Everyone is surprised as we return to the village with a human. To beast people, humans are something to be wary of.
I thought we had to bring her back with us and help, but what if she’s a bad person?
I get the feeling that it will be alright though.
I watch as she eats a simple fried dish of berries and vegetables.
She’s an adult.
Her clothes are full of dirt, so I wonder what she has been doing. She’s very dirty, even for someone that’s been outside for a long time.
I think it’s strange, as I stare at her eating.
In fact, everyone here is watching her. I’m sure they are all wary of this woman we found collapsed in the forest.
Normally, you wouldn’t find someone in the forest like that. I lived in the forest after being abandoned, but that sort of situation should be very rare.
This woman is dirty, but she has a pretty face. I don’t know how to explain it, but I haven’t seen a lot of people that move in such a pretty way. That’s the feeling I get…
After she finishes eating she says…
“Thank you very much. You saved me.”
And bows. This gesture feels appropriate somehow.
“If you want to thank someone, thank this girl. We brought you because she wanted to save you.”
Mister Athos says as he looks directly at her, and places his hand on my head. The woman is surprised, probably because a human like me is in a village of beast people.
“…A child? A human child in a village of beast people?”
“Yes, but even if she is human, she is very important to us.”
Says mister Athos, as he looks at the woman with caution.
Why? He looks a little scary. Still, I’m happy he said I’m important.
As I think that, I keep looking at the woman.
“…I see, but I am not trying to take her away from here. It is true that in the country of humans where I lived there was a big tendency to see beast people with contempt, but… When I was little, I was saved by beast people as well, and if that girl wishes to stay here, I will not do anything to try to take her away.”
…I think this woman is from the same country where the village I grew up is. To be honest, I know next to nothing about what countries exist and where they are.
“So why are you here? This forest is where we were born and raised, but to humans it is nothing more than a dangerous place isn’t it?”
Answers mister Athos, even as the woman tries to relax the tense atmosphere. Gaius looks nervous too, and he’s holding on to my sleeve.
“…I’m looking for someone.”
“Someone?”
“Yes. I do not know her name, but I am after her out of curiosity, or perhaps a desire for knowledge. I am a researcher, so when something is on my mind…
I jumped inside the forest by myself and, as embarrassing as it is to say, I collapsed there.
I am very grateful to you for bringing me here.”
Researcher.
I think it means that she is good at studying. Still, she is looking for someone whose name she doesn’t even know. I wonder why.
“Hum, perhaps… She is the one I am looking for.”
Me?
As soon as she says that, Gaius’s grip on my sleeve becomes stronger.
I feel like mister Athos and the other adults have become more wary too.
“Eek… Hum, even if she is the one I’m looking for, it doesn’t mean I have any intention of taking her away, honest! If anything, if she is the one, I want to stay in this village!
Please, let me at least check.”
She seems very desperate.
I think I know what she means when she says I may be the one she is looking for.
She seems so desperate, it looks like she might kneel at any moment.
Mister Athos and the others look bewildered, and so am I.
“Gaius, let me talk.”
“Talk?”
“Yes. Alone, with her.”
“No! What if something happens!?”
“Then, Scifo stays.”
Gaius doesn’t want me to talk with the woman by myself, but if Scifo is with me…
I tell the same thing to mister Athos. He looks troubled and opposes this, but I say it’s alright.
I tell the woman we will talk over there, and we move not very far, to talk alone.
I can see Gaius and mister Athos looking on with worried expressions. I turn my head towards the woman, as I feel a little happy that they’re worried about me.
“Hum… Are you… Miss Alice’s sister?”
The woman bends over to look me in the eyes, and asks me a question.
—Girl and woman – Part one
(The girl that is probably the miko starts talking with the woman that collapsed in the forest.)
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Thanks for the chapter desu~
I feel like she’ll be attracting even more researchers and members of the clergy to the village in the future…
[Yes. I do not know her name, by I am after her out of curiosity, or perhaps a desire for knowledge.]
* by —> but
Be careful with your words, miss, or they may be your lasts.