The little girl hid behind Dorn's statue. She seemed utterly unable to imagine outsiders appearing here, and for a moment, she was terrified beyond measure. Even her voice shook. "Outsiders! Outsiders are here!"
The girl was about thirteen or fourteen, with simple, practical gray hair falling to her shoulders. Her sky-blue eyes were filled with fear, and a pair of gray-furred animal ears poking through her hair twitched back and forth, looking very cute.
Her features were delicate, without the slightest sign of malnutrition. Her small, finely shaped face still carried a little baby fat. Dressed in animal skins and coarse linen, with a gray scarf around her neck, she was as adorable as a porcelain doll.
The moment Eleanor saw such an adorable Beastfolk girl, her professional instincts kicked in. Miss Cleric put on her usual bright, practiced smile and took a few small steps forward, expertly producing a piece of candy from inside her clothes. "Hello, little one. What are you doing here?"
"..." The animal-eared girl hurried backward, retreating farther behind the statue.
"Heehee, looks like our Eleanor is quite good at coaxing children!" Charlotte said with a giggle.
"She is a cleric, after all. The Lady of Silver has a long tradition of taking in large numbers of babies from all sorts of races." Recalling their shared past, Aaron couldn't help smiling.
"It seems Lady Eleanor's tricks aren't working this time." Annomyn brushed the dust off himself.
Sure enough, no matter how Eleanor tried to show her kindness, the animal-eared girl kept shaking her head. Several times, she nervously tried to run, but found no opening. She looked so distressed she was on the verge of tears.
Eleanor tried most of her usual tricks for handling children. Finally, out of options, she could only signal that