When Setsu looked more closely, something was flying, and after a short while, she realized what it was.
It radiated a strong pressure, but for Setsu it was a reassuring presence, just like her father.
“Hey, you guys! Out for a walk?” (Yuki)
It was Yuki who was flying.
He descended near the two of them, then made his three pairs of wings disappear and patted Setsu and Rir.“Kuu!”
“Kuu.”
“Oh, I see. You’re on patrol, I see. No, I don’t have any particular errands to run. I just came to visit because I was bored.” (Yuki)
“Kuu! Kuu!”
Yuki responded to Setsu’s call and patted her, who then jumped up and clung to him.
Then, he created a crack in space and opened his item box, taking out a ball from inside…
“Okay, okay… then Setsu, go get it!” (Yuki)“Kuu!”
Setsu chased after the ball, which Yuki had thrown lightly, wagging her tail furiously.
She eventually caught up with the ball, which was rolling around, and after catching it in her mouth, she returned to Yuki.
“Kuu, kuu!”
“Haha, good girl. Now, one more time… here!” (Yuki)
Setsu chased the ball that was thrown again as hard as Yuki could.
Setsu really loved playing with balls. Just chasing after them like this was the most fun.
This fun was just as good as their daily walk, or even their patrols.
Slightly, she preferred patrolling to walking… No, that was a lie. Both were the most fun for her.
Also, playing Frisbee was something similar, but that was difficult.
She could run and catch up with it, but she couldn’t jump high enough to catch it.
But since chasing after that spinning-round-thing was also fun, Setsu was also happy to play with the Frisbee.
Setsu recognized Yuki as a relative who played with her a lot.
A person who exuded the smell of Rir, who made Setsu feel safe.
The monsters under the control of Yuki, other than the pet army, get very nervous when Yuki appears, but for Setsu, she had known him since she was born, so she had never felt fear at the strength of his presence.
Every time they met, Yuki played with Setsu a lot, petted her a lot, and fed her delicious food, so Setsu had grown very attached to Yuki.
Incidentally, Rir felt a little sorry when he saw his daughter playing with Yuki so freely, but he couldn’t say anything because Yuki himself seemed to be having so much fun.
“Kuu, kuu!”
“All right, all right, I’ll do it as many times as it takes until Setsu is satisfied.” (Yuki)
Yuki threw the ball again…
◇◇◇
Setsu, who had played around so much, was tired and went to take a nap.
Yuki picked her up in his arms and headed for Rir’s place to make sure she slept well.
“Kuu.”
“Don’t worry about it. Your daughter is like a daughter to me too. Besides, since she’s not my own child, I can spoil her as much as I like without thinking about things like education!”
“…Kuu.”
Yuki shrugged his shoulders playfully at Rir, who looked like he wanted to scold him.
“Haha, sorry, sorry. Your daughter is just so cute. Well, your wife is also strong, so I’m sure everything will be fine. She’ll grow up to be a strong girl.”
“Kuu…kuu.”
“Yeah, I know that feeling. Lefi is the same, definitely, but Lyuu and the others have really become more mature since having children. I felt like something had changed in me emotionally as well, and that’s when I thought mothers were remarkable.”
“Kuu.”
“I guess that means we, as men, have to protect our children. But that’s the most basic premise of all, and it’s an obligation that parents have to fulfill as a matter of course. It’s something that doesn’t need to be discussed. Then, what can we do beyond that… I guess we’ll have to keep searching for that our whole lives.” (Yuki)
One person and one animal walked in silence, with serious expressions on their faces.
A question for which there was no correct answer.
As parents, they thought about it for a while… and then Yuki said one thing for certain.
“Well, I’ve got you. Apart from my wives, you’re the one I can rely on. No matter what kind of powerful enemy I face, no matter what kind of difficult problem stands in my way, I can always manage somehow if I’m with you. So… from now on too, please be there for me.”
“Kuu.”
Yuki laughed and stroked Rir, who rubbed his head against him similarly to his daughter.
