Chapter 419
--- ---
The Circ.u.mstances of Surprise
When we returned to the Ruven residence from the castle, Wald-san was standing with his arms crossed at the entrance.
“Oh, all three of you are back.”
“”We’re back~””
“I’m back… What are you doing here, Wald-san?”
“Hm? It’s obvious that I was waiting for you guys.”
Looking at Wald-san, who had a very smiling expression, but his eyes were not laughing, I immediately realized that it was about the sword I had hidden in his room.
“Did you not like… the souvenir?”
“You see, Tak.u.mi. That’s not something you can easily pa.s.s off as a souvenir.”
Wald-san spoke in a calm voice, even though he was angry.
“That’s only for other people. Wald-san is our brother, so it’s no problem.”
“”No problem!””
Honestly, I didn’t think this logic would get through to Wald-san.
“There’s no way that’s true!”
“”Eh~~~””
As expected, it didn’t get through.
“But it would be a waste to sell it… and even if I were to use it myself, I would put it to good use… and I thought it would be suitable for you in terms of magic attributes. And besides, standing and talking here is not appropriate~ let’s go inside. Okay?”
For now, I walked around the seemingly angry Wald-san and pushed him on the back as I guided him to the parlor.
Allen and Elena also walked while pulling on Wald-san’s hand.
“Oh my!”
As we headed to the parlor, Rosalie-san looked surprised when she saw us enter the room.
“Fufufu.”
“Rosalie, don’t laugh.”
“Are you sulking, Wald-sama?”
“No way.”
“……”
… He wasn’t angry, but sulking?
“Should we have given it to you directly instead of hiding it?”
“……”
Silence means affirmation. I see, he wanted me to give it to him directly.
I’ll apologize honestly here.
“I’m sorry. From now on, we will definitely give gifts to you directly!”
“……”
But Wald-san was still sulking.
“”Wald Nii.””
“We’re going to an advanced dungeon next time~”
“Then we’ll find even more amazing souvenirs~”
“”Look forward to it♪””
“No, wait! That sword alone exceeds the range of souvenirs! Anything more than that, that would be dangerous, so don’t make it a souvenir!”
“”No way~””
“I don’t want to! Stop it!”
Wald-san, who wouldn’t lose his sullen att.i.tude, was greatly fl.u.s.tered by the children’s remarks.
“”No way~””
“No way you are telling me no way!”
“”Impossible~””
“It’s not impossible!”
“”… Muu.”
--- ---
The children puffed out their cheeks as they were completely denied by Wald-san.
“”Shall we secretly send it?””
“We just talked about stopping that, right?”
“”Then, accept it?””
“No, so that’s…”
“That’s no good?”
“This is no good?”
“Ugh…”
The children continued to insist while pouting and finally made Wald-san speechless.
“Is this Allen and Elena’s win?”
“Allen wins~”
“Elena wins~”
“No, that’s not it! Not yet!”
I joined in trying to corner Wald-san at this point, but he didn’t break.
“For now, please put aside the reason that it is too expensive. Because what we give is not something we have taken by cutting our own flesh… or bought with debt… It’s something we happened to come across… or got from an acquaintance. It’s okay.”
“The profession of adventurer always involves taking risks!”
“… Risks? Did anything risky happen to us…?”
Be it forests or dungeons, we are completely enjoying ourselves, so there has never been a close call~ …Has there? If there was an experience of life-threatening danger, I wouldn’t forget it so easily, so I don’t think there was!
“There have been many surprises. But I haven’t felt much danger. More importantly, haven’t you forgotten about Joule and the others? They might be small in the mansion, but they get big when walking through forests and dungeons.”
“Oh yeah~ they were there. They only look like harmless dogs and cats at home…”
“Their true nature or strength is amazing.”
Our party is always overpowered, if anything.
“And by the way, the sword we gave you was obtained in an intermediate-level dungeon, so we didn’t have much trouble. And I’m not very good at manipulating the fire attribute. The sword itself is also a little big for me, so I’m not used to handling it. So please accept it with peace of mind.”
“I get it! I will gratefully accept it.”
“”Yay~””
Finally, Wald-san broke down and agreed to accept the sword.
“With this, it’s okay to use the loot we get in the advanced-level dungeons as souvenirs.”
“”That’s right~””
“No, wait! I didn’t agree to that!”
“Fufufu~”
“Rosalie, don’t smile, back me up!”
“Indeed~ I would like to be on your side, Wald-sama, however…”
“Huh!?”
Wald-san was desperately seeking help from Rosalie-san, but she showed signs of refusing.
Wald-san was quite surprised by her actions.
“I can truly feel the pure intentions from Tak.u.mi-san and the children to make me happy. In fact, the things they give me are always happy and wonderful. I have never been given something I thought was unnecessary.”
“That’s… certainly true, but…”
“I can’t refuse to accept… when they are thinking so much about us.”
Oh~ that’s good~ The gifts and souvenirs are being appreciated.
“”Rosalie Neesama, love you~””
“Fufu, I love you too.”
Allen and Elena ran up to Rosalie-san and hugged her.
The two of them are serious about trying to please the person they are giving the gift to. So they must be happy to understand her feelings.
“Besides, I think Mother-in-law is the same? She is happy they think of her and accepts, and in return… not that she’s doing it particularly for that reason, but she’s taking care of this and that.”
Maybe Rosalie-san is right.
Even for me, who is an adult, she takes care of numerous things. Well, I’m grateful and it helps.
“Haah~~~~~……”
Wald-san let out a long sigh.
“Just be careful not to take any unreasonable actions.”
“Understood.”
“”Roger!””
We have successfully pushed the sword onto Wald-san without any problems.
And it seems that he will be able to receive this kind of gift in the future as well, which is an incredibly happy result. Thank you for your support, Rosalie-san!