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—We’re orphans. When our guardian died, the villagers tried to sell us off, so we ran. Despite the blunt explanation, the rabbit-eared girl immediately understood our situation. It didn’t seem to be an unusual story to her.

“C-come this way? There’s a spot where we can sneak into the city, um…”
“I’m Sufi, and this is my little sister, Alice.”
“Nice to meet you…”
“Sufi and Alice… I’m Filia.”

We hadn’t lied, but the way she believed us so easily and offered help right away definitely confirmed she was a good person.

As I explained more of our situation, Sufi carried me on her back while we followed Filia through the forest. Instead of reaching a city wall, we arrived at a natural cave-like hole.

… I’d assumed we’d find a collapsed part of the wall or something.

“This way… inside here. It’s dark, so be careful.”
“I’m okay!”

We’re Wolfen, descendants of the Moon’s divine beast. Like wolves, we can see well in the dark and aren’t bothered by tight spaces.

“Alice, you doing okay?”
“Yeah.”

Riding on Sufi’s back gave me plenty of rest—I could manage. We followed Filia through the narrow tunnel, her round rabbit tail bobbing ahead of us. Even though it was dark, a faint amount of light filtered in, enough for us to see.

As we kept moving forward, bits of manmade material started showing up in the dirt and rubble. It looked like this wasn’t a natural cave, but rather a collapsed passage or underground structure.

“W-watch your step here, there’s a ledge, okay?”
“Got it!”

From Sufi’s back, I saw Filia’s figure vanish suddenly as she dropped ahead, followed by the sharp echo of her landing on something hard.

… Judging by the sound, it was a narrow passage with a low ceiling. Not very wide—more like a long, thin corridor.

“Sufi, do you smell water?”
“Hmm… nope. Just dusty.”

I trust my ears, but not my nose. Sufi’s sense of smell is way better than mine, so if she says it smells dry and dusty, I believe her.

“Ah, wait a sec.”

Sufi squirmed forward, then slipped through and vanished, upper body first. A dull thump followed as she dropped.

Then her face popped back up on the other side… and disappeared again. Then popped up once more.

“Alice! It’s a… big drop, be… careful!”
“Okay.”

She could’ve just shouted from below, I could hear her fine, but I appreciated her effort and didn’t say anything.

I carefully peeked down over the edge. It looked to be about two meters, with Sufi and Filia looking up at me.

“……”

……Wait, isn’t that really high?

“Alice! I’ll catch you! Don’t worry!”
“It’s okay, you’ll be fine!”

Sure, my old life’s instincts are telling me to be afraid, but still—these two jumping down without hesitation is seriously impressive…

Sufi spread her arms out, ready to catch me.

Hold on—at least let me go down feet-first.

I turned myself around in the cramped tunnel and carefully lowered myself, sliding down slowly from the ledge.

“That’s right, take it slow.”
“You’ll be okay.”
“Ah—”

The part I was holding onto crumbled suddenly, and a wave of weightlessness rushed through me. But before I could even scream, either Sufi or Filia… or maybe both, caught me securely.

A cold sweat broke out all over me.

“Thanks…”
“You’re not hurt, right?”
“Y-you did so good. Really brave!”

I managed to stand and turned around to see Sufi and Filia both looking visibly relieved.

Filia seemed a little awkward, but it didn’t feel fake… Maybe she just wasn’t used to handling younger kids?

While thinking, I looked around the dim space. The light barely reached here, so it was hard to see… but this wasn’t a waterway.

It was an old manmade passage, built with stacked stone bricks. The hole we’d fallen through seemed to have been made by tree roots piercing the ceiling.

Even though the mortar between the bricks was applied carefully, the whole structure was badly worn—cracked, mossy, and overtaken by plants. It clearly hadn’t been used in ages.

A narrow tunnel with side holes only small children could pass through… It was illegal, sure, but it also seemed way too convenient—almost suspiciously so.

“Th-this place is part of some old ruins. People from the city don’t come near it…”
“Heeh.”

Sufi looked around curiously while Filia explained nervously.

“B-but it’s dark and the tunnels are really narrow… so only kids like us use it.”

I looked up at the hole we’d come through. It was way higher than a grown adult’s head. Only kids could fit through it, but climbing up or down without help would be nearly impossible.

Only beastkin like us, with stronger bodies than humans, could use it. I, personally, couldn’t make it on my own.

“L-let me show you the hideout.”
“Okay, thank you!”
“That’s a big help.”

After a few moments of awkward silence, Filia couldn’t take it anymore and began leading the way.

A little farther in, Sufi glanced back at me and crouched down.

“Alice, it’s a long walk, you know? You’ll pass out.”
“…Okay.”

The underground corridor stretched on as far as I could see.

I knew what she was getting at, so I didn’t argue and let her carry me again.

■■■

Filia is a rabbit beastkin girl, a Lepician, who lives in this city’s slums. She’s nine, two years older than us, and shares her home with another beastkin girl—a Felician.

There is an orphanage, apparently, but beastkin aren’t allowed in. With nowhere else to go, the two girls ended up in the slums by default.

While trying to survive at the fringes of society, they met naturally, and not long ago decided to live together.

“Th-this way.”

After winding through the labyrinth of underground tunnels, we finally surfaced.

The slums… weren’t what I expected. No piles of garbage, no overwhelming filth. It felt more like a cluster of ancient ruins, with crumbling stone buildings and overgrown plants. There were no signs of people nearby.

“…This is the far edge of the slums, so hardly anyone comes here.”

Seeing the complicated look on Filia’s face, I could guess what that meant.

For some reason or another, people didn’t come near this part. Beyond the low plants, I could see buildings standing in rows. The real slums—the part where people lived—were probably over there.

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