“She’s going to grow up a lot faster than you expect. Girls always do,” Remia said with a smile.
“Is that so?” Hajime asked, looking down at her.
“It is. Does it make you happy to see her grow, dear?”
Hajime brushed a strand of hair out of Remia’s eyes and shrugged his shoulders.
“Of course it does... Well, okay, not completely. It does feel a little sad to see her grow up so fast. I wish it’d happen a little slower.”
“My, my. I’m afraid that’s impossible.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because she herself wants to grow up as fast as possible. She wants to be a certain someone’s bride, after all.”
“......”
“Girls who have a husband in mind grow up even faster, you know?”
Just then, Hajime heard Myu yell, “Oh, mama’s getting a lap pillow! I’m so jealous!” and all he could do was chuckle. Remia got off of Hajime’s lap and waved at her daughter.
“Well, doesn’t it make you happy, dear?” she asked, glancing over at Hajime. There was no good answer to that question, so Hajime pulled out his ultimate trump card.
“Huh? What’d you say?” he asked, bringing out the cliché but always effective “pretending not to hear” strat. That particular skill was normally reserved for the main character rather than the Demon Lord, but Hajime wasn’t picky about what techniques he used. Unsurprisingly Remia just smiled knowingly.
Meanwhile, Liliana frowned and muttered, “Hang on, have I just become a third wheel?”
It was too awkward to insert herself into this conversation, but at the same time, it was too awkward to get off of Hajime’s lap and do something else.
“Mama, Lily-oneechan, are you two okay now?”
“Yes, seeing your smiling face made me full of energy again,” Remia said, patting her daughter’s head. It felt a little strange, since Myu’s head was twenty centimeters above where it normally was.
Thanks for the save, Myu-chan! Liliana thought, taking the opportunity to sit up and show that she’d fully recovered as well.
“Yep, I’m doing great now too! But I think I’ve had my fill of entrusting my life to contraptions I don’t fully understand.”
“You’re exaggerating, Lily, roller coasters aren’t that bad,” Shizuku said with a shake of her head.
“Don’t worry, Lily. Even if you die, I can just bring you back to life!” Kaori declared with a smile.
“That just makes me even more worried.”
“Should we go on a gentler ride next, Hajime?” Yue asked.
“Ha ha ha, sorry, but I think I’m all roller coastered out as well,” Aiko said with a tired smile. Magic could easily heal motion sickness, but even so, thrill rides were mentally taxing.
“Sounds good. It’s about time we got lunch too, so...”
“Oh, can we go here before lunch?! Please?!” Shea exclaimed, jumping up and down as she pointed to a corner of the map.
“Oh, an escape room? And it’s themed after that one famous ninja movie.”
It wasn’t quite a traditional escape room with puzzles, but rather a more athletic attraction that involved escaping a maze while running from people trying to catch you. It was themed after a famous movie where the protagonist, who’s the descendant of a ninja clan, has to become a spy to save his country.
“Yep! And I was thinking, what if we make it into a contest? Whoever escapes first...” Shea paused there and looked over at Yue and the others, then smiled confidently and said, “gets the right to ride the Ferris wheel alone with you!”
Suddenly, everyone’s eyes lit up.
“Don’t you think it’s unfair to make this attraction into a contest? No one can beat you in a battle of speed!”
“It’s perfectly fair, Lily-san. Think about it, this attraction is designed for even children to be able to play. In other words, you’re not required to be super fast. And while it’s not a traditional escape room, there are still some puzzles as well, so there are elements that play to everyone’s strengths.”
It seemed Shea had prepared her counterarguments ahead of time. Liliana couldn’t say anything to that, so she reluctantly fell silent.
“We haven’t decided who’s going to get to ride the Ferris wheel with Hajime-san yet, so this is the perfect way to make an impartial choice.”
The Ferris wheel was, of course, the quintessential ride to go on with your lover. Looking down on the land of dreams and wonder together with your beloved from up on high was bound to be a memorable experience.
Before they’d gone to the theme park, Yue and the others hadn’t really understood the appeal of a Ferris wheel, but Kaori had given a truly eloquent speech on the romantic nature of the Ferris wheel ride. However, it would take too much time for Hajime to ride with everyone one at a time, so they’d decided just one person would obtain the right to enter the gondola with Hajime.
Honestly, Hajime would have preferred it if they all rode together, but he knew it’d be tactless to say so. Thus, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
“Well, if you all think you don’t stand a chance against me even then, I suppose we stake the Ferris wheel ride with Hajime-san on something else.”
“You seem confident you’ll win...” Yue muttered. “Perhaps it’s time I reminded you that you’ll never be a match for me.”
“Yeah, maybe it’s time we taught Shea a lesson. She’s been getting too cocky recently,” Kaori said, a feral grin spreading across her face.
“It’s not a bad proposal, Shea. But I hope you haven’t forgotten, the Yaegashi family is—or well it might be—descended from ninjas, you know?”
“Umm, Shizuku-oneechan, is that actually going to help you?” Myu asked, cocking her head to one side.
“Does that mean they still haven’t come clean to you?” Aiko asked in an exasperated voice. They were doing a terrible job of hiding the Yaegashi family secret, so she figured they may as well come clean about it to their daughter.
Shizuku awkwardly averted her gaze. Though in truth, she’d seen the movie this attraction was based on numerous times as a kid. In fact, the box set for the entire movie series was sitting at home. Shizuku was an avid fan of ninja fiction, and she’d read a bunch of ninja novels as well. As a result, she’d put that out as her advantage over everyone else, but after Myu’s rebuttal, she’d realized that might not actually help her, and she’d suddenly grown embarrassed.
“Sounds good to me. Without a contest like this, we probably would have ended up simply deciding with rock-paper-scissors,” Tio said with a shrug.
They were completely fired up now, and Yue and the others strode resolutely toward the escape room.
Fool! I knew from the start that you had your eyes on this particular attraction, which is why I investigated it ahead of time! You’re three hundred years too early to challenge me! Yue thought.
You messed up, Shea. Why were you under the impression that this is my first time coming to this attraction? I’ve already cleared it twice! Kaori thought.
I’m sorry, everyone, but information is the key to every battle. I’m the only one who knows that they revamped the attraction with a new set of puzzles today. Of course, I used family connections to obtain this information, but all’s fair in love and war... Shizuku thought.
We’ll have to spend some time waiting in line, right? Maybe I can use spirit magic during that time to project my soul into the room and... No, wait, I’m a teacher! I can’t be setting a bad example for my students! But still... Aiko thought.