Published: August 15, 2025
The Next Morning
I woke up feeling the cold morning air.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, Ryoma-kun.”
“You’re up. Yesterday was tough, wasn’t it?”
When I went to the wash area, Mr. Kai and Mr. Kei were there getting ready for the morning as well, still looking sleepy.
The topic of conversation was, of course, last night.
After I left Niki-kun’s secret base, everything went smoothly without any problems.
Niki-kun came out right after me, and although he seemed a bit nervous as we got closer to the village, he didn’t say anything like “I’m not going back!” and walked back to the village on his own feet.
Also, waiting outside the secret base were Mr. Shin, Mr. Peyron, and Mr. Kai. Mr. Sain and Mr. Kei had returned to the village earlier and had already informed everyone of Niki-kun’s safety, which was a big help.
Other than the moment when my father tried to punch me without any warning right after we saw each other in the village square, nothing else happened. We just talked calmly and normally.
“By the way, Ryoma-kun, is your face okay?”
“Yes, no problem at all.”
“That’s good. I was surprised when you suddenly jumped in and got punched.”
“Yeah, yeah. I heard you promised to protect Niki.”
“Ah... I think his father was worried about Niki-kun too, so it felt wrong to restrain him roughly.”
“But there was no need to take it on the face.”
“Haha...”
Anyway, I’m glad everyone’s safe.
We laughed together like that, finished our morning routines and breakfast, and headed to work early again today.
On the way, I spotted a familiar face.
“Huh? Aren’t those Niki-kun and his parents over there?”
“Really is.”
“What are they doing?”
As we talked, they seemed to notice us too.
Niki-kun waved energetically and walked over with his parents.
“Good morning, big brother!”
“Good morning, Niki-kun.”
I greeted his parents as well, and they bowed deeply.
“Thank you very much for finding our child yesterday. We couldn’t properly thank you then.”
“Ah. It was already dark when we got back to the village. It can’t be helped.”
“We were also talking, so it got late.”
“Still, a thank you is a thank you, gotta be proper about it.”
“Well, thank you for going out of your way.”
“No, no, why are you the one thanking me?”
Mr. Kai teased, and a small laugh broke out.
“So, big brother. I’m going to work at the processing plant from today.”
“At the processing plant? Why’s that?”
His parents spoke up.
“This time, since we caused trouble for everyone in the village, as both an apology and punishment, we decided he would help out until noon for a while.”
“We were thinking to wait until he was a bit older, but he seems full of energy. He can at least carry water and transport luggage.”
“That’s quite a tough punishment, Niki.”
“How so?”
“Drawing water is just pulling it from the well, but the processing plant uses a lot of water, so a hundred or two pulls won’t be enough. Of course, adults take turns too, but it’s hard labor, so usually older kids help out with it.”
“I see... good luck.”
“You too, big brother!”
We both laughed, then continued on to the beach.
Along the way, Niki-kun happily walked holding both his parents’ hands.
...Maybe they talked some more after returning home yesterday.
They looked like a very close-knit family.
“Well then, big brother! Teach me about the slimes after work, okay?”
“Got it. Work hard.”
When we arrived at the beach, I parted ways with Niki-kun and got ready for the hunt.
That basically meant calling out the slimes and getting them into position as planned.
So I carefully double-checked everything.
As I checked on the slimes around the processing plant I was responsible for, suddenly—
“Wave’s coming!!”
The leader’s shout triggered a sudden commotion on the beach.
“Wave” means “A swarm of mud salamanders is approaching.”
“Ryoma! Are you ready!?”
Mr. Sain, who had caught up with us, shouted to be heard over the noise.