Oh—be good. Lucy-chan. It's daddy. Carry high. Be good."
"Ukya, Akyakya!"
I carry and rock Lucy about.
Lucy is delighted.
Rocking in my forged strong arms, she smiles like a cupid.
Oh, so cute.
"I wonder, Danna-sama."
"What's the matter, Suzanne?”
While I cradle Lucy, the nanny Suzanne comes to speak to me.
She's a former adventurer, and an acquaintance of mine.
"Cradling Ojou-sama, shouldn't I be doing it?"
"Please do not take away my time of happiness."
I knew her when I was an adventurer.
I had not seen her for 4 years.
When we met in a place for recruiting nannies, I was surprised.
"Well, I can't stop you if you want to do it."
"Are there men who are unwilling to do this?"
"My husband isn't willing to do that."
"Then he is not self-conscious enough to be a father."
I still remembered the time well when I met her.
When, I was 12 years old, and broke up with Eris, I headed north to cover my sorrow.
I was at a town in the corner of Basherant Dukedom, alone, feeling the indescribable loneliness brought by the dissolved [Dead End] party.
At that time, in order to distract myself from the loneliness, I accepted quests that cannot be done alone.
There was also a time when I wanted to give up.
And then there was Suzanne's group.
Two warriors, one healer, one mage: a 4-person party,
Her party rank was a B-rank; four of them were veterans.
Suzanne was a warrior.
Although she was not skilled in swordsmanship, she was still one of the B-rank adventurers.
But, she is a woman who was caring, and deserved respect.
She spoke to me who was accepting quests alone.
[This quest needs more than one person. Do you need help?]
I remembered that feeling.
And then I replied, [Oh, then I am glad if you can help. I want to gain some fame].
To see me like that, Suzanne was shocked.
She seemed to be in a panic.
Moreover, it seemed when I spoke to her in honorifics with dead eyes; it made her feel a creepiness that overwhelmed her shock.
In spite of that thought, Suzanne was willing to help me.
Before I left town, she invited me to join a fixed party many times.
After all that, she kept saying, even if I refused to join a party, I shouldn't be eating alone, and she treated me a meal.
In hindsight, I might have been taken care of by her a lot.
And I appreciated that.
After that, Suzanne seemed to have married one of the magicians in the party.
And, I started living in the hometown of magicians known as Sharia.
Now, she is a mother of two children.
However, the third one seemed to be a premature infant; it died right after birth unfortunately.
Even though the third child died, she still has breast milk.
And, breast milk could be sold.
She found my name in the place for recruiting nannies.
And that is how we met again.
"…Anyway, you've really changed."
"Did I change that much?"
"Of course, if it was the old you, you would not belittle a husband in front of his wife."
Certainly.
And if I thought of that, during those days, I was extremely afraid to offend others.
That feeling has not changed much, even now.
But, probably after going through many things, it seems to have faded a little.
"Did I make you unhappy?"
"No. That will be fine. Just take it as a joke. I also can feel slightly sociable."
It was also the same at school,
Making jokes tended to put us slightly closer.
Zanoba and Cliff also want to be close; I also felt easier.
"That kind of spooky honorifics, is it all right not to use them? You're the employer."
"Well, one must have manners if one wants to be closer to another."
"Right."