The Demon King was being chased by the older sister cats.
I wondered what he had done this time as I ate my breakfast.
The food was delicious.
I offered some to Beezel, asking if he wanted coffee or tea. He chose tea.
So, what exactly did the Demon King do?
Apparently, he hadn't actually done anything. This morning, when he was preparing to leave via teleportation magic, Samael had suddenly lunged in and ended up being whisked away to the Royal Castle with him.
They returned immediately, but the older sister cats who witnessed the disappearance had descended into a panic. Curiously, they weren't angry with Samael; their fury was directed solely at the Demon King.
I see.
I wasn't upset myself, especially since he had brought her back right away. I simply asked him to be more careful in the future.
Beezel had come by yesterday to discuss the beastman boys and to transport Galf to the Royal Capital on Hakuren’s orders. I thought to myself that if she were that worried, she should just go herself, but saying that would only make her angry. Besides, Beezel’s expression implicitly pleaded that he would much rather work with Galf than Hakuren, so I kept my mouth shut.
The Demon King had merely tagged along when Beezel came to collect Galf. He spent the entire time playing with the kittens and had planned to stay overnight at the mansion before returning this morning. He wanted to stay because Samael often crawled into his bed at night.
I felt a twinge of jealousy.
That reminded me—did the Demon King have a wife?
He did, and apparently, they were on quite good terms. I wondered if she minded him staying over here so often, but it turned out they were currently living apart due to work obligations.
As it happened, she was the Academy Director of the school the beastman boys were attending. I made a mental note to pay my respects to her at some point.
This year’s festival was a village-wide game of hide-and-seek.
While I wanted to say everyone participated, it was strictly for volunteers. Hiding on top of buildings was permitted, but going inside them was forbidden. Magic and flight were also banned. There was only one seeker—the "Reaper"—while everyone else acted as hiders.
However, since that gave the hiders too much of an advantage, I introduced a special rule: the Bell.
Whenever the bell rang, everyone hiding was required to change their location. Conversely, moving while the bell was silent was prohibited. The bell was set up in front of the mansion, and only the Reaper was allowed to ring it. They could ring it as often as they liked, but after each ring, the Reaper had to count to one hundred before they could move again.
I thought this would balance the scales, but two hours into the game, I hadn't caught a single soul.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. I had caught exactly one of Zabuton's children, though I suspect it had only let itself be found out of pity.
Was everyone taking this a bit too seriously? I felt like I was going to cry. Every time I rang the bell, I could sense presences shifting all around me, and yet...
I really should have recruited Kuro to my team. The cheerful voices drifting over from the non-participant area pierced my heart.
But I wouldn't give up. I refused to lose!
I announced an emergency rule change: anyone caught by the Reaper would become a Reaper themselves!
Of course, I knew that wouldn't be enough on its own. I needed one more thing— a rallying cry.
"Now, come and help me corner the rest of them!"
I caught sight of tails wagging expectantly all across the village.
It turned out to be a wonderful festival.
Afterward, my wives teased me, saying I spent all my time playing with the cats, which gave me pause. I decided I should spend some proper time with Kuro’s and Zabuton’s children as well.
Then they got annoyed with me, even though I was only joking.
"Don't worry, I'll play with all of you too," I assured them. "Please don't look so shocked."
I called the children together.
"Urza, I want you at the front. Lead the group for us."
Our destination was the southern area of the village, where we usually held festivals and martial arts tournaments.
"Tiselle, Lilius, Rigul, Ratte, Torain, Nart, Gral—make sure you stay in line. Alfred, you take the rear. If anyone starts to fall behind, call out so Urza knows to slow down."
I followed behind them along with several High Ogre maids and many of Kuro's children, who were carrying Zabuton’s children on their backs. The Sake Slime and Aegis, the Phoenix chick, had also hitched a ride on the wolves. I didn't mind them coming along at all.
The maids and I carried boxes filled with flying discs, balls, bats, and jump ropes.
"We certainly have a lot of equipment, but what exactly is the plan for today?" one of the High Ogre maids asked.
"I haven't thought that far ahead," I admitted. "Let's just relax and play together."
Fostering communication was the main goal. The only set plan was that the maids back at the mansion would bring lunch down to us at noon. Every now and then, it’s nice to have a day of unstructured play.
Wait, was it always like that? Perhaps they were right.
"Urza, you should slow down a—"
Before I could even finish my sentence, Nart had already cautioned her. It seemed my worries were unnecessary.
It was a very peaceful day.