionate to her physique.
Each gust of wind fluttered the cloth, revealing glimpses of her naked body beneath.
She certainly didn’t look like a traveler.

“…?”

She looked to be around ten years old. Tilting her head slightly, she showed no particular reaction. Any girl her age surrounded by grown men breathing down her neck would show some kind of rejection.

“She’s strangely quiet. Looks like she can see, though.”

Saying this, the other man roughly removed the cloth to get a better look at her face.

“What the fuck… She’s got horns!?”

They were horns like those of a sheep. Parting her hair revealed the base near the top of her ears.

“Dammit… Hey, got a name?”
“Na…me…?”
“Yeah, name! Your name!”

The girl gazed sleepily into the sky, pondering for a moment. Finally remembering, she spoke in a relaxed tone.

“Möwe.”
“Möwe? Sounds familiar…but whatever. Hehe, we’re in luck! This one’ll definitely sell. She’ll bring in the cash!”

The man’s eyes curved as if appraising an item.
Even under his vulgar gaze, Möwe only returned a pure stare, showing no sign of discomfort.

“Come on, little lady. We’ll take you to a nice place.”
“Nice place?”
“Heh heh, yeah, a really nice place.”
“Mh… I see.”

They had no way of knowing.
Möwe, the girl with brown skin and animal horns.
She possessed the power of the Wind Elemental.

In the vast blue sky, a flock of white birds flew southward into the distance.
Below them spread a yellow desert, mirroring the sky. Gentle slopes stretched endlessly, occasionally scattering in all directions carried by the wind.
Free and easy, just as they were…

The place where the innocent Möwe was brought by those men was a town built in the desert.
Although it was a town, it was neither glitzy nor orderly like Luthra or Tioquia.
Everywhere was filled with shacks; it hardly looked like a place where people lived. Yet, from the shadows, sharp gazes like those of carnivorous beasts stalking prey flickered in and out.
This was a community formed naturally by outlaws who wandered seeking a place to belong. Though called a community, it had no clear leader and no rules to follow.
Lawlessness was the norm in this town.
As the trio walked through the winding alleys, they suddenly came across a large, well-built, three-story mansion.

“Here we are, Möwe.”
“This is your home from today on.”
“…Mowe’s home?”
“Yeah. As long as you stay here, you’ll be safe.”
“Hm.”
“Buuuut! You won’t be staying here for free. You’ll have to work to earn your keep.”
“…? …Work?”

Tilting her head slightly, Möwe waited for the men to speak. Even after being told all this, she still showed no sign of caution.
The men exchanged glances, then grinned at each other, their pale lips twisting into a grimace.

“Well then, let’s get right to the practice.”
“Heh heh, gotta give her a proper education!”

The men who owned the mansion were slave traders whose territory covered this area.
Slaves had two uses.
As workers or as pets.
Both involved offering one’s body to contribute, but the meaning was vastly different.
As workers, they searched for scarce resources in a harsh environment where death could occur at any moment.
As pets, they used their body to serve someone who paid money.
Innocent and beautiful, Möwe naturally fell into the latter category.

///////

A dimly lit room filled with a foul stench.
On the bed dominating the room lay Möwe, stripped of her human dignity, exposed in a shameful state.
As if unaware of what had happened to her, she stared blankly at the stained ceiling.
Looking down at her, the men stated matter-of-fact, still in their pathetic state.

“Möwe, your job starts tomorrow. Make sure you do what we taught you today, got it?”
“…Hmm… Got it.”
“I wish you’d show a bit more emotion.”
“But hey, some guys like it the other way around. This is actually just right.”

As the men were engaged in their selfish conversation, they noticed a noise from outside the room.
Then, as if remembering something, one of them shouted toward the entrance.

“You lot, come in!”

A group of very young boys and girls entered the room, forbidden from wearing any clothes.
No, to be precise, they were wearing only one thing.

*clang-clang*

Small bells swayed with each step.
The crude collars with bells attached were the children’s only possessions.
They were treated like livestock.

“From today, Möwe’ll be joining your ranks!”
“As usual, you lot handle the rest.”

With that, the men began to leave the room.
Then, one of them reached for the jade-colored dagger tossed onto the bed.
At that moment, Möwe, who hadn’t moved a muscle, suddenly showed an emotional reaction.

“…Hey. That’s Möwe’s.”

It was the first sign of attachment she’d ever shown, not even during her education. But the man paid no heed, shoving Möwe away as she tried to cling to his arm.

“Give it back…”
“If you want it back, use that body of yours to work hard! No rights for lazy bums!”

After the men left the room, the remaining children gathered around the bed, concerned for Möwe’.

“Are you okay? That must have been scary…”
“…? Not scary.”
“Huh?”
“But it hurt, didn’t it?”
“What, hurt…?”

When the children had suffered the same fate, they had screamed and cried, yet still couldn’t process the emotions welling up inside them. Even now, they were haunted by nightmares.
So, faced with Möwe’s unexpected response, they didn’t know how to comfort her.

“Give Möwe back…”

Perhaps exhausted, Möwe drifted into a deep sleep, muttering the same thing over and over almost like a delirium.

“Oh, she’s fallen asleep.”
“Anyway, let’s at least clean her body.”
“Yeah.”

The children nodded and carefully wiped the dirt off her body.
“Are those horns real?” “Her eyes are so pretty.”
While each reacted in their own way… one boy stood at a distance, watching Möwe.

Wake up, eat, work.
Work, eat, sleep.
Many months have passed since Möwe was brought to the mansion.
To others, Möwe was impossible to read.
Yet surprisingly, she excelled at learning things better than anyone else.
Humans tend to compare and judge things based on the thoughts and experiences they have cultivated throughout their lives.
If forcibly brought to a mansion, most would sense a threat to their life, resist, and feel disgust toward their captors.
Möwe lacked such standards entirely, and simply accepted it as an ordinary way to live.
With her small body constantly bearing the desires of adults, it was inevitable that she would become their favorite.
This was also the result of slave traders spreading rumors about her as a “monster child” throughout the surrounding communities and cities.

Her earnest dedication to life eventually earned her the trust of her peers, and she became able to handle everyday conversation with ease.

“…Yes. Möwe remembered.”
“Hehe, very impressive. Now it’s time-“

It’s no exaggeration to say that understanding words changed how she saw the world.
As the vague became clear, she gradually began to grasp human emotions.
Some still found her horns unsettling, but she possessed a charm that captured everyone’s hearts even more strongly.

“…Hehe.”
“Oh, she just laughed!”
“Huh?…Möwe was laughing?”
“Yeah, you looked happy.”
“…Happy? Does laughing mean you are happy?”

Their life together was far from ideal.
But having a place where they could find peace, even if only for a moment, was hope enough to keep them going.
So, for the first time, Möwe made a wish.
That they could stay happy from now on.

But the end of that little world came suddenly.
One morning, not a single face appeared in the hall where everyone usually gathered.

“Why isn’t anyone coming?”
“…Shall I tell you, Möwe?”

The one who answered Möwe’s question was a hot-tempered slave trader. The man ordered her to follow by jerking his chin, then strode briskly toward the mansion’s entrance.
Awaiting her as the door slammed open… were her companions, naked and impaled on stakes.

“…Uh…Ah?”

The children who had been close to Möwe were no longer recognizable as human.
They all bore painful scars, as if tortured, and marks of severe abuse.
Anyone could see they were no longer alive.
A foul stench wafted on the wind, stinging her nose.

“…Uh…Ah”

Overwhelmed by this unfamiliar emotion tormenting her, Möwe stood frozen, unable to move.

“These bastards disrupted the order of my shop! They corrupted you and ruined the quality of my work!”

The man continued to rant.
Evil must be judged rightly.

“Why do this…? Everyone was just trying to survive here…”
“Ha, looks like you’ve been completely corrupted.”

Oppressors despise anyone who defies their will. Even if it was merely an ideology spreading among children too young to know any better.
Even if it was only a small ripple now, leaving it unchecked could mean being stabbed in the back later.

“I’ll give you a proper re-education.”

Deep wrinkles formed on the man’s cheek.
Now able to understand the hidden meaning behind the word education, Möwe resisted fiercely.

“No! I’m not going!”
“Haa… I’m saddened, Möwe. You were such a good girl when you first came here.”

Then the man muttered something as if chanting a spell.
Rono, Miri, Jena…
They were the names of children Möwe still knew, children who hadn’t been killed yet.

“…! No, stop…”
“It’s all up to you. If you don’t go back to your old self, I’ll feed those corpses to them and do the same to you. What are you gonna do, Möweeee?”
“…”

Möwe clung to the man’s leg, desperately rubbing her body against him as if begging. As if pleading that she was nothing but a lowly animal.

“That’s right, good attitude! But it’s nowhere near enough to satisfy me. I’ll beat the life of an animal back into you!”

Möwe was dragged by her horns to the man’s room.

“Möwe…”

Someone watched the scene from behind cover.
A boy with dark skin and tanned black hair – Lusce.
He was the boy who had always watched Möwe from afar.
He placed a hand over his heart, breathing softly. Then nodded with determination and followed her.

Dalba, the slave trader, dragged Möwe into his private room and shoved her onto a bed large enough for four grown men.
Breathing heavily, he eagerly asked.

“Hey, Möwe, you remember what to do, right?”
“…”

The old Möwe would have immediately demonstrated the skills Dalba had taught her to please a man. But the budding feelings within her made her hesitate.

“No… No…!”
“What the fuck are you whining about?!”

He swung his hand down and mercilessly slapped Möwe’s cheek. The muffled sound of a bell clinked softly, lost amidst the creaking of the bed.
Dalba was a worthless man.
Not only did he take his frustration out on those around him at the slightest provocation, he also had the vile habit of abusing children, his tools of trade, solely to satisfy his own frustration and desires.
The bed creaked loudly as it supported Dalba’s entire weight.
Möwe tried to crawl backward, attempting to escape the man whose body was vastly larger than her own…but she was quickly cornered against the wall.

“Stop…”
“Sad, isn’t it? I should be thanking you, you know? No matter how much it hurts, you never resist. You’re tough. Your injuries heal in no time. That’s why I never had to break my tools. But hey, maybe this is for the best.”
“…Eh?”
“You’d be dying to destroy them, wouldn’t you!?”
“…No way…”

Dalba advanced, the bed creaking loudly.
His eyes bloodshot, drool dripping sloppily from his ugly face.
He looked exactly like a beast growling greedily for its prey.
Just as Dalba whispered in front of Möwe, “There’s no escape,” the locked door swung open.

“Oh? Already started?”

It was one of Dalba’s fellow slave traders.
Standing before him was the boy named Lusce, his face pale and his eyes downcast…

“Hey, hey, wanna join in too?”
“N-no, I just…!”
“Shut up, you pervert. This kid’s been spying on the room all along. He couldn’t wait to see Möwe get taught a lesson by Dalba, right?”
“What’s the matter, Lusce? You do want to join in, don’t you? Or do you prefer to watch?”
“D-Don’t say such things…! Don’t lump me in with you greedy bastards!”
“Bullshit. I know you always snuck peeks at Möwe. You were watching when she was with men too, weren’t you?”
“Lusce… Is that true?”

Lusce couldn’t meet Möwe’s questioning gaze. The moment he felt shame and guilt, he turned away.

“Guhaha! You really are a pervert!”
“No… I… I’m not…”

Ignoring his own behavior, Dalba laughed loudly. Unaware he was falling right into the provocation, Lusce kept insisting on his innocence.

“No, no, no…! I…!”

Shouting this, Lusce seized the moment everyone’s guard was down and grabbed the jade-colored dagger resting on the shelf.

“D-Don’t touch Möwe!!”
“Go ahead, try it. If you really think you can kill someone with that toy.”
“Huh…?”

The moment Lusce’s attention shifted to the dagger, Dalba leapt from the bed in front of him. In one fluid motion, he slammed his hand into Lusce’s wrist, a metallic clang echoed through the room.

“U-Uwaaaahhh!!”
“Too slow!”

Dalba’s knee drove deep into the side of Lusce, who was desperately trying to grab him.

“Lusce!”
“…Ah…eh…”
“The weak get taken! That’s the law of this city! I’m always the one taking, I’ll never lose to someone like you!”

Dalba picked up the dagger lying on the floor and thrust it into Lusce’s left hand, which was propped up against the bed.

“Ah, Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!”
“Oh, and by the way, this one’s the real deal, of course.”

Every time he struggled, the tip of his arm went numb.
The excruciating pain, enough to make Lusce’s mind go blank, instantly crushed any will to resist.
Dalba moved the dagger up and down to inflict more pain before yanking it out in one swift motion.

“…!!”
“Oops, I went too far. Looks like he won’t be able to comfort himself anymore. Zola, hold him down.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Lusceee, I’ll let you see it up close. This monster crying out in pain!”

Dalba grabbed the horns of the immobile Möwe. Then, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he smiled at her.

“Hey, I’ve been wondering, do these horns grow back if I cut them off? Let me try it out.”
“No, no! Stop!”
“Don’t… Mo… we…”
(Help me-)

As he drew the dagger toward her chest and thrust the blade into the base of the horn, a sudden gust of wind swept through the room.

“What was that just now…”

It was a very warm, gentle breeze.
Bathed in the wind, Darba glimpsed something stirring behind Möwe for just an instant.
A form with wings spread wide, beastly and majestic, yet filled with compassion.
It was as if he were falling asleep in the arms of an invisible mother…
Wrapped in a surge of happiness, Dalba fell silent.
He had become nothing but shredded flesh, unaware even that he had died.

“Da-Dalbaaaaaa?!”

Zola screamed, unable to believe the sight before his eyes.
There was no one here who could kill Dalba.
His heart pounded with unknown terror.
Then, suddenly, the bed creaked.
There it was, with amber eyes that shone like jewels…

“…”

Shreds of flesh flew through the air.

“Mo… Möwe, what…are you…”
“…Hm?”

To that question, Möwe simply tilted her head.

“Möwe, I’m so glad you’re safe.”
“Lusce, are you okay?”

Möwe’s gaze was fixed on Lusce’s hands.
Though tightly bound in clean cloth, blood still flowed, forming crimson stains.
It was hardly an okay situation, but Lusce had something more pressing to resolve.

“Möwe, please, Could you put some clothes on?”
“Mh…why?”
“Dalba and Zola are dead. So there are no more rules binding us. We don’t need collars, and we can wear whatever clothes we like.”
“…Is it necessary?”

Möwe hopped up and down in front of Lusce. Only the somewhat out-of-place sound of bells echoed through the room, clinking and clanking.

“It’s necessary! Everyone in the outside world wears clothes!”
“Hm… I see.”

She said that, but she still didn’t look convinced. Muttering that he’d explain properly later, Lusce decided to search for clothes that would fit Möwe on the shelf at the back of the room.

“…Phew, that should do it.”
“Hm, let’s go then.”
“Eh? Where are we going?”
“To defeat the bad adults outside.”

Despite the spine-chilling experience, she still looked as sleepy as ever.
Even though she was still young.
Perhaps the reason she could remain calm was because Dalba and the other guy were so torn apart that their original form was unrecognizable.
Or was Möwe truly the monster he claimed her to be? The words nearly slipped out, but she swallowed them, instead bringing up another topic on a whim.

“First, let’s gather everyone in the mansion!”

Then, the two searched the mansion for children, telling them they had been freed from Dalba.

“You will not be forced to sell your body.” You are free.”

They repeated it over and over, pleading for their safety.
But contrary to Lusce’s feelings, not a single kid thanked him.
Freedom from slavery was undoubtedly something to rejoice over.
But that was merely the perspective of those who possessed other means to survive.
Basically, it was only because of Dalba’s power that they had avoided being targeted by the town’s outlaws.
They understood this well, believing that having their lives managed by powerful adults was far better than being left homeless.

///////

Waiting for the heat to die down, Lusce gathered the children in the mansion’s great hall to discuss their future course of action.
He continued to emphasize the importance of living together and uniting, but still, no one readily agreed.
So he told them about the power he had seen Möwe wield in Dalba’s room. Reactions were mixed, but as soon as they saw her Wind Elemental powers unfold before their eyes, many joined the cause.

It took time to consolidate everyone’s opinions, but Lusce and his companions began working toward purifying the town.
To eliminate adults who posed a threat and create a town for children alone, free from invasion.

///////

Using the Elemental power controlled by Möwe, the one-sided purification of the town drove out the outlaws and yielded remarkable results.

A few days had passed since the town became a paradise for children only.
Though minor conflicts arose between allies over trivial matters, none escalated into major problems. Everyone moved forward positively toward stabilizing the town.

Running the town solely by children was far from smooth sailing. Yet, the promise of an unseen world and the hope for freedom undoubtedly moved them forward.
The town was steadily moving in a positive direction.
At least, everyone believed that.

“…Kee hee hee, nice to meet you. I’m Akunai, just a humble traveling merchant.”

The signs of change were merely insignificant at first.
The first person to arrive in the reborn town was a wandering merchant who regularly supplied food and goods.
He was about the same size as Lusce, and wore a plastered-on smile as he spoke with apparent regret.

“It’s changed quite a bit since I last came here. What a shame… I heard Lord Dalba has died. His mansion was one of the few places I could find solace after crossing the harsh desert.”

Is this little man also evil, preying on children? Lusce grew increasingly wary of his attitude. He decided to meet him alongside Möwe as the town’s de facto representatives, but soon began to regret that choice.

“A shame, huh?”
“Yes, your town is too pure. You know, there’s a lack of desire here. Sweet, sweeeeet, honey-like desire.”
“We’ve suffered from that all our lives. You don’t understand because you’re the one taking it.”
“Kee hee hee, that’s not true. Lusce, if people can’t unleash their desire, they cease to be human. So you must have some too. An extraordinary desire.”

“Ah,” Akinai muttered, as if remembering, and pointed to Lusce’s bandaged hand.

“As a token of our newfound closeness, I shall provide you food and high-quality ointment free of charge today.”
“Huh…?”
“You must be in a difficult position. You’re bleeding, and it looks like you’ve run out of clean bandages. As for food, the more the better if you’re feeding everyone.”
“But I can’t possibly accept so much…”

Akinai, sensing a business opportunity in Lusce’s hesitant reply, launched into a rapid-fire proposal.

“Then, let’s do this. Allow me to freely explore the town. I wish to see for myself what supplies are needed here. We’ll call it an equal exchange.”
“N-no, that’s too much…”

Despite their similar builds, Akinai carried an oddly imposing presence. He claimed to be a merchant who traveled from town to town.
That he’d managed to keep doing business with Dalba all this time was likely because he possessed a cunning Lusce lacked.

“…Lusce, it’s fine if he looks around the town.”
“But, Möwe-“
“Then it’s settled! Thank you, pretty jewel-eyed maiden.”

Akinai entrusted most of the cargo he’d unloaded from his pack mule to Lusce and Möwe, then promptly began exploring the town… before leaving again before sunset.
He seemed to be sniffing around persistently, but nothing particularly noteworthy happened.
As he became swallowed up by the hectic pace of daily life, the matter slipped completely from Lusce’s mind.

Who did it?! Who is the culprit?!

That day, the town had regained its former unsettling clamor.
Those rampaging, those lying, those fanning division… as if possessed by something, they acted as they pleased.
The cause of this was that the food stored in the mansion disappeared overnight.
Those who had been stationed in shifts on guard duty in the food storehouse had been murdered inside. Because of this, it took so long for the situation to be discovered.

“What should we do, Lusce… Everyone is fighting.”
“This shouldn’t be happening… Who on earth…”

The commotion had spread far and wide across the town.
Lusce’s words alone were not enough to calm the raging mob.
Using Möwe’s powers would make things easier.
But they absolutely had to avoid ruling through violence.
If they resorted to violence even once, Lusce’s ideal town would vanish back into a dream.
They had to find another solution.
It was something a young leader and a naive girl could never possibly find.

That wasn’t the only thing troubling them.
An older man, who should have been protecting the weak, had been secretly assaulting numerous girls.
Lusce’s greatest mistake lay in failing to educate the children after liberating the mansion.
Most of the children brought there had received no proper education.
And with a tyrant like Dalba so close at hand, it was hardly surprising they’d come to share his mindset.

Amidst this turmoil, the sounds of unrest spread further.
It had reached a point where maintaining the community itself was becoming difficult.
A decision had to be made immediately.

“…Kee hee hee, you seem troubled, eh?”
“Ah, you are…”

As if timing his entrance perfectly, the wandering merchant Akinai appeared in the mansion.
Behind him followed a large group of children, led by an older boy.
Weapons of various sizes were clutched in their hands, and many wore strange expressions. Their eyes seemed unfocused, as if their minds were elsewhere…

“Could you be…the one behind this commotion…”

Even as Lusce’s rage-filled gaze met his, Akinai smiled coolly.

“My, I wonder what could you be talking about. I was just helping you all live a better life.”
“Helping? You call destroying the town helping?”
“No way. I did not want that. This is what they wanted. Right, everyone?”

The boys all raised their voices in unison.

“Lusce, you’re the only one having all this fun! Give us that monster girl!”
“Hehhe, those horns look useful…”

They kept calling Möwe a monster, driven by their vulgar desires. Not a single one of them intended to treat her as a human being.

“…M-Möwe isn’t a monster…”
“Yes, Möwe is human!”

As if shielding her from the crowd’s gaze, Lusce stood before Möwe. No matter how much he protested, the mob couldn’t be stopped.
He had to do something before they killed him.

“Lusce, it’s no use. Should we finish them off?”

Möwe reached for the jade-colored dagger… but Lusce stopped her with his hand and shook his head.

“That won’t do, Möwe. If we do that, we’ll become just like them.”
“But then you…”
“Kee hee hee, so that’s the dagger that controls the power of the wind!”

Akinai’s high-pitched voice echoed, and the scene suddenly fell silent.

“Of course! It is you! You are the Wind Sibyl!?”
“Sibyl…?”
“Lusce, you needn’t know that. Knowing it would be beyond your childish grasp anyway. Now then, I have a proposal. In exchange for guaranteeing your life, would you not hand her and the dagger over to me~?”

Akinai deliberately raised his voice at the last phrase, making a disgustingly unfair demand.

“This is just a threat! I won’t give in to violence.”
“I see, is that so?”

Akinai gave orders to his group.

“Well, everyone, please kill Lusce.”
“Möwe! Let’s run!”
“Yes…!”

Before the group could rush forward, Möwe conjured a wall of wind. Appearing to separate them from Akinai and his crew, the wall effortlessly repelled the charging mob, turning their attack back on them.

“Kee hee hee, how wonderful! I will catch you! Even if it means going to the ends of the earth!”

The two managed to escape the mansion and made their way out of town.

That day, the children’s paradise collapsed.
Yet, Lusce felt no regret.
Because the girl possessing that beautiful yet terrifying power had chosen him.
To him, that was the greatest joy of all.

///////

Möwe and Lusce fled the town with only the clothes on their backs.
It seemed their journey would be aimless, but it appeared others still despised Akinai’s rule. They joined forces and continued traveling together.

“Lusce, where are we going now?”
“Honestly, I don’t know… but I’ve decided on one thing.”

Lusce took out a hemp bag containing seeds from his pocket.
It was something Akinai had given him before, but he hadn’t had time to find a place to plant them and had left them in the bag.

“A place where we can grow these. That’s where we’ll head.”
“Hm… I see.”

A small glimmer of hope had begun to grow, but with no proper food or means of travel, their journey was harsh and difficult.
They staved off hunger with tree roots and insects, finding places to rest when they could before pushing onward.
But when such a journey continued day after day, it was inevitable that the weakest would start to break down.
And then, after several days passed…some of the group began to drop out.

“…Damn, it’s all because of my own failure…”
“Hey, Lusce… Should we make a grave…for the two of them…?”
“Möwe, you should try not to move too much.”

The younger men still showed some composure, but the small Möwe was severely weakened.
If things continued like this, she might be the next to fall.
So Lusce made a decision.

“Listen, everyone.”

Struggling to suppress the tremor in his voice, Lusce forced his words out.

“…This is i-important food. We’ll bury them after that.”
“Lusce…?”
“Are you… serious?! Why would you say something like that? Eating our friends, the ones we lived with…!”
“Please understand. We have to survive carrying the lives of the two who couldn’t make it. It’s painful, but we have no choice…!”

No one could hide their shock at Lusce’s words. The boy who had wished for everyone to live more than anyone else was now unrecognizable, his spirit crushed by the relentless hardships of their journey.

“I’m going to say something even more cruel to you all, but please understand…”

Everyone knew what Lusce was trying to say to prevent any more dropouts.
Dismember our friends.

“To ensure fairness, I need you to help, even just a little. And if you can’t bear it, whisper this: ‘Thank you for being our flesh and blood, and for the eternity we share together.'”
“Lusce…are we really going to eat them…?”
“Yes. I don’t want to lose you.”

Lusce’s hand touched Möwe’s shoulder.
It trembled violently. He, too, was terrified by the act of eating his friends.

“We’ll become a family bound by a strong bond. Let’s share everything, even the painful things.”

No one pointed out that Lusce’s eyes were dark and cloudy as he said this.
The community had been reformed, with Lusce at its apex.
Their former ideals had vanished in the face of reality, and something horrifying was about to emerge.

///////

Some time passed, and Möwe and her group found a cave suitable for settlement at the edge of the desert.
There was a water source and moderately moist soil. Here, they could plant seeds… Everything would work out.
Or so they thought.

“Damn…they’ve withered again! Why won’t they grow…?”

The supposedly plentiful seedlings were already running out. The environment was perfect for them to grow, so why…?
In the end, nothing was gained that day either.

One night…
In the dimly lit cave where the faint sound of wind could be heard, Lusce sat huddled with Möwe in the bed he had prepared for her.

“Möwe…please don’t go anywhere…”

As their friends fell one after another, Lusce could barely maintain his sanity.
As a way to cope, she had come to seek Möwe’s warmth.
So much time has passed since they first met.
Once the same height as Möwe, Lusce had now grown large enough to hold her completely within his arms.
While the others in the community grew, Möwe alone remained unchanged, just as she had been back then.
With such a small body, it was difficult for her to put her arms around his back. So Möwe reached out to Lusce’s neck… and gently stroked his nape.

“You are doing your best for everyone. It’ll be alright.”
“Thank you… Möwe…”

Usually, that would have been the end of their interaction.

“Möwe…”

But the crushing weight of bearing everyone’s lives overwhelmed Lusce’s reason… and before he knew it, his lips met Möwe’s.

“…W-What was I-“

A rough breath escaped his lips. They’d only exchanged a kiss, yet his heart pounded violently, his mind reeling from the powerful shock.
It was scary. Scary, scary, scary.
It felt like he was losing himself…

“It’s okay…”
“…”

She opened herself to him, as if surrendering everything to Lusce.
The first time he saw her flashed back into his mind.
The image of her, in her naked form, accepting his desire.
In truth, he had always wanted this.
Even if it was just once. He wanted to devour her to his heart’s content, as far as his desire allowed.

“Möwe isn’t going anywhere.”

Lusce had been chasing those words ever since.

The next morning…
As Lusce felt a terrible weariness, he heard a voice in his drowsy vision.
It must have been Möwe sleeping next to him, talking in her sleep. Thinking this, Lusce reached out his hand to search his surroundings.
But the warmth that should have been there was gone.

“…”

The voice resounded again. This time it was clear.
It echoed throughout the cave, like an alarm bell.

“No way- Pursuers!?”

Lusce reflexively jumped up and ran toward the entrance.

“Möwe…! Möwe!”

She found her immediately.
She was standing near the entrance, surrounded by their friends.
He let out a sigh of relief. She tried to call out to Möwe, who had her back turned, but…

“Hm…?”

Was she seeing things? She seemed taller than usual.
Möwe couldn’t even reach Lusce’s chest. They were always together, and he held her until she passed out last night, so there was no way he could mistake her.
Then who was this girl standing at his same height?

“Oh, Lusce. Good morning.”

Noticing Lusce’s presence, Möwe turned around.
She was smiling shyly, and in her arms… were two little girls both identical to her.

“Lusce, Lusce…”
“…Sce…sce…!”

The girls jumped from Möwe’s arms, walked over to Lusce with firm steps, and clung to his knees.
They had dark skin and amber eyes. And also… beast-like horns.
They were pretty much Möwe herself.
Except for their childish appearance, their voices and mannerisms were somehow like hers. No, they were way too similar.

“…”

The moment he realized this, a chill ran down Lusce’s spine. His heart tightened.

(W-What…exactly did I get mixed up with…!?)

A strange life-form, clearly different from humans.
Who was she? No, who were they?
At that moment, it suddenly occurred to him that Akinai had desperately wanted Möwe.

The Wind Sibyl.

Was he aware of this fact?
If he had been wandering the towns seeking an aberrant existence like hers-

“Mh, what’s wrong, Lusce?”
“S-STAY AWAY!!”

Möwe was speechless at Lusce’s sudden change.
The sharp voice echoing through the cave was enough to startle the girls playing at his knees. They scattered like spiders, hiding behind their mother.

“…Did Möwe do something wrong?”

Fear was evident in Lusce’s eyes as she watched his expression. They were so moist as if tears were about to spill.

“…”
“Say something, anything.”

Just as her trembling hand reached for Lushé’s cheek… It snapped away with a dry smack.

“Who exactly are you…?”
“Huh? Möwe is Möwe, you know?”
“No…no. NO, NO, NO! You’re not Möwe! The Möwe I know… Möwe…!”

If this was the Lusce from the town, he might have had the rationalization to question Möwe’s sudden growth.
But his heart had been corroded, reduced to a beast driven only by desire, and he could not suppress the impulse welling up inside him.

“Give me back MY Möwe! You… Monster!”

Those words had been hidden deep in Lusce’s heart.
His face filled with rage. His eyes wide with fear.
The pure emotion of denial expressed by her beloved pierced Möwe’s heart deep, deep inside.

“Ah…Ahhh…”

Möwe’s anguished cry echoed throughout the cave.
The outburst of emotion became a huge surge, unconsciously awakening the power of the Wind Elemental.
When the wind ceased, no living human remained there.

The precious person who had walked alongside her, sharing both joy and sorrow.
He now lay scattered around as silent, lifeless flesh.

“…Lu… Lusce…”

What were the words his lips were trying to form? No one remained to know.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

With her amber eyes swollen red, Möwe gathered the scattered flesh floating in the pool of blood, murmuring her apology over and over like a delirious chant.

“Lusce?” “…sce, where…”

Unable to comprehend what had happened, the girls stamped their feet in the pool of blood. erhaps finding the splashing sound comforting, they played innocently.

“Mommy?” “What’s wrong?”

Worried about their mother, who was crouched and motionless, they called out to her. “It’s nothing,” Möwe replied with a weak smile, and quietly hugged them.

///////

On that night…
Möwe decided to mourn Lusce and the others.
The lump of flesh that used to be Lusce shone brightly in the light that surrounded it.

“Hey?” “What are you doing?”

Möwe spoke in a gentle voice to her daughters, whose anticipation swelled for what was about to begin.
It was the unyielding rule of the community established by their father, Lusce.

“Today is a special day. After we all express our gratitude to Dad, we will eat him.”
“Mm.” “Gratitude.”
“Now, after Möwe… no, Mom says it, you follow along.”
“We know.” “Like this?”
“Huh?”

The daughters clasped their hands, closed their eyes, and stammered out words of gratitude. Every single phrase they couldn’t possibly have been taught.

“These children, their memories…”

Urged by her daughters, Möwe shook her head and lowered her gaze to Lusce.
She clasped her hands and closed her eyes, as if cherishing the deceased.

“Thank you for being our flesh and blood, and for the eternity we share together.”

The flesh of her beloved was incredibly soft.

“I’m sorry, Lusce. The last seedling withered too…”

After erecting a grave within the cave, Möwe set out on a journey with her daughters, with no destination in mind.

“Mom?” “Where are we going?”
“Hehe, I wonder where should we go.”

Though Möwe was the original Wind Sibyl and daughter of the fertility goddess Nefeshé, she did not harbor the power of the four Elementals within her.
Therefore, Möwe and her daughters, whose bodies were largely formed solely by the power of the Wind Elemental, unconsciously drained vast amounts of life force to maintain their current state.
This applied not only to nature, but to humans as well.

They were unaware of their origins or what truly kept them alive.
They would only begin to understand these mysteries little by little after being exposed once more to humanity’s ugly desires, and defiled by them…

///////

“Kee hee hee, is this the place?”

A man rode a mule, looking up at a cave.
His name was Akinai. He was a small man who had once stained with desire the town that Lusce and Möwe sought to build.
Once he had jet-black hair and a slender build, but now he was plump and corpulent, with limbs as thin as branches. His graying hair hinted at the passage of time.
There was a reason he had gone to the trouble of bringing guards along.

“At the edge of the desert lies a paradise that captivates men.”

This rumor had begun circulating in the city of desire ruled by Akinai, though no one knew when.
It was said that any man who found the cave would be welcomed by mysterious women with amber eyes and enjoy the ultimate pleasure for three days and three nights.

“Lord Akinai, is there truly such a place within this cave?”

Akinai replied his skeptical guards with a snort.

“Rumors don’t spring from thin air. Even the most exaggerated stories have their roots in something. Besides… Kee hee hee.”

Seeing Akinai mutter to herself, the guards lost interest in pursuing the matter any further.
Despite his advancing age, Akinai was desperate on capturing a Sibyl, a young girl who possessed the power of the elementals.
His glittering eyes hinted his longing for nations like Agidis, Tioquia, and Luthra, which possessed their own Sibyls.

“Come on, come on, let’s hurry!”

He dismounted his mule and stepped into the cave with his guards.
The cave was deeper than they had expected, sloping gently downward.
Even though the guards warned it was dangerous, Akinai rushed ahead. Where on earth did that old man get such energy from?
After walking for a while… Akinai noticed some noises and lights coming from deep within.
The closer he got, the louder and stronger it became.

“Kee hee hee, so the rumors were true after all!”
“Ah, wait! Lord Akinai!”

Ignoring the guards’ warnings, Akinai reached the depths, and what he saw was…

“Ah, ahhh… ” “Fuh, fuh, mhmm…”
“I-I can’t take it anymore… P-please, stop…”

A frenzied orgy, with naked men and women entwined like snakes.
How long had they been at it? Some of the men pitifully begged, “Let me go!” But the women straddling them continued to their life as if oblivious to the world… demanding more.
Even when the plate was empty, they begged for more. What’s next? What’s next?
Their greedy devouring was truly beast-like.

“Kee hee hee, my, my, I never imagined it would be this…”

The women varied wildly in age. There were young children, girls, women in their prime, and older women.
Even Akinai, the embodiment of desire, could not hide his astonishment at this bizarre spectacle, a sight he had never witnessed before.
Swallowing the saliva rising from his mouth, he stared intently at the mingling of men and women.

“I-I want to go in, too… I want to join in!”
“Lord Akinai, are you okay!?”

At that moment, the clatter of the guards’ footsteps echoed through the cave. The women, engrossed in their act, all turned toward Akinai at once.
They had amber eyes and beast-like horns.
All of them had the same smile on their faces, beckoning the man with the same expression.
All of them looked familiar to Akinai.

“Mö… Möwe…!”

In this abnormal situation, he had no thought left to make a calm decision.
As if drawn by something, Akinai ran toward the group of women bearing Möwe’s face.
With each piece of clothing he took off, he felt his heart pounding so hard it threatened to burst. Yet his desire screamed on.
“Hurry, let me devour them!”
Akinai plunged into the sea of ​​women.

…How long did they continue copulating?
Was it an hour? Or perhaps an entire night?
The dimly lit cavern distorted any sense of time.
Adding to that, the demands of these women, skilled enough to please even Akinai, blocked his thoughts and clouded his consciousness.
It felt as if they were blending into a single life, melting together.
Suddenly, as he lay there, Akinai caught sight of his male guards.
They had already become mere beasts.
Soon, he would become like them too.
Gathering the last remnants of his sanity, Akinai yelled at the girl straddling him.

“S… Stop it! That’s enough!”
“Why? It’s not enough, Akinai?”
“What… you said my name… You really are…”

Before he knew it, Möwes of all sizes stood surrounding him.
They were all humming Akinai’s name as if singing.
With the same face and the same eyes, they were looking longingly at him.
Akinai noticed one woman among them whose gaze was different.

“A familiar face, isn’t it?”

A woman who looked particularly old among the Möwes appeared.
She narrowed her eyes and smiled, as if recalling fond memories.
She was none other than the Möwe Akinai had met before.

“Kee hee hee… It’s been a long time, Möwe.”
“Yes, it truly has. I believed you would come here.”
“…I, I can’t believe it…”

Möwe wore a defiant smile.

“I wonder what this place looks like to you. Doesn’t it look like a beautiful town, filled with desire?”
“Kee, hee hee…”
“Hehe, everyone else looks eager to eat you too.”

Women began to swarm around Akinai’s sprawled body.
If even one of them was this much trouble, what if he kept engaging with these monsters…

“I-I’ll provide you with as many men as you want! So, please help me, save me…!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll save you.”
“Huh…?”

Akinai disappeared into the midst of the women, watched over by Möwe, who wore a gentle smile like a mother’s.

///////

After being devoured by the Möwes, Akinai was reduced to a skeleton.
Holding his cleanly severed head aloft toward the heavens, the motherly Möwe offered a prayer.

“Blessed are all the living creatures of this world.”

The man’s expression was filled with ecstasy.