Mary and Mitya are beastmen, a rarity in this area.

　They were born and raised in the town of Kergu.

　However, by the time Mary was old enough to remember, her mother was already gone, and she and her sister were raised by their father alone.

　As you can see from Mary and her family, her father was also a beast, and he used his strength to earn money by working on the ground.

　His income was a little more than that of a normal human, but not enough to raise two children, but certainly not enough.

　In such an environment, Mary leads a reasonably peaceful life, taking care of the house as a mother.

　However, these peaceful days were thrown out of gear a short time after the Order of the Sutomy Saints began to spread in the town.

　The landlord of the house that Mary and her friends were renting was an ordinary person who did not say anything to them as long as they paid their rent.

　The landlord of the house I was renting was an ordinary person who never said anything as long as I paid my rent.
　He bought a lot of "holy water" and gradually began to have money problems.

　So the landlord took the shortcut of selling the property.

　Unfortunately, Mary's house was among the properties that were sold off.

　Unlike in Japan, where there are no excessive laws to protect tenants, the person who bought the house was a bit problematic by Japanese standards.

　The rent was suddenly and drastically raised.
　If you can't pay, you have to leave.

　Rumor has it that he wants to demolish all the buildings in the area, including Mary's house, and build another one, but Mary and her family can't just leave without being told to do so.

　Mary's father was draining his savings and looking for another place to live while he was paying the rent, and that's when the Kergu Mayhem happened.

　　　　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

　The two people who were at home that day felt disturbed and closed the door of the house to keep quiet.

　The sound of disturbance echoed from outside.
　The father was at work and not at home.

　Mary was trembling with anxiety, but she didn't notice it until it was too late.

　And by the time she noticed the anomaly, it was too late.
　When she opened the window, the fire was right in front of her.

　I rushed to the back of the house with my sister, but the other houses around us were also engulfed in flames, and it was already too late to escape.

　In addition, the fact that the door had been locked tightly was a disaster, and something collapsed, which may have been a propping rod, preventing Mary from even opening the door.

　In the meantime, the flames spread to Mary's house and the walls began to collapse.

　Mary shields her sister from the flames, but both of them are stuck between the collapsing walls.

　Then their father jumped in.

　He had already sustained numerous injuries at that point, but he forcibly put his hand into the burning rubble, dragged them out, and threw them out of the house.

I don't remember much after that, to be honest. The only thing I remember clearly is that the house collapsed before my father could come out. The only thing I remember thinking about was how I was going to get my sister out of there. ......

　As if remembering that moment, Mary turned her head and let the tears fall in drops and drops.

　As for Mitya, now that the pain of his injury is gone and his stomach is full, he may have a little more room to breathe, and in the middle of his story, he started crying, "Otousan .......

　She's now tired of crying and is sleeping peacefully in Natsuki's arms.

I know what's going on now. You did your best.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

　Haruka held out a handkerchief and hugged Mary, and she began to cry silently.

　I, Toya and Yuki, who were left with a rather heavy story, looked at each other and were speechless.

　I'm in trouble. I don't have enough life experience to say something nice at a time like this. .......

I'm going to go get some tea.

　I'm sure you can't stand that kind of atmosphere, but Yuki gets up and leaves the room to replace the tea that has gotten cold.

"Oh, ......, I wonder if there's anything good in the tea .......

　He turned his back to me and started to put his hand into the magic bag in the corner of the room.

"Well, .........

　I looked at Natsuki and Haruka, but Natsuki only smiled.
　I looked at Natsuki and Haruka, but Natsuki just smiled. Haruka looked at me like she wanted me to sit quietly.

　That's right, you should just sit down.

　If you look at the person next to you, you'll see a slightly pointy animal ear.
　Is it wrong to touch it?　...... No, right? I can read the air like that.

　I'm not sure what to make of that.

　I'm not sure what to do.

　Yuki's hot tea and Natsuki's homemade honey cookies with nuts, which Toya had found, were placed on the table, and the discussion resumed.

　Mitya, who had been asleep, woke up with a twitch of her nose when the cookies were placed on the table, and was now happily eating them.

　I can't help but think that she was crying just a moment ago, but in this world where death is so close at hand, there must be a part of you that can't survive without this level of toughness.

　It's not that I don't mourn death or anything like that, but it's a problem of another level.

　Here, without reserves, it is impossible to even spend days in vain in grief.

　Most of the common people who live on their daily bread will starve to death if they do that.

　I'm sure Mary and the others have seen such people and lived through them.

　Just as common sense differs from era to era, it goes without saying that it differs from world to world.

"Mitya, is it good?
"It's delicious!

　The honest words and the smiling faces make us feel warm and fuzzy.
　However, we can't go on with our conversation even if we are relaxed.
　Haruka corrects the course and asks Mary.

"So, just to confirm, Mary and the others don't have anyone in particular they can rely on, right?

　If they had someone they could rely on, they wouldn't be lying there, but when Haruka checks, Mary nods, as expected.

I'm not sure. My father never told me about any of his relatives, and I had a normal relationship with the neighbors. ......

　Mary doesn't assert that he didn't help her, but she slurs her words.

　It's not easy for ordinary people to afford to take in another person's child, and it would be difficult for them to cut back on their own lives to do so at the level of "neighbors" who are not their relatives.

　On top of that, judging from what I said earlier, the neighbors were most likely burned down, and they probably didn't even have time to care about Mary and the others.

If you guys want, we can help you, though?


I need your help!
Hey! Hey!　I'm so sorry!

　In response to Haruka's suggestion, Mitya, with a cookie in her mouth, raised her hand and responded without pause.

　Mary scolded Mitya, bowed to us, and pulled Mitya to a corner of the room.

　And so the conversation begins.

(Mee, that's what your father said!　(Mee, you know what your father said, all good stories have an ulterior motive!
(Haruka is a good person!)

　Although we are whispering, we are in the same room.
　(Haruka's sister must be a good person!)" I whispered, but my high-powered elf ears could hear me just fine.

　Not to mention Haruka, who is smiling slightly, and Toya, who has better ears than us, but also Natsuki, who has been upgraded to a higher level, and Yuki, who is subtly moving her mouth with a grin.

　It's funny, so I won't point it out.

(I trust my instincts, but I still have to be careful!

(But there's nothing we can do. If we don't, we'll probably die.

(......)

"Me, I don't want to be sick or in pain.

(Ugh ......)

"(And the cookies are delicious!)

(And the cookies are delicious!) - (And anyway, I want you to be quiet while my sister listens to you, okay?

(...... understood)

　Mitya nodded, a little frustrated.

( Okay.)

　After reassuring her, Mary returned with Mitya, sat her down in a chair and sat herself down again.

I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. ...... Why are you helping us?
"Why ......?

　We looked at each other and thought again.
　Why did you want to help Mary and the others?
　I could give you a reason, but in the extreme...

"Because you saw it?

　Mary gives me a quizzical look as I say this.

　But it's true.

　If I hadn't happened to be on our way home at the time, we never would have met, and I never would have thought to help her.

　There are probably other people in trouble in Kerg, but we are not saints enough to look for them and help them.

Oh, and by the way, your ears. See, you're a beast like Toya, isn't that unusual?

　Mary's gaze grew suspicious as Haruka added, pointing to her.

　But it's also true.

　If it didn't have beast ears, it might not have caught Toya's eye.

I doubt it. No one would take in a child for that reason. I know how hard it is to raise a child. I know how hard it is to raise a child. ...... Your father had a hard time.

　Not only did he look at me, he said it clearly.

　But the sister does not care about her sister's condition, perhaps because she was told to be quiet, she even reached for the cookie in front of her sister and silently brought it to her mouth.

　But Mary was happy to eat it too, so there was only one cookie left.

　After eating it, Mitya's eyes were fixed on our cookies that were still left.

　Noticing this, Haruka smiled and casually moved the plate in front of Mitya, and answered Mary's question.

Haruka smiles and casually moves the plate in front of Mitya. To be frank, it's not a lot of money for us to feed Mary and Mitya until they are adults.

　If you were asked to take in a child in Japan, you would probably hesitate, but here, you don't have to pay for education and medical expenses, which are a large percentage in Japan.

　Ordinary injuries and illnesses can be healed with magic, and there are also medicinal herbs for natsuki.

　Furthermore, there are no luxuries such as games or smartphones that are available to the average child, so there is no need to spend money on those things either.

　You don't live in an inn, so you don't have to pay for housing once you return to Raffan.

　Haruka and the others can make their own clothes, and the cost of food, which might be a little more than that of humans due to the fact that they are beasts, will not be a big burden for us since we can get our own meat.

　Considering our own cost of living, it won't cost us much if we just let them live a normal life.

I'm not going to let you live in luxury, of course. ...... In terms of money, Toya's allowance should be enough to cover it.

Toya, you're amazing!
Oh. Isn't that great?

　When Mitya looked at him with respect, Toya had a proud expression on his face.

　But when he continued, his expression froze.

"Yes, it's amazing!　I want you to 'heal' me!