Enju Aihara stiffened slightly.
She lowered her head.
She saw a layer of dust from the Dungeon still clinging to her fair, tender little feet.
Her previously excited face flushed, and she drew her feet back a little in embarrassment.
She rubbed the top of one foot against her other ankle.
A hint of embarrassment filled her crimson eyes.
"..."
"Lord God."
Enju Aihara clutched the hem of her clothes.
"Lord God, when I kicked that monster called a Pigman in the Dungeon earlier, I used a little too much force..."
"So I accidentally broke the shoes Warabi lent me."
Enju Aihara's voice grew quieter and quieter.
Her head was almost lowered to her chest.
After all.
Back in her original world, never mind breaking something nice someone had given her.
Even looking a little too long at the food at a roadside stall would get her brutally beaten out of the neighborhood by the vendors wielding whatever they had.
Monsters who caused trouble would be abandoned.
For a little girl who had been shunned for years and grown used to watching people's expressions to survive, some anxiety was inevitable, along with the fear of upsetting an adult over the smallest thing.
Looking at Enju Aihara's pitiful appearance as she waited to be punished for doing something wrong.
Haimo set down his teacup.
Then.
The scolding she expected never came.
Haimo rose from the sofa.
He strode over to Enju Aihara on his long legs, reached out, and rubbed her head with an exceedingly gentle touch.
"They're only a pair of boots."
"If they're broken, they're broken. This was foreseeable anyway."
"I don't think Warabi will mind."
"Besides, how could ordinary leather possibly withstand the explosive force of your kicks? Don't worry about something so trivial."
With that.
Haimo turned