There'd be something wrong with it if it answered him...
The Young Scholar shook his head slightly.
But he still wanted to say...
Maybe the Black Monster would hear him... and respond somehow?
Of course.
That might just have been wishful thinking.
The Young Scholar smiled.
"You..."
The Young Scholar paused.
Why was he feeling nervous?
The Young Scholar took a deep breath.
"You..."
The Young Scholar spoke again. "...Are you a monster..."
"Or an auspicious beast?"
Yes.
It had been several months since he failed the exam...
A lot of his feelings had settled by now.
Looking back...
The Young Scholar found himself confused about the conclusion he'd reached back then.
If it was a monster...
He'd thought that much of the reason he'd failed was because he had trusted it too much, believing it to be an auspicious beast.
But after that, it didn't seem to have done anything to him?
It hadn't hurt him—
Though failing the exam had been the greatest possible injury to him.
It hadn't physically harmed him.
The last time—
He meant the time in the capital.
Not the time in the mountains.
When he'd seen the Black Monster in the capital, he'd been in the grip of his strongest emotions.
He'd lost control.
He'd shouted at the Black Monster.
He'd been hostile.
But...
Even so, the Black Monster hadn't done anything to him.
It hadn't done anything to attack him.
It seemed...
It had only glared—
No.
It seemed to have given him a cold look.
He wasn't sure.
He'd been emotional during those days.
His memories were even more jumbled.
But he was sure that even when he'd angrily berated the Black Monster and acted like a madman, showing it no courtesy at all...
The Black