Ch. 30: Is That Your Story?

"Hi," I said, flashing a sweet smile.

I greeted the little girl.

Looking at her face, I felt like I was seeing her older sister in person: when she was little.

She has the characteristics of a Liyue people.

I won't mention that she was cute.

It's a bit disgusting to think about: I seem like a pedophile. I'm actually not attracted to small children.

When I greeted her, she turned to me with a face of fear and sadness, her eyes shedding many tears.

This was probably caused by Hilichurl, right?

Definitely not because of me, right?

The corner of my lips couldn't help but twitch at the thought of this.

"Good Night... it's alright now.

"Can I sit here? I'm really tired from working out earlier. Look, I'm sweating like I just took a shower."

I did exercise... exercise in the context of killing monsters.

Before she could reply, I was already sitting next to her.

Actually, even if she refused, I would have sat down anyway because I was really tired.

For a few seconds, I didn't speak again.

"I haven't given my permission yet." She turned to me, her eyes narrowed, her lips pursed, then said, "but you're sitting down now. Then what are you asking my permission for?"

Little sister, you should know that this is a pep talk.

But I'm proud that you're willing to talk.

Now wipe your tears... it's dangerous if there are other people. They will misunderstand that I committed a crime against you.

If that's the case, my image will disappear completely.

My lips curled again. "What's your name?"

When I asked her name, she immediately squinted.

"What for? Are you going to kidnap me when I tell you my name?"

Good, it looks like your sister has taught you not to just introduce yourself to strangers.

But I'm not a stranger, okay?

It's okay if you introduce yourself to me.

"I'm Charles. From Fontaine."

She listened to my brief introduction.

I had intended to introduce myself using a pseudonym, but the person I was talking to was just a child. There was no need for me to lie about my identity.

Besides, since I hadn't introduced myself to her sister yet. Her sister would find out my name when she wanted to thank me.

With that premise, there was a good chance that she would find out someday too.

Feeling that there was nothing wrong with this introduction, she opened her mouth.

"Yanyan... that's my name."

I nodded in understanding. "Why is Yanyan here?"

She pursed her lips.

"Lost... my friend is lost."

Lost... what does lost mean? Her friend doesn't wanna be friends with her anymore?

"Who's lost?"

When I asked her that, she turned her gaze forwards. She didn't speak again.

What was going on?

Was it because she was still suspicious of me that she didn't want to talk about her anxiety?

"Was your friend kidnapped?" I also turned my gaze to the front.

When I asked her that, she responded by nodding. "Yes."

"Do you know who kidnapped her?"

She shook her head. "Yesterday, she was still playing with me. We were playing chasing at that time. When the sun had set, we decided to go home. But as soon as morning came, his parents came to our house and asked...

"Is 'he' here? Hearing that, I immediately knew that since we had returned to our respective homes, he had disappeared.

"Then, his parents burst into tears at the door of our house. She screamed hysterically: He's missing! My son is missing!

"Hearing that, I couldn't believe it at all. I couldn't help but take a step back as fear embraced me.

"Then, I shut myself in my room. Perhaps because of my actions, my sister thought that I knew something about my friend's disappearance. She had an assumption: my little sister knew something about this incident, so she closed herself in her room and didn't want to come out.

"I actually didn't know at all. I stayed in the room because I was afraid... I was afraid of taking responsibility because the last time I saw him, he was playing with me."

She covered her face, looking down. Her legs folded, her hands hugging.

Now that I know the context... this issue was unexpectedly much deeper. I thought she just left because of a conflict with her sister.

No, there was definitely that part too.

She was just trying not to tell me 'that' part.

I nodded. "I roughly understand what happened."

After that, there was no more talking between us.

In the dark night, only the wind chattered.

The starry sky was gone, the clouds had covered the diamonds.

The clouds were like the curtain of a show that had presented the drama and then ended it.

I let out a long breath. Then, I turned to her. "Do you want to hear a story?

"It's a popular story in my country back then."

She tilted her head.

Maybe he thought this story was from Fontaine but it wasn't.

Then, I told her the stories I had read on the internet one by one. Films were also mentioned... Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings, Sherlock Holmes, Shawshank Redemption, etc.

I didn't go into detail because that would take a very long time.

When I told her this, her face gradually improved. Also when I told her this, her expressions changed to a variety of things: fear, hatred, amazement, tension, sadness, pleasure.

As the person telling the story, I was happy and carried away too.

At first she was suspicious of me, but since I told her this story, she opened up to me little by little.

"Actually, I wanted to tell this story to a girl who was trapped in death and life. She's a girl with a terrible fate. I'm not even sure if she's alive or dead even though her body exists."

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"Who knows, maybe she is?" I said softly.

She then chuckled happily.

Seeing this inevitably made me curl my lip.

"Then you must save her!"

I nodded in understanding. "Of course, I'm a hero."

Then, she began to tell me about her sister who was mean to her.

I listened attentively.

This is the habit of being a good listener!

***

Please throw a power stone to keep me motivated!

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