“…………”
“…………”
“…Drool”
“Oi…”
Correction. The cat-eared little girl was intently staring at the skewer that Shin held. Somehow, her strong desire could be seen.
“…………”
“Uum…”
“…………”
“Errr…”
“…………”
“…Do you want to eat it?”
The little girl’s intense staring was interrupted by Shin. Besides her desire which were completely revealed, her innocent eyes caused Shin to feel bad.
Since he thought that he bought too many anyway, he took out a freshly cooked skewer from the bag while holding his half-eaten skewer in his mouth, and presented it to the girl.
Shin intended to say “Do you want to eat it?”, but only gave off the incomprehensible words “Fu fu ah it” as a result of having a skewer in his mouth.
Though it was not certain, was she able to decipher Shin’s pronunciation? Or was it simply because of the act of presenting the skewer to her. The little girl lightly ran toward Shin and with quick “Shu~batsu” sound effect, she took the skewer from Shin by force. She sat next to him as she began to stuff the yakitori into her mouth. The moment when their eyes met, her cat ears went “Syu~pin!”, even Shin was a little surprised.
“Mugumugu…Hamuhamu” (TL note: munching with closed mouth sfx and bite chew sfx)
They ate the meat silently for a while. When Shin looked at the girl working hard to fill her small mouth, he was able to confirm her appearance. Somehow it made Shin feel heartwarming.
The words young vagrant and beggar appeared on Shin’s mind in addition from it. But, he denied those kind of words immediately when he saw the appearance of the girl.
Her clothes had been mended here and there, but she wore the clothes properly, and there was no emaciation either. Also, there was no sign of aiming at one’s wallet. There might be a person who raised her with at least a home to return to, Shin judged.
“Whew, thanks for the delicious meal.”
“Mm, you’re welcome.”
After she finished eating the last bit neatly, the girl bowed to Shin.
“Onii-chan, a good person.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Shin looked at the little girl with a small laugh. From the cat ears, he understood that the girl might be a beast which belonged to the feline family. Only the tips of her yellow hair were dyed light brown, and he wondered if she was a Tiger Type. Because 30% of the population of the Bayreuth kingdom were Beast as he learned from a chat with Tsugumi, it was not particularly rare.
“I, Millie. Onii-chan?”
“Name? I am Shin, just Shin.”
“Together with Millie”
“Together?”
“Millie too, just Millie.”
“Ooh, indeed together.”
‘Shin’ was not a surname because the name he used exactly his player name. Particularly, because it wasn’t pointed out and he didn’t see any problems keeping his name as it was during the registration in the guild. It seemed that the thought of a timid Millie had disappeared, and she seemed to be looking delightful.
“Now then, I have finished eating the meat and I have to go soon, but what will Millie do? Should I send you home?”
“It’s alright. Pick me up, came.”
“Huh? No way! Pick you up…?”
The direction where Millie pointed to, Shin was unable to hide his surprise about the figure that walked toward them.
When the figure noticed that Millie was with Shin, it quickened its pace to approach them.
“Oh! We meet again, Shin.”
“It’s been awhile since the lunch, Wilhelm.”
A raven-haired man who had the presence of a beast greeted Shin. So, when Millie said pick up, it was none other than Wilhelm Avis.
“Wil-nii!”
Millie ran and clung to Wilhelm. Shin was astonished at the unexpected development.
“No way, Wilhelm’s…child?”
“That’s not it! I am taking care of her at the orphanage!”
“Orphanage?”
“Ah, that reminds me, it hasn’t been that long since you came to this country.”
While patting Millie’s head, Wilhelm briefly explained. According to him, a church in the west district was doubling as an orphanage and seemed to be taking care of children who lost their parents in some kind of circumstances. Millie was one of them.
“This fellow skillfully sneaked out from the orphanage some time ago. I was searching for her like a fool.”
“Did you go out without permission? I can’t really admire that.”
“Uu, sorry, I am”
Millie, who was aware she had done a bad thing, apologized obediently. The cat ears also went “Shu~n*…” as one would expect in fantasy. (TL note: her ears wilted, I think.)
“Even so, it’s unusual for this person to not be afraid like this.”
“Afraid?”
“I don’t understand after what I have seen today, but this person is afraid of strangers. She doesn’t approach strangers at their first meeting.”
“Is that so?”
Only tempted by the meat, Shin thought, but Millie shook her head. Was she able to read Shin’s thoughts? It seemed likely he hit the bull’s-eye. And for some reason, it felt like she said “You must not say it”.
“Well, I don’t want to stay here for too long. Come on Millie, let’s go home.”
“Wait!”
Said Millie as she ran toward Shin.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ear, lend.”
“Like this?”
Shin squat down and brought his ear close to Millie’s mouth. Millie, who ran toward Shin in the same way as she did to Wilhelm, whispered words to Shin’s ear.
“Bye-bye.”
Shin saw Millie off as she was led by Wilhelm and disappeared into the crowd.
He walked toward Bear Point Pavilion while thinking about the words he was told by Millie.
After he returned to Bear Point Pavilion, Shin took a rest in his room as he had some free time before dinner.
He sat on the bed and recalled the words Millie whispered, in his head.
“Help the fox-san which is in the northern forest…huh?”
During the time of the game, he was able to determine what to expect from the area information, but unfortunately, he couldn’t make an inference now, since the topography had greatly changed.
He tilted his head in doubt about whether or not there would be a fox. At least, a fox type monster never attacked Shin. The monsters which were similar to a bear, a snake, and a dog were often found and occasionally a flight type appeared.
Other wild animals were extremely rare because there were a lot of monsters, and it was snakes and rats that he saw the most. A monster was a wild animal that mutated under the influence of magical power, so naturally there were common animals. Still, he didn’t remember seeing a fox before.
“It’s no good, I don’t know nothing about it.”
The answer didn’t appear no matter how much he thought about it. But she said “help”. That might be something imminent. Especially the area of the northern forest in the vicinity of the Bayreuth kingdom, where the risk was quite high.
She might have judged Shin as an adventurer because he was an acquaintance of Wilhelm’s, although it seemed strange that she requested Shin during their first meeting.
It was not something that he must do just because it was requested. However, if he didn’t do anything, it would leave a bitter feeling. Shin decided to plan for tomorrow as well as for Millie’s request. Incidentally, he intended to meet Tiera, and finish the message to Schnee.
“So I have decided…meal it is.”
The yakitori had already been digested. Shin went downstairs to eat dinner.