My Grandparents' House

I'm home!

When I got home, Dad and Mom were busy getting ready.

"Oh, you're back pretty early. What did you buy?"

"Did you find anything good?"

Once I entered the house, they stopped preparing and peered into the hemp sack I was carrying.

"I bought some tenugui and bamboo water bottles. The tenugui are souvenirs for Grandpa and Grandma, and the water bottles are for my uncles. I also bought four of these for our family because I think they'll be really convenient."

I said that as I pulled out one of the bamboo water bottles and showed it to them. They stared at it with interest.

"It's surprising that bamboo can be used like this."

"Apparently, these bottles used to be the norm, but at some point people switched to putting water in leather pouches. Lately, though, bamboo bottles have started becoming popular again."

"I see. Thanks for getting some for us, too. Let's use these bottles on our trip tomorrow."

"Yeah. This seems more convenient."

And so we continued getting ready for the next day.

The next morning.

"Leon, Marie, wake up."

Usually, I woke up to the sound of the bell, but today Mom woke me. It was still dark outside.

"Mom...? Isn't it early to get up?"

"I told you we're going to your grandparents' house today. It'd be a problem if we didn't arrive by nightfall, so we're leaving early."

"Oh, right..."

Yaaawn... I'm still sleepy...

"Wash your face, get dressed, and get ready. Breakfast will be ready soon, so eat quickly."

"Okaaay."

I sat up, rubbing my sleepy eyes. Mom was still waking Marie.

After that, although I moved more slowly than usual because I was tired, I washed my face, ate breakfast, and checked our luggage.

By then, I was wide awake. Marie seemed to have woken up and finished getting ready, too.

"All right, let's go."

"Roana, make sure you lock the door."

"I did. We haven't forgotten anything, have we?"

"We're fine. Shall we go?"

"Yeah!"

We set off toward the farmland just as the sun was beginning to rise.

Although I'd been as far as the forest, I'd never gone beyond it, so I was extremely excited!

But that excitement didn't last long.

Whew, I'm tired... Well, my body can handle it with body enhancement, but walking through the same scenery the entire time is mentally exhausting.

At first, the fields and the animals kept by the people who raised livestock got me excited.

But after an hour, I quickly grew bored. Now that lunchtime was approaching, I wanted to see a different view. No matter how far we walked, the scenery stayed the same, so it didn't feel like we were making any progress.

Besides, there was almost nowhere to get out of the sun, so the sunlight was becoming painful, too. I want to take a break...

Just as I was thinking that, Mom spoke up.

"Should we take a break soon? You see that big tree over there? Let's keep going until we reach it."

A huge tree stood a fair distance away. It had shade, making it the perfect place to rest. Perhaps it even served as a sort of rest stop.

"We're finally taking a break? I'm tired..."

"Marie, it's not much farther. Hang in there."

Marie had walked this far without complaining, but she seemed tired now. She was only six, after all.

Marie was only carrying her own clothes, but even that must have been difficult. Maybe I should carry her luggage in the afternoon. With body enhancement, I could carry a small amount of luggage without any trouble.

We walked for a while longer and reached the base of the huge tree.

"Then let's have lunch."

Come to think of it, I hadn't thought about what we'd have for lunch at all today...

I wonder if Mom and Dad brought something.

"I forgot about lunch... Did you bring anything?"

"Of course. We can't walk if we don't eat."

"But it'll spoil, so we couldn't bring anything too fancy."

Thank you, Mom and Dad...!

Thinking about lunch made me incredibly hungry.

"Here you go: bread and dried meat. One of each per person."

Mom handed us the hard bread we always ate and some meat that had been salted and dried.

"Thanks."

We all cheerfully said, "Let's eat," and started eating.

Since it was my first time eating dried meat, I took a bite with some excitement... but I couldn't bite through it.

Hard!! I'd imagined it would be something like salami, but it was twice as hard as I'd expected, and I couldn't tear it apart with my teeth.

I tried again, putting some effort into it this time, and somehow managed to bite through it. Chew, chew... It actually tastes pretty good... It would be delicious if it were a little softer.

"It's pretty hard, isn't it?"

"It's dried meat, so there's nothing we can do about it being hard."

Even as they said that, Mom and Dad ate it fairly normally. I suppose adults and children have different jaw strength.

Marie seemed to be having a particularly hard time.

"Mom... I can't eat this..."

Marie wrestled with the dried meat for a while, but eventually she seemed to give up.

"Maybe you should cut it into small pieces with a knife. Give it here for a moment."

Mom took Marie's dried meat and sliced it thinly with a knife. Marie took the pieces and ate them, and she seemed able to manage them without any trouble.

Maybe I should cut mine with a knife, too... No, wait. What if I used body enhancement on my jaw?

Thinking I'd come up with something interesting, I immediately gave it a try. The dried meat, which had been hard enough to feel like I was eating wood, suddenly became easy to bite through with a satisfying crunch.

Amazing...! Magic really is incredible!

After we finished lunch, we set off again.

Marie seemed quite tired, so I decided to carry her luggage. That should make it possible for her to walk the rest of the way. Carrying Marie herself would be too heavy for me, after all.

"We'll be there soon. That's my parents' house over there, and that's your father's parents' house over there."

Finally! We were almost there! The sun was just beginning to set. It had been farther than I'd expected, and I was exhausted.

My mother's family home was on the left side of the road, while my father's family home was on the right. They really were close together.

We were going to stay at Dad's family home. Apparently, they had more spare rooms there.

When we reached the front door of Dad's family home, Dad knocked on it.

"I'm home!"

As soon as Dad said that, the inside suddenly became a bustle of activity, and after a little while, the door opened.

"Jean, you finally made it! And Roana-chan, Leon, and Marie! Welcome, everyone!"

The person who opened the door was a kindly-looking woman in her late forties.

Once we went inside, we found many people in a living room that wasn't particularly spacious, with a table covered in all sorts of dishes.

"Welcome! We've been waiting for you!"

After greeting various people, I finally figured out who everyone was.

First, there were Grandpa and Grandma on Dad's side, as well as my uncle and aunt and their three children.

Then there were Grandpa and Grandma on Mom's side, along with my uncle and aunt and their two children.

A total of thirteen people had come to greet us. I wondered how they had known we were coming, but apparently our parents had asked a merchant who came here to buy goods to pass along word.

That day, we all spent a long time talking.

We ate delicious food, gave them the souvenirs and moved them to tears, amazed them with how delicious the pancakes were, and played with the children. It was a fun and happy evening.

Since I hadn't been able to cherish my family in my previous life, I firmly resolved to cherish the family I had here.