Chapter 195: An Understanding Person? (1/3) (SHORT)
There was light within the secret space, but it was a lot weaker compared to my light magic, so the room was dim.
It might be because of that that Niki found my side bright as he held his knees by the wall.
He’s sitting down and isn’t moving, but he doesn’t look to be in pain.
“Thank goodness you’re safe. Are you hurt?” [Ryouma]
“…I’m fine.” [Niki]
“Really?” [Ryouma]
“Yeah… I twisted my leg when running, but it’s not so bad that I can’t walk…” [NIki]
“I see.” [Ryouma]
I’m guessing he’s talking about when the goblins chased after him.
“Can you show me your twisted leg? I can use healing magic.” [Ryouma]
The goblins have been dealt with already, so let’s get his leg fixed and go back.
That’s what I had in mind, but Niki suddenly stopped extending his right leg and pulled it back.
“…Don’t…” [Niki]
“Huh?” [Ryouma]
“I don’t want to go home.” [Niki]
“Ryou…kun! …hear me!?” [Shin]
Niki muttered in a faint voice as if he’d just remembered something.
At roughly the same time as he said that, I heard Shin-san’s voice come from outside. It was hard to make out, though.
How do I deal with this issue of not wanting to go home? Hmm… But before that, I better contact the members of the Wharf of Shikumu.
” ‘Whisper’ …Can you guys hear me? It’s Ryouma. It’s hard to hear each other from here, so I’m using a wind spell to send my voice there.” [Ryouma]
“I can hear… you!!” [Shin]
“That’s good then. I found Niki-kun. He’s in good health and unharmed. But…” [Ryouma]
When I explained the situation, the members of the Wharf of Shikumu from outside tried to say something.
Unfortunately, their voices conflicted with each other and made it hard to understand what they’re saying. Despite that Niki-kun was still able to understand that they were trying to get him to come out.
Unfortunately, their efforts only had the opposite effect.
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! No matter what anyone says, I’m never coming back! There’s no point since you won’t believe me anyway!” [Niki]
Niki yelled angrily in response to the voices calling out to him, but as he hung his head, his voice gradually became tearful.
…This is a narrow area with no place to run. If I wanted to, I could easily capture Niki-kun and throw him into my Dimension Home for the slimes to hold captive. Once we get back to the village, I could hand him over to his parents, and this incident will come to a close.
But if I do something like that, this same thing will probably just repeat itself.
Since he was able to build this secret base of his, Niki-kun could be said to be a child with some ability.
If he were to run away from home a second time, he might just do it with resolve.
“…Sorry, guys. I want to talk to him, so can you guys wait out there for a bit?” [Ryouma]