Alvy

The child Ruby had brought was unmistakably a little girl. Judging by her short stature and features, she was probably around five or six years old. Her dark crimson hair and eyes were the same color, while the woolen garment draped over her brown skin was decorated with an exotic red-and-white pattern.

"There are a lot of things I want to say, but who is that child?"

"The one who was hiding and watching us was this girl... Alvy."

"I'm Alvy. Nice to meet you."

The little girl's name was apparently Alvy. She gazed intently at all of us, her eyes shining. She must have been fascinated by monsters she had never seen before. Wasn't she a little too curious? If I had seen my current avatar at her age, I am confident I would have burst into tears.

More importantly, didn't she have any parents? Hadn't she been taught not to approach strangers? We looked suspicious enough as it was...

"Uh... I'm Izamu. Nice to meet you, Alvy."

"Yes!"

Though bewildered, I introduced myself, and she answered with a cheerful smile. She certainly was adorable, but I was not accustomed to dealing with children. How was I supposed to respond? S-someone help me!

"Hey! What's up, brother... Huh? What's with that kid?"

"Wooooah! She's a cute girl!"

Jigoro and the others had noticed us, but one of them came running over at a frightening speed while letting out a strange shriek. It was Shiitake.

"Hey, little miss, what's your name? How old are you? Where do you live?"

"A-Alvy's Alvy..."

"So your name's Alvy-chan... hehehe..."

W-were you always like this? You were clearly out of control! Alvy had not even been intimidated by my silver-skull-face mask, but now she looked anxious and frightened. She seemed to be trembling, too, making Ruby tremble in her arms.

"Y-you see, big sis really loves cute little girls, so—guhgeh!?"

Shiitake edged closer, waggling the thick, stubby arms growing from her mushroom body. Just as I was wondering whether I should stop her by force, countless tentacles extended from behind her and bound her up tight.

"Shiitake-san? Let's cool your head a little, shall we?"

"I-Iris-chan!? Have mercy!"

It was Iris who had captured Shiitake. Without giving her a chance to protest, she carried her out of Alvy's sight. Considering that Shiitake had been on the verge of going berserk, it was the proper response. I chose to pretend I had not heard her anguished cry of 'Little girl—aaaagh!' as she was taken away.

"Hey, Alvy. I'm Eiji. Where did you come from?"

"Alvy came from over there."

Eiji was the next to speak to her after Shiitake. With his hefty build, full-body metal armor, arm muscles like steel, and ferocious boar's head with bared fangs, Eiji looked considerably more intimidating than Shiitake. However, he spoke very gently, and he even knelt to keep his eyes as level with hers as possible.

Perhaps his attempt to approach her had paid off, because Alvy recovered some of her cheer and pointed behind her. It was in the same direction as the thicket where she had been hiding.

"I see. Why did you come all the way out here by yourself? Isn't your family nearby?"

"My big sister's at home. I came here to find food for her."

So she had a big sister. And her sister was not nearby, meaning she had come all this way alone. Apparently, her purpose was to gather food. As she spoke, Alvy took several potatoes from the simple pouch hanging from her shoulder. I could not tell without using 【Appraisal】, but they were probably edible potatoes.

I was also a little concerned that, despite my asking about her family, she had mentioned only her sister and not her parents. I had no intention of prying into her circumstances, but perhaps she came from a complicated family.

"You're such a good girl, Alvy. Then let your big brother give you this."

What Eiji took from his inventory was preserved food he had purchased at Bardy Perch. There were several varieties, including dried meat and biscuits. These items had a high fullness recovery relative to their price, making them essential for Eiji, whose large size meant his food expenses piled up, to keep unnecessary costs down.

I did wonder whether it was all right to give away a necessity. But he had said he always carried more than enough, so I suppose he was handing over the surplus.

"Really!?"

"Of course. Make sure you chew it well, okay?"

"Thank you, Big Brother Eiji!"

After putting the preserved food Eiji offered her into her pouch, Alvy bowed her head politely. He gently patted her head. She seemed startled when he touched her so suddenly, but did not seem to dislike it, narrowing her eyes. If I had to give this scene a name, it would be 'Little Girl and Monster,' I suppose?

"Come on, it'll be dark soon. Go home."

"I will. Can I come back again?"

"Is that all right, Izamu-san?"

"Hm? Yeah, that's fine."

He had suddenly put me on the spot, so I was a little flustered, but I supposed it would be fine if a child came to visit. Besides, we did not intend to stay on this riverbank forever. If any problems arose, we could simply escape by riding Shiratsuki. There should not be any other players around, either, so we had no need to hide ourselves furtively as we had in Fars.

However, it would be a problem if Alvy or her people approached Shiratsuki on their own and triggered its interception function. I should tweak the settings a little before logging out.

"Yay! Then I want you to play with me!"

"If you'd like me to, I'd be happy to."

"Thank you! Then see you later!"

Alvy bowed once more, then trotted off home. She kept looking back and waving at us along the way, which was incredibly adorable. I don't have a thing for little girls, but I couldn't deny that she stirred my protective instincts.

"Aren't you weirdly good with kids?"

"I have a little brother who's quite a bit younger than me in real life. I just adapted the way I talk to his friends."

In response to Toji's question, Eiji answered while waving back at Alvy. I see. So it was thanks to experience.

There had been a bit of a commotion, but things had settled down now. Alvy had gone home, so I decided to log out and go to bed.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

Alvy's settlement was located some distance from the great river where Shiratsuki was moored. Calling it a settlement was a bit misleading, since her people did not actually live here permanently. They were nomads who continued moving across the plains of the Tinbrika Continent.

"I'm home!"

After parting ways with Eiji and the others, Alvy cheerfully called out to her beloved big sister to announce her return. She then ran straight to her sister's feet, where the latter was sitting up on her bedding.

"Welcome home, Alvy."

"Big sis, big sis! I want you to see this!"

"Oh...?"

What Alvy took from her pouch was the potatoes she had gathered and the preserved food Eiji had given her. Since potatoes were their tribe's staple, they were nothing unusual. However, it was strange to see food that had clearly been processed by human hands.

Alvy could not have stolen it from somewhere, so someone must have given it to her. Having reached that conclusion, Alvy's sister Seira questioned her while gently stroking her little sister's head.

"What a good girl, Alvy. Thank you."

"You're welcome!"

"But who gave you this dried meat? I want to thank them."

"It was Big Brother Eiji!"

"Eiji...?"

Eiji was not in the settlement where Seira and her people were staying. In other words, there was an outsider near the settlement. Her people were nomads who traveled from place to place across the continent while herding livestock, and they also visited settled communities to engage in something akin to peddling. They were therefore not closed off or hostile to outsiders.

However, that did not mean they could simply ignore a mysterious person who had appeared out of nowhere. So, much as she felt bad for Alvy, she would have to report this to the chieftain. That was what Seira decided.

"Big Brother Eiji was nice! He gave Alvy and Big Sis food!"

"I see... What sort of person was he?"

"Umm... He was big!"

Having never seen an Orc or Boar Orc in her life, Alvy described him in those simple terms. He had many other distinguishing features, but unfortunately, she lacked the vocabulary to explain anything more.

"I see. Were you scared?"

"I wasn't scared! He was nice! I'm going to visit him again tomorrow!"

"Visit... where are you going to play?"

"The riverbank!"

"You went to the riverbank? That's dangerous!"

"Obaba-sama!"

The one who barged into their home as if she owned the place was an old woman who was also the settlement's oldest elder. She was the current chieftain's great-aunt, and none of the adults could stand up to her. She was, in a sense, a mother to the entire tribe.

She had come to this house to care for Seira. She was the tribe's finest herbalist and also a doctor.

"Obaba-sama, will Big Sis get better?"

"Of course she will. Now then, Seira, open your mouth... Hmm... It's nothing but a common cold. Drink this, and you'll be up and about in no time."

Seira swallowed the pill she was given as instructed. It was a panacea effective against most illnesses, and naturally, it would work on Seira's illness as well. It would take several days for her to make a full recovery, but she would undoubtedly be cured.

"Thank you, Obaba-sama!"

"No need to thank me, Alvy. Obaba is on everyone's side, after all. Now, about what you were saying earlier..."

"Obaba-sama, I'll explain."

Seira then summarized Alvy's halting explanation for her. Obaba nodded repeatedly, seemingly intrigued.

"I see, I see. Alvy, was there anything like a house near those big people?"

"A house? Umm... Oh! There was a really, really big white thing floating on the river!"

"Floating...?"

"That would be a ship, I reckon. If I had to guess, those big people came from across the sea."

As plains-dwellers who traveled among inland settlements, they were unfamiliar with ships. But perhaps owing to her years and experience, Obaba alone knew what one was. Thus, although she did not realize they had come by air, she was able to infer that they had come from another continent.

"From across the sea..."

"That's right. Now, I'd better go tell our esteemed chieftain. Looks like things are about to get busy."

'This could get interesting,' Obaba said before leaving the two sisters' home. Alvy, who had not understood what they were talking about, stared at Seira with a puzzled expression. Seira pulled her close to reassure her, then began preparing their meal while praying that no misfortune would befall her little sister.