"Sorry..."
The old man's lips moved, as though he wanted to say something.
But in the end, he held it back.
"If you don't come this weekend, I'll help you report it. Don't worry."
The conversation returned to the original topic.
The old man agreed to Ash's request.
"Thank you."
Ash flashed him a grateful smile before bidding him farewell and leaving the library.
By then, the sky had already started to darken.
The orange light streamed down the stairs.
Ash took out her plan list from her school uniform pocket and, with a solemn expression, marked off the last item: "In case of danger, find someone to collect my body in advance."
On the way back, Ash stopped by the farmers' market as usual and picked up some discounted vegetables and meat being sold off in the evening.
Among her purchases, she placed two cabbages in a separate bag.
These were for feeding the Larvavine she had encountered last week at the small park near her home.
For some reason—perhaps because the Larvavine had made its nest in that little park—Ash had seen it on her way home every day for the past week.
Sometimes, like today, when she happened to be carrying groceries, Ash would stop, tear off some cabbage leaves from her bag, and feed them to the Larvanine.
It was much like the way she used to feed stray cats in her old neighborhood back on Earth.
After a few such encounters, the girl and Larvavine had grown quite familiar with each other.
Ash had even managed to touch Larvavine and confirmed that its texture was just as she had imagined—soft, bouncy, and jelly-like.
...
"There you are."
Arriving at the small park, Ash easily found the patch of grass where Larvavine was hiding.
She crouched down, setting the bag of vegetables beside her.
Almost immediately, a green figure emerged from the rustling grass.
Its two Z-shaped antennae stood upright as it gazed at Ash—or more accurately, at the bag of cabbages she had placed beside her.
These were its favorite cruciferous vegetables.
Larvavine twitched the antennae on its head, clearly drooling with anticipation, but it didn't use its antennae to snatch the cabbages from Ash's bag.
Instead, it gazed at her with its round, shiny eyes, waiting patiently to be fed.
This was the unspoken understanding it had developed with Ash over the past week.
Sure enough.
Noticing Larvavine's expectant gaze, Ash chuckled softly.
She reached into her bag and took out the two cabbages with their leaves slightly wilted, and placed them in front of Larvavine. "Go ahead, eat up."
"Larvavine?"
Larvavine let out a soft, questioning sound.
It didn't immediately extend its antennae to touch the cabbages Ash had laid before it.
Instead, it looked up at her with a puzzled expression.
Are all of these for me?
Larvavine seemed a little overwhelmed by Ash's sudden generosity.
Over the past week, whenever Ash passed by the patch of grass where it lived, she would share some of her food with it.