"Yeah, my friend, I used to visit him frequently, bother him, but he never shooed me away..."

For a while after that, Yuanhui kept talking about that buddy of his.

Because of that incident, his thick-skinned face became even thicker, a Yuanhui like that was becoming unbearable even for Teacher Frande.

Just like Frande, Chiyori also felt slightly guilty, she didn't even have the energy to complain anymore.

"Well, I should think about how to get in touch with Yukari."

...

"You'll really trouble me this way!"

Although I once thought about growing up to be someone like my father... now, my father is the last kind of adult I want to become. No matter what job, I don't want to be an adult who looks down on the people around me, who can't even keep a small promise.

"Um... I'm not sure about this."

Slowly climbing up from the dark room, Kayle knew that even this level held countless dangers, he had to remain alert at all times.

Ten minutes passed, and he still hadn't found any blankets that could be of use.

"Kayle... are you there?"

"Huh, what, sorry, I didn't hear." he hastily replied.

Maybe it's better not to think about it anymore, if you can't listen seriously to the people around you, wouldn't you become just like Dad?

"I mean the accident, they said a little boy was seriously injured because of it, those people who just walked by said so. They also mentioned how pitiful the father who was with the child was, everyone couldn't bear to watch."

"I see."

"Hopefully the child will be safe. Because there's nothing more unfortunate than when the old bury the young..."

For the living, the passing of family members is equally tragic, whether parents or children.

But Kayle didn't say anything, always feeling like he just couldn't bring himself to do so no matter what.

Three months ago...

At that time, the city was still quite normal, just constantly shrouded in dark clouds.

"Kayle, are you still mad at Dad?"

"No."

"Haha, Dad is a bit clumsy, no matter what he does, he always has to be properly taught by Mom!"

Looking at his mother's face, Kayle suddenly felt something easing.

"As punishment, let's have Dad join this time!"

"...No!"

"Don't be angry, he said he'll come to enjoy your school's sports day, that's enough, because the purpose of this school event is about friendly competition anyway," his mother said cheerfully.

On the morning of the sports day, maybe try talking to Dad a bit, Kayle thought to himself.

Although Dad probably would only say boring things like 'how have you been lately?' But as long as it would make Mom smile like now, that would be enough...

A group of tense Alliance soldiers marched neatly past the mother and son towards the school they were heading to, maybe there was an accident somewhere?

"Kayle, they look so serious, it seems like something happened, is that your school over there?"

Additionally, the Alliance's guard soldiers that usually reside nearby, why was there an unsettling feeling slowly creeping up from the ground?

His mother also looked anxiously towards the direction of the school, Kayle tried his best to make his voice sound less nervous.

"Should we just go back?"

Perhaps wanting to shake off a certain bad feeling as well, the mother cautiously agreed with Kyle's point of view.

"Yeah, let's go back home and rest first, forget about this sports meet...it works out well, your dad will also have time to talk to you when he gets back."

"Really?"

"Yes, does it look like Mom is joking with you?"

Be it the military or whatever, right now the mother seemed to not care about anything at all.

It was on the day of their return that an urgent update was made to the city's digital news.

"There has been a terrorist attack at XXX College, the Alliance forces have sealed off the campus a minute ago, rumors say, there are...sizzling!"

Bang! Boom!

In the split second the TV screen went blank, a deafening explosion resounded from outside the window.

At the same time, Mom immediately rushed out from the kitchen, frantically searching for Kyle's figure.

“What in the world is happening?!”

“Mom...”

Terrified, Kyle curled up in the corner of the sofa, his expression fearful and contorted.

At that moment, his mother blurted out,

“Your sister Grinte, I don’t know how she is. She went to school today as usual!”

“...”

“Oh my goodness, thank God...at least nothing happened to you!”

"Sob... Why hasn't Dad come back?"

"..."

For a moment, Mom didn't know how to comfort Kyle and could only promise him first.

"Let's wait until Grinte comes back home before discussing this. I'll try to contact your father first..."

It had been more than two months and Kyle was already missing his father terribly.

And just as the long holiday was beginning, his father had abandoned his time off again.

... Can this be real? The situation had become so serious already, the city was in chaos, and soon, Mom was holding Kyle's hand tightly, leading him onto a car.

Everywhere were Alliance soldiers. Stay calm at times like this, but Kyle was facing this kind of situation for the first time.

"Mom, where are we going now?"

"First, let's find your sister, she's still in school!"

With that said, the car broke through the front door and an Alliance military blockade was set at the corner, still preventing them from reaching the road to the school.

"What's going on? Tsk, it looks like we have to take a detour!"

With that, Mom turned the steering wheel and headed down the coastal path to the left, humming all the way.

"Hope we can make it in time!"

...

That's where things stand, and a week has passed since then.

In this one week, too many sudden changes had occurred, what on earth was going on?

And then several months later...

"Kyle, are you feeling better?"

"Oh dear," Kyle was completely at a loss, "Sister, there's nothing here that can be used... huh?"

"Nothing?" Grinte shouted anxiously.

"..."

"If there's nothing, come back quickly!"

"Actually, I think this can still be used."

Gripping the blanket by the hand, Kyle stopped in his tracks.

He had found a blanket that was over a meter long, surely enough for warmth!

"Okay, I'm back."

Kai returned to the room with the blanket, unfortunately, it was only enough to cover one person. While his sister was feeling a bit cold too, leaving her little brother to cover himself made her feel somewhat guilty. With only this one blanket between them, his sister swallowed nervously and asked Kai as if pleading, "K-Kai, is there no extra blanket?" Trembling, she seemed unable to bear it any longer, showing signs of possibly having a fever.

"I'm sorry, I could only find this one that's usable..." Kai shook his head, then tossed several dry firewood sticks he found in the kitchen into the fireplace. It was fortunate that this hotel still had a nostalgic fireplace; otherwise, they might have frozen to death here today.

"Big sis, there's a lighter here. Originally, it was meant to be a birthday gift for Dad, but it looks like it's become our lifesaver now!"

"Mm."

Before Kai could react, Greent suddenly covered him and herself with the blanket, wrapping them both inside. It was then that Kai realized his sister had wrapped both of them in the blanket.

At this point, Greent blinked, mischievously stuck out her tongue, and teased in his ear, "Kai's arms... seem to have gotten broader!"

***

"Hmph, to escape from this place, you need to gather two items. Just you, a mere child...”

"Silence!!"

I was actually being scolded by a child. After she reprimanded me, Yas finally decided to pick up her pen. At that moment, she surprised me a bit. At first, I thought she was just a child, but now it seemed like she was making me, a seven-foot-tall man, lose face.

Standing up from my seat with interest, I leaned over for a closer look. "I see."

With an admiring tone, I commented briefly. The black area that sloped towards the classroom corridor indicated the presence of four sections, suggesting that an Evil Entity from the sports department is ruling over this place! When passing by the main gate during my childhood school days, this place was still under construction with erected foundations and scaffolding, so Yas was not clear about it.

This reminded me of the days just before the school festival when our school started selecting senior students to participate in the activities. I admired them back then for having shorter class times from that day onwards, allowing them to stay in school until nine o'clock in the evening, and utilize the school facilities. By submitting an application, they could even stay overnight before the school festival began. The whole school was engulfed in the atmosphere of the festival, an atmosphere that I did not quite fit into.

I didn't dislike the vibe, what I truly loathed was feeling excluded in this environment. Though I wanted to reminisce about the past, I couldn't help but worry about this little girl. "Hey kiddo, are you sure this is okay?"

"No, I feel like I need to understand only a part of it better, otherwise disturbing the Evil Entity will make it move elsewhere."

"True, if it discovers us, we'll have to completely eliminate all the floors."

"Well, how about going to the baseball club directly?"

"No way!" I rejected Yas's idea, as being rash like that would only intensify the grudge of the Evil Entities. "Regarding this, the student council has already planned everything, except the captain of the baseball club who opposes the school's decision and a soccer club that got rejected. The soccer club captain seems gentle but is very adamant about keeping a clear boundary between public and private matters... Hmph, the soccer club president devotes all his energy to soccer, as for the reason why!"