It was hot.
Horribly hot.
Even for summer, a season where the sun transforms from a natural blessing into a weapon, wasn’t it a bit much to be this stifling so early in the morning? Had global warming really become this severe?
If it was this hot before the sun had even fully risen, humanity would be wiped out within a few years without ever having to fight Ghouls.
“Mmnya mmnya……”
“Huh……?”
Waking to a strange sound against my chest, I finally discovered the source of the heat.
Right in front of me was Eto, who had turned five this year, sleep-talking while rubbing her cheek against me like a cat that had found catnip. *So you were the culprit.* But does she not feel the heat at all?
Carefully moving her aside so as not to wake her, I stretched and sat up.
Once I escaped Eto’s scorching, almost-frying affection, a cool morning breeze wrapped around my sweat-soaked body. It seemed humanity still had some time left before extinction.
With those idle thoughts, I looked around to clear my foggy head.
Quite a few things had changed since I first started raising Eto as a baby.
The bottles and diapers had been put away once she became able to eat on her own and use the bathroom.
As for the rattles and teddy bears, they were too full of memories to throw out, so I had stuffed them into the corner of the closet used for blankets and storage.
That was about all that had disappeared. What had been added instead was a new computer to replace the laptop Eto had broken, some anime CDs popular with children these days, a large guitar case, and beyond that…….
A small, soft smile touched my lips as I spoke.
“……Good morning, Father.”
A household altar occupied one side of the room.
There, alongside the memorial tablet bearing my father’s name, was a photograph of him smiling brightly.
I opened the refrigerator.
The curry had been finished a few days ago, and it would still be a few more days before payday.
I was wondering if I should make do with simple toast for breakfast when my gaze stopped.
In the deepest corner of the fridge, hidden behind other leftovers, was some wrapped “meat.”
Seeing how little was left, my eyes narrowed instinctively.
“……Looks like I’ll have to go ‘procure’ some more soon.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing, I just mean I’m going grocery shopping.”
“Really? I want to go too!”
From beneath my chin, while my face was still shoved into the refrigerator, Eto poked her head out and applied to join the shopping party.
The lie I’d blurted out to cover my tracks had just tightened the noose around my wallet.
Cursing my own carelessness, I began drafting an unplanned grocery list.
While I checked the house for dwindling necessities like detergent and tissues, Eto read a book while waiting for me to finish. My eyes happened to catch the cover, and I asked in surprise.
“Hm? Eto. You’ve already read that far?”
“Yep! This book is so much fun!”
I could admit it was a good read, but wasn’t she reading too fast? If she finished that series, Eto would have read every single book in the house.
For some reason, Eto had shown an intense interest in learning to read and write from a very young age.
Books often contain difficult kanji and complex idioms, but whenever she hit a wall, she would grab a dictionary and study the meanings herself. Her determination was impressive.
In the end, despite her age, she had become capable of reading most difficult texts without much trouble.
I was proud of her, but at the same time, it worried me.
While reading the same books repeatedly is important, becoming too absorbed in a narrow range of material can create a rigid mold in one's thinking.
How dangerous a fixed mindset could be was obvious if one looked at the various conflicts plaguing the world.
Buying more books from a bookstore was problematic for several reasons—mainly the lack of space in our home and, more importantly, money.
After thinking for a moment, I glanced up at the clock. It was 7:48. I had about three hours before I had to head to my part-time job.
“Eto. Want to go to the library together today?”
“The library? I want to go!”
Eto shouted and bounced up like a small animal that had spotted prey.
Holding Eto's hand, I led her to the nearest municipal library.
It wasn’t very large, but it boasted an unexpectedly wide range of books, from ancient archives to the latest novels popular with teenagers.
As we passed the entrance, I saw an elderly man, presumably the librarian, dozing off at the counter.
I had used this library many times back in high school, and even then, the same old man had been sleeping in the same spot. Seeing this for years made me wonder if he was actually just a doll designed to look like a napping old man.
Regardless, as we passed the counter and stepped inside, we were welcomed by the scent of old paper and shelves packed with far more books than our home could ever hold—it would have been an insult to even compare the two.
Eto’s eyes sparkled as if she had discovered a treasure vault.
“You can pick whatever you want to read.”
“Yay~!”
“Quiet in the library.”
“Ya, yay…!”
At my light rebuke, Eto lowered her voice, though she couldn't quite suppress the excitement in her heart.
I sat down in a chair and watched Eto bounce around silently as if she were at an amusement park, and a small laugh escaped me.
On the surface, she was just a bright, cheerful child who loved books…… but because of one single thing that made her “different” from everyone else, she could not easily approach others.
This child was a Ghoul.
A being that could not survive without feeding on humans.
For Eto, social experience carried risks that were far more severe than those faced by ordinary people.
While failure in youth is considered a natural part of growth, for Eto, failure meant rejection—or death.
If she took even one wrong step, only tragedy awaited her. This was the kind of life Eto would have to navigate from here on out.
*Books will definitely become her weapon……*
One must never underestimate the power of books. They are not merely records of information.
Whether it is a novel or a textbook, every book contains the values and experiences of the person who wrote it.
Hidden behind the words are the lives of people who experienced the world before Eto did—those who tasted failure and those who achieved success.
Eto could only read the literal text and the surface-level information for now, but as she grew, she would be able to discern the author’s values and opinions, allowing her to either accept them or argue against them.
*Grow together with the characters in those books. Fail with them, and rise with them.*
*When you become an adult, may you use that knowledge as a weapon so that you will not be broken by this cruel world……*
“Heave-ho!”
Eto carried over a stack of books so tall that her upper body was almost completely hidden and plopped them onto the desk where I was sitting.
Then, she picked out the book she liked best and sat down across from me.
Whatever she had found, Eto’s expression was incredibly serious.
Curious, I glanced at the title.
“…….”
I froze, chin still resting in my hand, unable to speak for a moment.
Feeling a sudden, sharp headache, I barely managed to find my voice.
“……Eto, what exactly are you doing right now?”
Eto looked up from the book and answered with a beaming smile.
“I am inheriting the knowledge of adults, Father.”
The title of the book Eto was currently reading was this:
『How to Become a Mature Woman and Knock a Man Flat』
……What on earth kind of books does this library keep on its shelves? Knock a man flat? How? I highly doubt it was referring to a leg-sweep technique.
I immediately put the book back and left the library with Eto tucked firmly under my arm.
On the way out, I had to struggle to soothe Eto, who was wriggling and whining, “Nooo—! I want to read that book—! I’m going to become a mature woman—!”
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