Chapter 406

Comer

"Why the hell are you here!?"

"Heheh! And it's not just me, either. Tie-Moon!"

<figcaptionattachment__caption"">(W-What the!?)

"Mooou… Toga-san, don't call me such a weird name."

Then, getting out of the car next, looking embarrassed, was the tsuntsun well-behaved girl dressed in her yama-girl fashion, Hinagata Yuzuki-kun.

"Ah, I see… So 'Tie-Moon' was Hinagata-kun."

"Hello, good afternoon, Getsu-san."

<figcaptionattachment__caption"">Ah, good.

So it's 'Tie' from Yuu and 'Moon' from Tsuki, making Tie-Moon. Shark yelled it with her stupidly loud voice again, so I thought she was gonna get scolded. But seriously, Tie-Moon? Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it?

"What's this? Jung-kun, weren't you told we were coming?"

Just then, the power window on the passenger side rolled down, and a smiling Nabe-san peeked out. And his wife, sitting in the passenger seat, also gave me a nod.

"Huh? Nabe-san? And your wife too? So did you get dragged along by Shark's selfishness and come all the way out here!?"

"Hahaha. Well, something like that… but after all that stuff happened, right? We were already planning a family trip to get a change of scenery, so it was perfect timing."

Ah, he must mean the second wave of Dungeon Stampede.

It really was rough, for sure. I'd heard from Admiral that the Trident members were safe, but seeing their healthy faces like this is a real relief.

"My, we're here already? That was surprisingly quick."

Hearing footsteps approaching from the direction of the new house, I knew it was Serai-san behind me. But her saying that means she knew about this?

"Hey, Machi, we're here! Where's the kangaroo!?"

"Honestly, just wait a second. More importantly, where are Shizu's little brothers?"

(What did you say!?)

"Don't tell me Masa-kun and Yuki-kun, Nina-san's little brothers, are here too!?"

"Ah, idiot! Keep your voice down, Jung! This is a secret operation, you know!"

Huh, no way. My fault? But aren't you being louder?

"Where is Nina-san right now?"

"Ah, ah. She's inside the storehouse, so she probably can't hear us from here…"

As she explained, Yuzuki-chan nodded, opened the rear door wide so we could see inside the car clearly. There, sitting in the back seat next to Nabe-san's daughter, were the twin brothers, both bowing their heads politely in unison.

"Ooh… it's been a while, both of you."

"Hey, Jung. We got a letter from Ruu-nee."

(What, a letter from Ruu!?)

What Shark handed over was a cute, light pink letter folded into quarters. Opening it up, the writing inside was incredibly neat. Wow, this is definitely Ruu's handwriting.

So, reading the contents, it said something like, 'The little brothers really wanted to surprise their big sister, so we kept it a secret. Sorry about that.' Well, yeah… it wasn't sealed or anything. I didn't expect it to contain Ruu's burning heartfelt feelings or anything, but I'm a little disappointed that's really all it said.

"But… so that means you're trying to surprise your sister again, right?"

When I asked, the two of them nodded, pulling in their chins.

Yeah, well, they're just kids. There's a limit to what they can do. Their best idea is to suddenly show up and surprise their sister, and they firmly believe that will make her happy. Their eyes, filled with that belief, are also kind of touching.

"Alright, I'll help! Let's surprise your big sister and give her the most moving reunion ever!"

When I promised, their faces finally broke into smiles. Really, they're twins who love their big sister way too much.

"Okay, then you two come with me. We'll hide inside the house for now."

""Yes.""

Urged on by Serai-san, the twin brothers got out of the car and headed towards the new house.

Watching their backs as they left, I understood. So that's why Serai-san was having those long phone calls by herself lately; she must have been coordinating with Ruwa and Shark.

"Nabe-san, thanks for coming all this way."

"Yeah. We'll stop by again on our way back."

Meanwhile, Shark and Nabe-san were already exchanging farewells.

"Huh? You're leaving already, Nabe-san?"

"Yeah. Well, we've got a check-in time, and I want to get my daughter settled in soon…"

Nabe-san said, glancing worriedly towards the back seat with his eyes.

I think her name was Misuzu-chan. She seems extremely shy and timid, so being in the same car for a long time with unfamiliar boys and an older woman must have been mentally exhausting for her.

"I see. Thank you too, Misuzu-chan. Ah, that's right. In that case, please wait a moment. I have something to give you…"

I asked them to wait a little before leaving, ran to the storehouse, and brought back some salted meat.

"This is venison. Please have the inn prepare it for you."

"Ooh? Are you sure that's alright?"

"It's fine. It's delicious, so please try it."

"Well, thank you very much."

Both Nabe-san and his wife were apologetic, but right now, our side seems to be having a pretty serious food shortage too.

Besides, if you come all this way on a trip and the inn's food is lousy, you'd feel really disappointed, right? So this meat should definitely come in handy. After all, Nina-san, who was checking the meat, told me this one is at the perfect stage of curing, so it's gotta be great.