CH 221

Along with dawn, Ardis woke up in his bed.

「……Again? 」

At the same time, he muttered while feeling the weight on both his arms. There were the two twins sleeping while hugging on Ardis’s arms.

Their lovely appearance that didn’t disappear even while sleeping had already mesmerized many other boys of similar age in the village after living here for a month.

Although because of their growing environment, they are a little more childish for their age but, thanks to the home tutor Kyrill, it was not very fatal.

But conversely, there were still 『Parts that isn’t considered fatal』 remaining. They are going to be fifteen soon.

Most people are considered an adult when they reach fifteen. At the very least, their age aren’t one where they would sneak into their guardian’s bed and sleep while hugging his arm.

It wasn’t considered a problem seven years ago when they were still little, but they had already grown up from being children.

Approaching Ardis’s appearance that doesn’t scale well with his age, the three can be seen as brother and sister of similar age if stood beside each other.

「Since when did they sneak in……」

Ardis was capable of waking up instantly if anything approached him with malicious intentions. But on the other hand, he couldn’t sense even a thing when the opponents aren’t malicious.

Although there’re personal rooms designated to the twins when the house was built, it seems like their habit of sneaking into Ardis’s bed hasn’t been fixed. As Ardis slowly tried to get up, the twins woke as well.

「Fuwaa――………. Morning……? 」

「Nnn……, good morning Ardis……」

Fillia who was rubbing her eyes sleepily and Riana who seemed reluctant to part while rubbing her face on Ardis’s arm both replied.

Taking away the futon from the sleepy duo, then pulling them by the arm to get them stood up, Ardis folded his arms together and started, 「Now then」.

「Let me remind you, here is not your room. 」

「Unn. 」

「We know――」

The two replied without paying any attention to Ardis’s frowning lines.

Yawning widely, as they stretched with their arms up, probably finally getting a little clear with their mind, the bluish green eyes started to look at Ardis.

「Then why are you sleeping here instead of your own rooms? 」

「Because Ardis is here? 」

「Strange Ardis. 」

Riana answered as if it was a matter of fact, while Fillia was snickering at Ardis’s question finding it weird.

「No, that logic is clearly strange. 」

「It’s fine. I’m hungry so let’s go eat breakfast! 」

「Ardis, go go! 」

Without regards to Ardis’s feelings, the twins started to pull on both his arms again.

While seeing his sleeves getting pulled longer, Ardis wondered what went wrong in their education while he frowned.

***

A total of five people were by the dining table including Sharu, then Rona on the ground, it’s the usual member. It’s a lot more lively than before Ardis met the twins.

As usual, Fillia who has cat tongue struggled with the hot soup, while Riana worked on the piece of bread in full focus.

Looking over at Sharu who was sitting quietly by the two’s side, it seems like she noticed his gaze as well as she turned to Ardis. Without words, her eyes seemed to asked 「What? 」.

「You helped with the repair works yesterday right? 」

It was a wordless nod answering Ardis’s question.

「How was it? 」

「What how was it? 」

「Uh――, hmm. How you felt about the job, or what your job instructor said. 」

「He said 『You have potential』. 」

「……Is that so. Well, that’s good for you. 」

Although it was an awkward conversation, it’s nonetheless still a successful conversation. For Sharu who would only talk the bare minimum in the past, it’s considered a huge improvement.

Same like the twins, Sharu is not an age where she can play all day.

Fillia and Riana are following Deen and Karina to patrol around the village and hunt for food, while Ardis and Nere is ensuring safety around the village by dealing with the demonic beings outside the barrier with Rona as a helper.

The problem is Sharu. For someone like her who is originally raised in a shady organization, her specialization is a little unusual.

Leaving aside if she’s in Gran or Reiten, her skills doesn’t seem useful at all in this hidden village far from any other human settlement.

And her combat power is of course not within reach of Nere or Rona, so she couldn’t go with Ardis to deal with the demonic beings outside the barrier.

Having said so, it’s also difficult for her to be doing the same job of patrolling and hunting preys within the barrier like Fillia and Riana.

For Sharu who isn’t proficient in communication, it was difficult to find a partner for the rule of going out in a pair, and even more than that, she was trained to deal against humans and not wild beasts or hunting.

Since being a freeloader is not allowed, she had to do something in the village. Because of that, Sharu is now working various jobs as apprentice in a span of few days.

「Just continue if you don’t dislike it. 」

「Nn. 」

Ardis felt ease seeing that although she didn’t really show any preference, she didn’t look like she disliked it either.

Although it’s not entirely bad to learn to fight and become a mercenary or continue her specialization in the shadows, it’s better for Sharu to have more choices.

Ardis who came to such a conclusion got some soup with his spoon, as Fillia brought another topic onto the dining table.

「Ardis Ardis! Did you know? A festival is going to happen in the village soon. 」

「Festival? 」

It was something Ardis heard for the first time.

「Karina said it is a 『Harvest Festival』! And there’ll be a lot of treats! 」

「Hee, a festival huh…… well, it’s not strange for a village to have it. 」

Albeit a hidden village, or rather, exactly because it is a hidden village, it is mostly self-sufficient. Also, it’s not strange to have festival celebrating a harvest in places doing agriculture.

「I’m really looking forward to it since it’s a first time! 」

Fillia had a full smile. It’s unlikely for the twins to have ever had a chance to participate in a festival considering the condemnation they received in the past.

Even their actual parents probably didn’t bring them to crowded places, and after they became slaves, there were no chance at all for them to enjoy such an occasion.

However, it’s a different story in this village that doesn’t regard the Goddess’s teaching of twins being evil. In this village, both Fillia and Riana aren’t looked at with condemnation, so they can enjoy the festival without problems.

Ardis who was infected by Fillia’s smile noticed Riana looking a little troubled.

「What’s up? You don’t look really excited, Riana. 」

「It’s Deen, he said he wants to celebrate together with Riana during the festival. 」

It was Fillia who answered instead of Riana.

「Together? Aah, I see……」

Ardis had a question mark for a moment but, immediately understood its meaning and smiled bitterly. Come to think of it, Deen is already an adult, and Riana is also soon to be an adult.

In Riana’s case, it’s might’ve been inevitable since she didn’t have acquaintance of the same age as she’s a twin but, it’s not strange for people at her age to experience spring once or twice.

Rather, it is considered 『Normal』 for her age, as Ardis felt a little happy for her. Though in this case, Riana herself seemed like she’s troubled because of it.

Then, there’s no need to force her, as Ardis put up an escape route for her.

「Deen wouldn’t be happy if you’re forcing yourself too. Just refuse if you don’t like the idea. 」

「Speaking such, it hears like mine master has no intentions to take part? 」

It was Nere who responded to Ardis rather than Riana. Although probably not her intentions, Ardis who was suddenly faced with an unexpected question scratched his cheeks and answered awkwardly.

「Uh――……, honestly, I don’t like to be in a crowd. But since we just arrived in this village, I guess it’s better to attend once. No choice. 」

Ardis’s true intention was condensed in the last few words. Then, another voice came from below.

「Hey Al. Do you realize that you’re literally denying what you just said? 」

Against Rona who said so, Ardis frowned and made his best rebuttal.

「……Noisy. Just shut up and eat. 」

「Wan wan~」

The golden partner laughed enjoyably, and ended the topic with his lousy acting and continued the breakfast.