Chapter 20

Nina heard the words "ghost dog" when she was wandering, lured by the unusual smell of food wafting from the tavern.

She also realized she had lost sight of Emily and Astrid.

However, what caught Nina's attention was a girl with long black hair slipping through the crowd.

Seeing her sit down, exhausted, Nina offered her a water flask.

It was then that she first noticed the girl's dog ears—realizing she was a beastkin.

"…I don't need it."

"I thought drinking water might make you feel better. This is not charity, just a kind gesture."

She deliberately added that it was not charity but a kind gesture.

Nina thought this girl, dressed as a miner, might be particularly strong-willed.

"If that's the case… I'll take it."

"Of course, please do."

Handing over the flask, the dog-eared girl gulped down the water—finishing it in no time.

"Delicious… This isn't just water."

"I collected it from a mountain spring on the way here. I just arrived in this town as a tourist."

"Tourist? There's nothing to see here."

"There is! I wanted to see the mine!"

The dog-eared girl, who seemed to be hearing the words "wanted to see the mine" for the first time, blinked her eyes.

"…You're different."

"Am I? I'm Nina."

"Chii is Chii."

The girl said as she returned the flask.

"Chii…san?"

"My name is Tian. But close friends call me Chii."

Then, Tian's stomach growled.

"……"

"……"

After a moment of silence, Nina said,

"I see. ……Could you tell me about this town? It would be very helpful if you could recommend a good place to eat."

She thought about having a meal with the girl, who seemed hungry.

But Tian shook her head as she stood up.

"All the food here is terrible."

She stated this matter-of-factly, without hesitation or pretense, as if it were a simple fact.

It was said so naturally that it didn't seem like she was putting on a brave face.

"Chii has something to do, so I'll take my leave. Thank you for the water."

Tian walked away unsteadily.

"……"

All the food here is terrible.

Could that be true…? Could everyone really be enduring such terrible meals?

As Nina tilted her head in confusion, she heard Emily and Astrid's voices behind her.

"Here we go again. Actually, it's already started."

"Indeed. No matter how careful we are, this is inevitable, isn't it?"

"Hey, both of you! I was looking for you!"

"That's what I was going to say. ……So? Who's that girl? What's her problem, and what are you going to do about it?"

"Huh? W-Why are you asking me such a thing all of a sudden…"

"Aren't you going to do anything?"

"……"

She was called a "ghost dog."

A cute girl with wet-feather-colored hair and adorable dog ears.

She was thin and gaunt now, but if she ate properly, she would surely regain her cuteness.

Nina wasn't sure what she could do, but she definitely wanted to help if she could.

"…Um, is it okay if I do something…?"

Emily crossed her arms and sighed.

"It's a big improvement that you're asking first."

"Emily's education isn't a total loss."

The two, acting like guardians, made presumptuous comments.

"So, Nina, where do you start?"

Nina answered.

"Let's have a meal! At the best restaurant in this town!"

In the morning, Tian woke up in a small room.

She bit into a withered fruit on the bedside table.

She winced at the sourness but continued to chew, barely tasting a hint of sweetness.

——Rumble…………

Her stomach growled.

There was dried meat next to the fruit, but when Tian picked it up, she swallowed hard.

"……"

Determined, she bit into it.

"!"

She immediately spat it out.

"…Terrible. Too terrible… Why can everyone eat this terrible stuff with a straight face?"

She tried to put the dried meat back but hesitated, then shuddered at the memory of its taste and placed it down.

She left the room unsteadily.

This was a cheap residence for miners, with small, shed-like houses lined up.

Tian liked living here because miners didn't cook, so there were no food smells.

Holding her rumbling stomach, she headed for the monastery on the outskirts of town.

In the back garden, there was a small fruit tree, the same kind of fruit she had just eaten.

"……"

She stopped, about to pick one.

There were 15 left.

It seemed she was thinking she shouldn't take too many.

"——You can eat all of them, Tian."

An elderly man in a cassock appeared.

"Teacher… Here."

Tian took a silver coin from her pocket.

The man, her teacher, took it and said,

"…Tian, I truly appreciate your donation. Running the orphanage is expensive… But I don't want to see you in such a pitiful state. You must be hungry, right?"

"Yes. But all the food here is terrible."

"Sigh… I wonder why. I can't even fix it with magic."

"It's fine. I can eat the fruit."

"…The children are taking good care of the tree, knowing that you eat the fruit."

"Hehe."

Tian smiled, imagining the children tending to the tree.

"I'm off to work."

She left for her job.

Her unsteady figure made the teacher worry, but he knew from past interactions that he couldn't persuade her.

When he returned to the monastery, the morning preparations had begun.

One of the nuns noticed his return.

"Teacher, what's wrong? Oh… Tian?"

"Yes."

Everyone here knew Tian.

She was an orphan.

She worked in the mine.

She donated several days' earnings at once.

She was so hungry but refused to eat, saying the food was terrible—she wasn't being polite or lying; she genuinely thought it was terrible.

"Even though we only took care of her for a short time…"

Tian had drifted into this Izumi mining town from somewhere.

Orphans either died on the streets or were brought to the monastery by well-meaning adults.

She called herself a Moon Wolf, with an excellent sense of smell, able to find lost items easily.

She was as strong as a grown man, despite being a child.

But she couldn't eat. She would force herself to swallow, sometimes vomiting.

She insisted it was terrible.

When asked about her past, Tian remained silent.

She must have eaten with her parents before.

Tian didn't want to talk about her parents—meaning.

The teacher understood.

Tian had been abandoned by her parents.

At 10, she spent two years in the orphanage before becoming a miner.

She brought her earnings to the orphanage because she was grateful.

The number of orphans was increasing, and the orphanage was struggling financially, so the teacher accepted her donations, feeling guilty.

"Teacher! I'm going to water Tian's tree!"

"Hey, that's my job today."

"First come, first served!"

"Wait a minute!"

The children, just waking up, ran to the fruit tree in the back garden.

Tian didn't know how to interact with them and wouldn't play with them, but they clearly adored her.

"…What should I do? Why did God curse her with a 'tongue curse'…?"

The teacher stood there, clutching the silver coin.

It felt like a curse.

Perhaps the shock of being abandoned by her parents had made her unable to taste properly.

Even if that were true, he could do nothing.

He could do nothing for such a brave and hardworking girl.

Overwhelmed by helplessness, the teacher was at a loss.

"——Teacher. Teacher?"

He realized a nun was nearby.

"Ah, sorry… It's morning preparations, right?"

"That's true, but we have a visitor. I think it's best if you handle it."

A visitor?

This early in the morning?

"Who is it?"

The nun said to the puzzled teacher,

"It seems to be… a maid."