As soon as Kiriko stepped out of the pharmacy with the little girl, she heard a faint, embarrassed grumbling.
She reflexively turned her head to look and noticed the girl's already pale face had become even paler.
Seeing Kiriko glance her way, the girl shook her head frantically.
"It wasn't me… It wasn't…"
Kiriko extended her hand, wanting to pat the girl's head.
The little girl instinctively flinched back.
Kiriko's hand froze mid-air, but she didn't feel offended; instead, she offered a gentle smile.
"Come on, let's grab something to eat."
Kiriko could feel the little girl staring at her in astonishment.
So, was the pharmacist right? Did her previous owner treat her so poorly that she ended up like this?
In the modern world, slavery had long been abolished, but she'd still read plenty of stories online about pets being abused by cruel owners.
Thus, Kiriko could somewhat understand.
Since she'd already bought this girl, taking care of her properly was her responsibility now.
With that in mind, Kiriko led her into a nearby tavern.
Taverns in this world were like those in typical fantasy settings—taverns, inns, and restaurants all in one.
However, this particular tavern had a small wooden sign posted at the entrance, clearly stating in the local script: "No demi-humans allowed."
Kiriko glanced briefly at it, then walked right in with the girl anyway.
I am from Earth. Your strange letters mean nothing to me.
Noticing a demi-human entering, many customers inside immediately gave them disgusted looks.
Perhaps the girl understood what the sign at the entrance meant, because the moment they stepped inside, she appeared even more frightened than before, edging slightly closer to Kiriko.
Kiriko's expression remained perfectly calm, though inwardly she felt rather pleased.
It was already past lunchtime, so there weren't many patrons eating at this hour. Since it was daytime, there weren't many people drinking either.
After finding an empty table and sitting down, a waiter quickly came over.
Kiriko casually ordered several dishes.
In her previous life, due to financial reasons, she rarely ate out. Even when ordering delivery, she usually stuck to familiar items, meaning she had no special ability to judge good food from a menu alone.
Fortunately, now she possessed a "Money Will Find Me Even If I Don't Want It" skill. Even if she picked something terrible, her wallet wouldn't suffer.
She ordered a plate of fried rice, a hamburger, two meat steaks, two servings of grilled chicken wings, and two drinks.
She had originally thought about ordering Kung Pao chicken too—but she didn't like chicken.
In fact, she didn't like "eating chicken" in any sense of the phrase.
Let's just order this for now. If we need more, we can order more later. Ordering too much and wasting it would be terrible.
Though it was strange that a place in this world had a menu suspiciously similar to Wallace's Chicken.
Could the chef here also be versed in Eastern cuisine?
While Kiriko was ordering, the little girl kept staring at the diners at the neighboring table, who were eating meat heartily and drinking booze with gusto, juices dripping everywhere. She stared, mesmerized, practically drooling in envy.
Because it was off-hours, the food Kiriko ordered quickly arrived.
But, strangely, the previously hungry girl suddenly panicked upon seeing the dishes brought to their table and jumped off her seat, apologizing frantically.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
She bowed repeatedly.
"I didn't know Master had invited other guests. I'm sorry, please don't hit me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
Kiriko stared at her, utterly confused.
"Huh? Guests? All this food is ours."
"Ours…?"
The girl looked completely bewildered, repeating in a tiny voice:
"Ours…?"
Kiriko sighed, seeing her still frozen in a bowing position. She gently pulled the rigid girl back onto her chair.
The girl continued to tremble throughout the whole process.
"Are you feeling cold?"
Kiriko paused briefly, recalling the pharmacist's words.
Indeed, a sick person would feel colder than normal.
"Here, put this on."
Kiriko slipped off her black trench coat and draped it around the girl's tiny frame.
Thankfully, she'd bought some proper inner garments earlier (the full-body underwear type), otherwise she'd be half-naked right now.
Kiriko was significantly taller than the girl, and the coat was longer than ordinary clothing, so when wrapped around the little girl, it practically became a blanket.
"You should be warmer now."
Kiriko patted the girl's head softly. This time, the girl didn't pull away.
But when Kiriko's eyes drifted toward the fluffy raccoon tail behind her, the girl immediately noticed, stiffened, and tucked her tail out of sight.
Kiriko smiled.
There's no rush; plenty of time in the future for that.
"Alright, eat up before the food gets cold."
But the little girl merely stared dumbly at the steaming hot dishes on the table.
"Why aren't you eating? Aren't you hungry?"
She shook her head.
Kiriko couldn't tell whether that meant she wasn't hungry or that she was denying the question itself.
But the girl's stomach betrayed her inner thoughts clearly enough.
Growwwllll…
The sound was louder than a procrastinating author's excuses.
"Uuu…"
The girl clutched her stomach, her expression caught between hunger and fear.
"C-can I really eat…?"
Kiriko nodded immediately without hesitation.
"Of course."
"But… why would you give me such good food? Leftovers… no, even expired food would be enough. I'm just a slave…"
"What nonsense are you saying? How can a child eat such things?"
"But… I'm a demi-human…"
"I know you're a demi-human—a raccoon demi-human, specifically. But so what? Stop worrying about that and start eating."
After Kiriko's explanation, the girl's expression became even more bewildered.
After a long, awkward stalemate, the girl finally seemed to understand Kiriko's intentions.
She hesitantly extended her trembling hand toward the hamburger placed before her.
Just as her fingers were about to touch it, Kiriko suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand.
"Oh, right! I almost forgot."
The little girl jolted violently as though shocked by electricity, desperately trying to pull away.
"N-no, please, Master! Don't hit me! I wasn't really going to eat it! Don't beat me! Mommy… Daddy…!"
But the girl was sick and weak; breaking free was impossible, especially against Kiriko's strength.
"What on earth are you shouting about?"
Kiriko had only just realized she'd nearly made a huge mistake.
I'm so stupid…
She only remembered that foreigners typically used knives and forks for Western meals, but forgot that hamburgers were eaten with their hands.
The girl was sick already; eating with dirty hands was definitely a no-go.
Kiriko firmly held the girl's struggling hand, dragging her toward the washbasin, thoroughly washing her hands several times before finally returning to the dining table.
---
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl