Chapter 93
<Chapter 96>
‘She ran away? What does that mean?’
Caught off guard for a moment, the realization hit me late.
‘Guide’s expression didn’t look good when he greeted me earlier. Was it because Bibi had disappeared?’
If so, Bibi’s claim that she ran away for Guide’s sake was wrong.
Knowing Guide’s personality, he was probably bawling his eyes out right now, thinking he’d lost her.
“Grandma! What are you talking about? What if Guide starts crying and making a scene because you’re gone?”
At my words, Bibi shook her head firmly.
“That’s just how kids are. He’ll be sad for a few days, but after a while, he’ll forget all about this old lady and live happily. You and the others will treat him much better than you do now.”
Gasp.
My jaw dropped at her resolute attitude.
“Grandma.”
“What is it?”
“…You’re really irresponsible.”
Bibi looked startled by my words and dropped the bread she was eating.
“Good heavens?! Wh-what did you say? What on earth are you saying to this old lady?!”
“Responsibility. You have ab-so-lutely none.”
If Bibi truly cared about Guide, she should never leave him.
I put myself in his shoes. If Dad and I were living happily together, and then one day Dad suddenly left, saying it would be better if he weren’t around...
How would I go on, left all alone?
The mere thought was horrifying.
“Grandma, it’s the same as if you abandoned Guide.”
Having said my piece, I crossed my arms and turned my head away with a huff.
“Good heavens! What do you know?! The nerve of you, saying such things to me!”
Pat-pat-pat.
Suddenly, Bibi rushed over and began drumming on my chest with her tiny pink paws.
If it had been a real attack, my body would have been shredded by now, but since she had no intention of hurting me, she kept her claws retracted and just poked me with her soft paw pads.
“Do you even know what I’ve been through?”
“No matter the circumstances, an adult shouldn’t leave a five-year-old child alone!”
“What? Do you have any idea how much it pained me to run away, you naughty child?!”
It was then.
Poke.
A soft paw pad pressed against my chest one last time. Bibi suddenly stopped moving, her eyes growing red.
Soon, transparent moisture began to well up around her black, bean-like eyes.
“You naughty child… You have no idea how I feel….”
“G-Grandma. Are you crying?”
Panicked, my mouth formed a small ‘o’ shape.
What should I do? I didn’t expect her to cry….
“Why would this old lady cry?! It’s just, when you said those things, it suddenly reminded me of the old days… *Whimper*!”
Bibi, who had been snapping at me, gradually trailed off until she finally burst into tears.
“Grandma!”
“Good heavens!”
Startled, I hurriedly opened my arms, and she burrowed into my embrace as if her feelings were deeply hurt.
Whimper, whimper.
A sorrowful sound echoed from my arms.
Feeling sad myself, I patted Bibi on the back. After sobbing for a while, she muttered in a choked voice.
“…Before I met Guide, this old lady had a family too.”
“Pardon?”
My hand stopped mid-stroke at her words. She lifted her head.
Thankfully, she had stopped crying, though the area around her eyes was still flushed red.
Closing her eyes slowly, she began to recall the past.
“My daughter and my son-in-law. Even granddaughters who were the apples of my eye. But then, out of nowhere, we were attacked by orcs.”
Surely not.
My own eyes began to sting at the predictable tragedy.
“So while you were running away, they eventually…”
“Good heavens! There is no such word as ‘running’ in a Ferry’s dictionary!”
Huh?
“I didn’t raise my family like that! Even if we die, we die fighting! We Ferries are supposed to use our agile bodies to move fast and at least tear their ears off before we go!”
The tears that had been about to spill retreated instantly. Instead, I nodded vigorously in agreement.
“I-I see.”
I stand corrected.
A Ferry wasn’t this world’s version of a weasel. It was this world’s honey badger!
However, the pink fist Grandma had been brandishing slowly lowered.
As Bibi hung her head, her gaze was heavy with regret.
“…I shouldn’t have done that.”
“…….”
“When everyone was dead and I was left alone, I realized it too late. I should have just run away. Sometimes, protecting your family requires the courage to run.”
It was more than regret; it was guilt.
“So I decided to die too. The orcs had already left, but there was a human village nearby. I planned to go there and let them catch me—to end it all. But on my way there, I happened to run into that boy….”
So that’s how she met Guide and became close to him.
My heart felt heavy at the tragic story, but I quickly shook my head.
The past was the past, and right now, Bibi’s family was Guide. I understood why she left for his sake, but I also understood Guide, who had lost his family in an instant.
Premature advice or comfort could often cause more pain. Even knowing that, I couldn’t keep myself from speaking.
“Still, you should listen to Guide’s side of the story.”
Listening to Bibi, I was suddenly reminded of my dad and me.
Dad always tried to protect me from everything because it was dangerous, and I always tried to step in because I wanted to help him.
And what I realized then was that in times like these, communication was the only answer.
I held up my index finger.
“In the first place, Guide isn’t trapped in the Duke’s Castle; he’s employed. By staying here, he can earn money, sleep in a nice place, and eat delicious food.”
“Good heavens! Even so, if I stay, they’ll just keep monitoring him! And they’ve separated him so far from his family. Don’t you think he’ll be sad?”
“If he wants, we can let him go see the butcher every day. And if you’re going to put it like that, Grandma, you’re Guide’s family too.”
“…….”
“Why don’t you think about how sad he’ll be?”
Flinch.
Bibi’s body stiffened at my words. The fact that she was so flustered clearly meant she considered Guide her family as well.
‘I knew it, they have to live together.’
So, what should I do?
I could try to explain that the people in the castle wouldn’t separate them and didn’t consider her a threat.
But I didn’t think she would believe me so easily. And there was always the possibility of her being rejected by people who weren’t yet accustomed to monsters.
After a moment of thought, I spoke carefully.
“I think it would be best if you talked to Guide first.”
More than anything, if she had already made up her mind to keep her distance, that mind needed to be changed.
And that was something only Guide could do.
“…How am I supposed to talk to that boy?”
“You have me! I’ll interpret for you.”
“…Good heavens!”
Grandma Bibi still seemed displeased, but she didn’t refuse. And...
Wiggle, wiggle.
Despite her grumbling, she kept pushing her white bottom toward my chest, perhaps because she was cold.
‘Hehe. She actually likes it.’
I smiled and hugged Bibi tight.
But right then.
Thump!
A massive vibration shook the Ice Cave. Bibi and I both widened our eyes in surprise.
“Dad?”
Is Dad here already? But Calips wouldn’t make such a ruckus when coming here.
Thump, thump!
The vibrations didn’t stop; they grew closer and closer. It was a heavy approach, like a dinosaur walking toward us.
Grandma Bibi, who had been nestled in my arms, scrambled out. She stood in front of me, rising on her hind legs and raising her nimble pink paws in a defensive stance.
“Kid. When I count to three, run. You have to run and not look back.”
“What about you, Grandma?!”
“Don’t worry about me! Just think about getting yourself to safety!”
I looked at her with equal seriousness as she made her grand declaration.
But the only people who would come to the Ice Cave were Dad, Lucas, or Kyle, right?
It was then.
With a loud bang, the door to the room we were in swung open. Simultaneously, Bibi let out a shriek and lunged with her sharp claws extended.
“Bi-Bibi!”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, I heard Guide’s voice.
Bibi, already mid-air, flew straight toward the face of the person who had entered, but thankfully she retracted her claws just in time.
Guide, recognizing Bibi, immediately caught her in his arms.
“Ack! You’re crushing this old lady!”