Ch.394[Episode 394] Little Ones

“Papa!”

Sir Dominic looked at the tiny child who suddenly appeared and hugged him tightly.

She had long white hair and emerald eyes.

Three-colored feathers—red, green, and yellow—were stuck in her hair, and she had a melon-flavored lollipop in her mouth that someone had given her.

She seemed to prefer comfortable clothes, wearing a slightly dirty white T-shirt with a stretched neckline that read “I’m Not Little”—similar to the shirts that Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica often wore.

“Papa?”

When Sir Dominic looked at her intently, the small child clutched her Little Sir Dominic doll tightly and looked up at him anxiously.

The timid child had a toy shield on her back, a blunt-tipped foam kunai at her waist, and a transparent blue whale-shaped water gun on the opposite side.

“Calling him Papa, how adorable.”

Captain Elang was at a loss for words seeing this little one who had suddenly appeared.

“She looks just like Sir Dominic.”

I’m Not Little said, looking back and forth between the chubby-cheeked Sir Dominic and the plump-cheeked little child.

Indeed, there were many similarities between Sir Dominic and this child.

The three-colored feathers on her head, the parting that covered her right eye, and even physical resemblances were quite apparent.

But what I’m Not Little was referring to was their spiritual similarity.

As a Star who could see the essence of humans, I’m Not Little realized that this small child had a soul very similar to Sir Dominic’s.

“Come to think of it, they just announced a ‘Return to the Future’ event for Family Month.”

I’m Not Little thought about this with a serious expression, then excused herself to Sir Dominic.

“I’m sorry. It seems I have some urgent business to attend to. I’ll see you later, Sir Dominic.”

With those words, I’m Not Little stood up abruptly.

As she strode toward the exit, a confused Captain Elang asked:

“Where are you going?”

“To withdraw money!”

“…What?”

“I think something like a Future Knight Sir Dominic might appear! I need to withdraw some money in advance!”

“…Ah!”

At first, Captain Elang couldn’t understand what I’m Not Little meant.

But after her explanation, he couldn’t help but admire her experience.

She had started moving in anticipation of potential futures that might be added due to the event.

Captain Elang clicked his tongue and looked at I’m Not Little with admiration.

“…Wait. That means I might need to draw additional employment cards too.”

Captain Elang’s face turned pale at the sudden realization.

Currently, due to excessive Gacha-land addiction, Captain Elang had spent almost his entire salary on Gacha-land, and there was still quite some time until his next paycheck.

No matter what, Captain Elang had no intention of taking out loans or borrowing at high interest rates, so his worries only deepened.

“Future Knight Sir Dominic… Future Knight Sir Dominic… even just a business card…”

Captain Elang muttered while pulling at his hair.

“Ima?”

The little child holding onto Sir Dominic’s clothes tilted her head in concern.

Finally, Captain Elang made a drastic decision.

“That’s it! Manual labor! I’ll do manual labor for a while!”

“?”

“I’m sorry, Sir Dominic! I need to go live in the real world for a bit! See you soon via employment card!”

Captain Elang laughed like a madman at his own conclusion, then excused himself to Sir Dominic and ran out of the store.

Sir Dominic couldn’t hide his bewilderment at the sudden disappearance of I’m Not Little and Captain Elang.

“Papa?”

Sir Dominic looked at the small child who was still holding onto his clothes and looking up at him.

She continued to gaze at him with clear, innocent eyes.

In those clear emerald eyes, Sir Dominic was reflected.

…

“What is your name?”

“Huh?”

“No, never mind.”

Sir Dominic looked at the little lady sitting next to him on the bench, eating cotton candy bigger than her body.

The little lady was eating her cotton candy with remarkable restraint, so disciplined that she didn’t get any on her white clothes despite its size.

Surprisingly, the little lady was tearing off small, manageable pieces of cotton candy and putting them in her mouth.

Even though the cotton candy looked large and fluffy enough to bury her face in, the little lady still seemed to be moving within rules she had set for herself.

“Seeing this reminds me of someone…”

Sir Dominic muttered to himself as he continued to watch the little lady.

He thought she resembled someone but couldn’t quite remember who until the end.

Perhaps it’s someone I don’t see often, Sir Dominic convinced himself and stopped thinking about it.

Despite her disciplined movements, the little lady was keeping her hands quite busy.

It seemed she really liked the cotton candy in front of her.

The little lady’s eyes sparkled as she quickly demolished the cotton candy before her.

And only after eating the very last piece did the little lady show a satisfied expression.

It had truly been a satisfying time.

But soon this little one realized there was no more cotton candy and became dejected.

“Would you like more?”

Sir Dominic was polite even to such a small child.

At Sir Dominic’s words, the small child carefully nodded.

“…Poyo.”

Then, suddenly looking at her slightly pudgy belly, she became dejected again.

The expression “poyo” came from the child’s mouth, seemingly referring to how her belly was sticking out.

“There’s no need to worry about that. Isn’t it better to be satisfied and let go of attachments than to be unsatisfied and have regrets?”

Sir Dominic said this as he extended his hand to the little lady.

The little lady tried to take Sir Dominic’s hand, but it was too high for her.

This tiny child jumped up and down trying to at least grab Sir Dominic’s sleeve.

And finally, she succeeded in grabbing his sleeve.

The little lady burst into laughter, finding joy in dangling from Sir Dominic’s arm.

Seeing this, Sir Dominic said with a bitter expression:

“…I need to lose weight.”

The reason was that Sir Dominic was too tall for the child to hold his hand, and secondly, Sir Dominic had gained too much weight, causing his arm angle to be higher than usual.

Until just now, Sir Dominic had no plans to lose weight until the end of his vacation, but thanks to this small lady, he found a reason to do so.

“Anyway, it would be good for both the little lady and myself to eat and enjoy ourselves just for today.”

Sir Dominic said this as he headed back to the candy store.

“Papa-!”

The little lady dangling from Sir Dominic’s sleeve let out a joyful scream.

Whether her joy was from being able to eat more candy or simply from dangling from his sleeve was unclear, but what was certain was that this little lady was having fun.

…

“It should be around here…”

Alice, the descendant of Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica, was out in town today.

Alice’s mother had sent her on an errand.

Alice was growing more each day than the day before.

…That is to say, she had grown noticeably taller.

This little lady—no, she could no longer be called little—who now appeared to be two heads taller than Sir Dominic, seemed outwardly mature, but…

“Hehe. I’ll buy snacks with the leftover money after finishing the errand.”

Her mental state was still that of a 15-year-old!

The frost giant blood flowing through her veins combined with her adolescent age had resulted in remarkable growth, but Alice was still a minor.

She wasn’t even registered in the Gacha-land card pool yet—still a child.

Alice walked along, happily contemplating what snacks to buy after completing her errand.

With each step, the chain mail she wore clinked, but Alice sang a tune to match the clinking sound.

“Mountain rabbit, rabbit, where are you going~♬ …Huh?”

That’s when it happened.

Alice suddenly thought she saw familiar faces in the distance.

“Isn’t that Princess Teu Le Vante and Trom?”

Alice saw two chibi-like people in the distance, sweating profusely while looking at a map drawn on paper.

“Are Princess Teu Le Vante and Trom also out on errands?”

Alice tilted her head as she looked at the Demon Lord and the Hero.

The Demon Lord and the Hero were each pointing in different directions with their short, stubby arms, due to the maps they were holding.

The map the Demon Lord held pointed left at the fork in the road, while the Hero’s map pointed right.

Clearly one of them was holding their map upside down, but it wasn’t clear whose map was incorrect.

Alice looked at the two bickering with her soft hands, then tilted her head and walked toward the Demon Lord and the Hero.

She thought she should help them as a friend.