After riding the inline skates with the children, we returned home.
It was time to watch the newly released animation.
Was it a combining robot cartoon?
As soon as the TV was turned on, the opening theme song started playing.
Guardians of the Earth, Heroes of the Stars...
The opening finished, and a brief viewer’s advisory came on.
Not suitable for children under 11.
This meant Levinas couldn’t watch it.
In our world, the limit was usually for children under 12.
Here, the age limit was set one year lower.
Given this world’s focus on hunting monsters, they were more lenient with violent content.
"Levinas, you're too young for this."
Honestly, something rated for 12 and up wouldn’t have been a big deal for Levinas.
It wasn’t likely to be too violent.
I mentioned the age restriction to see how Levinas would react.
"Uh-oh! What should I do?! Should I watch something else?!"
"Something else? Didn’t you really look forward to this cartoon?"
"Yeah... but the age..."
"Hmm..."
It’d be fine to watch with everyone.
Before I could say anything, Midsummer spoke up first.
"If you watch it with a guardian, it should be fine. I’ll go get an adult."
"An adult...?"
Isn’t that me?
I looked at Midsummer with a confused expression.
She avoided my gaze and turned her head.
"Gyeoul is still immature..."
"Uh... yeah..."
That was true.
I had to admit it.
A guardian should be prepared for any situation, and that was something only an adult who had lived in this world could handle.
I wasn’t qualified to be a guardian.
Though I realized the truth late, I didn’t feel disappointed.
"No, I’ll go get them. You two keep watching the cartoon."
"Okay."
I left the children behind and moved to the kitchen.
Midsummer continued chopping without stopping, even while watching me.
"Gyeoul, isn’t it time for the cartoon?"
"Yeah, but there’s an age limit, so I think we need a guardian."
"A guardian...?"
Midsummer dropped the kitchen knife with a thud.
It landed on her hand, but the knife bounced off instead of sticking.
"Can you watch it with us?"
"Of course...! I’m your guardian, after all...!"
Midsummer quickly grabbed me and rubbed her cheek against mine as we moved to the living room.
Levinas waved her hand at us as though she had been waiting.
"Your Majesty! It’s starting!"
"Okay."
Midsummer, still holding me, sat down on the sofa.
Naturally, I ended up sitting on her lap.
"Hehe."
Midsummer kept rubbing my cheek as she sat behind me.
It was more aggressive than usual, and it felt a bit strange.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I’m just happy Gyeoul called me. Normally, I wouldn’t care about age limits and would just watch it anyway."
"Mm...?"
That was odd.
I couldn’t remember ever seeing Levinas watch anything above her age limit.
Had she secretly watched it when I wasn’t around?
I was a little surprised, but I wasn’t too concerned about what channel Levinas was watching.
Our TV didn’t have adult content, after all.
That was a decision Midsummer had made for the kids.
"I’ll take good care of you, Gyeoul."
"Okay..."
Midsummer hugged me tighter.
Though I felt safe, I still didn’t understand why she was acting this way.
Right now, the one who needed protection wasn’t me; it was Levinas.
"Hey, can you hug Levinas too?"
At my request, Levinas quickly shook her head.
Her gaze was fixed on the TV.
"Levinas is fine! The King should do it!"
"Are you sure? Aren’t you scared?"
"Yeah! Levinas isn’t scared at all!"
"I... see..."
I had asked because I thought she was frightened.
But it seemed she wasn’t scared after all.
In that case, there was no real reason to have called Midsummer over.
"Hehe, I just need to protect Gyeoul."
Midsummer’s protective instincts had shifted to me, thanks to Levinas’s courage.
Well.
I didn’t mind being with them, so I decided to just watch the animation together.
***
The cartoon ended.
It was just an ordinary robot cartoon, nothing particularly special.
Since we had finished watching, I thought it was time to go meet the Master.
The moment I stood up from the sofa, Levinas threw her arms wide in front of me.
"Your Majesty! Let’s combine!"
"Combine?"
"Yeah! Let’s combine, Your Majesty!"
Maybe the robot fusion scene impressed her.
But how exactly was she asking to combine?
I cautiously approached Levinas.
For now, I decided to just hug her.
I gently patted her back as well.
"Your Majesty and Levinas combined! We are the strongest horned cat!"
"A horned cat?"
"Yeah! The strongest cat in the world!"
Levinas used magic to extend a horn from her forehead.
Just then, Midsummer, who had been watching us from behind, hurried over and grabbed Levinas's horn with both hands.
"Levinas, don’t do that."
"Isn’t the horn the strongest?"
"Yeah... but you can’t use the horn for the first combination... it’s too strong..."
Midsummer said this while glancing at me, seemingly looking for my approval.
I understood why, and I was about to reassure her, but Levinas spoke up first.
"So, do we do a weaker combination first?!"
"Usually, yes."
"Ha! Levinas is too strong, so I don’t know about weaker combinations!"
"It’s okay, I’ll show you."
Midsummer sat Levinas on her shoulders.
Then, she placed me on top of her head.
This might be heavy.
I wondered if she could handle it.
But to my surprise, Midsummer carried both of us without any trouble, standing up as if it were nothing.
"Wow."
"Wowww!"
She lifted us effortlessly.
Levinas and I both gasped in amazement.
"How is it?"
"It’s amazing! We combined into three!"
Midsummer, carrying us, wandered around the room.
I playfully poked her nose.
"Midsummer, I need to go meet the Master now."
"Okay. I’ll put you down..."
"We’re coming with you!"
Before Midsummer could finish her sentence, Levinas shouted.
Her voice sounded a bit more serious than usual.
"Together?"
"Yeah! We are combined as one hero!"
"Uh..."
Wasn’t that a line from the cartoon?
It seemed Levinas had been really moved by it.
After some thought, I nodded in agreement.
***
We got into the elevator.
I was still sitting on Midsummer’s head.
In the elevator, which only guild residents could use, we ran into one of the neighbors.
"Ahhh...!"
The woman looked us over from top to bottom.
She screamed while covering her mouth.
She nervously shifted her feet inside the elevator, and her eyes were slightly wet.
"You shouldn’t run in the elevator!"
"Y-yeah...!"
Hah, hah.
The woman panted a few times before pressing the first-floor button.
She kept glancing at us.
"Um, would it be possible to take a photo... just one?"
"A photo?"
"Y-yeah... I’ll keep it as a family treasure..."
A family treasure, huh.
We were known to be a rare beastkin, so it wasn’t really a problem to take a photo now.
It wasn’t something embarrassing, like riding on someone’s shoulders.
"Sure. Please take a photo."
"Th-thank you!"
Click-click—
The woman didn’t just take one photo, but almost dozens.
Afterward, we took the elevator back up to the top floor where the Master was.
Ding—
The elevator doors opened, and we encountered the bodyguards in black suits.
These usually stoic figures flinched when they saw us.
"C-cough..."
The bodyguard at the door bit his lower lip tightly.
Through his twitching mouth, it was clear he found the children cute.
"P-please, go ahead..."
He closed his eyes tightly and opened the Master’s office door for us.
After offering a brief thank you, we entered the Master’s office.
"What’s that?"
"It’s a triple fusion!"
"Looks cool."
"Right?! Right?!"
Levinas couldn’t contain her excitement and wiggled her body.
My body, which she was holding, swayed along with hers.
"I was actually about to call you."
"Why?"
"I just detected a mana storm."
Beep-beep—! Beep-beep—!
As soon as the Master finished speaking, two smartphones blared their sirens.
Levinas’s phone and the Master’s phone.
"Ahhh!"
The sudden sound startled Levinas, and she lost her balance, falling backward.
I fell with her in her arms.
Ah.
We’re going to fall.
I tried to catch Levinas with my usual agility, but the Master pushed us from behind first.
"Stay here until the storm passes."
"A storm? But the weather was supposed to be clear today."
"It’s not just a storm; it’s a mana storm. It happens suddenly, like an earthquake."
A mana storm?
That was a new concept to me.
I thought all storms were just storms.
"Is it very dangerous?"
"It depends on the level, but this one’s just a strong wind."
"Ahh..."
A storm caused by mana, huh.
This world really was terrifying.
The children and I decided to stick our faces to the window and watch the storm.
We stayed there for about ten minutes, when suddenly the storm started pounding on the window.
It’s about ten minutes.
The disaster prediction time was quick, and the wind wasn’t that strong.
It was the kind of wind where it was better to stay inside, but it didn’t seem too threatening for the people of this world, who were sturdier than Earthlings.
So, this is how natural disasters happen in a world with mana.
While I was having this new realization, Levinas pointed at the window.
"Your Majesty! Our house is flying away!"
"My house...?"
I looked in the direction Levinas was pointing, and there was my tent.
The wind was carrying it through the air.
Since it was a sudden storm, there hadn’t been time to prepare.
"My tent!"
It was so sudden that I could only stare helplessly at the tent flying away.