I was talking as if Theo wasn’t there, because he wouldn’t answer anyway.
Again, there was no answer this time.
“I didn’t even know this place existed.”
“It’s for me to hide.”
“…!”
I felt sorry for Theo’s answer, but I was surprised that he actually answered.
It has only been two weeks after I approached Theo that I had received a non-threatening answer from him.
‘Hey, calm down. If you overreact, you may not be able to get an answer again.’
I calmed my beating heart and tried to speak calmly.
“Oh, wow! That’s great! This place is really good for hiding. It’s genius.”
But this time, my body and mind were separate.
Anyone could tell that was an overreaction.
I rubbed my forehead and fell backwards.
“Because people who have no reason to hide will not find it.”
But contrary to my expectations that he would ignore me as usual, Theo continued speaking quietly.
I laid on the floor of the building, looking at Theo sitting next to me.
A reason to hide. My heart ached at the injustice I felt in those words.
“But, I mean, I think it’s nonsense. It’s just a color, isn’t it?”
Theo was no different from the other children. Except for the colors that other people have given names and specially decided.
“Do you really think so?”
Theo’s gaze, staring into the air, reached me.
Theo’s gaze was not reproaching me as usual. He was really curious about my thoughts.
Theo wasn’t even sure of himself.
As people say, is he really a demon, or is he just a person named Theo himself?
“Huh? It’s just a standard that people set their own way. No one can be sure about others. You decide who you are. I just don’t believe in the standards other people set.”
“…”
Theo frowned silently.
He didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about.
“So, no matter what other people say, what you think is more important.”
Theo’s eyes fluttered.
In the Latras Empire where I was born, the power of the high priest was second to that of the emperor.
The myth of the founding of the Latras Empire was also a story about a goddess who saved the world and a demon who was destroyed by her hand.
Because of this, almost everyone believes in the existence of goddesses and demons, and there are bound to be many myths about how to find the devil mixed with the general public.
And one of them was the black hair and red eyes.
Having decided such a characteristic at a glance as a rule, Theo must have been persecuted by countless people until now.
That’s why Theo seemed unsure of himself.
“Even if everyone else tells you you are the devil, don’t believe it.”
No matter how hard-hearted people are, if they are told that they are wrong, they will doubt their thoughts.
Even less so, since everyone in the world drove him to be a devil, now he may be just suspicious, but later he will admit that he really is a devil.
I thought it was the recognition that later stained Theo with malice.
As the saying goes and he grows up, Theo has been brainwashed from all the ridicule.
Under the name of the devil.
“How are you so sure?”
Theo, who had been looking at me all the time, asked me.
“How can you believe that that standard is wrong?”
“That…”
As he opened his mouth to answer Theo, the door of the old building opened violently.
“What?”
The sound of footsteps and sharp voices of several children were heard, and then there was the sound of dull bursts.
“Stay still.”
Theo spoke dryly, as if he were pleading with me. Then he got up and headed towards the sound.
“It’s dangerous to go alone!”
But I too got up straight away and followed Theo.
Then I saw the children destroying the entrance of the old building.
“William… !”
It’s him again
Now just looking at William’s face made me angry.
I approached them and tried to restrain them.
“Wait, then what if the building collapses? It’s too dangerous!”
The children were quite serious.
They were smashing wooden posts and shattering glass, as if they were trying to demolish a really old abandoned building.