After she finished listening to the story of Momojirou and Mito Kougane that I told her briefly, Haru said with her eyes shining and glittering.

  「That’s amazing Al! Both the story of Momojirou and Mito Kougane are really interesting!」


  「I’m glad you like it」


  It looks like she really liked the story of Momojirou and Mito Kougane, so that’s good to hear.

  Indeed, I guess it’s because the culture is similar, it seems that those two stories can be appreciated even by Haru quite easily as someone who lives in Kagura.

  「Especially the grandfather Mito Kougane, he was so cool!」


  Ooh? I thought that she would like the uncomplicated Momojirou since it’s easy to understand but it looks like I’m wrong.

  「Which part of it was good?」


  「Hiding his identity, traveling to various places while taking excellent guards with him, and reforming the evil in the world! Even if he had retired, he still going around the area where the eyes of the statesman can’t reach to improve the world, he’s a truly a fine man!」


  O, ooh. I tried to ask her casually about the story, but I got quite a solid answer from her.

  「And yet, when he saw a person in trouble he didn’t overlook them, what a great personality!」


  Haru is fascinated by the grandfather as she talks about him while grinning.

  Apparently, Haru likes Mito Kougane more than I expected.

  She only talks about Mito Kougane so it looks like the practice matter is easily forgotten.

  「I also want to be a person like that grandfather!」


  「Indeed when you retire, you don’t have to go to work, and you can freely do anything you wanted, right」


  I express my view as if I’m agreeing to Haru, somehow she stared at me in silence.

  「No, I don’t mean it like that, okay?」


  「Why not? When you quit your job, you can go into retirement and travel to various places. After that, if there’s something that displeases you you can wield your authority and things will proceed as you wanted it to be. Considering his fairly great status like us it’s the best condition, right?」


  「That, that’s not it! The grandfather is not that kind of tyrant, you know! What a misinterpretation of the story Al did! Apologize to the grandfather!」


  Haru said while tapping my shoulder *posuposu*.

  Err, you’re telling me to apologize to a fictitious character. It was the life of a grandfather as he spend the time and traveling around as he pleases after retiring.…… I don’t think it’s a bad life, though.

  It appears that the grandfather that Haru thinks of and what I think of is completely different.

  If I continue to talk about the grandfather any further then she will get angry at me again, so let’s change the topic.

  「How was Momojirou?」


  When I try to ask her to test the water, Haru - who looked unhappy - made a complex expression.

  「Momojirou, I don’t understand the beginning about him that was born from peach in particular? A child is born when a man and a woman kiss in a futon right?」


  「S, so bright!」


  There is a girl with a pure heart right in front of me that it’s dazzling! When I heard about Haru’s too innocent remark, it made me feel self-conscious about my own impure heart that I can’t look her in the eyes.

  「Nn? Al? Why are you turning your face away?」


  Haru asks, perhaps she’s puzzled when she sees me turning my face away.

  「……nah, it’s nothing」


  「Then, look this way! 」


  When I keep looking away, Haru grabbed my face and forcibly turned it to the front.

  「Could it be, the knowledge that I know about how to make a child is wrong?」


  「……it’ it’s not wrong, you know?」


  I could somehow squeeze out those words, even while my cheeks is grabbed with both of her hands.

  Though Haru is so dazzlingly pure that I can’t look at her directly…


  「Aaahh! Al averted his eyes! It’s the same reaction to the people around me when I asked them the same question!」


  Maybe she was displeased with my behavior as I answered that the pressure from the hands pressing on my cheeks increases.

  Please stop. Or rather, why didn’t the people around her teach her about it properly.

  So she still didn’t know about that part, even for the sensible Haru, huh?

  「Ka, Kaede-san, you didn’t ask her??」


  Since she is close to Haru and she’s a woman, didn’t she teach her some knowledge regarding that thing or hints?

  I asked her with a faint hope in my heart, but Haru slowly shook her head to the side.

  「Kaede is not good. When I asked her that, she replied seriously with 『Haru-sama doesn’t need a man』」


  Ahー, when it comes to Haru that person is really hopeless. Though she has somewhat more common sense in the other parts other than that. Just what the heck happened to her in the past, I wonder.

  「Tell me! Al! Just how can a child be born!?」


  While my thought was wandering to Kaede-san who is not here, Haru pressed me for the answer to her question.

  What’s this!? Is this sexual harassment? This is a punishment game, isn’t it? There’s no way I - as a guy - can tell you that, right? If I told her honestly, then don’t mention Kaede-san, Haru’s parents will definitely be angry at me.

  「I, I don’t know! I don’t know anything, alright!」


  「Noーoo, Al has a face that says you know something!」


  The verbal back and forth between Haru and me keep continuing for nearly one hour.

  ◆


  「Mumumu, Al is also really stubborn, not saying anything even when I said all of that until now.」


  「No, like, I told you I don’t know anything」


  Even if you said that I’m stubborn or that I’m not saying anything, I still won’t fall for your trick.

  I’m a pure seven years old kid who doesn’t know anything. That’s why I’m not going to say something that will make my secrets known or some hints as if I know something in what I said.

  Rather, we were just talking about Momojirou though, I was surprised our conversation turns out to be something like this. It might be better that I don't carelessly talk about Momojirou with Haru.

  「Hmph, whatever then. Since I could hear interesting stories about Momojirou and Mito Kougane then I’ll just consider it as a good thing!」


  When I keep silent in the face of her questioning, Haru said that as she smiles as if to pull herself together.

  The sun in the sky had already set when I noticed it, the surroundings began to take on a reddish tinge.

  This shrine is located before the top of the several-hundred-steps stairs, so the place is high and the view is also good, I can see a beautiful sunset.

  It’s about time to say goodbye to Haru. She would probably hate it if we part after having a meaningless exchange at the end.

  Although she normally has a childish personality, she got interested in some strange places.

  「Haru is also has a good sense I also enjoyed talking with Haru」


  Different from me who had accepted my previous life’s values, it was interesting to hear the thoughts of someone who holds the sense of values peculiar to this world like Haru. I had so much fun talking with her.

  「Really? Then, I want Al to tell me more stories about the Kingdom, alright」


  「Un, there’s still a lot of things to talk about」


  As I said that, we smile at each other.

  「Huh? Where’s Roomba and Shuichi?」


  「Nn? Now that you mention it, I can see them anywhere」


  It’s about time to go home and we have to return, but even when I tried to look around us, I can’t find Roomba and Shuichi’s figures anywhere.

  When the two of us are trying to look for them inside the shrine grounds, we suddenly heard loud shouts coming from the direction of the stairs.

  「Uuoooooooohhhhh! Run Shuichi! You are training yourself every day, don’t you? You’re just that much, huh?」


  「Ugigigigigi! I’m not going to lose!」


  We heard those shouts coming up from below, so the two of us start approaching the stairs. There - at the bottom of the stairs-, Shuichi and Roomba are running up the steep stairs at a high speed.

  Uwaa, that looks like such a stupid game, don’t you think? This is no longer training, it’s already on the level of ascetics punishing themselves, isn’t it? So Roomba and Shuichi were doing something like that the whole time while we were chatting?

  As I’m thinking about that, the two of them steadily run up the stairs and arrive at the top.

  「Yo, yoーsh. It’s my win!」


  The first one to arrive at the top is Roomba.

  He shouted that out loud as he arrived at the top.

  Perhaps it’s because he was dash-ing such steep stairs with several hundred steps that he also seems to be a little out of breath.

  So even when he dash-ed up these stairs, it only made him a little out of breath, huh. Well, he usually walks around while carrying a large sword so I guess his strength is not fake.

  And then, Shuichi arrives ten seconds later than Roomba.

  「Haa……haa……darn it! Even though I’m confident in my speed of climbing the stairs!」


  Shuichi didn’t appear as tough as Roomba as he was sweating profusely and he looked like a corpse. This would usually happen if you dash-ed up such long stairs with all of your strength.

  Haru crouches next to me when I’m poking Shuichi with a branch while thinking about that.

  「Ahahaha, Al will also be like this tomorrow」


  Are you, really going to watch me at the stairs tomorrow?

  1. The raw literally means 'Elderly nobleman', unfortunately, I have never watched the show Mito Koumon so I'm not sure how to call him. That said, I'm going to use 'Grandfather' instead of the 'Elderly nobleman' every time they mention him