Chapter 159 - Gardening Dragons (EP) (1/2)

“Meow, meow, meow!”

“Dah!”

“Pongoro’s here too.”

“Aba!”

“Takeru-kun and Oruko-chan are here too.”

“Dah!”

Rouge and Jaja sang along with the opening of the usual toddler program recorded on the hard disk.

She sat on the sofa in front of the TV, with Jaja and Nana on her thighs, swaying from side to side.

“Ririka, Jaja and Nana are even better friends now, right?”

“Kyah!”

“Uah?”

Patting Jaja on the head, Rouge smiled wryly.

Whether she understood what he said or not, Jaja cheerfully raised her arms up.

Nana, who was holding her favorite stuffed cat, looked at Jaja curiously.

The twins are full of energy again today, one night after their first sleepover.

Jaja was watching her usual toddler show, and I can’t help but feel that her tension is higher than before.

I think she might be thinking that Pongoro-kun, the stuffed tanuki beast, is Ririka-chan.

I mean, there is a resemblance, but… Ririka-chan is a girl, right?

Today the twins were wearing matching cow-eared baby one-pieces. The black-and-white spots are so adorable.

They’ve been growing so fast these days that I’m going to have to replace the twins’ clothes when I go shopping for fall clothes in a little while.

As a father, I’m pretty nervous because they’re going to grow up so fast before I know it.

My financial standing is sad, to say the least, but I’m more afraid of missing out on the twins, who are growing up day by day.

The Jaja and Nana of today are only here now.

Every time they sleep, or even every time I take my eyes off them, they are doing something that they couldn’t do before.

I really want to capture it all with my own eyes, to witness every second of it, from the bottom of my heart.

Well, I can’t, can I?

I have school.

What if they crawl or get up when I’m not around?

When it comes to crawling, I feel like the twins could already do it if they wanted to.

It’s just that they rarely move on the ground because they can fly, and in terms of size and muscle mass, they’re already well past infancy.

I don’t like it. I want to see it.

I wonder if I can get them to do something during this summer vacation. No, but it would be a pity to force them to do so.

I want to let them grow up at their own pace, with as little pressure as possible.

I wondered if all the mothers and fathers of the world think about the same thing.

Thinking about this, I sat beside Rouge, resting my cheek on the armrest of the sofa and watching the twins.

Past the living room window, Aoi was hanging up all the laundry from the trip.

It looks like a lot of work, with clothes for the twins and shirts for me and my dad.

I couldn’t stand to see her do it, so I offered to help, but Aoi refused, and here I am.

Shouhei can do all kinds of household chores, so Aoi tries her best to do what she can.

Since the first thing she was assigned to do when she came to this house was laundry, she wants to do everything herself no matter what.

I wish she wouldn’t be so stubborn and would just take it easy on me. We’ll talk about it a little later. For now, I want to give priority to Aoi’s satisfaction.

Shouhei went to the library with his friends in the afternoon.

He said he wanted to finish his summer homework before he left for the Sphere Continent.

He’s the one in the family who’s looking forward to the trip the most.

Even though it’s a trip, it’s a trip with a purpose.

We don’t even know if we’ll be able to do any sightseeing yet.

I mean, I’m not even sure how many nights we’ll be staying.

Or when are we going to meet up with Alba? I don’t even know where we’ll be going or what we’ll be doing.

I’m worried. There’s nothing but anxiety.

At least Prince Atoll and the others have helped me secure a place to stay.

They have a house in the royal capital of Dailan just for Prince Atol, and they said that we can stay there as many nights as we want.

Considering our family’s financial situation, I couldn’t help but take him at his word.

If we had to pay for a week’s worth of hotels, we might be forced to live on nothing but edible wild plants after the summer vacation!

I’ll take what I can get without reservation. I can’t say I’m ashamed of myself!

After all, we’re a family of nine now.

Huh?

I thought there were only three of us before we came to this town, but why?

“It’s amazing! This place is really amazing!”

“Kunpei! This forest is amazing!”

The new members of this season’s team turned up at the garden, looking excited.

“Oh. You’re back. How’d it go?”

I got up from the couch and walked over to the window to sit down.

“It’s amazing! The magic is rich, and the spirits are plentiful! And the soil is so healthy! We’ll be able to grow good sacred herbs here!”

“Dragon Princess! Sky Dragon Princess! I like it here!”

Wera and Azui were delighted while wearing Shouhei’s hand-me-down T-shirt and shorts that became covered in mud.

They look like early elementary school girls for all intents and purposes.

“That’s good. But the only place you can garden is behind the house. Behind the fence is a dungeon, so stay as far away from it as possible, okay?”

“I’m not going near it! I’m scared!”

“I’m not going near it! I’ll die!”