CH 312

Aina wakes up and comes in with a big smile on her face …… Oh no, I shouldn’t have let Aina find me ……

“Nora-chan, it’s a bear!”

“Yes! Lars-kun, can I have Aina-chan hold him?”

“Oh, yeah. Aina, aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

I ask, and she looks at me, holding Ash in her arms.

“Wow, he’s not a stuffed animal, he’s real! You’re so cute! I woke up because I could smell Lars-niichan behind the door Nora-chan opened when she left the room! Ahaha, that tickles.”

“Kuoon♪”

“The smell ……”

Makina shivers. I feel the same way, so I put my hand on Makina’s shoulder and nodded. Then Aina approaches with Ash in her arms.

“How long will brother Lars be here?”

“Hm. I came back to borrow the help of brother, Nora, and Urka for a guild request. I’ve already spoken to brother and Nora, so I’m going to go see Urka and then go home.”

“What!? Y-You’re already going home ……? I can’t eat and play with my Lars-niichan ……? Even though you just came back …… U-Uhhh ……”

Ah, this is bad. I remembered that she cried a lot when we went to the capital, so I hurriedly put my hand on Aina’s head to talk to her.

“It’s okay. I’ll come back to drop off brother and Nora when I’m done with the request, and we can play then.”

“…… You won’t you come back when Aina is asleep ……?”

“Uh ……?”

She’s smart.

As expected of my little sister …… She may have analyzed the current situation at the age of five and realized that I had come home when Aina was asleep. When I was stuck, Aina finally burst into tears.

“I don’t want that! It’s been so long since you’ve been back, and now you have to go, I don’t want that! Aina’s coming with too!”

“What!? No, you’re too young and I have to go to work, so I won’t be there either way, you know?”

“I’ve heard that Lars-niichan was seven years old when he was working for the guild. Aina will be fine!”

“Kuoon.”

When I looked at my brother, he was holding his hands together with an expression that said, “I’m sorry”. It seems that they had a lot of talk about while I was gone. It’s hard to convince Aina that I’m a good example. As Ash licks her cheek and stares at me, and as I’m trying to decide what to do, Mom opens her mouth.

“Dedite and Nora are going, so you should take Aina with you too. That little bear seems to like Aina.”

“Are you sure, Mom? …… Well, you just didn’t let us go to town in the past because of that, so I guess you don’t mind.”

“That’s the thing. She said she wanted to see you, so I’m sorry to bother you at work, but just stay with her.”

She winked at me and I looked at her reluctantly, but then I scratched my head, thinking it would be a pity to leave her like that.

“With Nora here, why don’t you let her play with Radia and Schneider?”

“Makina …… Okay. I’ll take you with me then.”

“Yay!”

“Kuoon♪”

She hugged Ash, who was not much different in size from her, and all the crying she had done earlier disappeared. Aina screams with joy. But I look at her and tell her.

“But, you can’t do anything unnecessary, okay? Like going somewhere by yourself. If you misbehave, Sarge will take you home. Okay?”

“That’s right! I have to tell it to Tilia-chan and Trim-kun too!”

When Aina was about to leave, I grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and stopped her. Ash was lying on the floor and Sephiro had woken him up.

“You know that they’re not up at this hour, right? Besides, I’m only taking Aina with me, so if you tell them, it’ll be troubling.”

“Ah, yes …….”

“What an energetic child, I wish I had one like her.”

“Who are you, grandma?”

“My name is Fath. I’ll be coming with you too, but is that okay?”

“Yes! My mom says I have to be nice to my grandma! I’m going to get ready! Come on, little bear.”

“Kuoon!”

Aina took Ash to her room, I let out a sigh, and everyone else laughed.

My brother and Nora went back to their room to get ready, and Makina and Fath-san waited while I drank the herbal tea my mother had made for us. They’ve been given five days to stay in the city, but I want to solve the problem as soon as possible so that we can go sightseeing.

“–And then, Verna and Tigre-sensei are both serious, so Tilia-chan is very polite.”

“That girl looks like Verna-sensei when she’s not doing anything, but when she’s practicing with her sword, she’s really sharp. You can easily tell that she’s Tigre-sensei’s child. Well, I’m glad she doesn’t look like Tigre-sensei.”

“He’s going to scold you for that, Lars. If she had been a boy, I would have wanted him to look like Tigre-sensei because he’s so cool. Oh, look like little tiger is feeling sleepy.”

“He must have been nervous about the flight. It’s earlier than usual.”

“So this kid’s so energetic.”

Makina holds the little tiger against her chest and smiles as she watches the blossom on Sephiro’s head as Mom plays with him. She seemed to like it so much that she wanted one for the house.

As we were having this conversation, brother and Nora came back into the living room with their luggage.

“Thanks for waiting, I’ve brought a change of clothes and my gear just in case.”

“Me, too! I’m looking forward to seeing the other animals.”

“Well, I think Nora will like it? Both of their parents have scary faces, but they’re very gentle.”

Nora nodded her head to my words. Aina comes in from behind, also carrying a large luggage.

“Let’s go, Lars-niichan! Ash wants to go home as soon as possible.”

“Kuoon♪”

“Hey, you got a good one.”

When Aina held Ash up high, he was wearing the nightcap that Nina had made for Aina when she was about two years old. Ash squealed with satisfaction, and Makina poked his nose in the air.

“You’ve only just met her, but you’ve grown quite attached to Aina-chan, huh. She seemed to have a hard time with Nora back then, though.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Maybe it’s because she’s blonde and has a similar mood to Lars? Well then, should we get going?”

Makina looked at me, I nodded and said to Mom and Dad.

“Well, I’m sorry for the rush, but I’m going home. Let’s talk again when I bring brother and Nora back.”

“Yeah, go for it …… Seeing you healthy is good enough for us, though.”

“Thank you, Dad. Let’s go to Urka’s house then.”

“Yeah!”

“Kuoon!”

“!”

It’s almost 22 o’clock, so I’ll have to ask him as soon as possible. I realize now that I should have gone to call him while I was waiting. I was so elated to be back home that it didn’t even cross my mind.

It was unexpected that Aina had found me, but unlike me, going to the royal capital might be a good experience for her.

We strolled through the city at night, eventually arriving at Urka’s house in the residential area, and knocked on the front door.

Well, this is what happens ……

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“Well, it looks like Basle won’t be coming out this time!”

Why do you look so happy ……