105. She's Too Cute! I Want To Protect Her!

Ryūhei couldn't help but shake his head at Xiangling's actions. It seemed what she had in mind was just Rimuru. On the other hand, Ayaka glared at him, causing him to scratch his head awkwardly.

Meanwhile, Veldora laughed.

"Heh heh, gya ha ha ha ha. To think that he is still afraid when someone is interested in cooking a slime."

And then, Veldora jumped between Xiangling and Rimuru. But, Xiangling seemed to see Veldora as a wall. Without thinking further, she swung her polearm from the bottom left diagonally toward him.

Veldora naturally just stretched out his right hand to catch the polearm while trying to talk to her. Too bad, Xiangling immediately sent a kick. Veldora's veins popped up seeing this and immediately caught her leg before hanging her.

"Ahhhh, what are you doing, you brute!!?" It was then that Xiangling came to her senses.

"Then, what are you doing by trying to catch my friend?"

"Your friend?" Xiangling was puzzled. Then, Veldora stated,

"That slime is Rimuru, my best friend."

"Y-You are befriended with a slime? Uuu, what a waste of an ingredient." Her voice got smaller when she said the latter.

"What did you say?"

"No, no. I'm not saying anything!"

"Humph."

Veldora released her after that, causing Xiangling to fall. But, she reacted quickly by reaching out her arms against the ground and flipping backward.

Xiangling scratched her head as her sight turned to Ryūhei while saying.

"Erm.. hehehe. My bad! Seeing slime makes me excited."

But, Ryūhei twitched and pointed out.

"You're still drooling."

"*Gulp* Sorry, sorry. It's my habit. Hehehe."

The others didn't know what to say. It was the first time they saw a person that was too obsessed with an ingredient. And the weird one actually.

Meanwhile, Ryūhei pondered for a moment about Xiangling who managed to make several slime dishes. He had his speculation about a slime dish that could be delicious. His gaze also turned to some Cryo slimes in a certain direction.

He said, "Xiangling, I have an idea. Do you think it's possible to make noodles from slime?"

Instantaneously, Xiangling's eyes sparkled once again after hearing his question.

Ryūhei then talked with Xiangling about that new dish. After defeating the slimes, Xiangling immediately tried it by borrowing a kitchen from a local resident around the Dawn Winery.

Because Ryūhei had to deliver the order from the Knights of Favonius, Ryūhei couldn't stay for too long and said goodbye to her while telling her that he would try that dish next time.

Naturally, Ryūhei asked about the situation in the City of Mondstadt. Xiangling didn't even visit that place. So she had no idea. However, she said that she met an Outlander who could cook some delicious dishes after learning in a short time. She said that the Outlander could become their rival in cooking. Ryūhei wanted to refute since he wasn't a chef or a cook. But, knowing that Ryūhei was the one who drew the Shokugeki no Sōma manga, he decided to keep quiet.

After passing through the Dawn Winery by taking the eastern road, Ryūhei saw a little figure around 100 meters in the distance.

The little figure seemed to chase a glittering butterfly happily. But all of a sudden, the little figure stumbled and fell, dropping several round objects from her bag. Those objects rolled for a moment before Ryūhei felt something wasn't right.

He analyzed them in a split second and found that the Pyro element inside the objects was about to burst.

"Watch out!"

Ryūhei immediately teleported to the little figure before the explosion occurred.

*Boom*

"Ryūhei!" Ayaka cried out.

In fact, Ryūhei wasn't fine. Using his Infinity, he protected the small figure, or rather the little girl behind him after he teleported before the explosion occurred. Still, because he was used to letting sounds penetrate his Infinity barrier, he felt the impact of the explosive sound which made his ears ring.

Ryūhei groaned. But he held the pain of his ears and immediately teleported beside the others.

A short moment later, he began to hear a cute, but depressed voice. She felt guilty because her crafted bombs caused a person to be hurt.

"Big brother, big brother, are you alright? Klee apologizes, Klee didn't mean to hurt big brother."

Ryūhei suddenly raised his eyes when he noticed her. A red coat over a white dress and shorts, a red cap, a fluffy scarf, gloves, knee socks, boots, and a brown backpack. There are some four-leaf clover designs on her outfit. On the other hand, the girl herself has pale skin, light red eyes, pale blonde hair, and elf ears.

'Elf?'

It was too rare to see an Elf. Even the only elf he saw previously was Alice, the renowned adventurer across Teyvat. And it was around a year ago when she tried to recruit Ayaka to become an idol.

The little girl seemed anxious because Ryūhei didn't give her immediate reply.

"Uuu, Klee's bombs hurt big brother, Master Jean will be dreadful."

Ryūhei immediately patted her head.

"Don't worry! Big brother is alright."

"Really?"

"Yup, really."

"Erm. C-can you please keep the trouble that Klee caused a secret!?" The little girl pleaded with puppy eyes.

'Whoa! What is this creature? Isn't she too cute? I want to protect her!!!'

It was too difficult to say no after facing such an expression.

"Don't worry, big brother will keep the secret." Ryūhei nodded.

"Yay! Big brother is the best!"

The little girl raised her hands happily after hearing his words.

Somehow, Ryūhei worried about the little girl in front of him. It was around 4 PM already. But, this little girl playing around in the wilderness without a guardian. Moreover, she carried some bombs in her bag. This would be very dangerous without supervision. Aren't his parents worried about her?

He couldn't scold her since he was a stranger. But at least, he could remind his parents to watch her carefully.

"You just said Klee a moment ago. Is that your name?"

"Umu. Klee is Klee." Klee nodded. "How about you, big brother?"

"This big brother is Ryūhei."

"Ruhe?"

"Not Ruhe, It's Ryūhei."

"Uuu, it's hard. Can Klee just call you big brother Hei?"

Ryūhei was stiffened while Ayaka giggled after hearing that.

Hearing the giggling, she turned to Ayaka and Veldora. "Erm, are they with you, big brother?"

Ayaka approached her, down to the knee, and said.

"Hi, little Klee. You can call me elder sister Ayaka."

Knowing that Klee wasn't used to formal words, Ayaka introduced herself casually.

"Big sis Ayaka."

Then, Veldora joined the fun as he raised his fist forward while gliding toward Klee before landing on the ground like a certain hero in the movie. With his loud voice, he introduced himself energetically.

"Behold, the great Veldora, arrives! Hya ha ha ha!"

Klee's eyes seemed to sparkle when she saw Veldora flying without a glider, a tool that helps a person glide through the air.

"Whoa. Uncle Vedora is sho cool! You looked like you were flying!"

"Is it? Of course, because it is I, Veldora! Gya ha ha ha ha."

Ryūhei felt jealous because Klee called them correctly. Well, in Veldora's case, the 'l' character seemed to be skipped. But, why he was called Hei?

"Umm, little Klee. Can you call my name correctly? My name is Ryūhei. Ree-u-hei."

"Ree-u-hei??" Klee tilted her head. Making Ryūhei want to pinch her cheeks so much.

"Yep, yep. Smart girl."

"Hehehe. Ah, there's a slime! Boom-boom—" Klee almost tossed her bombs carelessly. Fortunately, Ryūhei stopped her in time.

"Wait, wait! This slime is a good slime called Rimuru. Don't hurt him, okay!"

"Huh? Eh?" Klee glanced at the slime and Ryūhei. Then, she apologized. "Sorry Mister Slime, Klee thought you're a bad slime."

Rimuru answered by jiggling his body as if nodding at Klee's apology.

After chatting for a while, Ryūhei asked.

"By the way, Klee. Why did you play all alone?"

"Because… Klee sneaked away. Shhhh, please don't tell anyone!" Klee cutely put her finger on her lips, gesturing for Ryūhei and the others to keep quiet.

"Eh? Your parents will be worried, you know!"

"Mom and Dad are both famous adventurers across Teyvat. They said, they went to some dangerous places, so Klee must stay obediently at home. Besides, Klee is not lonely. Because Dodoco always accompanies Klee every day, hehehe." Klee said while pointing to the furry doll hanging in her bag.

Ryūhei facepalmed. What kind of parents leave their little lass to live alone? Moreover, the little lass considered a doll as her friend. Yet, somehow Ryūhei felt familiar with this.

He shut his mind for a moment before he laughed inwardly.

'Ahahahaha… Imaginary friends, eh?'

Then, Ryūhei shook his head to put away that thought. He glanced at Klee.

"Umm, where's your home, Klee? Let this big brother and big sister take you home."

"Klee lives in the City of Mondstadt. Do big brother and big sister wanna go there?"

"Oh, what a coincidence. Yes, we're going to visit that city. Can you lead us?"

"Hehe. Don't worry. As a knight, Klee must help everyone in need."

Ryūhei and Ayaka were puzzled by Klee's declaration as if she wanted to be a knight by performing good deeds.

Meanwhile, Rimuru glanced at Klee while thinking. 'This little girl is so cute. Moreover, she's an elf. I want to meet her mother at all costs! Hehehe. Erofu, banzai!'

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