Chapter 1-10 : The Girl, The Cat, And The Kind Elderly Couple (part 1)
「Young lady, what are you doing here?」(??)
「ー!!?」(Elle)
Elle turned her face and saw an elderly man who seemed to be in his sixties. He looked at Elle with suspicion while holding a lantern in one hand.
Thanks to the light from the lantern, Elle could see his face clearly, and she didn’t see any black spots on his face.
「Are you watching what they’re doing?」(elderly man)
「No, I… I just…」(Elle)
Elle was scared. She thought she was done for.
At the same time, she also wondered why Yoyo didn’t say anything about the elderly man.
Seeing Elle’s frightened face, the elderly man smiled to calm her down.
「Don’t worry, young lady. There’s nothing to be afraid of. They may look scary with those weird masks, but they are good people. We call them The Miraculous Saviors.」(elderly man)
The elderly man seemed to misunderstand something. He thought that Elle was afraid of the people in bird masks.
「Miraculous… Saviors…?」(Elle)
「Yes. They travel around this country to save people from deadly diseases with their miracles. I’m glad that they finally visited this village.」(elderly man)
「……」(Elle)
Elle knew that those people were not saviors or anything. They were just a bunch of con men who took advantage of the villagers’ black disease to make dirty money.
She wanted to tell the elderly man the truth so badly, but she didn’t think he would believe a child like her. Above all, she was afraid that he would drive her away from the village.
「You’re not from this village, are you? Where did you come from?」(elderly man)
「I… Umm… I came from the port town to visit an acquaintance here, but he had already passed away…」(Elle)
Elle didn’t want him to know that she came from the forest because he might accuse her of being a minion of a Monster Eater, so she came up with a lie.
「I see. My condolences…」(elderly man)
「Th, Thank you… There’s no inn in this village, so…」(Elle)
「That’s why you’re wandering around.」(elderly man)
「Yes…」(Elle)
「I see. It’s cold out here. You might catch a cold. You can come to my place if you want.」(elderly man)
「Umm…」(Elle)
Elle glanced at Yoyo. Realizing what she was trying to say, he nodded at her.
It seemed that the elderly man had no ill intention at all. That was probably why Yoyo didn’t say anything when he approached Elle.
「Alright. Sir, I will be in your care then.」(Elle)
「Sure. Follow me.」(elderly man)
Elle nodded and followed him.
◇◇◇
Elle was guided to a small house on the outskirts of the village.
On the way, the elderly man talked about himself. He seemed to live with his wife, and they earned their living from selling firewood.
The people in the village were so poor that they couldn’t afford any fire magic stones. That’s why he lives near the forest so that he can make firewood for the villagers.
「I’m home.」(elderly man)
「Welcome back. Ara, who is this cute young lady?」(elderly woman)
「She came from the port town to visit someone in this village, but they passed away. She didn’t have a place to stay, so I brought her here.」(elderly man)
「If that’s the case, then you may come in. It’s not a big house but I hope you feel comfortable here.」(elderly woman)
「Thank you.」(Elle)
Elle bowed once and entered the house.
It wasn’t as big as Moritz’s house but it was warm and comfortable.
There was a wooden table with chairs at the center, a wooden shelf and a fireplace on the walls, a stove for cooking, and a door that seemed to lead to the bedroom.
The living room was dimly lit with the fire from the fireplace.
「Shall I warm up the soup?」(elderly woman)
「Yeah, please do.」(elderly man)
The elderly woman heated up the remaining soup from dinner in the big pot. She then put some in a bowl and served it to Elle. She also put a piece of bread on Elle’s plate.
「You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I hope you like it.」(elderly woman)
「Thank you very much.」(Elle)
Elle was grateful that the elderly couple was treating her with kindness.
It was the first time she ever felt kindness from strangers.
「And here’s for the cat.」(elderly woman)
After she served the soup and the bread to Elle, the elderly woman took a plate with a small piece of dried fish from the kitchen and put it on the floor in front of Yoyo.
Seeing what she just did, Elle was surprised.
「Ehh? You can see him?」(Elle)
「Him? You mean your cat?」(elderly woman)
「What do you mean by that? Of course, we can see it. It’s been following you since I found you in the village. Isn’t it your cat?」(elderly man)
「He is, but… I mean… N, Nevermind…」(Elle)
The elderly couple tilted their heads and looked at each other, wondering.
Yoyo didn’t usually show his appearance in front of other people, but of course, he could do it whenever he wanted.
He thought the elderly couple were good people, that’s probably why he didn’t hide.
Yoyo was a fairy, so he didn’t normally eat human food, but he couldn’t refuse the dried fish the elderly woman gave him.
Seeing Yoyo silently start eating the dried fish, Elle turned to the bowl of soup in front of her and grabbed the spoon.
The soup only contained beans but it didn’t taste bad at all. The taste was not important. What was important was that it warmed Elle’s body which was cold from the night wind.
Next, she grabbed the bread. It was as hard as a rock, so she dipped it in the soup first before she put it in her mouth. Thanks to the soup, the bread didn’t taste that bland.
「Phew… Thank you for the food, Obaa-chan.」(Elle)
「You’re welcome. Here, it will warm your body.」(elderly woman)
After Elle finished her meal, the elderly woman brewed tea made from dandelions for Elle.
「Thank you.」(Elle)
The warm dandelion tea gently washed away the aftertaste from the bean soup in her throat as Elle took a sip of it.
Her first encounter with strangers was the worst. She was accused of being a heretic and chased away from the village. She even almost got killed by those people.
It had been hard for her to trust strangers since then, but she changed her mind after she met the elderly couple.
She believed that there were still many kind-hearted people like them in this world.
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If the Miraculous saviors are going around with masks on it would definitely be easy to impersonate them… Or they’re con men from the beginning. Have a feeling that by the time she arrives at the titular elf she’ll note have a bone of trust in her body