(Yuuta POV)
"Okay, Elena. Listen to me carefully."
I crouched in front of my daughter, who was standing near the entrance with her little shopping bag held tightly in both hands. Judging from the excitement on her face, anyone would think I was about to send her on some legendary adventure rather than to the grocery store a short distance from our apartment.
Elena nodded seriously.
I took a breath and raised one finger.
"First of all, you have to be careful with the money. Don't take it out unless you're buying something, and when the shopkeeper gives you change, make sure you put it straight back into your bag. Understand?"
"Okay!"
"Good."
I raised a second finger.
"Second, always look at the signal before crossing the road. Even if you see other people crossing, you don't follow them unless the signal says you can go. Look both ways too."
"Okay, Papa."
She nodded again, although the way her feet kept moving told me that at least half her mind was already outside.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"Elena, are you actually listening?"
"Yes!"
"What was the first rule?"
She froze.
"...Money."
"And?"
"Don't lose."
Close enough.
I sighed before raising a third finger. This one was more important than the others.
"Third, if someone you don't know approaches you and says that Papa sent them, you don't go with them. Even if they offer you candy, toys, ice cream, or anything else, you say no and stay away from them. Papa will never send a stranger to pick you up. Understand?"
This time Elena nodded much more seriously.
"Okay, Papa. Elena say no."
"Good girl."
That made me feel slightly better.
Slightly.
"And fourth—"
"Oh, come on."
I stopped.
Erza had appeared behind me at some point, and from the expression on her face, she'd apparently been listening to my entire safety lecture.
"Erza?"
"How long are you planning to continue?" she asked. "At this rate, the market will close before you let her leave."
"I'm making sure she's prepared."
"She's going shopping, Yuuta. Not to war."
"That's exactly why she needs to know these things. She's a child."
Erza sighed.
"I know she's a child."
"Then why are you stopping me?"
"I mean she's not an ordinary human child." Erza glanced down at Elena, who was still clutching her little bag and patiently waiting for her parents to finish arguing. "She's a dragon child. You worry about her as though the moment she steps outside without you, something will immediately happen."
"Something could happen."
"And she can handle more than you think."
I opened my mouth to argue, but nothing immediately came out.
That was the problem with Erza. Sometimes she said things so casually that I wanted to disagree purely on principle, only to realize that she wasn't entirely wrong.
I looked down at Elena again.
She looked back at me with those eager eyes.
I really didn't like this.
Actually, every instinct I possessed was telling me to pick her up, put her on my shoulder, and announce that her independent shopping career had been postponed until she was thirty.
But I'd already agreed.
And more importantly, Elena wanted me to trust her.
I released a long sigh and gently placed my hand on her head.
"Okay. I trust you."
Elena's entire face immediately brightened.
"Okay, Papa!" She lifted her little shopping bag proudly. "Elena going on mission!"
"It's grocery shopping."
"Mission!"
"...Fine. Mission."
"Let's go!"
Before I could say anything else, Elena spun around and rushed through the hall toward the entrance.
"Hey! Don't run!"
She didn't stop.
I immediately stood up and followed after her.
"Elena! Be careful!" I shouted. "And don't jump around on the stairs! Hold the railing! And remember the traffic signal! And don't talk to strangers! And—"
"Okay, Papa!"
Her cheerful voice echoed back through the hallway.
I stood near the doorway, listening to Elena's footsteps getting farther and farther away until I couldn't hear them anymore. The apartment suddenly felt strangely quiet without her voice echoing through it, and for several seconds I simply stared through the open door.
Then I quietly reached toward the side and picked up the jacket I'd prepared earlier.
Yes.
Prepared earlier.
Did you seriously think I was going to send my four-year-old daughter outside alone without having a backup plan?
I slipped the jacket on before picking up a pair of dark goggles and putting them over my eyes. Perfect. With this, Elena would never recognize me from a distance. Maybe the disguise was slightly suspicious for someone who was supposedly just going grocery shopping, but that wasn't important right now.
I casually stepped outside and tried to behave as naturally as possible.
"Okay, Erza. I'm going now. Take care of the house."
I had barely taken another step when a hand settled on my shoulder.
A familiar cold sensation immediately passed through my body.
I stopped.
Behind me, Erza leaned slightly closer.
"My dear husband..." she whispered in an unnervingly calm voice. "Where exactly are you going?"
Why did hearing my dear husband from her mouth somehow sound more threatening than being called an idiot?
I slowly turned my head and gave her the most innocent smile I could manage.
"Well, you see... I'm going to meet the neighbor."
Erza looked at me.
Then she looked at my jacket.
Then at my goggles.
Her eyes returned to mine.
"You're meeting the neighbor dressed like that?"
"Yes."
"With a jacket and goggles?"
"You know... just for..." I paused, desperately searching for something believable. "...protection from sunlight."
"We live in the same building."
"...Dust?"
Erza sighed.
"Don't take me for a fool, Yuuta. I know you far too well." She folded her arms and looked at me with that familiar cold expression. "You're planning to follow Elena."
"No, of course not. Who said that?"
I tried desperately to keep my face straight.
Erza stared at me for another second.
"You do realize it's written all over your face?"
Damn it.
I really needed to improve my lying skills.
"Relax," Erza continued. "She'll do perfectly fine."
"Relax?"
I turned toward her in disbelief.
"Erza, do you realize she's four years old? Four. You want me to send a toddler outside and peacefully sit here while she walks around on her own?"
"She's not walking around the world, Yuuta. She's going to the market."
"Same thing."
"No, it isn't."
"From a father's perspective, it is."
Erza rubbed her forehead as though I was the unreasonable person here. "The market is three streets away. Even a lost dog could find its way there."
"Please don't compare our daughter to a lost dog."
"That wasn't the point." Erza sighed again before continuing. "And stop treating Elena as though she's an ordinary four-year-old. She's a dragon child. Her mental development is already closer to an average seven-year-old human child, so don't underestimate her that much."
I knew what Erza was trying to say, and logically, I understood it. Elena wasn't an ordinary human child. She was stronger, sharper, and much more capable than most children her age. But none of that changed the fact that whenever I looked at her, I didn't see some unusually developed dragon child.
I saw my little girl.
"That's not the point, Erza." I lowered my voice slightly. "You know what the world is like. You've seen how cruel people can be. Being strong doesn't mean nothing can happen to her. What if she meets the wrong person? What if someone tries something? What if something actually happens to her while we're sitting here?"
Erza became quiet.
For a moment, I expected her to finally understand why I was worried. Instead, she tilted her head slightly as though seriously considering the problem I'd presented.
"If something actually happens to Elena..."
"Yes?"
"...then we'll have to move our belongings to Nova."
I stared at her.
"What?"
Why the hell had we suddenly started discussing moving?
Erza noticed my confusion and calmly clarified herself.
"What I mean is, we'd need somewhere else to live afterward."
"After what?"
"After I destroy this world with my bare hands."
I froze.
Erza's expression didn't change.
There was no anger on her face, no dramatic killing intent filling the apartment, and no hesitation in her voice. She had said it with the same casual certainty someone might use to explain what they planned to cook for dinner.
I stared at my wife for several seconds before slowly remembering one extremely important detail.
Oh, right.
Sometimes I forgot that this entire world was basically living on Erza's mercy.
Suddenly, I wasn't sure whether I should be worried about Elena anymore...
...or worried about everyone else.
"Wait, wait, wait!" I immediately waved both hands in front of her. "No. Absolutely not. We're not doing that."
Erza raised an eyebrow. "Doing what?"
"Destroying the world! No genocide, Erza. Have you forgotten that I was born in this world?"
She stared at me as though I'd just said something stupid.
"Yuuta, you're not even from this Earth."
I opened my mouth, ready to argue, only to realize that she'd managed to completely derail the point.
"That's not the point, Erza!" I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "I'm just worried about my daughter. That's all."
And that really was all there was to it.
Maybe I was being overprotective. Actually, judging by Erza's expression, I was definitely being overprotective. I knew Elena was stronger than an ordinary child, and I knew the market wasn't far away, but knowing all of that didn't magically switch off whatever part of my brain kept imagining every possible thing that could go wrong.
This was the first time Elena had gone anywhere alone.
Was I seriously supposed to sit on the sofa, turn on the television, and peacefully wait for her to return?
Impossible.
Erza watched me for a few seconds before closing her eyes and releasing a long, exhausted sigh.
"Uff... you really are stupid."
"I know."
"And ridiculously overprotective."
"I'll accept that too."
"And you're not going to stay here regardless of what I say, are you?"
I gave her an innocent smile.
Erza stared at me.
My smile became slightly more awkward.
She sighed again. "Fine. I allow you."
My eyes widened.
"Yes!"
I almost raised my fist in celebration before remembering that I was a grown man celebrating permission to secretly spy on my four-year-old daughter.
Whatever.
A victory was a victory.
"But..."
My celebration immediately stopped.
There was always a but.
I slowly looked back at her. "But what?"
Erza stood from the sofa and calmly walked toward me.
"I'm coming too."
I blinked.
"What?"