“Thank you for the meal.”
The food at the restaurant that Jed took me to was all delicious. When I thanked him after we left the restaurant, he smiled back and said, “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
He’s a strange guy, but he’s not a bad guy.
“What do you plan on doing after this?”
“I’m going to look around some shops.”
I didn’t have a specific goal in mind because I thought it would be fine if I could just take it easy and go around the town.
In any case, this is where I will say goodbye to Jed.
I was about to say goodbye, but he opened his mouth before I could.
“Elle, would you like to join me?”
“Didn’t we agree to split up after the meal?”
“Yes, but…”
As I stared at him, not knowing what he was thinking, I saw a girl running around with a tearful expression on her face.
“Mom, where are you…?”
A girl was walking around restlessly, leaking a restless voice.
“Sorry, I will excuse myself here.”
“Elle? What’s wrong?”
I walked away from Jed, who was tilting his head, and made my way to the girl. When I reached her, I crouched down so as not to scare her and made eye contact with her before speaking to her.
“What happened?”
“… My mom is not here. She’s gone.”
It was possible that her mother was involved in an incident, but in this case, I’m guessing that was unlikely.
“That is a serious matter.”
I stroked her soft hair, trying not to frighten her, trying to reassure her, and the girl’s serious expression gradually faded. Then she started to cry out loud.
I guess it would be better to wait until she calms down.
“Is she lost?”
I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Jed standing there.
He must have followed me when I suddenly left him.
“Seems like it.”
“I see. What do you want to do? Do we hand her over to the patrol guards?”
Patrol guards, huh.
That might be a good idea. I reached out to the girl, who was sniffling, “Let’s go to the people who can help us find your mother.”
“I will bring her to the patrol guards.”
“I will lead you there then.”
“That will help.”
With Jed’s help, we arrived at the patrol guards station. It was a good idea to leave the girl with them.
“No~! I want to be with big sis~!”
It seemed that the girl had grown attached to me.
As soon as I tried to leave her, she cried, “Don’t leave me!”
The patrol guards smiled bitterly at this and didn’t know what to do.
Jed was the only one who laughed.
“She got quite attached to you.”
“Seems like it. What do I do?”
“How about you go search for the mother together with the child?”
Jed’s suggestion was to search for the mother.
I was going to do that from the beginning, so I didn’t mind, but I thought it would be better if I didn’t move around recklessly. As I was thinking that, the girl shouted loudly, “Let’s search~!”
“Alright. Let’s look for your mom together.”
“Yeah!”
I explained the situation to the patrol guards while patting the girl’s head who replied cheerfully.
I told them that we would come back if I couldn’t find her mother in the evening, and they agreed, “We will tell her mother to stay if she comes here.”
“Elle, let me search with you guys.”
“Eh?”
“Searching in three would be more efficient, right?”
“That’s true, but wouldn’t that trouble you?”
When I wondered if it was okay to involve Jed in the search, he replied shortly, “No problem.”
“Little lady, is it okay for this big brother to look for your mother together with you?”
Jed got down on his knees on the ground and smiled at the girl. Then, the girl replied with an uneasy expression, “Is that okay?”
“Yeah, of course. We will find your mom for sure.”
“Yeah! Thank you, brother!”
The smiling girl grabbed Jed’s hand and shook it. MY cheeks naturally relaxed at her innocent appearance.
Oh, I almost forgot to ask the important thing.
“Little lady, what is your name?”
“It’s Cosette!”
“I’m Elle, this brother is—”
“I’m Jed. Best regards.”
“Yeah!”
Jed laughed and picked Cosette up in his arms. Seemingly happy from her new, high field of view “High! So high!” she frolicked.
“Alright, let’s go searching!”
“Let’s find her quick.”
And so, the three of us set out to find Cosette’s mother.