★
“It’s the ocean!”
Clad in her navy blue school swimsuit, Kana, the second daughter, shouted with unbridled excitement.
“It’s the ocean~!” Next to her, Hina, the youngest daughter, was jumping up and down with an inflatable tube already around her waist. The swimsuit she was wearing was a pale pink one-piece.
But unfortunately, the location they were at was not actually the ocean.
“What on earth are you two doing in the living room?!” Yuna exclaimed in surprise at her two sisters who had suddenly barged in during dinnertime.
“My, oh my. What is the matter, you two?” Their mother, Silvia, smiled gently while turning toward the two younger ones.
“We want to go to the ocean, Mama. The reason? ‘Cus it’s summer!”
“Hina-sama wants to go too~ Because I want to play with Crab-sama~”
“I see. It is true that it is summer. But is there actually anywhere nearby that we can play in the ocean?” Silvia directed her eyes toward Shouzou.
“The coastline of the kingdom has a lot of sandy beaches, I hear. I believe there’s also one right next to the port city. Let me ask some of the staff when I go to work tomorrow. We’ll be aiming to go this weekend then, I suppose?”
Dazzling smiles blossomed on the faces of his two younger daughters.
“Let’s have a barbeque there too!”
“Can Puru-sama join too~?”
In contrast to the two who were frolicking about with no worries—
“A swimsuit? ......Would online delivery make it in time......?” The eldest daughter Yuna, who had recently started becoming conscious about fashion, suddenly found herself faced with a very pressing problem indeed—
✦ ✦ ✦
★
The next day, during lunch break.
While having lunch in the guild office, Shouzou asked Sofie whether she knew anywhere that was famous for swimming.
“A place to swim......? In the ocean......? Umm, if you’re looking for a place with a sandy beach, then—” Sofie brought a map over, then pointed out several locations for Shouzou to see.
Elizabeth joined their conversation with a puzzled tone.
“Why do you want to swim in the ocean in the first place anyway?” This was a question that Shouzou had not expected.
“Do you girls not swim in the ocean?”
“There are large rivers near here. And when we feel like taking a dip, we usually go to a spring or a lake.”
“Me too. I mean, it might be one thing for people who live close to the ocean, but......”
“In the first place, when you swim in the ocean don’t you get all sticky and uncomfortable?”
“I’ve also heard that it’s so salty that it’s bitter. Not that I’ve tried licking any personally.”
Shouzou found himself fascinated by how a different understanding of a few points could change someone’s impression so completely.
But at the same time, the thought also occurred to him that, if the idea of swimming in the ocean was not widely accepted here, then it would in effect mean having the beach all to themselves no matter where they go.
(That sounds wonderful in its own way too......) Not being bothered by anyone else, getting to enjoy a leisurely day with his family alone.
As a grin crept onto his face from him just entertaining the thought, Elizabeth shot him an exasperated look.
“But are you sure about being so laidback at a time like this? What are you going to do about that water dragon subjugation?”
“Work is work, but this is my private life. The distinction needs to be clearly drawn.” But because of Shouzou’s disposition, the matter wouldn’t leave his mind.
“But that said, it is indeed true that we are a bit stuck. Now that Sidorias-kun has failed, it will be extremely hard to find a replacement. Even Lalaine had a hard time thinking of potential candidates.”
It was extremely rare for an aquatic species of dragon to appear in the kingdom. Though Sidorias-kun had indeed been sick, the dragon had proved itself fast and tough enough just by merit of not having suffered a single wound from Sidorias.
There wasn’t a thing that any normal adventurer could do against it.
“Apparently Goldas and other guilds in the royal capital are trying to get into contact with adventurers in foreign countries.”
“Our information network is quite small... it barely extends beyond Treia. So then, what should we do......” Regardless of whatever countermeasure they came up with, Shouzou still very much wanted to see the water dragon in person first.
However, the dragon itself was a phantom, such that just going out to the ocean did not guarantee being able to meet it. Sidorias’s fight with it had supposedly also been preluded by two whole days of searching.
(Two whole days...... all that heaving and rolling probably worsened his seasickness, most likely.) A certain plan surfaced in Shouzou’s mind. Though it wasn’t exactly ingenious, but it still more than merited a try.
“By the way,” cut in Elizabeth while looking at Shouzou. “Is it fun? Swimming in the ocean?” Despite all her bashing of the idea just now, she seemed very curious about the concept.
“Do you want to come too?”
“Eh, can I?” Elizabeth leaned forward with great momentum.
Looking on with envy in her eyes, Sofie let an inadvertent “Aww......” slip from her lips.
There was no way that Shouzou, with his sharp hearing, would miss that.
“Sofie-san, would you be interested as well?”
“I can come too?!” Sofie’s exclamation was as full of emotion as the time when she closed her very first sales job.
“Back at my previous workplace, every once in a while, us coworkers would socialize outside the workplace. I suppose it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you girls to also understand such a culture as well.”
At this, the beastkin Moko chimed in with “I’m going too!”
Lalaine of the Naga race softly spoke up with “......Going outdoors is a bit—”
“Lalaine, you’re coming too right? Yes you are, that’s decided!”
“—Uuu......”
So in the end, it was decided that all of them would be participating after all.