Before heading home, I bought a few things to eat. Among them was my best friend, an apple.
After buying even the food that Rachel and Zion would like, we entered the entrance of the forest.
'What did our little mice play today?'
I saw my sanctuary in the snow-covered forest.
However, something was strange.
'...?'
The door, which had not been fully closed, was swaying helplessly in the wind.
No way. A chilling anxiety ran down my spine.
I hurriedly threw open the door. The wooden door creaked and opened weakly.
A blizzard raged. Snow poured down into the empty room.
I stared blankly at the firewood gradually dying out due to the wind.
"Hey guys...?"
As if denying the situation, a fleeting sound escaped my lips.
Bam.
The basket I had been carrying fell limply to the floor.
I hadn't seen a single footprint the entire time I was walking here. That means the children had left quite a while ago.
My heart sank. I hurriedly left the house.
"Zion! Rachel!"
I shouted until my throat burst, but there was no response. My voice was helplessly drowned out by the sound of the blowing wind.
My heart beat even faster. Even if I could somehow hide Zion, it wasn't Rachel. No matter how I looked at it, Rachel didn't look like a Northerner.
If she happened to run into other wolves...
Anxiety consumed my entire body.
'I have to find them quickly.'
I forced a confused mind to think. Where might the children go?
Suddenly, I remembered the time I took Rachel to see a doctor's patient.
Zion had never left the forest, but Rachel had followed me out. So, there was a possibility.
'Please... you little rats.'
I bit my lip tightly and ran frantically, forgetting that the cloak I had pulled down was falling off.
I violently bumped into passersby. Some of them cursed at me, but I didn't care and kept running.
The sun tended to set early in the North. I had to find the children quickly before complete darkness fell.
"Zion! Rachel!"
I was out of breath. Eventually, I even took off the mask I was wearing.
A familiar snowstorm raged. The last place I went was the outskirts of the square where I used to do business.
Of course, there were no children there.
"Where did you go? I told you not to go out..."
I muttered in a trembling voice. My eyes welled up with tears.
Why won't you listen to me? Why are you giving me so much trouble...
"Hi..."
Tears welled up in my eyes before I knew it. Bad thoughts kept tormenting me. I wanted to just sit down and cry.
"..."
However, we couldn't just stay like this. We didn't know where or what might happen to the children.
I rubbed the corners of my eyes hard with the back of my hand. They stung terribly from the cold wind, but I didn't care and started running again.
It was just as I was turning into the alley.
Puck!
I buried my face hard in someone's arms.
I was so focused on finding the children that I forgot to slow down.
"Oh, oh..."
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, it’s okay..."
I hurriedly put my hat back on and waved my hand as if to say not to worry about it. The pain was tremendous enough to bring tears to my eyes, but I couldn't stop here.
It was when I bowed my head to greet the person I had bumped into that I was about to run away again.
"...Eve?"
A familiar voice called my name. I stopped abruptly and turned around.
"...Noelier?"
The person I bumped into was Noelier.
I stared up at him blankly, forgetting even that my hat was slipping down.
"Eve?"
Noelier was also wearing a cloak, just like me.
He looked dazed, as if he hadn't expected to meet me in a place like this. I was reflected in his red eyes.
His face turned slightly red.
"It’s not the scheduled day, but I wanted to see the children. I’m sorry for showing up so suddenly..."
He, who had been rambling incoherently as if flustered, paused for a moment.
"...Is something wrong?
He approached me with a worried look on his face.
"Eve?"
"..."
Noelier asked worriedly, but I couldn't answer.
How could I tell him that I had lost his sister, whom he had found again with such difficulty?
I even took money, promising to take good care of her, yet I was thinking of running away somewhere else...
Tears welled up again. I bit my lip tightly, then slowly opened my mouth.
“...The kids are gone.”
"... What?"
"It's all my fault. I need to find them..."
My words could not be finished. It was because tears welled up again.
"Calm down for now. Okay?"
Noelier spoke as if to comfort me, but I could not easily stop crying. It was the result of my failure to take good care of the children.
So, instead of crying and feeling sorrowful, I had to find the children.
I looked at him while roughly wiping the corners of my eyes with the back of my hand.
"I'm sorry. I'll look for them again."
"Eve"
"I will come visit no matter what."
"Eve, wait a moment...!"
I said that and ran off again. I heard Noelier shouting something, but I couldn't stop.
***
"Ruby, is this the right place?"
“Yes. That’s right.”
"I don't think so..."
Zion clung to Rachel's side with a frightened look on his face.
He had gone out to the forest before without his sister knowing, but it was his first time in the square. He thought he wouldn't be scared as long as he was with Rachel, but it was even scarier than he had imagined.
People of this size strode past them. Among them were some holding sharp knives and laughing, snickering.
He met the eyes of the person holding the scabbard. He recalled the 'stories of people outside' that his older sister used to tell him.
"Eek!"
A frightened sound burst from Zion's mouth.
"Ru, Ruby, let's go back now. Okay?"
Zion tugged at Rachel's dress again.
"Ha..."
Rachel let out a small sigh and stopped abruptly. Zion, who stopped along with her, gazed earnestly at Rachel's retreating figure.
Rachel turned around. Zion, who was about 5 centimeters shorter than her, was making a sad face.
"Why did we come out? We came out to look for sister."
"B-but I'm so scared. Ruby..."
Zion's eyes began to flush red.
Rachel let out a sigh, tightened Zion's cloak once again, and spoke firmly.
"You mustn't cry. I was told crying isn't manly."
"But my sister said she likes men who cry..."
"That’s her taste, not mine."
"Hmmph..."
At Rachel's words, Zion made a pained face, as if he were about to burst into tears. Rachel frowned even more.
"Just because you like men who cry, how can you bite me too?"
At Rachel's words, Zion shouted.
"My sister isn't weird!"
"I never said it was strange, you know? I just thought it was a bit peculiar!"
"What's wrong with my sister's taste?"
"Who likes men who cry? Besides, my brother never cries!"
"Don't underestimate my older sister!"
“When did I ignore her?”
For some reason, the conversation started to take a strange turn.
The little kids who had set out to find Eve suddenly started arguing about her ideal type.
"...What on earth are those little brats talking about?"
The problem was that this place was in the middle of the square.
People's attention was drawn to the little kids wearing cloaks pulled low as they fought while saying strange things.
Rachel, who had been arguing point by point against Zion's claims, felt that gaze and hurriedly shut her mouth.
'I was too careless.'
At this rate, she was going to get her identity revealed before she could find Eve.
Rachel lowered her gaze and glanced at Zion. Seeing him sniffling sadly made her feel bad.
"...Let's go first"
"No...!"
Rachel led Zion. However, Zion shook off her hand with a sulky face. Rachel's hand hovered in the air.
"I'm not going, Ruby."
"Zion."
“Go away!”
Even though nothing bad had been said about his older sister, Zion seemed deeply sulky. His footsteps as he ran off somewhere were full of anger.
It would be different if he could at least hide his identity well. Due to the blowing wind, Zion's hat kept trying to fall off.
'That clumsy one...!'
Rachel hurriedly chased after Zion. True to his nature as a wolf, his footsteps were swift.
“Hey, Zion!”
Rachel gasped for breath, her throat catching in her throat, and looked around.
Before they knew it, they had reached the alley at the far end of the square. There was no one in the alley.
It seemed like it would be okay now. Rachel hurriedly reached out her hand.
"Stop right there...!"
It was just when she had let out the fire that had been swirling at her fingertips.
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