“Mister Nirushi, is anything bothering you?”
The next day, I go see Mister Nirushi with Miss Lan. She wanted to be a little less direct, but I end up just asking him.
We find him sitting on a bench by himself, looking up to the sky and seemingly thinking about something.
“…What’s that all of a sudden?”
He says bluntly.
“People are concerned because you have been acting strangely.”
“…Mister Nirushi, if you are worried about something, I can help.”
“…Ahh…”
I talk after Miss Lan, and Mister Nirushi sighs.
Are we meddling? Are we bothering? Those thoughts start running around in my head.
“…Don’t make that face. Io’m not sighing at you.”
“Then why, are you making that face?”
“Lan.. Why are you sticking your nose into this…”
“Because I’m worried. Isn’t it obvious?”
Says Miss Lan with a smile, and Mister Nirushi looks away in embarrassment. Is he embarrassed because she’s worried about him?
“We are all living in this village together, aren’t we? It’s only natural for us to be concerned when something is troubling one of us, isn’t it?”
“Miss Lan is right… I want, to help.”
Miss Lan and I say as we look directly at Mister Nirushi, and he gives in and says ‘…oh alright’.
“…I’ve settled in this village quite a bit.”
“Yes.”
“…I didn’t know what was going to happen at first, but we built a village with the elves, you, and the other beast people. The village’s population increased too, and now the spirits recovered.”
“Yes. Those are all good things.”
“Yes, you’re right Lerunda… But the fact that I’ve settled down into this new life also makes me start thinking.”
Mister Nirushi looks pained. He stops talking, and then continues.
“What happened to our people? The ones the humans captured?”
Mister Nirushi’s village was attacked by humans. He and others somehow managed to escape, and then Mister Athos passed away. We were worried that the kingdom of Migha might attack again, and ran away.
“We ran away and settled here, but even as I live here in peace, I’m sure something terrible is happening to them.
This thought has been on my mind even as we ran, found the elven village, fought the monster, and built a village in a new land, but lately there hasn’t really been anything to occupy my mind, so I can’t stop thinking about them.”
These cat beast people that I’ve never met were captured and turned into slaves. If something like this happened to people that are important to me like Gaius and Miss Lan… What a terrifying and sad thought.
I don’t know what to say.
They were taken by this huge thing called a country and enslaved.
Honestly, I don’t really understand the idea of slavery. Why do that when you can talk and understand each other? Just the fact that a thing like that exists is really sad.
I can’t just say we should take them back. Even an eleven year old like me can understand that’s not easy.
“…I know I don’t have the power to fight a country. Even if the village is doing well, I know I can’t just propose we all go out and rescue them. In fact, since the village is doing well, we should focus on developing it and not waste effort on anything else.
But still… I understand all that, but I can’t help but want to save them.”
Says Mister Nirushi with his fist clenched tight.
I really don’t know what to say. I want to help him, that’s why I came here to talk to him in the first place, but what do I say? I don’t know what’s the best thing to say here.
“I understand.”
Says Miss Lan as I struggle with thinking about what to do. She’s not agitated like me, and speaks calmly and quietly.
“You want to save the cat beast people. If someone falls into slavery, the most amiable way to end it is to acquire money and pay. There’s also the option of liberating them using brute force if that is possible.”
“L-Lan?”
“Why are you so surprised? I’m only thinking about this because you said you want to save them. So how can we save them?”
“…You’re not mad?”
“About what?”
“…Me saying this in such an important time, after we found a new place and life here is going well. I thought you’d say it’s impossible and end it at that.”
“We can’t decide if it’s impossible before we even think about it. Let’s think about it through trial and error, and if it really it’s impossible then it can’t be helped. But we can’t call it impossible from the start.
You said it yourself when we first met, you want to save them if you can, so I’ll support you as a fellow member of this village.
Back then we had no choice but to run, so we escaped and looked for a new place, but now it’s different.”
I listen quietly to what Miss Lan has to say, and so does Mister Nirushi.
“There are more of us now, and life in our new home is going well. The future of the village is very important too, but if one of our friends is hurting, I think we can try to make them feel better. We need to talk with everyone about whether or not to go rescue them, so we’ll probably reach the conclusion that we can’t, but if we discuss this, I’m sure we can figure out something we can do.
So we are not going to flatly refuse your wish and call it impossible. You should rely on your friends more. We are all living here together after all.
Says Miss Lan earnestly, and after Mister Nirushi looks at her in awe, tears come out of his eyes.
“M-mister Nirushi!?”
I say in surprise, but Miss Lan presses her lips against her finger, signaling for me to be quiet. She then pats Mister Nirushi’s head, and I do the same.
…I’m a little tempted to touch his ears, but now’s not the time for that.
After a while, he stops crying and says thank you, while looking away in embarrassment.
—Girl and people acting strangely – Part two
(The miko and the educator go talk to the cat beast man together and learn about what is going through his mind.)
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