"Not just that day. From then on, they never appeared again."
"Maybe they found a new family."
"They went to the new family every day."
"Just like they used to come to your house every day."
"Maybe..."
"Something happened to them in the mountains."
"Maybe..."
"They moved away..."
"In any case, there were all sorts of possibilities."
"But the result was the same."
"They stopped coming,"
"The family would regret it and miss them."
"But that was all."
"The family had no idea where to look for them."
"And there was no need to look for them."
"After all, their appearance had been unexpected in the first place."
"The family hadn't caught them, either."
"So they were free to come and go as they pleased."
The woodcutter looked at the Young Scholar.
"The Black Monster you told me about was the same."
"It appeared by chance."
"It was greedy for your food."
"Now it might have found a better place to get something to eat."
"Maybe it got tired of the food you gave it..."
"So it went somewhere new."
"And naturally, it no longer came here."
The Young Scholar pressed his lips together.
Only then did he suddenly understand what his brother had been trying to say...
He instinctively wanted to argue, but couldn't think of anything to say.
Deep down, he knew...
His brother's words... made a lot of sense.
The Young Scholar slowly and softly let out a breath.
The gloom in his heart hung over him like a dark cloud, impossible to dispel.
"I remember..."
The woodcutter pressed on.
He wanted to cut straight through the knot and settle this once and for all.
"You said you saw the Black Monster in that mansion?"
"You nearly fell into a well."
"It saved you."