"They're energetic kids."
Sakura smiled as she watches Noa and the others left the room.
Noa and Misa were daughters of aristocrats, but they had a childlike quality to them. But Sakura was mature.
Like Kagari-san, it might not be strange to say that she was an adult on the inside.
When I thought I had left the room, Noa was looking at me.
"Sakura, would you like to come with me?" (Noa)
Noa invited Sakura out.
"Are you sure?" (Sakura)
"Yeah, because people who like Kumayuru-chan and Kumakyu-chan are our friends." (Noa)
Sakura looked happy at those words.
Sakura looked at me.
I nodded.
"Yes. If you don't mind, I'll come with you." (Sakura)
Sakura left the room. Shinobu quietly followed behind her, keeping an eye on her.
It couldn't be helped because she's a ninja, but she felt like a stalker.
Since Kumayuru and Kumakyu were together, they didn't need a bodyguard, but I guessed they're loyal to their jobs.
Shinobu might seem casual, but she's serious.
I looked at the remaining Kagari-san.
"Cagali-san, you haven't returned to your original form. Or do you think you can return to your normal form, but you like the way you look?" (Yuna)
"I'm not. There's no reason for that. It's just that I can't go back to normal. If I go back to normal, I can go to the bar and drink alcohol whenever I like." (Kagari)
Well, if she remained the little girl she was now, they probably wouldn't serve her alcohol even if she went to a bar. Before that time, her entry would be refused.
"You're still dressed as a bear, aren't you?" (Kagari)
"Well, I'm under the protection of a bear." (Yuna)
"If you dress like a fox, you'll get the fox's protection." (Kagari)
"Sakura might be happy if she had that kind of protection." (Yuna)
Kagari-san and I laughed at the image of Sakura as a fox.
"How much do those two know about you?" (Kagari)
"They know about gate that allows us to move, and magic tool that allows us to talk to people far away. But I haven't told you about fighting and defeating a giant snake in this country." (Yuna)
"I defeated a large monster called a serpent in the Land of Harmoni, and the king thanked me and gave me this mansion."
I couldn't say that.
It sounded like I was bragging.
"Also, I haven’t talked about Kagari-san." (Yuna)
"Really" (Kagari)
I didn't know how they would react if they found out that Kagari-san had lived for hundreds of years and could turn into a fox.
Besides, it was not something I should talk about easily.
"Are these two people you can trust from your perpective?" (Kagari)
"I can trust them. That's why I told them what happened this time and brought them here. But that doesn't mean you need to force yourself to talk." (Yuna)
It's up to you to decide what you believe.
And even if you believed something, there were things you didn't need to talk about.
I hadn't even told Fina, the person I trusted the most, that I came from another world.
"Understood" (Kagari)
"So, I think it would be helpful if you refrained from drinking in front of those kids. It would be troublesome to explain." (Yuna)
It was generally considered bad for children to drink alcohol. Whether it's Land of Harmoni or Crimonia.
...I didn't know about dwarves though.
"How have you been lately?" (Kagari)
"Recently, you mean after the slime?" (Yuna)
"You are the ones who are loved and stick your neck for every trouble." (Kagari)
"I'm a bad listener." (Yuna)
I thought about it for a while.
"From then on, all I did was fight King Spider and look for fairies." (Yuna)
"……" (Kagari)
Kagari-san looked stunned at my words.
"King Spider is one thing, but when it comes to finding fairies, you're doing all kinds of things." (Kagari)
To be sure, I was doing a lot of things.
But if you're an adventurer, you're probably fighting a lot. Considering that, I didn't have much.
However, it couldn't be denied that there were many unusual problems.
After that, I ended up talking about spiders and fairies over Kagari-san's drinks until Fina and the others returned.
Kagari-san listensed to me happily.
After talking with Kagari-san for a while, Fina and the others returned.
The five people were having a good conversation.
I immediately noticed that she looked different than when they left. I could see that the distance between them and Sakura was shrinking.
Noa came to me when she entered the room.
"Yuna-san, can we play hide and seek in this building?" (Noa)
"Hide and seek?" (Yuna)
"When I told them I've never played hide and seek, everyone...." (Sakura)
Sakura said shyly.
"I haven’t either." (Misa)
Misa followed Sakura's words.
Sakura had a special environment, and Misa was a noble lady. They might never have played hide and seek.
"But why are you suddenly playing hide and seek?" (Yuna)
"Shuri said it would be fun when we played hide and seek."
"Because there are so many rooms and so many places you can hide."
Certainly, there were many places to hide.
It was unnecessarily wide.
"I don't mind though." (Yuna)
"Hooray!"
"Thank you, Yuna-san." (Noa)
The five people looked happy.
"Then who will play the role of the monster?" (Noa)
"The role of the monster is to find it, right?"
A monster? Apparently, in this world, it was not demon, but monster.
"Who will play the role of the monster?"
No one raised a hand.
They wanted to play hide and seek, but no one seemed to want to play the role of searching.
"Then I'll do it." (Shinobu)
Shinobu, who had been silent until now, made an offer.
"Shinobu, is it okay?" (Noa)
"It's fine. But if you don't hide properly, I'll find you soon." (Shinobu)
Shinobu took on the role of a demon... or rather, a monster, decided on rules such as time, and was forced to hide.
Everyone ran out of the room.
"Young is dazzling." (Kagari)
"You look more like an old man than a concubine[1]." (Yuna)
Even if Kagari-san, who looked like a little girl, said this, it was not very convincing.
Well, it's only now that she looked like an old person.
After a while, I heard voices saying "Okay!" from here and there.
Shinobu left the room. Within a few minutes, Shuri came back and returned to the room with Noa, Misa, Sakura, and Fina.
"Isn't it too early?" (Yuna)
"When I thought Shinobu-san had arrived, she found me where I was hiding in no time."
"Yes, Shinobu-neechan is amazing." (Shuri)
"Shinobu, you don't use magic, right?" (Yuna)
"I'm not using it." (Shinobu)
"It was easy to find."
Everyone suspected Shinobu for some reason. But as far as I could tell, it didn't feel like Shinobu had done anything. But Shinobu's face looked suspicious.
Shinobu was smiling.
I think there was something behind it.
Kagari-san interjected to everyone.
"It's her ears. She listens to the voices of the owners and understand the direction and distance." (Kagari)
"Shinobu, is that so?" (Noa)
"No, that's what hide-and-seek is, isn't it? When I played it in the mountains when I was a child, I was trained to tell direction and distance just by using voice." (Shinobu)
She's like a ninja.
Was that possible in the first place?
"Then let's not reply. Give yourself three minutes to hide, and after three minutes, Shinobu will come and find you."
"I understand. If this hourglass falls, I'll go find you." (Shinobu)
Shinobu turned the hourglass upside down and everyone ran out of the room. After confirming that the sand had fallen, Shinobu left the room.
Just when I thought she wouldn't be able to find them easily this time, Fina and the others were found right away and they came back.
"Are you hiding properly?" (Yuna)
"It's hidden. But Shinobu-san finds it without hesitation." (Noa)
Everyone nodded at Noa's words.
"Kagari-sama, how is Shinobu finding us?" (Noa)
"Even if you don't make a sound, this guy's ears can hear the sounds of you running, going down the stairs, opening the sliding doors, and opening the door. If she has those hints, she'll know." (Kagari)
In other words, this was where you heard and found such sounds. If that's the case, it couldn't be helped that it's easy to find.
It's too foul.
"Kagari-sama, spoilers are not good." (Sakura)
"I guess you're just not mature enough." (Kagari)
I agreed with that.
"I'm just teaching you how tough hide-and-seek is." (Shinobu)
"No, hide and seek is something to have fun with." (Yuna)
"Then what should we do? Will we be able to defeat Shinobu?" (Noa)
"It's impossible." (Kagari)
"Why is it?" (Noa)
"Maybe, since it's about this guy, she probably has something on all the sliding doors and doors." (Kagari)
"Is it a gimmick?" (Noa)
"A gimmick… Ah, I see." (Yuna)
I understood, so I spoke.
"Yuna-san, did you find out what Shinobu-san did?" (Noa)
"She put something small like paper on the sliding door or in the door. Then, when Noa and the others open the door, the paper falls out." (Yuna)
"So, you know which room we hid in, right?"
"What’s more, you can tell the direction by sound."
"You're easy to find." (Shinobu)
"Shinobu, that's terrible. Do you really want to win by doing something like that?" (Yuna)
"You're so immature." (Kagari)
"No, this is also a competition." (Shinobu)
In the end, it was boring for Shinobu to play the role of a monster, so I decided to play the role of a monster instead, and we played hide-and-seek.
"Everyone is terrible" (Shinobu)
No, it's because Shinobu is terrible.
And everyone seemed to enjoy playing hide-and-seek without Shinobu.
"Yuna, you will compete with me in the end." (Shinobu)
"Is the game of hide-and-seek?" (Yuna)
"Yes." (Shinobu)
"No, I refuse because even if I hide, you will find me right away." (Yuna)
There's no way I'll do it after hearing something like that from Kagari-san.
"On the contrary. I'll hide, so Yuna will find me. Oh, of course, don't ask Kumayuru and Kumakyu." (Shinobu)
"I refuse because there is no benefit to doing it." (Yuna)
Above all, it was a hassle.
"While I'm here, I'll treat everyone with food." (Yuna)
I didn't really have to worry about money, so I didn't have to do anything special, but Sakura and the others had started to take an interest in Shinobu and I playing hide-and-seek.
"Is Yuna-sama and Shinobu competing? Who will win?" (Sakura)
"If it's Shinobu-san is going to find, I think it's Shinobu-san."
"But the person who are going to find is Yuna-onee-sama." (Misa)
"Yuna-neechan will win." (Shuri)
"Who do you think, Fina?" (Noa)
"Um, Yuna-onee-san?" (Fina)
"I think Yuna-san too." (Noa)
"Me too, Yuna-onee-sama." (Misa)
Noa and Misa also heard Fina's words.
Everyone voted for me to win.
"Sakura-sama, everyone is terrible. Sakura-sama thinks I'll win, right?" (Shinobu)
Sakura looked at Shinobu, then at me. Then she looked at Shinobu again and she bowed her head in apology.
"...I'm sorry. I'm also going to let Yuna-sama win." (Sakura)
"That's terrible. I'll hide where I'll never be found." (Shinobu)
So, I didn't say I would compete.
Author's Note
Thank you to everyone who watched the anime.
...
* Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.
Translation Note
[1] Is there a better translation/meaning for 妾?