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Chapter 29 – Walk
Kelly was muttering about something as she walked next to me.
“Hmm.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing really. I was just wondering if all people on this continent look like Fio.”
“Perhaps they do?”
Fio was the only native inhabitant we had encountered so far.
And so I had assumed that they must all have ears and tails like Fio did.
“No, no. Think about it carefully. Normally, a child would not be living with wolves.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“And so we should consider Fio as a unique example.”
“So, she may have been abandoned because she had beast ears?”
“
Well, it is not impossible.”
“I suppose we will find out when we meet the others.”
“Indeed.”
Kelly nodded and then ran ahead as if to chase after Hippolius and the others.
She was actually quite fast on her feet.
Perhaps because she was a monsterologist, she had many opportunities to walk with monsters.
And so I chased after them as well.
If I didn’t exercise once in a while, my body would get sluggish.
“Kyuooo!”
Hippolius seemed to be running around aimlessly.
And Shiro would occasionally stop and smell the trunks of trees.
“Shiro. Are you checking our boundaries?”
“Wuff.”
“I can’t smell such things. So you’ll have to mark the area for me.”
“Grau!”
And then Shiro started stopping to mark our territory on the trees.
I suppose that Shiro had been doing this when living with Fio as well.
Shiro was lifting his leg as high as possible in order to mark the tree trunks.
He took this very seriously, in spite of being a wolf cub. As if he had a strong sense of responsibility.
Next to him, Fio was about to do the same, but I stopped her.
“Fio. Just leave it to Shiro.”
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t work when humans do it.”
“Okay.”
This seemed to be a satisfying enough answer.
At the same time, I asked her something that I had been meaning to.
“By the way, Fio. How did you make those clothes?”
“Clothes?”
“I mean the tree bark that is wrapped around your body.”
Fio was wrapped in bark that had been ripped off of a tree.
And she had tied it up with string.
“Got it.”
“You got it from the demon wolves?”
“Yes. Break easily. I get more.”
Apparently, since it would fall apart, Fio had to go and get more tree bark.
While the demon wolves had been the first to make it for her, Fio now made them herself.
As humans did not have fur, they would die easily without clothes.
It might be fine during the summer, but you would die in the spring or autumn.
And during the winter, even the tree bark would not save you from certain death.
“What did you do during the winter?”
“Boar hair!”
“I see.”
It seemed that she used fur from the boars that the demon wolves hunted.
However, it wasn’t properly tanned leather. And so it would rot quickly.
And so she would need to acquire a new one every time.
“That must have been very hard.”
“Very hard.”
“I see. And the string?”
“I tie it.”
Apparently, Fio had tried different things and started to use vines.
Upon hearing this, Kelly said,
“It would be best to prepare some proper clothes for Fio.”
“Indeed.”
“Leave it to me then. I have an idea.”
“That would be very helpful
”
“Ah, it is nothing. Don’t worry. I have some extra clothing.”
“Your own clothes? But surely they won’t fit?”
I wasn’t sure how old Fio actually was, but she looked like a five-year–old.
And Kelly was an adult. The clothes would be completely the wrong size.
I thought this, but Kelly did not seem to share my concern.
“No, they are not my personal clothing.”
“Then whose are they?”
“They are for monsters.”
Kelly looked at me with exasperation, as if my ignorance was unacceptable.
“Monster clothes? Why do you have such a thing?”
We were here after a very long sea voyage.
And we were not allowed to bring anything with us that wasn’t absolutely necessary.
If there was space for such things, then it would be used for extra water, or food and other drinks.
“As I didn’t know what kind of monster I might rescue, of course. I brought them, and less of my own personal wardrobe.”
“
I see.”
Apparently, Kelly had brought some clothes, along with other emergency healing items for monsters.
As there were so many things that could happen, she had believed that they could come in handy.
“I am here in order to learn about monsters, no, all living creatures on this new continent. So it’s only natural.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it is.”
For Kelly, Hippolius and Shiro weren’t the only targets for examination and protection, but Fio was as well.
As Kelly, Fio and I talked like this, we jogged after Hippolius and Shiro.
“Kyuoo!!”
And then Hippolius let out a long cry and then ran faster.
Shiro did his best to keep up.
“Hippolius
”
I was about to say that it was too fast, but perhaps Hippolius just wanted to get a lot of exercise.
It was best to let them do as they pleased. Hippolius was still a child that just wanted to play.
However, Hippolius stopped quickly.
“Kyuoo!”
“Hippolius. Are you taking a walk?”
It was Victor and the other Adventurers.