The Woman Who Ran Away
The day after I heard about Amira's older sister.
I visited the lake on the outskirts of the village, bringing Lindel, the red-haired dog we keep at the local station.
There’s a friend here I can talk to without any reservations.
“Heya, Asletica.”
When I called out toward the lake, bubbles soon rose to the surface, and from them appeared a large dragon.
“It’s been quite a while, Justin.”
“A lot’s been going on. The days have been anything but calm.”
“So it seems. Lindel also looks a bit lonely.”
“Huh? R-Really?”
Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I played with Lindel like this.
Amira had been the one mostly taking care of him lately.
“Now that I think about it, you were my very first partner here.”
I’ve known him longer than even Erica out here.
I’d heard from the ranch owner that he found Lindel in the forest, but considering the demon wolf incident back then, he could’ve easily been killed.
To have taken him in despite that… the people of this village really are incredibly tolerant—or maybe just unusually accepting.
Well, that’s exactly why even someone like me, raised in the royal capital, could find a place here.
I continued chatting with Asletica about everyday things—
Until suddenly, his expression changed, and even Lindel started to growl.
“What is it?”
“An intruder… No, there's no hostility. I suppose we should call them a guest.”
“What!?”
Asletica warned me that someone was approaching. He then quietly slipped back into the lake.
If a villager were to discover him, it could cause a commotion, and it’d trouble Lord Doyle, the village lord.
Thankfully, Asletica’s an understanding dragon, which helps a lot.
Now, pulling myself together, I prepared to greet the mysterious person approaching this place with Lindel by my side.
What appeared was a young woman.
She must’ve walked from quite far away—she was utterly exhausted, her eyes vacant.
Her complexion was pale, and her hair disheveled. A real shame, given she was a beauty.
But the clothes she wore were clearly expensive, even to my untrained eye.
Maybe she was a noble lady who’d been attacked by bandits or monsters while traveling by carriage and managed to escape.
“Are you okay!?”
Wanting to get to the bottom of this, I rushed over to her.
But my feet came to an abrupt halt.
Her features were strikingly similar to Amira’s—
It was as if Amira had aged ten years; the resemblance was that uncanny.
“Y-You’re…”
A young woman who looked just like Amira.
Could she be the older sister we’d been talking about yesterday?
What do you think about this chapter?
