“꒪꒫꒪)…” Perhaps because a certain blue-haired little loli’s gaze was simply too intense, Talulah and Alina didn’t chat for very long.
After giving a light cough, the former shifted her attention to Griseo.
“Ahem, Alina, who is this child?” “A few things happened earlier, and Little Griseo was the one who saved me.
She’s also the little knight who escorted me home.” As she spoke, Alina smiled and rubbed Griseo’s head.
“I see.” “Let me introduce myself.
My name is Talulah, Alina’s friend.
Thank you very much for saving her, Little Griseo.” After hearing Alina’s explanation, Talulah revealed a gentle smile toward Griseo and expressed her gratitude.
What happened today had truly scared her half to death.
Fortunately…
fortunately, the thing she feared most had not come to pass.
Alina was still alive and well.
While feeling relieved, Talulah also began considering what sort of reward she could give Griseo in return…
However, whether judging from the girl’s clothing or from the Azure Knight she had just witnessed, Miss Dragon Girl didn’t believe Griseo was an ordinary child.
So she would have to think carefully about how to repay her.
Mm…
she’d discuss it with Alina after they returned.
“Mm, it’s what I should do…
Mama Alina’s color is very beautiful.
I didn’t want her to get hurt, and I didn’t want her to become a star in the sky…” Hearing Talulah’s words of thanks, Griseo put on a serious little expression and replied word by word.
Truthfully, even if the little loli didn’t know the story and had never met Alina before, she still would have chosen to save her.
For no other reason than the fact that, even when facing danger herself and barely able to protect herself, Alina had still forced herself to warn Griseo to run away…
Strictly speaking, Griseo hadn’t needed that warning, but she had nonetheless received and appreciated the kindness behind it.
“…?” However, after hearing Griseo’s serious childish explanation, Talulah’s attention was successfully drawn to her form of address, and a question mark practically appeared over her head.
“M-Mama?” “Little Griseo, why are you calling Alina that?” Clearly, Miss Dragon Girl could not understand why her best friend had gone out once, been attacked, and somehow returned with a daughter?!
Though…
this blue-haired little loli was indeed pretty cute.
“꒪꒫꒪) Mm…
because Mama Alina is Mama Alina…” Griseo blinked her beautiful violet eyes and replied.
“Th-” Before Talulah could continue, Alina helplessly interrupted her.
“Alright, it’s just a form of address.
There’s no need to get hung up on it, Talulah.” “Let’s talk about it after we get back.” The little deer had no desire to continue standing in the snow while watching her friend debate forms of address with a child…
“Okay.” Naturally, Talulah had no objections to Alina’s words and nodded in agreement.
After all, a snowy forest path wasn’t exactly the ideal place for conversation.
Moreover, Alina was still injured.
Rather than standing here, it would be better to return to shelter or sit by a campfire and warm themselves.
However, just as the two agreed to head back to camp first, an “accident” occurred.
The blue-haired little loli, whose face had previously been expressionless, suddenly wore the exact same expression Talulah had shown earlier and looked at Alina.
“Alina, let’s go home!” Talulah, unaware of the truth, was completely baffled by Griseo’s sudden change.
Alina, who knew more and had some experience with this already, reacted immediately.
She took Griseo’s little hand and widened the distance between herself and her friend.
“…?” “The situation is a little complicated.
This child has picked up your color, Talulah, so it’d be best if we kept some distance for now.” Meeting her friend’s puzzled gaze, Alina smiled helplessly as she explained and indicated that she’d elaborate later.
“…” Since Alina had already put it that way, Talulah didn’t say anything further despite her lingering confusion.
Instead, all her confusion transformed into a small sense of frustration.
Nearly losing her best friend and then finding her again had left Miss Dragon Girl with countless thoughts and emotions she wanted to pour out to Alina…
Unfortunately, it seemed she had run into a roadblock (scratch that) a little kitten.
Thinking this, Talulah helplessly glanced at the blue-haired little loli walking ahead while holding Alina’s hand and silently followed behind.
—————————— 『Commission Mission Completed.
Rewards Distributed.』 By the time the three of them arrived at the camp together, Griseo received a notification that the commission mission had been completed and the rewards had been issued.
At the same time, the color she had picked up from Talulah had already faded away, returning her to her original state.
As of now, one of the little loli’s two missions had been completed.
Her daily mission was also already at 2/3 completion, leaving only one final color to collect.
However, Griseo wasn’t in any hurry.
In her opinion, there were plenty of people within the Reunion Movement whose colors were worth experiencing.
Of course, she wasn’t simply taking Alina’s and the others’ colors for free.
In exchange, she planned to paint those colors onto a canvas later and gift the resulting artwork to their respective owners.
Seeing Talulah return, one member of the Yeti Squadron waved at her.
“Talulah!
You’re finally back…
Hm?
Where did you kidnap such a cute child from?” “Mm, I’m back.
It’s a complicated situation…” Talulah nodded lightly before shaking her head, clearly not wanting to elaborate.
Though it wasn’t that Miss Dragon Girl truly didn’t want to explain.
The truth was that she didn’t understand the situation herself…
She was still waiting for Alina to answer her questions.
While Talulah exchanged greetings with the Yeti for a short while, an Infected from another part of the camp approached them—or more precisely, approached Alina.
“Alina, you’re finally back!
The children have been worried about you and have been insisting on seeing you.” “…” After hearing those words, Alina froze briefly before glancing at Talulah and Griseo with some hesitation.
If possible, she really didn’t want to leave behind either her friend or the little guest who had saved her.
“You’re still injured and need proper rest.” Catching Alina’s look, Talulah frowned slightly.
“As for the children, I can ask someone else—” Before Talulah could finish making arrangements, Alina shook her head and interrupted her.
“Forget it.
There’s no need to make things so complicated.
I’ll go over myself.” “I’ll calm the children down and come back soon.
Talulah, please help look after Little Griseo for a while.” After reassuring Griseo and the others a few more times, the gentle little deer finally left with the other person.
“…” Watching Alina disappear from sight with worried eyes, Talulah couldn’t help letting out a soft sigh.
She then led Griseo over to a warm campfire and sat down.
Whether it was because Griseo was too adorable, or because her outfit was far too light for the weather, as soon as she sat down, the Snowpriests gathered around the campfire all turned their attention toward her.
A few particularly enthusiastic ones even came right over.
★ ★ ★ T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me!
★ ★ ★ Shilling time!