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◇Flio’s House—Meanwhile◇

“Wh-What have I done?!” Tanya stood in the living room of Flio’s house, clutching her head in pain.

Flio had asked Tanya to make sure Wyne didn’t try to fly after them. The Calgosi Coast was a considerable distance away, but Wyne was a fast-enough flier to reach it in no time at all, so Flio felt it was necessary to take some precautions.

Wyne had been in the living room eating an entire cake when Tanya had stepped out of the room for just a second. But when she got back, Wyne was gone without a trace. Tanya searched every corner of the house, but there was no sign of her anywhere.

“What have I done...?” she repeated. “I only stepped out long enough to prepare a magic beast to be cooked! I thought it would be safe! Lord Flio... I have failed you!”

◇Back at the Calgosi Coast◇

Wyne grinned, her body draped over Garyl’s shoulders.

“IthoughtI felt something heavy on my back halfway down the slide!” Garyl laughed. “So it was you, sis!” Grinning, he stepped out of the water, only for a shriek-like sound to erupt from the crowd. “Huh? What’s that about?” Garyl cocked his head. He looked around and noticed that people were looking at something behind him in horror. Garyl looked over his shoulder.

“Mm?” said Wyne, holding tight to Garyl’s arm as they ran along. Her body was completely and utterly naked. “What’s wrong, Gare-Gare? Let’s go again! Again!”

“B-Big sis Wyne!” Garyl exclaimed. “Wh-Where are your clothes?!”

“Huh? What? Where arethey? Hmm...” Wyne folded her arms and thought. “I have no idea!”

“N-No idea...?”

“Who cares about that! Let’s go! Slide! Slide!” Still naked, Wyne ran along, grinning wildly.

“Wait! B-Big sis! Stop!” Garyl shouted, trying his best to stop his sister.

“Huh?!” Elinàsze, who had been waiting in line, ran over when she saw what was happening. “Big sis Wyne?! And you’renaked?!”

Loplanz heard the commotion and went to see what was wrong. “What’s happening over— Wait! W-Wyne?! Is that you?!” he shouted, running even faster when he saw who it was.

“Hey, Lo-Lo!” Wyne said, running up to him when she noticed he was there. They were acquaintances, after all. “Long time no see!”

“Wait! Wyne! Wh-Wh-Why are you naked?! B-Bwahhh!” His face turned bright red as blood gushed out of his nose at the sight of Wyne naked in front of him.

Wyne’s arrival had thrown the water slide into chaos.

◇The Calgosi Coast—The Road to the Beach◇

It was lunchtime, and the visitors from the Houghtow College of Magic were gathered along a road lined with food stalls on either side. Students, guardians, and staff could all eat whatever they wanted for free. Everywhere you looked, there were long lines made up entirely of people from the school.

Flio, Rys, Wyne, Garyl, and Elinàsze walked along together double file. “Wyne,” Rys scolded her oldest daughter, “Itoldyou to be a good girl and wait for us at the house.”

“Ah ha ha!” Wyne laughed, taking a big bite from the large serving of noodles she was eating. “Sorry, mama. But Ireallywanted to see Gare-Gare and Eli-Eli!” She was looking around at everyone between bites, happy to be with her family.

“Oh, I can’t stay angry at you when you smile like that...” Rys said. “But promise me you’ll keep your word next time, okay, Wyne?”

“Mmh,” Wyne answered, cheeks stuffed full of noodles. “Mmkay.”

Flio smiled wryly. “Speaking of promises, Wyne, you know you’re not supposed to talk with your mouth full.”

Wyne nodded in response, carefully making sure not to speak. Her smile was as bright as ever.

Wyne really loves her family...Flio thought, smiling back as he looked at her face.

“You really surprised me, Wyne, showing up on my back suddenly like that!” said Garyl, smirking as he ate a large skewer of meat. “And I was evenmoresurprised when I realized you were naked!”

“Ah ha ha!” Wyne laughed, wrapping her arm around Garyl’s shoulder. “You looked like you were having so much fun! I couldn’t help myself!”

“It’s not funny, big sis Wyne!” said Elinàsze, brow furrowed in anger as she ate her grilled fish. “And you mustn’t throw your clothes away like that! You’re lucky they got caught in that tree so I could get them for you with flight magic! If they had ended up in the ocean, we mightneverhave found them!”

“Ah ha ha!” Wyne laughed, wrapping her other arm around Elinàsze’s shoulder. “Thanks for getting me my clothes back. I love you, Eli-Eli!”

“S-Sis!” Garyl protested. “I’m gonna drop my food!”

“Ah ha ha! I love you too, Gare-Gare! I love you both!”

Garyl and Elinàsze grimaced as Wyne pulled them along. They were the very image of close siblings.

Flio and Rys watched from behind, smiling. “Wyne really loves her brother and sister, doesn’t she?” mused Flio.

“Yes,” said Rys. “She really does.”

The family continued down the road, smiles on everyone’s face.

◇Houghtow College of Magic—Meanwhile◇

“Excuse me?” The Maiden Queen of Klyrode’s eyes shot open when she stepped inside the Houghtow College of Magic meeting room. She had come here as part of her inspection of the kingdom, to visit its just-opened lower-grades division.

In front of her was Waona, who taught summoning for the college’s adult students. She was sitting there, facing the queen, wiping the profuse sweat from her brow with a handkerchief.

“I-I’m terribly sorry, Your Majesty...” said Waona. “The lower-grade students are away right now on a one-night camping trip to the Calgosi Coast with their guardians. By the time we heard you were coming, everything was already set in stone...”

“Oh, no, you don’t need to apologize!” the Queen said, putting a big fake smile on her face and shaking her head. “I didn’t send a message ahead of time because I wanted to see your undisturbed daily operations!”

A one-night camping trip...she thought.I suppose I won’t have an opportunity to see Garyl, even if I were to stop by Lord Flio’s house...

Garyl had once saved the Maiden Queen when she was attacked by a demon. It left a very gallant impression of the young boy in her mind. In fact, she had become quite infatuated. Garyl was growing up quickly because of his mother’s demonic blood. He was already starting to look like a handsome young man.

It would take an entire week for the witches I brought with me to create a portal all the way to the Calgosi Coast...she thought, determined not to let her disappointment show on her face as she carried on her conversation with Waona.

◇Evening on the Calgosi Coast◇

The sun had set halfway past the horizon. A number of people had gathered to watch, including Nyt, who was sitting under a parasol tucked away in a corner of the beach.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!” Suddenly, Zarmas appeared over the crest of a sandy hill, running with ferocious speed.

Nyt sighed, following Zarmas with her eyes as she ran. “I can’t believethissswasss why she wanted to go to the beach ssso badly...”

They had been in Calgosi for almost a day, and Zarmas had spent the time doing nothing but running up and down the beach. On her face was a look of absolute joy.

Although, now that I think about it, she’sss alwaysss loved running about like an idiot,Nyt thought, sighing deeply as she remembered some of Zarmas’s antics from their time in the Dark Army.

Zarmas didn’t stop running even as the sun vanished from sight.

◇The Calgosi Coast—An Inn, After Dark◇

The summer camp schedule included a magic class, with parents observing. After dinner, they gathered in the inn’s main hall, which had been set up as a classroom. The guardians sat in the back for an opportunity to sit in and see how their children were being taught. Class A’s lesson was defensive magic, taught in the middle of the hall.

Belano, the defensive magic teacher, stood in front of the class with a portable blackboard. The students were sitting in rows, but they were all quite tired. Some of them had started to nod off, while others were already sound asleep, heads buried in their arms. Garyl’s head wobbled occasionally while the ever-serious Elinàsze kept smacking her cheeks to keep herself from falling asleep.

Houghtow City was almost at the very center of the continent. Most of the students were born and raised there. For almost all of them, and their guardians as well, it was their first time seeing the ocean. It had been a day full of excitement, up until dinner, when they finally expended their energy. They were in no state to be taking classes.

It wasn’t only the students either. Plenty of the guardians sitting in the back had started snoring in their chairs. Flio, for his part, was watching attentively. But Rys, sitting next to him, was slumped over, fast asleep, Wyne in her lap. Both of them were snoring contentedly.

They’ve been running around all day, those two...Flio thought, smiling his usual easygoing smile.Oh, well. I suppose I’ll just have to watch out for them as well!

◇The Following Morning◇

After the lesson was finished, the students and their guardians spent the night in the rooms that had been prepared for each family. The next day when they woke up, they went fishing on a boat Junia had prepared for them. After that, they had free time until lunch to do as they pleased.

Taclyde looked troubled as he watched the children playing in the sea. “The after-dinner observation class was a complete failure...” he grumbled. “Most of the students fell asleep! It was hardly a class at all!” He scratched his nose as he looked over his notes. But in front of him, the students and their guardians alike were enjoying the sea with happy smiles on their faces.

“Still,” he admitted, “if our goal was to deepen our camaraderie, I suppose we succeeded. I’ll tell the headmaster it was a success.” He jotted down another note or two on the pad of paper in his hands.

After lunch, Flio conjured another portal, and everyone returned to Houghtow City.

◇Flio’s House—That Night◇

"Yaz kampı ne kadar da eğlenceliydi, değil mi kocacığım?"

Rys, tuvalet masasının aynası karşısında oturmuş saçlarını tararken gülümsüyordu.

"Kesinlikle!" dedi Flio. "Garyl ile Elinàsze acayip eğlendi! Son dakika peşimize takılmış olsa da Wyne da öyle."

"Ah, o Wyne yok mu..." Rys'in tebessümünde hem sevgi hem de hafif bir sitem vardı. "Döner dönmez Tanya'nın kızın üzerine nasıl çullandığını gördün mü?"

"Zavallı kızım benim," diyerek kıkırdadı Flio. "Ama ne de olsa sözünü tutmamıştı, hak etti biraz."

Rys saçını taramayı bitirip Flio'nun yanına geldi. Yatağın kenarına oturup kocasına iyice sokuldu. Yüzü hafifçe kızarmıştı. Kocaman, sitemkar ama sevimli gözlerle Flio'ya bakarak sordu: "Yeni mayomu nasıl buldun peki?"

O bakışlar tam da hedeflenen etkiyi yarattı. Flio kollarını Rys'e doladı, onu kendine çekip sımsıkı sarıldı. "Üzerinde harika duruyordu. Gerçekten... büyüleyiciydin."

"Teşekkür ederim kocacığım. Benim bir tanecik, harika birtanem..."

Rys gözlerini kapattı. Flio ona doğru eğildi ve dudaklarına yumuşak bir buse kondurdu. Birlikte yatağa uzandılar. Flio'nun parmağının ufak bir hareketiyle yatak odasının ışıkları söndü, ikili karanlığın huzurlu kollarına bırakıldı kendini.

◇ Çocuk Odasında ise ◇

Wyne, Elinàsze ve Garyl aynı odayı paylaşıyordu. Üç katlı ranzanın en alt katında, üçü birbirine sokulmuş, derin bir uykunun koynundaydı.

Normalde en üst kat Elinàsze'nin, orta kat Garyl'in, en alt kat ise Wyne'ındı. Ama şimdi üçü de Wyne'ın yatağında mışıl mışıl uyuyordu.

"Mırrr..." Wyne uykusunda mırıldanmaya, rüya görmeye başladı. "Deniz... Çok eğlenceli..."

Garyl ile Elinàsze, onun sesini duyunca uykularında Wyne'a daha da sıkı sarıldılar. Dışarıdaki dünyadan habersiz, güven içinde uyumaya devam ettiler.