30 - overlapping fingertips

"Huh?"

Unable to comprehend what was happening, Sola looked around.

Some of the lumberjacks who had escaped earlier were sitting on the ground, catching their breath.

There were no young children among them.

Turning his head to the plaza, he sees that all the stalls have disappeared.

Behind them, near the entrance to the Adventurers' Bureau, a line of black uniformed men with weapons at the ready stand in a row.

Here and there on the street, people with their bags in their arms could be seen hurrying toward the direction of the inner city.

Sola looks back at the empty sled.

"......moo ......chan?"

No answer came back.

Finally, the girl understood the reality of Moe's absence.

She lets out an inaudible scream and jumps for the door.

She is about to remove the canuki when she is interrupted by someone's hand.

What are you doing?　You're going to die!"　

"He's not here, Moo-chan!"

A gate guard in leather armor forcefully held Sora as she tried to brush him off.

The older guard then locked the door with a chain around the kanuki.

"You can die all you want, but please don't drag us into this!"

From behind the large gateway came the sound of the wild beast's breathing and the hard clash of its fangs against the stone wall.

Several men rush away from the door, jumping back.

"But, Moo-chan!　The child was left outside ......"

"So you want me to open it?　Don't be absurd. Even a fool can imagine what would happen if we open this door now.

Remembering the people running away from him earlier, Sola stood still.

The man at the gate saw this and said something more to him.

"Besides, you can't do it anymore. They are long dead..."

"Hey, you, choose your words!

"That's right. And you tried to close the door on us when we were there!

Come on!

"Oh, I'm just trying to protect the city. ......"

"It's your job to fight monsters!　This young lady has done us all a great service.

"If you're getting paid so well, why don't you do some real work!　You guys just laze around every day!"

"If you're an adventurer, can't you take care of a boar or two in a day?"

"No, no, I'm a shieldman, I can't do it alone ......."

Sola did not miss the sound of a familiar young voice in the conversation between the gate guard and the woodcutter as they began to argue.

She puts her ear to the door in a panic.

Fortunately, the boar seems to have moved away a little.

The fierce presence has somehow vanished.

"Moo-chan, are you there?"

There was no answer, but the faint sound of breathing caused Sola to relax and slump into place.

She slammed her hand hard against the door in anger at herself.

"I'll help you in a minute!"

At first, I thought I had swung off in my haste.

But if that was the case, Moe would have screamed out immediately when he was dropped.

He must have dared to jump down himself. To lighten the sled.

Sola knew why.

Thor had told her.

He asked her to take care of Thora.

If he had left Mu on board, she would never have made it in time.

I should have just gone into the city as quickly as I was told.

The reason she didn't is because she thought she might be useful.

That I might be able to make a good impression.

What I have done for Mu's approval is about to cost him his life.

The girl forcefully wiped away the tears that welled up in her eyes at her own stupidity.

The thing to do now is not to cry.

What we need to do now is not to cry, but to save the life of a little girl from this side of the door that will never be opened.

In a situation that anyone would have given up on as impossible, Sola instantly finds the only way to do so.

"Moo-chan, I have a favor to ask you. Will you listen to me?"

No answer is given, but Sola continues, convinced that he can hear her.

"Just for a little while, just for now. Just for a little while, just for a little while, I want you to take me in with you.

Sola's face tightens as she presses her ear against the door.

The earth was shaking.

The boar had not gone away after all.

A roar and a vibration.

From the stone wall, which was closer than before, came a sound and a tremor that resonated to the very core of the body.

Sora clawed at the door with a numbing impatience.

"Please!　You're going to die if you don't, Moo-chan!"

Moe must not have given up on his survival yet, since he had used his magic technique.

Slowly, the presence of the beast on the other side of the door moves away.

It must be trying to get away from us and come at us again.

The fact that the boar's aim is getting closer and closer to the door drives the girl even more.

Sora feels Mu's trembling through the door and raises her voice, almost hoarse, as much as she can.

"No, you can't do that!　There are still lots of fun things left to do. I haven't eaten all the food from the food stall yet, I want to take a bath with Moo again and get clean, and I won't be able to find the whirlpools on my head!

The girl is angry again as her tears try to overflow on their own.

Now is really not the time.

"............ the one with the grizzly?"

The girl looked up as if she had been shot by a mumbling voice.

"Yes, that's right. I'll give you all the grilling you want, girl!"

"...... won't you hate Moo if we do this together?"

"Why not?　I don't have any reason to dislike Moo-chan at all!"

"......, you don't hit Moo and tell him to get out of your house?"

Sola stopped breathing at those words.

In an instant, many thoughts ran through her head.

Thor had told me about this a while ago.

Although common sense is missing in some places, Moe's language is reasonably decent.

So it is very likely that he has been raised by someone, though for how long, I do not know.

And the reason why he was kicked out from there may have been because of his , in which he shares even the pain with others.

And one more thing.

The reason why he accepts adult men like Thor and old women like Yuril, but unconsciously excludes young women like Sora from his circle, may be because he was severely rejected by the person who is similar in age and most closely related to his young children, probably his mother.

Sola felt a little annoyed and a strong sense of regret at the woman who had let go of her beloved out of fear.　

Taking a deep breath, Sola squeezes out her deepest feelings into words.

"Listen to me, Moo-chan. I would never hit you or ask you to leave. No, you won't. I've been a nuisance to you my whole life. But Thor-chan has always helped me. So now it's my turn. I love you, Moo-chan. I'll take care of you no matter what!　So I will never ask you to leave, and if you do, yes, I will follow you all the way!　I'll take ...... Thor with me, though."

From the other side of the door, I can hear the sound of a big boar kicking the ground, ready to make its move.

Her heart raced painfully, but she bit her back teeth and held on.

There was no reply.

Instead, there was a small scratching sound.

It came from under the door, from where Moe was hiding.

He is trying to reach out to us.

Sora intuitively realized this, and put her finger into the gap between the ground and the door with all her might.

The skin on the back of her hand peels and blood oozes from her hand, but she screws it in without worrying about it.

The earth rumbles closer.

Just a little more.

The moment something soft touches my fingertips, which I stretch out with all my strength...　

--Suddenly, something opens up in front of my eyes.

The boar's body appears impossibly large from my low field of vision.

The sound of its six legs kicking against the earth is also transmitted dynamically.

Swallowing her spit in fear, Sola mutters a few words.

"I'm not afraid anymore, as long as I can see ...... them. I'll leave the rest to you, Mu-chan.

Perhaps it is thanks to the , but more information than usual is flowing in through Mu's senses.

This easily revealed the reason why the boar had hit the wall so many times.

The neck of the running monster was bent at a strange angle.

That's why its trajectory was slanted and it was hitting the wall.

Apparently, it was a good thing that I had twisted its neck and overturned it before it ran away.

However, the bend is gradually getting better.

Next time, he will come straight at us.

Sola kept her forehead against the door, the fingertips of her right hand on top of Mu's, her left hand gripping the stick.

There was no more time to time it like before.

Even if he could only return half of it, if it was two in a row, he would return all of it.

Four in a row, double the payback!

--

The face of the huge boar approaching us suddenly distorted as if it had been hit by something.

But it does not slow down.

!

The distortion becomes even worse, and the entire head rotates halfway around.

The beast screamed in hatred as its neck nearly snapped off.

At the same time, a sense of loss overtakes Sora's heart, which has rapidly lost its magical power.

But the girl continued to pour her magic power as if nothing had happened.

I've already experienced a worse loss about a week ago.

--

The boar's face spins around with a dull thud as it returns the force of the rush.

--

The boar's neck, which had almost stopped dead in its tracks, hangs from the ground with the sound of ripping skin and flesh.

The monster, now completely out of breath, stumbles a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

At the same time, Sola also crouches down on the ground, with her forehead still against the door.

Just before she gave up her consciousness due to a complete lack of magic power, her ears picked up a murmur from the other side of the wall.

"Phew, I've won again. Moo is too powerful after all.

"Yeah, that was me... ......"