"Snooore~"
A faint sound of deep, contented sleep drifted over from the side.
Everyone turned their heads in unison to look.
The little bear in Haimer's arms was sprawled out spread-eagle, a glistening drool bubble hanging from its mouth, swelling and shrinking with each even snore.
This little guy sure sleeps soundly. Seeing this, Hestia immediately pouted.
"Come on, let's head back." Haimer helplessly started walking.
Along the way they passed the bustling commercial street. Haimer and the others casually swept their eyes to both sides.
The moment the roadside vendors and passersby met their gaze, they immediately lowered their heads as if they'd seen a ghost.
A few low-level adventurers in leather armor even stood ramrod straight against the base of the wall, not daring to breathe too loudly.
The freshly published status of specially authorized Constable, combined with Haimer's fearsome reputation up in the Heavens.
This intimidation factor was outstandingly effective, to say the least.
After passing through several blocks, the surrounding din gradually faded away.
Their gaze crossed the corner ahead, and the upscale residential district at the junction of North Main Street and West Main Street came into view.
Before the tall iron-fenced gate, a few fallen leaves swirled down.
Haimer pulled out the key, a crisp "jingle" of clashing metal ringing out. He twisted it in the lock, and with a "click," pushed open the heavy, carved wrought-iron gate.
His foot had just stepped into the spacious courtyard.
When a flurry of hurried footsteps came from the mansion's hall.
"You're back! Kami-sama!"
The songstress harpy Rei came trotting out across the wooden floor to greet them.
The half-bird Fei and the unicorn rabbit Aruru also poked their heads out from behind the door.
"Thud!" Aruru had hopped out too eagerly and smacked her head hard against the doorframe with a dull thump. With a "Squeak!" she crouched down, both hands clutching her forehead.
"You're back so early—did the Denatus go smoothly?"
Rei stopped before the steps, her golden wings folding slightly and crossing over her chest.
"Mm, very smoothly, Miss Rei." Haimer nodded. Then.
When Fei came over to briefly ask where Onigawara Rin and the others had gone, Haimer explained that they'd headed out to buy ingredients for a celebration.
An hour or so later.
The sky gradually darkened, and the street lamps outside flickered to life. Inside the kitchen of the [Haimer Familia] mansion, steam billowed.
The women had finally finished buying their ingredients and were hauling them onto the counter in pile after pile, filling it to the brim.
Onigawara Rin stood before the sink.
She sorted the dried scallops and fresh mushrooms, dumped them all into a basin, and turned on the faucet to rinse them clean.
Lili stood beside her.
Balanced on her tiny tiptoes, a small brush in hand, she carefully cleaned the dirt from the mushroom caps bit by bit, her movements extremely cautious.
These were all fine goods. Back when she was a bottom-tier supporter in the [Soma Familia], she wouldn't have dared to look twice at mushrooms of this quality, terrified of accidentally ruining them and being unable to cover the loss.
"Lili, you don't need to be so careful."
Onigawara Rin, water splashing away, turned her head to glance at Lili.
"Just give them a quick rinse. We're going to chop these things up for the stew later anyway."
Lili was stunned for a moment, then looked at the half-brushed mushroom in her hand, and nodded firmly.
She picked up the pace, dropping the washed mushrooms "plop plop" into the draining basket beside her.
As for behind them.
At the stove, Kikakujou Mary wore a plain apron, slowly stirring the stew pot with a ladle.
"Whew—"
Kikakujou Mary blew on the steam rising from the ladle, took a taste, and nodded with satisfaction.
On the other side of the kitchen, Nomura Satori was vigorously stirring a basin of batter.
Her right hand lifted a huge glass sugar jar from beside her, her left hand poised to pour it into the basin. "Ding." Until a crisp sound rang out.
Inaba Tsukuyo happened to walk past just then.
"Tsukuyo smells a cloying sweetness."
Inaba Tsukuyo said flatly, her eyes still shut tight.
"Just a little. Really, just a little."
Caught red-handed, Nomura Satori wasn't the least bit flustered; instead she gave a sly smile.
Her hands never stopped moving. With a flick of her wrist—"Whoooosh—"
Nearly half a bag of white sugar cascaded into the batter like a waterfall.
"Satori's sense of taste is going to be ruined sooner or later."
Though she couldn't see, Inaba Tsukuyo could tell just from the sound that far too much sugar had gone in.
"Desserts are justice!"
Nomura Satori declared righteously, even picking up the batter-covered spoon, bringing it to her lips, and giving it a lick with her tongue, a flicker of satisfaction crossing her pale green eyes.
"Mm, the flavor's just right this time!"
"Sigh."
At this, Inaba Tsukuyo could only heave a helpless sigh—there was truly no point in reasoning with a sweets fanatic.
So she stopped paying Nomura Satori any mind.
Turning around, she handed the freshly washed vegetable leaves to Tendou Kisara beside her.
Tendou Kisara took the leaves and pressed them onto the cutting board.
Her knife rose and fell. "Chop-chop-chop-chop-chop!"
The blade's gleam instantly left a few faint afterimages flickering through the air.
In the blink of an eye, the vegetables on the board were reduced to neat, perfectly uniform thin strips.
Beside her, Lili—perched on a small stool brushing mushrooms—unconsciously stopped her little brush, her chestnut eyes going wide and round as she stared at the vegetable strips and swallowed hard.
Even chopping vegetables was this terrifying. Truly worthy of being Kami-sama's Familia.
The kitchen was in full swing, the sounds of chopping, running water, and the bubbling stew pot all intertwining.
The hall, by contrast, was especially quiet.
Haimer sat on a single-seat sofa near the fireplace, already changed into a loose, comfortable homewear robe, a thick book cradled in his hands.
This book was, in fact, a record of the deep-level ecology of the Dungeon.
It documented the habitats, attack patterns, and countermeasures for the various monsters of the deep regions.
For adventurers, all of this was precious accumulated knowledge.
After all, in the Dungeon, what could be said to be the most dangerous thing?
The most dangerous thing was the unknown.
But the fear of the unknown, in turn, gave rise to life's instinct to record.
And thus the accumulation of knowledge became the very weapon by which weak life overcame the mighty forces of nature.
It was for this very reason that Haimer, as their patron deity, having already set the policy of letting his Familia grow on their own, felt he ought to fully understand the desperate situations they might one day face.
A god could stand by and watch. But he still had to be their safety net.
On the low solid-wood tea table beside him sat a freshly brewed cup of black tea, steam rising steadily from it.
As for Haimer's lap—it was another scene entirely. The little bear lay sprawled right there.
The little guy was spread out in a big spread-eagle.
Its round black belly swelled and sank with each even breath.
A glistening drool bubble still hung from the corner of its mouth, growing and shrinking with the rhythm of its breathing, yet never once popping.
It was sleeping oh-so-soundly.
It even smacked its lips in its dream, scratched its nose with a fuzzy paw, rolled over, and kept right on sleeping.
Even like this, it had still managed to rank up to Lv.2.
Haimer could do nothing about it either. Helplessly, he occasionally turned a page, his gaze lingering for a moment on the densely packed text, then freed a hand to gently smooth the soft fur on the little bear's back.
His practiced touch made the little bear, even in its deep slumber, let out a contented "hnngh" and limply nuzzle its body closer to Haimer.
Not far away, Rei sat with Fei on a two-seat sofa.
The edges of their wings each loosely cradled a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice as they gazed in Haimer's direction.
"That little bear is also Lord Haimer's Familia."
Fei looked at the little guy sleeping so defenselessly on Haimer's lap, a trace of envy flashing through her red eyes.
Rei nodded too, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
After all, she vaguely recalled that this perpetually sleepy little bear was the cub of the surface black bear named Kyoubou that Miss Hanasaka Warabi kept.
Because, unlike them, it wasn't a Xenos born from the Dungeon, burdened from birth with a fate cursed by the world.
It was simply an ordinary animal.
And it was precisely because of this ordinariness that it could smoothly receive God's Grace.
It had even ranked up to Lv.2 and, at the Denatus, been personally granted by Kami-sama the special title of "Little Aspiration."
How enviable.
At that thought, Rei's wings tightened slightly around her glass, her eyes quietly fixed on the spot in Haimer's arms.
She had to admit it.
The emotion in her heart right now was truly a bit similar to Lady Hestia's—who always wore her jealousy over Kami-sama plainly on her face.
That spot beside Kami-sama—she cared about it deeply.
After all, everyone wanted to draw near to the only warmth willing to accept them.
But she was Rei, after all.
As one of the three leaders of the Xenos and a Lv.5 songstress harpy, she had lived through far more years than Fei or Aruru.
Years of hiding here and there in the Dungeon, watching time and again as companions were hunted down and killed by adventurers.
So that her own emotions would never spill over onto the other Xenos and drag them into a collective breakdown.
And so, she had learned early on how to wrap all her inner emotions in composure.
Thus she wasn't like Fei, who wore her thoughts on her face, nor like Aruru, who acted the instant the impulse struck.
She merely folded her wings gently, letting the sweet-and-sour orange juice settle on the tip of her tongue.
Then she tilted her head slightly and offered Fei a gentle smile.
"Come to think of it, Fei—you look like you really want that spot on Kami-sama's lap, don't you?"
"?!"
At Rei's question, Fei, upon hearing it and noticing Haimer's gaze turn her way, immediately flushed two spots of red on her cheeks.
"N-no I don't...! I just... think... the little one... looks... really nice to pet..."
Watching Fei fumble so frantically for excuses, a soft smile rippled through Rei's golden eyes, and she didn't call out the pretense.
—After all, she herself wasn't much more honest.
However. Just as Rei's eyes flickered and her heart grew especially conflicted—"Whoosh—"
Suddenly a white afterimage darted across the thick wool carpet.
Extremely fast, kicking up a small gust of wind.
It was Aruru, who bounded to Haimer's feet, reared up, and brought her little pink nose close to sniff the air.
That smell—besides Kami-sama's pleasant scent, it was mixed with a whiff of bear!
A fierce glint instantly flashed through Aruru's ruby-like eyes.
The thought that the exclusive spot she'd looked forward to for so long—never quite bringing herself to claim it—had been snatched first by this black little thing.
Aruru was seething with anger.
She pushed off hard with her hind legs! With a "whoosh," she leapt onto Haimer's knee.
Then, without the slightest courtesy, she took aim at the still-snoring little bear!
And delivered a crisp, clean Rabbit Kicks the Eagle! "Bam!" The kick landed dead-on, sending the soundly sleeping little bear flying right off Haimer's lap!
Then, seeing this, Aruru landed steadily on the now-vacant spot.
Her two front paws smugly pawed at her upright long ears.
She flopped down right where the little bear had been lying, tucked herself in, and comfortably balled up into a white fluffball in Haimer's arms.
"???"
The book in Haimer's hands was still open, but his gaze had already lifted from the deep-level monsters' habitats and fallen onto this white fluffball in his arms.
Seeing this, he could only sigh helplessly. Here we go again. Hm?
As for the little bear, which had rolled two full turns across the wool carpet before finally stopping, it shook its head.
Thick-skinned as it was, it didn't hurt—it was just utterly bewildered.
It couldn't figure out how, in the span of a single nap, it had ended up flat on the floor.
It craned its head around and spotted the white fluffball in Haimer's arms.
The little bear didn't even get angry; it just leisurely climbed to its feet, raised a fuzzy front paw to scratch its head, and, wiggling its chubby little butt, waddled unsteadily back over.
It gripped Haimer's pant leg with both front paws and huffed and puffed its way up.
And the moment it clambered back into his arms, it shoved its round little butt right against Aruru's soft, delicate little nose.
"Squeak!" Aruru's nose twitched—she seemed to have caught a whiff of something she really shouldn't have—and her ruby-like eyes snapped wide open. Refusing to back down, she jammed the top of her head firmly against the little bear's butt.
And so. "Squeak!" "Roar!" "Squeak!" "Roar!"
One bear and one rabbit, shoving and jostling right there on Haimer's lap.
Hestia, watching this whole farce from the sofa off to the side, finally couldn't hold it in. "Hey, you two!"
But the two little ones turned a deaf ear and kept straining against each other, neither paying her any mind.
Hestia's eye twitched, and she turned to Haimer, wanting him to rein them in.
But Haimer was still reading.
Watching the two little ones come to blows over Kami-sama's embrace.
Rei, sitting across from them, felt a bit awkward too.
After all, vying for favor was a genuinely undignified thing to do—not to mention Lady Hestia was watching right there.
Fei, meanwhile, covered her mouth, struggling to hold back her laughter.
Looking at the two little creatures tussling on his lap, Haimer set down his book and shook his head helplessly.
He reached out both hands, one left, one right, and patted the little bear's and Aruru's heads.
In an instant the two little ones went quiet, lying obediently still.
"All right." "Since you two seem to get along so well." "Then go play together on the floor over there."
With that, Haimer picked them both up by the scruff of their necks and gently set them down on the carpet.
Even midair, dangling from his grip, the two little ones got in a few more kicks at each other.
But the moment they landed, knowing Haimer meant business, the two immediately stopped fighting and each lifted its head.
"Squeak!" "Roar!"
After each let out an aggrieved little cry, they stretched out their soft front paws and—one on the left, one on the right—clung tightly to Haimer's two calves, looking for all the world like they'd never let go even if it killed them.
"Pfft."
Leaving Haimer utterly helpless. Meanwhile.
The Hellhound Hegel, who had been lying by the fireplace warming himself this whole time, lazily cracked open one eye. "Awooo—"
He took a look at the bear and rabbit clinging to Haimer's legs. Then, at once.
Hegel got up of his own accord, shook out his coat—recently grown sleek and glossy from eating so well—and walked straight toward Haimer.
And then. With a body far more massive than the little bear and Aruru combined!
With a "biu!" he plopped his rear down hard, shoving both the little bear and Aruru clean away from Haimer's legs!
Finally, having claimed his seat, he laid his head down on Haimer's lap and let out a contented, coquettish "whine-whine-whine."
This maneuver—brute size bullying the small—left the little bear and Aruru utterly dumbfounded.
Then Aruru snapped out of it and flew into a rage. "Squeak!" "Roar!"
And so. Aruru rallied the little bear in solidarity. Pushing from both sides at once, they braced their heads against Hegel's body and shoved for all they were worth.
But before long, the little bear—after a couple of pushes—gradually ran out of steam, growing bleary, its eyes drifting open and shut, and somehow, mid-push, it drifted off to sleep once more.
Hegel remained as steady as Mount Tai.
Looking at the bear that had conked out, Aruru let out a cry of sheer exasperation at her hopeless partner. "Squeak!!!"
"Pffft-hahaha!"
Because the Xenos could understand one another's language, upon catching Aruru scolding the little bear for being such a useless slacker, Rei and Fei couldn't help but cover the smiles at the corners of their mouths with their wings.
Only the spider-girl Rania, off to one side, watched it all with a complicated look in her eyes.
And so it was. After the women had bustled about the kitchen for over an hour—
A rich, savory aroma finally came wafting out of the kitchen!
____
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