“Look! A rainbow!”
“Wooow!”
As the sunlight shone upon the waterfall, it produced a cute little rainbow. The view was so lovely that all five of them were left completely spellbound.
“How pretty...” Luina said in a serene tone, awestruck by the waterfall.
Anima turned toward her and experienced the same feeling of awe.
“Just gorgeous...”
“It really is, isn’t it? Wait, what are you looking at?!”
“You.”
“Ah, jeez. There you go again, flattering me...”
Luina’s face flushed and she turned back toward the waterfall. After gazing at the beautiful scenery for a little longer, they set out on their climb again.
“Aaand done!”
When they reached the top of the mountain, the family sat down at a group of benches prepared for the Hunters usually patrolling the area and enjoyed the scenery, so breathtaking that it couldn’t be described in words. The light of the setting sun painted the vast forests below them orange, as if they were dressed in autumn colors, while the cold, gentle breeze lessened the exhaustion that had set in on their bodies after a long day of climbing. Taking in the view, a gentle smile appeared on Luina’s tired face.
“Ahhh! Look! There! A moundan!”
“Wow, there really is a mountain over there! Good find!”
“I’m sooo good at finding! That moundan is sooo biiig!”
“It really is big, but you know, you climbed an even bigger mountain today.”
“I did?!” Marie was blinking rapidly in surprise. “I cimbeded something bigger?”
“You sure did. Both of you did really well, Marie, Myuke.”
Hearing Anima’s praise, wonderful smiles bloomed on both of their faces, and they jumped up from the bench.
“I can cimb s’more!”
“I’m ready to roll too! Though, Marie, we won’t be climbing anymore. We need to go down the mountain now.”
“We go dowd?”
“Yep, exactly! Look, see that village down there?” Myuke pointed at the small settlement in the middle of the woods. “We want to get there!”
The orange sunshine reflected off the river running along the outskirts of the village. It seemed to be rather far away from the summit, but once they’d descended the mountain, the rest of the way would be through plains. The flat roads wouldn’t prove very difficult to walk for the girls, so even in the worst-case scenario, they would be able to make it there by the morning two days later.
“Wooow! Look, Daddy! Wassat?”
Marie excitedly pointed down. A small pond was letting off a gentle cloud of steam just under the slope, which could only mean one thing.
“Isn’t that a hot spring?”
“‘Hod sping’?”
“A bath.”
“One’s there?”
“Mm-hmm. Why don’t we all get in while we’ve got the chance?”
The girls nodded. They had worked up quite a sweat during the day-long climb, and naturally, they wanted to rinse it off—a feeling that even Myuke was old enough to be extra conscious of. Settling on the idea of a relaxing bath, they started descending the mountain when Shaer landed near them.
“It’s gotten rather dark, so I suggest we set up camp for the night. Naturally, I’d prefer that we get to the monster as soon as possible, but I would hate to put your dear family in danger to do so. Therefore, rude as it may be for me to say, I forbid you from pushing your limits,” she warned out of the goodness of her heart.
“We go hod sping!”
Shaer was visibly puzzled by Marie’s brief report.
“‘Hod sping’...? Ah, a hot spring! So that’s where all that steam was coming from.”
“You come too!”
Marie took her hand. Shaer was traveling separately, but she slept together with the rest of the group, and it seemed that Marie had really warmed up to her during their three-day sleepover. Anima also enjoyed her company, especially because she was mindful of his family.
“Would I be disturbing your family bonding?” she asked, and looked to Anima and Luina.
“I wouldn’t mind one bit if you joined us. The more the merrier, after all.”
“I don’t mind either.”
Marie really wanted to take a bath with Shaer, and Anima couldn’t possibly turn down his little angel’s wish. Their acceptance made Shaer’s face twinkle with happiness.
“To tell the truth, I really wanted to take a bath. I’m drenched in sweat.”
The knight’s inclusion decided, all five left for the hot spring together. As they got to the edge of the water, Marie immediately started undressing, while Myuke looked at the bath with a worried expression.
“It’s steaming like crazy. Can we really get into this?” Myuke carefully checked the temperature with her hand, then flashed a relieved smile. “It’s perfect!”
Following Marie’s example, Myuke started stripping too. She was already old enough to be embarrassed about bathing with others, so despite having agreed to wash Anima’s back not long after they’d met, she had still refused to get into the bath with him. Still, watching Anima, Luina, and Marie merrily take their baths together must have made her feel left out, so a week after she’d started referring to Anima as “Daddy,” she’d finally given in and taken her first bath with them.
“So compy!”
“It’s nice and warm.”
Marie and Myuke quickly submerged themselves in the bath, followed shortly after by Anima and Luina, who were also stark naked.
“How relaxing...” Luina whispered with a gentle smile. The comfortable warmth had very obviously made her drowsier, as her eyes stayed closed longer every time she blinked.
“I feel like myself again.”
Shaer, in the nude like the others, enjoyed herself a little bit farther to the side. It was supposed to be a rather embarrassing experience, but she either didn’t mind Anima’s company or was just too absorbed in enjoying the warm water, as she didn’t show any signs of embarrassment.
“Look, look! The wader’s so pitty!”
“It’s really beautiful how it reflects the setting sun.”
“I’m being revitalized...”
The family spent the rest of the evening revitalizing their bodies and minds at the dreamlike hot spring.