One-way traffic

"——!!!"

Then, she fled in panic.

correct.

Under Accelerator's astonished gaze, the girl in front of him retreated backward at an unparalleled speed, not even noticing that her gloves had fallen to the ground.

"...What's going on?"

For a moment, even he himself didn't realize what was going on.

Could it be that he scared her?

He admitted that his aura and expression were usually intimidating, but the problem was—

The person in front of me must be one of those powerful elves, right?

Even powerful, destructive spirits can be frightened by something like this.

"Waaaaah... Waaaaah—!!"

A faint sound interrupted his train of thought.

Looking up, the petite girl who had run about ten meters away suddenly stopped and looked at him with a very panicked expression.

To be precise, her gaze should have been directed at something on the ground in front of her.

Accelerator followed her gaze and picked up the thing that had fallen to the ground.

It's a doll.

A rabbit prop that can be worn on the palm of the hand, like the kind used for ventriloquism performances, with its right eye covered by a pirate-like eye patch.

The moment Accelerator picked up the doll, the girl's expression became one of barely suppressed excitement.

"Please...please give it back to me..."

She stretched out her arms and straddled the spot.

That expression made it look like he was about to cry at any moment.

"Please...give it back to me...Yoshina is...Yoshina is my most important...friend...please...I beg you..."

What is this all about...?

Accelerator looked at the doll in his hand and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

Moreover, if he continued like this, she would definitely burst into tears.

That would be far too troublesome.

“…You brat.”

Accelerator then made the decision directly.

He walked directly up to the girl, looked at her with an indifferent gaze, and raised his hand.

Because the other person was moving too fast, the girl had barely come to her senses before they were already in front of her.

This immediately made the already panicked girl even more bewildered.

The girl quickly raised her hands in front of her, her face showing that she was ready to be hit.

But what I felt in my hand was just a soft touch.

"Huh…?"

She blinked, realizing that the scene of her being beaten in her imagination hadn't actually happened.

The rabbit doll in his hand had been put back.

The girl blinked, and when she tried to look ahead again, there was nothing there.

"Hey~ Yoshino, are you alright~?"

"Yoshino...!!"

"Oh dear, don't worry~ Even though it was only for a short time, Yoshino is still very strong~"

After putting the doll on her hand, the doll seemed to come to life and began to talk to the girl.

"However, Yoshino saw everything that just happened~"

"Eh…?"

"Not only did he not try anything to you like those guys before, but he also kindly returned Yoshino to her hands... He's a really amazing person."

Listening to everything the doll, who called herself Yoshino, said, the girl named Yoshino merely blinked in surprise.

"What...does this mean...?"

"That's right, you silly boy."

Yoshina smiled and spoke in a light, cheerful voice.

"That guy just did us a huge favor, he's such a kind person!"

"They're just like heroes of justice, aren't they?"

then.

These words swirled in Yoshino's mind.

"A righteous...hero...?"

——————————————————————————————————————————

"One annoying thing after another, you beast."

Accelerator walked down the street, cursing under his breath.

Things have been getting boring enough lately, but then I ran into that brat.

Even if the other party really is an elf, judging from their timid nature, they probably won't be able to get any information out of them.

Accelerator therefore gave up the idea of ​​taking her back.

After all, the most troublesome thing for him was the kid.

Strangely, although the rain was very heavy, it stopped after only about ten minutes, and the streets were once again crowded with people.

Unlike the other people carrying umbrellas, Accelerator never needed one. He slowly walked to the vending machine in front of the intersection.

"...What are these things?"

I was originally thinking of buying a can of coffee.

However, what lay before him were only some strange and incomprehensible drinks.

Strawberry soy milk, seaweed juice, colored fruit juice... none of them looked very strange to him.

Aside from these, the only thing worth looking at is probably the coconut milk at the very bottom.

But there was no coffee that First Choice wanted.

For him, not having coffee or not eating meat for a week is a very difficult thing. Although it's not unbearable, it would be strange to think about a lion eating vegetarian food for a week.

Left with no other choice, he could only opt for the coconut milk option at the bottom.

"...It's too sweet."

As expected, these drinks are the type that are crammed with sugar.

This made Accelerator, who always preferred bitter flavors, frown, but he still forced himself to drink a few sips to quench his thirst.

Bang.

Soon after, the sound of the vending machine came through again.

However, that wasn't done by Accelerator.

While he was taking a few sips, someone else came over and bought a can of drink just like him.

"Huh…?"

Then, another voice came from beside him at the same time.

Accelerator also turned his head instinctively.

Standing next to him was a girl who was about fourteen years old.

She was wearing a brown coat and over-the-knee socks. There seemed to be some girly clothes underneath, but they were completely hidden by the coat and could not be seen at all.

In terms of appearance, she is not only very cute, but also has long blue hair styled in a single ponytail and a beauty mark under her slightly dark left eye.

She was holding a transparent umbrella, the kind you see everywhere in convenience stores, and a can of beverage that she had just taken out of a vending machine.

It's the same brand of coconut milk as Accelerator.

"Um, you wouldn't happen... to like this brand of coconut juice too?"

Accelerator looked at the jar in his hand with surprise.

"Wow! I actually found someone! The second person who likes this drink as much as I do!!"

Upon seeing this, the girl immediately became overjoyed and even jumped up and down excitedly twice.

"…ah?"

Accelerator, on the other hand, wore a completely bewildered expression.

Is this guy out of his mind?

"Oh, I'm sorry... Do I sound strange saying something like that all of a sudden?"

"What on earth are you here for?"

Looking at this girl who had appeared out of nowhere, Accelerator showed no goodwill whatsoever.

Although she is very cute and has a lively and charming tone.

At this point, most men would have already tried to get her phone number, but that would be utterly meaningless to Accelerator.

…No.

Please wait a moment—

"Actually, I only recently arrived in this city. It's called Tengu City, right? It's really troublesome to get around here, even though it's such a small city."

"But then again, the reason I was so excited just now is because hardly anyone in my hometown drinks this beverage, supposedly because it's too high in sugar. But I absolutely love it! I love sweets the most! Especially sweet things!!"

"So when I happened to see someone else who also liked this drink as much as I did, I found myself striking up a conversation without really thinking... Huh?"

After rambling on and on, the girl finally realized something was amiss.

The white-haired person in front of him had been looking at him with a unique gaze.

"Um...excuse me, is there something on my face?"

"…you."

Looking at her, Accelerator originally wanted to say something.

But in the end, he only squinted his eyes.

"No, you don't need to worry about it, it's just a silly thought of mine."

"...I don't understand."

She blinked and tilted her head.

"Ah...! Right, since you're here, you must live around here, right?"

"No, I just stopped by to take care of some business. I don't live here at all."

That's not actually the case. Accelerator just instinctively realized that if he continued, he would definitely get entangled with this guy.

So he chose the opposite without hesitation.

"Eh...Is that so? Hmm, I was thinking of asking around, but it seems there's no way around it..."

"Take care of your own business and don't cause trouble everywhere."

"That's true. Well then, goodbye for now!"

The girl turned around and walked away happily.

"—Oh right! I forgot to add each other's email addresses—"