Chapter 6

“Uh, ah, ah!”

Sigmund’s body, which had been gradually falling down, eventually sank into the grass.

No matter how hard I flapped my wings, the wings that became as heavy as cotton in water stopped moving.

“Wings hurt…”

I thought I could get to the village soon, but it was a lot farther than I had thought.

Even though he flew for a great long time, the village was only seen by lights and did not get close.

And I gradually lost strength in my wings. Eventually, Sigmund sat on the ground in the middle and lay there.

“Tired…Adele…wings hurt…

It’s the first time I’ve flown for this long.

In the meantime, Sigmund had only flown for a short time in the barn.

“Pretty clothes…Pretty shoes…Adele…”

I had to go to the village to get pretty clothes and pretty shoes, but I didn’t know what to do because the wings didn’t budge.

“It’s all right. I can fly again.”

It’s still a long way from sunrise.

The night has just begun.

A little lie down, and when I wake up, I’ll feel my wings again, thought Sigmund.

Never had the child been so tired even when playing with a cow in the barn all day long.

Even though he went out in the middle of the night when Adele was asleep and chased the fox and the owl until dawn, he had never felt so exhausted.

But now it’s hard to squeeze a finger.

“The stars…are pretty…”

Lying on the grass, Sigmund looked up at the myriad of stars that were playing all night long.

Tens of thousands of stars twinkled in the sky.

“In black cloth…By spraying stars…”

Sigmund imagined the prettiest clothes in the world.

If Adele was to be clothed with hundreds of thousands of starry gems in black cloth like the night sky, Adele would surely be as beautiful as dawn.

Dawn is very pretty.

My heart throbbed as I sat by the side of the sleeping Adele, watching the bright blue dawn through the small window of the attic.

My heart pounded as if beckoning someone to come in the dawn of the blue sky.

Sometimes it is.

When I lay down to sleep in the evening, I could hear someone calling me.

When I looked at the sunset, I could hear the sound of someone singing in the sunset, looking through the cracks in the barn.

– You should come here.

– Come back to us.

– You have to come here.

– Here’s where you’re coming back.

– Don’t forget. It’s not there, it’s here. Where we are.

They were all different voices.

But the voices told me to come back and come here.

Who are they?

Why are they calling him?

But I didn’t tell Adele.

I’m sure Adele’s worried about this.

– Other people see you as the bad guy.

(Adele)

These people will sell you if they find you. That’s why you have to hide here. Got it?

Adele was always worried.

She was worried that bad people would come and take him and sell him off.

It was because he had wings on him just like that.

Adele said the scary thing about having wings is special, and people catch and sell something special.

Adele has no wings.

Other people don’t have wings, either.

There are chickens and ducks in the yard, and chimney-living birds, but they can’t talk and look different from each other.

Adele called him a big bird.

Is it a real bird?

Don’t birds have beaks?

No sharp claws, no feathers.

How can a bird talk?

– You were born from an egg.

The first person I saw in my life was Adele.

I opened my eyes in the dark and there was nothing.

I was alone.

But when I was in the egg, I remembered someone giving me a warm hug outside.

Adele appeared when I was thinking about who it was.

The moment I saw Adele, I knew.

It was Adele who gave me a warm hug when I was in the egg.

“I’m not going anywhere, Adele.”

The place to be is by Adele’s side.

“I’ll only be next to Adele.”

I can’t imagine a world without Adele.

“Because I’m the Sigmund of Adele.”8

I won’t go no matter who calls me.

I will never leave Adele behind.

If I leave Adele’s side, I’ll be breathless.

“I love the smell of Adele…”1

Adele smells like warm and friendly hay.

If I bury my face in Adele’s chest, I become happy because of the pleasant smell and the texture of her new skin.2

“Let’s go get some pretty clothes for Adele.”

My strength came back from lying down for a while.

The brave Sigmund wiggled his wings.

The black wings flutter when I apply force.

I thought I could fly again.

“Uwaah.”

It was when Sigmund stood up.

“Huh?”

Sigmund’s ears twitched.

I heard a strange sound from a little distance and grabbed my ear.

Sigmund’s eyes are free from darkness.

I can distinguish things from far away, day and night.

A strange sound came from the forest.

It was a low growl.

“Who are you?”

Sigmund tilted his head as he watched some animals growling out of the forest.

Several animals with dark hair and sharp fangs growled at Sigmund with a gruesome stare.

I’ve seen that look once.

It was the look of that fox, who had dug under the fence and hid, when he took the chicken.

Then I saw Adele holding a broom and kicking out the fox through a barn crack.

– Why is the fox biting the chicken?

– It’s going to eat it.

– Doesn’t fox eat milk and blueberries?

– I think the chicken will hurt. The fox  has sharp teeth. Why don’t it eat something else?

It’s because it’s hungry.

I’m hungry, so I’m going to eat it.

That’s exactly what the animal’s eyes were like now.

“Are you guys trying to eat me because you’re hungry?”

“Growl”

Sigmund stared at the approaching wolves.

It occurred to me that wolves, like the fox, probably don’t eat milk.

But if I’ll be eaten by wolves, I can’t see Adele.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think Adele will like it, so I can’t feed you guys.”2

Whether the wolf understands or not, Sigmund does not know.

But Sigmund can’t do anything about the wolf because he can’t speak.

“I’ll go: If you’re hungry, look for something else. You’d better have milk or cheese.”

Sigmund shook his back, then bowed to the wolf, who was drooling as if they were going to rush..

“Growl!”

The roaring wolves opened their mouths wide and attacked Sigmund, who was flying into the sky.

“Ouh!”

Sigmund flew higher, flapping his wings with all his might to avoid the wolves that were coming at him.

“Ahhhh!”

“Growl!”

But the wolf, who jumped up, bit Sigmund’s shoes.

I felt pain as the sharp teeth pierced my shoes.

“Argh!”

Sigmund’s body fell to the ground.

Pak.

The wolves attacked Sigmund, who fell down.

He tried to reached out to a twig to the wolves that were coming at them, showing their big, ugly teeth.

Compared to wolf teeth, it was just a small hand, but instinctively, I reached out my hand.

Of course, it wasn’t scary.

It was then.

Swiik-

Sigmund’s ears sensed the sound of the wind being cut through.

Kaekaeng-!

With the sound of the wind, the wolf, who was about to hit the Sigmund, rolled sideways.

Kaekaeng-! Kaekang-!

In an instant, the wolves grumbled and fell.

The fallen wolves had arrows in their heads and bellies.

When the three wolves fell, the  Wolves merged and fled into the forest.

It was then that the voices of strange men popped out of the dark.

“Make sure the child is all right!”

“Is the child all right?!”

Next to Sigmund lying on the grass came the loud footsteps.

“Are you all right, kid?”

“Why would such a small child be in the middle of the night in a place like this…?”

Every time people moved, there was a strange sound.

Sigmund didn’t know it was the sound of ironclad shaking.

They were all strangers.

Of course, all were wearing the ironclads.

But I’ve never seen anyone wearing this kind of ironclad.

Why would he wear that around his body?

Wouldn’t the clothes be heavy?

The winged man himself was amazed, but the men who carried such a load of iron around their bodies were also amazed.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Kid?”

A knight tried to lift Sigmund up.

“Uh?”

The knight trying to raise a sigmund found something and stopped his hand.

I saw wings twinkling in the dark.

Blackish glossy wings.

Small, but it was definitely a wing.

And purple eyes.

The knight’s face froze at the sight of the purple-colored eyes.

There is only one person in the world who can have such a look.

The very person they’re looking for.

“Ba, Baron…”

The surprised knight shouted without even realising it.

“Baron! He, here…”

The knight’s hand, which supported Sigmund, was shaking very badly.

Sigmund could not understand why he was so surprised.

‘Is it because of the wings?’

Wings are special, she said.

‘Are you going to sell me?’

Adele always said that the winged child was special and would be sold by scary people.

Is this guy trying to sell him?

But I can’t be sold.

I must go to the village and get Adele’s pretty clothes, and I cannot be taken away because I must go back home before Adele wakes up.

“Ugh.”

Sigmund twisted himself out of the man’s hand.

I twisted my small body and flapped my wings, but I couldn’t get out of it.

The man’s hands are unexpectedly tight around me.

“I’ll get angry.”

Sigmund swelled his cheeks and told him how angry he was now.1

“I’ll be really angry. So let me go quickly. Let go.”

But the man shouted out to another man who was far away without paying any heed to him.

“Baron! Come quickly! Baron!”

Sigmund saw another man running towards them, a man named Baron.

He was coming up to where Sigmund and that knight was.2

***

It was Baron Edwin Lushen who hit all the wolves in the distance.

He was said to be the best swordsmanship and horsemanship, but he was the best at archery.1

The man, who had never shot a single target off the mark, stood in the dark and hit the wolves with accuracy.

“Did the rest of them run away?”

Hunting wolves is not the purpose in the first place.

That’s why I didn’t mean to chase away the wolves that ran away.

He wasn’t much of a hunter.

Besides, hunting animals needlessly was rather abhorrent of having it stuffed into a mansion.

That’s because it’s usually for self-indulgence.

It was Lushen who thought that pursuing honor, but sacrificing others, or other lives, would tarnish the honor of the knight.