Translator: Nox

Ch#5

* * *

Huge question marks lined up one after another in Basto Paerix’s head.

The odds of a child entering a forest overflowing with mana beasts at night?

And those odds that said child would get caught in his trap of all things?

And yet...

“Ah, u-uncle, hic! Ti, Tiye, hic! I-it’s o-kay, yo! Hic, hic!”

The odds that the child wouldn’t cry or whine, but instead reassure him that she was fine?

“……Huh.”

It made no sense.

He wasn’t the weird one—the situation was.

Basto, tidying up the net he’d lowered to the ground, finally straightened with a furrowed brow.

The child sitting on the ground flinched noticeably.

“You……”

“I-it’s okay! Hic! Tiye’s really, really okay! Hic!”

Basto stared at the child incredulously repeating herself.

Unable to meet his eyes, she clutched her hands tightly together.

Finally, Basto asked,

“Where are your parents?”

The child looked no older than three or four at most.

She couldn’t have come to the forest alone—surely with her parents.

“D-Dad’s, hic! R-really close by……?”

Sure enough, the child answered.

Basto nodded.

“I see. Nearby, huh?”

“Y-Yes…… If Tiye yells, he’ll, hic! C-come running right away, s-so close……!”

That figures.

Basto knew well how curious kids that age could be.

No matter the parents, it was hard to keep a watchful eye every second.

A short laugh escaped Basto’s lips.

‘Plucky little thing.’

If her parents were nearby, he could just call for them.

But with all the hiccuping, anyone would mistake her for some new breed of bandit or thug.

Basto joked with a grin,

“Then you should’ve screamed loud. When you got caught in the net.”

“……Hic.”

“Cry now. Let’s see if your dad comes.”

But for some reason, the child clamped her mouth shut.

Then,

“H-huh…… I-it’s trueee……”

She began shedding bead-like tears.

Basto looked at her in surprise.

She wouldn’t cry when she should, but started bawling when he offered to find her parents—it was bewildering.

“……Why’re you crying……”

“Waaah—! Huhng! Kkamangi! Kkaman Paaang! Save meee—!!”

He took a step to soothe her, but she wailed even louder.

Her hiccups stopped, and she looked ready to throw a fit—Basto froze in place.

“No, why……”

Then it hit him.

He remembered how he must look to the child.

His hair crusted with yesterday’s mana beast blood, his unwashed body reeking, and he’d even hidden in the bushes to check the trap, locking eyes with her.

“Wah, huhng! Kkamangi! Help! Save meee! Whaaa—!!”

Basto scratched his head with a troubled face, then took a deliberate step back.

He saw the crying child flinch and eye him warily.

Basto backed up a few more steps for good measure.

Then he tossed the weapon from his belt toward the net area.

“H-huh…… Kkaman……”

The child sniffled, looking at him while clutching her pink bag tight.

“I’ll stay here, so you go. To your dad.”

The child blinked warily.

“Hurry to your dad. You said he’s close.”

The child fidgeted with her bag.

Then in a tiny voice, she asked,

“Y-you won’t come grab me……?”

“Why would I grab you?”

“C-cause you’re a kidnapper……”

Basto swallowed a sigh and answered as casually as possible.

“Not a kidnapper. I was trying to catch a rabbit ‘cause I’m hungry.”

Even greater shock bloomed on the child’s face.

But soon, she hesitantly stood.

Basto watched her sling on her bag and thought,

‘……Gotta tail her discreetly.’

He couldn’t exactly take her to her parents himself.

He planned to follow until she met them.

If she couldn’t find them before nightfall, it’d be a headache.

“Hurry and find your dad. Dangerous being alone in a place like this.”

The child nodded reluctantly.

Then she turned and toddled off between the trees.

“……Whine!”

But she barely took three steps before plopping down.

The fallen child sniffled and turned back.

Their eyes met across the empty space.

“……”

In the silence, Basto stared tensely at the child.

She clutched her left ankle—probably hurt from the net—and pouted.

Soon a pitiful voice came.

“U-Uncleee……”

Basto could finally move after hearing her next words.

“T-Tiye’s leg huuurts……”

* * *

“Uncle, do rabbits taste good?”

Basto, wrapping a compression bandage around her tiny ankle, looked up.

“Yeah.”

The child’s eyes went wide.

“What kinda taste? Honey taste?”

“All meat tastes the same.”

“Nooo! Honey and bunnies and chickies all taste different!”

Basto chuckled.

‘Talking about meat like that—maybe nobility.’

But if so, being alone in this remote forest was odd.

And her dad, supposedly nearby, still hadn’t shown.

“Why hasn’t your dad come? You cried so loud earlier.”

He asked carefully, lest she burst into tears again—but silence answered.

Lifting his head, he saw her eyeing him cautiously.

To reassure her, Basto added,

“Tell me where your dad is, and I’ll take you. That’s why I’m asking.”

The child pursed her lips.

Her hands fidgeted with the bag.

“Actually, in the Capital……”

Basto’s brows furrowed.

“The Capital?”

Nod, nod.

A short exclamation escaped him.

He’d thought her parents were nearby, not in the Capital.

“Then why’d you say your dad was close earlier?”

“Had to say that so uncle wouldn’t kidnap Tiye……”

“If I scared you that much, why say you were okay at first?”

“Cause kindergarten teacher said not to provoke kidnappers……”

Silence fell between them.

To the speechless Basto, the child whispered like sharing a secret.

“Uncle, if you meet a kidnapper, don’t say ‘please let me go!’ That makes it worse.”

“……Why?”

“Provoking kidnappers makes it more dangerous. Gotta slowly figure out their demands and open negotiation possibilities.”

Basto was at a loss for words.

Swallowing a sigh, he replied,

“I’m fine. No one’s kidnapping me.”

The child went “Eh?”

“Look at me. Who’d kidnap this?”

Her mouth fell open at his following words.

Her bright green eyes scanned his mana beast-blood-crusted hair, bushy beard, and burly frame in order.

As she nodded like she got it, Basto felt oddly deflated.

“……There, all done.”

Finishing the bandage, the child peered curiously at her ankle.

Basto stood and looked down at her.

‘Parents in the Capital.’

Regardless of her words, she was injured.

And the sun was already dipping low.

Briowood was relatively close to the Capital.

These days, refugees filtered out at the gates swarmed the area.

Crowds meant kids sometimes got separated from families.

Basto’s gaze landed on her pink leather bag.

New, no creases.

Even taught proper kidnapper protocols—must attend a good school.

From a well-off family, raised with love.

Basto decided.

“Come with me. To the Capital.”

He had to report the new Mana Stone anyway.

“I’ll take you.”

Her wide eyes made his chest tighten.

Once, he too had prayed for a child to safely return to her arms.

Though now gone somewhere he couldn’t reach.

“Your dad must be waiting for you.”

At Basto’s words, Tiye’s lips curved into a bright smile.