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Chapter 07
After finishing a simple breakfast at a brunch café in the village, the three of them went to buy Neya’s toys in earnest.
As expected of a rural town, the commercial district was small, but it still had everything it needed.
“Neya, you might get lost, so don’t let go of my hand. Okay?”
“Yes!”
Neya nodded while tightly holding Shane’s hand.
Then she turned her gaze to Gary beside them.
With a bright smile, she held out her other hand.
“Tower Master, please hold my hand too!”
“……”
Immediately, cold sweat formed on Gary’s forehead.
He glanced at Shane, then calmly refused.
“Sorry, Neya. The older brother next to you is a pretty scary person. I’d rather not get yelled at for no reason.”
“Why? I’m asking you to hold it.”
At that, Shane responded indifferently, as if it didn’t bother him at all.
“……?”
Gary had expected Shane to look at him with open disgust, as usual. But instead, Shane was unexpectedly tolerant, which left Gary stunned.
“Give me your hand!”
Neya waved her outstretched hand in the air as if to show it off. Gary ended up grabbing it without thinking.
With both of her hands now holding Shane’s and Gary’s, Neya smiled brightly in satisfaction.
“……”
While walking, Gary kept glancing at Shane.
Feeling the repeated stares, Shane finally spoke irritably.
“What?”
“No… I just found it a bit surprising.”
When it came to Neya, Shane was unusually gentle compared to his usual self. Knowing Shane’s personality, Gary couldn’t help but feel confused.
“You’re really harsh to me and Azure, though, aren’t you?”
“And what more do you expect?”
Shane’s expression hardened immediately.
Gary knew very well that Shane’s daily life involved cleaning up messes caused by Azure and himself, so he couldn’t argue back.
Gary quietly averted his gaze. Shane glared at him and then let out a sigh.
“……I do feel responsible for bringing her here. The young lady isn’t good at taking care of children, so I’m just doing it myself.”
“……”
Gary blinked, then said as if he couldn’t understand.
“Why is someone as sane as you working next to Azure?”
“I’m quitting soon.”
“You’ve been saying that for years, you know.”
“Let’s not get into trivial details.”
The two of them began bickering again.
Neya watched them and giggled.
“They get along so well~.”
To Neya, the two looked like friends who were on very good terms.
Before long, the three arrived at the toy store.
“Welcome.”
The employee, reflexively greeting them, looked over the group who had entered.
Neya smiling brightly, with Shane and Gary on either side.
“……”
The employee looked back and forth at the two men holding Neya’s hands, then smiled warmly with a gentle expression.
“You two must be out on a family outing with your daughter.”
“She’s not my daughter……”
Gary quietly avoided the employee’s gaze. This was exactly why he didn’t want to hold hands, but in the end, it happened just as he feared.
Meanwhile, Shane didn’t particularly care about the misunderstanding and spoke to Neya.
“Neya, pick whatever you like.”
“Wow!”
Neya immediately let go of their hands and ran forward, her steps full of excitement.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at the toys lined up by category.
“How many can I get?”
“Since it’s your first time, pick as many as you want. But from next time, just one each.”
“Okay!”
Neya answered brightly. The nearby employees and customers also looked at her with fond smiles.
Neya walked around the store choosing various things. Picture books, blocks, and other toys—before long, she had gathered enough that several large bags were needed to pack everything.
Watching the items being wrapped, Gary leaned in and whispered to Neya.
“Neya. The Tower Master only has two hands, you know. So… could you stop picking more?”
Gary, who had come under the pretense of being a porter, couldn’t help feeling anxious as the load kept increasing.
“I’m the one paying, so you’re being a bit stingy, Gary.”
“I’m just a weak and fragile mage, you know?”
At Shane’s remark, Gary made an aggrieved expression. Shane shook his head.
“We’ve already bought quite a lot, so let’s pick one last thing. We still have other shops to visit.”
“More shopping?”
“Just one more thing, Neya.”
Shane ignored Gary completely.
At the words “one last thing,” Neya thought carefully.
“If it’s the last one… what should I pick?”
“Didn’t you say you needed a doll?”
“Ah!”
That was right—the purpose of the outing was to buy a doll. But she had gotten distracted by other toys and hadn’t chosen one yet. At Shane’s reminder, Neya quickly ran toward the doll section.
“Hmm……”
Neya stood in front of the doll corner, seriously thinking.
Then she suddenly noticed something and smiled brightly.
“This one!”
What she picked up was a yellow chick plush toy. It was small enough to fit snugly in her arms.
Gary, who had approached her, spoke in surprise.
“You like chicks?”
“It’s the same color as my mom’s hair!”
Rather than liking chicks themselves, it was more about the color.
“She really follows Azure, huh.”
“Yeah. She only met her for the first time yesterday, but she already likes her a lot.”
Even Shane hadn’t expected Neya to like Azure this much. Whether yesterday or today, Azure had shown no interest in Neya at all.
Gary smiled gently and asked her,
“Neya, why do you like Azure?”
“Because she’s pretty!”
Neya answered without hesitation.
“She sparkles, her voice is pretty too. She’s like a princess.”
Azure really was beautiful. Neither Gary nor Shane particularly liked her, but they couldn’t deny that fact.
“And she’s my mom. You’re supposed to love your mom, right?”
It was one of the teachings instilled during her time in the cat shop.
To the two who didn’t expect this result of early upbringing, they could only watch Neya with warm expressions.
Neya hugged the doll tightly and smiled softly.
“I’m going to show Mom.”
The outing ended up taking longer than expected. In addition to toys, they also bought clothes and daily necessities for Neya, which added more time than planned.
By the time they returned home, the sun was already setting low on the horizon.
“Mom!”
Neya called out to Azure and ran into the house. Behind her, Shane and Gary followed, both carrying piles of bags.
Azure was sitting at the dining table, drinking tea. Hearing the noisy entrance, her gaze naturally shifted toward Neya.
“Look at this!”
Neya lifted what she was holding.
It was the chick plush she had hugged the entire way home just to show Azure.
“You bought all sorts of things.”
Azure, as expected, seemed indifferent. Neya didn’t mind her reaction at all.
“I also bought lots of picture books and pretty clothes at the toy store, but this is my favorite!”
Neya smiled brightly at Azure.
“It’s yellow, just like Mom’s hair, so it’s really pretty.”
“……”
At those words, Azure’s eyes turned cold.
“And I named it Lumi……”
“Hey.”
“…?”
Neya, who had been happily talking, stopped and looked at Azure.
In a cold voice, Azure said,
“It’s noisy. Go to your room.”
At her blunt tone, Neya flinched.
“……”
Neya hesitated, then lowered her head weakly.
Seeing this, Shane sighed and stepped forward.
“Neya, let’s go inside.”
“……”
Without saying anything, Neya took Shane’s hand and went upstairs.
Only Azure and Gary remained on the first floor. Gary looked at Azure displeased.
“You really have to act like that toward a kid?”
“Annoying.”
“You’re really consistent in being hopeless……”
“Shut up. If you’ve got nothing to do, go get us more glasses.”
No matter what Gary said, Azure didn’t care at all.
With Shane gone, removing the only person who nagged them, the two naturally began opening bottles of alcohol.
They drank just enough not to get completely drunk.
After a while, Gary suddenly stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom. What, lonely? Want to come along?”
“What nonsense. Are you drunk?”
Azure immediately looked disgusted. Gary laughed and headed upstairs where the bathroom was located.
After finishing in the bathroom and shaking his wet hands dry, Gary suddenly stopped walking.
A sign hanging on a door caught his eye.
Standing in front of it, he read the letters:
“Neya’s Room”
It was clearly written by Neya herself.
“She looked pretty down earlier. I wonder if she’s crying?”
Although quite some time had passed since Neya went into her room, she hadn’t come out even once, and the room remained quiet.
Feeling slightly concerned, he lingered in front of the door.
Just then—
The door suddenly swung open.
