Chapter 1-6 : The Girl And The Cat And The Mercy Of The Devil
As soon as she got home, Elle sat at the dining table while holding her head, worrying about the villagers.
It would be a disaster if the black spot disease spread throughout the entire village.
「Elle, there was nothing you could do. Besides, those people didn’t want your help. You don’t have to worry about them.」(Yoyo)
「Un…」(Elle)
It became even more difficult to live in the forest for Elle now that the people in the village had completely rejected her.
Moreover, Elle might get infected with the black spot disease if she stayed in the forest.
The best way to survive was to get out of there, but she had nowhere to go.
While thinking about that, she suddenly remembered about her dad.
「Say, Yoyo, do you think my dad is still alive?」(Elle)
「Moritz said that he was already dead, but honestly, I’m not sure. Not until I see his graveyard.」(Yoyo)
「I see.」(Elle)
「Do you really believe he’s still alive?」(Yoyo)
「Of course. I think he has his own reason for not returning home.」(Elle)
「You really think so? What if your guess is right? What if he’s really still alive?」(Yoyo)
「Then I would be very happy.」(Elle)
「But if he’s still alive, that means he has chosen to abandon you and live in the royal capital, you know?」(Yoyo)
「Still, it won’t change my feeling. I would still be happy. Like I said, he must have his reason.」(Elle)
「Hmm… If you say so…」(Yoyo)
Elle put her head down on the table and closed her eyes.
She was thinking about what happened in the village and regretted her decision to break her promise to her dad and her master and go to that village.
She had been living in the forest as far as she could remember. However, she thought that it was time to finally say goodbye to the forest.
「Yoyo… I’ve decided what I should do from now on.」(Elle)
「Oh? So, what do you wanna do?」(Yoyo)
「I’m going to the royal capital to find my dad.」(Elle)
「…Eh!?」(Yoyo)
Yoyo widened his eyes.
He had the feeling Elle would decide to leave the forest someday but it still surprised him.
「Are you really sure?」(Yoyo)
「Yeah. You saw that village, right? I can’t make a living if I can’t even sell something. Besides, I might get infected with black spot disease if I stay here. I can’t stay in this forest.」(Elle)
Yoyo could hunt some animals and make food for Elle, but Elle thought that she couldn’t live like that forever.
She thought that it was the right time for her to go outside and learn about society.
「Yoyo, how about you? This forest is your home, so it’s okay if you want to stay. I’m still going with or without you.」(Elle)
「What are you talking about? Of course, I’m going with you! It would be extremely boring if I had to live here alone all by myself.」(Yoyo)
「Yoyo… Thank you!」(Elle)
Yoyo answered right away, and it made Elle happy.
She couldn’t help but hug Yoyo’s warm and soft body.
She said she would go with or without Yoyo, but in truth, she was scared to go alone.
「I’m sure my dad is still alive and is currently living somewhere in the royal capital.」(Elle)
「Yeah, let’s go find that bastard together.」(Yoyo)
「Un!」(Elle)
「We will need time to make some food and prepare other supplies for our journey first, so I think we will go in four days. What do you think?」(Yoyo)
「Sounds good to me.」(Elle)
◇◇◇
After three days of preparing for their long journey, Elle and Yoyo were ready to depart the next day.
Since Elle planned to make money from selling magic stones, she spent her three days making as many magic stones as possible.
She then started putting the magic stones in her magic bag.
「Is it okay if you put that many magic stones? Does it still have some room for other things?」(Yoyo)
「Of course.」(Elle)
「I see. As expected from that old man’s creation. Your magic bag really has a lot of space.」(Yoyo)
「It does. After all, Master said this bag was one of his best creations.」(Elle)
Although it wasn’t unlimited, Elle’s magic bag had a lot of space, so even though she packed so many magic stones, there was still enough room for food, clothes, and other things.
「By the way, Elle, since we still have some food ingredients in the kitchen, why don’t we use them to hold a goodbye party before we leave tomorrow morning?」(Yoyo)
「Oh! That’s a good idea!」(Elle)
They still had food ingredients such as flour, sugar, salt, eggs, and others that only lasted for about a week. Those ingredients would be wasted if they were not used, so Yoyo thought of making some pancakes and held a small party with only the two of them at dinner time.
As soon as he prepared the ingredients, Yoyo started controlling the cooking utensils with Levitation Magic and making his special pancakes.
Not only pancakes, he also made some cookies from the remaining ingredients.
After he was done with the food, he brew the tea, and then the party began.
「Mmm~ Your pancakes is the best in the world~!」(Elle)
「Hehe! Of course!」(Yoyo)
「But… Thinking that it will be our last dinner in this house makes me feel a bit lonely.」(Elle)
「Yeah, I know what you feel.」(Yoyo)
After enjoying the small party, Elle brushed her teeth, went to her room, and started packing supplies into her magic bag so that she was ready to go the next morning.
Other than magic stones, she also put some preserved food such as dried meat, dried mushrooms, and raspberry jam.
After that, she put in her clothes and some herbal soap she made. She thought of selling the soap if she had a hard time selling her magic stones in the city. By the way, she learned to make herbal soap from Moritz.
She also packed some medicines and some useful tools she found in the lab in case she would need them in the future.
Lastly, she put the rabbit stuffed animal she got from her dad in her magic bag and called it a day.
「Good night, Yoyo.」(Elle)
「Good night. Sleep well, so that you have the energy to walk through the forest tomorrow.」(Yoyo)
「Un.」(Elle)
Elle lay down in her bed and closed her eyes.
Thinking that she would leave the forest that had been her home for more than twelve years, tears flowed down from her eyes as she started to lose consciousness.
◇◇◇
ーCrackle crackle…
「…Hmm…?」(Elle)
When she heard the crackling sound of fire, Elle slowly raised her head and saw her dad warming himself by the fireplace.
「…Dad…?」(Elle)
Hearing her daughter’s voice, Hugo turned his face toward Elle and smiled.
「Dad! You’re home!」(Elle)
Elle couldn’t hide how happy she was to see her dad’s nostalgic face. She jumped toward Hugo.
Hugo spread his arms, ready to catch Elle with a warm hug.
However, just before Elle could touch him, Hugo suddenly disappeared into thin air.
「Eh…? Dad, where are you? …Dad? …*cough cough*… Dad…? *cough cough*」(Elle)
Elle started coughing all of a sudden. She had a hard time breathing for some reason.
「*Cough cough* Ugh…!!」(Elle)
「…lle… lle… up…」(??)
「…Hmm…?」(Elle)
「…lle… Elle…」(??)
「…Is someone calling me…?」(Elle)
While looking for her dad, she heard a mysterious but familiar voice calling for her.
「…up… Elle… wake up… Elle, wake up!!」(Yoyo)
「…Hmm…? Yoyo…?」(Elle)
「Elle, we have to get out of here! Hurry up!」(Yoyo)
「Was that a… dream…? Yoyo, what time isー *cough cough*」(Elle)
Elle, who finally woke up from her sleep, saw nothing but Yoyo’s panicked face and smoke filling her room as soon as she opened her eyes.
She was confused. She raised her upper body and looked around.
「Wh, What is happening!?」(Elle)
「This house is burning! We have to leave now!」(Yoyo)
「What!? But how!?」(Elle)
「It’s those villagers! They set this house on fire!」(Yoyo)
「No way…」(Elle)
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… As soon as I saw they waited 3 days and packed all their stuff into one bag I instantly thought “The villagers are going to set the house on fire” Have I read too many JP novels?