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 Snowbelow 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 Snowbelow 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 Snowbelows 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 Shiro 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 hell 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 massive amount of Pastel Rabbits around us .

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

It was confusing so I immediately put Shiro 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 Snowbelow Mushrooms, so we returned to the town while picking mushrooms .