Ars was bored so he decided that he wanted to walk around town alone.
When he first got here, what first caught his eye were the numerous towers.
According to White Mama, they’re huge Magic Tools, and it’s because of them that the city has remained peaceful for so many years.
After that was the shining silver building.
According to Red Mama, that’s the Adventurers Guild HQ, and most adventurers will visit it at least once.
He absolutely wanted to go to those two.
Of course, if he told his father, he would take him there.
Just today, after he said he wanted to see the sparkly gold building, he took the smiling Ars along with him.
But once they were inside, he didn’t let Ars walk around freely.
After they went in, Ars was running all around with curiosity in his eyes, but his father threw all kinds of limitations at him, “You can''t touch that,” “You can''t go there.”
Honestly, Ars thought they were too restricting, and boring.
But what Ars didn’t know was that the Millis Church was already very considerate of Rudeus.
The Millis Cathedral, especially the Inner Sanctum, are places only those with special permission may enter.
Under no normal circumstances would they allow rowdy children to enter.
But Ars was still a child.
He thought that as long as he asked to go to the the tower or the silver building, he’d be able to go.
But he realised that his movements would be restricted like today.
That’s all he thought.
And so, when his father and the others left for the Inner Sanctum with the guards and the woman with the big chest,
He and the other children were told to play in the gardens until they came back, he saw his chance.
(Let’s see how close I can get to the silver building and the tower.)
Thinking about it, his entire life had been restricted by his parents.
“Don’t go there,” “Don’t walk around town alone.”
Whenever he went out, he was always with Aisha or Leo.
Since he was little, he had readily obeyed, and even now he didn’t intend to oppose.
Although he didn’t completely understand the intention of his mothers, even though he was a child, he knew it was to teach and protect him.
He knew that it was dangerous to go outside, and that he shouldn’t go alone.
He didn’t necessarily hate having to go together with Aisha.
But even so.
Sometimes he just felt like he wanted to go somewhere without someone watching him.
“Hey, Lara-nee, let’s slip out. You wanna go take a look at the silver building and the tower?”
And so the one Ars chose to invite was Lara.
For a change, Lara was alone today.
Leo was with the Guardian beast of the girl they called Miko, the Snowy Owl, and had left Lara behind.
And so Lara was also thinking that this was her chance.
Lara and Leo have always been close.
And even now, she had never disliked that.
But he followed her everywhere, and was always warning her about her actions, so lately she had been thinking that it was a little irritating.
So when she heard Ars’ invitation, the edges of her mouth raised just a tad and she nodded.
“I thought that too.”
And so the two began to put their plan into action behind Aisha’s back.
They timed their escape for when Chris shouted “Papa’s gone!” and started crying and they moved to a bush, running from shadow to shadow towards the exit.
“Hey, where are you two going?”
And the one who had spotted them was Sieg.
“Shhh, we’re just going out to play a little.”
“They’ll get mad at you if you go outside.”
“I know that you’ve been sneaking out the back by yourself lately.”
“I-I did not…”
Ars knew.
Sieg was always going out by himself.
But he didn’t know why he wasn’t being scolded for going out by himself.
Ars thought that because he never saw him leaving with Aisha or Leo.
And so he was a little annoyed that his little brother was the only one allowed out alone.
In actual fact, Sieg wasn’t alone.
Sieg, and of course Ars didn’t know, that when he sneaks out of the house, a Rudo Mercenary is always secretly guarding him.
Of course, under the orders of the worrywart Rudeus.
“So if you want me to stay quiet, so will you.”
“…Ok.”
“We’ll be fine, we’re only going to the silver building and that huge tower to take a look.”
“Eh, you’re going to the adventurers guild?”
Hearing him say silver building, Sieg’s eye’s shone.
He had heard many a heroic tale from Alek.
And many of them ended up at the Adventurers HQ so he had an extraordinary curiosity.
“Yeah.”
“Then, I want to go too!”
And so Ars and the other’s left the Millis cathedral.
With mischievous hearts and full of curiosity.
Ars, with Sieg and Lara in tow, headed towards the town.
The architecture was completely different to that of Sharia’s, and was filled with all kinds of houses and buildings with odd shapes; it set Ars’s heart on fire.
They had seen a lot of it in the carriage ride here, but there was something different about seeing on your own two feet.
Just having the pavement under you is a big change.
Even walking around a new city is exciting by itself.
A group consisting entirely of children, especially Sieg with his green hair, stood out, but they didn’t mind it.
They had gotten quite used to those gazes in Sharia.
“Lara-nee, you have to walk forward. It’s dangerous.”
“K.”
Lara responded, but kept looking around with sparkling eyes.
She was even more entranced than Ars at the tidy city.
“Hey, do you think we should have invited Lucy-nee? If we get separated, she’ll get mad at us.”
“If we had told her where we were going, she would have stopped us.”
Sieg was always quite a coward.
And even though he’d been training by himself and gotten quite good with a sword, Ars still couldn’t figure out why he was still scared of everything.
“Ahh Lara-nee! What’s that!?”
What Ars was pointing at was a strange work of art.
It was a green sculpture in the shape of a owl.
It looked somewhat similar to the white bird they had seen, but it was obviously artificial and a little ominous.
Lara looked at it and answered with confidence:
“…That’s a fountain.”
“There’s no way someone would make a fountain that looks like that.”
“But it’s a fountain.”
“Eeh… That can''t be right…”
But just as Ars went to inspect it, water squirted out of its mouth.
“Aah, It really is a fountain! Amazing! How did you know!?”
“I saw one similar at Juli-san’s place.”
That was one of Rudeus’s『Byproducts』The Merlion wind fountain.
It was based on the Miko’s guardian beast Nurse and was presented to her upon its completion.
That said, putting something like that in the Church’s Headquarters would be troublesome,
But because of it’s stuffed animal like qualities, the Miko complained that she wanted it close by, and so it was installed near the Church for the townspeople to enjoy.
“Ohh.”
Seeing Ars and Sieg’s gazes of interest, Lara puffed her chest out with pride.
As the three continued their conversation, they crossed a bridge.
And as they did, the scenery around was quite different.
The buildings were smaller and there were more people.
You could even see people carrying swords or walking around armoured in large numbers.
The rugged hard faced people seemed to have increased.
They had crossed from the Sacred ward to the Adventurers ward.
“It got kinda normal.”
“Yeah.”
But it was a scene that they had already gotten used to in Sharia.
Although they could be called muscular and rugged, compared to the Rudo Mercenaries, they looked rather weak.
Not to mention Red Mama.
“Lara-nee, which way was the silver one?”
“Hm. This way.”
“Alright, let’s go!”
The exuberant Ars walked forward followed by an excited Sieg with a somewhat sleepy looking Lara behind them with a little smile on her face.
“Wow, amazing!”
“Aah!”
Once they arrived at the main street, the Adventurers Guild HQ immediately came into view.
It was a giant silver building placed right in the centre of the street. There was no way you could miss it.
“Ar-nii! Hurry up!”
Sieg ran forward in high spirits.
A complete 180 from his previous opposition.
No matter what he said, there was no way he could fight against the charm of the『Adventurers Guild HQ』That was the start of so many legends.
“Aah, wait!”
Ars and Lara, with anticipation in their face once more, chased after him.
They wanted to get a closer look as quick as possible.
Seeing the children suddenly start running, those around them suddenly thought “Danger”.
The result of children running was usually bumping into someone or getting run over by a carriage.
But they completely overturned the people''s’ assumptions and the three children skilfully weaved through the crowd of people.
And they even stayed to the side where the carriages didn’t pass.
That was the result of daily training.
“Woah~!”
After arriving at the staircase in front of the entrance, Sieg let out an excited shout.
It wasn’t though they hadn’t seen a building of this scale before.
The Magic University in Sharia was a structure of impressive stature.
But there was just something different about it.
The Adventurers guild HQ was silver and incredibly shiny.
The Magic University was filled with reds and browns, kind of like a potato.
“Ar-nii, it’s the Adventurers Guild!”
“Yeah, it’s the Adventurers Guild!”
“It’s completely different from ours!”
“Ours is shoddy compared to this!”
“But this smell inside is the same.”
“Yeah, it does smell.”
Muttering some rude remarks, they walked through the gate.
Very quietly.
Some of the dim-witted adventurers liked to pick fights with children who walk into the guild.
That was something that Blue Mama had told them.
Ars was basically wishing for a fight, but if he started one after already sneaking out, Red Mama would get mad.
Red Mama is scary when she’s angry. She’ll spank your behind until it’s bright red.
And if Sieg or Lara got hurt, Red Mama wouldn’t be the only one angry.
Making Blue Mama or White Mama angry, the thought had Ars shaking in his boots.
But thinking that he might get to see Papa angry, made him kind of want to start a fight.
Up until now, Papa would always be complimenting or pampering them, rarely would he scold anyone.
They had never seen Papa truly angry before.
“Wow~”
The inside of the guild was just as splendid as the outside would suggest.
The inside felt amateurish but also composed, and there were a lot of desks.
The number of adventurers was also completely different to outside.
In the Magic City Sharia all the magicians seemed like beginners, and all the warriors and healers were quite skilled.
But here it was the opposite. The ones that looked like beginners were the warriors and healers but all the magicians looked experienced.
“Ars.”
Seeing that Ars was satisfied by the scenery in front of him, Lara called out from behind.
“There are 3 more floors.”
Lara pointed at the information board in front of the stairs.
It outlined the purposes of each of the floors.
The first floor was a reception and a meeting place, the second floor was a store where you could buy equipment and raw materials directly from the guild, the third floor was restaurant, and the fourth floor was a guild room for large scale events and meetings.
“Let’s go up!”
But as Ars began walking towards the stairs, a shadow was cast over them.
When he turned around, a woman caked in makeup with huge breasts was standing there.
“This isn’t a playground. What’d you come here for?”
“S-Sightseeing! We’ve come from Ranoa Kingdom…”
The reason he managed to reply right away, was because his Papa had told he what to say.
“Your parents?”
“I-it’s just us right now.”
“Right… Then, how about I guide you around? Although I may not look it, I’m a staff member here. Today my shift ended in the morning, so how about it?”
After she said that, she showed them the crest on her shoulder.
It was the same one as the people from the reception.
“T-then please do.”
Ars’s heart was pounding.
Ars loved voluptuous breasts.
Of course, he didn’t hate small ones, but he liked big ones better.
The woman in front of them was about the same level as Aisha, which was a size sufficient to cause Ars’s heart to pound.
“Alright then, leave it to me. Ok? The first floor, as you can see, is the reception area.”
The woman began explaining all kinds of things with a friendly smile.
The three of them followed her around on their tour of the Adventurers Guild HQ.
First floor, second floor, third floor, fourth floor…
The woman guided them around so politely that you would never imagine she was dealing with children.
They had intended to move around freely, but they ended up with a guide.
They had strayed from their plans, but everything they saw was fresh.
Especially the guild room which Sharia’s guild hall didn’t have. It was so lavishly designed that you wouldn’t imagine it belonged to adventurers.
“And that’s the end. Did you have fun?”
Right after she was done, she turned towards Ars and said that.
“Yes, it was interesting! Thank you very much!”
“You don’t need to thank me… So what are you doing after this? Are you going to meet your mum and dad?”
“N-no…”
“Hmm. Then would you like me to walk you home?”
“That’s fine. We’ll go home by ourselves!”
He turned her down because they had yet to see the tower.
He lied to her, but if they started walking to a different part of the town, she would surely notice.
There was no way they could go home without completing their objectives.
And so, Ars and the others left the Adventurers Guild.
Their plans had changed slightly but it turned out alright in the end.
“Now then, on to the next one!”
Ars was pointing not just at the tower, but the sun which had passed noon was beginning to fall.
They saw all kinds of things on their way to the tower.
A complex aqueduct, on top of which were small boats.
A carriage carrying large amount of what looked like monster materials.
And protecting it was a crowd of adventurers.
They would shout in excitement whenever something caught their interest and were enjoying their field trip quite thoroughly.
But because of all their dawdling, the tower which should have been quite close, was still surprisingly far.
By the time they had arrived there, it was already dusk.
“Wow~, it’s huge…”
Seeing the tower at night from this close up was overwhelming for them.
It was so thick that it took them several minutes to circle the whole thing, and it was so tall you couldn’t see the top.
And when you looked at it close up, you could see faint symbols carved on the whole thing.
Although the Magic Tool wasn’t comprised of the whole tower, to protect the Magic Tool on the inside, large scale barrier magic was carved around the tower.
Of course, Ars didn’t know that.
He simply thought that Lily would have liked to see this kind of thing.
“Ar-nii, it seems they won''t let us inside after all.”
“I see. Well I guess it can’t be helped.”
Although Sieg had managed to find the entrance, there were two soldiers guarding it, it seemed no one was allowed inside.
That’s a matter of course.
Ars did want to see the scenery from the top of the tower, but since it seemed impossible, he had the judgement to give up there.
“Haa… Well then, let’s head home!”
“Yeah!”
“K!”
Ars gave a triumphant shout and began to walk back so Lara and Sieg followed.
“Lara-nee, it was so much fun!”
“Yeah. It was fun. That dragon head mounted in the guild room, I want one too.”
“Alright, when I get bigger I’ll get one for you.”
“I’ll help too.”
They were delighted to see all kinds of things they wouldn’t normally have.
Sieg was especially excited and had been continuously been talking at Lara.
But while they were walking Ars was suddenly assaulted with unease.
Could it be.
No, it can''t…
“Hey, Ar-nii, remember that giant sword mounted on the wall in the Adventurers Guild, do you know what it is?”
“No?”
“It was one of the 48 Magic Swords.”
“You sure know a lot.”
“It was being used as a decoration, so it was probably a fake, Alek-san once drew a picture for me.”
“Hmph…”
“Aah, wait up!”
Ars gave Sieg a rude reply and walked faster.
Sieg was confused at Ars’s sudden silence but kept talking to Lara.
Lara was slightly curious about Ars’s demeanour but she didn’t do anything about it and just kept listening to Sieg.
The three continued to walk.
They frequently trained so no one complained that they were tired or their feet hurt.
But seeing Ars walk in front of him silently, Sieg inevitably got quieter.
Before long he stopped talking entirely and the three walked in silence.
Slowly through the night.
And so, the day ended.
Several minutes after the sun had set.
The three were standing in a dark alley.
There were no traces of people in the silence around them
“Hey, Ar-nii, how much farther is it?”
“…How should I know.”
Ars didn’t intend for it to turn out like this.
It’s not like he didn’t think of the trip home.
On the way there they would aim for the huge tower, and on the way back they would aim for the shiny gold building.
It’s a golden building after all.
It stands out from quite a distance, and they would just be returning along the path they had already come.
That’s what he had thought.
“We’re here.”
And so the three of them had arrived at their destination under the guidance of the woman.
“Eeh?”
Is what they had thought.
The scene in front of them was that of a dark alley.
There wasn’t a single trace of anyone around them, the walls were scrawled with obscenities and the trash covered floor gave an overwhelming odour.
No matter how dark it was, he could tell there was no shiny gold building around them.
“Umm, Where? Eeh?”
“That’s no good. Didn’t your parents tell you not to follow around people you don’t know?”
Hearing footsteps suddenly surround them, Ars was shaking.
They were surrounded by vulgar laughs and a number of men.
Ars could tell that they were planning on kidnapping them.
And even though he had realised that, his thoughts were still a mess.
The woman was a staff member at the Adventurers Guild and had kindly guided them around.
So why…
She had said she had gotten off work, but she said the same thing at noon…
“You lied about working at the guild!”
“I didn’t lie to you. This is a side job. Just a little bit of extra money. There are lots of kids like you in this city. Orphans who want to become adventurers and come to the guild but leave without joining. And once they leave, if they can’t make it back home before dark, this is what happens.”
“Dammit!”
Ars immediately picked up a broken stick from the ground and took a stance to protect his brother and sister.
“Ar-nii…”
Sieg was shaking while holding onto Ars’s sleeve.
Lara was expressionless as always, but she looked somewhat pale.
He couldn’t even protect the two of them.
It was his fault it ended up like this.
It was his mistaken judgement.
But now, what could he do right now?
What had his mothers told him… What… What…!?
“ANYONE! IS ANYONE HERE! WE’RE BEING KIDNAPPED! PLEASE HELP!”
Ars shouted.
If anything happens, before you think about fighting, look for help.
That was what Blue Mama had said, or was it White Mama?
Or maybe Aisha.
No, it was probably something his Papa had said.
“Cry and scream all you want, no one’s coming.”
Along the dark path.
The three were on Leo following Aisha and her lantern home.
The kidnappers had already been taken care of, after Aisha blew some kind of dog whistle, the Rudo Mercenaries came running and took them to the authorities.
Ars thought they would be scolded on the way home.
Why did you leave all by yourself?
Why did you get Lara and Sieg involved?
Aisha rarely got angry.
No matter how mischievous Ars was or how much trouble he caused for others, she never got angry.
She would always cover for him saying it couldn’t be helped.
She would always kindly tell him not to do it again and to learn from his mistakes.
But this time, they were only a step away from disaster.
And they had ignored Aisha who was always looking after them to do so.
Aisha had come to search for them, but Mama or Papa probably got mad at her.
She was told to look after the kids until everyone came back, but they ended up disappearing.
And having someone you’re watching over running away would also make you angry, no matter how gentle Aisha is, even she would be annoyed.
Although Ars didn’t think that far through, he could still guess that Aisha would be angry at them for what they did.
“Aisha-nee… Sorry.”
And so, Ars apologised.
“Hmm? For what?”
“I left without telling you, and put everybody in danger…”
“Eeh? What are you talking about?”
But Aisha laughed and pat his head.
He couldn’t feel the slightest bit of anger from her actions.
Ars wondered if she had forgiven them.
But why?
“We’re here.”
“…!”
Aisha said that and Ars realised they had arrived at the gate to the Latrea house.
In front of the manor, Ars swallowed in anticipation.
Aisha may have forgiven them.
But his mothers would definitely be angry.
They had taught him to protect his siblings.
And this time he had gone against that.
He should at least be prepared for Red Mama’s spanking.
Even Papa might be angry.
“Thanks for your work.”
Aisha said that to the gatekeepers and they followed her through the kitchen’s back door.
They walked down a hallway and opened up a door to a room filled with their family.
In there was:
Their three mothers, two grandmothers, a blonde aunt, a stone faced great-grandmother and their Papa.
After dinner, Ars left the large dining room.
He returned to his own room and as if it was natural, he turned around and faced Aisha.
“Why?”
The first thing Ars did was ask that.
Why was no one angry at them.
Why did everyone know they went to the Adventurers Guild.
All those included.
And Aisha just gave a smile.
“Wanna know?”
“Yeah.”
Aisha changed from looking like she had just succeeded in a prank to a serious expression.
“I saw you when you three were trying to sneak out of the Cathedral’s courtyard.
You looked like you had lost to your boredom and were about to pull some kind of prank, but when I heard you say that you were going to the Adventurers Guild, I immediately followed.”
Ars could understand that.
Aisha had already seen through everything.
And on top of that, she didn’t meet up with them and let them do what they wanted.
Tailing them so that on the off chance that something happens, she can come out and save them.
“I didn’t think you’d go all the way to the magic tower though.”
She had always been protecting them.
Although she didn’t intervene when they were lost and on the verge of tears…
“…Then when when you realised we were lost, why didn’t you help us?”
“Hmm? Don’t you already know that?”
Hearing her joke like tone, Ars clenched his teeth.
Of course Ars knew.
It was his fault they were in that situation.
He thought that because of his mothers’ teachings, if something did happen, he’d be able to do something about it.
And even when he knew they were lost, he still didn’t give up.
He mustered up his own wisdom and tried to figure something out.
It wasn’t over.
And so Aisha continued to watch. It wasn’t her turn to come out.
But in the end, when it came to a situation where they would be injured, she came out.
Ars made a mistake so she came to save them.
And because that woman didn’t seem like a kidnapper, because she had kindly guided them around the guild, Aisha didn’t act until the last moment.
He couldn’t blame her.
Everything was his fault.
Aisha was still cleaning up after his mistakes.
“…Aisha-nee… I’m sorry.”
“Anything else to say, do you know what you did wrong?”
“We snuck out without telling you…”
“No, that’s not it.”
Aisha’s denial surprised Ars.
It was something unusual.
Aisha never really tried to teach Ars anything.
She always say “It can’t be helped,” and cleaned up the situation, but never said anything in regards to it.
But Aisha’s face was the same as always with a smile full of composure.
“Ars-kun, you thought I was irritating and decided to go out by yourselves right?”
“I-I didn’t think you were… irritating. Just a little… Aah, but I like you Aisha-nee.”
“Really? Hehe, thanks. Hearing you say that, you’re making me embarrassed.”
Aisha put her hands on her cheeks and swayed side to side.
“In any case, you wanted to go to the Adventurers Guild without someone watching over you right?”
“Yeah.”
“And you knew you shouldn’t.”
“Yes, but… Everyone would worry…”
“Of course, worrying everyone is bad.”
“Yeah.”
“But you never wanted to worry anyone on purpose right? You’re not that mean of a kid.”
Ars nodded.
He didn’t think too much about it, but he never wanted to worry anyone.
“You thought that after you went to see the Adventurers Guild and the tower I’d just ask “Jeez, where have you been?” and you’d just look at Lara and Sieg and laugh “It’s a secret.” like nothing happened?”
It was exactly that.
He didn’t have that clear an image, but a situation like that was Ars’s ideal.
They would go out and enjoy themselves and return before they worried anyone.
They might have worried Aisha a little, but they would be right back and she’d say “So you were just over there,” and give a sigh of relief.
“The fact that you couldn’t do that is the problem.”
Aisha said it straight out.
Ars had a goal.
To go to the Adventurers Guild without Aisha or Leo or anyone else.
She didn’t care about the fact that they didn’t want to go together, it was just part of the goal.
But if you set that as your goal, you have to complete it, is what she was saying.
“…Although you say that… Aisha-nee what would you have done?”
“Hmm. Even I’d have a hard time going to both the tower and the Adventurers Guild in that short amount of time. They’re just too far apart. So I’d probably just go with the Adventurers Guild and save the tower for another day. Didn’t you already know that you didn’t have much time? So the second you heard our plans yesterday, you should have come up with a proper strategy.”
“You’re right…”
“I would have also brought a weapon, and a tool to contact someone. So just in case I ran into something I couldn’t handle myself, I could call someone to come help.”
Hearing it outlined so clearly, Ars realised what he did wrong.
Looking at it calmly, Ars really was careless.
It was too sudden and lacked thought.
Failing in that situation was a given.
At the same time he thought:
Aisha really is amazing.
“…I got it. Next time, I’ll be more careful. So I don’t worry anyone.”
“Yes yes. As long as you keep that in mind. But while you have to be careful, you can''t be scared of failure. Because you’ll never be able to do anything that way. Fail to your heart’s content.”
“Eeh, but, if it ends up like today…”
“Don’t worry! If you fail, I’ll take care of it like today! Challenge yourself without fear.”
Aisha whacked her large chest.
Ars didn’t really understand, he remembered how today felt and smiled at Aisha.
“Alright. I understand Aisha-nee! Thanks!”
“You’re very welcome! Aww, Ars-kun you’re so cute!”
Aisha said that and hugged Ars.
And while he was having his head pat while being stuffed into Aisha’s soft chest,
Ars was earnestly thinking over the day.
―○●○―
1. This
I want to apologise because I don''t feel this chapter is up to the same standard as what I have the rest of them at.
The author decided he wanted to write it third person but from someone''s perspective (Just think about that for a second) and in Japanese this isn''t too hard to do because you just remove any first person pronouns and it works. but in English what you get is a clunky mess of perspectives.
I tried my best to minimise any impact it had on the tone but I''m not perfect. This is one language difference that can''t be overcome.