I felt a bit taken aback by the sudden appearance of this little girl in a red hood—though she wasn’t exactly Little Red Riding Hood, she seemed to be something close. The story she told was reminiscent of a tale that anyone from my previous world would recognize: the characters from the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood."

Luminor Academy was a game, so it wasn’t surprising if it had an episode inspired by a fairy tale.

The problem was that this episode was entirely unfamiliar to me. Could it really have been part of Luminor Academy? I had played through the game 25 times, and I’d never encountered anything like this. Given how thoroughly I’d scoured forums in multiple languages for tips on Lilith’s route, it was strange that I had no memory of this episode.

I couldn’t help but be curious about what kind of episode this might be. Although part of me didn’t want to get involved in anything troublesome, my instincts as a hardcore player of Luminor Academy made me hesitate. This was the first time I was encountering an episode I genuinely knew nothing about.

Besides, I’d already made a bit of a blunder with this girl, so the least I could do was listen to her story.

"I can’t really understand what happened if you just say she was taken. Could you explain what happened in detail, little Red Hood?"

"So, it was the night before last. My grandmother…."

As I listened to the girl, who introduced herself as Cat, she recounted the events. She had been living with her grandmother for the past three years, ever since her parents passed away in an accident. Her grandmother was her only remaining family.

Cat’s grandmother always stayed with her until she fell asleep, telling her stories to help her drift off. However, her grandmother would occasionally leave the house for two or three days each month, during which Cat had no choice but to sleep alone. While she could sleep without her grandmother, she still preferred not to.

Cat didn’t know why her grandmother had to leave regularly. She’d been told it was for work, but she had never seen what that work was, and whenever she tried to go along, her grandmother would insist she stay behind.

The last time her grandmother had left was about two weeks ago, and she wasn’t scheduled to leave again for another two weeks. So, the night before last, her grandmother was supposed to be home. But when Cat went to call her grandmother to bed, she found a big, bad wolf in her grandmother’s room—or so Cat claimed.

"Wait, there was a wolf in your grandmother’s room?"

"Yes!"

"And what about your grandmother?"

"The big, bad wolf took her away!"

"……."

So, we were back to square one.

There were some things in this story that didn’t quite add up. It wasn’t like Cat had skipped or left out parts of the story—it just didn’t make sense.

Of course, children’s stories can often seem jumbled and disorganized, so maybe that was why it felt so confusing. But the thought of asking her to retell the story from the beginning was also daunting.

"Hmm…."

"You and your brother are strong adventurers, so you can beat the big, bad wolf, right?!"

"No, like I said, we’re not adventurers…."

"That doesn’t matter! I’m sure you two can save my grandmother!"

"Well, we could handle a wolf, but…."

Yes, Ethan and I could certainly handle a wolf or two. We’d already faced far more dangerous and terrifying monsters. Ethan, after all, had nearly reached the level of a Sword Expert. He could probably take down a dozen wolves on his own, and with my support, we could easily handle twice that number.

But my concern wasn’t about whether we could defeat the wolf. It was the likelihood that, even if we found the wolf that had taken Cat’s grandmother, it was already too late to save her.

It had been two days since the grandmother was taken. Realistically, she would have likely died within the first hour of being captured, possibly in a very gruesome manner.

I didn’t want to explain that harsh reality to this little girl. She had already lost her parents, and the idea of making her understand that her grandmother was also gone was unsettling.

Even if she didn’t die immediately, it’s been two days. It’s likely too late….

I didn’t know exactly how old Cat’s grandmother was, but given Cat’s age, she was likely in her fifties at least. In this world, a woman in her fifties was considered elderly. Even if she wasn’t elderly, being bitten by a wolf and dragged away would have caused severe injuries. After two days, she likely would have succumbed to those injuries, even if the wolves hadn’t eaten her.

One way or another, Cat’s grandmother was no longer of this world—unless some miracle had occurred.

Maybe I shouldn’t have promised to help her….

I had assumed she was just a child who had gotten separated from her parents in the market. I hadn’t anticipated that she’d have such a tragic backstory.

I glanced at Ethan, who was deep in thought, his head bowed. He seemed to be struggling with the idea of having to tell this child about her grandmother’s likely fate. Given his own experience of losing his mother at a young age, he might have been empathizing with Cat.

"…Lead us to your house," Ethan finally said.

"What?"

"If we’re going to find any trace of your grandmother, we need to start by checking the place where she was last seen. If we go there, we might be able to track where the wolf went."

"Ethan, are you really…."

"Even if we can’t save her, we should at least retrieve her body, or something that belonged to her, so we can give her a proper burial. That might help Cat understand her grandmother’s death."

Ethan spoke quietly, so Cat couldn’t hear. He knew that saving Cat’s grandmother was unlikely, so he was focused on at least finding some trace of her to honor her memory.

I agreed with Ethan’s approach, so I nodded.

"Cat, can you lead us to the house where you lived with your grandmother?"

"Will you really find my grandmother, miss?"

"…I’ll do my best."

This was the best answer I could give at the moment. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything harsher to a child who was still so innocent.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

"This way! This way~!"

As soon as we agreed to help find her grandmother, Cat eagerly led us to a house on the outskirts of the capital.

It was an old brick house that had clearly seen better days, but it seemed to be the home where Cat and her grandmother lived alone. The house was small, suitable for two or three people, but a bit cramped for four.

Standing in front of the house, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of confusion.

…The house looks more intact than I expected.

I had imagined that the house would be somewhat damaged after hearing about a wolf breaking in. Even though wolves are relatively intelligent for animals, it was unlikely they would open the door and walk in through the front entrance when attacking a home.

I had expected to see broken doors or windows, or maybe a large hole in the wall, but the house’s exterior was surprisingly intact.

I really hope a wolf doesn’t jump out as soon as we open the door.

It would be like something out of a detective novel if the culprit had never left the crime scene and was hiding inside. I wasn’t constantly prepared for battle, and if a wolf did suddenly appear from behind the door, it could be dangerous.

"I’ll go in first, Lily."

"…Alright, Ed."

Ethan, sensing the same unease, stepped forward cautiously, opening the door while keeping his guard up.

"…No one’s here?"

"…It seems that way."

"I considered the possibility that a wild animal might have stayed inside, but it looks like we’re in the clear. You can’t always trust a child’s account to be perfectly accurate."

…Well, if a wolf had stayed inside the house, we wouldn’t have needed to come here in the first place.

If the wolf had taken Cat’s grandmother the night before last and stayed in the house, then Cat would have been its victim last night.

In a house this small, it would have been hard for the wolf to slip out unnoticed. Even if she was a child, Cat wouldn’t have mistaken the wolf leaving with her grandmother.

"Are you sure the wolf took your grandmother outside, Cat?"

"Huh? No?"

"No?"

"No."

Is she playing with me?

Reminding myself that I was dealing with a child, I tried asking Cat again about the whereabouts of the wolf.

"Is there a chance the wolf is still inside the house?"

"No."

"Then what was that reaction just now, Cat? You looked at me like I didn’t understand what you were saying."

"That’s because the bad wolf didn’t take my grandmother outside."

"…What?"

I was sure she had said earlier that a big wolf had taken her grandmother away.

If I was going to figure out where Cat’s grandmother had gone, I needed to clear up any misunderstandings between us first.