Chapter 4: Section 4: Facing the New World (Part 2)
Malin halted his steps, and Maya, puzzled, meowed inquisitively, making Malin instantly realize an issue — Maya's sense of smell was actually inferior to his own?
Impossible, every day when Gaiate came home, it was Maya who first detected him. Before Malin could hear the footsteps, she would already be standing by the door, urging her brother to join her in welcoming their father's return.
He had even asked Maya how she knew Gaiate was coming back.
"I smelled it."
Each time, she would reply with such pride.
But this time, she had been bested by her brother, which might sound like a changing of roles, but to Malin, it signaled that danger lay ahead.
She hadn't smelled anything, whereas he had smelled something... and that was not good news.
"Malin, what's wrong?" Maya pushed the cart, noticing that her brother hadn't moved, and he extended his hand, grabbing her wrist.
This alerted her — not because of the action of her brother grabbing her wrist, but because she recognized the gravity of the situation from Malin's serious expression, "Is it... dangerous?"
Malin nodded. When he was reborn into this small body, he had self-taught the common language of this world, but for some reason, his accent was quite heavy. Gaiate could more or less understand it, but Maya was somewhat at a loss, so, at this time, Malin simply nodded in response to her question.
Getting this answer, Maya's nose twitched twice, then she looked ahead with some confusion, "I don't smell anything."