chapter 10
10 – Anomaly(1)
After exchanging glances, Nadia and I ran towards the woman who was crying.
On the way, I further lowered the hood of the robe. In this situation, if your identity is revealed, things become a hassle.
“Kas… Sobbing… .”
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“you are… ?”
“I’m a wandering young pharmacist. I made an elixir that went into your food. This man-”
“I am an attendant of the Theseus family. what’s going on?”
“Well?”
“Kas… So I can’t see my son… !”
Fortunately, the voice alone did not seem to have been heard. I said, pulling down the hood of the robe I was wearing.
Nadia tilted her head at my voice, but she doesn’t seem to doubt it.
“If you can’t see… Are you saying that I was lost here?”
“Since this town isn’t big, wouldn’t it be possible to look around and find it?”
“that is… I’ve been walking around since morning and I can’t find it. Where the hell did he go, maybe he went into the forest… If the child is wrong, I will no longer… !”
‘forest?’
And the woman started to sob again.
Her body was trembling as if she would faint at any moment.
From memory, Mene’s surroundings are only fields. You have to go in for a long time to come out of the forest, right?
“Nadia. Can you take care of her?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Let’s call the guards and look for the child.”
“watch? Were there guards here?”
“Anyway, take care of that woman. You might faint.”
To be honest, Mene doesn’t even have a guard, let alone a guard.
Because the sane ones ran away long ago. In the current situation, if something happened, I had no choice but to respond alone.
After leaving the woman in Nadia’s care, I headed for the carriage.
In most cases, lost children cannot occur in Mene. It was not very large and there were no proper buildings, so it was impossible to get lost.
Even so, the disappearance of the child means that he went outside, not Mene.
The area around Mene was full of fields, so if you went up to the high ground where the mansion was, you would find it quickly.
And the forest the woman said.
For some reason it bothered me.
“Lord, master!”
“Lisa?”
When I reached the wagon, I noticed Risha running away in a hurry.
She was holding the robe I had put on her in both hands.
He must have slept soundly, and his complexion was good.
As I raised my hand to say hello, Lisa bent down and shouted.
“Sin, sorry! It’s not enough to fall asleep during work, even the master’s robe… ugh… .”
Lisa cried and shuddered.
‘I won, it’s still like this.’
I placed my left hand on Risha’s head as it was and gently stroked it.
Lisa’s head trembled.
I spoke in the most caring tone.
“After working all day, it is natural to be tired. Even I fell asleep. And the robe is extra, so don’t worry too much about it.”
“Yes Yes… ?”
“Straighten your back, Lisa.”
Lisa’s face was already full of tears.
It seemed that the fear of abandoning the owner and falling asleep came closer than expected.
Because it happened somewhere else without even knowing it.
I wiped Lisa’s eyes with the sleeve of my shirt.
“… Ugh.”
Did you know you could hit me? Lisa closed her eyes tightly.
She was so cute that she tapped her forehead with her finger. I wanted to touch the cheeks that stick out like glutinous rice cakes, but let’s postpone that to another time.
“Lishya. I have somewhere to go, so go back to the mansion.”
“… Then, me too.”
“no. This is something you can do alone.”
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Just in case you didn’t know, it was better to put Risha away.
Another reason for the sudden disappearance of a child could be kidnapping.
There was no guarantee that I would be able to protect Risha in a state where my skills were not measured.
When I said it firmly, Risha said no more.
He just looked up at me quietly with a teary face.
‘Seeing this… .’
Although she is still young, she has a face that will make a man cry when he grows up.
Distinct features and jet-black bobbed hair that came down to the shoulders. Even the waist and pelvis that started to show fine changes after entering the growth phase.
It might have been a good thing to drop Risha when Zed came.
If that yomi bird saw Risha… It is clear that the eyes must have turned over to take him away.
Seeing this, it was even more suspicious that Risha was left in the mansion.
Is there any reason to leave behind a comfortable life?
Is that also called the tyrant Altane?
“… Lord, Master.”
Risha looked away too closely and stepped back.
… About this, if you get a chance later, ask her.
I said while fixing the disheveled robe.
“Anyway, I’ll be back soon, so let’s break up here for a while.”
“… .”
“Lisa?”
“Ah yes… !”
After confirming the location of the attitude on my waist, I left behind Risha, who was standing there blankly, and headed towards the hill near the village.
*
“There really is nothing.”
The surroundings of Mene seen from the hill were literally empty fields.
All that is there is a forest located firmly between the open fields.
Yes, there are forests.
‘That must be the forest the woman was talking about.’
Perhaps because of the thick trees, the blue forest had a different atmosphere from the general forest.
I looked around the fields just in case, but the child was nowhere to be seen.
If you’re not in the village and you can’t see it in the fields… .
―Have you ever entered the forest?
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Judging from the woman’s words, that forest would not be just a forest. There is a possibility that monsters exist.
It’s like the sudden appearance of a forest, and there’s no way a forest that should have been green could be blue.
Unknowingly, I grabbed the attitude that was wrapped around my waist.
How much skill did Altane have at this time?
No, can I follow him in the first place? Even now, write to Jed—
―If the child is wrong, I will no longer… !
“… under.”
When I woke up, I was already heading for the forest.
I don’t know if I can imitate the talent of the devil called Altane, but at least in this situation, there is no one else to solve it except me.
In addition, didn’t he decide to walk a different path from Altane?
Whether it’s a kill or a gang, I have to go.
In the current situation, there was no way to know what Altane’s stats were, what skills he had, or what his level was.
But one thing is for sure, having this attitude makes me feel unfounded and confident.
“If it’s dangerous, I’ll bring Nadia too.”
Possessing a different world, I didn’t have a status window or game-like cheat abilities like in novels,
I had knowledge in the game.
No matter what kind of monster pops out, you can respond to some extent.
It’s a life that dies once anyway, so I have to die.
*
After Lian had left, Nadia helped the woman and seated her on a nearby pile of rocks.
Then he took out a vial from his bosom and held it out to the woman.
“It is a rejuvenating elixir. It’s only a little bit, but even that will give me strength.”
“… thank you.”
“Don’t worry too much. Lian will call the guards.”
“Rian… You mean?”
“Why are you talking about the guy I was with earlier? I met you for the first time today, but you seemed trustworthy, right?”
“ah… .”
Nadia didn’t miss the moment the woman’s arm trembled.
Is it that ugly?
‘Well, it’s not the lord, it’s because he’s from a different family.’
Nadia changed the subject of the conversation to change the atmosphere that had subsided in an instant.
“Come to think of it, what is the lord doing here? The residents are living like this, and they don’t show their faces, let alone help.”
“My lord… silver… .”
“You must eat well and live well. The mansion up there is the manor house, right? Does he think he’ll be the lord even if there are no residents… Even though I have visited many other regions, I have never seen a lord like this.”
“… … .”
“People who turn their eyes to the lower classes but greedy for power behind their backs. I hate people like that the most.”
Nadia grinded her teeth.
As she had traveled all over the continent, leaving her hometown in ruins behind, she was projecting herself onto Mene’s situation without even realizing it.
Nadia, who had never cared about anything, could not this time.
“Originally, this is the contract, but… I’ll ask Lian to make some elixirs later. You will be stronger than before.”
“thank you… . But he-“
―――!
The moment the woman was about to say something.
An unknown scream covered the sky.
*
“Wow!”
Risha sat down at the sudden screaming sound.
It was the first time she had heard it, so Risha didn’t even have time to look out the window. She covered her ears and buried her face in her legs.
Her slender body trembled.
“… Black.”
The fact that she was alone in a large mansion bothered her.
Obviously, I didn’t feel that way when I was with Lian.
Memories of slavery came back to me again.
It is a memory of being locked in an iron bar where you couldn’t eat anything and couldn’t even see the light.
“… master.”
He was his owner, who was called a tyrant and trash, but he didn’t show that to her.
The day he brought himself out of the darkness.
The day she gave me the name Risha and stroked my hair.
And today, he touched his black hair.
The owner’s appearance was the same as the one Risha remembered.
no matter what others say
“master.”
Risha pulled up the blanket next to her and covered it.
A fragrant smell wafted from the black blanket that matched her jet-black hair.
The familiar scent of rose wafts along with the smell of freshly washed detergent.
It was Ryan’s blanket.
“… Please come quickly.”
Even though I slept a while ago, I was drowsy.
Risha dug deeper into the blanket.
Her body no longer trembled.
Even though I was away from my master, I felt as if I was with him.
It was an object of fear, and it was clear that it was an object to avoid, but for some reason, the more I smelled him, the more I felt my heart calm down.
Her eyes slowly began to close as the light faded.