Chapter 1-10 : The Girl, The Cat, And The Kind Elderly Couple (part 2)
After Elle finished her dinner, she spent time talking with the elderly couple while enjoying the dandelion tea. They were talking about a lot of things.
Her chill body was warmed by fire in the fireplace, and her heart was warmed by the elderly couple’s kindness.
「Since you have nowhere to go tonight, you may stay here, but we don’t have an empty room for you, so you will be sleeping here in the living room if you don’t mind.」(elderly man)
「I don’t mind. Thank you.」(Elle)
「Alright then. Dear, can you prepare a mattress for her?」(elderly man)
「Of course.」(elderly woman)
The elderly woman stood up from her chair, but when she was about to go to the room to take the mattress, Elle stopped her.
「Ah, Obaa-chan, you don’t have to. I brought my own mattress.」(Elle)
「Is that so? You’re so prepared.」(elderly woman)
「Hehe… I need to set up camp in the forest after all.」(Elle)
「I see.」(elderly woman)
「Ah, come to think of it, you said you came from the port town, didn’t you?」(elderly man)
「Eh? Y, Yes… I did… say that.」(Elle)
「Did someone from this village tell you how to get here?」(elderly man)
「No… I knew it from a map.」(Elle)
「So you can read a map? That’s amazing. You seem to be much smarter than I thought.」(elderly man)
「Ahaha…」(Elle)
Elle couldn’t help but reply to the elderly man with an awkward smile because she felt a bit guilty for lying to him.
The fact that the elderly couple treated her with kindness made her feel even more guilty.
Elle lied because she didn’t want them to know she came from the forest and accuse her for being a heretic, but then she changed her mind. She no longer thought they would do something like that after she realized how kind they were.
「Umm… Ojii-san, Obaa-san, have you ever heard about… Monster Eater…?」(Elle)
「Monster Eater…?」(elderly man)
「What is that?」(elderly woman)
The two tilted their heads. It seemed that they really didn’t know about it.
「So, you don’t know about it? I see.」(Elle)
Elle sighed in relief. She then realized that there was no reason for her to tell a lie.
She stood up and bowed at the two.
「I’m sorry, Ojii-san, Obaa-san! Actually, I didn’t come from the port town. I came from the forest…」(Elle)
「From the forest? Ah, I see. I heard there was a small village deep in the forest. Did you come from there?」(elderly man)
「Umm… No, but I lived not far from there…」(Elle)
Talking about that cursed village, Elle couldn’t help but frown.
The elderly couple noticed the change in Elle’s expression, and they thought something bad must have happened to her.
「Ojou-san, do you mind telling us what happened?」(elderly man)
Thinking that the kind elderly couple would listen to her story, Elle nodded.
She told them what happened to her, but of course, she didn’t tell them anything about Moritz.
She told them that her house was burned by the villagers because they hated her, so she had no choice but to get out of there. She also told them that she was aiming for the royal capital to find her father.
「That’s terrible… What a poor girl.」(elderly man)
「It must have been hard for you. This world can be cruel sometimes, but you must stay strong..」(elderly woman)
Saying that, the elderly woman stroked Elle’s head. The gentle warmth Elle felt on her head was so comfortable.
The emotions she had been holding back manifested as a cry. Her body started shaking and tears started flowing from her eyes.
「Don’t worry. It’s going to be alright. You will be fine.」(elderly woman)
「Don’t lose hope, Ojou-san. I hope you will find your father.」(elderly man)
「Thank you, Ojii-san, Obaa-san…」(Kako)
The elderly couple were looking at Elle with gentle smiles and waited for her to calm down.
Elle felt kind of embarrassed when she calmed down. She scratched her cheek with her index finger and smiled awkwardly.
「Umm… I’m sorry you had to see me crying…」(Elle)
「No, that’s alright. You can cry a bit longer.」(elderly man)
「No, I’m fine. By the way, Ojii-san, what were you doing in the village square earlier?」(Elle)
She quickly changed the topic to hide her embarrassment.
「I went there to see the rumored Miraculous Saviors. I couldn’t watch them closely because I might get infected by the disease, so I thought of watching them from afar. That was when I found you hiding behind someone’s house. You were watching them too, were you?」(elderly man)
「Yes.」(Elle)
「I lost a few friends to that disease in the past week. Many children and elders collapsed one after another… What a terrible disease…」(elderly man)
「I see…」(Elle)
「By the way, you’re leaving tomorrow, right?」(elderly man)
「That’s my plan.」(Elle)
「Good. You better not stay here for long. You don’t want to get infected, do you?」(elderly man)
「…..」(Elle)
Elle’s chest suddenly ached.
She realized that the elderly couple would eventually be infected by the black spot disease too if they stayed.
Of course, they realized it too. However, they didn’t seem to want to leave their home.
「Umm… Ojii-san, Obaa-san, I think you shouldー」(Kako)
「ーOjou-san, it’s getting late. It’s better if you sleep now.」(elderly man)
「Eh? Butー」(Kako)
「You’re going to head to the town tomorrow, right? Sleep now or you won’t have the energy to walk tomorrow.」(elderly man)
「O… Okay…」(Kako)
Kako tried to tell them to get away too, but the elderly man seemed to notice what she was trying to say, so he persistently told her to sleep.
「By the way, we have chicken, and Obaa-chan has drained its blood earlier, so we’ll have delicious roasted chicken for breakfast tomorrow.」(elderly man)
「That’s right. I think you will love it. You can look forward to it. Well then, good night, Ojou-san.」(elderly woman)
「Good night…」(Kako)
After the two went to their room, Elle took out her mattress and spread it on the floor near the fireplace.
When she lay down and covered herself with a blanket, Yoyo crawled in.
「This house is warm. I like it a lot.」(Yoyo)
「Yeah, me too.」(Elle)
「We’re heading to the port town tomorrow, right?」(Yoyo)
「That’s the plan, but…」(Elle)
「What’s wrong?」(Yoyo)
「I want to do something for them to return their kindness.」(Elle)
「I see. You’re right. We better do that before leaving. Good night, Elle.」(Yoyo)
「Good night, Yoyo.」(Elle)
Elle didn’t know what she could do for the elderly couple, but she thought she might find out tomorrow.
ーーーーー
When Elle woke up the next morning, it was dark inside the house because there was no window and the fire in the fireplace had gone out, but Elle could tell that it was already morning thanks to the sunlight coming through the gap in the door.
She got up from the mattress and stretched her body while yawning.
「Fwaaaahh~….」(Elle)
「Good morning, Elle」(Yoyo)
「Good morning, Yoyo.」(Elle)
「Aahh~ It’s been a very long time since the last time I had a nice sleep.」(Yoyo)
Yoyo woke up and did some stretches too.
Fairies don’t normally sleep, but even Yoyo got very tired after going through the forest for a few days.
After stretching his body, Yoyo used his telekinetic ability to open the door to let the fresh air and the morning sunlight come in.
While waiting for the elderly couple to wake up, Elle decided to do some cleaning. She cleaned the floor with a broom and washed the dish.
The sun gradually rose while she was doing chores, and it was about time for the elderly couple to wake up, but they had not yet come out of their room.
「Hmm… Are they still sleeping? Obaa-san said she would cook some grilled chicken, so she was supposed to wake up early, right?」(Elle)
「I think you should wake them up.」(Yoyo)
「You’re right.」(Elle)
Elle approached the door to the elderly couple’s room and knocked on it.
「Ojii-san, Obaa-san, good morning. Are you awake?」(Elle)
However, they didn’t reply.
Elle called them out again but still no answer from them.
She started to worry.
「Yoyo… I have a bad feeling somehow…」(Elle)
「Ugh… Me too… I think you should go inside and check.」(Yoyo)
「Yeah…」(Elle)
Elle grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened the door.
「Ojii-san…? Obaa-san…? ー!!」(Elle)
「「Uuughh…..」」(elderly couple)
「Ojii-san! Obaa-san!」(Elle)
Elle found them groaning in pain.
She immediately approached their bed in panic and noticed black spots on their faces.
「ーNo…! No way!!」(Elle)
You can gain access to [Early Access] page and read up to ten chapters ahead by supporting me on [Patreon]