“Neko-san! Yayyy!”
The innkeeper’s daughter hugged me.
O—, there, there.
The forest must have been scary for her.
I patted her head.
Pat pat pat.
“Ah~! You never let me touch you~!
That’s not fair~!”
Aurene’s hand extends toward me, but I avoid it gracefully.
I’m not a fan of her.
“Is this Neko-san’s secret base?”
I write, [Yes!] to answer her question.
It’s not really a secret base, but it kinda resembles one.
“Onee-san, are you the elf who works for the Demon King?”
“………”
Aurene froze after hearing Nell’s point-blank question.
Nell is too smart for her age.
“Fufufu~, it can’t be helped if you figure it out~.
That’s right. My name is Aurene and I’m the evil Demon King’s subordinate~.
I’ll eat any naughty child that comes into the forest~.”
She purposely holds her hands up like a zombie to frighten Nell.
“Neko-san, are you also one of the Demon King’s subordinates?”
[I’m just a stray cat], I answered.
“Please stop ignoring me~!”
It seems like Aurene is trying to instill a fear of the forest in Nell by playing the villain.
But it hasn’t worked out because of her original personality.
“Please tell her, Nyanko-san~.
I’m sure she’ll come here again and again~.
Sooner or later, she’ll end up being eaten by magical beasts in the forest~.”
Admittedly, I have no idea why she ventures inside the forest alone. I don’t commend her behavior.
[Nell, why did you come to the forest?]
“Because I want to meet Neko-san.”
She was here to meet me!
The attempt to reduce the frequency of our meetings had backfired.
“You were acquainted with this little girl!
I’d love to hear more about your rendezvous!”
What rendezvous? We aren’t romantically involved.
It’s not that kind of relationship.
Nell told me about her day when she spent her time with me.
When she was finished, it was already dark outside and in time for dinner.