My Absolute Fave and the Ice Stairway Combination…!

Father carried me in his arms as he walked down the ice path. It was like a staircase, gently curving round.

Father is really awesome, he can even build such an intricate ice stairway. 

The words seemed to have spilled out of my mouth with an exclamation mark, because I received a small thank you from Father. I was only talking to myself, so please just ignore it. 

Despite his small size, Brother was steady on his feet as he went down the ice stairway by himself. I watched him over Father’s shoulder and was almost knocked out by Brother’s prince-like figure. 

Beautiful things really match each other. 

It was a pity that his clothes were a bit dirty, but the combination of my absolute fave in shota form and the ice was truly a feast to the eyes, so the dirt all blew away. It was so bright that it was blinding my eyes, so I used both hands to cover them; Father misunderstood and even caringly advised me, “If you are scared, just keep clinging to me.”

I couldn’t afford to look downward anymore. I was busy engraving every single moment of this enchanting view of my absolute fave in my heart. 

Soon we arrived at a crevice in the rock. Not a cave, but a crevice. There is no collapsing rock, right? There should be a way up from beyond here, but it was too dark to see. When I looked up, I saw that it was quite a distance from where we came from. 

Brother, just how on earth did you manage to fall from up there without any fatal injury? 

“Well. Let’s go inside. Dam, light.”

“Haah!!”

A different knight stepped forward and held up a light in his hand. When the opening, which was completely dark and could not be seen, became slightly visible, It seemed like there was a cave that continued deeper and deeper inside it.

“Two monsters identified. We are going to eliminate them.”

Quickly, two knights stepped forward and went inside. I thought I heard some noise, but soon the knights came back. 

“The entrance has been cleared of monsters. We will stand in front and clear the way.”

“I’ll count on you.”

The knight who saluted with a huff and the knight with the light, called Dam, stood in front of us and started to advance. Father held me with one arm, and held hands with my brother with the other.

I got to see the shy face of Brother whilst he timidly held onto Father’s hand. Today I surely would be relishing this precious shy face in my dreams at night. 

Behind us, knights firmly stood guard, ensuring our safety as we went deeper and deeper into the cave. Several times, the knights in front of us would run ahead and then return; they probably went to clear the monsters. But it didn’t even take them a minute to disappear into the dark and return—just how strong were these knights?

I mindlessly blurted out ‘Dope!’ or ‘So strong!’, and then received a further surprise when Father told me, “The knights with us here all are like that, you know.” Besides, they were only using swords at the moment, they were said to be stronger when they added on magic attacks. I was so impressed I could only utter, “So strong, so great” but then one of the knights behind us remarked, “I’m ashamed to say we’re nothing in comparison with Master.” 

Hats off to Father. 

And so we were well on our way to the deeper part of the cave. Father was holding me in his arms as we walked along the unsteady path, which sometimes became wider and sometimes narrower. On the way, he even pulled Brother up with one hand when he almost slipped, and I felt a great sense of security from Father.

Although it took a back seat to the precious, lovely look of Brother when he was about to fall. 

“There’s a spot of sunshine ahead. No sign of monsters.”

“Let’s go.”

The knights responded to Father’s order with a brief ‘Ha!’ as predicted. 

The place was beautiful, almost otherworldly. The sun was shining through the cracks in the rocks and greenery was growing all around. There were a few trees in the middle, and they were bearing fruits.

The fresh fruits looked like melons… That’s strange. Melons don’t grow on trees, do they? In this world, do they grow on trees? 

But the fruits—pale green spheres with white mesh lines—looked exactly like melons to me. And they were as big as my head. So huge!1

“Smells delicious…”

There was a slightly sweet smell in the air, perhaps from the fruits. But the wind was blowing upwards, so I doubted that the smell would have made its way into the cave. I didn’t smell anything like that earlier. 

“I’ve never seen fruits like these before…” Father’s murmuring made me relieved by the fact that melons didn’t grow on trees here either.

But then it dawned on me. So melons don’t exist here? What a bummer. 

Rather than that, with such a massive weight, you’d think the branch would collapse if it grew on a tree, but it didn’t. The branches were upright and not drooping at all. 

That aside, I looked around the area in search of any herbs, but there was nothing that looked like a new species of herb. Eh, what was the description again? Was it ‘a new species of herb that locks in mana’?

In my recollection, there was a ‘still image’ from the game showing my absolute fave in the cave after he fell from the cliff, resulting in a light graze on his cheek, and another still image of him taken from a low angle; as a bright glow reflected on him, he looked very surprised upon discovering something, and his eyes even widened a teeny, tiny bit (my brain processed it this way). 

The still image didn’t capture what he had in his hand. If I was not mistaken, the line he said at this time was, “This is something I’ve never seen before. Let’s check it out.” And then, an appraisal was done on it. 

If the appraisal level had been raised to the max by this time, it would display A plant that takes in magic. It contains ingredients dreaded by monsters. This would lead to the ‘True Ending’. On the other hand, if the appraisal level was still low at this stage, it would only display A plant; and the game would head to ‘Friends Route’ with my absolute fave—for this exact reason, I intentionally kept my appraisal skill level low when playing the game. Again and again. 

Aaa, but I guess the game didn’t exactly describe it as a herb. I just assumed it to be one, but could it be that this fruit was the one? 

I want to eat some of it. I want to eat melon. I love melons… I had a feeling that my thinking had become that of a five-year-old’s. 

“It looks like the new species could only be… this tree. Alba, do you have any idea what the new herb looks like?”

“Urm… I wrote herb on the map, but I only know that it’s a new plant species. Since it could be made into medicine, I just assumed it to be a type of herb.” 

Father nodded at my explanation. Then he patted my head and smiled brightly at me as he said, “Let’s go home at once.”

“Father?”

“Father just got something to do. And it’s very urgent. For now, let’s return home. The fruit might save Alba’s life, right? Then we must hurry even more.”

“Father?! But we’ve come this far and now we’re already going home…? We’ve finally found something that looks like a new species! Aren’t you going to collect those fruits?!”

“Yes, it is a new species. This is indeed really fortunate. But, Orsis. This is the first time Father has seen this tree. What if, by taking the fruits, their composition becomes diminished or destroyed? What if I bring back the fruit, but the leaves are actually the right material? And what if the leaves deteriorate the moment they leave the tree? I can’t do anything about it right now. But I’ll try my best.”

Father made a legitimate argument that I couldn’t even counter; he then joined hands with a slightly frustrated Brother, and ordered the knights around us to retreat. 

A moment later, we were in the entrance hall of our house. Perhaps Father could use teleportation magic without even using a magic circle. In spite of our sudden appearance, the butler, who was approaching old age, welcomed us with a bow.

“Welcome home, sir. I’m glad you found them safely.”

“It was thanks to Orsis, who properly provided the location info. Well done, Orsis. In the meantime, Sven, I need you to arrange something for me.”

“Yes, sir.” said the butler, bowing deeply.

Once I got down from Father’s arms, this time it was the head maid who picked me up. 

“Alba-sama needs to be well cleaned first. Will Orsis-sama be joining us?”

“Yes. I’m going to a hot bath with Alba.” at Brother’s sharp answer, I froze.

Hot bath. Soaking in a bath. Is this what I think it is? A fan-service scene? 

Eh, was there any such scene in any still images? I was sure this game app was suitable for all ages. I think there were scenes of holding hands or kisses when the player and the capture target got together at the end, but there was no kissing in Brother’s route. I remember, the only thing that was said was, “I want to walk along with you”! 

I was already happy enough with that line; I wanted it to be said to me! I wanted to hear it so bad, okay! That was why, even when there was no kiss, I was totally satisfied! 

But now you say ‘take a bath together’?! 

To be able to see Brother nude, what an impossible game! I, I think I’d die from a nosebleed. Just when I thought I finally had a glimmer of hope of life, to think I’d die of nosebleed, that was not even funny! 

Talking about my hope to live on, I ended up returning without taking the fruit home! Father said he would take care of it, but just how much of his words could I trust…? Aaaah. I wished I could have secretly brought home a melon with me… Oh, but the bag I had was too small to hold a melon the size of my head. 

“…My clothes, I should have brought it home under my clothes…!”

“Alba, those fruits are so big, even if you hide one under your clothes, it would be obvious…” my brother’s calm retort revealed that I had been voicing out my thoughts. 

I was so embarrassed that I straight away told the head maid that I was going to bed. I had no more energy to do anything. I was tired. Even if I said that, it was actually Father who did the actual walking while I was only in his arms the whole time. 

But still, mentally, I was exhausted. 

The final straw was Brother’s invitation to the bath together though. That shot me down completely. 

After listening to my statement, the head maid instructed my brother to go to the bathroom while she took me to the bedroom. She wiped my body using hot water, made me change my clothes, and then tucked me into bed; all of this took her less than five minutes. She was very used to this.

…For a bit there, it was not like I didn’t have the desire to bathe together with Brother, but I still didn’t want to die yet; I then closed my eyes in relief that I could avoid that situation. 

You see, even if I was still little, my peepee could still go up. Just imagine, being buck-naked in front of Brother… in such an indecent situation, and my little peepee erected up to the sky… If Brother happened to see the nude me in that condition, I bet I’d die, not from embarrassment, but due to something else. 

Like hell I would do it…