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  “So, Onii-chan had a granny and cousin...” Latifa murmured from where she sat beside Rio, listening with round eyes.

  “When I told them I had an adopted sister, they said they wanted to meet you, too. But I didn’t tell them about this village, so I couldn’t bring them here to see you,” Rio told her gently.

  “...I would’ve liked to see them, too, I think,” Latifa responded hesitantly.

  “...Hmm. Well, if it was Lord Rio’s family, then it may be possible for a temporary stay to be permitted under certain circumstances. But the Yagumo region is far... Well, let’s set that aside for now,” Ursula said worriedly, a strange weight to her words. Syldora and Dominic also carried troubled expressions and strained smiles, while Latifa and the other girls tilted their heads in confusion. Rio reacted similarly, unable to comprehend the meaning behind Ursula’s words.

  ...I guess it’d be better to hide the fact mom was born as royalty. It might result in the topic of my past being dragged on forever, and it’s meant to be kept secret, anyway, Rio thought, detaching himself from the conversation to decide how much he could reveal to Ursula and the others; he didn’t want to cause the conversation to take a darker turn through a slip of the tongue.

  “So, Rio, how long will you be staying here this time?” Syldora asked, changing the subject.

  “At most, a few months. I’m thinking of leaving the village before winter begins, to head for the Strahl region,” Rio answered with a serious look, straightening himself.

  “...Onii-chan, are you leaving again?” Latifa asked sadly, pouting with unhappiness.

  “I’m sorry, Latifa. I’ll make sure to return a little earlier this time,” Rio apologized with a strained smile.

  Latifa grabbed onto Rio’s sleeve unhappily and looked up at him. “...You promise?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I promise.” Rio nodded his head firmly. The others watched their exchange with pleasant smiles on their faces.

  “Lord Rio, was there anything you ran out of during your journey? We shall make preparations for you before you leave on your next trip, so do not hesitate to inform us,” Ursula suggested brightly.

  “Thank you very much. I still have plenty of stock with me, but there was one thing I thought of on my journey... I would be grateful if you could lend me your knowledge,” Rio said, bringing up his request carefully.

  “Hohoho, that is fine. Speak your mind,” Ursula agreed readily.

  Rio explained the idea that he had come up with while he was in the Yagumo region. “I was actually thinking of building a house to stay in on my journey, one that could be carried around in the Time-Space Cache.”

  “Oho, a portable house, you say? Now that’s an interesting thought.” Dominic immediately showed strong interest; his natural architectural instincts as a dwarf had probably been roused.

  “A house to carry around... That would mean a house with no foundation would be more preferable, so that it could be placed easily. Is that correct?” Ursula asked.

  “Yes. However, it would probably require the use of spirit arts to stabilize the ground every time it was set up. Well... That aspect shouldn’t be a problem for Rio, but...” Dominic mumbled to himself, placing a hand against his mouth.

  “...Hum. Dominic won’t be paying attention for a while when he’s in this state. Lord Rio, leave the house idea to him and rest easy. I’m sure a good home will be constructed for you,” Syldora said with a wry smile.

  “No, I was just hoping for some advice so that I could build it myself...”

  “That’s impossible. Even if you began constructing it alone, the dwarves of the village would only swarm you out of interest. It would be best for you to leave the house to Dominic and focus on entertaining Latifa and the girls as much as possible. Isn’t that right, Latifa?” Ursula responded cheerfully to Rio’s bewilderment, prompting Latifa to speak.

  “Yup, I wanna stay with Onii-chan the whole time he’s in the village!” Latifa hugged Rio’s arm and nodded energetically.

  After that, it was decided that Rio’s home construction would be left to Dominic and the other dwarves. Rio gave Dominic a simple explanation of the facilities and rooms he had planned, before they wrapped up the day in high spirits.

  ◇◇◇

  “Ehehe!”

  The next day, Rio was walking around the village with Latifa and Vera hanging off each of his arms.

  Their destination was the spirit shrine built at the foot of the village’s giant tree — they were going to greet the spirit of the giant tree, Dryas, and inform her of Rio’s return. It was a one hour walk to reach the giant tree from the village on foot, and while the tree was only a stone’s throw away by air, they decided to take the opportunity and go on a picnic along the way.

  With a troubled expression, Rio let the two cheerful girls have their way. Then, as the three of them were merrily making their way on foot, Rio and the girls passed Anya, the werecat.

  “Oh my, if it isn’t Rio. I see you’re making quite a display upon your return.”

  She was several years older than Rio, but because her species had long lifespans that aged particularly slowly in their teenage years, she barely looked any different to when Rio last saw her two years ago.

  “Ah, Anya! Good morning!” Latifa and Vera said together, greeting Anya cheerfully.

  “Morning. Are the three of you going out to have fun?” Anya asked.

  Vera took the initiative to answer first. “Not quite. We’re meeting with my sister and the others after this.”

  “Oho, with Lady Sara. Which means Lady Orphia and Lady Alma will be there too. Isn’t that more flowers than you can hold, Rio?” Anya nodded in a show of great interest before grinning at Rio.

  “...Long time no see, Anya. I was thinking of paying Lady Dryas a visit, now that I’ve returned to the village,” Rio said with a strained smile, ignoring Anya’s curious gaze.

  “Fufufu, looks like you’ve grown a little. As your elder, I’m happy. Not to mention, you’ve become really handsome, too.” Anya nodded with satisfaction and beamed.

  “Thank you very much. I see you’re still as beautiful as always, Anya,” Rio thanked her with a grin.

  “Nya?!” Anya’s cat ears trembled in shock.

  “Nya?” Latifa and Vera both tilted their heads in unison.

  “Nya... W-What are you saying, all of a sudden? I’ve got my eye on you,” Anya said in a high-pitched voice; there was a faint blush to her cheeks.

  “What’s the matter, Anya?”

  “...It’s nothing, Vera. I was just a little surprised Rio tried to flatter me while I was off guard, calling me beautiful of all things. Sheesh, I guess that means it wasn’t your defensive power that grew while you were gone... Since you’re doing it half-naturally, it’s even more wicked. Good grief!” Anya feigned composure as she shook her head at Vera. She muttered the latter half weakly.

  “...It wasn’t just flattery,” Rio said in confusion.

  “It’s fine, just get going to the Great Dryas already. This blockhead. Don’t keep Lady Sara and the others waiting. I have things to do, so I’ll be going now.”

  With a tired sigh, Anya waved her hand and took her leave. Then, Vera opened her mouth in wonder.

  “Didn’t Anya seem a little strange?”

  “Ahaha, maybe. But she’s right, we shouldn’t keep Sara and the others waiting, so let’s get going,” Latifa agreed with a faintly strained smile, before pulling Rio’s arm along. Then, they met up with the other girls, and headed toward the giant tree Dryas resided in together.

  ◇◇◇

  The moment Rio and the girls stepped onto the spirit shrine estate, they saw Dryas, who had manifested before them.

  “Oh, my. I was wondering who it was, but it looks like the whole gang’s here... Welcome, welcome. I see Rio’s here, too — back already?” Dryas greeted the respectfully quiet party in a friendly tone.

  “Yes, I thought I’d drop by and say hello. Everyone made food, so let�
�s eat together,” Rio explained on behalf of the others.

  “My, thank you for taking the trouble. There’s not much here, but I’ll gladly welcome you. Follow me.” Dryas welcomed them happily and directed them inside; Rio and the girls followed her.

  Dryas glanced at Rio. “Judging by your current state, your spirit still seems to be asleep, but the presence is stronger than the last time we met. The day it awakens may be approaching... Did anything change while you were on your journey?” she asked as they walked.

  “No, nothing in particular comes to mind...”

  “I see. Well, come visit me again when it awakens. I’d like to hear its story, and there may be many things I call tell it, too.”

  “I will. Thank you very much.”

  As they exchanged words, they arrived at the spirit shrine.

  It was a shrine constructed from stone, with a staircase that led directly to the front, where there was a hall reserved for ceremonies that could look over the entire shrine grounds. At the very back across from the hall entrance was an altar.

  This time, Rio and the others didn’t step up into the hall, instead walking around it and through a door that led further into the building. The door was located directly underneath the hall.

  “I had no idea there was such a place under here,” Rio said with widened eyes.

  Before him was a living space filled with various pieces of furniture. It was roughly 200 square meters in size, with several rooms toward the back.

  “The people from the village made the interior. It doesn’t get used much, normally, but it’s useful when guests come over like this, or when the villagers sleep over in preparation for the Grand Spirit Festival.”

  “I see.” Rio nodded in understanding.

  It was basically a guest room. For the record, Dryas’ official dwelling was a cavern inside the giant tree, though she had never invited anyone there before.

  “But, that aside, let us eat! Something smells great, what did you bring? I’m looking forward to it, fufufu,” Dryas said radiantly, looking over at the small packages they were carrying.

  “Hehe, today we have the recipes and snacks Rio learned to make in the Yagumo region. I made a few things, too, so please try a little bit of everything,” Orphia said with a smile.

  After that, the group unwrapped all of the food packages they had carried along and prepared for their meal. They sat down at the round table in the order of Rio, Latifa, Vera, Dryas, Sara, Orphia, and then Alma. Once they had all taken their seats and arranged the dishes on the table, they finally began to eat.

  “My, the flavor in these vegetables is very rich. It’s delicious. And these steamed foods, too... The vegetable rice goes along with it perfectly.”

  Dryas was all smiles as she elegantly filled her cheeks with food.

  Spirits couldn’t starve to death, but they were able to refill their magic essence through eating food, to an extent. While there was no need for the food to be prepared in an extravagant manner, Dryas liked to eat homemade cooking, and was rather particular about the taste.

  “The chicken with steamed vegetables is yummy. It’s full of flavor.” Vera stuffed her cheeks with rice as she picked up the steamed chicken.

  “I like the taro.”

  Latifa’s favorite appeared to be the taro with the steamed vegetables. Her small mouth broke out into a smile as she munched on the taro happily, fully enjoying the flavor.

  “Hey, you two. You can’t just eat the things you like and nothing else,” Sara scolded with a tired expression.

  “Okaaay!” Latifa and Vera gave their drawn-out reply together.

  And so, just like that, time passed peacefully.

  Once they finished eating, Orphia went to the kitchen and came back carrying tea. After taking the teapot from the tea cozy, she started pouring tea into the cups. The wafting scent of the tea made Rio and the others smile broadly.

  “Ehehe, dessert, dessert.”

  “It’s dessert time!”

  Latifa and Vera were happily humming away as they sniffed at the variety of tea cakes that were placed on the table.

  “Go ahead, before it cools,” Orphia said brightly after she finished pouring tea for everyone.

  “I’ll do just that, then. Mm, it’s delicious!”

  Dryas smelled the fragrance of the tea with a pleased expression before bringing the cup to her mouth. She grinned widely with happiness when the flavor of the tea spread in her mouth.

  “Your tea etiquette is as wonderful as always,” Rio said, praising Orphia.

  “Ehehe, thank you very much. I’d like to drink Rio’s tea sometime soon. Let’s have lots of tea parties again,” Orphia requested, grinning bashfully.

  Rio nodded pleasantly. “Sure, I’d love to.”

  With an embarrassed grin, Orphia peered at Rio’s face and asked once more to make sure. “Yay! That’s a promise, okay?”

  Rio nodded and agreed, his smile growing all the larger. That was when Alma, who had been watching them from where she sat beside Rio, started to tug at his sleeve.

  “Rio, what kind of snack is this bread? The dough is a little different to what I’m used to...” she asked as she looked up at his face.

  “That snack is called a manju. It’s normally filled with a sweet paste made from red bean, but I tried to make them with whipped cream as well this time.”

  “Red bean... and whipped cream? It looks delicious. May I try one?”

  “Of course.” Alma hesitantly reached for a manju after Rio agreed.

  “Then I’ll try one, too.”

  “Me too.”

  “And me!”

  All the girls suddenly reached for the manju at once, and in no time at all, everyone had a manju in their hands.

  “It’s so yummy! The texture’s springy and the red bean goes well with the whipped cream!”

  As they all took bites of the manju, Vera spoke up with her opinion first. The others also widened their eyes at the sweetness that spread throughout their mouth.

  “I’m glad you found the taste to your liking.” Rio’s lips turned up in a happy smile.

  After that, they chatted noisily with each other as they enjoyed their tea and snacks. Time passed in the blink of an eye, and before long, it was time to wrap things up.

  “Come again soon. I’ll welcome gatherings like today at any time,” Dryas said with a pleasant expression as she saw Rio and the others off.

  “Yes, we’ll bring lots of snacks again.” Rio bowed with a gentle smile.

  “I’m counting on you to bring more manju. Ah, and please teach Orphia and the others how to make it as well, for when you’ve left on your journey.” It seemed like Dryas had completely fallen for the charms of the manju.

  “Sure thing,” Rio agreed cheerfully, making Sara and the others laugh happily in anticipation.

  “All right — take care, then. Did you make sure you didn’t forget anything?” Dryas asked.

  “Yes,” Rio and the others nodded in unison. Or so they thought —

  “Ah, I forgot to invite Arslan to come along, too!” Vera said.

  “Ahaha... Come to think of it, you said you’d bring him along before you came to our house. I thought he was busy since he didn’t show up...” Latifa said with a strained smile.

  “Ack! I-I got so excited that I forgot. I have to hurry back and apologize!” Vera said with a regretful look.

  After that, they all visited Arslan’s house and went through quite a bit to cheer him up from his grumpy mood.

  ◇◇◇

  After that, days in the village passed by in a flash.

  Every day was filled with laughter: Rio participated in the tea parties hosted by Orphia, sparred with Sara, Uzuma and the other village warriors, drank with Alma and Dominic, played with Latifa, Vera, Arslan, and the other village kids, and taught the village ladies how to cook the recipes from Yagumo.

  Furthermore, while Rio was fully enjoying his life in the village, construction of his house
was progressing smoothly under Dominic’s leadership. On a day two weeks after he had returned to the village, Rio paid a visit to the construction site, where huge numbers of dwarves were busily laboring away. When Dominic spotted Rio, he paused in his supervising and approached Rio with a grin.

  “Yo, Rio. You’re here.”

  “Good day, Dominic. I’m sorry for leaving everything to you...” Rio bowed his head in gratitude.

  “Don’t worry about it — I was the one who wanted to build it. You’re not staying in the village for long, so spend as much time with Alma and the others as you can,” Dominic said, smacking Rio’s arm heartily.

  “Truly, thank you very much. Speaking of which, the house is looking far more extravagant than I imagined,” Rio said with a faintly apologetic smile, looking around at the construction scene before him, where a huge rock stood that completely occupied the plot, which easily surpassed 200 square meters.

  “Hahaha, I know, right?” Dominic agreed with a lively laugh.

  “I heard you were processing natural rock to make the house, but are you hollowing it out?”

  “Yeah, with spirit arts. It’s pretty big — we’ve extended part of it with space spirit arts, and we’ll make a second floor, too, so there’ll be lots of rooms.”

  Rio’s smile twitched at the unexpectedly large scale. “Ahaha... That’s too much for one person to live alone.”

  “Well, you’ll have a household yourself one day, so I figured I’d make it big enough for that. Although, it wouldn’t be enough if you were to take several wives and have children like me...” Dominic said while nodding.

  The spirit folk village allowed one husband to take many wives, or even the opposite; Dominic himself had four wives. Because of that experience, Dominic would recommend polygamy to Rio at every possible chance.

  “No, well, you never know what the future holds, or something, ahaha...” Rio personally had no intention of becoming a polygamist — he didn’t even have any desire for marriage — so he could only offer a reserved response with a forced smile.

  W-Well, I guess it’ll be easier to live in, so it shouldn’t be a problem... I think. While the size is a little unexpected, it seems like it’s being built exactly as I requested, so I guess they can do what they want, Rio thought in resignation.