Chapter 373

Surprise

The next day, we returned to town and headed straight home to the Ruven residence.

Normally, we would have stopped by the Adventurers’ Guild to look for a request for Pastel Rabbit and have them taken in, but the children wanted to show them to Rosalie-san first. I could understand their feelings, so I decided to take the fifteen Pastel Rabbits home with us for the time being.

Besides, Wald-san asked for a blue Pastel Rabbit. The children’s own discretion led them to red, silver… well, there were no silver Pastel Rabbits, so they settled on a pure white Aurora Bird.

I would love to have Rosalie-san take in those three, but maybe she has a favorite color or a color preference that she would like to keep. Let’s ask her what she wants while we show them to her.

“Oh my!”

“… Whoah~”

As Wald-san was also home today, we were able to unveil the rabbits to both.

“”For Rosalie Neesama we got~””

“Blue child and~”

“Red child~”

“Both are adorable.”

Rosalie-san received the blue and red Pastel Rabbits from the children and hugged them tightly.

“… Even so, this number is strange!”

“When it comes to Allen and Elena, they find them one after another.”

“Even if they find them one after another, they would normally run away!”

“They don’t run away, they come close to us instead~ It’s really mysterious.”

“Hah!?”

Wald-san reacted as I expected.

“Even when our Joule and Feat showed their faces close to them all of a sudden, they wouldn’t show any reaction as if they were relaxed at home.”

“……”

Wald-san was rubbing his head as if it was aching.

“”Wald Nii~””

“… Ou, what is it?”

“Take this.”

“Child, too~”

Allen and Elena held out the Aurora Bird in the palm of their hands.

“Furball… or not, a bird? A chick?”

“”It’s called Aurora Bird~””

“… Oi, Takumi?”

Wald-san didn’t seem to know what an Aurora Bird looked like, but he did know its name. As soon as he heard from the children what kind of bird it was, he looked straight at me.

I feel a silent pressure to explain.

“The children found it. That’s all.”

“Oi!”

“No, I’m telling you there’s no further explanation~”

In fact, the children went into the bushes with a cry of “”Ah!””, and when they came back, they had already brought it back.

When I told him about it, Wald-san had his head in his hands.

“… You guys, seriously, what are you doing?”

“Oh no, we’re not taking any strange actions, you know?”

“Yes, you are. The behavior itself is not strange. There are some things that don’t add up a bit, but… well, I’d say it’s the general behavior. So that means! Your very existence is strange!”

“How rude! Don’t deny our existence!”

“I’m not denying it! I’m saying you’re weird! Why do you always, always, always do the most outrageous things? What’s with all these Pastel Rabbits! And the Aurora Bird? How can there be no problem with you guys when you found one of those!!”

Wald-san seemed quite angry.

“’A lot of Pastel Rabbits… err, it already happened four times now. Give it up. As for the Aurora Bird, I know that Aurora Birds are rare. But we found it. And it wouldn’t run away! I had no choice but to bring it back!”

“You know what they say about leaving things where you found them!”

“Leaving behind.”

“Would be sad.”

When I get into a form of argument with Wald-san, Allen and Elena covered me.

“That’s right! Leaving it behind all alone would be sad.”

“… Eh?”

On the contrary, Rosalie-san also came to my aid, to which Wald-san looked surprised.

“I heard from Allen-san and Elena-san that this child came to them for protection. You can’t just leave it there!”

Rosalie-san was holding Aurora Bird firmly to her chest, along with the two Pastel Rabbits, while she was speaking to Wald-san.

“B, but you know that, Rosalie, right? If people find out about the Aurora Bird’s existence, you can bet all hell will break loose, you know?”

“Then just don’t let people know!”

“No, even if you say that… wouldn’t that be impossible?”

“I will take good care of it, and it will have to put up with walks in the garden… please!”

“Ugh…”

Rosalie-san stared up at Wald-san sitting beside her. Then Wald-san choked on his words. Well, if your new wife asks you like that with puppy eyes, you will certainly… react like this~

(Pii~)

The Aurora Bird also looks at Wald-san with appealing eyes as if to say “Please”.

The Aurora Bird was so eager to be kept that it was even willing to sell itself~

“… Wald-sama.”

(… Pii.)

“Kuh… alright. Try not to let the guests or anyone else find out.”

“Thank you very much.”

(Pii!)

Rosalie-san and the Aurora Bird’s superior eye contact finally made Wald-san break down.

“”Good for you~””

(Pii~)

The children and Aurora Bird were rejoicing with each other. It was a strange scene, as if a conversation was taking place.

“”Rosalie Neesama~ take good care of it~””

“Yes, of course.”

(Pii.)

“Yes, I will be in your care as well.”

Huh? Rosalie-san and the Aurora Bird were also communicating with each other in a humble way? No way, it’s just a coincidence, right?

“”Rosalie Neesama~”

“Yes, what is it?”

“The Pastel Rabbits.”

“Are you fine with two?”

“Eh? Err… what do you mean?”

“”Don’t you want more?””

“……”

Allen and Elena asked Rosalie if there were any other Pastel Rabbits she wanted.

Rosalie-san looked a little troubled and then looked at us as if she had made up her mind.

“U, umm, I have… a request…”

“”What is it~?””

“That… w, would you allow me to share them with my be-besties?”

Rosalie-san would apparently like to give a Pastel Rabbit to her friend as well.

“”Bebesties?””

Allen and Elena tilted their heads with a curious look on their faces.

They were not used to hearing the word “bestie,” but it might also be because Rosalie-san was a little lost for words.

“Allen, Elena, it’s bestie. It means a friend.”

“”Ohh! Friends! Sure!””

Allen and Elena agreed immediately.

“Are you sure?”

“”Yeah, is okay~ What color?””

“Takumi-san, is that really okay?”

Allen and Elena agree in a lighthearted manner, so Rosalie-san confirmed with me as well.

“Of course. Ah, but are there enough Pastel Rabbits?”

“Eh, umm, there are two friends I would like to share with, so two would be enough…”

“You don’t need to hold back, you can take all the children here, you know?”

“N, no, that, there aren’t many people who get along with me…”

“……”

Oh, shoot. I feel like I stepped on a land mine, though not intentionally. I heard that Rosalie-san had a lot of problems during her school days, so she probably doesn’t have a lot of people she gets along with.

“Rather than having a bunch of superficial friends, having two best friends is more than enough. And so, what color would Vassar and Clark madams would like?”

As I was pondering how to reply, Wald-san offered me a helping hand.

Oh, did he just say Madam Vassar?

“Is she Reginald-san’s wife?”

“No, she’s the Deputy Commander’s oldest son’s wife. Senior Leonardo is my senior in the academy, as well as a senior in the Knights Order. Oh, that reminds me, they just had a child.”

“Then, after all, wouldn’t it be better to take more than one Pastel Rabbit for her?”

“I wonder? The child is still a tiny one~ I think it would be better to confirm that with them first. Takumi, can you leave those guys at our place until we confirm?”

“Of course, I’m fine with that. It’s fine right guys?”

“”Yeah, it’s fine~””

The remaining thirteen Pastel Rabbits were to stay with the Ruven family for the time being, as we were to ask the wishes of the people we were giving them to first.

“Sorry about that. The remaining Pastel Rabbits were going to be brought to the Adventurers’ Guild, weren’t they? I’ll make up for not being able to do that.”

“They are a celebratory gift. And in the first place, our purpose for the Pastel Rabbit is to find someone who will love them, and money is secondary, so don’t worry about it.”

I had always been averse to the idea of selling Pastel Rabbits, so giving them away to someone I knew would be the best for my heart.

“Oniichan, Oniichan.”

“What is it?”

“”Give some to~””

“Theodore-kun and.”

“Latis-kun, too?”

“Ah, that’s right. We should ask the Risner family, too.”

The Count Risner’s family is the other family that looked after us. The sons of Cedric Risner, the head of the family, Theodore-kun and Latis-kun, have also been given a Pastel Rabbit in the past.

But there is a daughter there, too, and they are three siblings. It would be fine if the three of them got along well with each other, but if they were fighting over them, it would be a big problem, so it would be better to just ask.

So we decided to write a letter immediately.