After that I cried for a while and calmed down.

……How embarra.s.sing.

This animal eared black haired girl was obviously scared of me.

Rather, in a situation where she was bound up and couldn't move, a man suddenly began crying in front of her.

There's no way she wouldn't be frightened.

"Sorry, I surprised you……I'll take off your restraints now."

As to not hurt the girl, I carefully cut the ropes.

"⸺Hou……"

When I looked at her again without her blindfold, I involuntarily sighed at her cuteness.

She had soft and fluffy rich wolf-like black hair, and wolf's ears growing from there.

On the contour of her slender face, she had plump and soft seeming lips.

⸺Then, I was surprised by the look in the girl's eyes.

⸺They were deep, deep empty eyes filled with despair.

In those eyes were no sorrow for the dead villagers.

There was no fear that she might be killed.

Naturally, there was no relief from being saved.

⸺Something was definitely off, and her eyes seemed to be blaming me.

Anyways, it could definitely be said that they weren't good eyes for a girl the age of a middle schooler.

"Are you okay?"

There was no response to my question.

Her beautiful furry ears *pin* stand.

She was obviously wary of me.

"Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you. I'm a traveler. I came to this town by chance, and thought I'd stay here, but……"

"⸺Lies."

The girl immediately denied my words.

Her eyes get increasingly sharper and glare at me.

"……Do you know where this is? This is the farthest village, Irto. It's not the kind of village a traveler would village."

"……That is."

"Who are you?"

(I think this will just make her more uneasy, but it can't be helped……)

In order to make her less vigilant of me, I decided to speak honestly.

"……I get it, I'll be honest. I came from that forest……the [Forest of Demonic Beasts].

Then, when I reached this village, the situation was like that. I don't know what happened."

"……Hmph."

She didn't care, and snorted.

Then, she said,

"Did you kill them? The sc.u.m of this village?"

"⸺Sc.u.m?"

"……You can't imagine it? In a village with only people, there's only one beastman."

Then, she pointed to the choker on her neck.

"……I'm a slave. The only one in this village."

The girl with wolf ears laughed at herself.

⸺Slave.

Existing just to be used, an existence equivalent to an object.

(I've heard from Arisa that slavery exists in this world, but even a young girl like this……?)

I matched up my gaze with the girl's.

In order to relieve her as much as possible.

"……I want to help you. I want you to trust me for that."

"⸺You want to save me? Don't f.u.c.k with me! There's no way I'd trust a human!"

"It's true. By the time I came to the village, it was already……"

"⸺Shut up shut up shut up! I never asked you that!"

The girl put her head in her hand and shook it.

"You want me, a beastman to believe a human……you're either really stupid, or are you a n.o.ble son who doesn't know of beastmen?"

The girl *kusuri* laughed and made fun of me⸺all while looking at me with her dark eyes.

"Don't change the subject. That has nothing to do with this situation."

Indeed, I can't deny that I don't know of the world.

But there's something I need to know.

"……What happened in this village? Who killed this village's people?"

When I asked that, she looked into my eyes.

"……Did you really come here to help me?"

"I want to help you."

(⸺Those are cold eyes.)

Her eyes are in front of my nose and eyes.

Her beautiful diamond like eyes, lost their focal points.

"……Why?"

"Why……isn't it natural to help in this situation?"

Her att.i.tude is saying that she didn't need any help.

I lost my presence of mind by that.

"……You're not going to kill me?"

"⸺What?"

Kill⸺me?

(Is this girl the last survivor……?)

"There's no way I'd kill you?"

"Then you're going to make me a slave, right?"

To the girl's words, I was silent.

If I answer to every one of her questions, the discussion won't advance.

"As I thought, were the people of this village killed?"

"……That's right. They were killed. I just heard it, so I don't know what happened though."

"You heard it? ……From inside this chest of drawers?"

"I was unluckily locked up in here, so I failed to die."

She said that lightly, as if she made a mistake.

Then, she *jii* stared at me.

"……If you're a devil, you're the devil that did this to the village then⸺"

She spoke.

"⸺Why didn't you kill me?"

My breathing, stopped.

⸺Gas.h.i.+ri!

The girl grabbed my arm.

"⸺Hey, Why, why, why?"

"⸺Ii!"

*Girigiri* To her tightening hand, I raised my voice.

"⸺Kill me! Kill me please! Me too! You can kill me immediately!

I don't want this! I don't want it! I don't want to be controlled! I don't want to be betrayed!"

The girl clawed at me.

Her eyes remained trapped in madness.

Her cloudy, muddy eyes.

Her eyebrows that hide her pain.

Her expression destroyed my heart.

"⸺Calm down!"

I grabbed her arm and tried to soothe her⸺but the girl didn't stop struggling at all.

"⸺It was painful! Living for my dead family, the family that was killed!

Why should we have to feel like this!? Is it because we have these ears? Because we're ugly? Because we stink?"

(Please stop it already!)

Her cries broke my heart.

Each of her words pierced me.

"Why do we beastmen have to feel this painful!?

Why were my little sister and my parents killed? Even though they were that kind……!"

I just shook my head.

That's not it.

It's wrong to think like that.

She cried while pointing at me.

"⸺At any rate, you'll probably become my master now!"

⸺Please don't say that.

"⸺I'm going to be betrayed again!"

⸺That's not true.

"⸺n.o.body will come to help me!"

I'm right here.

A stupid guy who wants to help you is right here⸺.

"⸺You're going to break my heart again!"

"⸺I won't! I definitely won't do that!"

I shout too.

In order to reach her heart, in order to be by her side.

"⸺I definitely, will not let you feel that way!"

"⸺U……u!"

With a menacing att.i.tude, I shut her mouth⸺then, *poroporo* she started crying.

"……Mother, I don't want to live anymore. I can't do it anymore. I don't want to, I don't want to anymore……"

The girl clung to me, and cried.

⸺Gyuu

I just shut up, and held her.

"……u……uu……"

The girl quivered for a moment, and pushed her face into my chest⸺.

"……It's okay, everything will be okay. I'll definitely protect you……"

All I can do now is stay quiet, and protect this girl from the world⸺that's all.

⸺Potsuri

There are drops of water at our feet.

I looked up.

The roof of the house was destroyed, and I could see the sky.

A pitch black sky.

⸺It's rain.

⸺Potsupotsupotsu

The number of spots on the ground increased, and they gradually grew stronger.

⸺Zaaaaa……

We stayed like that, and got hit by the rain.

Still, neither of us tried to move from there.

We didn't even think to.

The two of us looked up to cloud covered sky, and cried silently.

In this world, for this girl, I cried.

……I wonder how much I cried in this day alone?

That day, the rain washed away the blood that stained the village⸺but, it wasn't able to wash off our hearts.

Our vicinity is already dark.

We moved to the house I slept in yesterday.

I lit a fire in the fireplace with fire attribute magic.

The animal eared girl was wrapped in a blanket in front of the fireplace.

I too sit in a chair by the fireplace.

"Hey, are you hungry?"

"……I'm fine, next master."

She muttered that subduedly.

"……What's with that way of calling me?"

While looking at the fireplace with empty eyes, the girl answered.

"……You're my next master right?

Beastmen are human's property. Toys. Tools. Farming tools.

The humans were saying that."

When I heard that, *buchiri*, something inside of me broke.

"Why is that so!? I don't feel like doing any of that!

I don't feel like tying you down as something that worthless!"

"……My next master is a good person."

With that, the girl completely shut her mouth.

I took some dried majuu meat and some bread out of my magic bag, and threw it.

She caught them.

"It's fine, so eat."

"……Is that an order?"

The girl said that as if to test me.

"It's not an order. I definitely won't order you."

"Then I won't eat."

"Eat."

"I won't eat."

"Please eat."

Silence.

Then, I thought about a way to get her to eat.

However, unfortunately I could only come up with elementary school level ideas.

"……Then I won't eat either."

"……Wa? Are you an idiot?"

The girl stared in wonder.

That surprised reaction, was a little interesting for the first expression I saw from her.

At the same time, I was glad to see an emotion other than anger or sadness from her.

"Yeah, I won't eat. I'll starve to death together with you."

I *niya* grinned, and pointed to her food.

"If you don't eat like this, I'll die thinking that you [liked the human, me, so much that you wanted to die with me]."

When I boldly declared that, she made a dumbfounded face for a while and⸺

"……Kusu."

⸺laughed.

"……What's with that, I definitely won't let that happen. I get it, I'll eat, you idiot master."

The girl bit into the bread.

"Still, stop with that way of calling me. I'm Edgar, I have a proper name."

"Okay master. I'm Ellie, you can call me that."

"……Again, stop calling me that."

I saw Ellie smile, and my heart quickly grew lighter.

However, even after that Ellie didn't stop calling me [master].

Between her and I, there was still a definite wall.

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