For three days after the children began accompanying them on their journey, the group continued to move with the same high spirits.
However, by the fourth day, their high energy began to wane, and by the fifth day, they were showing signs of exhaustion.
At this point, the guardians decided it would be best to return the children to the village.
Even the resolute Kousuke was determined not to give in to the children’s demands, but to their surprise, or perhaps their honesty, the children readily agreed to return to the village without any fuss.
The fact that the children didn’t protest was largely due to the clear explanation that this wasn’t the end of their adventures, but that there would be other opportunities in the future.
They promised that once they were back to their usual energetic selves, they would go on another journey together, and all three children nodded in agreement.
Unfortunately, the fifth day involved camping, so they decided to stay overnight in a town they visited the next day. Kousuke then decided to return to Amamiya Tower with the three children, Colette, and Peach.
Upon returning to the Lily Shrine using teleportation, Kousuke parted ways with the children and immediately headed back to the town where Kouhi and Shurein were. Since they could teleport directly to the Self-propelled wagon, it didn’t take long.
When Kousuke returned, Silvia was in the process of cleaning the wagon.
“Good work. How were the children?”
“Yeah. They seemed relieved to be back in a familiar place and were starting to look sleepy.”
Miku, in particular, was already nodding off, so Kousuke figured she’d be fast asleep by the time they got back home.
Silvia smiled at Kousuke’s report.
“Is that so? I was worried about how they’d handle it, having been so tense, but it’s a relief they’ll be able to sleep easily.”
“Is that so?”
Kousuke tilted his head, and Silvia nodded.
“At least it’s better than them remaining on edge.”
“That’s true, I suppose.”
They had certainly been excited about their first journey, but there was also likely a lingering fear of monsters appearing more frequently than in the village. Even with reliable adults nearby, that fear wouldn’t disappear. In fact, not having any sense of danger might actually be more risky in terms of their crisis-detection abilities. It was necessary for them to be natural, but the world wasn’t so gentle that they could let their guard down completely.
While helping Silvia, they were engaged in casual conversation when Shurein and the others returned from buying supplies.
“You’re already back?”
“Yeah. Well, the children seemed tired, so we were able to get back here quickly.”
“I see.”
Kousuke had anticipated that the children might fuss about being separated from him again for a while, so he had planned their subsequent schedule with some buffer time. However, they had managed to return so easily, leaving them with some unexpected free time.
“Are you departing immediately?” Floria asked, curious if they would press on now that they had some time. Kousuke shook his head.
“No. It’s not a journey we need to rush. Let’s take it easy while we have the chance.”
The town they were currently in wasn’t particularly special, but it did have inns where they could rest comfortably. Everyone had been engaged in the unfamiliar task of monitoring the children’s behavior, so they were all in agreement about taking a break.
After the Self-propelled wagon cleaning was finished, they did absolutely nothing else and spent the rest of the time relaxing at the inn. They did go out for dinner, but for the most part, they simply enjoyed each other’s company and conversation.
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The day after they delivered the children to the tower, Kousuke and the others were once again travelers. They had checked the Crown Adventurer Division for any noteworthy requests, but finding none, they left town without taking on any new quests. After that, it was a monotonous journey down a single path. While the scenery was pleasant, the path was largely the same, and they soon grew tired of it. They weren’t foolish enough to wish for monsters to appear to break the monotony.
What was unexpected was that the effort involved didn’t change much, whether the children were with them or not. Of course, the Self-propelled wagon moved faster, but otherwise, there was no difference from when the children were present. In fact, without the children, they had lost a means of alleviating their boredom.
Noticing the quiet interior of the wagon, Kousuke muttered to himself, “Hmm. I never expected that the absence of children would have such an impact.”
Although Kousuke’s words were seemingly a soliloquy, they were clearly heard by everyone, and they all responded.
“We had to keep an eye on them, wondering what they’d do next,” Floria said with a wry smile, and Silvia nodded in agreement.
“We weren’t solely responsible for them; we all had our eyes on them. It also helped that we could rest properly.”
“That’s true. Besides, they were always making noise, so we never got bored,” Shurein added, her eyes narrowing as she recalled the children’s boisterousness.
Kousuke was reminded anew of the significance of these beings, who were a handful when present, yet left a void when absent.
“Sigh… Well, there’s no use crying over spilled milk. Shall we play a game instead?”
“Hmm. That sounds good. Do you have anything interesting?” Floria readily accepted Kousuke’s suggestion, seizing the opportunity to lift the slightly somber mood. The others also seemed to feel the same, turning their attention to Kousuke.
Feeling their gazes, Kousuke pondered what he might have that would be suitable. He then took out a deck of cards he had been secretly making for some time and began to teach them a game he knew.
There were no such things as “trump” cards on the Central Continent, but card games did exist. However, there weren’t any items that could be used for such a variety of games, so Shurein and Floria were delighted.
“Why didn’t you teach us sooner?”
“Indeed. If we could have this much fun, we would have liked to have known about it earlier.”
The two of them looked at him with slightly reproachful eyes. Kousuke, shrinking back slightly, offered an excuse.
“Well, there wasn’t any particular reason… maybe because it was a hassle to prepare?”
Kousuke made the excuse that it was difficult to prepare all 53 cards, including a single joker, but their stares didn’t waver.
“Surely, you didn’t need to prepare them yourself, Kousuke?”
“That’s right. You could have just told someone to make them for us.”
“Ugh…”
There wasn’t any major reason why Kousuke hadn’t made the cards before. If forced to give one, it was that preparing the cards was troublesome, but as Shurein and Floria pointed out, he could have simply asked someone to make them. The real reason he hadn’t done so was that he hadn’t felt a strong desire for them. However, none of these reasons were decisive, and it was probably more accurate to say that he had forgotten about them while doing various other things in this world. Honestly, he didn’t have a clear reason to give if asked.
As usual, Kousuke received exasperated glances from Shurein and Floria.
“Ah, I just remembered that I hadn’t made any trump cards yet, so I decided to bring them out now. I briefly considered bringing out Mahjong or something similar, but I figured I should release a classic first. That was my conclusion.”
