Loa was having a nightmare.
She was captured by a villain, restrained, cursed, and tainted.
It hurt, it was painful, and it was unbearable.
“Why would you do something so horrible?”
Even though she had done nothing wrong, she repeatedly apologized, crying and begging for forgiveness, but they never forgave her.
That was something Loa had actually experienced.
“Rya…”
Loa woke up groaning. It was the middle of the night, so the room was pitch dark.
“Kyuu?”
Carro, who had somehow woken up, gently patted Loa’s head.
Then, Carro guided Loa’s head back to rest beside Luria ‘s.
Apparently, Loa had moved away from Luria while she was tossing and turning.
“Ryuu…”
Loa buried her head in Luria ‘s hair. It was warm and smelled nice.
It brought her a deep sense of comfort.
“…Ryaa…”
Loa, now at ease, began to drift off again.
At that moment, she felt the presence of someone else suffering in the same way she had.
It was the same presence she’d felt nearby while she was cursed.
“May that person also find salvation,” Loa prayed as she fell back to sleep.
Sara was dreaming.
It was a dream of being embraced by her beloved mother, Marion.
Her mother spoke kind words, stroked her head, and hugged her tightly.
Overjoyed, Sara spoke endlessly, and her mother listened gently, nodding along.
When Sara woke up, filled with happiness, what she saw was—
“Heh… hehe…”
Luria clinging to her, mumbling in her sleep.
“…Luria -chan.”
Luria was so warm.
It had been so long since Sara had been able to sleep so soundly and peacefully.
Surely, it was thanks to Luria .
Sara couldn’t help but feel that being embraced by Luria was what allowed her to dream of her mother.
Filled with gratitude, Sara stroked Luria ‘s head.
“Huh?”
For some reason, Luria was in just her underwear.
Last night, they had bathed and changed into their sleepwear before going to bed.
Sara couldn’t understand why Luria was now in her underwear.
“Did she take her clothes off while half-asleep?”
Trying not to think too much about it, Sara continued stroking Luria ‘s head.
“Good morning, Carro.”
“Kyuu.”
She greeted Carro, who stood on the headboard.
“Good morning, Koruko.”
“Kor.”
She greeted Koruko, who was patrolling the room.
“Good morning, Kuro.”
She stroked the radiant, glowing spirit Kuro.
“Good morning, everyone.”
She greeted the other spirits floating nearby.
In response, the spirits traced figure eights in the air.
Although she couldn’t hear their voices, Sara felt certain they were saying, “Good morning.”
“…And Daru?”
“…Suu… suu… ahh…”
Daru was sleeping soundly beside Luria .
He was half out of the blanket and lying upside down, with his head near Luria ‘s feet and his bottom close to her face.
“…Did Daru thrash around in his sleep?”
As Sara whispered this, Daru murmured “Ahh” and began moving his four legs quickly, as if running in a dream.
This movement was likely why the blanket had fallen off him.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
Sara covered Daru’s belly with the blanket.
“…Huh?”
It was then that Sara noticed something red near Luria ‘s face, just under Daru’s tail.
“This is bad! Luria -chan, Luria -chan!”
Panicking, Sara shook Luria to wake her up.
“Mmm… nyuu…”
Still half-asleep, Luria grabbed the red object—a tail—and popped it into her mouth.
“Don’t eat that! You’ll get a stomachache!”
Though Sara panicked, Luria , still fast asleep, sucked on the tail contentedly.
Luria was having a happy dream.
In front of her was a feast.
Cookies, delicious bread, cakes, steaks, and stews were spread before her.
“Can I eat all of this?”
—Yes, you may.
A voice spoke from somewhere.
Luria didn’t care whose voice it was.
After all, it was a dream.
“This is delicious, Loa! Isn’t it delicious?”
‘It’s delicious! It’s so delicious!’
For some reason, beside Luria was Loa, the Spirit King from a past era—a small red dragon.
Luria found this completely normal, as it was just a dream.
“Daru, you should eat too.”
“Woof!”
Everyone was there before she realized it.
Since it was a dream, Luria didn’t question when they had appeared.
“Carro and Koruko, you should eat too.”
“Kyuu!” “Koo~!”
“Sara-chan, there’s meat here! You love meat, don’t you?”
“Yeah! It’s delicious!”
In the dream, Luria continued to devour the feast.
Everyone else ate heartily too, their joy apparent.
Seeing everyone so happy made Luria feel incredibly content.
Luria was hungrier than usual. That’s why she dreamed of a feast.
The reason for her hunger was that she had used magic before sleeping.
Neither Luria nor Kuro, the current Spirit King, knew this, but using magic made one hungry.
Especially Luria , who wasn’t just human—she was a special Spirit King with a physical body, akin to a guardian beast.
On top of eating to sustain her human body, Luria also needed food to fuel her spirit’s magical circuits.
Even without using magic, she was always hungry. Using magic made her even hungrier.
That’s why Luria , unlike an ordinary five-year-old, always ate several times more food.
