Kierbit was finally returning to the Angel Race village.
"I curse the luck of the draw," she grumbled.
She sounded a bit like the Demon King, but once the decision was made, she set about her preparations.
"Are these enough for souvenirs?" I asked.
I had prepared two small barrels of sake and three small bottles of honey. On top of that, I included a statue I’d carved myself—an image of the Agricultural God, about fifteen centimeters tall.
"Is it okay that it isn't the Creator God?" Kierbit asked.
"Doesn't this one look a bit more auspicious?"
The model was Hanasaka Jiisan, after all. Still, it wasn't right to force it on her. I decided I would give the miniature statue of the Creator God I’d already finished to Progenitor-san the next time he visited. I also packed a bag full of silver coins and handed it to her for travel expenses.
"Isn't this too much?"
"Better to have too much than too little, right?"
"I suppose… but is it really okay for me to use this however I want?"
"Yeah, feel free."
"Understood. Thank you."
"Have a safe trip."
"I will. Well then, I'll be off right away… or so I thought. Is it still not ready?"
Kierbit was waiting for a letter from Tia. Tia had intended to ignore the matter entirely, but Kierbit and I had eventually persuaded her to write it. I’d stepped in because the recipient Kierbit insisted on wasn’t the Angel Race Leader, but Tia’s own mother.
Apparently, Tia hadn't even informed her mother about Tiselle’s birth, let alone the newborn Aurora. I’d wondered if they were on bad terms, but Tia said that wasn’t the case. It seemed to be one of those "complicated relationship" things. Normally, I wouldn't pry, but since she was Tia’s mother, that made her my mother-in-law.
After about thirty minutes of waiting, Tia emerged with the letter. She looked like she’d agonized over every word; her face was the picture of exhaustion. As soon as Kierbit received the letter, she broke the seal right there on the spot.
"H-hey!" I protested. Surely that was a breach of etiquette, but Kierbit simply gave me an exasperated look and turned the paper toward me.
The letter contained nothing but Tia’s name and her mother’s name.
"Is it… a code? Do we have to hold it over a fire?" I asked.
Tia looked away, refusing to meet my eyes.
"If you don't write a little more than this, the Chief Assistant is going to cry," Kierbit sighed.
Chief Assistant was the title of the position Tia’s mother held. Like Kierbit used to, she was currently serving as a Shrine Maiden in the Garlet Kingdom.
"The message will get across with just that," Tia insisted.
"..."
"Fine. I’ll write a little more."
In the end, Kierbit’s departure was delayed by a day.
After seeing Kierbit off, I returned to the mansion only to be immediately tackled by the kittens. It was a perfect hit. I doubled over in agony, and while I was down, the kittens swarmed on top of me.
What was this? Then even the older sister cats joined the pile.
Could it be… were they angry because I hadn't played with them lately? They definitely seemed annoyed. I could feel their claws pricking through my clothes.
"My bad, my bad," I muttered.
I reached out to scratch their chins. Then I moved to their backs. As for the belly… ah, no, that was a mistake. I knew that. I just thought I might be able to slip it in during the excitement. Behind the ears was safe, though.
"Hahaha! Stop, I only have two hands!"
I couldn't pet all eight of them at once. I wished they’d stop scratching me just because they had to wait their turn; it actually hurt quite a bit.
We played for about two hours. By the time they were satisfied, I was exhausted. It was a relief to see them happy, but then they immediately scampered off to the Demon King, who had just arrived for a visit. Was I just being toyed with?
As if to reassure me, one cat—Raigiel—stayed behind and came over to me.
"Good boy. You're the only one who doesn't mind me rubbing your belly, aren't you?"
He still hated having the base of his tail touched, though. I knew that, so I made sure to avoid it.
"Just kidding," I teased, reaching near it. He bit me instantly.
Once I finished with the cats, several of Kuro's children were lurking nearby, watching me. They had that look on their faces—the look of dogs expecting something. They had definitely been watching the kittens.
Wait, wait. You aren't seriously thinking of tackling me too, are you? Think about the difference between a cat and yourselves. You have horns. Cats don't. Do you understand?
Apparently, they did understand. That was a relief.
Except they tackled me anyway. It hurt.
After the cats and the wolves, I wondered who would be next. It turned out to be Alfred and the other children.
"Alright, let's play. What do you want to do? Something new?"
I thought for a moment, then hollowed out some suitable sections of bamboo to make blowguns. I crafted the arrows out of wood, making them look like thick toothpicks.
"First, a warning," I said sternly. "You are only allowed to point these at the targets. Never point them at people. If anyone gets hurt, I’m taking them away immediately."
I set up various targets: standard round ones and ones designed to fall over when struck. I even wrote point values on them.
"You can read the numbers, right? Hahaha, I'm not making fun of you. I'm just checking how much you've grown. We’ll each fire three arrows and compete for the highest total score."
While the children were having fun with their blowguns, the High Elves were standing nearby, practicing with terrifyingly serious expressions.
"Hehehe. This is such a nostalgic weapon," one remarked.
"If we coated the needles in Halori poison… hehehe."
"I believe adding a metal needle to the tip would greatly increase the lethality and consistency."
They were getting a bit scary. And then there were the Mountain Elves—what on earth were they doing?
"Mechanical aids are foul play! We don't need a rapid-fire function!"
"No, 'it’s okay because it’s a sixty-shot burst' is not a valid excuse!"
The children were looking at the Mountain Elves' contraption with stars in their eyes.
"Urza, don't wander over there. No. It’s absolutely forbidden."
"Eh? I'm the one who should fire it? I just have to turn this crank?"
Well… just this once.
In the end, everyone enjoyed the blowguns… mostly.
The following morning, I ended up playing with Zabuton's children, the ones who hadn't gone into hibernation yet.
I know, I know. I haven't forgotten about you guys.