"When I finally unraveled the confusion that had been lingering in my mind, I realized that the truth of the matter had become less important." - Diary entry, Day 124.

The big sheep seemed much weaker, lacking the liveliness it had the first time I saw it in Night Fall Town. I still remember the satisfaction of bringing it home with my wife for the first time. I used to visit it often, fearing it would slip and fall into the cold creek, fearing it would be eaten by wild animals, fearing it would freeze to death in winter.

Although the big sheep couldn't speak, it faithfully completed every task I gave it. Without it, I don't know how I could have brought back all these pots and pans from Night Fall Town.

I rubbed the damp hair on the sheep's head and it nuzzled my hand.

"I'm sorry, my sheep friend. Today, we have to say goodbye."

"When spring comes next year, I will scatter your ashes on the southern plains."

"If there is a next life, be a happy sheep grazing in the Pampas grasslands."

Surprisingly, the big sheep nodded as if it understood, licking my hand with its tongue.

When my wife severed the sheep's head with an axe, the big sheep didn't struggle at all. I think it was just stiff from the cold...

The huge sheep fell to the ground, its neck continuously bleeding and staining its gray-white wool red. Although I didn't want to kill the sheep that had been with us for a long time, I didn't have enough fodder to feed it even if I didn't kill it.

The reason this sheep was able to pull the cart was due to its size. A sheep whose back reached my chest was obviously strong. My wife put in a lot of effort to dismantle the large sheep, and with the addition of the sheep offal, it felt like there were over 200 kilograms of food. These reserves would be enough to sustain us through the winter.

Watching Medusa relish the small pieces of mutton, I suddenly felt a sense of circularity, as if everything had returned to the beginning, to the time when we could only eat raw meat.

My wife and I gathered around the fireplace, waiting for the sheep broth to cook in the pot beside us. Watching her chew on the pieces of raw meat, I suddenly had many questions I wanted to ask.

"Wife, how did I come here at that time?"

"At that time?"

"Yes, at that time."

I placed my hand behind my back, indicating the time when I was tied up.

"Oh, you... at that time, you weren't like this."

"What?"

"Well... at that time, you were not the same as you are now."

"I, am not me?"

"Yes, you didn't have this."

My wife used her hand, covered in sheep blood, to gesture as if wearing glasses.

What does this mean? Was I not wearing glasses at the beginning? That's not possible, I remember always wearing my glasses. Unless the person she was describing was someone else.

Someone else... If that's the case, it means that at the beginning, it was another human who she caught and tied up in the cave.

"Then... how did I come here?"

"You were caught by me, didn't you know?"

"What? I was caught by you?"

"Yes."

My wife wiped the corner of her mouth with her fingertip and nodded, the snake that hid in her hair also bobbing along.

"Wait, let me think."

Based on the previous conjecture, it was another person who was caught by Medusa and then tied up in the cave. It was at this point in time that this person became me.

"So, you caught me, and then in that cave, I became the way I am now?"

"Yes, that's right. At that time, I was also very curious."

We made eye contact, and she stared at my face while I drank water, because "I" had undergone a transformation in appearance. In reality, the human she caught had become me.

The question is, how miraculous is it that I managed to transcend and end up in the body of a human caught by Medusa?

"And then?"

"What do you mean, and then?"

"I mean... why did you... catch me?"

I tried to ask this question, which was crucial to the beginning of everything and involved many things she had never mentioned to me. Such as why she shared food with me, why she kissed me. I could keep all these questions hidden in my heart, but then I would never know how our relationship began. I had decided, I would accept everything about her, no matter how terrifying the truth may be."Do you... not know?"

My wife looked at me, clutching the meat she was about to eat in her hand. Her gaze shifted to the side, only looking at me with her small snake eyes. Facing her shy expression, I was also at a loss, not understanding what she meant.

"We have... done it many times already..."

The tip of her tail extended into the fur draped over my legs, resting on the inner side of my thigh as it gently rubbed against it.

...I instantly understood. If I still didn't get it at this point, then I must be a total fool! So Medusa would capture human males to satisfy her desires, how terrifying. Err, no, it's actually amazing!

Suddenly, I felt a bit perverted.

"Is... is that so? Haha..."

"Then... why didn't you run away?"

"You mean... that morning?"

"Yes."

I remembered that morning, the one where my heart was swayed by the creature called Medusa. Yeah, why didn't I run away? Although at that time, I made the decision based on the idea that "the survival probability with the snake-haired monster is much higher than trying to escape on my own," I had to admit that I did indeed fall in love with her since that morning.

"At that time... I needed you."

"So... do you love me?"

"Well, probably at that time, I started... loving you..."

"Hehe~ Actually, I knew."

"Huh? You knew?"

"Yes, a human actually came to touch me..."

My wife turned her head and made a motion as if wiping her mouth.

"Um... I..."

Yes, why did I wipe her mouth? It doesn't seem to be explained by just saying "I wanted to die."

"You're actually very beautiful."

I straightforwardly admitted the direct reason why I wiped her mouth that night. How many people could ever encounter a real Medusa? Even if Medusa wanted to kill me, I would hope to have some affairs with her before getting killed. After becoming indifferent to life and death, there was almost nothing I wouldn't dare to do.

"R-really?"

"Yes. But wife, please don't move your tail for now... is that okay?"

If this continues, my legs will get rubbed raw.

"Oh, okay. Hehe."

"Then why didn't you leave me?"

"I... you're different from those humans. They all left before..."

They, uh, meaning before me, there were multiple humans who were captured. It's only natural that no one wanted to stay, after all, everyone has a home and no one wants to live with a Medusa. But I can no longer return to my home, and Medusa, who showed me kindness, became my only family in this world.

"I will never leave, so just love only me, okay..."

"Well, you too."

The lamb soup was ready, so I ladled some into a bowl. I carefully organized the events of everything. After understanding the truth, I became surprisingly calm, because these so-called truths were not really important. What mattered was whether she by my side was smiling.

I'm a man who has never taken any responsibility. I've always been hypocritical, smiling to maintain a good impression for clients, handing out cigarettes, resembling a dog wagging its tail. Taking meager wages and cursing the repetitive work day after day. I don't know how long it's been since I genuinely smiled from the bottom of my heart...

I'm fed up with a negative life, I'm also fed up with my own lack of achievement, and the one who saved me is Medusa.

Although I've eaten raw meat here, had a knife held against my neck, and even exhausted myself trying to catch a big rabbit. But we also changed our lives with each other's strength. For the first time, I felt that I was standing on this land with two feet instead of begging for a living on all fours like before.

Drinking the lamb soup together with my wife, my body warmed up a lot. I brought her a love that she had never experienced before as a Medusa, and she brought me everything that I had never experienced as a human. Perhaps a thorny road awaits us in the future, but as long as every day is a sunny day, just as she wishes, it will be enough."Hey, when winter ends, do you want to go on a trip?"

"Sure. Anywhere is fine with you."

"Yeah, me too."

"Why are you asking me all this today?"

"Well... actually, I've always wanted to say thank you for everything."

"Haha, because I'm your wife, of course."

Once again, I held Medusa's blood-stained hand.

In the long winter nights, we waited for spring and continued our discussions about the past and the future. There are still so many unknowns in this world waiting for us to discover.