“Ahaha! It’s hard work looking after the little ones. You’ve gotta make sure they don’t go off and get into trouble, so it’s no wonder it takes a lot out of you.”
“Helps that the older kids are watching over ’em now, though.”
Sashalia nodded along with the housewives, then put a hand to her chin and muttered thoughtfully, “Right, childcare... Why not a school while we’re at it...?”
“Uh-huh, they’re done here now, too... What is it, Sashalia? You seem distracted.”
“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry!” The red-haired general snapped back to attention and made a note on the map. “I was just thinking about the future. Like, maybe it’d be nice to make a school like they have on the outside. Oh, a school is where kids go to learn reading and writing and numbers...”
The housewives all looked at one another with blank looks on their faces.
“My goodness! This girl’s already thinking about after the war! Don’t get ahead of yourself now, dear.”
“Ahaha! Ain’t that confidence-inspiring? You’re right! We should all be thinking about after we win!”
“She’s way more dependable than my husband!”
“Come marry me instead of my hubby, little lady!”
The kobold ladies all surrounded their military commander, laughing and patting her on the head and shoulders.
Sashalia flushed and stiffened when she realized the implication of what she’d said, but she accepted the women’s teasing.
...It didn’t feel too bad.
＊
“Brother Emon! Let’s go play outside!”
“No way! Didn’t ye hear the elder say it’s gonna rain?”
Emon was inside carving parts for a trap with a knife when Fluff bounded up to him. There had been dark clouds in the sky since morning with a prediction of heavy rain later in the day, so all outdoor work had been suspended for the time being. Arriving home before Gaius and company, the young dwarf had taken the opportunity to craft some materials for traps.
“Big Sis is helping make ropes and Fishbone’s napping. I’ve got nobody to play with but you, Brother Emon. Let’s go play until it starts raining!”
“Why don’t ye go take a nap, too?” Dwaemon grumbled, shifting to keep himself in between the fluffball and the knife he was holding. He would never send the boy away, however.
“Whaaat? But I’m not tiiired... Oh, this is perfect! Can I have it?”
“That’s dangerous! Don’t touch it!”
Emon snatched a piece of wood away before Fluff could grab it. It was a stick with a sharpened tip, dangerous enough that a child might injure themselves with it if they weren’t careful.
“What would ye even use this for anyway...?”
“Well, for poking. It’s kinda thick, though.” Fluff stuck his tongue out and panted. Even though they weren’t playing, he was excited to be getting attention from his “older brother.”
“Poking... Ye mean ‘spear of bravery’?”
“You’re so behind, Brother Emon! Nobody plays that anymore!” Fluff cackled impishly.
“Oh yeah? That’s good.”
“Now everybody plays ‘two swords of bravery.’”
“Yer all idiots, ye know that?”
“So, in ‘two swords of bravery,’ you take two sticks, and—”
“I got it, I got it. Figured it out from the name.” Emon shook his head, passing on hearing an explanation of the game.
“Hmph.” Two cheeks puffed out like little snowballs.
“Hahh... You’re so silly. Yer big brother worries about yer future.”
“Eheheh, do you really?” Fluff scratched the back of his head in imitation of a certain someone. The motion threw off his balance, and he went tumbling backward.
Emon scooped him up and sat him on his lap as he resumed his whittling.
“Hey, Brother Emon?”
“Yeah?” Emon set down the stake he’d finished and picked up a new piece of wood.
“Can you beat those ‘adventurers’ with these?”
“...Yep. We can.” Emon nodded after hesitating a moment.
“Are the adventurers gonna kill me and Big Sis? Like they killed Mom?”
The knife went still.
“...I’m doin’ this so that doesn’t happen.”
“...Okay.” The little kobold sniffled, ears drooping, and curled up on his big brother’s lap.
The young dwarf ran his hand over the kobold’s small back a few times. After a little while, the scraping of a blade against wood became the only sound in the house, until...
“Yep, tha’s right, there’s nothin’ to be afraid of! It’ll be jus’ fine! Don’t ye worry ’bout a thing!” Emon took a deep breath and laid down his tools and materials, then picked Fluff up. He touched their noses together and said, “No matter how many times those adventurers come, I’ll beat ’em up and send ’em packin’, so don’t you worry.”
“...Yeah. And Uncle Gaius and Sister Darke are really strong, too.”
“But I’ll protect ye, so ye don’t need to worry.”
“Are you sure?” Fluff sniffed, tilting his head.
“Sure I’m sure! Has yer big brother ever lied to ye before?”
“I guess not!”
“Right?! Right?! Dwarves never lie!”
“Cool! Your farts really smell, but you’re so cool, Big Bro!”
“Ye got no right to complain ’bout me farts when ye come around sniffin’ ’em every time I do!”
“I get worried since they smell so bad.”
“Yeah, well, I’m worried about yer head.” Emon sighed, his shoulders slumping. Fluff licked him on the nose.
“So jus’ sit tight and watch yer big brother work.”
“Okay!”
Emon sat Fluff down on his lap again, but the kobold was snoring before he finished his next stake. He must have been pretty comfortable.
The young dwarf carefully exchanged materials so as to not wake the boy, continuing his work. And, as he shaved off splinters of wood, he muttered quietly as if to let himself hear the words, “That’s right. Next time, yer big bro’ll protect ye.”
＊
At night, when everyone was asleep, a dark shadow prowled next to Gaius’s dwelling.
“...What are you doing?” A voice quietly but firmly asked from behind the prowler.
“Ack?!” The figure shuddered in surprise and slowly turned around. “J-Just doing some laundry.” The moonlight revealed Sashalia in her pajamas. And there was indeed a laundry basket on the ground beside her to back up her claim. It would have been a convincing excuse, if not for the hour.
“This late at night, Lady Denan?” The other speaker, hidden up until now, turned out to be Darke, clad only in her underwear. She was carrying a sleeping Fluff under her arm, who still twitched his paws gently in his slumber.
“W-Well, you know, I’ve been stuck in the command center all day lately, right? This is the only time I’m free!”
“I had thought that Blossom was handling the laundry these days.”
“I-It’s too heavy for a small girl like her, don’t you think?” Sashalia seemed to be having trouble speaking clearly, and she was clearly hiding something behind her back with her left hand.
“I would think it would be much harder for someone with only one leg to carry it, myself.”
“I-I-It’s just part of my military training. Physical exercises.” The general waved her right hand about, the movement causing sweat to drip from her chin down onto her nightclothes.
Watching her, Darke sighed curtly and said, “Lady Denan, from a hygienic standpoint, I can’t recommend burying your face in a sock. Mayhaps a handkerchief would better suit your needs?”
“I-I-I-I did no such thing!” the delicate half-elf denied, shrilly.
“Also, what you’re holding in your left hand is one of Emon’s socks, not Sir Gaius’s.”
“Hah! That’s not true! This is definitely Sir Gaius’s stench! I’m always smelling it, so I can tell! I wouldn’t confuse them, even in the dark!”
“Well, I daresay you barreled right into that one.”
“Aaaaah!” Sashalia clutched her head and writhed around on the ground in embarrassment.
“You couldn’t have said you could tell the difference from the size or something like that...?”
For a little while, the sounds of Sashalia rolling around on the ground and groaning could be heard among the chattering of the insects.
“Wh-What are you doing dressed like that, anyway? Don’t you have any pajamas?” Only one of the brightest minds of the Igris Royal Knight Academy could change the subject so quickly and forcefully.