A few days after our house is complete, Xellos and Merlin finish theirs.
Having three houses in a space that’s not really all that big kind of makes it look like a village.
And going from a tent in the woods to living in a house feels a lot more civilized.
“Reina, how about we celebrate the completion of their houses?”
“Yes… You ended up helping a lot too, so let’s splurge a little.”
We’re almost done sorting things out after moving into our house, and we’re using the same furniture we were using in the tent, like the sofa and the table.
Reina organized her books on a bookshelf, and the interior of this house doesn’t look at all like it was furnished with materials of this island.
There’s a kitchen too, and stuff like a bath and an oven outside.
I don’t have the expert knowledge to make those kinds of things, but thankfully, Reina does, so she’s been teaching me all sorts of things.
As we talk about getting things like vegetables from the divine beast people’s village to start cultivating them, the bell that acts as the doorbell rings.
“I wonder who it could be? It can’t be Tiltue or Luna, because they always just come inside.”
“I’ll get it. You can focus on lunch.”
It’s lunch time, so there aren’t a lot of possibilities. And who among them would ring the bell…
“Hey Arata. ‘Scuse me.”
“Ah, it really is you, Elga. What’s wrong?”
“I’m here to get Luna. I told her to come back this morning, but she didn’t show up.”
“Luna? She went back after dinner last night…”
Luna doesn’t have parents, so Elga and Livia welcomed her into their family.
They don’t have kids, but it’s clear that they love her like a little sister.
Luna talks about Elga kind of like a sister-in-law would, and says he’s annoying, but she’s not mean to him, and usually hangs around him.
“Ah… So where did she go?”
“What happened with Luna?”
Reina comes to the entrance with the red apron she wears when she cooks, because she thought it was strange how I’m not coming back in.
“Luna didn’t get home last night.”
“Oh no! We have to go look for her!”
“…No, not ya two. She’s my problem.”
Elga sighs while scratching his head, and turns around.
“But if she comes back here, tell her to go home. And to be ready.”
“Ah, wai…”
Elga takes off running at an incredible speed, and by the time I stretch my arm towards him, he’s not there anymore.
It’s at times like these that it really shows that he’s not human, and is instead the descendant of an incredible race like the divine beasts.
“What do we do…”
“I guess we should go out looking for her. She’s not weak enough to lose to any beast in this forest, and I can’t imagine her getting lost on the way home either. Something might have happened…”
“Yes…”
I agree with Reina. Luna hunted the shantak bird alone, and was fully ready to face the emperor boar alone too.
Maybe she found something she thought looked tasty, and ended up in some place she doesn’t know.
“I’ll go, Reina.”
“Yes… If I tag along, I will just slow you down… Please go look for her.”
“Leave it to me.”
And so, I go out too.
Xellos and Merlin look at me like they’re wondering what’s going on, so I stop by to give them an abridged explanation, and run into the forest.
As I run through the path to the divine beast people’s village, I make sure to focus on listening to any noises around me.
I hear things like the wind fluttering, and the quiet sound of water running, but nothing that makes me think Luna is nearby.
“If she was in our place last night…”
If anything happened, it should have been on the way back, but I end up reaching her village without finding her.
It’s a bit noisy here, because apparently Elga already told them Luna didn’t come home.
I don’t have any new information, so I wouldn’t be able to do much to help, and I go back to the forest.
If she’s not on the way to the village, that makes finding her pretty tricky.
Like Reina said, there’s no way any monster around here is going to get the better of her.
Say what you will, but she’s still a part of the strongest race on this island.
“That means that if she’s been away for a whole day, it’s either because there was big trouble, or because she didn’t want to go home…”
I think about what Luna was like last night. She played with Tiltue during the day, and seemed normal at dinner too.
“…Wait, it felt like she was enjoying herself more than usual. Hum… And today is Elga and Livia’s wedding anniversary. And I heard the three of them were going to celebrate.”
Then I remember Luna being excited and saying she wanted to get them a present.
She went home a little earlier than usual to prepare that…
“Does that mean something happened while she was getting said present? That’s not really enough to go on… Wait…”
As I think, I feel a presence a little far away that seems to come from Luna.
Despite the distance, there’s no doubt that it’s a familiar presence.
The presence doesn’t feel weak, so it doesn’t seem like anything’s happened to her.
“Let’s just go.”
I run towards her.
On the way there, I see all sorts of monsters that look surprised to see me, and others that take off running like they saw a monster, but I don’t have time to waste on them now.
“There you are!”
I see Luna’s back, sitting next to a big tree.”
“Luna!”
“!?”
She quickly turns my way, and looks surprised to see me. And she’s gesturing.
I’m relieved to see she isn’t hurt at least, so I stop running and walk towards her.
“Hn?”
As I get closer, I notice she seems to be hiding something behind her.
I’m looking down at the small Luna, so I see… Two dog pups. Or I guess two monsters that look like dogs, lying on the ground.
“M-mister…”
“Hum… What is this?”
“Well…”
It feels like I caught her at a bad time, so I don’t say anything. But eventually Luna figures she can’t hide it anymore, and reluctantly starts explaining.
“Hum, Today is Elga and Livia’s wedding anniversary.”
“Yes.”
“And I wanted to get them a present… And she said she wanted kids, so…”
Those dog pups she’s hiding behind her are probably wolf types. Well, they look like puppies anyway.
So basically, Luna wanted to give Elga and Livia wolf pups.
At first I think her childish way of thinking is cute, but then I remember something.
These pups are clearly very young, like they were just born. It’s clear that without their parents, there’s no way they’re going to survive in this rough dog eat dog world.
“Luna, what happened to their parents?”
“..!?”
Luna’s body trembles at my answer.
Could it be…
“Did you kill them?”
“N-no! Not Luna! When Luna got close it was already…”
“I see…”
I’m relieved to hear that.
I doubt she’s lying. She wouldn’t lie about something like that.
“Then can you tell me what happened? Take your time.”
“…Yes.”
And so, she tells me what happened after she left our house.
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