“Rosalie, This is no time to be asking such things.”
She had been staring at me as I sat on Leo’s back, and so I asked her what was the matter. Apparently, she wanted to ride Leo as well.
While she had ridden Leo back at the mansion, I suppose she wanted to know what it was like to ride on Leo when she was running outside with great speed.
“Hahaha. It’s fine, Mr. Hannes. Don’t you agree, Leo?”
“Wuff-wuff.”
“Are you certain?”
“Leo likes to carry other people. So you really don’t have to worry about it. Isn’t that right?”
“Wuff!”
“If you say so. Thank you.”
As Mr. Hannes admonished Rosalie, I assured him that it was perfectly fine if she wanted to ride on Leo.
Leo wagged her tail happily and lay low so that it would be easier to climb onto her.
She was just as excited as Rosalie.
Mr. Hannes bowed his head gratefully.
“There, Rosalie. You can ride on Leo now.”
“Wow! Thank you!”
“Wuff! Wuff!”
I stretched out my hand to Rosalie and pulled her up onto Leo’s back.
She was so excited and had the biggest smile on her face.
It really was nice to see children laugh.
“Now, let’s go to the village. It is not too far now. We should be able to arrive before the sun sets completely. Good Leo, I will lead you there, so can you follow after me?”
“Wuff.”
Said Phillip, once he saw that Rosalie was sitting securely behind me.
Leo nodded, and then the horses dashed off towards the village.
I was glad that we would arrive at the village before it was completely dark.
If it became dark, we would not be able to see, and might end up getting lost… Unless, Leo could see well in the dark…?
Cats were able to see during the night, but dogs…well, she was more of a wolf…? I wasn’t quite sure, and would have to ask someone about that later.
“So this is Range village…”
“Yes. This is where I was born! It’s a place filled with friendly people!”
After traveling for another two hours to the east, just as the sun was starting to set, and the sky darkened, we arrived at the village.
Rosalie was clearly very fond of her birthplace, and was happy to be back.
“It is very quiet.”
“Indeed… As it’s not yet night, normally, there should be some people out and about…”
Mr. Hannes and Phillip dismounted and tied their horses before entering the village to see what was happening.
I helped Rosalie get down, and then unstrapped the baggage from Leo’s back as I looked at the village.
There were rows of wooden houses. But I could hear no voices, and all was quiet. It almost felt like the place had been abandoned.
Well, I could see what looked like candle light through cracks in some of the windows, so there were clearly still people living there.
“…Ever since the illness started to spread, a once lively village has become quieter and quieter. It was like this right before I left, even during the day…”
“Everyone is ill. Even the children I used to play with…”