Chapter 580: Romio’s Strange Behavior

The night following our slaying of the Modoki that attacked the cargo ship.

When we returned to the camp, we had an evaluation meeting with Charon and the others. At the end of the day’s training, the escorts were now allowed to give them some advice.

Fran and Charles point out their mistakes of the day’s mission. Despite his low rank, Charles was still one of the adventurers who made his living around this lake.

When it comes to gathering and hunting, he could give more precise advice than Fran.

When the meeting was over, Fran was on her way to the tent she had been assigned to sleep in. Perhaps because she had Urushi with us, she was allowed to use a tent without sharing it with anyone else.

But on our way there.

We spotted a small shadow crouching in the grass. It could not be an animal as it seemed to be wearing proper clothes. So, it should be a small child.

It seemed to be Romio.

No, we knew he was there from his presence, but when we approached him, he looked strange. His cheeks and forehead were flushed red, and he was breathing heavily.

「Ugh!」

Fran rushed over to him and hurriedly picked up his little body. His fever seemed to be quite high. His cheeks, which were peculiarly puffy for an infant, were red from the fever, and his forehead was covered with a lot of sweat.

「…」

Romio opened his eyes slightly to see Fran, but he didn’t even seem to have the energy to speak anymore.

Fran didn’t ask him if he was okay as it was obvious that he was not.

(Master, what should we do? Use Heal?)

『No, don’t use Recovery Magic』

(Why?)

『I don’t know what will happen to his physical exhaustion…』

I had heard that if you use Recovery Magic on a child who didn’t have much strength, it could cause them to lose extra strength and worsen their condition instead.

The same went for potions. And I don’t even know if he was injured, sick, or just tired.

It wasn’t simply a matter of using magic.

My appraisal told me that Romio’s condition was fatigue. But I don’t know how reliable that was.

The fact that he was in a contract with Zelos Reed, an evil person, made things more complicated as some of the results of my appraisal were displayed as unknown.

Some skills were impossible to identify, and the statuses had holes in them, so I didn’t get to see everything.

『Let’s bring him to Weena Rhyn right away!』

「Nn!」

Fran gently picked up Romio with the so-called princess carry. It was refreshing to see Fran holding someone like this.

Romio tensed up slightly, but he didn’t have the strength to move much.

「Don’t give up」

「…!」

When Fran called out to him, Romio’s eyes widened in surprise.

Fran was like an enemy for him. To Romio, who was only about four years old, the world had only recently begun, and in that world, Zelos Reed was a dependable guardian for him. At least that was how Romeo perceived it.

I don’t know how he behaved in front of Romio, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t treat him badly. Otherwise, there was no way Romio would miss him.

That enemy had unreasonably attacked Zelos Reed before, the most important person for Romio. And that enemy was Fran.

Well, for that matter, Fran understood that it was no use getting angry at a child who didn’t know any better.

That was why we have very little in mind for Romio. It was not that we didn’t think about him at all, but it was not to the point of being hostile with him. At most, I have a sense of dislike for him.

Just like now, we were honestly worried about Romio, who was in poor physical condition.

And that was what surprised Romio.

Seeing Romio’s confused expression reminded me of Fran when she met Zefmate. The guy from the Blue Cat kin. Zefmate was the first Blue Cat kin that Fran had encountered in her life that was friendly to the Black Cat Kin.

At that time, Fran also had a confused look on her face. Romio’s face was just like Fran’s at that time.

Romeo was just a young child――well, because he was a child, he must have thought that the world was clearly divided into friend and foe.

So why would Fran, who was supposed to be his enemy, help him? I guess he wouldn’t understand that for now.

「Weena Rhyn! I found Romio lying on the ground!」

「…Can you put him down here?」

「Okay」

Zelos Reed was not here. It seemed he was doing some chores right now, and that must be the reason why Romio went to look for Zelos Reed.

She laid the limp Romio on the bed as Weena Rhyn had told her. Weena Rhyn, without seeming to be in a hurry, began to do some sort of medical examination.

「Hmm… He’s just simply tired. Well, just being around Zelos Reed could get you affected by the evil spirits, so it can’t be helped」

「Is that so?」

「He must have been through so much exhaustion, hadn’t he?」

Weena Rhyn said so and shrugged her shoulders.

Well, as a High Elf, childhood was a long time ago for her. She might not be able to understand Romio’s suffering.

「Romio will be fine?」

「Well, it’s not life-threatening」

「I see, that’s good then」

「I’m surprised. I thought you’d hate him」

「Not really」

Fran shook her head in response to Weena Rhyn’s question.

Well, it was not that she didn’t hate him.

It was just that she didn’t know how to treat him.