Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Despite Having Good Connections
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Despite having good connections...
There was a description I needed to handle first.
Unlike when the novel began, Senyora's situation had improved quite a bit by now.
Regardless of the fact that overall perceptions of Beastkin hadn't gotten any better, Senyora herself had succeeded in meeting some truly good people.
To set the stage for the description I wanted to give, I needed to remind everyone of that once again.
Senyora set off down the street. Having left her house, she walked along while looking around at her surroundings.
And as she did, she searched for faces that looked familiar to her.
The human grandmother who had briefly appeared before the novel even started in chapter 1.
She had approached Senyora first when the girl was staring hungrily at the food on a street vendor's stall and shown her some kindness.
After that day, Senyora had somehow ended up forming a strange bond with her.
In truth, while Senyora was deeply grateful, she also felt burdened and guilty about it, so she had been looking for a natural way to distance herself.
But the grandmother wouldn't let go of their connection so easily.
Whenever she spotted Senyora, she would always greet her warmly and try to give her something or other.
The reason was simple. She just felt sorry for this young girl struggling to survive simply because she had animal ears and a tail.
Senyora tried her best to refuse, but in the end, she was still just a young girl.
Pretending she had no choice, she accepted. She rationalized it to herself by thinking that refusing might make the grandmother dislike her.
Senyora kept walking. Today, as always, she exchanged a few words with the grandmother, who showered her with warm attention, then bowed her head politely.
She walked on down the street again. She hadn't chosen a particular direction.
Senyora was simply letting her feet take her wherever they wanted.
And those aimless footsteps began, without her realizing it, to follow the path her body remembered on its own.
She started walking the route she had taken so many times before, without even meaning to.
As she walked, she came upon a noisy disturbance somewhere.
It felt a bit daunting to get any closer. This wasn't like last time, when a big incident had drawn everyone's attention to one spot.
Right now, she had the feeling that if she approached and poked around, she'd just draw unwanted attention to herself. Not something she wanted.
So she stayed back at a distance, just watching to see what was going on.
Ah, looks like there was some punching going on over there.
She had no idea why. The situation was already over by then.
Whether they'd been called in after a report or had stumbled upon it while patrolling, the police had arrived, stopped the fight, and were sorting things out.
...Huh? Wait, that face looks familiar.
Not one of the fighters, but the one who had broken it up.
It was John. The policeman she'd met because of Karen.
And she'd seen him again when Rika's incident blew up.
Senyora wouldn't say she and John were particularly close.
They were really just acquaintances. They didn't have much overlap to begin with.
Having too many connections with the police wasn't exactly a good thing, after all.
Still, they weren't on bad terms.
It wasn't like she'd made any special effort to improve their relationship or anything...
It was simply that he was a good person.
He showed her the same respect he would any human, even though she was a Beastkin.
Senyora had just happened to accept that kindness.
...Huh, did our eyes just meet? Right?
Would he even remember me? Has he recognized me?
If he has, would he acknowledge me?
Yeah... probably not. There's no reason for him to go out of his way.
She'd only ever received kindness from him, never given any back, so he probably had no reason to bother greeting her.
"...?"
Huh, did he just nod at me while looking my way? What was that about?
It didn't take Senyora long to realize that the gesture had been a greeting directed at her.
The sad part was, the short time that took for her felt long for him.
He didn't wait for her response and went back to what he was doing. Of course. He looked busy, after all.
Still... it left her feeling a little disappointed. If she'd caught on right away, maybe they could have exchanged greetings.
But she couldn't hope for him to look her way and nod again.
He was busy right now. And if she kept standing there, it would probably make him uncomfortable too.
With a touch of regret, Senyora turned to leave.
She started walking forward again.
"Hey, nice to see you?"
"Hello..."
"I was just about to head to work, and we ran right into each other."
Her wandering feet naturally led her to Karen's house.
It was quite a distance from her own place, but somehow she'd made it here without issue.
Did that mean she had a lot of good memories here?
Yeah... she couldn't deny it. That was true.
That day had truly been the first time Senyora had opened her heart to a human.
Still, she hadn't expected Karen to still be home.
It had been a while, so she'd assumed she was already at work.
Even if she was home, Senyora hadn't planned to knock. Showing up unannounced would be rude.
She'd just planned to linger in front of the house for a bit before leaving.
"Today was supposed to be my day off since I took vacation time."
"Huh...?"
"But we're short-staffed right now, and some urgent work came up, so I got called in."
"Uh... um, fighting...?"
"Yeah... gotta power through. What can you do? If I don't go just because it's tough, it'll turn into a real mess."
It was quite the sad occurrence for a working adult.
If she'd already gone to work or was resting inside, they wouldn't have run into each other.
She only crossed paths because she was heading in later than usual after being called in on her day off. What kind of ridiculous coincidence was this...?
"So, what's up? Did you come to see me?"
"I just... wandered around and ended up here..."
"I see. Well, since we ran into each other anyway, want to have dinner together?"
"Dinner?"
"Yeah. You're invited to my place. I'll be home after work... it'll be late, but I should make it back tonight."
"..."
Was it right to take the fact that she'd make it home tonight as good news? Senyora wondered.
"Even a late dinner... wouldn't be so bad, right? I promise I won't disappoint you."
"Uh... wouldn't it be better if you just went home and rested properly...? I feel like I'm putting too much on you..."
"Don't worry about that. For me, hanging out with close friends is how I rest."
"Ah..."
Isn't resting alone the best? Senyora didn't voice that thought.
"Anyway, that's a yes, right? Got it."
"Uh... huh? Yeah..., sorry to impose..."
"Don't feel burdened. ...Oh, and since this is happening, should we invite Rika too?"
"That sounds fine."
"Okay, could you ask Rika for me? I don't have time."
"Sure."
"Great. See you later!"
Karen waved once and headed off to work.
Senyora watched her go for a moment, then set off again.
This time, unlike before, she had a clear destination.
"...Okay, got it."
She went to find Rika. The girl seemed to be living a much happier life than before.
It was obvious from how her head, once always bowed low, now sometimes lifted to gaze at the blue sky.
She gladly accepted Senyora's—and Karen's—invitation.
Her tail was wagging side to side. She seemed thrilled at the idea of spending time with others.
There was still plenty of time until evening.
Neither Senyora nor Rika had anything particular to do, so they decided to stick together for now.
Rika said she was fine going anywhere, so she'd follow Senyora.
She just asked her to decide on a direction.
Senyora thought it over, then, just like before, let her feet lead the way.
To the familiar places, routes, and spots her body remembered.
Phew... up to here, it flowed pretty smoothly without any hitches.
What I've written so far covers all the good connections Senyora has built in this novel.
The grandmother who appeared briefly in volume 1, John who had a decent role in volume 2.
People love it when scenes that passed by like this gain meaning later on.
So I made sure not to forget them and gave each their own moment. One by one, in separate scenes.
Then Karen, who supported her during her darkest times.
And finally, Rika, whom Senyora had saved.
As volume 4 begins, I first had her reunite with everyone she'd connected with so far.
At the same time, I described what those connections meant to her and how they'd influenced her.
She's brighter now than before, she's learned to trust humans, and she's no longer alone.
After showing all that, now I can write the part I've been building toward.
"...Sis, I've got a question."
"?"
"Do we... have to stick to these dark places all the time...? People don't even pay much attention to us..."
"...!"
Rika asked out of pure curiosity, with no ulterior motive.
Why they always took these dark, out-of-the-way alleys with no one around.
And that casual question hit Senyora like a heavy weight.
Right now, she had been unconsciously navigating the empty 'back alleys' in her usual ingrained way.
But there was an even bigger problem than that.
"Lately, I've been using the main roads. Humans don't react much to seeing Rika, surprisingly."
"..."
"So, couldn't we...? I mean, it's no big deal... just a bit inconvenient moving around, that's all."
Rika told her that using the main streets was no problem.
And, in case it might hurt Senyora's feelings, she quickly explained why she'd suggested it.
...The issue was that Senyora's feet seemed frozen in place, not moving an inch.
This was the part I wanted to depict.
Even though Senyora had made such truly good connections,
Even though she'd met people so wonderful that she wondered if she could ever find better ones in the future,
She still couldn't escape the back alleys.
And so, I needed to create the reason why she hadn't broken free yet.
Shifting to flashback.