Extra 1

—If children don't stay good, a demon will come to get you!

A black-winged demon will come visit all the bad children and carry them off somewhere.

It brings along twelve monsters and will chase you to the ends of the earth.

So, boy, listen well to your papa and your mama, and be a good child.

That was a common tale used to scare children. A simple but loving tale with no twists used to tell children to stay good or else something scary will turn up for all the bad ones.

Such stories existed everywhere on earth, and every region had a similar story, each with its own name and face.

Scotland had its Boogeyman.

Portugal had the Sack Man.

Germany had the Schwarzer Mann.

And Japan had the Namahage.

They were terribly effective at scaring children into doing what they were told.

Children, with no frame of reference or life experience, were incredibly pure and quick to believe. Children started to learn with what their parents told them. That was why, for children with no knowledge of the difference between the realistic and the unrealistic, whatever their parents said became the truth. That was why they believed, feared, and obeyed.

Here, in Midgar, there was no exception, and basically, all areas of the world had the "Black-Winged Demon" fulfill that role. That was all it was.

However, the only difference was that the Black-Winged Demon really existed.

A little ways away from the Trade City of Ydalir lay a small village. Its name was Bryn village. It was named after a legend that said that in the past, there was a valkyrie by the name of Bryn who was said to be the agent of the goddess who descended upon this place, but the truth of the legend was unknown.

Inside that village, a single boy was running energetically. That boy, who laughed uproariously as he ran, held a bryn fruit, which was being grown in the village.

Said fruit, which was the village's specialty, was said to have been brought by the valkyrie Bryn, whom the goddess sent with the fruit after taking pity on the people who were dying of drought. It was sweet, full of nutrients, and grew regardless of the season, even in slightly barren land.

Of course, there was a limit, and it wouldn't grow in a complete wasteland, but the fruit was still easier to grow than most, and it was one of the most popular fruits in Midgar. Wrapped in a pink skin, the fruit stored a lot of moisture, and it was a much more reliable source of hydration than standing water, which could be filled with disease or parasites.

The boy, who'd stolen one of these fruits, ran with an expression like he wasn't feeling guilty at all. Adults ran after him while yelling, but the agile boy quickly escaped from their pursuit.

"F-Fuck! That damn Romeo! Spry brat!"

"Damn that little prankster! He even laid his hands on my goods!"

The villagers shouted hatefully, watching the retreating back of a child.

The fact that children are so energetic is a sign of peace, so energetic children are a village's treasure. However, that doesn't excuse pranks, not to mention stealing fruits that are the village's lifeline.

Luckily, he didn't steal enough to cause the village to starve, but it wasn't as if Romeo understood that; it was just that since he was a child he didn't eat that much.

Bryn fruit was extremely important given the size of the village. It lined the tables of every family at every meal, and the money earned by selling it to merchants from Ydalir went straight into the living expenses of the village. So the fact that Romeo hadn't been exiled from the village up until now was a testament to the character of the village's people. But even that had a limit.

"Macao, he's your kid, right?! You have to discipline him!"

"S-Sorry... I keep lecturing him at home, but he just doesn't listen. I even told him the story of the Black-Winged Demon to scare him..."

"That only works on the really young ones. At his age, there's no point to it."

The man called Macao looked weak-willed as he bowed his head over and over to try to appease everyone. He might've been the one who'd taken the most damage from Romeo's pranks.

"Geez. We're lowering your family's share, got it?"

"Wh-What? Nooo..."

"Of course it's happening, idiot! It's your responsibility to pay back everything that brat steals!"

All the men there jeered at Macao before leaving while still venting their frustrations.

The boy, Romeo, was a famous prankster in the village.

He'd already cried wolf about monsters coming more than once or twice, and he'd stolen things, like this time's fruit, before as well. He'd thrown bugs into people's houses or flipped girls's skirts who were the same age as him. These things were a daily occurrence.

Either he just liked seeing people distressed, or he got some kind of twisted pleasure from causing people trouble... The reason was unknown, but at any rate, the pranks that always went slightly over the line continued daily. Some fairy tale meant to scare children had no effect, and the boy Romeo grew arrogant, saying, "Nothing like that exists."

In truth, no matter how many bad things he'd done up until now, no black-winged demon had ever showed up. That was why he'd realized long ago that it was just a lie told by his parents. However, he was still just a child. He didn't really understand what it meant to cause people trouble. It was just fun to see people panic, so he kept doing it. He never even considered just how much damage his actions were causing and how hard he was making things for his parents.

Even for the fruit, the only thought he had was: There's so many of them, it's fine if I take one, right?

Of course there would be no guilt born from that. In fact, he arbitrarily decided that any adults that didn't let him have it were stingy butts. He didn't yet understand the concept of selling it for profit or the concept of saving money. He only figured that the adults were hoarding all the fruit for themselves to eat.

That was why he never regretted his pranks up until now. He never thought they were bad. And he never expected to regret them, either.

As long as those peaceful days continued, at least.

"Wah?!"

The boy Romeo, who was biting into the fruit as he ran, collided with an adult's leg near the entrance to the village. It happened because he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He never expected to run into something where he did.

The boy looked upwards, while his mind was screaming: Crap! I'll get caught by the adults and get yelled at. I'm done for.

He thought that the only thing left to do was see who'd caught him and hope for leniency, depending on who it was. If it was the kind and good-humored Uncle Reedus, then it would be better than nothing. If it was the angry Uncle Wakaba, then he'd get a fist to the head.

Even though he felt no guilt for committing mischief, Romeo was scared of punishment.

With those selfish thoughts in his head, the boy looked up and found not someone from the village but an unfamiliar adult.

It was a man who looked generally drab, with filthy spots here and there. He had an unkempt beard and wore armor. But that armor wasn't pretty. In the first place, the colors were all over the place. It was a slapdash set that looked like it'd been cobbled together randomly from parts that looked good out of soldiers that belonged to many different countries. For example, his helmet was green, but his pauldrons were red, and his chestplate was blue.

And more than anything, he stank.

Baths and showers and the like weren't common in this world, and it was normal to go several days without washing oneself. However, this man's stench was different. It was like he stank of iron and oil. And that combined with the unwashed stink of a middle-aged man, it became an awful bouquet.

And along with the man in front, there were four others for a total of five unknown, stinky men blocking the boy's way.

"Ho? What an energetic little boy. Is he from this village?"

The deep voice caused the boy to tremble.

Are they travelers? Or soldiers from the capital? No, no way. The boy was ignorant, but even then, he could somehow tell they weren't travelers or proper soldiers. It was his child's intuition, or something like that. At any rate, the boy instinctively understood that these men were bad for the village.

"You see, all of us are travelers. How about it? Why don't you show us the way to your village?"

"N-No! Don't wanna!"

Romeo turned right around and ran back where he came from.

It wasn't as if the boy realized what those men were. If it were an adult instead of Romeo, they'd be able to tell instantly that they were bandits, but the boy didn't have that knowledge. He didn't even understand that the armor they were wearing was probably scavenged from dead bodies after a battle.

Even so he was sensitive to danger because he was a child. He could at least understand that the men gave off an abnormal air. That was why the boy ran. He ran to find adults from the village.

"E-Everyone! Trouble! There's trouble!"

"Oh? If it isn't Romeo! How dare you steal that fruit! You sure have some guts to come back yourself! I won't forgive you this time; you're getting ten spankings! Prepare yourself!"

"N-now's not the time for that, Uncle! Some weird people came to the village! They're not normal!"

Even though the boy tried to explain, it was unintelligible, and there was no way for an adult to get anything from it. The only thing Wakaba could get was that someone had come to the village, but... In the end, Romeo was the one telling him, and Romeo had multiple previous offenses. He'd already lied before that travelers had come or that monsters had come. At any rate, the villagers had all been tricked more than once.

That was why Wakaba didn't believe him. He figured that the reason Romeo couldn't explain well was because he couldn't come up with a good lie. That's what Wakaba thought.

"You won't get out of punishment by lying like that. I got spanked by Grandma in the old days, too, when I caused mischief. Children learn what's right by experiencing pain like this. Now go sit there, Romeo. Be prepared to not be able to sit down for the rest of the day."

Uncle Wakaba blew into his hand to warm it up as he approached Romeo. But before he got there, he stopped, and his eyes opened wide.

Behind Romeo, only a scant 10-odd meters away, were some men approaching who clearly looked like bandits.

Romeo was telling the truth. Something terrible for the village had happened.

Uncle Wakaba picked up a nearby shovel and hoe before grabbing Romeo and throwing the boy behind him.

"R-Run, Romeo! Go tell everyone what happened!"

"U-Uncle!"

"Hurry up and go! You're in the way!"

Romeo normally thought Uncle Wakaba was scary, but right now, he wasn't. That was because way scarier men than Uncle Wakaba had come.

Romeo stood up almost like he bounced off the ground and started running again.

Uncle Wakaba should be fine! He's so big, and he can pick up such heavy things!

Unfortunately, Romeo had never seen anything stronger than Uncle Wakaba before. That was why he didn't even understand that Uncle Wakaba, who was just a villager, stood no chance against bandits. He didn't understand that Wakaba sacrificed himself to let him escape.

He would later regret his optimistic and naive thinking, that he simply thought Wakaba would be OK.

"M-Mom! It's terrible!"

Romeo opened the door and flew into the wooden house.

The house was really spacious for a villager's home in this world, and inside there were five small tables arranged around the room, as well as a counter at the opposite end of the door. The second floor was an inn for travelers, but they basically had no customers.

Romeo's mistake was going straight for his home and relying on his mother. Thinking normally, a person should first find some of the men of the village who could actually fight. The best thing that would happen after letting his mother know would be that she would let others know. It would just double the required effort. It was also a clear time loss, given that there was now another step before alerting the men.

However, at the same time, Romeo also made the correct choice in relying on his mother.

"Come now, Romeo. Be quiet. There are travelers present right now."

"Ah, hello. Sorry for intruding."

Romeo's house was the only inn available for travelers in the village. Normally, there were no customers, but in a rare turn of luck there were two travelers sitting at the counter right now.

One was a pretty girl with blonde hair that hung down to her waist. And the other was a strange person who covered their whole body in a red cloak and hid their face in a hood.

Normally, Romeo would be all over the travelers out of curiosity, but right now, he didn't have time for that.

"I-it's terrible, Mom! Some weird guys came to the village!"

"Huh? Are we weird people?"

"...Well, We cannot deny it."

The two travelers responded to Romeo, but he quickly denied what they said. "It's not you guys!"

No, it's true these travelers are strange (especially that one in the golden mantle), but now's not the time for that!

"No, it's those old guys in the dirty armor! Uncle Wakaba told me to go tell everyone...!"

"...How many times have I told you to stop it with those lies, Romeo? If you don't shape up already I really will get mad at you."

"It's true, Mom! Believe me!"

Even though Romeo argued as hard as he could, his mother didn't take him seriously at all. It was the result of him lying so much up until now. It all bounced back at him.

It's probably just a lie. He's probably just pranking us, she thought, convinced, and wouldn't give him the time of day at all.

Romeo got what he deserved. All of it was just karma. However, even though Romeo knew that, he had to keep saying it.

"Yes yes, keep going later, okay? I'm busy right now."

"Now wait a second, Ms. Ena." Seeing the mother not give Romeo the time of day, the traveler in the golden mantle spoke up. Surprisingly, it was the voice of a woman, and it was shockingly clear. "We do not understand your circumstances, but you should not ignore your child so when he is so desperate. Also, if it is true, then this is an emergency. We will accompany you."

"Huh? But, Miss, that's..."

"Not to worry. Even if he is tricking us, we will not be angry. It will simply be a tale to tell over drinks, that we were tricked by a child's prank."

The traveler slowly got up, and the blonde girl followed suit. Then, the traveler looked down at Romeo and quietly asked:

"So, child. Where are those strange men?"

"Th-This way!"

This was also a mistake on Romeo's part. Just what was he going to try, bringing only two women along with him? Doing what Romeo did would just uselessly increase the number of victims. It could only be called a foolish act.

They're adults, so they'll do something about this!

A thought all children had in their heads, a simple, foolish thought that only existed during childhood.

Prodded into action, he led the two women before a pack of hungry wolves.

By the time Romeo came back, Uncle Wakaba was already at death's door. On the other hand, the suspicious men sported no wounds whatsoever and were laughing derisively as they kicked and stomped on Uncle Wakaba, playing with him.

"Oh? If it isn't that kid from earlier. So, you came back."

"Nice, hey, look at that! Women. And pretty good ones, too."

"A woman and… the heck is that? A golden mantle? What did you think would happen, bringing them here, huh?"

"Heheheh, maybe a strip show?"

"Naw, that's too harsh. Let's kindly strip her ourselves."

The men got excited over the appearance of new toys, and they left Uncle Wakaba alone to approach the women.

Romeo started trembling, and the blonde girl cried out in fear while hiding behind the golden mantle. The only one who wasn't intimidated was the suspicious figure in the golden mantle.

"Th-This is bad, Big Sis! If this keeps up, I'll become like a ero doujin! You can't let that happen to your cute little sister!"

"You will be fine, won't you? Probably."

"How cruel?! Come on, save me!"

But the golden mantle remained composed for some reason. And somehow, to the boy, the blonde girl also looked composed. Actually, to him it looked like she was joking around.

A seed of doubt may have been implanted in the bandits; they might have wondered just what was going on. However, it was already too late. They were already close to their prey. It took too long to realize they'd waltzed right into a predator's jaws.

"—'Sit.'"

Just one word. The red mantle simply uttered one word.

And that settled everything.

The same time she spoke, the surroundings were all inundated with an invisible pressure, as if a giant arm were pushing everyone down into the ground.

It wasn't as if the golden mantle even attacked. She didn't use magic, either, nor did she manipulate any wind. It was just a sense of intimidation. A difference in their existences. An absolute wall that they could never surpass.

She just made it really easy to understand, slamming the difference into her opponent's survival instincts. That they mustn't defy her, they mustn't oppose her, they must bow down instead of stand up.

Their instincts, realizing this, ignored her opponent's will and directly moved their bodies, causing them to take a pose of submission. Their brains continually output fear on their own, and they all froze without even being able to understand why.

Before the boy even noticed, the men turned into a simple group of sacrifices who could only tremble and shake.

"Well, it was fine to shut them up, but what do We do with them?"

"Leave that to me, please. I'll just mess with their memories real quick and have them go home."

The blonde girl jogged over to the trembling men and peered into each of their eyes, one by one.

Romeo was keeping an eye on the situation even while lying on the ground, and eventually, the girl must have finished her work, because the invisible pressure that had been holding them down this entire time disappeared.

Feeling the mysterious sensation of his body finally becoming lighter, he looked up at the golden mantle. At her feet, there were a couple of black feathers that had fallen onto the ground even though there were no birds nearby. Moved by curiosity, the boy pulled aside the mantle to take a look.

This was the height of a child's indiscretion. If Romeo were an adult, he'd immediately consider what would happen if he angered someone who could do all that and would stop whatever he was going to do.

As a result, he saw something even more frightening that he should never have laid eyes on.

—A pair of black wings hidden underneath the mantle.

"Hihh?!!" He reflexively screamed, before losing power in his legs and falling to the ground.

He thought it was just a fairy tale this whole time. He believed that the Black-Winged Demon was just a made-up story. But that was wrong; she existed. Right here, right now.

"Ah, hey.... What a mischievous child. We'd appreciate it if you didn't go around telling people what you just saw."

"Ah, y-yeah, sure."

As Romeo sat there trembling, the men all slowly got up. Even though the boy was scared and surprised, he could tell that the men were acting strange.

Their eyes seemed blank, they were drooling, and it was as if they weren't seeing what was right in front of them. Eventually, the men, with their eyes that would not focus, started barking.

"...Bow!!"

"Wan wan!"

"Bark!!"

As if they even forgot that they were human, they moved around on all fours and ran off together while barking. Their tongues lolled out of their mouths, and the sight of the men running like dogs while spreading drool everywhere was incredibly funny as well as scary.

The red mantle, who saw the men off, asked the blonde woman exasperatedly:

"Hey, Orange, what did you do?"

"I overlaid their memories with those of a dog. Right now, they think they're dogs."

"But like that, would they not notice? Since their forms are so different."

"It's fine. When that happens they'll just assume on their own that they're 'dogs that became human for some reason.'"

"That's just nasty."

Romeo saw what happened and thought: They've been taken away. They surely got their hearts as humans stolen away by the fearful demon or something. That's why they became like that. No doubt.

"Well, the whelp here saw our wings, so We cannot stay for long. Let's go, Orange."

"E-Even though I thought we'd finally be able to sleep on a bed instead of in a carriage… You're too careless, Big Sis!"

"Sorry, sorry. We will transmute something for us to sleep on, so forgive us. ...Ah, that's no good. We don't have any resources."

The two started talking about something as they started walking away, but suddenly the blonde girl turned her eyes to Uncle Wakaba, and she spread something like particles of light onto him. When she did, the man's wounds healed in an instant, and after that, the two of them actually left the village.

After a while, Romeo's mother came running, but everything was already over. All Ena saw was Uncle Wakaba lying down on the side of the road and her own child, still shocked.

Well, Uncle Wakaba was there so he probably wouldn't be treated like a liar.

"...Mom."

"Romeo! What's wrong? What happened?!"

"The men, they were taken away."

"What?"

"What you said was true, Mom. Those old guys were bad, so the Black-Winged Demon took them away. ...I'm going to be good from now on. I won't play pranks anymore."

Unable to understand what her son just said and not knowing what just happened, Ena could only tilt her head in confusion. She didn't know just how much danger the village had been in. As well as how that danger was avoided.

However, the black feather her son was absentmindedly gripping for dear life left a deep impression.

***

The children ran through the village. Their faces were plastered with smiles, and they held Bryn fruits that were pilfered from the adults.

In this world, where pastries and confectioneries could only be enjoyed regularly by some nobles and the extremely wealthy, the main form of sweets that children liked were fruits. And Bryn village had an especially large amount of fruit, and it would be the first thing children would say they liked.

Of course, the fruit was the village's lifeline, and stealing it was definitely not a good thing.

However, children wanted what they wanted. And they wanted to eat what they wanted to eat. Being so true to their desires was definitely a defining quality of children.

However, a larger child blocked those children's way, and they were quickly captured.

"Hey! You can't do that! You shouldn't be stealing the Bryn fruits that the uncles all worked so hard to raise!"

"B-but, big bro Romeo, we're hungry..."

"Then you need to properly ask them to give it to you. Stealing is bad."

The one who stopped them was Romeo, who was only up until recently an even bigger problem child than they were.

It was unclear just what happened, but one day he basically changed into a completely different person overnight. He became much more honest and serious and profusely apologized for all the mischief he'd caused up until then. In fact, he even started acting like a big brother, scolding the other children whenever they did something wrong. And though his parents were extremely happy that their son grew up, they still held some doubts at the sudden change.

"Listen up! You all need to be good. If you aren't, a black-winged demon will come and take you away somewhere."

Every time Romeo scolded the other children, he'd always show them a single black feather.

The feather he picked up that day was a precious proof to warn him and make sure that he never forgot what happened. It was solid proof that it wasn't a dream or an illusion. So, with one hand, the grown boy stopped the other children who tried to commit the same mistakes he once did.

And he spoke a fearsome tale that was definitely no lie or exaggeration.

—If you don't stay a good child, a demon will come get you.

A demon with black wings will come for any bad children, and whisk them off somewhere.

The demon brings along her twelve monsters, and will chase bad children to the ends of the earth.

So, boys, listen to your papa and mama, and be good.