CH 299

Words : 924 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

We Were Stopped By The Guards “Well, thank you for everything.” “You are always welcome here, Your Grace. And you too, Mr. Takumi.” “Thank you. Go on, Liza.” “Yes… Thank…you.” “You’re welcome. I hope you will visit again?” “…Yes!” At the entrance to the orphanage, we said goodbye to Ms. Anna and then left. After prompting her, Liza was able to say thank you as well. While it was a little awkward…it was probably normal at that age. If anything, it was impressive given that she was in the slums. Her grandmother must have taken good care of her. “Wuff? Wuff-wuff?” “Hmm? That’s right. Liza, do you want to ride on Leo?” “…No, I’m fine… I will walk like this… I like holding hands…” “Very well then. But you can ride on Leo when you get tired, okay?” “Yes.” “Hehe. She’s really taken to you, Mr. Takumi.” As we headed towards the western gate, Leo looked at Liza questioningly. Apparently, she was wondering if Liza wanted to ride on her, but she preferred to walk for now. Leo looked a little disappointed…but it was fine, since we would ride on her anyway, once we left town. Mr. Ekenhart looked at us and smiled. …Well, maybe I just assumed that he was. His face was still mostly covered. “Excuse me, do you have a minute?” “Yes?” “Wuff?” “Hmm?” “…?” We were just about to come out to the main street, when a few guards appeared from the side, and one of them called out to us. I wonder what it could be? Most of the guards here seemed to know about Leo… “There was a report about a monster appearing in the town.” “A monster?” “Wuff?” The guards were looking towards Leo. Well, Leo was a Silver Fenrir. So she was technically a monster… And while many people knew that Leo was not the kind that would attack people, it was still possible that others had seen Leo and alerted them. “A large wolf with silver hair… A Silver Fenrir. The Great Leo? So you must be Mr. Takumi?” “Huh? Ah, yes. I am…” After getting a good look at Leo, the guard seemed to understand what was going on. Mr. Ekenhart must have sent word to the guards. And so they were satisfied now that they saw me and Leo together. “Sorry to disturb you! We rushed to investigate after the report. But it was just you, after all…” “No… I suppose someone saw her and was scared.” “I am relieved now that I know you are from the duke’s house. However…who are they?” The man quickly bowed and apologized to us. But it was fine, and I wasn’t mad anyway. However, the guards then turned to Mr. Ekenhart and Liza. After having so many people looking at her, Liza became afraid and hid behind me while still clutching to my hand. “According to the report…there was a strange man with a monster. And he took a young girl from the slums…” “Ah… So you thought that the girl was taken by the monster.” “Mmm… First she is scared of me, and now I am treated as a suspect…” “Who is that man?” If they knew where she came from, then it must have been someone from the slums. Perhaps it was the people who had been bullying Liza. After all, they had been screaming about a monster as they ran away. As for Mr. Ekenhart, he would look like that, given his head was wrapped in a cloth… But that didn’t stop him from being offended. It was either show his face and scare Liza, or hide it and be treated like a suspicious person… He had sharp eyes and was very tall on top of that, so it wasn’t really surprising. No one else around town looked like he did. “Hah… Very well. I shall talk to them.” “Hehe. Thank you.” “Where are you going…?” “I’m going to talk to those people.” Mr. Ekenhart sighed and walked towards the guards. Liza saw this and questioned him hesitantly. She was fine with him as long as she couldn’t see his face. After all, that was what she saw when we helped her. “There. Now you know who I am.” Mr. Ekenhart unwrapped the cloth and showed his face to the guards. They were surprised and quickly fell to their knees and apologized. “Mmm. Well, I didn’t bring any guards with me today. And with my face covered, you had no way to know that it was me.” “Yes, Your Grace!” “However…” Mr. Ekenhart then lowered his voice as he spoke to them. As his voice was quiet, I could not hear him well… But it seemed like he was telling them about what had happened. As many people had seen us go to the orphanage, it was necessary to explain. It was impossible to not stick out when Leo was with you. “Hmm?” “Is…something wrong?” “No, it’s nothing. Nevermind.” Liza saw me reacting to the few words that were audible, and she looked at me questioningly. So I reassured her that it was nothing. Mr. Ekenhart was probably telling the guards what to do about it now. Not just about what happened to Liza, but he was likely thinking about what to do with the slums in general.

CH 299

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