So, is my dad in the village?

　It didn't seem like we were going to move on any time soon, so I repeated the same question again as before.

　Then Mom finally took her gaze off Garnett and turned to me.

'Your father is attending a meeting in the next village,' she said. I'm sure he'll be back by night ...... right!　Why don't you go say hello to everyone in the village?　You're staying the night, right?
'Yes, ...... are you okay with that?'

　At this time, even if we leave the village now, the sun will have set by the time we reach the next village.

　When I decided to stop by, it was already confirmed that I would be staying the night, but I'll make sure to confirm Garnett's agreement as well.

　If you're just going to stay overnight, but if you're going to be walking around the village, even better.

''Wait, wait a minute!''

　For some reason, Garnett rushed back into the carriage and closed all the curtains on the carriage window.

　The carriage repeatedly swayed and creaked strangely as he wondered what the hell was going on inside.

　Eventually, Garnett, who hesitantly opened the door and came out, had changed into the girlish clothes she had procured in the royal capital, instead of the boyish outfit she was wearing earlier.

　It wasn't the simple dress-like clothes she wore in King's Landing, but the clothes she had had the Sun Dial Trading Company mend for her on the condition that she could easily spend her time normally in this village and Green Hollow.

'If you're going to walk around, I knew it was going to be like this ...... if you get some strange misunderstanding or something, right?

　Garnett is watching me, swaying with embarrassment as she lets her hair down from being clothed at the back of her head.

　Before I could put my reaction into words, Mom squeezed my hand in front of her chest and shouted out.

'Well!　After all, pretty girls look good in anything they wear!
Mother, cut him some slack. He's not used to being praised.
Oh, ......?
'Well then, I think we'll walk around the village for a while. I'll be home by night. We're not moving or anything, are we?
Of course. I'll make sure you're ready for your sleepover.

　I don't think Garnett could keep it up at this rate, so I decided to leave Mom and walk alone for now.

　--The landscape of the village hasn't changed much from fifteen years ago, after all.

　But that's not to say that it hasn't changed at all; some parts have indeed changed.

　The old buildings have become even older, repaired and renewed, and houses have been built on what I remember as a vacant lot.

This used to be a vacant lot. I used to play here with my friends.
Yeah. I can't imagine what you were like when you were a kid.
Everybody used to be a kid. What's so funny?

　As Garnett and I walked along, exchanging small talk, a group of kids playing on the side of the road stopped to look at their suspicious opponents.

　It's an understandable reaction. Those children must have been born after I left the village, and in such a small village, all the residents are like acquaintances.

　To the children of today, I'm just a stranger they don't recognize.

　What shifts more easily than the buildings, than the landscape, are the people who live here.

　Fifteen years is not a short period of time.

　Many of the old people I knew will have already passed their natural life expectancy, and the children born during the fifteen years will not even have the chance to know of my existence.

　Even if they didn't, the improvement of the kingdom's transportation network must have caused more people to migrate to other lands, and vice versa.

　Mom recognized me at first glance because she was my immediate family.
　Just as I began to think that I might as well think of this as my first visit to this place instead of my hometown - just as I began to think about it, a familiar voice was unexpectedly thrown at me.

''Oh, hey!　You there!　Could it be Luke?!

　When I turned around, I saw a man who looked like a guardian of the kids from earlier looking at me with his eyes wide open.

'You ...... are Joey by any chance?'
'I knew it!　Well, I've missed it!　Did the adventurer quit and come back?
'No, I'm just here to give you an update on what's going on for the first time in a while. It looks like you've taken over your dad's business over there .......
'Oh!　He's the keeper of the village temple!

　Joey was one of the friends who had just spoken to Garnett, who was playing in a vacant lot in the village.

　It's the son of the caretaker of the common temple, which houses the altar to the gods that the villagers believe in, and as you can see from his priestly attire, he seems to have taken over the job from his parents.

"White wolf, you know him?

　When Garnett asked that in a casual manner, Joey turned his head in that direction at the same time as I did, and Garnett's eyebrows furrowed as if he was bemused.

　Joey didn't seem to understand why he reacted too, but the reason was simple and obvious: "This guy is outside the village.

The only thing that can be said for this is that this guy is also 'Joey of the White Wolf Forest' outside of the village. And since we're from the same village, it's only natural that we'd be called the same thing.
'Ah, ......!　That's right, ......, you're the only 'white wolf's' over there, so I was inadvertent. ......
'Wouldn't everyone in the village look back if you called them that in the village?

　I wanted to take a look at that one because it sounded interesting, but it's definitely not convenient to call it what it is.

"...... Hey, Luke. This girl, by any chance, is not ...... or 'what's going on'!　Is that what you're saying, dude!
'Haha. Sorry, but that's the way it is.
You're a snake!　Lance and Eric both have families, so I'm on my own, d*mn it!

　Joey is not worth his age - he grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me as hard as he can, shouting like a teenager.

　It wasn't malicious anger, of course, but rather the same uncomfortable relationship we once had.
　It's the same uncomfortable relationship we had in the past, so it's a genuine exchange of feelings.

It's a good thing that you're not just a small business but also a big business.
"You look like you're the one who's about to be punished by God. I mean, if I was God, I'd be doing it right now.

　We were enjoying a nostalgic exchange, and the young kids were looking up at us curiously.

"Who's that guy, Sensee?
'Yeah, I'm a friend of the doctor's, and this is Luke, the village chief's son. He's been working out of the village for a long time, but he hasn't been back home in a while.

　Immediately, Joey switched his behavior and explained the situation to the children in a manner befitting a temple administrator.

　I can't help but think that this guy has grown up in fifteen years, after all--

'And that's Luke's wife. I'm jealous. Let's pray that Luke sprains his foot uncoolly on the way home.
'Hey, you clergy. Don't put evil thoughts in the mouths of naughty children.

　--Correction. It may not have changed much from the past.