Chapter 4 : Family outing

“You wield Aura?”

In the middle of the night.
After returning home and explaining what had happened during the day, Erina gasped as if she couldn’t believe it.
Rona’s actions were so absurd that they surprised even her, who was usually unflappable.

“Are you joking?”

“Have I ever lied to you?”

“……No. If anything, you’d be sparing with words. You’re not the type to make things up.”

She, too, knew well that I didn’t lie.
Even so, as if she still couldn’t believe it, her uneasy gaze turned to the bedroom connected to the living room.
Existing there was an infant girl, oblivious to the world, heading to dreamland.
And a precious being we had taken in as our child, even if only for a while.
On Erina’s face, gazing at such a child, emotions that had been forgotten while living with Rona for the past month were resurfacing.
Negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, and the like……

“Erina. Calm down.”

Understanding that, I tried to soothe her trembling with anxiety.

“Rona is still by our side.”

Whether she has extraordinary lineage, or an unusual destiny,
Either way, since that child has committed an act that defies common sense, it wouldn’t be strange if something beyond our expectations happened at any time.
So Erina couldn’t help but be afraid.
Whether that child will suddenly leave our side, or someone coveting that child will forcibly take her away from us.

“R-right? She won’t leave, right? We’ve been getting along so well so far, and that child also considers us her parents, if she suddenly leaves……”

Erina tried to calm herself down somehow as I reassured her.
From the emotions that still wouldn’t easily subside, I could read the affection Erina had for Rona.
Although not connected by blood, she had cherished that child like her own daughter for the past month.
If we were to send that child away without proper mental preparation, Erina might break down even more than before she met that child.
As a self-proclaimed father, I too couldn’t help but earnestly wish for that child to stay with us.

“……Dear.”

Even so, an unwanted farewell might come someday.
To me, feeling dejected about that, Erina made a cautious request in a quiet voice.

“Can you make time tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow, you say?”

“Yes, there’s a lake near the village, so let’s go on a picnic there.”

Holding my hand tightly.
Still unable to calm her emotions, she trembled as she held my hand tightly.

“While we’re together, let’s make a few more memories.”

I couldn’t shake off Erina’s desperately pleading hand, and held it even tighter.

The next morning.
Erina, standing in front of me and Rona lined up in front of our house, raised her hand and shouted in a cheerful voice.

“Alright, you two. Are you ready for today’s picnic!?”

“Sopui!”

She was gloomy just yesterday, but her tension is high again.
Well, going on a picnic with Rona is something to look forward to.
In her hand, she held a basket containing the lunch box she had prepared for it, and Rona was already drooling as she turned her attention to it.

“Eheh~”

“Pfft, how long has it been since our daughter ate, and she’s already drooling?”

Rona reached out her small hand towards the lunch box, and Erina quickly pulled the lunch box away.
Erina smiled kindly and patted Rona’s head at her sullen expression.

“Let’s eat the lunch box later when we get to the lake. Rona is mature, so she can wait, right?”

“Yes!!”

Rona nodded her head vigorously.
Then, Rona turned her back from her spot, raised both arms, and shouted energetically.

“Tyubaa~!”

……Did she say departure?
Well, if it’s departure, we should go together.
As Rona ran ahead and Erina followed, and I followed behind them.

I encountered a familiar face on the path leading to the lake behind the village.

“Oh, mister. Going on a picnic with your family?”

“……Guild master, is it.”

The guild master of the Adventurer’s Guild.
He was a grateful neighbor who had consistently helped me settle in this village as someone who had recommended me for various odd jobs to earn living expenses.

“Haha, going on a picnic with family on a day off……. I’m envious~ I used to go on dates with my wife when we were newlyweds too. Now she just nags me so much, I miss those days, you know? Haha.”

“Is that so.”

“You’ll understand when your time comes. What it feels like to live under your wife’s thumb……. Ah, did I throw cold water on newlyweds too much? Sorry about that. I was just envious.”

Always a friendly attitude.
Taking it calmly, thinking of it as another aspect of a good neighbor, the guild master changed the subject and began to make a serious face.

“Anyway, now that I’ve met you, there’s something I wanted to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“About the pit you found last time. Investigators dispatched from the Imperial Palace came and went after investigating it for a while.”

“From the Imperial Palace, you say?”

“Yeah, well. It’s probably nothing much. Nothing really happened in this village either, after all. Anyway, have a good picnic.”

Saying that, the guild master disappeared leisurely behind me.
But the words he left behind couldn’t help but bother me.
Investigators from the Imperial Palace came to investigate directly. Such a case means that they are sure of something about the subject they are investigating.
And the place where I found Rona was also next to the place where that pit was. Could it be that……?

“Dear, what are you doing?”

While I was having such ominous thoughts, Erina called me from afar.
While I was momentarily distracted, the two of them had put quite a distance between us.

“Hurry up. Rona is waiting.”

“Whee-ee-ee-ee-ee~~”

Rona was circling around in one place, jumping up and down.
Just seeing that scene, the anxiety I had felt until then subsided in an instant.
Right, what’s bothering me is just her talent for wielding Aura, isn’t it?
It’s still too much of a stretch to think that it’s related to the light that fell from the sky or the pit that crashed into the ground.
So the Imperial investigators coming has nothing to do with that child, I concluded. I followed the two again, and soon arrived at the lakeside behind the village.

The wide surface of the water, reflecting the sunlight clearly.
Rona, gazing at the sparkling radiance in it, shone her eyes brightly and exclaimed excitedly.

“Mumana! Mumana!!”

“Yes, there’s a lot of water.”

A gentle breeze was also blowing, and the coolness unique to the lake could be clearly felt.
While Erina took advantage of the gap to spread out a mat and set up our spot, I picked up a stone from next to Rona, who was jumping up and down.

“Rona, look over here.”

Now that we’ve come all the way to the lake, it would be a shame not to do this.
I smoothed the wide surface of the stone with my finger, and then flicked my wrist to throw it.
And the stone, colliding with the water surface, thunk, thunk, repeatedly skipped forward.
When the skipping stone, which had continued for a while, sank below the lake, Rona, who had been watching it, widened her eyes and began to exclaim in admiration.

“Ttyayaya! Ttyappaijannhya!! Attayattcha!”

……Hmm.
I guess she’s saying it’s amazing.

“Rona, do you want to try it?”

“Yes!”

Rona took the stone I handed her into her hand.
Then Rona threw the stone with all her might, but the stone, thrown with her characteristically weak strength, just plunk sank into the lake.

“Hoe?”

Is she wondering why it’s not working like mine?
As Rona tilted her head, looking at the spot where the stone had fallen, Erina, who had just finished setting up the mat, joined us between me and Rona with interest.

“Oh my, are you two skipping stones?”

“Erina, would you like to try too?”

“Hehe, sure. Alright then……. Ei-yah!”

The stone, thrown with a shout, traveled across the water surface as if running, and then headed downwards, kicking off the surface and bouncing up again.
The moment I realized that the distance was several times longer than what I had thrown, a faint exclamation escaped my lips.

“……Amazing, you had this kind of talent too.”

“Hehe, this kind of thing isn’t done with strength, but with technique~ How is it? Mommy is amazing, right?”

“Ttzugoi!”

Rona gave Erina a thumbs up, praising her.
Watching Erina happily hugging Rona, I soon took out the things I had prepared and prepared for the amusement at the lake.

“Papa, muya?”

And Rona, as if she had been waiting, approached with interest.
I showed Rona the bait hooked on the fishing hook in front of her and replied.

“I’m going to fish.”

“Nazzi?”

“…Be careful with your pronunciation.”

It reminds me of those bad guys I learned about in history class in my previous life.

–Plunk.

The fishing hook thrown like that went straight to the lake.
Then Rona, sitting in place, stared blankly at the fishing float that was floating on the surface due to buoyancy for a while.
With her eyes, she followed the float, made in the shape of a fish to suit fishing, floating up and down every moment.

“Jiiiiiiiiii—–.”

……It could be boring, but she observes well.
Come to think of it, Rona especially liked just blankly watching things.
Whether to say she has exceptionally good curiosity, or to see it as a talent for accepting anything without getting bored.

–Splash!

Around that time, a reaction started to come from the fishing float.

“Kkyibyaet!?”

The moment Rona, startled by that, jumped up, I too pulled the fishing rod with all my might and pulled out the prey that had bitten the bait.
This feeling is good.
It’s definitely a big one!

–Flap, flap.

But contrary to my conviction, what actually came out of the water was a fish about the size of my finger.
Rona, gazing at it, spoke what she saw as it was.

“Jaga.”

“……Indeed.”

This is too small to even fill the gap between my teeth even if I eat it.
Thinking there was no choice, I released the fish back into the water, and Rona waved her hand at the departing fish.

“Jaga, byebye~”

Does she cherish even a brief encounter?
Then Rona turned her gaze away from the lake, turned to me, and raised her hand high.

“Papa annya!”

“Yes, hello to you too.”

She really is a child with good manners.

“You two~ Come over here and eat lunch boxes!”

Following Erina’s call that followed, I headed to the mat with Rona and faced the lunch box she had prepared.
Sandwiches with a savory aroma thanks to cheese sauce, and cutlets made by frying pork. Perfect delicacies to eat on a picnic.
While I was happily watching Rona eat it deliciously, I suddenly noticed something approaching from the forest near the lake.
A long-eared creature with white fur and red eyes.

“Hue?”

To Rona, who was interested in it, Erina chuckled and explained.

“Rona, that’s called a rabbit.”

“Ttochi?”

“It seems it smelled the salad and came looking for food. How about giving it some food?”

A piece of lettuce was placed in Rona’s hand.
As Rona carefully handed it over, the rabbit, smelling the scent, quickly began to gnaw at it from the surface.

“He-eee-eee~!”

Rona exclaimed in admiration while watching it, focusing on feeding the rabbit.
Watching that scene, I spoke in a serious voice to express what had suddenly come to mind.

“Rona, don’t underestimate rabbits. Rabbits are more terrifying creatures than they look.”

“……Musyeo?”

“That’s right.”

Perhaps this is the most serious moment since meeting Rona.
In such an attitude, I returned an answer to Rona’s question.

“Because, rabbits have kkang and chong.”

How is it, my masterpiece of humor.

“Kkai, Ttyong?”

Oh dear, it seems Rona doesn’t know what kkang and chong are.
If she had understood, she would have burst into laughter for sure……

“You’re still the same, your lame jokes.”

Erina, who was interjecting from the side, telling me not to make pointless jokes, I turned to look back at her with slightly resentful eyes.

“……Was it that bad?”

It was my masterpiece of humor, seriously devised.
Even though she said it was lame, a faint smile was drawn on Erina’s lips.

“It’s not funny, but it’s not bad.”

Erina continued to speak with such a face.

“When we were on the battlefield, there was no such humor at all.”

“…….”

A quiet lakeside.
In the middle of it, I quietly imprinted only Rona’s scene playing with a rabbit into my eyes.
A scene of feeding a rabbit, knowing nothing.
Looking carefree, still a child who doesn’t need to grow up yet.
Looking at such a child, the two childhoods I had experienced vaguely began to come to mind.
Sadistic violence inflicted at home, oppression from society. Even in my second life, I was sold to a training camp for money from a young age.
The war that followed was like hell, and because it was so arduous, I hoped that stability and peace would exist in life after the war.

“……I’m happy.”

Yes, in the end, we have grasped happiness.
Although there were wishes we couldn’t fulfill together, even that has been comforted by encountering Rona.

“Every moment I spend with you is happy. I have never regretted confessing to you and deciding to be with you, not even for a single moment.”

My partner, feeling utmost satisfaction with such a daily life, cautiously asked me for agreement at this moment.

“……Are you too?”

I answered.

“Yes.”

I too, am very happy with my current life, having her and our daughter.
Erina, who had heard my sincere intention, quietly leaned her head against my body and conveyed her inner thoughts.

“I really, really wish this time would continue forever.”

Earnestly wishing, for a wish we haven’t yet grasped…….
Yes, as we don’t know when that child will leave our side, we will have no choice but to live in constant anxiety.
But for now, it’s okay.
Just hoping that that time will continue for a little longer, and if the moment of farewell really comes, I hope we will be given time to prepare our hearts.

“……Rona?”

While repeating only such simple wishes, I belatedly realized that the presence that should have been nearby had disappeared.
The last thing I remember is Rona’s scene running around with a rabbit.
But when I actually looked around, Rona’s scene had vanished without a trace.
Only the footprints imprinted in this vicinity, leading to the forest far away, were all that could be discerned.

“RONA!!!”

Confusion began to overwhelm my peaceful heart.