"Uh…? Huh?"
The boy looked at her–really looked at her. For the first time, she felt that his eyes were truly focused on her figure. He still looked dazed, as though he had woken up from a very long dream. Letting out strange sounds, his face had an expression of utter confusion.
'It's not working. I'll have to try a different approach.'
Thinking for a bit, she walked closer and pushed her face right in front of his own. The boy instinctively tried to back away, but couldn't, because of the wall behind him. Evangeline spoke in the most appropriate way she could think of.
"I, am, here, to, help. Will, you, come, with, me?"
"Uh? Help? I need help?"
He asked back, tilting his head. It looked as though he was questioning why he would need help, as if he were completely unaware of his own state.
"Indeed! And I am here for you, so will you come with me?"
Still dazed, the boy… nodded in confusion. Though his expression seemed to say that he may have nodded accidentally, it didn't matter to her. After all, he had indeed agreed, and that was all that mattered.
"Perfect! Let's go, then!"
She reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him along as she began heading out of the narrow alleyway. The black, cat-like creature followed behind them, swishing its two tails around.
"Huh? Wait, where are you taking me? Who even are you?"
"Oh, no need to worry about that. For now, just follow along."
Dragging him around like luggage, she moved through the city, scanning her surroundings as she searched. She passed through the market district where small shops and street vendors were all one's eyes could see, the heavy crowd making it hard for them to pass through.
She passed the relatively empty city square, where a few newspaper hawkers seemed to be selling newspapers, loudly shouting headlines to attract customers.
She passed several other places in the city, moving through the busy streets for a long time. By the time she stopped to catch her breath, the sun had climbed up to their heads, its light no longer feeling warm but scorching.
Having been dragged around without any explanation, the boy looked almost spent from exhaustion. The black creature gave him a look that almost seemed as though the creature found him pitiful.
Her expression twisted with annoyance.
'C'mon, where the hell is it?'
Since she had also been in the same state as the boy in her previous life, Evangeline knew the perfect way to help him get better. What he needed more than anything else right now was… a bath.
A relaxing bath will help him clear his still-hazy mind and gain clarity. Evangeline had experienced it herself, so she knew its effectiveness.
But the problem was, she couldn't, for the life of her, find a place where she could have him take a bath. She had checked several places in the city, but she couldn't find anything like a bathhouse.
'It's useless. I need to find another way.'
She looked around, and then, spotting something, she began walking with quick steps as she dragged the boy along. She paused in front of a street vendor who seemed to be selling bread. Noticing their presence, the vendor looked them up and down as a frown appeared on his face.
"Excuse me. I am searching for a bathhouse, do you perhaps know where I could find it?"
She tried to speak politely, just like her mother had taught her during those lessons. But the street vendor's frown only deepened.
"Bathhouse? What's that? Besides, what are ya kids doin' alone? Where are yer parents?"
'He doesn't know what bathhouse means? Wait, could it be…?'
Maybe this world simply didn't have the concept of a bathhouse. After all, bathhouses were something that existed back on Earth. Of course, she had never seen one up close, but she had a general idea after watching vlogs on the internet.
But now that she thought about it, she had never seen any mention of a bathhouse in any fantasy novel. Maybe they didn't exist in fantasy worlds at all?
'No, that doesn't make sense.'
Even if this world didn't have something like a bathhouse, there must be some way for homeless people to take baths, right? It would be a big problem otherwise.
"I need him to take a bath," she pointed at the boy. "Do you know a place where he could?"
The vendor turned to the boy, observing his torn, dirty clothes and filthy appearance. He glanced briefly at Evangeline and made an expression as if he suddenly understood something.
"This lil' guy, he's yer servant, huh? Well, I can see why ya wanna have him take a bath." He pointed at a tall building some distance away. "Ya can have him bathe in that inn over there."
As soon as Evangeline heard him mention an inn, a lightbulb went off in her head, making her realise the answer to her previous question. Obviously, homeless people would rent a room at an inn. In stories, almost all adventurers lived in inns.
'Does that mean… those adventurers were all actually homeless people?'
She shook away that thought; she had more important things to think about. More than that, Evangeline was technically only a ten-year-old right now; she didn't think any inn would allow children to rent rooms on their own.
But she did have a solution in mind. She stretched her lips into a polite smile as she spoke.
"As you can see, he is not in a normal condition. Besides, it would be problematic for me to rent a room on my own. Kind sir, would you please help us out?"
The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes.
"Like hell I will. Ya bunch of kids wasted a hell lotta time for free. I've helped ya more than enough—"
Jiggle, Jiggle.
Evangeline took out her pouch filled with silver coins. Still wearing a polite smile, she jiggled the pouch in front of him. The sonorous rattling sound of coins could be heard clearly.
"...On second thought, I guess I could help ya out. An adult's gotta look after children, ya know?"
Evangeline smiled brightly, offering the boy's hand to the street vendor.
"I am glad we are on the same page, kind sir."
***
Evangeline waited quietly beside the vendor's stall, looking toward the distant inn. Suddenly, the cat-like creature jumped at her, and instinctively, she caught it in a hug. Bringing it closer to her face, she observed it as the creature's six green eyes met her own.
'Is this really a monster?'
Though its six eyes gave the creature such an appearance, it hadn't actually done anything monster-like. In fact, despite having an appearance similar to a cat, the creature behaved more like a loyal dog.
And if she could ignore the extra two pairs of eyes, this creature looked like a normal, adorable cat. Evangeline's gaze was suddenly drawn to its two tails. They looked soft and fluffy as the creature continued to swish them around.
A sudden urge sprouted within her.
'I wanna touch them.'
The way the creature was swishing them before her eyes, it felt like provocation. She wanted to touch them, to feel their softness, to hold both of them—one in each hand.
She really, really, really wanted to touch them.
But she hesitated. She remembered reading somewhere that cats don't like it when someone touches their tail. Although she didn't know how true that was, she would rather not risk provoking the creature and losing its goodwill.
Suddenly, the creature jumped off her hands and rushed forward. It jumped at someone else as they caught it swiftly with both hands.
"Ah, Dragon? Here, comfortable now?"
Evangeline paused briefly, somewhat shocked. The one holding the creature was a small boy around her own age. His brown hair shone brightly under the sun, and his deep blue eyes held a gentle warmth as they gazed at the creature.
Wearing clean, somewhat loose clothes, the boy looked nothing like the beggar-looking child from before. She wouldn't have even recognised him if not for the dark circles still present under his eyes.
The boy now looked significantly better, not only in appearance but also in his condition. He didn't have the lost or dazed look from before; he now seemed fully awake.
Noticing her gaze, he turned to look at her as their eyes met. He made an awkward face as he lowered his eyes.
'So he's still not comfortable with me?'
That made her feel somewhat sad, considering how they toured the city together. Even though technically, he was only being dragged around by her.
"I did all ya asked. Now, take this." The vendor handed the boy's hand back to her. "It was good doin' business with ya, lil' missy."
Saying that, the street vendor walked back and stood behind his stall. He had a satisfied expression on his face, maybe because of all the coins she gave him.
Evangeline didn't speak; she simply started walking as she pulled the boy along. Although hesitant, he also quietly followed her.
Walking through the busy street, she decided to break the silence between them.
"My name is Evangeline. It's a bit long, I know. That is why my parents call me Evangel for short." She paused for a moment. "So? What's your name?"
She could feel him hesitating. She could understand him somewhat. After all, to him, Evangeline must seem like a stranger who was showing goodwill for no apparent reason.
In the end, he replied in a hesitant, barely audible whisper.
"...Flint."
A wide smile stretched across her face.
"Well, Flint, are you hungry, by chance?"