Master Of Astral Summoner-Chapter 146: Lost child

"Maybe taking a quick look inside this pocketbook won’t cause any trouble, right?" Shaan said with a smile as he slowly placed the pocketbook on his lap. "After all, no one here knows that this pocketbook isn’t actually mine."

Shaan carefully removed the rubber band holding the notebook closed, remembering that the band itself was already faded and a little loose. He certainly didn’t want the notebook to be damaged before he gave it to its rightful owner.

"Phew, safe." Shaan let out a long breath after he successfully removed the band. "Now, it’s time to see what’s actually inside—"

"Shaan!"

Hearing Chelsie call his name from behind, Shaan hurriedly put the pocketbook back in his pocket. He immediately turned to look at Chelsie, as if nothing had happened.

"Oh... It’s you guys." Shaan smiled and tried to stay calm. "How did your examination go?"

"Uhmm... Nalira’s and my results look perfectly fine," Chelsie explained. "But during my examination, I..." Chelsie frowned as she looked at Shaan’s face. "Shaan, what’s wrong? Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Ah, n-no, it’s not that." Shaan scratched his head repeatedly. "I’m completely fine. Everything’s alright. Don’t worry."

"Oh... okay." Chelsie nodded slowly. "It’s just that after we finished the examination, we were both pretty hungry, so we decided to look for snacks around here."

"That’s right. But... we couldn’t find any snacks that really suited us, so we ended up buying this."

"Uhm... yeah, that’s true. It tastes really good and refreshing. You should try it."

When Nalira took something out of her pants pocket, Shaan’s eyes immediately widened. To be honest, Shaan never thought that it was Vita juice.

"Hey, I know this drink." Shaan smiled. "Dr. Marshal once gave this to me, and I have to admit, it tastes really good."

"Yes, I think the same."

"... Here, take this." Nalira handed Shaan a bottle of Vitajuice. "I bought extra."

"Okay, thank you, Nalira."

"Um... since we’re done with the examination, we should go home. Dr. Marshal and Mr. Courier must be waiting for our news."

"I agree."

"... Then it’s time for us to go home."

As they walked toward Dr. Marshal’s house, Chelsie, who happened to walk at the very front, suddenly stopped. A serious expression appeared on her face, as if she had noticed something. Strange, what’s going on with her?

"Chelsie, what’s wrong?"

"Uhm... Did you hear that ?" Tension showed on her face. "I don’t know, but... but it sounds like someone is—."

"Someone crying," Nalira said as she pointed to the side. "Over there. The sound is coming from that narrow alley."

"In that case, I think we should check it out. Maybe there really is someone in trouble."

Without wasting any time, they walked down the narrow alley and searched for the source of the sound. However, moving forward proved difficult because piles of wooden boards blocked the path along the alley.

"Did you find anything?" Shaan walked at the very front while pushing aside every wooden board that got in their way.

"No. I don’t see anything around here." Chelsie shook her head. "Lira, what about you?"

"Me neither."

"This is strange. We’ve cleared all the boards blocking the way, but I still don’t see anyone around—" Shaan paused, his face stiffening. "Chelsie, Nalira, you need to see this."

After hearing Shaan’s words, Chelsie and Nalira quickly hurried toward him, who stood several steps ahead of them. Both women immediately showed the same expression when they realized that the crying sound came from a little girl who had been trapped inside the alley all this time.

"Oh my God, th-that...!" Chelsie immediately ran toward the little girl and gently stroked her black hair. "It’s alright, don’t keep crying. You’re safe now," Chelsie said as she tried to comfort the unfortunate child.

However, the little girl didn’t respond to Chelsie at all. She lowered her head weakly. Her small body trembled, and she hugged the elephant doll on her lap tightly, as if it were the only thing protecting her.

"Don’t worry, we’re not bad people," Shaan said as he approached the little girl from the side. "We just want to help you."

"...".

"Uhm... Shaan, it looks like she’s still scared," Chelsie said as she continued to gently stroke the child’s long hair. "At the very least, we need to calm her down first so she’ll want to talk."

They eventually decided to leave the narrow alley and walk toward the main road. Good—at least the girl’s condition looked much better than before. However... the little girl still refused to speak.

"So... what now?" Nalira sighed deeply. "She hasn’t said a single word the entire time."

"Yeah, I’ve tried to persuade her to talk too, but she hasn’t responded at all."

"Uhmm... actually, I have an idea. But... I’m not sure it will work."

"An idea?" Nalira frowned. "Just say it, Chelsie. What’s your idea?"

"Yeah, that’s better than having no idea at all."

"Hmm... Maybe if we can persuade her with something sweet, this little girl will talk," said Chelsie. "All children like sweet things, right?"

"Something sweet?" Shaan slowly rubbed his chin. "What could we—"

"Vita juice." Nalira snapped her fingers excitedly. "It tastes sweet, and maybe this child will like it."

Chelsie nodded. "Uhm... yeah, that makes sense."

"Shaan, stay here with the little girl. Chelsie and I will go buy some Vita juice for this child."

Shaan nodded his head. "Okay, I understand."

Without wasting any time, the two women left and stayed behind Shaan with the little girl. Silence quickly filled the air, and Shaan began to feel awkward in this situation.

"Hey, instead of waiting here, how about we sit over there?" Shaan said as he pointed at one of the metal benches in front of them. "Your legs must feel tired after all that walking, right?"

The little girl only replied with a small nod, and they finally sat down on the bench. However, the situation didn’t improve at all. The girl still refused to talk to him. Strange, could this child be mute?

’Damn. How am I supposed to bring her back to her family if she won’t talk at all?’ Shaan scratched his head while his foot kept moving restlessly. ’Nalira and Chelsie still haven’t come back either. What’s taking them so long?’

"Thud!"

"Damn it, why did the pocketbook have to fall at a time like this?" Shaan quickly picked the pocketbook up from the ground. "Maybe I should—"

"That pocketbook... do you own it, mister?"