The rain finally stopped the next day.
Thanks to the heavy downpour, the sky was so clear that it was hard to find a single cloud.
Anyone who looked up at such a sky would be astonished at its height, I thought.
Anyway, now that the rain had stopped and the day was bright, it was time to head home.
I called Shirud to decide on the departure time of the flight.
Accepting the suggestion to leave at a leisurely time to match lunch break created a brief window of time, so before returning to Aires, Yerna decided to help Mirna with the vegetable garden they had talked about yesterday.
Thus, Yerna walked while filling a basket with harvested radishes and vegetables.
“How’s it? Didn’t we have quite a good harvest this year?”
“Yeah, they grew really well.”
“Oh right. Since you’re here, I’ll pack some pickled radish for you, so take it with you on your way.”
“Okay, thanks.”
After meeting like this, Mom always wanted to give me something every time.
It felt uneasy to refuse her insistence, so Yerna found it best to simply accept with thanks.
Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I had Mom’s pickled radish; I’m looking forward to it.
As Yerna recalled the taste of pickled radish that her mother had made since childhood and swallowed, Mirna smiled and spoke.
“By the way, that human child you brought along, he cooks really well in the elf style. I was surprised.”
“Yeah, Dayton is really good at cooking.”
This morning, the elf-style meal was prepared by Dayton.
Dayton was already quite good at cooking, so it wasn’t a problem to serve breakfast, and Mirna’s tasting skills were also quite impressive.
As evidence, Diana enjoyed eating much more than usual.
It seemed that Mirna’s cooking didn’t suit the human child’s taste… but the other two kids ate so well that it made me wonder again.
I was confused about whether Diana was a picky eater or if the child Pyris and Luke simply ate well without being choosy.
Mirna didn’t often have the chance to interact with children, nor could Yerna compare them with her childhood.
Comparing the eating habits of an elf child and a human child was nonsensical in the first place.
Thus, I chatted casually while walking home.
“Hehe, the little ones are having fun over there.”
Mirna smiled as she pointed to three little girls playing in boots near the forest.
They were Luke, Pyris, and Diana.
Usually, Dayton would be taking care of the kids, but it seemed he entrusted that duty to Luke while he was busy with dishes and cleaning.
Certainly, with Luke, I could trust him. He played the role of the big sister in situations like this.
By the way, seeing Pyris squatting down with a little shovel in hand, it looked like they were playing with the dirt.
The soil was soft from the rain, making it good for playing.
Yerna’s gaze naturally shifted to Pyris, who was digging the ground with the small shovel.
But sitting like that, her white dress would get dirty since the hem was touching the ground.
Why is Luke just standing there? As I observed his expression, I saw him sighing at the sight of the hem as if resigning himself to the situation.
Well, no matter how much I scold them from the side, it’s normal for kids not to listen at all.
After all, a lively child like Pyris, who acts without a care, wouldn’t really listen even if told to be careful not to dirty her dress.
Anyway, the blue-haired girl, unfazed by Luke’s exasperated gaze, seemed to find something and reached confidently into a little hole with a bright expression.
“Hmm! Found it!”
With a bright smile, she pulled out what appeared to be a giant caterpillar.
Hmm, does she like caterpillars?
“Oh, this is an ogre beetle larva. It’s grown quite a lot. But I wonder why it was on the surface like this; is it the influence of the heavy rain?”
“You found it really well!”
Luke naturally recited this explanation, and Diana clapped her hands in admiration.
“Can I touch it?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks!”
Pyris handed over the caterpillar she discovered to Diana with a slightly hesitant expression.
Hmm, is she perhaps not fond of it? If that’s the case, I’m sorry. I need to let her touch it quickly and hand it back.
Diana placed the ogre beetle larva on her palm and looked down at its wriggling form for a moment.
She didn’t usually like bugs, but this large caterpillar didn’t feel that off-putting to touch.
Its white wriggling was quite cute as well.
After thoroughly enjoying the sensation of the wriggling caterpillar on her palm, Diana carefully extended her hand back to Pyris.
“I’ll give it back now.”
“Okay!”
Seemingly pleased to get it back, Pyris picked up the caterpillar with her index finger, lifting it smoothly.
She didn’t seem to have any issues with touching it.
However, a moment later, Pyris did something that turned everyone’s expectations upside down.
Swish, swish.
– Chomp.
The child rubbed the giant caterpillar on her clothes to clean it and then simply put it into her mouth.
Without anyone having a chance to stop her.
“…!”
Munch, she’s even chewing it!
Diana looked on in shock.
The girl with red hair was completely frozen.
But Pyris, unfazed by Diana’s astonishment, continued to munch as if savoring it, then grinned and exclaimed.
“It’s delicious!”
“Eww! No way!”
Diana was horrified, but surprisingly, Luke appeared unbothered.
No, not just unbothered; rather…
“Pyris, could you give me one too?”
He asked!
Pyris responded with a cheerful “Okay!” as she reached her hand into the hole and pulled out another caterpillar to hand it to Luke.
Luke seemed to deftly pick it up with his fingers, shaking off the dirt, and then brought it to his mouth.
It appeared that his habit of eating small bites even applied to eating bugs.
Instead of taking it all at once, he chewed half of it, savoring it, which left Diana even more horrified.
Seeing half a caterpillar squirming in Luke’s hand was pure terror to Diana.
“Hmm, not bad at all. Diana, ogre larvae are quite nutritious. They exist underground for a long time and accumulate a lot of mana. And such a large caterpillar is very rare.”
In fact, in the past, it was considered quite a valuable creature as a magical ingredient.
It was used as one of the most important materials to make mana potions.
The ogre beetle larva, consumed on the spot, possessed effects comparable to a decent mana potion.
Thanks to this, these little guys were like benefactors to adventurers who didn’t have money to buy expensive mana potions.
In fact, Luke had managed to get out of a crisis a few times thanks to this creature.
“Ew??”
But Diana could only be horrified by Luke’s explanation.
However, perhaps because she found Luke munching on the bug appealing, Pyris suddenly remembered something, reached into the hole again, and pulled out yet another caterpillar.
How many caterpillars are living in that hole?
“Are you eating?”
“Yay!”
“It’s delicious…”
“I’m not eating!!”
That was a scream that had already crossed the line of denial.
And Mirna, who had been watching this from a distance, approached while awkwardly scratching her cheek and muttering.
“Um, um. Maybe they didn’t have enough for breakfast…”
Still, eating caterpillars? They are quite peculiar and unusual kids, aren’t they?
Are kids from the Hyun lineage supposed to be like this?
Well, I thought it wouldn’t be very different from others since the older one, Luke, didn’t have visible ears or horns of a Hyun, but it seemed I was mistaken.
Anyway, those two kids really don’t seem to be picky at all.
“Hey, kids! You can’t just pick up anything off the ground and eat it!”
“…”
On the other hand, the expression on Yerna’s face had a slightly darker aspect than mere “embarrassment.”
Mirna noticed that and asked her what was wrong.
“Huh? Yerna, what’s wrong? Is the vegetable heavy? Do you want me to carry it?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Yerna forced a smile and expressed that she was alright.
Then she turned her gaze back to the kids.
Knowing their past, Yerna found it hard to think that the children were just behaving strangely.
How much have they lived without food?
———-
The next morning, Shirud stretched and got out of bed after coordinating his schedule with Yerna.
When Luke first suggested it, he had immediately responded to Helena’s suggestion without a hint of hesitation, mainly because of Luke.
Because Luke was sleeping in another place.
If he had slept with Luke, his heart surely wouldn’t have been able to take it.
Feeling refreshed from a good sleep for the first time in a while, Shirud loosened his body while waiting in the lobby.
Then, Helena, the owner of the villa, appeared on the central staircase of the lobby.
Shirud greeted Helena, who provided him with a place to sleep last night, with a bright smile.
“Thanks, Helena.”
“…”
On the other hand, Helena had no intention of receiving Shirud’s greeting.
Naturally, she had intended to talk with Luke, but then an unwanted interruption suddenly appeared…
“Hmph.”
To avoid Shirud’s smiling face, Helena turned her head sharply away.
This was her habit when she had some complaints or was embarrassed.
However, the place where this habit appeared was bad.
Oops,
That action was dangerous to do on the stairs.
It was enough to misjudge the position of her foot and cause her to stumble on the stairs.
“What?”
“What?”
Helena, who stumbled on the stairs, began to fall.
She tried to regain her balance too late, but with her body already in the air, the only action she could take in preparation for the coming impact was to tightly shut her eyes.
However, for some reason, she didn’t feel any impact.
Feeling strange, Helena slowly opened her eyes.
The first thing that came into her view was Shirud, who wore a refreshingly bright smile.
She couldn’t help but be surprised.
‘Could it be that he caught me from that height?’
It was easily over two meters high.
Perhaps it was closer to three.
Yet, not a bodyguard, but just a kid around her age—how did he do that?
Having caught her so perfectly and with no sign of difficulty as he held her now, Helena couldn’t help but be astonished.
‘This kid… he’s stronger than I thought…?’
Additionally, his smile radiated a different atmosphere than usual.
It was like the smile of an adult…
With an incredibly relieved and composed smile, Shirud said, “Gotcha.”
“It… ugh.”
Normally, an 11-year-old child wouldn’t be able to completely counteract the impact of a girl falling from several meters up, but Shirud was a mage engraved with the 3rd circle.
Magic invoked almost instinctively, body reinforcement and impact absorption. In a fraction of a moment, where he had no time to even name it, he activated his mana.
Perhaps it was said that enlightenment comes in moments of crisis?
Thanks to everything he had pondered and thought coming together perfectly, he was able to catch Helena.
Shirud felt a sense of thrill at that sensation.
That’s why he couldn’t help but show such a refreshing smile.
“Are you hurt?”
Shirud said with a smile still on his face.
Helena, perhaps embarrassed by her mistake, flushed bright red and exclaimed.
“Wh-what are you doing? Put me down quickly!”
“Oh, sorry.”
Shirud carefully set her down as if to apologize.
Then, Helena quickly straightened her posture.
Thump, thump.
Why is my heart racing like this?
‘It must be because I was surprised.’
It certainly must be.
Oh my, that was indeed a huge surprise.
