Chapter 43: Riding a ‘Snow Sled’ And Have A ‘Snowball Fight’ With The Young Lady

After drinking warm milk tea, eating a piece of crispy-sweet apple pie, and onion soup as snacks, I went back to the yard with the young lady.

“Snowman family!”

“It’s a good family, isn’t it?”

“Yes! It’s a good family like me and Mana!”

“Haha… I see.”

A family with the young lady, I’ll get scolded later.

“Now, what do you want to do, Young Lady?”

“I want to go sledding!”

“Sledding! I’ll prepare~”

“Yes! I want to go sledding with a flour sack!”

“…Who told you that method?”

“A child from the village who played with me last time told me! They said it’s really fun if two people ride together!”

Aha..?

I’ve never thought of sledding with a flour sack, but it surprisingly seems like it would work.

Well, there are plenty of moderately sloped places, so shall we bring a sack and try it out?

“Mana~ Hurry, hurry! We have to play hard before the snow melts!”

“Yes, I’ll prepare~”

I quickly go inside the house, bring a large flour sack that won’t be a problem for two people to ride, and then shake it out!

“It’s snowing!”

“Pfft, it is~”

I shake out the flour remaining inside the sack well…

“How about the downhill road behind the mansion over there?”

“Okay! I’ll ride there!!”

“Then would you like to hug me? I’ll go up right away!”

“Yes!”

I hold the young lady in my arms and go up the hill.

Now, I’ll spread the flour sack and sit down first.

“Young Lady, sit between my legs.”

“Yes!”

I put the young lady on.

Where.. if I avoid that tree and go that way, it should be fine.

“Mana! Hurry! Hurry! I’m going to go sledding 100 times today!”

“100 times? Then we have to go quickly!”

“Yes! We have to go quickly!”

“Then let’s go~”

Now… let’s see how fast it is?

The flour sack that started to go down slowly.

“Wow!”

“Young Lady~ You have to hold on tight~”

“Yes!”

The flour sack, which was slowly going down at a speed a little faster than a person walking, gradually starts to pick up speed.

“Hahaha! It’s fast!!!”

“Oh..!”

At this speed, it feels like riding a kick scooter..!

It’s surprisingly fast!

“Mana! In front, in front!”

“Don’t worry!”

I naturally pull one side of the sack to smoothly avoid the tree in front and enter a safe course.

As it is! We cut through the snow and go down towards the mansion even faster.

“Kyaaaaa!!!”

Our young lady is completely excited.

The cool wind, the snowflakes scattering, the occasional trees to avoid, and the snow brushing past.

The flour sack sled, which goes down quickly without much difference from a real sled, finally slows down when it reaches the flat mansion.

Now, shall we stop here?

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Mana! Mana! One more time! One more time!”

“Pfft, did you enjoy it that much?”

“Yes!! It’s so much fun!!”

“Oh my, just a moment?”

I dust off the clothes covered in snow and fix her disheveled hair.

How much fun did she have to get this messy~

“One more time! One more time!”

“Yes, yes, I’ll let you ride until you’re tired of it, okay?”

“Wow!! Mana is the best!!!”

“If you praise me like that, I might go to an even faster place than before, you know?”

“I love it!!!”

As expected, the young lady is still 9 years old, and she seems to be completely absorbed in the fun sledding game.

Then, doing my best to play with her is also the duty of an elite maid!

“Now! Shall we go again!”

“Yes!”

This time, I go to a higher place on the hill~!

“Let’s go~”

“Kyaaaaaaaaa!!!!”

“Heeek… Heeek… Heeek… Ueeee…”

“Did you enjoy it enough, Young Lady?”

“Th, the sky is spinning…”

Because the young lady was having so much fun, I kept going to more difficult courses, and I got carried away…

“It was… so much fun…”

“You’re completely melted and limp, aren’t you?”

“I’m… now a piece of bread that’s been in soup for 2 hours…”

The young lady was so excited to play that she got exhausted.

Hmm, I, as a maid, am still lacking.

I shouldn’t have let the young lady ride so recklessly just because she was having fun.

Thanks to that, I’m giving the exhausted young lady a lap pillow and taking a break.

“Ueee…”

“Would you like to close your eyes for a moment?”

“No… I have to have a snowball fight too…”

“Is the snowball fight between me and you, Young Lady?”

“Yes..! And we’ll defeat the evil demon king together!”

…It would be a little sad if the evil demon king died from being hit by a snowball.

“Pfft.”

“Hmm? Why are you laughing?”

“Young Lady, do you know that your face is completely red now?”

“My face is red?”

“Yes~ It’s very red~”

Seeing the young lady’s face turning red because she played too hard in the cold weather makes me laugh.

“Did you like the snowy day that much?”

“I wanted to play with Mana when the first snow came! The other maids didn’t play snowball fights with me.”

“…I’ll play with you every year from now on, so don’t worry, okay?”

“Yes!”

Our admirable and pitiful young lady…

I stroke the young lady’s head, and she smiles bashfully again and rubs her head against my hand.

This is why I can’t help but adore the young lady.

“Hmm… Young Lady, can you have a snowball fight with magic?”

“With magic?”

“Yes, I think it would be better than moving around yourself.”

“..! Then at first, we’ll just throw them, and later we’ll throw them with magic!”

“Okay!”

“Yay! Now let’s have a snowball fight!”

Suddenly! The young lady gets up, goes a little far away, and then picks up the snow on the stone.

“I declare war from now on!”

“Kyaa~ I’m so scared, Young Lady~”

“Here!”

A snowball flying in an arc in the air~.

“Wh, where should I dodge! Kyaak!”

“Hahaha! You got hit!!”

“Oh, it’s cold! Here..! You started it, Young Lady? Take this!!”

“Kyaaa!! Haha! I dodged it!”

“Here! Here!”

“Hide!”

I start a snowball fight, deliberately getting hit by snowballs that wouldn’t hit me if I just stood still.

Playing with a young lady is also the duty of a maid!

“Kyaa! Young Lady, aren’t you throwing too well?”

“Hahaha! I trained hard for today!”

“…I see! So that’s why you threw the trash into the trash can, kyaak!”

Th, this might be a tougher match than I thought?

“Get hit! Get hit! I’ll make Mana into a snowman and keep her forever!”

“Here! In that case!”

I dodge the young lady’s snowballs and roll behind the wall.

Our young lady.. she seems to be very strong!

“Mana! Do you think I can’t hit you just because you’re there?”

“Mana hiding behind the wall is invincible~”

“Is that so!”

A snowball flies over my head~.

“Where are you aiming~”

“You let your guard down!”

Hmm?!

In an instant, I feel a heavy chill over my head and instinctively roll to the side.

Whoosh..! A large amount of snow falls on the spot where I was.

“I, I dodged it?!”

“…How did you get this much snow?”

“The snow on the branches isn’t just for decoration! And wasn’t that really fast just now, Mana?!”

Ah, oops…

I, as a maid, almost showed my true strength while playing with the young lady.

This is completely embarrassing.

Hmm hmm…

“It, it was a coincidence?”

“…Liar! Okay, in that case, I’ll do my best too, Mana!”

“Wai, wait a minute, Young Lady. What are you going to do?”

I peek over the wall to see where the young lady is.

White magic circles in both hands..?

“…Ma, magic?!”

“It’s round 2!! Pour!!!”

“U, uwaaa!!!”

I, I run to the side to avoid the snow suddenly pouring down from above.

“Haha! You can’t win by just running away!”

“H, here!”

“Block!”

A well-aimed snowball flies accurately towards the young lady’s arm, but is blocked by an invisible barrier.

When did she learn that?!

“It seems that our young lady has a real talent for magic!”

“Of course! It’s all because Mana taught me! Hehehe~ Snowball ready!!!”

Now, the young lady, who created a snowball with magic, points her finger at me.

“Fire!”

“Hi, hiyaaa!!”

Head! Legs! Feet! Left hand! Turn, jump..!

“Wow… Mana is like a knight!”

“I’m far from being a knight, though!!”

The exercise I haven’t done in a while is making me sweat a little..?

“You’re not done yet, are you, Young Lady?”

“Of course! Giant snowball!!!”

“Wai, wait a minute. How big is it..!”

“Very big!!”

…That snowball looks to be at least 1 meter in diameter.

“Haha… Bouncy fire!”

“Hmph..!”

I quickly dodged the snowball that was bigger than a cannonball,

“Bounce!”

“..!”

Instincts.

I instinctively feel a bad feeling and jump up and sit lightly on a branch.

The huge snowball slightly brushes my toes.

“Y, you dodged that!?”

“No, Young Lady, how can a snowball bounce off a wall!”

“Because it’s a magic snowball! Pour!”

“Hiyaap..!”

I, I never thought I’d move like this against a mere 9-year-old girl.

I step on the mansion fence and continue to avoid the young lady’s snowball attacks.

Snowballs are pouring down from above, and below is a huge snowball that keeps bouncing off nearby objects..!

“Young Lady, aren’t you overdoing it??”

“Snowball additional fire! Get bigger! Shoot! Slippery!”

“Whoa!?”

Su, suddenly the fence!

In an instant, I lose my balance and stumble on the slippery fence.

“It’s over! Quickly!”

In an instant, snowballs rush towards me from all directions.

A, at this rate, my face as an elite maid!

“Hmph..!!!”

I quickly rotate my body like a top and observe each of the flying snowballs.

…I see it.

The thread of the gap!

– Bang!

I quickly avoid dozens of snowballs and then naturally,

I gently place my hand on the huge snowball that is flying straight at me, lightly bend my waist, and fly over the snowball like a gymnast vaulting over a horse, taking off at the same time.

“Im, impossible!”

“You’re still 5 years too early for an elite maid, Young Lady!”

And I throw the snow I just tore off from the giant snowball at the young lady’s leg..!

– Thud!

A small snowball leaves its mark on the young lady’s thigh.

And I land elegantly.

“…Ju, just how?”

“It’s the skill of an elite maid, you know? Phew… You’re amazing to make me use my strength at the age of 9!”

“…Wow, so cool…”

The young lady, whose face turned red, sits down on the snowfield.

“Ah, are you okay, Young Lady?”

“H, heee…”

Oh, her face is red.

Did she overdo it..?

“Young Lady, shall we go rest now?”

“Y, yes…”

I pick up the young lady, who has become somewhat quiet, in a princess carry and return to the mansion.

“…Ma, Mana.”

“Yes?”

“You’re cool…”

“Pfft, thank you, Young Lady~”