"Good afternoon, Reiji... Nana? What happened?"

Minna greeted me with a bright smile but seeing the lifeless little girl on my shoulders...

"About that..."

As I explained the entire story to Minna, we got ourselves to the dining room.

Before we left the candy store, Nana's mother contacted Minna using the cotton ball-like device so our arrival was expected.

That being said, there was a meal already prepared at the table.

"Nana, you have to say sorry to your mother, okay? She was very worried about you."

Even though she was lecturing Nana, her tone was subtle and filled with care.

Nana nodded meekly.

Sometimes children do dumb things and Minna understood it quite well.

"Okay, perhaps the reason you acted like that must be that you're starving? Here, eat up."

Minna scooped up a plate for Nana and cocked her head at me.

"You might as well help yourself, Reiji. I already told the maids that you'll be eating here."

For one thing, I couldn't refuse as Minna was already filling up a plate for me as well.

And I'll gladly be digging in too. I got so hungry from all of that.

Then again, I've already previously stated this but Minna really looked like a nursery caretaker.

Throughout lunchtime, she was tending to Nana, wiping her messy face and whatnot.

Furthermore, she made an agreement with Nana.

"Okay, that's a nice girl. Later, I'll be coming with you so that you can sincerely reconcile with your mother—is that fine with you, Nana?" 

She rendered. With that, Nana's expression conspicuously revitalized, revealing her one missing tooth.

"Yes!"

"Firi and the others are in her room. Be sure you take a rest before playing with them."

Nana, who had the doll in her hand, nodded and quickly took flight towards the designated room. She had even forgotten the bag of candies.

"Sigh, you're spoiling them too much."

"It's fine. They won't always be children, after all—eventually, they'll grow up and have a family of their own."

Minna said as she was clearing the table. I gave her a wry smile then assisted her.

I do agree with that statement of hers. I guess every child does need a certain dose of it.

"And by doing that, I would rack up the favoritism points, making me the favorite auntie."

... No comment. I felt like I've heard something similar to that concept not so long ago.

After we put the dishes away, I urged Minna whose already washing the plates that I'll wash them instead.

"Let me do it as compensation for the generous, delicious meal."

However, she gestured a cross sign using two fingers.

"You don't have to, Reiji. You're a guest at my home, but I do have one favor to ask... Can you keep an eye on the children while I do my chores? Also, Firi and the others would love to see you again. If you don't have any important things to do, that is."

"Got it. It's actually my day off today."

"Then I'll leave them in your care, commander Reiji."

Minna saluted. And like an instinct, I replied the same.

"Yes, general Minna."

Thus, I became the babysitter for today.

By the way, before I grabbed the bag of candies, Minna scolded me.

"But next time, Reiji. Please eat more, okay? You're still at the development stage of your youth."

In a motherly tone, of course.

"Yes."

Mothers will always be mothers.

... ... ...

By the time I got into the room, all of the children—all of them looked at me as if I was the supreme leader.

"?"

"Ah, he's here!"

"It's him! It's big brother Reiji!"

All of them ran to my front.

I thought it was because of the candy, it's not. Then, I thought it was because they missed me or something, it's not... It was different.

"Tell us more!"

"That's right! That's right!"

Their enthusiasm baffled me. Therefore, I looked at the little girl I was with primarily, she had a demeanor brimming with pride.

"I told them of your achievement earlier."

"Mind telling it to me too?"

And so, this is how the story simply went by.

A little girl was taken hostage, which was supposed to be Nana but for some reason, she didn't name herself... Anyway, she was held captive by the villain specifically the fox.

I, also known as the traveling adventurer, had come across the disturbance and discovered the plot of the fox—I'll just call him Stew.

I, as the traveling adventurer, won the intense battle but Stew retreated with the prized possession of that little girl—the Aya doll.

This was all of it until I came into the room.

In other words, I became a being with tremendous skills.

What should I tell them then? Should I just continue with the story? No, what I need is a diversion.

Luckily, I had that diversion in my grasp. Upon realizing it, the little girl, whose arrogant smile was evident, had gone in front of me, blocking the other children.

"Fufu, today be grateful to me. I got us some of these."

She flicked her wrist as she peeked at me like some kind of boss, and written all over her face was the phrase "give me the goods!".

The traveling adventurer became a henchman. So I randomly took a piece of candy from the bag, which is a chocolate ball, and gave it to her.

The chocolate ball shone like a diamond from the children's viewpoint, at least from what I see. They were hypnotized by the dark circular mass, having the size of a marble, waving in the air.

Behold the hierarchy of children. Nana would only then award them if they respectfully worship her.

But with that, peace and harmony had been created.

... ... ...

4 girls, including Firi and Nana, and 3 boys. It's a total of 7 children.

The great thing about children is that they can be entertained in the most common ways.

Right now, while indulging their treats, I gave them an activity. I made them draw out anything they liked on a sheet of paper.

And while watching them doing it, I noticed the doll Firi had in her hand.

"Can I take a look at your doll, Firi?"

She happily lent it to me.

This is... This is a Mira doll!

From the outfit to the absolute precision in the overall features. It's so cute, I want to cuddle it.

Oh! I can buy it right now... Wait, I don't have any money on me. Maybe on my next day off... No, tomorrow, I'll buy this tomorrow.

Knowing that the dolls are the people from Guild Limea, I checked the other children if they had a doll with them.

I was right. There's a Mayer doll, a bear beast-man..., and a violet hair woman that looked like a drug addict.

An unruly hair and black bag under the eyes. Is that even legal for selling? It shouldn't even pass the initial stage of benchmarking. More than that, what kind of parents did that child have to buy such a junkie doll?

In any case, as I was thinking that, Firi presented her drawing to me.

"Look, hehe."

It was an amateurish drawing, of course. I'm not criticizing it but it was just a big blob in the center and then small blobs encircling it. Though the background was clearly a house.

"It's Geyd Yemeya and Papa and friends!"

She added. The biggest blob must be Mayer and we're the small ones.

After that, the other children had finished their own drawings as well.

After looking at it one by one, without anything more to do, their expression was of anticipation. And that expression spoke everything to me.

"Continue with the story!"

I tried to distract them once more by getting the candies from the bag. However, they were gone, even though it was aplenty.

I then sighted a gluttonous little girl having a food coma. Now that I thought about it, her missing tooth was the basis of that.

As if there was a rebellion occurring inside the room, with no way out, I stared at the ceiling, thinking of a scenario.

Then and there, the traveling adventurer returned.

... ... ...

And it was a huge mistake.

My reenactment... Well, it wasn't totally a reenactment if it wasn't authentic. But I made sure that it would be an implausible tale and have them fully doubt it.

I expected them to go "Boo! Impossible," or "That's a lie!".

It backfired. No skepticism, not even a pinch of it.

What's more, Nana who's supposed to be in a food coma, capriciously butted in after a few minutes and kept adding fuel to the fire.

"Big brother Reiji did a backflip to gracefully dodge the fox's sinister claws."

They were in awe. As for my idiotic self, I was too delusional to be attentive to the surroundings.

"I confronted Stew with an aura of sobriety. Stew backed off, fright plastered on its face. I knew it was time we face one another. Hence, I proclaimed to Stew!"

My gesticulations were in sync with every pronunciation... And the next thing I did was what I regretted the most.

My feet widened, knees bent, both hands like a tiger's claw—right straight down and left across the chest with both palms showing outwards.

"I'm the Destroyer of the Thousand Sun, Reiji Tatemiya, and I'll be your worst nightmare!"

I did it due to my overhyped impulse. All of them liked it, admired it, and I boldly received it. Their admirations were music to my ears.

And then suddenly, a round of applause came from the door, having my delusion shatter with a thunderous bang.

I turned my head around and saw that Minna was standing there.

Eeeeeeeeeek!

I internally shrieked. As I did, the color on my face got instantly drained out.

How long had she been there? She's clapping which means that she saw everything.

It was really a huge mistake.

"My hunch was spot on. You had what it takes to entertain the children."

Minna vocalized her astonishment as she came near us.

"Am I doing it right, Reiji? ... Hiya!"

In front of my paled face, she tried to copy the pose. What's mortifying about it was that there wasn't any hint of sarcasm nor ridicule in her words or actions. She genuinely wanted to learn the pose.

Now, the children are also doing it.

I want to bury myself a hundred feet under the ground... Headfirst.

"""Big brother Reiji, please teach us."""

I sighed. Whatever, I got too much into it and I paid the price.

At the very least they enjoyed it. Maybe that embarrassing pose that my memory had retained wasn't that bad after all.

"Okay, I get it. Everyone, be ready for the Destroyer of the Thousand Sun!"

"""WOAHHHHHHH"""

And so, I spent my afternoon teaching them.