“Wow, holy shh, Horohoro is the seeker…! Everyone hide or run away…! I’ll count to 50 and then catch you…!”“Mwehehe, imps are just a subspecies of nymphs… This Sifnoi will show you…!”“Holy shh…! Hina, let’s hide quickly!”“It’s already past midnight. Don’t you know young ladies need to sleep well? Playing hide and seek at this late hour…”
It was the last day of my ti with Hina and Salo.Hina wanted to play hide and seek inside the mansion with everyone before going to sleep. It was a ga that both the children and adults participated in.The children had more stamina than expected and only got tired at 1 AM, and then went to bed.A very large and wide bed.Seeing the children lying together reminded of squirrels curling up in a narrow cave to avoid the cold.
“Horohoro…, do that again. That…!”
Hina, who was lying down looking at the ceiling, said to Horohoro, who was next to her. Horohoro, as if rembering sothing, slipped into the blanket.Soon, Naru and Hina also went under the blanket.What could be happening under there?
“Look at this…! Horohoro’s glowing tail…!”Flash—A bright light shone through the blanket. I heard that imp tails can sotis shine brightly, and it seed to be true.“Holy shh…! It’s totally glowing!”“…Such a bright and beautiful light…ah, holy shh! It’s blinding…!”“…Hehe.”
As the children noisily chattered, the light from the tail under the blanket faded.
Inhale— Exhale—Before long, Cecily and Naru fell asleep with their arms under each other’s heads. They must have been exhausted from playing hide and seek.But Hina and Horohoro weren’t asleep yet and were looking at the glow-in-the-dark star stickers on the ceiling.
“Horohoro, did you have fun today?”
Hina asked.Then Horohoro answered without hesitation, “Ung!”But she cautiously added, as if sothing was on her mind.
“It should have been ti for Hina and your mom and dad, but did Horohoro interrupt and beco a bother? Horohoro feels a little sorry…!”
I see.Was she being considerate without us knowing?Horohoro was a very kind imp, other than r using the yard-pound system, so Salo and I didn’t mind her accompanying us.
Rather, it was easier to take care of Hina because she had a friend of a similar age.If we let them play together in a place like a park, Salo and I could naturally take a break.
Hug—Hina hugged Horohoro like a doll while under the blanket.
“…You don’t have to feel sorry! Hina had fun today too…! But for the ti being, there might not be many days to play like today… For about 6 years…”
6 years.It was a rather specific number.Hina must have known better than anyone that she needed ti to grow up in order to play with Horohoro again.Soon, Horohoro yawned and said.
“It’s okay! Horohoro is good at waiting! The great Priestess of Gluttony also asked Horohoro to wait! If I wait a little longer, I will have lots of friends and eat warm food in a warm place! Horohoro waited hard and really made lots of friends like the Priestess said!”“…Ung, ung.”“But it might be a little boring…! Hina, I hope you grow up quickly! So we can find the great Priestess together…”
Snore—Horohoro, who was said to be a young imp, fell asleep while talking, unable to resist her drowsiness. As all the children fell asleep, Hina also yawned widely as if she was sleepy.Before long, it was 2 AM.To a thief like , it was like broad daylight, but for Hina, who was only 6 years old, it was ti for her eyelids to feel as heavy as iron.
Rustle—But Hina didn’t fall asleep and got out of bed.
When I thought she might have wanted to drink so water, Hina approached Salo and , looking a bit shy, and hugged our waists one by one.
“Mom, Dad…you worked hard today…!”
I see.Hina was a much more thoughtful child than I had imagined.
Snore—Before long, Hina also headed to the children’s dreamland.Watching the children sleep peacefully made the world seem so peaceful that my heart felt warm, like the springti.
“Kids don’t seem to get tired. They played all day and only just fell asleep.”
Salo, who was quietly watching the children, stroked Hina’s head with her hand. Of course, Hina made a grumpy sound like “Grrr…” as if to say not to touch her while she was sleeping.
Salo chuckled at that sight.
“Look at her. She’s usually calm, but she always gets grumpy when I stroke her while she’s sleeping. Why is that?”“Why do you think?”
It’s not right to touch soone while they’re sleeping.I used to get really angry when my mom or dad talked to while I was sleeping.Maybe she takes after .
Stretch—Salo, who had been out all day, began to stretch. Since there had been many things happening yesterday and today, Salo must have been tired too.But Salo hesitated, as if it was a sha to fall asleep right away.
“If you have sothing to say, just say it.”
Originally, my ti with Salo was until midnight.But neither Salo nor I were the type to strictly follow such rules. If we were the type to follow the rules, we wouldn’t have beco thieves in the first place.
“Well, it’s not that I have anything special to say. I just feel like it’s a bit of a sha to fall asleep like this. Judas, is sothing like this possible?”
Whisper—Salo whispered sothing in my ear.It was quite an interesting idea.
“It doesn’t seem impossible. Can’t we ask Astarosa? That girl is getting a lot from our house, so she’ll probably do us a favor.”
We then went to Astarosa’s room.The great demon Astarosa was reading a book, a literary work brought from the modern society of the 21st century.She closed the book with a snap and asked us.
“Why?”“Is sothing like this possible?”
Whisper—I whispered in Astarosa’s ear.Of course, Astarosa frowned as if she didn’t understand.
“Did you just say ‘whisper’ in my ear?”“Yes.”
Frown—Astarosa frowned.She was more fun to tease than Cariote.Is this the joy of having a sister-in-law?
“Just kidding. The real thing is this. Dina, you’re kind of like a succubus, right?”
“Well…yes.”
Dina Astarosa was similar to a succubus.She was an expert in handling dreams.We made a small request to Dina, and she readily nodded.
“That much is easy.”
# # #
When I opened my eyes, I was standing alone in an alley.It was an alley I had never seen before.The walls were unusually high, but on closer inspection, it wasn’t that the walls were high, but that I was small.My arms were short, and my legs were short too.Without the steel-like muscles, my thin arms felt quite unfamiliar, but strangely, my body felt lighter.
“A dream.”
I realized that this world was a dream.It was a kind of dream world created by Dina at our request.It was amazing how well it resembled reality, and while I was looking around curiously, sothing fell near with a thud.
A stone.When I turned my head, a girl standing on the wall was looking down at . She looked about 6 years old.Her long pink hair reminded of Hina, but she wasn’t her.Her face was a bit more confident.
“Salo.”“You’re Judas, right? You look more innocent than I thought.”“Of course. At that ti, I used to follow my kindergarten teacher’s skirt like a duckling.”
We returned to being 6 years old in the dream.The world was much bigger than I thought and there were many interesting things around.
“Let’s go!”
6-year-old Salo pulled my hand.I followed her and ran through the alley.Salo then taught how to catch rats in the alley.She also taught how to catch a cat by tying the rat’s tail with a string.
“It’s fun.”“Right?”
It felt like returning to my childhood.If Salo and I had spent our childhood together, would we have had days like this every day?
“Judas, I’ll teach you how to climb over the wall.”“To ?”
I thought climbing a wall would be easy for . But climbing a wall with a 6-year-old body was much harder than I expected.Was the garden wall of a noble mansion this high?
“What, you can’t even climb this wall? You’re such a sheltered young master. Hurry up and climb up before soone sees us. I’ll give you a hand.”
Rustle—Salo, standing on the garden wall, reached out her hand to . I grabbed her arm and climbed up, entering soone’s garden. This trivial act made my heart race with excitent.It felt like going back to the ti when I first committed a bad deed.The imrsion in this dream was amazing.Would Salo feel the sa way?
Salo picked up a stone in the garden and threw it at one of the windows of the mansion.
Whizz— Crash—!With the sound of breaking glass, soone scread.
“Eek! What is it! Who threw a stone!”A girl with navy blue hair appeared at the window of the strange mansion’s second floor.Could it be Brigitte?
“I was just getting into my science studies. Really, there are so many rude people. I have a final exam soon…final exam…? Huh? What? Where is this?”
6-year-old Brigitte looked around, slightly panicked and Salo laughed like a villain at the sight.
“Let’s go!”
Salo then pulled my arm again. Thanks to that, we caused a small commotion in the bushes we were hiding in and eventually got caught by Brigitte.
“What, aren’t you Salo and Judas? Why do you look like children…? Children…huh? What? What is this! Hey! You two, stop right there! What’s going on! Hey! Stop!”
The angry Brigitte chasing us made my heart pound and even scared . It really felt like playing tag as a child.
“Let’s hide here!”
Whoosh—Salo, who entered the alley, pointed to an empty oak barrel.Salo and I struggled to get into the barrel and peeked outside through the cracks in the old barrel.
“Where did they go! Hey! I know you’re around here sowhere!”
Brigitte wandered around the oak barrel where we were hiding.It was quite a tense mont.Little Salo held my hand tightly, and I also held Salo’s hand tightly in return. Little Salo’s hand was hotter than the adult Salo’s hand I rembered.
“Shh…don’t even breathe.”
At Salo’s instruction, I held my breath.10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds.Finally, when my chest felt like it was going to burst, Brigitte’s figure disappeared into the distance, and I could finally get out of the oak barrel and catch my breath.
“Phew.”“Stupid Brigitte!”
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