Chapter 28: The Old Man Gets a Visit from Fenrir

Just who is this kid…?

No… this light… I’ve seen it somewhere…

Even the landlady, lost in her own story, seemed to finally notice the little girl’s abnormality, and her machine-gun talk at last came to a halt.

The landlady’s eyes were wide with surprise.

Whew… looks like the landlady finally gets it.

“Oh, you poor thing… To be so little and use such difficult language… you must have had such a hard life… And you… leaving a well-behaved child like this all alone—”

The landlady said, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at the little girl.

…This is hopeless…

I couldn’t help but let out a huge sigh in my mind.

“Uh… Ma’am… can I go ahead and rent my usual room for one night?”

I placed the copper coins on the counter.

The landlady said, “Your usual room…? Are you planning on making this little girl sleep in that filthy, run-down shack?”

Hey… Ma’am. You’re the one renting out that “run-down shack.”

You… don’t clean the rooms…?

The retort just popped into my head.

“Well… even if you say that, I don’t have the money… and besides, this kid isn’t my daughter—”

“Sigh… honestly… it can’t be helped. Fine, I’ll do you a service. I’m not exactly a religious woman, and I’m not well-off enough to run a charity… but luckily, thanks to the ‘Saint’s’ effect, people have been coming to this town from all over, so business has been pretty good these last few days. Today’s special. It’s a present from me to celebrate a father and daughter’s reunion. I’ll let you have our best room.”

The landlady puffed out her plump chest, looking strangely confident.

And with that, the landlady pushed the copper coins back at me.

“Huh…? You don’t mean… it’s free?!”

I realized I was leaning eagerly over the counter.

It’s pathetic, I know, but honestly, saving even one night’s worth of money is a huge help.

“Yeah, just for one night, of course.”

“That’s amazing! Thank you, Ma’am!”

I’d grabbed the landlady’s hand with both of mine without even thinking.

Her thick hand was rough and dry, but it felt very warm.

She never listens to a word anyone says, but she’s definitely not a bad person.

In fact, by the standards of this world, she’s probably a pretty good person.

And just like that, my fickle opinion of the landlady did a complete 180, and I headed triumphantly up to the second-floor room.

The little girl followed silently behind me.

…Is she really going to follow me…?

With no other choice, I entered the room, the mysterious little girl in tow.

As for the room the landlady called the best in the inn, it was a gorgeously splendid suite that would make you stare wide-eyed in amazement…

…of course not.

It was a small, unremarkable room with two beds and a few bare-minimum furnishings off to the side.

But… it was a whole lot better than the room I usually stay in.

At least it was neat and tidy, and it looked like I wouldn’t have to sleep with bugs and rats.

I tossed my burlap sack on the floor and plopped down.

Honestly, I felt like just going to sleep, but with a guest here, I couldn’t do that.

That’s right… this mysterious little girl standing in front of me.

As for the little girl, she was looking around the room with great interest, her animal ears twitching.

“Hmm… so this is a human dwelling… I’m surprised you can sleep in such a cramped space…”

As usual, this little girl’s words and actions didn’t match her adorable appearance at all.

But are beastman dwellings really that different from us humans’…?

You don’t get much of a chance to interact with beastmen in a remote place like this.

Because of that, my knowledge about them is honestly quite limited.

But… at least from what I can remember, the inns they stayed at didn’t seem any different from human ones…

I tilted my head, watching the little girl.

Then, as if she’d grown tired of looking around the room, she abruptly turned her small face toward me.

The little girl stared at me intently without a word.

Her black pupils, framed by golden irises… those narrow pupils of hers grew even thinner, glowing bewitchingly as if to observe me.

And as if in response, that same dazzling light began to emanate from her entire body.

“…Level 1… no skills that pose a particular threat… just as I thought, no matter how you look at him, he’s just a human… And a thoroughly mediocre one at that. And yet… why have I, a Divine Beast, been defeated twice by such a man…”

She muttered something in a small voice.

I rubbed my eyes hard in the face of this bizarre situation.

Just like that, the little girl was back to normal.

Did I just imagine that…?

Well… she’s a little… no, a very weird kid, but once I explain my situation… that I’m an F-rank adventurer… she’ll probably leave right away.

This kid is probably an orphan with no relatives.

So maybe she made some tragic decision and is scheming to get some random guy to be her papa.

Honestly, I’m not into that sort of thing, and more importantly, I don’t have any money to support her.

Besides, one look at my shabby clothes should be enough to tell her I’m poor…

She seems pretty sharp, but I guess she’s still just a kid after all.

After a moment, as if she’d made up her mind, the little girl looked straight at me and spoke.

“Hmph… It cannot be helped… The code must be upheld… You… You have defeated me. Twice… And the victor has rights. The right to… possess the vanquished… to possess me. It is humiliating and unacceptable, but I, too, have my pride as a Divine Beast.”

“…Uh… I don’t know what you’re after, but you must see now. As you can tell, I’m unfortunately just a regular adventurer. So I can’t grant your wish.”

“…Hmph… To possess the power to slay me, a Divine Beast, and yet you still intend to play the fool… Interesting…”

The little girl looked down, once again muttering nonsense under her breath.

Our conversation isn’t connecting at all.

Divine Beast, vanquished, the code…

Speaking of Divine Beasts, she must mean that Fenrir from yesterday…

But what does that have to do with anything?

What in the world is this kid talking about?