Chapter 611: Exquisite Meat, And The Tree Of Wonder.

“Now, please eat up!”

“Let’s eat!”

The table was packed with dishes cooked by the mother-daughter duo, Lu and Arcia. Since Grandpa’s living room, spacious as it was, became cramped with over twenty people gathering, we decided that some would eat at the dining table in the kitchen. Because there is no door separating the living room and the kitchen, we can see each other’s faces even from here. Over there, Yae, Frei, Linne, Allis, and Kuon were seated. The big eater group. By the way, Kuon isn’t really one, but he was dragged along by Allis. Mom, who sat next to me, sighed as she looked at the food lined up.

“My, you really made a lot again… Is the money situation okay?”

“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine. I had God exchange the currency for me. In the other world, I’m technically a King, so I have money.”

“I never thought my son would become a King… I still can’t believe it…”

Well, I guess so. Even I never imagined it. Or that I’d be able to return with such a large family.

“Nn! This Chili Shrimp is delicious! It’s just the taste I like!”

“I am glad it suits your palate, Father-in-law.”

“Grandfather! The Stewed Pork Cubes over here are delicious too! I made them!”

Lu and Arcia were competing to recommend dishes to Dad. I happened to look to the side and saw Mom making a complicated face after eating the Sweet and Sour Pork.

“? Was it not to your liking?”

“No, it’s delicious. Incredible delicious. It’s so much tastier than what I make that I don’t know how to react…”

No, well… that’s, you know? Mom doesn’t cook much originally. She has a few specialties, but they only appear occasionally. Basically, Dad or I, or Grandpa when I was small, used to cook.

“But still. I completely expected other-world cuisine to be lined up, but this is standard Earth cuisine.”

“The food over there is still often rough, and I don’t know if the ingredients would suit you and Mom… Did you want to eat Roast Horned Rabbit or Armored Turtle Soup?”

“That’s iffy… Though I am a little interested.”

Mom showed disapproval. Neither of them tastes that bad, and they are reasonably tasty. It’s just that when compared to the food here…

“Ah, but the Dragon Meat steak is a masterpiece. You can’t eat that here.”

“Dragon meat? Meat from a dragon? You even have things like that over there…? It really is a fantasy world.”

I have Dragon Meat steaks in [Storage]. Alright, shall I serve a dish from the other world here? I took out the Dragon Meat steak that had been sitting in [Storage]. Since I put it in right after grilling, it was still piping hot.

“This is…”

“It’s a Dragon Meat steak. It’s so tender you can tear it apart with chopsticks, so you can eat it as is. Please give it a try if you’d like.”

I spoke in a grandiose manner and placed the plate with the steak in front of Mom. Mom fearfully poked it with her chopsticks, then proceeded to cut a piece of the meat.

“Soft…!”

She put the cut meat into her mouth, and the moment she took a bite, Mom’s movements stopped. She stayed like that for ten seconds… twenty seconds… That’s long!? I grabbed Mom’s arm and shook her.

“Mom?”

“Hah!? I saw Dad on the other side of the river shouting, ‘Let me eat some too!’…”

Eh, that’s the Sanzu River… That’s not the reaction one has when eating something delicious… If anything, that’s the scene you see when you’ve been poisoned.

“I’ve never eaten meat this delicious before…! Even A5 rank beef would run away in defeat…!”

“It’s meat that even the royalty and nobility over there rarely get to eat, after all.”

While Mom was munching away saying “Yummy, yummy,” Fuyuka, sitting on Elze’s lap next to her, was staring intently. Ah, the drool… Noticing her daughter’s gaze, Mom stopped eating.

“Haha, sorry, sorry. If it’s this soft, Fuyuka can eat it too. Here, Fuyuka, say ahh.”

“U? Aaa-u.”

Fuyuka opened her small mouth and chomped on the small piece of meat Mom held out.

“Uffuu!? Au! Yummy! Au!”

Having put the meat in her mouth, Fuyuka’s eyes sparkled, and she waved both hands vigorously. What is this, it’s insanely cute. It seems she liked it very much.

“Moar! Eat moar!”

“It’s yummy, right? Here, say ahh.”

“Aaa-u!”

When Mom fed Fuyuka another slice, she began breathing roughly and moving around wildly like a little rampage. It’s a hyper-tension Fuyuka-chan in a good mood. Hey, is this safe? Was there any rule against feeding Dragon Meat to toddlers? It doesn’t have any weird excitement effects, right? After that, Fuyuka continued to munch away and ended up eating about half of it by herself.

“Kepu.”

Perhaps because she was full, Fuyuka started nodding off. Do you get sleepy after eating? Elze gently laid her down on the floor cushion and covered her with a towel blanket. Blanca came over and lay down next to her like a bodyguard.

“She fell asleep.”

“She was probably too excited during the day, being surrounded by her big sisters.”

Is that so? Children do fall asleep suddenly as if their batteries ran out. Like they move until the limit of their stamina. They say children who sleep grow well; I wonder if moving that much promotes growth too?

“Come to think of it, Darling. Hasn’t a full day passed already?”

“Eh? Ah, right. I can return to my original form now.”

Prompted by Leen, who was across the table, I checked the clock in the living room. Since I synchronized the time with [Dimensional Transfer], a full day should have passed since I turned into a child yesterday.

“Can you return to your original form?”

“If I return, I return, but it takes another full day interval to turn back into a child, though.”

While answering Dad’s question as he sat next to Leen, I tried to pour divine power into the transformation bracelet to return to my original form… but. Leen’s grinning, suspicious smile next to Dad bothered me, and I instinctively stopped. That is the face Leen makes when she is plotting something. What is it? What is she plotting? I’m just returning from a child form, nothing special… Ah! That’s it! I stood up silently and tried to leave the living room.

“Oh my, where are you going?”

“If I stay like this, my clothes will rip when I change back. I’ll go change over there.”

“Haa, you noticed. How boring.”

Leen let out a small breath, looking bored. That was close! If I had stayed like that, I would have ripped my clothes and exposed my naked body in front of everyone! I went to another room, took off the children’s clothes, threw them into [Storage], and clumsily put on my usual clothes. Naturally, they were baggy… Even the underwear was baggy, and would slide down if I didn’t hold it. I need to return to my original form quickly. I flowed divine power into the crystal embedded in the bracelet. Pon! With a puff of smoke, I instantly returned to my original form. Ooh. Being back in my original form for the first time in a day raised my spirits a bit. I fixed my clothes, which were slightly disheveled, and returned to the living room triumphantly.

“I’m back to my original form. How is it?”

“Even if you ask… how is it.”

“It’s Touya-kun.”

Hu, huh? The reaction is somewhat different from what I expected… I thought it would be more of a touching ‘Welcome back!’ scene…

“We saw you in our dreams before, and you haven’t changed much from then, so there’s no particular surprise.”

“True. Child Touya-kun was more surprising.”

“Wha… what…?”

Are you saying the World God’s consideration to let us meet in my proper form was completely meaningless…? No, well, I didn’t change back to surprise them. But still, in that case, maybe there was no need to change back…

“In this form, you can’t go outside, right…?”

“Why? …Ah, if you, who are supposed to be dead, are alive, the neighbors would be surprised.”

“I see. If you are a child, you can pass as a relative’s kid even if you look similar. As expected, you can’t make excuses for that form.”

Exactly. In other words, I cannot go outside for a full day starting now. No, maybe I can manage if I use [Mirage]? I just need to look like someone else. But maintaining illusion magic continuously on Earth is exhausting…

“Well, it might have been good timing. If we work until morning, we won’t be useful tomorrow anyway.”

“It helps that Touya-kun and the others are here. There’s Fuyuka to consider, so normally one of us would have to stay awake.”

It seems Mom and Dad are on the all-nighter course. They’ll be out cold from morning to evening tomorrow, looks like. Well, in that case, showing them this form at this timing wasn’t a mistake. Though I didn’t strictly have to change back.

“But if that happens, the children won’t be able to go out either, so that’s a pity. Can’t something be done?”

“Hmm, I think it should be fine if it’s not Japan. If there’s nobody who knows us, this form shouldn’t be a problem.”

No, of course, there’s a possibility that I might get caught on TV in a foreign country and by some coincidence, an acquaintance here might see it, but still.

“Eh, you can teleport to foreign countries too? Anything really goes, huh…”

“Well, Linze will probably be sleeping tomorrow too, so even if we go, I’ll keep it to a refreshing walk rather than sightseeing.”

It would be inexcusable to enjoy a tourist spot while leaving only Linze out. Playing in a spacious place like a park should be enough.

“I am fine even if I don’t sleep for a day or so…”

“Denied. Please sleep.”

I smilingly rejected Linze, who was appealing that she was okay. Dragging around someone who pulled an all-nighter makes me feel unsettled. Let’s go on the trip the day after tomorrow, after everyone is in perfect condition. Linze seemed to understand that too and didn’t press any further. While eating, I asked Mom about the inn for the trip.

“There’s a ryokan run by the family of a junior from my student days. They can be somewhat flexible there, and there’s a hot spring town, so I think you can enjoy it.”

“Heeh. The exact location?”

“Umm, in Y Prefecture’s…”

I searched for the ryokan of Mom’s junior on my smartphone’s map app. I switched to Street View, looked around the scenery of that area, and memorized it.

“Yeah, I can probably jump with this. Shall we depart the day after tomorrow?”

“You can transfer with just that…”

Dad sounded exasperated, but with [Teleport], I don’t even need that process. However, [Teleport] has a possibility of being slightly off.

“No, just going paa with that magic is flavorless. Let’s properly take the Shinkansen and bus to get to the ryokan. It’s not peak season, so we can probably get seats normally, right?”

Ugh. We, well, I do think abandoning the majority of the real thrill of travel is indeed flavorless. Initially, I hadn’t considered going with Dad and Mom, so I thought moving with just children would be a bit unreasonable. I was planning to use [Mirage] to take an adult form and deceive people when staying at the ryokan, too. Overseas is one thing, but if there are guardians within the country, it might be better to rely on them… Dad said he’d handle the seat reservations, so I decided to leave it to him. Parents are the ones to rely on… I hope I can become that kind of parent too. When we finished eating, Dad, Mom, and Linze quickly returned to their manuscript work. We took turns taking baths, ate after-bath ice cream while watching TV, and relaxed while looking at travel magazines. Perhaps tired from the unfamiliarity, some of the children were already nodding off. I laid out futons taken from [Storage] in the room on the second floor and carried the children who had fallen asleep there, floating them fluffily with [Levitation]. It really was a hectic first day. Tomorrow, let’s go to a park somewhere that isn’t Japan and spend time leisurely. Now, where shall we go…

“What tree is this tree?”

“It’s a tree of wonder.”

I ended up answering Linne’s question like that without thinking. Due to the time difference, we arrived at the Moanalua Gardens Park on Oahu, Hawaii, via [Dimensional Transfer]. I said it was a tree of wonder, but actually, it’s a Monkeypod tree. Formally, it seems to be called Samanea saman. Also known as the Rain Tree. It’s a large tree famous in Japan from a TV commercial.

They say it’s not native to Hawaii but was originally distributed in Central and South America, and in Hawaii, it’s designated as an invasive alien species. Oh my. Moanalua Gardens Park was apparently once owned by the Kamehameha royal family who founded the Kingdom of Hawaii. Now it is private property, and there is an admission fee. Adults were ten dollars, children seven dollars (ages 6 to 12). Children 5 and under were free. Good thing I borrowed a credit card from Dad… Since we came all this way, let’s take lots of photos and videos. I have to show the photos of the children to Dad and Mom when we get back. The children are running around inside the park. They were inside the room almost the whole time yesterday. I hope this distracts them a little. The weather is nice, and families spreading leisure sheets in the shade of large trees and enjoying picnics can be seen here and there. There were also children playing with Frisbees and soccer balls. Or rather, my kids are mixing in!? The translation bracelets the kids have can translate any language, so I guess language barriers don’t matter. Children become friends quickly… We also spread a leisure sheet and opened the bento Lu and Arcia gave us. Fuyuka, sitting on Elze’s lap, is also overjoyed. By the way, Lu and Arcia stayed home. They said they wanted to make as much food as they could. Something about not being able to cook once we go on the trip. Well, if I use [Gate], we can return from the travel destination in an instant… but in those two’s case, maybe it means they’ll be too absorbed in the cuisine over there and won’t have time to cook. After eating lunch, I got sleepy… The sunlight is warm and pleasant… I haven’t taken it slow recently… zzz…

“Touya-san, please wake up. Let’s go home soon?”

“Fugah?”

When I woke up being shaken by Yumina, the sky was turning into evening. Huh!? I slept quite a bit… Even though I came on a trip to make memories with the children, to think I slept like a log… We, well, I just came here to relax, right? Let’s call it barely safe. The children also seemed tired from playing; Steph, Linne, and Frei, the three of them, had fallen asleep just like me. Me, Yae, and Hilda carried the three sleeping children on our backs respectively, left the park, and used [Dimensional Transfer] to return to Japan in a place out of sight.

“I’m home.”

“Welcome back. What, did the children fall asleep?”

When we returned home, Mom and the others welcomed us. Dad and Linze had finished their work in the morning and seemed to have taken a nap, so they didn’t look tired.

“I think they’re just tired from playing. I’ll let them sleep until dinner.”

I laid Steph and the others on the futon and returned to the living room. Fuyuka seems to be in a good mood sitting on Mom’s lap for the first time in a while. I showed Dad and the others the photos of Moanalua Gardens Park. There are lots of photos of the children frolicking. Huh? There’s even a shot of me sleeping like a log…

“Ah, about the ryokan we are going to tomorrow. I got in touch with them and made a reservation. They were troubled because a group cancellation just came up, so they were happy saying it saved them.”

It seems the reservation for the inn was secured. If I recall, it’s the parents’ home of Mom’s junior, right? Mom seems to have gone there several times when she was young, and she was showing their website to Yumina and the others.

“The view from the open-air bath looks good.” “The rooms are calm too; it feels nice.” “The boat-wrap sashimi looks delicious, degozaru…!”

At my wives’ voices, I also peeked at the website. That small ryokan had a Japanese-style atmospheric appearance. It seems there are various shops near the ryokan, giving it a nostalgic hot spring town feel. This is promising. However, I also think it’s iffy whether the children will enjoy it. They would probably be happier at an amusement park or leisure land… Though I feel like Kuon would fit right in with a hot spring. Perhaps because of the noisy excitement, the sleeping Steph and the others woke up. Continuing from yesterday, a lavish… or rather, a multinational, anything-goes cuisine lined the dining table. Nasi Goreng, Banh Mi, Tom Yum Goong, Tortilla, Borscht, Gapao Rice, Paella, Galette, Moussaka, Ratatouille… It really feels like they cooked as much as they could… Well, Mom and the others are happy eating dishes they haven’t eaten much before, so it’s fine. Ah, this Ratatouille is delicious. I’ll ask them to make it again next time.

The next day, the weather was clear. Perfect weather for travel. Despite that, my spirits are low. Because I turned back into a child again. Wait, no! I didn’t turn back! This is the temporary form!

“First, we walk to the nearest station, right?”

“Yeah. From there, we take the train to the station where the Shinkansen departs.”

I answered Yumina, who was holding hands with Kuon. We could move with teleportation magic, but walking to the station is also part of the journey. The children are holding hands with their respective mothers; Allis is with Mom, and Dad is carrying Fuyuka. Only I am free. Dad asked, ‘Do you want to hold hands with me?’, but I humbly declined. Walking in a group of over twenty people really stands out quite a bit. Most of them look like foreign children, after all. The children are looking around at the Japanese streetscape with great interest, but they aren’t overly excited. They just occasionally ask, “What is that?” We showed them several Japanese movies in the other world before coming, and they watched various things on TV after coming to Japan. They are calm. Except for Quun. Quun seems to find everything she sees interesting; she wants to push the push-buttons at crosswalks, wants to buy juice from vending machines, and her eyes sparkle at the various types of cars driving by. Every time she tries to step forward, Leen pulls her hand back with a guh.

“I feel like I’ll get tired before reaching the station…”

Leen already has a ‘fed up’ expression. Curiosity is fine, but in this child’s case, she has the technical skill to build those things… When we return to the future, Brunhild’s technological power looks like it will leap forward in one go. Once we arrive at the station, I can easily imagine her being engrossed in the ticket machines and automatic ticket gates. …Well, as long as they are having fun, it’s fine.