My mother's love song

“…Huh!?”

Aoko was so surprised that she picked up the gray cat that was acting coquettishly at her feet.

"…You are still alive!?"

She had a point in saying that. The cat looked very old, with sparse and dry fur, dull eyes, and even walking was very difficult.

The old cat raised its head and meowed at Qingzi.

"Really? Did you notice me coming? That's amazing! Are these your children following behind you?"

Aoko squatted down and petted the other cats surrounding her.

"Ah~ So cute~~~~"

"Aoko, what are these?"

"It's the cat I kept at home when I was a kid."

Aoko said excitedly, "You ran away from home when I left home to go to junior high school in Misaki City. I thought someone had stolen you. So you have been living in the forest where your grandfather lives?"

"…What a surprise! I really can't imagine you raising a pet, Aoko."

Youzhu said lightly, her expression seemed to be saying, how can you raise a cat if you can't even support yourself?

"How rude! Don't look at me like this. Not only did I raise cats, I was also in charge of the rabbits in my class when I was in junior high school."

Qingzi said while petting the cat, "Look how much this kid clings to me."

"Hmm...but it looks like a very old cat."

Yuzu silently stared at the cat in Aoko's arms and sighed.

It is so old that if it were in ancient times, it might be regarded as a cat demon.

No matter how you look at it, there's no way this extremely old cat will survive this winter.

"No, this cat will live a long life... After all, it's a cat that my grandfather resurrected with magic."

Aoko said something so casually that Aozuki was stunned.

"Hey...what did you say? Magic?"

"Ah, it's a long story..."

Qingzi scratched his hair and said, "Actually, this cat was already dead, and when I was a child, I asked my grandfather to use magic to revive it.

That was also the first time I personally saw my grandfather use magic. Come to think of it, that was when I became interested in magic.

In fact, that seemed to be the last time my grandfather used magic, and he lost his magic heritage not long after. "

"Wait, Aoko...you've seen magic when you were a kid?"

"Yeah, what's the matter?"

Qingzi frowned, her thoughts were led by Youzhu back to the morning thirteen years ago.

"Come to think of it, my first encounter with that red shadow was also with my grandfather."

"The red shadow... is that the little shadow in a red cloak that you mentioned that comes to mess with you whenever you try to use magic?"

Qingzi nodded: "Yes, it is a monster that will hunt humans who have magic as prey...

Every time I see that, my body and mind become paralyzed, and as a result, I can’t perform magic properly.”

But I will definitely succeed this time.

With Rhodes by my side, there will be absolutely no problem.

Even for him, I have to reach the realm of magic.

Qingzi tilted her head and said, "Now that you mention it, it reminds me that when I saw Hongying as a child, it was very gentle to me."

"Very gentle?"

"That's right. Hongying even chatted with me when I was a kid."

Why would I forget such an important memory... the girl thought.

"After my grandfather successfully resurrected the cat, Hongying gave it a weird and rustic name."

Qingzi touched the gray cat's head and read out its name with a smile.

"Right, Soujuro?"

PS. Let me explain this to readers who may not understand.

In the first chapter of "Magic Night", Aoko once asked her grandfather to save a dying kitten.

Although the grandfather used magic, it unexpectedly failed and the kitten died.

From then on, Aoko decided to become a magician.

This obscure story is the beginning of the entire "Magic Night" and also the most important foreshadowing.

It was "the first encounter, the day I met them."

So there is a speculation that the magic did not actually fail, and the protagonist of Magic Night, Kusajuro, is actually the reincarnation of the rescued kitten.

Therefore, in this book, "Hongying" named the rescued kitten Kusajuro.

Chapter 132 Going home? Entering the night battle!

That winter 13 years ago.

That happened on the solemn morning when Qingzi first came into contact with life.

The temperature in the mountains is very low in winter, and it is always extremely cold in the mornings.

Although her father would drive her to the station, the old-fashioned car had to be started dozens of minutes in advance before leaving, otherwise it would not move.

"Can you help me start the car?"

While her father was enjoying his after-meal coffee, Qingzi's daily job was to go out and start the engine.

She walked out the door, exhaled white air, and crossed the yard, then opened the door of the old car.

I inserted the key and turned it around as usual.

The engine began to vibrate and purr.

Just as I finished this job, which I had repeated dozens of times and which made my young self proud.

"■■■■"

A sharp scream came from inside the hood.

A few minutes later.

The father opened the hood of the car and saw a small life inside.

The box was filled to the brim with squeaking tires and a monster engine.

The cat that looked like the mother and the two kittens seemed so out of place.

The three cats huddled together in the engine room as if snuggling together.

The female cat is missing the part above the neck.

A kitten was mostly caught in the tire and lay motionless, dying instantly.

The remaining kitten had half its face covered in blood, and was panting like a dog drenched in rain.

The half-dead kitten tried desperately to get close to the mother cat's corpse, using the few minutes of life it had left to desperately struggle into its mother's arms.

"Pitiful"

My father seemed to be lamenting for them.

The temperature dropped sharply last night.

The cats hid under the hood of my father's car when he returned from driving, attracted by the engine heater.

They spent the night in the engine room and woke up the next morning when they were caught in the tire tyres.

This seems to happen quite often in 80s era cars with poor airtightness.

The kitten has fluffy gray fur.

There was the blood of his mother and brothers, as well as his own blood from half of his body that had been cut off, and a half-exposed skull.

Maybe because it couldn’t see anymore, the kitten trembled and struggled to get into the arms of its dead mother.

"and many more!"

Qingzi picked up the kitten.

She ran to her grandfather who lived deep in the mountains away from her family.

Is it because of regret that my heart is shaken, or because of sadness that I am confused?

To be honest, she still doesn't know.

My grandfather is a magician who can do anything.

Although she herself had never seen any [magic] and knew that it was a fantasy in fairy tales, she also knew that her grandfather was the kind of person who could not be measured by common sense.

So...grandfather will definitely be able to save it.

"You mean you want me to change the fate of this kitten."

The magician who lived in the cave said in a cold tone.

Grandfather had fulfilled many of Qingzi's innocent wishes.

He has lived too long, and as a magician who has long lost the concept of "himself", he will fulfill any request within his ability.

That day, all the conditions were met.

"Yes, Grandpa. Save it!"

Aoko pleaded with her grandfather to save it.

The magician neither said it was a trivial matter nor that it was a major event that would change the world. He simply fulfilled her willful wish as smoothly as a machine.

"............ah."

When she came to her senses, Qingzi was holding a living being in her arms.

The fur was extremely soft, conveying the warmth of life to Qingzi's red, frozen hands.

The girl hugged the kitten in her arms with great joy, and kept saying "That's great, thank you Grandpa".

She was completely oblivious to the ominous red figure that had appeared in the cave when her grandfather was performing magic.

"Aozaki."

The red shadow who was watching the scene quietly made a sound.

The girl looked up.

Only then did Aoko notice the boy who was about the same size as herself and was wrapped in a red cloak.

"who are you?"

However, the red shadow ignored the girl at first.

The "Aozaki" he called was obviously not Aoko, but Aoko's grandfather who lived in the cave.

Red Shadow said to the old magician.

"How about choosing her as your successor?"

That was a story that happened thirteen years ago.

That was their first encounter, which neither he nor she knew yet.

……

……

……

The moment Rhodes entered the cave, a strange and familiar feeling came over him.