A Girl Was Being Bullied
“Very well. …Mr. Ekenhart.”
“Mmm. While I didn’t want to get involved in any fights here… If that’s what good Leo wants, then we must go.”
“Yes. …I will go first, so you can follow after me. …Leo, you go around from the other side. It’s happening on the street on the other side, right?”
“Very well. But be careful, Mr. Takumi.”
After lightly planning a course of action, Mr. Ekenhart and Leo agreed, and so I went into the gap.
Mr. Ekenhart unsheathed his sword and followed me cautiously.
As for Leo, after nodding to me, she ran off in order to go around the building.
So, what was happening up ahead then…
“Hey, get out of here! Hey!”
“You man-eater! This is no place for the likes of you!”
Once I came out on the other side, I saw that it was a square of empty land. Perhaps there had once been a building there.
And I could hear the voices clearly now… It wasn’t so much a fight, as one side shouting angrily.
And in the center of the ground, a single child was kneeling, while three other children…perhaps they were about the age of junior highschool students…were kicking and punching.
As for the child in the center, it was trying its best not to make any noise.
“Hey, what are you kids doing!”
“Huh? Be quiet, old man.”
“Shut up and go away.”
“We’re defeating the evil man eating beast.”
I couldn’t help but shout as I stepped forward.
But regardless of what their reasoning was, there was no excuse to surround a child and hurt them .
As for the children who were doing it, they immediately turned to me angrily.
…It did not feel good to be called an old man…but that was not important right now.
I wondered why they called the child a man eater. After all, the child just seemed like a little girl.
Though, I could not see her face… But she was probably younger than Tilura.
“I don’t care what your reason is. You should not be bullying such a small child !”
“What are you talking about, old man?”
“This thing eats people! And so we have to defeat it while we can!”
“It doesn’t matter if it is small! It is a monster!”
“Even if that was true, it is not your job. If it really does eat people, then you should leave it to the town guards.”
But to me, the child looked like an ordinary human.
Perhaps there were monsters who looked like humans… But I didn’t know enough about monsters.
As for humanoid monsters… Orcs did walk on two legs, but their faces were closer to pigs. And this child did not look like them.
Regardless, even if this child was a monster, they did not need to deal with it. They should just ask the guards.
Even if this was the slums, surely they would do something about a monster that had entered.
“Hmph! You’re just trying to steal our prey, aren’t you, old man?”
“Just shut up and go away! And leave this monster to us!”
“If you don’t listen, you’ll be next, old man!”
“Hmm… Mr. Takumi, while it is not a very mature thing to do against children…you may have to use force. Though, I would prefer to avoid it…”
“Yes, it could stir up the others…”
“Mmm. We do not want to have to fight them.”
“But we can’t just leave her…”
“Indeed. I agree with that. Very well. But you must go easy on them.”
“…Yes. It’s not like I’m going to kill them.”
Even as we were talking, some of the people who had been staring at us before had gathered to watch.
As we were outsiders, we would probably be seen as enemies…
I could use the narrow gaps between the houses. So that even if it was difficult to move, I would not have to fight with multiple people at once.
Mr. Ekenhart was here too, so it was unlikely that we’d lose. And if people made enough noise, then maybe the guards would notice and come to our aid.
Though, I felt bad for putting Mr. Ekenhart in this situation…
Sebastian and Ms. Claire would be furious when they heard about what happened.
“It-it’s a monster! A wolf monster!”
Just as Mr. Ekenhart and I had decided on our course of action, Leo came running from the opposite side.
The children saw Leo and were afraid. And the people who had been watching began to run away.
“It’s going to attack!”
“Indeed. Thanks to Leo, we were able to avoid an unnecessary battle.”
“Good, good. Well done, Leo!”
Leo had growled and then roared at the children. And then after shaking her body, the children ran away.
Now, it was only me, Mr. Ekenhart, Leo, and the crouching girl that remained.
As I was relieved that everyone had run away, Leo looked at me with a smug expression, so I praised her and tousled her fur.
I was relieved that I hadn’t gotten Mr. Ekenhart involved in a fight after all.
“Now, what should we do about this child…”
“…If we leave her here, the other children might come back…”
Mr. Ekenhart sheathed his sword and muttered as he looked at the girl.
She continued to crouch as she trembled with fear.
Perhaps she was even more scared than before, after hearing Leo’s bark.