Arifureta: From Whelp to Dragonlord

Part 21: Must Protect

After they left the Meerstat aquarium and ate their lunches, Keiji and Shia strolled around the maze of flower beds and street performers' avenue. In Shia's arm, there were many wrappers of food items bought from various stalls, and she was currently occupied with the vanilla-like ice cream.

"You ate a lot... Were they that good?"

"Nom... Yes! They are really delicious. As expected of Fhuren, even the level of their food stalls is high."

"...And I thought I ate a lot."

"...Keiji-san, are you insinuating I'm fat!"

"Whaaaat nooo..."

Because of Keiji's words, the hand she was using to eat stopped for a moment as she made excuses under her breath, "I will exercise later... I will also eat less tomorrow...," and Shia continued to enjoy the sweets from the stalls. While Keiji walked beside Shia with a wry smile, his expression changed suddenly to a dubious one. He turned around and looked down.

Shia noticed him and asked while inclining her head, "Nn? Is something wrong, Keiji-san?"

"I'm picking up something amiss,"

"Are you always on guard,"

"Yes,"

Shia looked at the surrounding, she tilted her head and said, "But There are a lot of people around, you know how could you pick a bad feeling from one person in the crowd?"

"No, that's not what I mean... What I sensed was from below?"

"Below?... you mean the drainage? Umm, wouldn't it be the maintenance staff?"

"If so, then I wouldn't be worried about it. It's a small and weak presence... Maybe it's a child? Moreover, a weakened one."

"Eh!? Th-That's bad! I-It is possible the child fell into a hole and drowned! Keiji-san! Let's chase after it! Show me the way!"

The moment Shia heard Keiji's explanation, she immediately ran, the truth was that Shia moved faster than him running, which made him smile wryly. Shia's brightness and straightforwardness seem to have been a good influence on Keiji.

Shia and Keiji chased after the moving presence underground at a moderate speed. From the town's structure, they expected the drainage to flow along the street. When they immediately passed by the presence, he pressed his hand on the ground to break it open his blue flames kindled, and a hole connected to the underground immediately opened.

Keiji and Shia unhesitatingly jumped into the hole. He then used his wings to descend Shia grappled onto him right before they fell into the drainage that released the bad smell, and they landed on the passage on one side of the waterway.

"Keiji-san, I can also feel the presence. I will jump and pull it!"

"No, it is okay."

Hajime stopped Shia, who tried to jump without minding that her clothing would be dirtied, by holding her neck root. He then opened his palm and a medium-sized dragon skull was formed before plunging into the waterway retrieving a child moments later. the skull dropped the child into Keiji's arms before dispersing into ash.

"This child..."

"Well, this child is still breathing... Let's get out of here for now, the smell is very bad here."

Seeing the child they saved, Shia widened her eyes in surprise. Keiji also had knowledge of the child's appearance, so he was surprised in his mind. However, their current location wasn't good physically and mentally, so they moved to another location.