Chapter 196.1
Volume 3 Chapter 196: When it Pours the Ground Grows Firmer (1/2)
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The next day .
Feeling the touch of the cold morning air, I opened my eyes .
“Good morning . ” [Ryouma]
“Good morning, Ryoumkun . ” [Kai]
“You’re awake, I see . Yesterday sure was tough . ” [Kei]
When I went to the washroom, I happened into Kai-san and Kei-san . They probably also came here to prepare themselves for the day . They still looked sleepy, though .
As expected, they talked about the events last night .
After I left Niki-kun’s secret base, we suffered no more difficulties and the conversations went by smoothly .
Niki-kun followed right behind me . He became nervous as we approached the village, but he didn’t get cold feet and say something like ‘I don’t think I can go home after all!’ No . He properly went back with his own two legs .
Also, Shin-san, Peiron-san, and Kai-san were the only ones waiting outside the secret base . Sein-san and Kei-san had gone back ahead to the village to inform the others that Niki-kun was safe . I think that played a huge part too .
Nothing out of the ordinary really happened other than Niki-kun’s dad trying to hit him as soon as he got back . They spoke calmly and normally .
“By the way, Ryoumkun . How’s your face?” [Kai]
“Oh, it’s perfectly fine . ” [Ryouma]
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“That’s good to hear . I was so shocked when you suddenly jumped in and took that punch . ” [Kai]
“Yeah, yeah . I heard you promised to protect Niki, but still…” [Kei]
“When I thought of how Niki-kun’s dad was worrying over him too, I felt it wouldn’t be good if he just subdued him like that . ” [Ryouma]
“Even then I don’t think there was any need for you to take that punch with your face . ” [Kai]
“Ha ha ha…” [Ryouma]
Well, at least everything ended well .
As we laughed like that, we finished readying ourselves for the day and headed to work while it was still dark .
Along the way we happened upon a couple of familiar faces .
“Huh? Hey, you two . Are those Niki-kun and his parents?” [Ryouma]
“Looks like it . ” [Kai]
“What are they doing?” [Kei]
While we were talking, Niki-kun and his parents noticed us .
Niki-kun waved his hands at us and approached us with his parents .
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“Onii-chan, good morning!” [Niki]
“Good morning, Niki-kun . ” [Ryouma]
I greeted his parents too, and they bowed their heads deeply toward us .
“Thank you very much for finding our son yesterday . We couldn’t thank you properly yesterday, so we thought we’d offer our thanks today . ” [Mother]
“Ahh… Well, it was already dark by the time we got back to the village . It can’t be helped . ” [Kai]
“We talked too, so the night grew even later . ” [Kei]
“Even then I still have to give our thanks or I won’t be satisfied . ” [Dad]
“In that case, thank you very much . ” [Ryouma]
“Wait, why are you the one thanking them?” [Kai]
Kai-san said and the place turned into laughter .
“Anyway, onii-san . Are you going to be working at the processing plant today too?” [Niki]
“The processing plant? Why do you ask?” [Ryouma]
When I asked that, the ones to answer my question were the parents .
“We troubled everyone in the village because of this incident, so both as an apology and as punishment, we decided to have Niki-kun help out until this noon . ” [Mother]
“I thought my son had grown a little, but it turns out he’s still too lively for his own good . He should at least be able to help out with drawing water or carrying things . ” [Dad]
“That’s a pretty harsh punishment you’ve gotten yourself into, Niki . ” [Kai]
“And why is that?” [Ryouma]
“Water is normally drawn from the well, but the processing plant uses a lot of water, so even several hundred buckets of water won’t be enough . Of course, the adults will be helping in turns too, but it’s a lot of physical work, so normally kids only help out when they’ve gotten a little bigger . ” [Kai]
“I see… Good luck, Niki-kun . ” [Ryouma]
“You too, Onii-chan!” [Niki]
We both laughed and then made our way to the beach .
Niki-kun happily walked the whole way while holding his parents’ hands .
…Maybe they talked again after coming back yesterday .
Right now, they look like a really happy family .
“See you later, Onii-chan! When you’re done with your work, tell me about your slimes, okay!?” [Niki]
“Sure . You work hard now, Niki-kun . ” [Ryouma]
When we arrived at the beach, we parted ways with Niki-kun and began our preparations to fight the mud salamanders .
That being said, it wasn’t as if I did anything that taxing since all I really had to do was summon the slimes and have them take their positions as planned .
Because of that I made double sure that they had taken their place around the processing plant properly .
“The wave is here!!” [Leader]
When the leader yelled that, the beach immediately became noisy .
The ‘wave’ here means that a maelstrom of mud salamanders have begun to push in .
“Ryouma! Are you ready!?” [Sein]
We had already rendezvoused with Sein-san and the others . Sein-san yelled that to ensure that we wouldn’t lose to our surroundings .
“I’m ready anytime!” [Ryouma]
“Great!” [Sein]
At that, he took his position . Likewise I too hurried to my position .
With the processing plant behind me, I watched over the slimes that have expanded over the beach .
…At a glance, the place seemed calm, but I could feel the strong fighting spirit of the slimes that have prepared themselves to fight .