The next day, I wanted to test the house I had just received and decided to accept a request.

  “”Request~ request~””


  “Oh~ ain’t this the young laddie and lassie?”


  After we entered the Adventurer’s Guild and were about to go see the request board, a man we had made friends with at the drinking party approached us.

  “I’m not laddiemon! I am Allenmon!”


  “I’m not lassiemon! I am Elenamon!”


  “O, ou. I got it.”


  “”Alrighty!””


  But the children didn’t like the way he called them, so they made him correct it.

  “”And so, what’s up, Ojichan?””


  The children called the adventurer——Cody-san, “Ojichan,” but it was Cody-san who told them to call him that.

  “Ojichan heard that you two came to receive a request, so I came over.”


  “”Yeah, that’s right! What about you, Ojichan?””


  “Ojichan has a day off.”


  “”You don’t have a job~? Are you okay? We can treat you, you know~?””


  “Ugh!”


  Cody-san averted his gaze at the children’s words.

  When the children learn new words such as “treat”, they want to use it… or rather, they already used it several times on him. It’s not that they are making fun of him, but the person they are talking to seems to have the word stuck in their mind.

  “N, no, I’m fine~”


  “”Is that so?””


  “Ou, even I told you that, Ojichan changed his schedule and decided to take on a request now!”


  Cody-san seemed to change his opinion and decided to go to work.

  “Cody-san, it’s best to rest properly if you have been trying to take it easy.”


  “Ah, yes, I suddenly got an urge to work, it’s all right. That being the case, you guys be careful out there~”


  Cody-san went to look at the request board in a hurry.

  “”He’s gone?””


  “Indeed. Let’s go, if we don’t hurry, there won’t be any good request left for us, right?”


  “”Ohh~!””


  “Then, Allen will also hurry!”


  “Elena too! Oniichan too!”


  “Yesyes. Now then, are there any good requests, I wonder?”


  “”Are there, I wonder~?””


  Pulled by both hands by Allen and Elena, we also moved to look at the request forms and examine them.

  “”Onii~chan, that one~?””


  “N? Which one?”


  “”Erm, Battle Horse subjugation!””


  (Wait a moment!)

  “”Nniyu?””


  As soon as the children read out the contents of the request form, several voices from the surrounding area stopped them.

  “Battle Horses are B-rank!”


  “That’s right, that’s right. It’s too dangerous, so don’t do it.”


  “Choose a safer request. Okay?”


  When I looked at the faces of the people who had raised their voices, all of them were male adventurers that we had met at the drinking party the other day.

  It seems that they were trying to stop the children from accepting a request with a high degree of difficulty.

  “”Is this one bad idea~?””


  (Don’t do it!)

  “”Ehh~””


  Allen and Elena let out voices of frustration as they were fiercely opposed by everyone.

  “”Onii~chan! Everyone is a bully!””


  “Fufu, they are being worried about you guys.”


  “”They are bulliesmon!””


  The children puffed up their cheeks discontentedly.

  They were being stopped from doing what they wanted to do. People’s worries seemed to be mean to them.

  “N, no, you see…”


  “”Muu!””


  “We just…”


  “”Hmph!””


  The men hurriedly tried to make up with the children, but the children turned away to avoid eye contact.

  “Geez~ listen to what they have to say Allen, Elena.”


  “”But they are bullying us!””


  “Maybe they are trying to apologize for being mean?”


  “”Is that so?””


  Hearing my words, the children looked back at the men and tilted their heads.

  (… Ugh.)

  The men all choked on their words.

  Because if they retracted what the kids said about bullying them, it would mean they were allowing the Battle Horse request.

  “”Were we wrong?””


  “N, no, that…”


  “After all…”


  “”Muu~””


  The children’s moods were getting worse again.

  “… Pffft.”


  “Takumi! What are you laughing in silence for! You are their guardian, so you should be persuading them instead!”


  “””Yeah, yeah!”””


  I was secretly laughing at the sight of the men getting nervous because of the children’s attitude, but they noticed and got angry.

  “Ehh~ is there a need to persuade them?”


  “There is!”


  “I’m going with them you know? I am.”


  (… Ah!)

  When we were drinking, it was unintentionally leaked that I was “Setsuna”, so I quickly reminded them of that.

  The men looked at me for a moment… unsure of what I was saying, but then they realized what I was trying to say and raised their voices.

  “Now that you reminded me! I forgot all about it because you have no dignity on your face!”


  “Yeah. Takumi, you should be making a crisper expression!”


  “No, there won’t be any change even if he does that because of his age.”


  “Hey!? Why is everyone bullying me now!?”


  For some reason, the stray bullets came flying my way.

  “We were dangerously close to getting hated by the kids, ya know! Remind us faster next time!”


  “Seriously. I had no idea what to do when they averted their gazes.”


  “I almost cried!”


  I got blamed even more strongly.

  “”Hey~””


  ““Don’t!””


  “Bully.”


  “Our Onii~chan.”


  (……)

  This time, when the kids thought I was being bullied by the guys, they stood between me and them with the corners of their eyes raised.

  In fact, they were not blocking anyone!

  Seeing these children, the men who had been making the noise subsided at once and hurriedly turned their faces to each other in a circle.

  “… The hell is that. That ‘Don’t’!”


  “That was so powerful.”


  “Getting scolded by little kids is somewhat refreshing, isn’t it?”


  “… It felt nice.”

  They seemed to be discussing their impressions of getting scolded by the kids? Their opinions? But there was clearly someone strange mixed in. I decided to treat that person as a person to watch out for in the future.