𝐢𝐝𝐲𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜 | 𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐩𝐧

𝟑𝟒| 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭: 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲.

   𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐠-𝐉𝐨𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝, on day five they finally made it through the tunnels. "We did it!" Everyone cheered as the light came through at the end of the cave system.

   "Right ahead, we'll rise up, and you'll be leaving the forest already," Sung-Joo stated while facing the three eldest, "let's rest for the night. We can proceed tomorrow."

   "This time, leave dinner to us!" Rossi shouted.

   Jemima nodded, "then we'll make more medicine from herbs!"

   "My, these kids really do learn fast," Sung-Joo said.

   "This is nothing, Ray, Y/n, and Emma are way faster. Norman was amazing, too! One glance and Bam! He was already a pro!" Alicia and Eugene explained.

   "It was great, thanks!"

   "Alright!" Don smiled, "tomorrow we should be reaching B 06-32!"

   "If we keep a good pace, that is..." Nat mumbled.

   "Then we're gonna keep a good pace!"

   Some of the children cried to Musica, sad they'd have to leave them, "I don't wanna leave you guys..."

   As the three eldest were helping Anna pack medicine, Ray noticed Gilda in deep thought, "Gilda, what's the matter?"

   "Ah, no, it's... I was just rethinking our plans."

   "Huh? How come?" Lannion asked.

   "Well, I was thinking about those 'stories of old' that Sung-Joo told us. It's good to know that there's a human world somewhere. But, on the other hand, we thought that there would be human groups here, in this world. We were counting on human cities or something, but there's nothing. No other humans to join, either. And we need more people to rescue the kids left on the farm. That's why we have to think it all over again."

   "You're correct," Ray confirmed.

   "Sung-Joo," Emma called out, "Are there more humans like us, runaways? You should know, right? Did you hear anything on your travels? There are many plantations. It's very possible that Minerva has hidden instructions for the others, too."

   "Oh!" Thoma smiled, "I see, so maybe some other kids managed to get away."

   "Never heard of it," he said, "and, even if there were any, it'd be a small count indeed. One or two at best."

   "Huh? But why?"

   "Plantations may have nothing in common with one another but the name. In particular, premium-grade plantations like your Grace Field are exceptional. The large majority are for factory farming."

   "Factory farming? What's that?" Thoma asked.

   "The mass production of cheap meat. Where the livestock is kept in poor conditions, barely even living... Just fattening for the slaughter. Humans born in such conditions don't even learn a language. They have no names. They have no free will. And they most certainly couldn't even conceive of escaping. Though, even if they did, they'd get nowhere, anyhow. Incidentally, among several hundred plantations, the premium-grade nes amount to a mere four."

   "Four?! Only four?!"

   "If this 'Minerva' has really hidden instructions, he must've worked with these four at best. Your own, and three others. You've told me about how you came to find out the truth and plan your escape. However, I have serious doubts that such a feat could be achieved often. What's more, you yourselves must know better than anyone how hard it is to survive, once outside. Other fugitives are therefore quite unlikely. Albeit... I've sometimes heard of cattle raiders. Those are 'demons' who, consumed by the desire to eat humans, attack plantations to steal them. They're exceptionally rare, though. They might be useful tools for your cause, I can think of nothing else. However, it depends a lot on how you'd go about it, At any rate... There are no humans out there comparable to you in intelligence and knowledge. These are the hard facts."

   After the words that spewed from Sung-Joo's mouth, everyone dispersed. Y/n had gone off on her own to think. As she was deep in thought, a voice called her, "Y/n."

   "Musica!"

   "Are you okay? After... Well, all that..?"

   "It's fine, it's fine! That thing about the factory farming was quite a shock, really. But, we'll find a way to secure a safe place and get more comrades. We'll come up with something. Even if it seems impossible, we can do it! I can't afford to sulk around. I have to forge ahead for the sake of my little brothers and sisters, they're counting on me. Wanna see them? Wanna see our family?" Musica nodded and Y/n pulled out pictures from her bag. She first showed a picture of Phil running in the field, "this is Phil. Ain't he a cutie? This is shelly. She's such a precocious girl for fashion."

   "And this little one?"

   "That's Carol, she's still just one year old, but look at this face she makes when she's pouting. It's so funny!"

   "And these two?"

   "Nayla and Damdin! And back here you can see Eugene and-"

   "Your hair is so long!"

   "Right! That's before Anna helped me cut mine. It was getting too hot to keep it long and I just fell in love with the style so I keep it like this!" The girl explained each photo, smiling sadly as she got to the lat one, "this here is Norman... he was our best friend before he got shipped off. It was hard on all of us, but you should've seen Emma. I thought I'd never see her happy again... between you and me, they had the biggest crush on each other. They're really smart but were so dumb thinking it was one-sided... I think he's why Emma is so adamant about getting everyone to safety. She loves her family and would do it anyways, but he gave her that push."

   "Hm.. I see."

   "It's funny, you know? I can't think of you as a demon at all. Ah! Sorry... I didn't mean it in a bad way..."

   "It's fine, don't worry."

   "What I wanted to say is, I had no idea that the demons could be so different from each other."

   "You know, this is the very first time that I got to see humans! To talk with humans, even! All thanks to you and your friends! Not as food, and not as enemies. You're very different from other living beings. I'm happy I got to meet your friends... and you, Y/n. I'm happy we could become friends."

   "Yes, me too.. I'm so grateful that we could meet you and Sung-Joo. To meet new friends. Thank you for these six days."

   "Well... It's getting late, Y/n. I think we should head off to bed."

   "You're right. Goodnight, Musica..." she said, starting to leave, then turning back to give the demon a hug, "thank you, so much..."Musica returned the hug. It didn't last long nor was it awkward. They went their own ways to where their beds were.

   When Y/n got to her bed, she spotted Ray playing with the pen, "what are you up to, Ray?"

   "Oh, hey. I'm just trying to get these passwords in."

   "Do you need help?"

   "No..." he declined, but thought about how time consuming it was to do every step himself, "but.. If you don't mind, you can help me out."

   She smiled and sat next to the boy, pulling the book into her lap, "okay."

   "Page fifty seven, line three, word ten."

   "Hope."

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𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫

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