The Ranking Match.
It was a major event in the Judia Dukedom, mandatory for anyone who had summoned a divine beast, regardless of their age.
Held once a year, the Ranking Match was essentially a tournament where divine beasts fought. Their performance was strictly evaluated to determine their status within the dukedom.
“You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to, Bunny.”
Kyriel, who had been explaining the proceedings, stroked Bunny’s hair as she sat on his lap.
“Why-uh? Bunny needs to be numba one so Daddy gets big-king-huge.”
“Even if Bunny isn’t number one, I’m already big-king-huge.”
Having learned that “big-king-huge” was Bunny’s way of saying “tremendous” or “great,” Kyriel offered a playful reply. Bunny’s eyes went round, and she nodded repeatedly.
“Even bigger-king-huge-er?”
“I’m already bigger-king-huge.”
Bunny blinked. To her, this lacked any shred of credibility. She could grasp the concept of “big-king-huge,” but “bigger-king-huge-er” felt like a stretch.
“You shouldn’t tell lies-uh.”
“I’m not lying.”
Kyriel let out a soft laugh and rubbed the child’s cheek.
Children are honest creatures. A single touch or a gentle stroke from him was enough to make her flush bright red, a brilliant smile breaking across her face.
*Is this why people raise kids?*
Thanks to the diligent influence of Bunny and Alan, Kyriel had been waking up on time lately, sharing breakfast—and sometimes dinner—with the children.
“Are you going to sell your cooking today, too?”
“Yep!”
“Why do you keep doing that?”
“Bunny has to be able to do everything all by herself. They said you never know what might happen in life, so I have to be prepared-uh.”
Kyriel’s eyes narrowed slightly at her words. Perhaps because she had been forced to shoulder so much on her own, the child always pushed herself to be self-sufficient.
“Are your writing studies going well?”
“Yep. I memorized eight letters.”
“Do you want me to help?”
“Bunny is a genius, so doing it alone is totally-totally possible-uh.”
*Hmph.*
Bunny laughed, giving a confident thumbs-up. She was independent, to put it nicely—a virtuous child who didn’t want to be a burden. But, to put it less kindly, it looked as if she didn’t know how to lean on anyone.
“Bunny.”
“Yes?”
“If there’s something you don’t know, ask me. If you’re in trouble, tell me. Anytime.”
Bunny blinked, then smiled brightly and nodded.
“Anyway, you always wear the same clothes.”
“They’re clothes gifted by the Orphanage Director. Bunny’s number one favorite clothes.”
Her cheeks puffed out as if to ask, *Pretty, right?* A sharp pang of guilt stung Kyriel’s heart. There were so many better things in the world; why was she satisfied with so little?
Come to think of it, Bunny almost never asked him for anything. Aside from that one time she demanded he scold the knight.
“……”
Kyriel reached out and smoothed her hair.
“Bunny, shall we go shopping?”
“Huck, Bunny too?”
“Yes. Your brother, too.”
Bunny shot her thumbs up.
“I like it. I’ll call Alan! I’ll bring Magomi and Elephant too!”
“Elephant?”
“Yep. Bunny’s treasure chest!”
Now that she mentioned it, there was an elephant-shaped piggy bank. Kyriel hesitated, a subtle expression crossing his face, before he shook his head.
“You don’t have to bring Elephant. I’ll buy whatever you want. I’m your daddy.”
Bunny blinked, shouted, “Ah!”, and bobbed her head.
“Yep!”
Before long, hearing the news, Alan ran to the main mansion as soon as his lessons ended. It was their first outing as a group of three.
***
*Jingle—*
The first place they arrived at was a towering, luxurious structure.
The entire two-story building was a boutique, rumored to be the most exclusive shop on the street, frequented only by the highest nobility.
“Welcome, Young Master Kyriel Yudia.”
As soon as they crossed the threshold, the clerks lined up and bowed in unison.
*A Dukedom young miss!*
*Sparkle!*
So many people! So many clothes!
Bunny’s eyes grew wide. Alan, likely visiting such a place for the first time as well, had his mouth hanging open, his eyes reflecting the grandeur.
“Waaah…….”
“Whoa…….”
When Kyriel set Bunny down, she scampered across the marble floor, weaving in a wide, excited circle.
“Daddy, there’s so many clothes!”
“Yes. It’s a boutique. Pick as many as you want, Bunny.”
“Yep!”
“Alan, you too. I should have paid attention to this sooner; I apologize.”
“……I, it’s nothing.”
At Kyriel’s words, Alan’s eyes widened, and he shook his head, his face flushed.
Bunny, who had been rummaging through the racks, stood on her tiptoes to check a price tag. She froze. A conversation she’d had with Luri flashed through her mind.
*“Luri, what is expensive and what is cheap?”*
*“Hmm, if there are more than five zeros at the end, it’s expensive. If it becomes six, it’s veeery expensive.”*
*“What happens if it’s veeery expensive?”*
*“Hmm. The household budget collapses.”*
Bunny counted the zeros on the tag from the back, one by one.
*One, two, three, four…… five, six…… seven?!*
Bunny’s eyes went round. If five was a lot and six was “veeery expensive,” then seven must be enough to make the world crumble.
*Luri, why didn’t you tell me how expensive seven was!*
*Daddy’s shop is going to collapse!*
If Daddy’s shop collapsed, he’d become a beggar. And if Daddy became a beggar… did that mean Bunny would be a beggar, too?
Terrified, Bunny crept back and tugged on Kyriel’s leg. As he crouched down to meet her eye level, she leaned in to whisper in his ear.
“There’s seven zeros here, so Daddy’s shop is going to collapse-uh.”
“Shop……? I don’t run a shop.”
“Eh?”
Bunny blinked. That was strange. If he didn’t run a shop, where did the money come from? Luri had said all the super-strong daddies owned large shops that acted like fountains, pouring out endless wealth.
“If there’s no shop, how do you pay? Bunny doesn’t like a debt-ridden Daddy. Scary people will chase after us……”
Kyriel paused. Sometimes the child said things that made no sense, yet the fragments of the past buried in her words always bothered him.
“Daddy has plenty of money. I earned enough in the past to buy anything I want. I could say ‘give me everything from here to there’ if I felt like it.”
As Kyriel replied with a smirk, Bunny’s eyes widened.
“So, buy whatever you want and as much as you want. Even without a shop, I have plenty.”
At the sound of his light, confident laugh, Bunny’s apprehension vanished.
“Now, hurry and go.”
“Yep!”
That day, every piece of clothing Bunny even glanced at was delivered to the Yudia Dukedom.
“Rich Daddy!”
“Yes.”
It was the day Bunny’s trust in Kyriel’s unwavering presence deepened.
***
“Go safely! We hope you visit again!”
Bunny, finished with her long shopping spree, was held in Kyriel’s arms as they passed the bowing clerks. She suddenly pricked up her ears.
Abruptly, she looked around.
“Bunny? What’s wrong?”
At Kyriel’s question, Bunny blinked.
*Zzzing.*
A strange, prickling gaze.
Bunny tilted her head and scanned the surroundings, but there was nothing there.
“Now, shall we go buy some chocolate?”
*Huck.*
Choco!
“Yeees!”
Bunny answered vigorously.
As their carriage pulled away, one of the clerks tipped his hat slightly, curling his lips into a languid smile.
“I was away on a long mission, and to think you’d arrived in the meantime.”
The man’s mouth tore open in a feral grin, and the eyes beneath the hat flashed a brilliant red.
“King of Hell.”
Before long, the man vanished completely into the deep shadows.