Chapter 171

　　Staying the Night

　　It was already evening before I noticed .

　　“Will we make it before the closing of gates if Joule and others run at full speed?”

　　“But red~?”

　　“And pink~?”

　　While thinking of hurrying back, Allen and Elena were still set on catching the red and pink Pastel Rabbits .

　　(Let’s stay the night!)

　　(That might be good!)

　　Joule and Feat were also suggesting making a camp .

　　(I will be a bed~)

　　(You won’t be cold if everyone huddles together no!)

　　Vector declared that we can sleep on him when going to bed and Mile supported his claims .

　　We have already accomplished our objective, so there really is no need to camp here though .

　　“We may have equipment for the cold, but that doesn’t change the fact that it will get even colder under the night sky, you know?”

　　(Then, I will look for a cave to stay in!)

　　Hearing my words, Bolt immediately flew away to search for a cave .

　　… Even before I could say “Let’s return” .

　　“Gee~ can’t be helped~”

　　Bolt will surely return after finding a reasonable cave . It would be better than staying under the night sky and we can rely on the furs of Joule and others for the rest .

　　“We can’t stay outside in current season, we are returning to the town in the morning, alright?”

　　“”((((Yee~s))))””

　　The children gave a cheerful reply . When I peeked at the children’s faces, they were making “We did it” expressions .

　　Were the children cooperating and aiming for this kind of development… or something? … No, surely not~

　　Bolt who returned after a while has really located a suitable cave .

　　“The depth and wideness are just right too . ”

　　(I am glad to hear that . )

　　It really was warm inside the cave and even Vector who sometimes returns to his original size to sleep fit without any problems . While that may be true, it wasn’t too wide . I don’t have to worry about the children catching a cold while sleeping here .

　　“We decided on the place to sleep, how about a dinner? Since we picked them today, how about eating hotpot with the s...o...b..low Mushrooms~?”

　　“”Hotpot~””

　　We have secured the place to sleep, so I decided to prepare dinner . The menu is a mushroom hotpot with many kinds of mushrooms .

　　How about the seasonings? Soy sauce?

　　(I am looking forward to it~)

　　(Niichan, put lots of mushrooms in it, okay♪)

　　Joule and Vector approached me who started preparing dinner and watched me cook .

　　I had to warn Vector who nearly put his face into the pot to smell once everything cooked together .

　　“N~”

　　“”Delish~””

　　The s...o...b..low mushrooms had a really mouth-melting texture .

　　(This is delicious~) Joule

　　(It’s truly delicious~) Feat

　　(What an amusing texture . ) Bolt

　　(I love this!) Vector

　　(It’s delicious no!) Mile

　　Joule and others praised it highly . Since I could not say no to the children who wanted to pick s...o...b..lows on the way, we got quite a lot of them .

　　After chatting a little after the meal, I leaned against Vector who returned to his original size to go to sleep earlier than usual . Then, Allen and Elena clung to both of my sides . Joule and Feat cuddled to us and Bolt and Mile rounded themselves on top of my abdomen . On the occasion, I summoned s.h.i.+ro and all of my contracted Pastel Rabbits .

　　“”So warm~””

　　We really were warm being huddled together with everyone, so we immediately fell asleep .

　　And, the next day .

　　“… The h.e.l.l is this . ”

　　I could only speak out in a daze at the spectacle before me .

　　“”So many~””

　　(It seems they came while we were sleeping, huh . ) Joule

　　(I have not noticed them at all . ) Feat

　　(Their presence detection is apparently incredible, but erasing their own presence also seems to be their specialty . ) Bolt

　　(Wow~) Vector

　　(Truly no! For us to not notice at all, they are amazing no!) Mile

　　When we woke up, there was a ma.s.sive amount of Pastel Rabbits around us .

　　“Is this cave a nest of Pastel Rabbits or something?”

　　It was confusing so I immediately put s.h.i.+ro and others back into my shadow, but even still, there was twelve, maybe thirteen rabbits .

　　Are the five rabbits we caught yesterday among them? Is what I thought, but the Pastel Rabbits we caught yesterday were obediently staying in the basket without running away .

　　There was no lid on the basket so they could have escaped if they wanted, but not a single one escaped . Far from that, two rabbits have apparently entered the basket so there’s more than yesterday .

　　“Red child~”

　　“Pink is there too~”

　　“Indeed . Rather, they have all kinds of colors… so colorful . ”

　　Apparently, we were able to complete the Pastel Rabbit search we wanted to do today .

　　“Then, are we bringing back only the yellow, red, and pink ones?”

　　This time, we can bring with us only the Pastel Rabbits Lilika-sama and Sistina-sama wanted .

　　“”(((((Eh?)))))””

　　Finding my words unexpected, the children looked at me with surprised faces .

　　“”Why~””

　　(Three only? Only three?)

　　(There’s so many though!?)

　　Allen, Elena, Joule and Vector couldn’t understand .

　　(But, yeah . Unlike herbs and fruits, it won’t end just with finding them, right~) Feat

　　(Yes, they are living beings after all . ) Bolt

　　(That’s right no!) Mile

　　Although surprised, Feat, Bolt, and Mile immediately nodded in consent .

　　“”Won’t give~?””

　　“This time, we accepted in the form of a request after all . We can’t simply give them to this person or that person . ”

　　In case we caught Pastel Rabbits, they will be delivered to Lilika-sama and Sistina-sama through the Adventurer’s Guild .

　　Of course, we are receiving an appropriate reward .

　　I was hesitating to sell off the Pastel Rabbits the last time, so I had Matthias-san help me to search for takers, but… it’s not like we can do that this time too .

　　People will surely end up saying “Me too” if we irresponsibly give them away . It would be troublesome if it became like that, that’s why I accepted it as a request through the Adventurer’s Guild .

　　“Theodore-kun!”

　　“Latis-kun!”

　　“Correct . That’s why I intended to ask if they would like the remaining rabbit . ”

　　“Larry-kun!”

　　“Helena-chan!”

　　“Eh?”

　　Either red or pink Pastel Rabbit would remain in our hands, so I was thinking whether the children of the Risner family would like to care after him .

　　However, Allen and Elena seem to want to give Pastel Rabbits to Larry-san and Helena-san of the McPherson family too . ***

　　N~ it might seem like we are forcing the rabbits on them if approached untactfully . Well, I think that those two will surely accept them gladly though~

　　“… One more it is then . Allen, Elena, choose one more Pastel Rabbit . ”

　　If it doesn’t work out with the McPherson family, I would be able to somehow manage with one more animal .

　　After I had Allen and Elena agree with it, the two were about to choose a Pastel Rabbit . But——

　　“”Au~~~””

　　All of the Pastel Rabbits gathered around Allen and Elena’s feet… as if saying take me with you .

　　“Do these Pastel Rabbits understand our words?”

　　(N~ I wonder?) Joule

　　(From the looks of it, they do . ) Feat

　　(However, the intelligence of Pastel Rabbits shouldn’t be that high, no?) Bolt

　　(Instincts?) Vector

　　(The stubbornness to move to a safer place nano!) Mile

　　As I thought, even Joule and others don’t understand the language of Pastel Rabbits .

　　“We cannot keep you all and we cannot entrust you to people we don’t trust . Therefore, even if you desire to come with us, you might end up getting sold off, you know?”

　　When I tried persuading the Pastel Rabbits with words, they swarmed us even closer .

　　Isn’t that strange?

　　(Rather than living in the wild, they seem to prefer being kept as pets~ Well, they are weak, so it’s only natural, I guess?) Joule

　　“Why are they running from the adventurers that come to capture them then? If they want to be kept, they should approach them instead, no?”

　　(N~ isn’t it because the adventurers that come are dazzled with enthusiasm? That’s why they are scared of them or something?) Joule

　　“……”

　　I was in agreement with Joule’s words .

　　“”Bring them~?””

　　“Let’s see…”

　　Even if we leave them here, the Pastel Rabbits will surely follow .

　　Well, we will be able to shake them off if we ride Joule and others, but…——

　　“I don’t want to sell living creatures much, but Grace-sama did say that there’s a shortage of Pastel Rabbits . Let’s take them . ”

　　“”Ohh~””

　　I decided to take all the Pastel Rabbits here with us .

　　That being decided, we immediately went back . But, on the way back, the children did not forget to look for s...o...b..low Mushrooms, so we returned to the town while picking mushrooms .