Chapter 3 : Unexpected Arts

Sunlight streamed in through the window.
My drowsiness gradually faded away.
And a small child, using my arm as a pillow, was fast asleep.

“Eheheh…”

Even when Erina called her, Rona, oblivious to the world, was still in dreamland.
I watched her for a while, observing her reaction.
I wondered if it was okay to wake her up while she was having such a sweet dream, or if waking her up would have a negative impact on her.

–Rustle, rustle.

As I was lost in such thoughts, Rona had slipped out of my arms and crawled deeper into the bed.
Wondering what she was doing, I lifted the blanket to check, and saw Rona crawling into my embrace, settling down to breathe.
Did she move to a darker place because of the sunlight?

Watching her for a while, I took my finger to Rona’s cheek and touched it.

–Tap tap, tap tap.

It yielded when pressed, and bounced back when released.
Repeating this, I vividly felt the touch of a child’s plump cheek.
Are a child’s cheeks always this soft?

“Woong…”

Perhaps the sensation of her cheek being touched woke her up, as Rona carefully opened her closed eyes.
Then, Rona, who had been staring at me from inside the blanket, reached out her small hand and began to caress my face in return.
Fingers wiggling, stroking my sparsely bearded chin.

“Hehe, prickly prickly…”

It seemed she liked the prickly feeling of my beard.
As I let her touch my chin for a while, Erina, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, came and sent us a disapproving look.

“You two, the morning sun is already high, how long are you going to stay here? Breakfast will be ready soon, so hurry up and wash up.”

“Yes~”

Rona replied listlessly and got out of bed.
I followed Rona to the washbasin, washed Rona’s face, and handed her a toothbrush with toothpaste on it.

“You know how to do it, right?”

At first, she didn’t know anything, so I had to brush her teeth for her myself, but as a child with quick learning abilities, she was now skilled at it.
So I was believing she would do well again today, when Rona stared blankly at the toothbrush in her hand and mumbled softly.

“Chika chika detsu.”
“……Detsu?”
“Chika chika detsu!”

Rona emphasized again and again, looking up at me blankly as if expecting something.
After a moment of thought, I spoke of what Rona might be wanting, with a hopeful feeling.

“Are you talking about the toothbrushing dance?”

“Tchika tchika ttentzu!”

What was it, turns out she was talking about what Erina taught her last time while brushing her teeth.
It seemed that what she just said was meant for me to follow along with her.

“Chika chika~ Chika chika~♬”

Brushing teeth, and moving the hips gently from side to side to match the rhythm.
I watched it for a moment and then followed along, and Rona started dancing even more excitedly.
And boogoo roo roo roo, she gargled the water in her mouth and ptooey.
After finishing brushing her teeth completely and wiping her mouth with a towel, Rona looked up at me and cautiously asked.

“Jal haetjyeo?”

Did she ask if she did well?

“Yes, you did great.”

Giving her the answer she wanted and patting her head, a bright smile spread across Rona’s face.

“Annyattyattya!!”

……Still an incomprehensible shout of spirit.
Whatever it was, it’s good if she’s happy, I thought, and took Rona to the kitchen, where Erina, who had just set the table, welcomed us.

“You two, come and eat quickly. You have to go to work again today, right?”

“…Right.”

The menu was freshly baked toast.
Sandwiches with bacon and fried eggs in between were Rona’s favorite breakfast.

“Omnyomnyom, omnyomnyom.”

Rona put toast in her mouth as if gnawing at it with her chestnut-like mouth.
Watching her, a happy smile gradually began to appear on Erina’s face.

“Our daughter, now she eats well on her own~”

“Jal haetjyeo?”

“Yes~ Our daughter is so admirable~”

“Heehee~”

Is being praised that good?
Rona, eating even more actively and finishing her meal faster than usual, soon went with Erina to change clothes.
Then I should get ready soon too.

“What kind of work are you doing today?”

“I was asked to chop firewood to use at the village’s public bathhouse.”

“Hmm, I saw it while grocery shopping, there was quite a lot of firewood piled up, it must be quite tiring.”

“It won’t be more tiring than what I used to do.”

At most, it’s just village chores, could it be more tiring than rolling around on the battlefield?

“Ah, wait a moment.”

Erina, who was about to leave the doorway, called out to stop me.
I stopped walking and stood there for a moment, and she kissed me on the cheek, * 쪽 *.

“Be careful on your way.”

“……Okay.”

“Mommy, Daddy!”

Rona, next to me, waved her hand towards Erina.
She occasionally followed me and watched me do chores, and today she seemed excited about the thought of doing quests together.

“Yes~ Rona, you too, do well with Daddy~”

“Nyaa~”

Starting with being seen off by Erina, we set out on the way to work.
Rona, following me, was circling around me, beaming as always.

“Whee-eeee, whee-eeee-eee~~”

“If you run around too much, you’ll get hurt.”

“Whee-eeee-eeee-eeee-eee~!!”

……Just walking, what’s so fun about it.
Whatever the reason, it’s a good sight, I thought, when I happened to encounter the owner of the fruit store heading to the market with a cart full of fruit.

“Oh, young man. Good morning to you too today. Are you going to work with your child?”

“Ajji annya!!”

Rona raised her hand high in the air with an excited voice.
The fruit store owner, seemingly finding that sight pleasant, laughed heartily and handed me an apple.

“Yes, we should give a reward to a child with such good manners. Here, take this and share it with Rona.”

“I appreciate your kindness.”

“It’s nothing. Now that your family has grown, please continue to use our store often~”

Saying that, the fruit store owner left.
I split the apple with my hand, and handed the larger half to Rona.

“Saga.”

“Yes, it’s an apple.”

“Saga……”

Rona stared blankly at the apple I handed her.
Then, taking a bite of it, Rona turned back to me with a bright smile.

“Saga, sagasaga!”

“…Yes, crunchy crunchy.”

Children are really amazed by the strangest things.
Realizing a new fact again today, I walked the rest of the way to work with Rona.

Today’s quest was to chop firewood to be used for the public bathhouse.
The pile of firewood stacked like a mountain was intimidating just to look at, but even that was comfortable compared to what I had experienced on the battlefield.
So doing the work was without hesitation.

–Crack.

As I repeated cutting the firewood placed on the stump, Rona, who was watching, followed with her eyes as new firewood was placed on the stump.

“Too-oong~”

And as soon as the firewood split with a crack, Rona made a strange sound.
Wondering what she was doing, I placed firewood on the stump again and swung the axe, and Rona once again uttered the same words as before.

“Doong, doong~”

“…….”

Ah, I see. I roughly got the idea.
I immediately placed new firewood on the stump, and gently embedded the axe into its surface.
Tap, tap. Tapping it lightly twice to make a sound.
Next, exactly one hit thwack at the groove carved to split the firewood!

“Doo-doong Ttaak~!”

Rona, adding sound effects in sync with the rhythm, began to shine her eyes brightly as if she was excited that it went according to her intentions.

“Doo-doong Ttaa~ Heehee~”

Is she that happy just by me matching the rhythm?
Well, it’s good if she’s having fun, I thought, and continued to chop firewood, when soon Rona triumphantly raised a wooden stick she had picked up from somewhere.
With a piece of firewood placed in front of her, she soon aimed the end of the wooden stick at it.

“Rona, do you want to try it too?”

“Yes!”

Come to think of it, she had been interested in what Erina and I were doing, and often tried to imitate us.
There’s plenty of firewood around, and there shouldn’t be a problem if she plays with one as a toy.
But just in case, I stopped working to watch Rona’s actions, thinking she might get hurt.

“Oong!”

Rona took a small breath and glared at the firewood.
Just as a hollow laugh was about to leak out at her uncharacteristically serious demeanor, I suddenly felt a strange energy flowing around Rona.
A shimmering blue afterglow, like heat haze.
It was flowing through Rona’s body and being transmitted to the wooden stick, gradually sharpening it to a keen edge.

“Huh……?”

I knew what it was.
Aura Blade. A technique that becomes the measure of the level reached by those who train the sword.
And crack! Firewood being cleaved in two by a single, exquisite strike of the stick.
I watched the process of the bisected pieces of wood scattering, without missing a single moment.
Yes, the stance, and of course the mana manipulation too. Even the swinging motion, everything was a perfect sword strike.

But how in the world?

“Rona, how did you just do that?”

“Woongna?”

Rona reacted to my words.
The serious atmosphere from before had vanished without a trace.
She was just looking down at the wooden stick in her hand, poking at the firewood pieces scattered on the ground.
Rona, who had been continuing only those actions for a while, then drew a bright smile on her face and said.

“Monnya~!”

She doesn’t know……
Does Rona herself not realize what she just did either?
No, I even doubted if what I saw was really real.
A mere three-year-old child wielding aura and swordsmanship.

“Rona, just who are you……”

No, this is not a situation to just brush aside.
The scene just now was enough to ignite the questions about Rona’s identity that I hadn’t been curious about until now.