CH 288

Leo Led Us To The North Side

“And so while going a little to the north side might be fine… I would not advise you to go too deep, even if you are with Leo.”

“I see. Very well. I will be careful to not go anywhere that is dangerous.”

“Mmm. That is good. You do not want to get into any unnecessary trouble.”

Better safe than sorry, I suppose.

And so I would avoid going close to places that I already knew weren’t safe.

“But still…Mr Takumi. Uh…it seems like Leo is leading the way?”

“Yes… I wonder what’s the matter?”

“…You do realize that she is going to the north side that we were just talking about?”

“Indeed… Leo, what is it? Is there something over there that you’re interested in?”

“Wuff? Wuff!”

“So there is…”

“What is Leo saying?”

“Apparently, there is a presence that interests her. …What should we do?”

“Hmm… Normally, I would not like to go in there without some guards… But since it’s Leo…I do not want to get in her way.”

Mr. Ekenhart seemed troubled as he watched Leo walking.

Indeed, ever since we got close to the east gate, Leo had moved to the front and started walking as if she knew where she was going.

And while Mr. Ekenhart followed after her, we soon realized that she was headed to the north.

According to Leo, there was something up ahead that she wanted to see…

And for now, Mr. Ekenhart didn’t want to bother Leo.

I suppose it was because he and his family had so much respect for Silver Fenrirs.

But Leo didn’t care about such things, so it should be fine…

However, Leo had never acted like this before… I didn’t know what she was thinking, but it might be best to let her do what she wanted for now.

“I am also curious about it. So I will go… You should stay here, Mr. Ekenhart.”

“No, I will go with you. After all, I can fight if something happens. Besides, the slums here are not as bad as some other places. It should be fine… Mostly likely…”

“Very well. Then let’s stay prepared as we go.”

“Yes.”

And so we followed after Leo while staying on our guard.

Both of us had our hands on our sword hilts as we looked at our surroundings.

I didn’t like the idea of unsheathing my sword on the streets, but we might not have a choice.

As for Leo, she too was looking around and sniffing, like she was searching for something.

There must really be something that interested her.

But what could it be?

If it turned out to be something like the smell of a delicious sausage… I would have to lecture Leo once we returned to the mansion…

“Still, what do you think good Leo wants in a place like this…?”

“I don’t know… It seems like she is searching for something, but…”

We had gone quite far to the north now, but Leo was still sniffing and walking around.

This place was different from the great street, and had a dreary atmosphere.

Most of the houses were in disrepair, and the shops looked quite empty.

And not just of customers, but of products as well…

Regardless of how Mr. Ekenhart and I felt, Leo continued her journey up north.

What could she possibly find here…

“Have you noticed, Mr. Takumi?”

“Yes. When it’s this obvious…”

Now that we were deep in the north side, I could see people on the roads and in the spaces between houses.

They all wore dirty clothes and blankets, and they stared at Mr. Ekenhart, me and Leo.

Most looked surprised or scared… I suppose it was just because of Leo.

“Wearing clean clothes really makes you stick out here.”

“…Indeed.”

Our clothes had been washed thoroughly at the mansion.

And so it was no wonder that we would draw attention here.

But even still, it seemed to be Leo’s beautiful, silver coat that they could not take their eyes off of…

“Wuff…? Wuff-wuff-wuff!”

“What is it, Leo? Did you find it?”

“…I don’t think we should stay for too long. What is it, good Leo?”

There was nothing we could do about the stares, and so we just continued to walk past the dreary houses.

Suddenly, Leo stopped in her tracks and turned around as if she was trying to say something to me.

Upon hearing her bark, some of the spectators shuddered with fear, but I ignored them for now.

“Wuff…”

“It’s over there?”

“Hmm?”

Leo pointed with her nose and from paw to a gap between two houses.

And so Mr. Ekenhart and I moved towards it to see what was there.

“…!”

“…!!”

“It sounds like a fight… Is someone being attacked?”

“It does sound like that…  But if it was dangerous, Leo would have jumped in herself.”

I could hear someone’s voice from the gap.

And it did sound like people were fighting.

“Wuff-wuff. Wuff!”

“Huh? A child? We should help it?”

“Is that true, good Leo?”

“Wuff.”

According to Leo, a child was being attacked up ahead.

And she wanted us to save it.

Indeed, if that was the case, we should go… But it was odd that Leo hadn’t gone herself.

She liked children, so I would have thought she would have rushed towards it. That’s when I noticed it.

The gap was too narrow for Leo to go through…

It was barely wide enough for a single human to fit.

So if Leo tried to go through, she would just get stuck.

That was why she was urging us to go instead…