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[AI CENSORSHIP BLOCKED THIS CHUNK - RAW ENGLISH RETAINED]

One day, I had nothing in particular to do.

My classes weren’t meeting that day, but unfortunately Roxy and Sylphie both had to work. I was planning to look after Lucie and spend the day relaxing.

I felt a little guilty about lazing around the place while both my wives were hard at work…but grownups need to get their rest in when they can, right?

Hmm. I’m not earning any money at the moment, though. Is that really okay? Considering I’ve got a baby and all? Well…getting my education is the best way to earn more money later, right? Yeah, it’s all good.

After seeing off my wives, I checked in on Lucie. She was still sound asleep, so I wandered out into the garden for no particular reason.

When we first moved in here, there was nothing out here but a barren, neglected patch of earth. But now, after only a few years, it had been transformed completely.

First of all, we now had three big evergreen trees back there. One of them flowered in spring, the second in summer, and the third in autumn. Not that I’d seen them blooming for myself yet.

When I’d asked Aisha where she got them, she explained that she’d placed a request with the Adventurers’ Guild and had them brought here from the nearest forest.

Transporting full-grown trees sounded like a real hassle, so I asked her how much it had cost. She said Zanoba had helped out, so she only had to cover the cost of a few bodyguards.

In one corner of the garden, there was a section of soil separated from the rest by brick dividers. This was where Aisha had planted the rice seeds I’d brought back with me. None of us knew how to make a proper rice paddy, so we were trying to grow the rice on dry soil. So far, the first crop seemed to be sprouting nicely. It was hard to say whether we’d get anything edible out of it in the end, though.

Aisha was squatting down by that small field at the moment. To my surprise, Zenith was sitting next to her.

“What are you two doing?” I called.

“Oh, hi, Rudeus!” said Aisha, looking back at me. “We’re weeding the rice!”

For a second I thought she was joking, but then I walked over and realized it was true. Aisha was pulling weeds out from between the stalks of rice, and Zenith was quietly helping out as well.

Now that I thought about it, I had some vague memories of Zenith pulling weeds back in Buena Village. Maybe it was just a standard part of growing plants, even in a cold climate like this.

“Miss Zenith wanted to help out, too!”

“…”

Something about theMiss Zeniththing didn’t sit quite right with me.

“Um, Aisha, you can call Mother Zenith ‘Mom’ if you want, you know?”

“Nah. Mother Lilia said I can’t. She always says I have to call herMiss ZenithorMadam.”

Ah, so it was another one of Lilia’s commandments. She was sure strict about this stuff.

Then again, I felt like Aisha didn’t really think ofZenith as a mother anyway. For the record, Zenith had treated her just like one of her own children back when she was a baby, but Aisha obviously couldn’t remember that.

Well, whatever. It wasn’t that big a deal either way.

“How long has Mother Zenith been helping you out like this?”

“For a while now, actually. Mother Lilia tried to stop her at first, but she always comes over to help when I start messing around in the garden. She’s better at it than I am!”

Zenith had put a lot of effort into maintaining our garden back in Buena Village, too. Maybe that had something to do with this.

I wasn’t going to discourage it either way. You never knew what might help her regain her memories. In any case, it was kind of nice seeing her and Aisha sitting side by side like this. They looked content in each other’s company. Even if they weren’t blood-related, I guess Zenithwasstill Aisha’s mother.

“Oh, right. Rudeus, you’re off today, right?”

As I watched them working, Aisha turned back to look at me. Her cheek was smudged with mud.

“Yeah. I’ll be at home all day.”

“Great! There’s something I want to show you. Can you come by my room later?”

“Sure thing,” I said, bending down to wipe her face. Aisha smiled dopily as I cleaned her off.

Zenith looked on from beside her, staring at us both intently.

“There’s something I want to show you. Can you come by my room later?”

A very suggestive line, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Aisha was a very precocious kid. There was a possibility she’d lift up her skirt and try to show me her private parts or something.

Well, maybe not, on second thought. We already took baths together on a regular basis. She didn’t have anything under there I wasn’t already familiar with.

Still, the kid wassoshameless that I was starting to get a little worried about her future. Maybe I should be giving her some basic sex ed lessons at this point.

Wait, didn’t she say Lilia had gone over all that with her?

Okay…but what if she taught her a bunch of nonsense? I should really step up to the plate here…

Frowning slightly as I considered the proper course of action, I stepped inside Aisha’s room.

She’d told me to stop by “later,” but she hadn’t specified a time. It shouldn’t be a problem if I waited for her here, then.

It’s not like I just wanted to get a look around a young girl’s room or anything. Although Iwasa little curious, maybe.

“Well, looks like she keeps the place clean, at least…”

Aisha’s room was impressively tidy. Everything was put away in its proper place, and I couldn’t see a single speck of dust anywhere. Her bed was neatly made, too.

Here and there, I noticed a few slightly girly touches. The stuffed toy on her bed was particularly conspicuous. It was a little guy, maybe twenty centimeters in height, with light brown hair, a robe, and a staff. He was supposed to be a magician, presumably.

They didn’t sell toys like these in this city, as far as I knew. Had she bought it from a travelling peddler or something? I don’t even think Zanoba had anything like this in his collection, and that meant it had to be a pretty rare find.

Maybe she’d made it herself? Nah, surely not.

Aisha also had quite a few potted plants by her windows—everything from tulip-like flowers to aloes and a little cactus. There were maybe ten of them lined up together in pots of various sizes. Compared to Norn’s room, the place looked a bit more like what you’d expect from a young girl’s room.

Wandering over to the corner, I opened up Aisha’s closet and took a peek. There were three full maid outfits inside. All of them were obviously well-used, and had some conspicuous patches here and there. They looked more like the clothes of a veteran maid than those of an eleven-year-old kid. Aisha had been growing fast lately, so she’d presumably grow out of these entirely before too long. Unless Lilia could modify them somehow.

Glancing around again, I noticed a single cute, girly outfit hanging on the far side of the closet. It had lots of frills and everything. Maybe she was saving it for a special occasion?

Hopefully this wasn’t what she’d been wanting to show me. I’d have to pretend I hadn’t already seen it.

Closing the closet, I pulled open the drawer underneath it.

One side of it was packed with neatly folded panties. For any boy with a crush on her, this would have been a real treasure trove.

Next to her underwear were a number of shirts…and now that I got a closer look, a few bras, too. My little sister was well-developed for her age, and already capable of equipping “chest armor.” Still, she was probably the equivalent of an A-cup at the moment. The Wise Old Hermit had already classified her as a rare gem in the making, but it was early days yet.

As I was contemplating my sister’s clothes, a smallthumpfrom behind made my heart skip a beat. Activating my Demon Eye of Foresight, I channeled mana into both my hands and spun around, making sure to close the drawer behind me.

“Who’s there?” I called, pointing my fingers toward the door.

There was nothing there. No one I could see.

Aisha and Zenith would still be occupied with the garden at the moment, and Lilia should be busy making lunch.

Was it our pet armadillo, then? No, he’d tagged along with Roxy when she headed to the University. He was probably taking a siesta in some stable over there.

Matsukaze, the horse I’d bought before leaving for Begaritt, was housed in a stable in the city. Sometimes I’d head over there to check up on him, but I doubted he could make it all the way over here on his own.

That just left Lucie, and she wasn’t even crawling yet.

Was it someone totally unexpected, then? A burglar? A pervert looking to steal an innocent young girl’s first bra?

Lowering myself cautiously into a crouch, I glanced all around the room.

I wasn’t seeing anyone. And there weren’t any good hiding places, either.

Still,somethingfelt odd. My sharply honed intuition was telling me I wasn’t alone in here.

Could it be an invisible enemy? Maybe someone with a magical implement that provided perfect camouflage? In that case, the effect would have to wear off sooner or later.

“…I guess we’ll just have to see who blinks first, then,” I muttered quietly.

Hopefully it wasn’t just the house creaking or anything. I’d feel like a real idiot.

No…there’s definitely something off. I can feel it.

Look closer, Rudeus. What’s changed in here? What’s out of place?

…The stuffed toy? No, it’s not that.

The door’s still closed. The bed’s still made. The ceiling’s spotless as always.

That leaves…the potted plants. Yeah. Are there more of them than before?

I don’t think so. But I feel like I’m getting warmer here…

“…”

As I stared at the plants, trying to find something out of the ordinary, the sun emerged from behind a cloud. A ray of light poured through Aisha’s window.

Thump! Thump!

“Gaaaah!”

The plant in the single smallest pot reacted instantly. It waswriggling aroundin there, trying to get more of itself in the sunbeam, twisting its leaves toward the window.

With its every movement, the pot thumped slightly against the wooden windowsill.

Az önce duyduğum sesin bu olduğu belliydi.

“Bu da neyin nesi böyle?”

Bitkiye temkinli bir dokunuş yaptım; o da sanki şaşırmış gibi irkildi. Ama bir an sonra, parmağıma doğru eğilip kendini sürtmeye başladı ve yavaşça bir filizini etrafına doladı.

Hafifçe afallayarak parmağımı geri çektim. Bitki ise hemen yeniden güneşlenmeye koyuldu.

“Hareket eden bir bitki mi...?”

Ne kadar da tuhaftı. Umarım odanın içinde dans edip şarkı söylemeye falan kalkışmazdı.

…

Ama işin ciddiyetine gelirsek, bu şeyin ne olabileceğine dair az çok bir fikrim vardı. Sonuçta, onun türünü daha önce defalarca görmüştüm.

Bu bir Treant'tı.