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In the end, Kyoma could escape from the tiger's mouth at the cost of ten marshmallows.
Of course, the most important thing was that Klee found the interaction between the two amusing, which lifted her spirits.
Shortly after breakfast, Kyoma went to the market again with the entire group.
His excuse was buying marshmallows and purchasing clothes for Klee.
Taking advantage of the ample time available that morning, Drake also went out with them, though his destination wasn't the market.
Instead, he headed for the lawless zone of the Sabaody Archipelago, where Marine jurisdiction didn't extend.
He planned to search for his pirate ship docked somewhere in that area.
On the way to the market, Klee was extremely happy.
The fatigue from staying up late the previous night had disappeared entirely.
She wore a sun hat that Kyoma had given her to conceal her identity, hiding her hair and most of her face as she trotted happily along the road.
Kagura, meanwhile, was sulking.
She pouted and refused to look in Kyoma's direction the entire way. She'd never imagined that she'd have to go out herself to obtain the ten marshmallows she'd finally won.
She'd planned to lie on the sofa all morning, waiting for Kyoma to buy the marshmallows for her.
But he'd pulled her out of the house with the excuse that "He wasn't the best person to buy clothes for Klee."
None of this improved until they arrived at the market.
Then Kyoma went and bought her ten enormous marshmallows.
"Kyo-chan, you're the best!" Kyoma received a warm hug.
Her attitude had changed 180 degrees.
Not only did Kyoma's mouth twitch at the reversal, but even Klee stood stunned.
She'd watched Kyoma and Kagura quarreling the entire way and had felt somewhat responsible for causing it, which made her feel sorry.
Just when she'd decided to think of a way to resolve the quarrel between them, she hadn't expected the two to reconcile so quickly.
After Kagura finished eating her marshmallows, the three of them entered a clothing store.
"Wow, sir, your two daughters are so cute."
When the female clerk spotted the trio whose looks far exceeded those of ordinary people, her eyes glazed over for a moment. When she realized they were real, she immediately covered her mouth in surprise.
She'd never seen such beautiful girls, and here were two of them at once.
Even the orange-haired young man who was presumably their father possessed skin so fair that she felt extremely jealous.
"They're very cute, but I'm not their father..."
Kyoma felt helpless.
He was only twenty-four years old and hadn't even married yet. How could he possibly have daughters like these two?
The female clerk apologized quickly and welcomed them into the store.
During this time, her eyes swept over Kyoma repeatedly, unable to hide the amazement in her gaze.
At close range, Kyoma's appearance, enhanced by his mixed Night Rabbit and elf bloodlines, was truly handsome and different from ordinary people. It made her heart race.
At first, Kyoma felt somewhat proud of her stare. He hadn't expected he'd be able to fascinate a strange woman with his appearance alone.
But as the female clerk became increasingly entranced, he felt both uncomfortable and angry at this scene that defied common sense.
Just as he was about to respond with an equally intense stare, Kagura abandoned her lazy demeanor from earlier and stood in front of him with a vigilant expression. She spread her hands wide, blocking him behind her like she was protecting food.
"Hey! We're here to buy clothes. What are you staring at?"
"Kyoma-nii, let's change stores." At the same time, Klee stuck close to Kyoma's side and hugged one of his arms. She looked at the female clerk with slight hostility, as if afraid the woman might snatch Kyoma away.
"Uh... this..." Seeing the two little ones quickly wrapping themselves around him like hens protecting their chicks, Kyoma felt moved, though the situation struck him as somewhat strange.
In Kagura and Klee's eyes, they thought he was affected by "sexual harassment" from the female clerk, and the hostility in their gazes grew stronger.
Indistinctly, a violent and fierce light flashed in Kagura's eyes.
The female clerk suddenly felt a bone-chilling coldness and snapped out of her daze.
"I'm... I'm sorry. I got lost in thought by accident, but I really have never seen people as good-looking as you, so... I'm really not a pervert..."
After realizing her "weird" behavior just moments ago, her face flushed red with shame.
Her voice came out hesitant as she kept bowing to Kyoma and the two in apology.
"No need to apologize anymore, clerk sister. If you admit your mistakes and correct them, you're still a good person. Klee has already forgiven you. I believe Kagura-nee and Kyoma-nii have too, but staring at people like that just now wasn't polite. Clerk sister must pay attention next time."
Klee released Kyoma's arm and walked forward to deliver this lesson in her sweet voice. The female clerk, who stood a head taller than her, felt so ashamed she kept bowing and nodding. The contrast between their sizes looked extremely humorous.
"Hmph. Don't stare at others like that in the future."
Kagura wasn't an aggressive person by nature. Seeing the clerk's sincere apology, the violent intent in her eyes vanished instantly. Even Kyoma had never noticed it had been there.
"There definitely won't be a next time..."
The female clerk bowed her head in shame. To express her apology, after helping Klee select clothes, she used her own money to give all three of them a discount and personally escorted them out of the store.
During this entire period, Kyoma had no chance to speak. He was "protected" by the two the whole time.
Only after leaving the store, when he saw the two finally relax and lower their guard, did Kyoma sigh with a mixture of helplessness and amusement.
No matter how strange the process had been, the ending was ultimately positive.
They'd received a discount and hadn't actually lost anything.
The only thing that surprised him was that his position in Kagura and Klee's hearts was much higher than he'd thought.
Yet they'd only been together for a few days at most. Could their relationship truly have become so close already?
'Could it be the effect of my summoning ability?' That would leave a bad taste in his mouth if it were true.
On the way back, he asked casually, and Klee answered without thinking.
"Because Klee felt very comfortable around Kyoma-nii, like family. And Kyoma-nii is a very good person."
After today's "three-person team adventure" in her mind, her relationship with Kyoma and Kagura had grown even closer.
"Good person..." Kyoma smacked his lips after being inexplicably given a "good person card" by the young girl, but warmth surged through his heart.
It felt good to be treated as family by others.
He turned his head and looked at Kagura, looking forward to her answer even more.
"Well... It's the same as what Klee said, the same feeling as a relative."
Kagura pondered for a moment, staring at Kyoma's hair that matched her own color. She spoke hesitantly:
"Maybe... I'm your mother?"