After I finished chatting with Sabrina, I went to the Baron's office to excuse myself and leave. When I went back home, I immediately flopped onto bed and slept. I don't really get tired with the absurd amount of stamina I have, but I just felt like taking a rest and let my mind recover.
The next day, I went around town once again to relax.
I don't actually have much to do, and there is no decent quest I can tackle in the guild yet. Thinking about it, my life is surprisingly bland without the guild.
It's not that I don't have anything else I want to do, it's just that my goal of travelling the world prevents me from doing anything else other than completing quests in the guild.
I can find some other jobs, but when I leave the town, I need to quit those too. I mostly spend 2 to 3 months in a single town or city before I leave again for another. I would sometimes leave much earlier, and there are also times when I spend a year or even more in a single city when I like it that much.
I stayed for two decades in the first city I visited in this world. That's the longest I spent in one place. The day I left that place was when I decided to explore the world more. That is why, every other locations I went to after, I stayed for a significantly way less time.
My goal is to explore this world. However, this world is significantly bigger than the one in my previous life. It also holds even more mysteries. If I were weak, I would give up on the thought of exploring it immediately, but because I have the power to, I decided on following through.
A hundred years have passed since then, and yet I've only achieved a third of my goal. This world has six continents, and I only just visited my third.
"Haa..." I rested my chin on my arms, and a sigh escaped my lips.
Right now, I'm at a bridge over a shallow river. The bridge is on an elevation, so I can see a huge chunk of the town below.
"This town is pretty, so maybe I'll stay here for a while..."
Furthermore, I made some friends here already. It would be a shame if I decided to leave them so quickly.
"I guess I'll go eat at that restaurant for now..."
Getting to try all the delicacies I can find in the places I visited to naturally comes along with my goal of exploring the world. At the moment, there is only one remaining restaurant in this town that I haven't eaten from yet. I need to taste their menus as well.
With that in mind, I walked off the tall bridge.
"Ack!"
While turning from the corner of an alley, I suddenly bump into someone.
"E-excuse me!"
Since we only hit each other lightly, I didn't find the need to apologize. Still, I was a bit flustered, so I took a moment to register the other person.
"Eh!?"
I panicked when I realized that the person I bumped into was a child. No matter how light I am, a simple child is still much lighter. It's predictable that he would stumble on the ground from the impact.
"Are you okay!?"
I immediately ran up to him to try help him get up.
"I... I'm okay..." he said while scratching his nose.
The kid is a beastkin with wolf ears. He's wearing a single shabby grey shirt that extends below his knees. He has whiskers on his cheeks, and the skin on his forearms has blue furs.
Hm? Why does this kid look familiar?
"Keh? It's you...!"
When he looked up, he pointed a finger at me and he shouted. His eyes were wide and his ears were pointing up in attention.
"You're that kid..."
For sure, he's the same kid I healed before. He was lying on the street, obviously beaten up. When he woke up, I also gave him some food because I expected him to be hungry.
"You're that lady goddess!" he yelled.
My brows twitched upon hearing his words. The corner of my lips rose and I smiled awkwardly.
"Goddess...? Fufu... Just because I healed you once before doesn't mean I am one," I said while helping him get up.
His nose is still red. Presumably, that's where he got hit when we bumped into each other. Then, when he looked at me again, his cheeks became red as well.
"K-keh... I'm sorry..." he looked away at me and murmur.
"No, it's my fault as well."
He was so little that I didn't perceive him right away. Also, I was so hungry and my thoughts were filled with the food I'm planning to eat. I was too preoccupied.
"Huh...? You... did you get into a fight again?"
Now that I look at him, I can see that his appearance is not normal. His clothes were tattered and dirtied by mud, his hair was disheveled, and his face has marks of bruises that have not completely healed up. He almost looks the same as when I first saw him.
His eyes widened when I questioned him, and he turned his head away from me even further.
"Keke... That's right, I got into a fight... I got beat up, but I also beat my opponents up!"
"Mm? Really?"
He's obviously lying. I shouldn't have phrased my question like that. It might not have been a fight at all, it must have been just a one-sided beat up.
It's not unusual to find kids who have been beaten in street fights anywhere in this world. However, almost all of those you can find are in a gang of sorts. This kid doesn't seem to be in one of those, so his circumstances were clearly different.
I thought of it the first time we met, but he must have been a pick-pocket. Does he go around town stealing around wallets and getting beat up for it? I can't assume anything, but that's the only possible scenario I can think of.
"Wait up, I'll heal you a bit."
Since he still has some cuts and bruises, I decided to heal him. He seems to be confused about it at first, but he did not resist when he realized I was helping him.
"Uh... Thank you..."
He attempted to look at me after expressing his gratitude, but stopped midway and he looked down on his feet instead.
Why is he avoiding eye-contact?
"I... I'll go now..."
He tried to excuse himself, but before he can walk away... "Growl ~..." his stomach growled loudly.
"Are you hungry...?"
"Eh? Uh... Y-yes..."
Once again, he looked confused by my question. Was he not expecting me to ask that? Did he expect me to let him go after he excused himself instead?
"Good timing," I smiled, bent down to meet his eyes for the first time, and asked, "Want to go eat with me?"