As expected, when Shiomi returned to the Storm Border and rejoined the companions who were camped outside the landing site and setting up their positions, everyone crowded over in shock.
"Who's this kid?" Da Vinci asked, deliberately playing dumb.
Da Vinci-chan pushed up his glasses. "He looks a lot like Mr. Shiomi. Is he some illegitimate child he has out there?"
"Illegitimate, my ass." Shiomi snapped, uncharacteristically rough.
"If we rule that out, then the only explanation left is that he turned into a child for some unknown reason, or because of a Curse." Romani stroked his chin and studied him with the intensity of someone examining a rare creature.
Shiomi nodded. "I'll explain the details later. For now, can I go back to my room, take a shower, and get some clothes a kid can actually wear?"
"Among the villagers we brought back from the Scandinavian Lostbelt, there are children about your size," Da Vinci said. "We can grab you a few changes of clothes from their spares. Combat gear is another matter, though. We'll have to ask Habetrot to rush a custom job."
"That works for now." Shiomi nodded. "This is a pretty serious problem. If I can't reclaim my authority in time, the fights ahead are going to be extremely rough."
Even though he tried to say it as calmly as possible, Romani and the others kept circling him, staring from every angle like he was some kind of exhibit.
That continued until the Director and Skadi got the message, bolted out of the cabin, and squeezed in to shove everyone aside.
It should have been a happy moment, yet Shiomi suddenly felt a deep, helpless despair.
"Teacher, it's really you, right? You still recognize me? You can understand what I'm saying?" Olga Marie waved her hand in front of Shiomi's face, using an overly stiff, textbook sort of tone people reserved for talking to little kids.
It was like the Shiomi she knew had been a baby in swaddling clothes, and she was only asking out of politeness.
"I got smaller, not stupider." Shiomi forced out a dry laugh. "Do you want me to perform some Lune Magecraft and prove that even like this, I'm not any worse than the most outstanding Magus?"
"But being in a smaller body is inconvenient, isn't it?" Touko said. "Want me to make you a new doll body and transfer you over right now?"
"Let's not." Scáthach waved it off. "Our dear disciple is a work of Nuwa. Even if you've learned Odin's technique for making Valkyries, you're still not there yet."
Touko laughed. "What a pity. I wanted to try."
"Hey…" Shiomi wanted to complain, but he honestly didn't know where to start.
Everyone was happy, and just as curious.
He could already feel Skadi poking his cheek, and she'd been doing it for a while now.
"Wh-what is it now?" Shiomi asked, suddenly self-conscious.
"Nothing." Skadi reached out and gently pinched his cheek. "I just didn't expect you to end up like this. It's… far too adorable."
Romani folded his arms. "Seriously. Compared to how you were before, you could do anything like this and people would forgive you. Why not keep this look even after you get your authority back?"
"Great idea. In that case, I'll eat all your strawberry cake later." As he climbed into Skadi's arms, Shiomi threatened Romani. "Oh, and I'll swap the sugar in your tea for salt."
"...He feels even more vicious than before. Is it just me?" Romani muttered, shoulders drooping.
Skadi carefully felt his weight in her arms, then chuckled. "Because you just treated him like a child, so now he's showing you some child-level nastiness in return."
"Exactly, exactly. I really don't want Romani to look at me like I'm a kid either, but Romani always thinks I'm a kid," Da Vinci-chan said.
Romani looked genuinely troubled. "But you are a child, aren't you…?"
"Do your best, Romani. Learning how to get along with kids is important," Da Vinci said, clearly enjoying his suffering.
Before long, Romani was bickering with the two Da Vincis yet again, which finally gave Shiomi and the others a chance to slip away.
"Can I hold Teacher for a while now?" Olga Marie asked from the corridor outside the cabin.
"Just a moment, just a moment," Skadi replied. "Let me hold him a little longer."
Walking a step behind them, Touko watched Shiomi thoughtfully.
When they first met, they had all been around the same age.
If they had truly met like this when they were children, perhaps...
"Thinking about him?" Aesc Shiomi suddenly asked.
"Was it that obvious?" Touko said, a little embarrassed.
"We all thought about it earlier," Aesc shrugged. "So I figured you were probably thinking about something similar."
Touko looked surprised.
"Even Scáthach thought about it?"
"What I thought was this," Scáthach said while considering it. "If he had come to the Land of Shadows at such a young age and I had taken him in, wouldn't I have been able to be both his master and his mother?"
"How greedy," Artoria commented.
"This woman has always been greedy like that," Aesc said with a playful glance toward her. "If my beloved disciple hadn't been burdened with all those responsibilities, he probably would never have left the Land of Shadows."
Scáthach pretended to look troubled.
"That might not necessarily be the case. I might still send him out myself to experience the world. Then, when his life finally ended, his soul would return to the Land of Shadows."
"What a devil," Touko said in admiration.
"While a weak beloved disciple would certainly be… delicious, becoming stronger and more powerful is what truly benefits him," Scáthach replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Weak…?" Touko paused.
Artoria thought about it.
"...Tenkei?"
Thinking back carefully, ever since the day they first met, she had never seen him show weakness.
Even after the battle at the Temple of Time, when he remained weakened for an entire year, he had never once shown a vulnerable expression.
"Um... what kind of unhealthy fantasies are you people having?" Shiomi poked his head out from Skadi's shoulder. "It's not that I don't want to be weak. It's just that there's no need to be."
"For me, even if the road isn't completely smooth, there's always a solution somewhere. In the end, I always find the answer I want."
As he said that, he glanced toward the open door of his room.
"I have thought about relying on you all more. But when the love you give me goes far beyond anything I could have imagined, that love in turn makes me stronger."
Shiomi tapped his chest.
"No matter what happens, it won't bend."
Morgan, the last one to enter the room, quietly locked the door behind her.
"Well then, let's see just how strong my husband's heart really is."
"Huh?"
Shiomi suddenly realized what that meant.
They were all going to bathe together next.