CH 291

We Talked About What To Do With The Girl

“I’m sorry, good wolf…for saying that you were going to eat me.”

“Kuun…”

“Ahh!”

“Wuff? Kuun. Kuun…”

“Don’t worry. She was just surprised.

She had stretched out her small hand anxiously and then touched Leo’s face.

Once she realized it was alright, Leo moved in closer and then licked the girl’s face, which caused her to shout in alarm.

Leo in turn was surprised by this, and seemed to apologize. But the girl laughed and petted Leo again.

They would surely be fine now.

Still, on closer inspection, the girl’s face was quite dirty…

Perhaps it had happened when she was being bullied, but there were also bruises on her face… Maybe that was why Leo had licked her.

Well, Leo just did it as a sign of affection. So she probably wasn’t even thinking about that.

“…Mr. Ekenhart. Is this girl a…”

“Mmm…a beastkin… It is rare to see one in this country… I suppose that is why they were hunting her…”

“A beastkin?”

Now that I was relieved that she was no longer afraid of Leo, I approached Mr. Ekenhart and talked with a hushed voice.

This girl had things that a human should not. She had beast ears on top of her head and a tail.

The ears…were more like a fox than a dog.

The triangular ears that pointed up and the tail that was fluffy like Leo… 

But leaving that aside, Mr. Ekenhart was talking about how she was a beastkin.

A beastkin… Aside from the monsters, here was another reminder that this was a very different world from the one that I had come from.

“Mmm. There is a country of beastkin, after all. But this country is filled with humans, and so you rarely see anyone else. Especially during these past few years…”

“I see… I had no idea that such people existed.”

“So you’ve never seen them, Mr. Takumi?”

“No. In my world, such people only existed within fiction.”

I talked to Mr. Ekenhart while watching the baestkin girl play with Leo, who she had been scared of just a moment ago.

While the ears on her head were brown, they looked almost black now, and so did her tail.

The rest of her skin had cuts and were filthy, as were her clothes. A girl this young should not be in such a state. Even seeing her there with Leo, the overall picture was quite sad.

“Mr. Ekenhart, this girl must be washed up and her injuries treated…”

“Indeed. Or something like this might happen again. Still…where can we take her… Perhaps there is an inn nearby? At least she can wash up?”

“Indeed… But then again…”

“Is there a problem?”

“No… But I suppose it would look odd, wouldn’t it? If people saw you carrying an injured beastkin girl to an inn.”

“You think so?”

Perhaps it was just me then.

But if this was in Japan, then people would probably call the authorities.

Because we were clearly not her parents.

And all eyes would be on us, since we were with Leo.

However, Mr. Ekenhart didn’t seem to share this concern, and looked rather puzzled.

But then again, if Mr. Ekenhart wasn’t remotely concerned with what people thought, then he would have shaved off his beard. 

I can only imagine what Ms. Claire would say if she was here.

“Perhaps someone you know… What about Mr. Kalis?”

“Yes, we could go there… Though, since it is just a store, she will not be able to wash up.”

“I see…”

While that was the first place I thought of, like Mr. Ekenhart said, it was just a place that sold herbs…

So I suppose that meant Ms. Isabelle’s store would be the same.

And then I had an idea.

“…What about the orphanage?”

“The orphanage. Yes, that is just the place to take such a child. And the children there are so well behaved, so we wouldn’t have to worry.”

“Yes…”

That was where Milina used to live.

If we explained the situation…then Ms. Anna should take care of her.

“…Hmm?”

“What is it?”

“No, Leo…”

After we decided to go to the orphanage, I turned to Leo and the girl, but realized that something was wrong.

While the beastkin girl was still smiling as if having forgotten everything that happened before, Leo was shaking as if holding something in… But what?

“Wu…ff…”

“What is it, good wolf?”

“Wa-choo!!”

“Ahhhh!”

It was just when the girl had noticed that Leo was acting strangely, and had opened her mouth.

Leo then shook her whole body and sneezed on her.

And so a great deal of saliva and snot ended up hitting her.

She let out a surprised shout and then looked stunned.

It was even dripping on the ground… I guess a sneeze was quite powerful when you were that big… I would have to be careful when around Leo’s nose from now on.