CH 19

“Um… Gray-san, the souvenirs are nice, but it’s been a week in a row. Stella-chan is trying to eat less dinner because she wants to eat sweets. It’s not good for her health, so… we’ll only bring her a souvenir once in a while.”

“…okay”

Ariamel got mad at me when she saw the sweets I bought.

I just wanted to see the children’s happy faces…surely one week in a row wasn’t too much.

At night, I read to Nina and the others on the bed. I stroked Nina’s head as she listened, rubbing her eyes to the end, and she grabbed my fingers while she slept.

I close the book, place it under my pillow, and think about Iska and Fio.

During dinner today, two of them asked me to teach them how to handle swords and magic because they wanted to become adventurers. When Ariamel heard this, she looked at them with a surprised face.

She didn’t seem to know about it either, so it must have been decided by Iska and Fio together.

I don’t know what will happen to me while I’m in this business. So I guess it’s not a bad idea to give the children who are left behind strength so that they can survive on their own.

Well, I have no intention of dying at all.

I can’t let these kids experience the sadness of losing their family again.

But you want to be an adventurer…? I decided to become an adventurer when I was about the same age as Iska and Fio.

……Honestly, I don’t mind having the two of them practice, but…Ariamel seems to dislike it a lot.

I’m sorry Iska and Fio, but let’s put this conversation on hold. I don’t want to teach them anything halfway, but I can’t convince Ariamel either.

It’s difficult… It might be easier to quarrel with the nobles.

“Papa…”

“Ah, sorry to wake you up…”

“…if you do that…you’ll go bald”

…….

Stella’s sleep-talking… What the hell am I doing in her dreams…?

The next day, everyone was eating breakfast as if nothing had happened. …I feel like Stella is staring at my head a lot, but it’s probably just my imagination.

Did I care too much? I look at Ariamel as she cleans up, smiling at Nina as she hugs her leg.

“Ah, that’s right, Gray-san.”

Ariamel, whose eyes meet mine, comes up to me and hands me a small package.

“What’s this?”

“I prepared lunch for you today. It seems you don’t always eat lunch, so if it’s not too much trouble…oh, you can leave it if you don’t want it.”

“No, I was thinking of eating lunch once in a while. Thank you.”

If there is someone who can refuse this, I definitely want to see his face.

Because I’ll cut it off.

“… Um, about Iska-kun and Fio-chan.”

“I don’t know if they really want to be adventurers or not, but if they have a dream, I’d like to help them. I understand your concern, so why don’t you talk to them directly?”

“Yes…I see…Have a nice day, Gray-san. Please come back safely.”

“Yeah, I’m off.”

When I arrived at the adventurer’s guild and entered inside, I was surrounded by the usual hustle and bustle. but the air was somehow different from usual… I guess you could say everyone was so nervous, especially the guys.

And the guild staff are also running around in a hurry. …Did something happen?

“What’s going on today? You seem awfully busy.”

I find Sasha and call out to her.

“Oh, good morning, Gray-san.Today is the day that the “War Maidens” who were on an expedition are coming back after finishing the long unexplored dungeon “Garden of Flowers”. …There have been posters in the guild for several days now, haven’t there?”

“Ah…”

I hadn’t noticed that at all. I guess I’ve been a bit lax since I started living with Iska and the others.

“So please line up with one of the other girls at the reception today….and don’t submit a head, Melinda also begged me, crying.”

“All right…”

I haven’t been to a dungeon in years. …The dungeons I’d like to visit are all tough places to go solo.

Let’s just look for a request, shall we.

――――――――――

supplement

If you conquer an unexplored dungeon, you will be subject to time restrictions for a few days at a commemorative party etc. (depending on the size of the dungeon)