CH 173

Words : 901 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

Leo Detected a Strange Presence “Wuff?” “Leo. Have you been playing with the children?” “…Wuff… Woouuu.” When I stepped out of the house, I saw that a few children had gathered around Leo and were playing. Leo noticed me and separated from the children once and walked over. However, she suddenly stopped and tilted her head to the side. Then she began to growl suspiciously. “What is it, Leo? Did something happen?” “Wuff. Wuff… Wouuu…” Leo continued to stand still and growl towards me. What the hell was happening? But she just shook her head and growled again. …Maybe it wasn’t me, but what I was holding…? “This?” “Wouu! Grau! Grau!” When I held out the glass sphere in front of me, Leo began to growl even louder. Mr. Hannes froze after hearing this. Even the children, who had been staring curiously in our direction, were frightened by this sudden change in Leo. “…I’m sorry, Mr. Hannes. But could you hold this for now?” As Mr. Hannes looked at Leo with mounting terror, I handed him the glass sphere. Then I smiled and told him not to worry. “Wuff…” Now that I was no longer holding the glass sphere, Leo’s expression turned to that of relief. So she really had sensed something from that glass sphere. “Now, now. You shouldn’t bark so loudly, or you might scare the other people.” “Wuff…” I said to her gently as I petted her to help calm her down. Now that Leo understood that the children had been scared, she lowered her head and groaned apologetically. “Still, what happened? It’s not like any monster suddenly appeared. Did you sense something in that glass sphere?” “Wuff. Wuff-wuff…wou.” I asked, and then Leo nodded once and then began to bark her explanation. Hmm… So you do sense something wrong in the glass sphere… “What does it feel like? Is it similar to the presence of a monster?” “Wuff-wuff. Wou-wou-wou.” Leo shook her at this suggestion. Uhh… It is like the thing you felt faintly when we first came to this village…? But what could that be? “Only in this village? “Wuff-wuff. Wuff-wuff. Wuff-wuff-wuff.” Hmm… But you don’t feel it in the village anymore… But you felt something similar in the town of Ractos… Uh, at the orphanage? So she felt the same disagreeable presence at the orphanage… As for what this village and the orphanage have in common… “Could it be…the illness…?” “Wuff!” Leo barked affirmatively. So the thing the two places had in common was the illness. They also both had children, but that couldn’t be the reason that Leo was disturbed. After all, Leo liked children, and would not have negative feelings about being around them. “In other words, you sense a similar sickly feeling from that glass sphere?” “Wuff-wuff. Wuff. Wuff.” Leo nodded again. According to Leo, not only was the feeling she had similar…but it was stronger in the glass sphere. “What does this mean… The same presence from the sphere…but stronger…” “…What is the matter?” As I pondered over it, Mr. Hannes asked me what had happened. I had such a serious expression, that he had become worried… He probably thought that there was something wrong with Leo. “Ah, I’m sorry. No, Leo really is fine now.” “…Is that so? But you looked very concerned about something…” “Yes, but it’s not about Leo. Right, Leo?” “Wuff.” I forced a smile while talking in order to reassure him. Leo also nodded so that he would not be afraid. However, Leo continued to stare at the glass sphere in his hand… As she sensed something bad from it, she could not ignore it. “…Everything…really is fine then?” “Yes.” “Wuff.” Mr. Hannes asked again. I suppose it was because he hadn’t really gotten used to Leo yet. And unlike the children, he had his position as the village chief, so he would be more cautious than most. And so Leo and I answered again firmly, and he finally sighed with relief. “So, if Leo is fine, then what is troubling you now?” While he was relieved, he was still curious about the other thing. “About that… Mr. Hannes, I think that sphere might be dangerous.” “This thing? But this is supposed to make the wine more delicious…” Mr. Hannes seemed like he still trusted the merchant who had brought it. Well, this was the person who sold them grapes. If they didn’t trust each other, then they could not trade. “The reason that Leo was acting oddly earlier is because of that sphere. She says that it has a similar presence to the illness that had overtaken this village…” “Wuff. Wuff.” “This sphere? Surely not…” I explained to Mr. Hannes what Leo had said. And then Leo nodded in agreement. But as for Mr. Hannes, he looked at the sphere with disbelief. “Let me ask you this… The sphere was brought by the merchant a little over a month ago. Now, when did the disease start to spread?” “…Indeed, that was when he came… As for when people started to get sick…about one month ago. At first it was just one person, who worked in the storage house. And then it spreaded from there…” “I see…”

CH 173

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