A giant question mark repeatedly formed inside Basto Paerix’s head.
What were the chances that a small child would wander into a forest overflowing with monsters at night?
And then, what were the chances that same child would get caught specifically in his trap?
And then…
“Mi-Mister, hic! Ti-Tia, hic! is o-okay! Hic!”
What were the chances that instead of crying or whining, the child would try to reassure him?
“…Hah.”
It made no sense.
It wasn’t that he was strange—
this entire situation was strange.
After lowering the net to the ground and untangling it, Basto finally straightened up with a frown.
The child sitting on the ground visibly flinched.
“You…”
“I’m okay! Hic! Tia is weally, weally okay! Hic!”
Basto stared at the child repeating herself over and over with a baffled look.
The child couldn’t even meet his eyes and simply clasped both hands tightly together.
Unable to stand it any longer, Basto asked:
“Where are your parents?”
The child looked at most three or four years old.
There was no way she had entered the forest alone, so surely her parents had to be nearby.
“M-My daddy, hic! is, is weally cwose by…?”
Just as expected, the child answered.
Basto nodded.
“I see. Nearby?”
“Y-Yes… If Tia scweams, hic! he’ll come wunning wight away… he’s weally cwose…!”
That made sense.
Even Basto knew how curious children that age could be.
No matter how careful parents were, the moment they looked away, children disappeared.
A short laugh escaped Basto.
‘Tiny thing’s pretty brave.’
If her father was nearby, she could have simply shouted for him from the start.
With all the hiccuping, he had mistaken her for some strange thief or suspicious person.
Chuckling, Basto joked:
“Then you should’ve cried louder when you got caught in the net.”
“…Hic.”
“You should cry now at least. Let’s see if your dad comes.”
But for some reason, the child suddenly clamped her mouth shut.
Then—
“Sniff… sniff… b-but it’s twueee…”
Large tears began dripping down her cheeks.
Basto stared at her in surprise.
She hadn’t cried when she should have—
but the moment he tried helping her find her parents, she burst into tears.
“…Why are you cry—”
“WAAAAAHH! Kkamangpang! Kkamangpaaaang! Save meee!!”
He took a step toward her to calm her down, but somehow she only cried harder.
Even the hiccups stopped as though she was about to hyperventilate, forcing Basto to halt immediately.
“No, why…?”
Then it suddenly hit him.
He realized exactly what he looked like from the child’s perspective.
Dried monster blood from yesterday still crusted his hair.
His body smelled foul from not washing properly for days.
And on top of that, he had appeared lurking in the bushes while checking a trap.
“Uwaaahhh! Kkamangpang! Save me! Help meee! Waaahhh!”
Basto scratched his head with a troubled expression and slowly stepped backward.
The crying child immediately froze and cautiously checked his movements.
To make his intentions clear, Basto took several more steps back.
Then he even tossed the war hammer hanging at his waist onto the ground near the net.
“Sniff… Kkamangpang…”
The child looked at him while sniffling.
She clutched her pink backpack tightly against her chest.
“Mister’s gonna stay here, so you go. Go to your dad.”
The child blinked at him suspiciously.
“Go find your father already. You said he’s nearby.”
The child nervously fidgeted with her backpack.
Then, in a tiny voice, she asked:
“Y-You’re not gonna chase me…?”
“Why would I chase you?”
“’Cause you’re a kidnapper…”
Basto swallowed a sigh and answered as calmly as possible.
“I’m not a kidnapper. I was trying to catch rabbits because I’m hungry.”
An even more shocked look spread across the child’s face.
Still, after a moment, she hesitantly stood up.
Watching her squirm while putting on her backpack, Basto thought:
‘…I should at least follow behind her.’
From the looks of it, directly helping her find her parents would be difficult.
So he planned to secretly follow her until she found them herself.
If she failed to reunite with them before sunset, things would become troublesome.
“Hurry and go to your dad. It’s dangerous for a kid to stay alone in a place like this.”
The child timidly nodded.
Then she quietly turned around and started toddling between the trees.
“Waaah!”
She hadn’t even taken three full steps before collapsing onto the ground.
The fallen child sniffled, then turned her head.
Their eyes met in midair.
“……”
In the silence, Basto stared at her with a tense expression.
Apparently she had injured her leg while trapped in the net.
Clutching her left ankle, the child puffed out her lips pitifully.
Soon, a miserable little voice called out:
“M-Misteeer…”
Basto only started hurrying over after hearing the next words.
“T-Tia’s weg huuurts…”
“Mister, does rabbit taste yummy?”
Basto looked up while wrapping a compression bandage around the child’s tiny ankle.
“Yeah.”
The child’s eyes widened.
“What kinda taste? Cow taste?”
“Meat tastes like meat.”
“Nooo! Piggy meat and cow meat and chicken meat all taste diffewent!”
Basto snorted softly.
‘Talking about meat like that… maybe she’s a noble’s child.’
But if that were true, it made even less sense for her to be alone in such a remote forest.
And the father she claimed was nearby still hadn’t appeared.
“Why hasn’t your father come yet? You cried pretty loudly earlier.”
He asked cautiously, worried she might start crying again, but the child stayed quiet.
When he looked up, she was staring at him nervously.
Trying to reassure her, Basto added:
“I’m asking because if you tell me where your dad is, I can take you there.”
The child pressed her lips together.
Her hands fidgeted against the backpack she hugged tightly.
“Actually… he’s in the Imperial Capital…”
Basto frowned.
“The capital?”
Nod nod.
A short exclamation escaped him.
He thought her parents were nearby, but now they were in the capital?
“Then why did you say your dad was nearby earlier?”
“Because if I said that, mister wouldn’t kidnap Tia…”
“If I looked that scary, why did you keep saying you were okay at first?”
“Because my kindergarten teacher said not to upset kidnappers…”
Silence fell between them.
As Basto lost the ability to respond, the child leaned closer and whispered like she was sharing an important secret.
“Mister, if you ever meet kidnappers too, don’t say ‘Please save me!’ That makes things worse.”
“…Why?”
“Because upsetting kidnappers is dangerous. You gotta slowly figure out what they want and open up the possibility for negotiation and dialogue.”
Basto was speechless.
After swallowing a sigh, he replied:
“I don’t really need advice like that.”
The child blinked.
“Huh?”
“Look at me. Do I seem like someone who’d get kidnapped?”
Then, as Basto continued speaking, the child’s mouth slowly fell open.
Her bright green eyes carefully examined his appearance—
the hair stiffened with monster blood, the shaggy beard, and his huge intimidating build.
When the child finally nodded in understanding, Basto somehow felt strangely dissatisfied.
“…Anyway, all done.”
After finishing the bandage, the child stared at her ankle with fascinated eyes.
Basto stood up and looked down at her.
‘Her parents are in the capital.’
Whatever the truth was, the child was injured.
And the sun was already beginning to set.
Brio Wood was relatively close to the Imperial Capital.
And these days, areas near the capital gates were overflowing with refugees turned away at the checkpoints.
With so many crowds gathering, children sometimes got separated from their families.
Basto’s gaze landed on the child’s pink leather backpack.
Young as she was, she didn’t seem neglected.
She had apparently attended a proper school that even taught children what to do if kidnapped.
And she looked like a child raised with love in a household wealthy enough to buy a bag like that.
Basto reached a conclusion.
“Come with me to the capital.”
He needed to stop by the capital anyway to report the mana stone he had recently conquered.
“I’ll take you there.”
Seeing the child’s eyes grow round, something suddenly tightened painfully in his chest.
Once upon a time, he too had a child he desperately prayed would safely return to him.
But that child had long since gone somewhere beyond his reach.
“Your father must be waiting desperately for you.”
At Basto’s words, a bright smile bloomed across Astyr’s face.