Chapter 46 – Winter Picnic
「Kyurururu… kyuuu…」
「There, there. I know, sorry about that.」
Beside the stable, Pochi rubbed against the carriage parked nearby.
I stroked his back, trying to soothe him as I wondered what to do.
It was a sunny day.
Since winter set in, Pochi hadn’t been able to pull the carriage, and the frustration was getting to him.
Tarasque, like Pochi, don’t naturally have this urge, but, as they’re domesticated as beast of burdens, they develop an acquired enjoyment for pulling things. Leaving them idle for too long like this makes them restless.
「I think he feels that pulling the carriage is how he contributes to the family.」
Mother explained.
「Tarasques are highly social animals. Once they’re domesticated, they seem to look to pulling the carriage as their role within the group.」
「Like when I can’t help out with cooking?」
If that’s the case, I can only imagine how hard this must feel.
「Bark! Bark bark!」
「Kyurururr…」
「Kuuun…」
「Kyuu…」
Chocola gave Pochi’s beak a few licks, and he finally seemed to calm down a bit. But his eyes still held a certain plea.
「I want to do something for him.」
「Right. The best would be to take him to the dragon village…」
「But with the temperatures and weather…」
Mother crossed her arms, thinking, and I nodded.
Going to the dragon village would take three days each way. In other seasons, maybe, but traveling in winter would be tough. Besides the cold, sudden weather changes could bring heavy snow along the way.
Since New Year’s, we hadn’t had any heavy snow, but there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t fall tomorrow. Not even I can control the forest weather.
「The rainy season only lasted about a month, so Pochi managed then…」
「Winter, though, is three months long.」
I hugged Pochi’s head, spreading my arms wide to stroke him gently. He closed his eyes in contentment, but I could sense my guilt was reaching him. His soft growl seemed a little sad.
「Sui, Viole-sama.」
At that moment, Karen called out from behind us.
I turned to see her walking over, carrying Mint on her shoulders.
「Have you finished washing the dishes, you two?」
「Done! I scrubbed too!」
「Oh, what a good girl.」
Mother held Mint’s hands and swung them gently as Karen approached.
「Pochi wants to pull the carriage, doesn’t he?」
「Yeah. Seems like he’s itching to.」
「Bark…」
Chocola, too, looked up at Pochi with concern.
Karen nodded, transferring Mint from her shoulders to Mother’s arms.
「Hmm. It might actually be perfect timing.」
「Perfect timing? For what?」
「While Mint and I were washing the dishes, we were talking. Mint mentioned wanting to eat a picnic lunch—the kind you talked about last time, Sui.」
「A picnic lunch…」
I remembered talking about it at dinner a few days ago.
They’d asked what kind of food I used to eat back in Japan. If I’d been able to recreate everything here, or if there were still dishes I hadn’t tried making yet. It was kind of a vague question, so I couldn’t answer right away and ended up mentioning my high school bento lunches off the top of my head.
There’s a concept of *bento* in this world too.
But Mint wasn’t familiar with it, so I had to start from scratch and explain what it was.
「Oh, a bento, huh.」
At the time, Mint hadn’t shown much interest, but apparently, over the last few days, her curiosity had started to grow.
And thanks to that, Karen and I came up with the same idea.
「Hmm. The Dragon Village and Sidera are too far, but if it’s just a day trip…」
「Somewhere close enough to go in the morning and return by evening. That way, we won’t have to worry about the weather.」
「…What’s up, you two?」
Mother asked, holding Mint in her arms, and we both grinned mischievously.
「Going out for a bit. With Pochi.」
「Going out? Where to?」
「We’ll figure that out now. I’m sure we’ll find a good spot at the right distance. I’ll search with Chocola, and once we do, let’s all go together as a family. Pochi can pull the carriage.」
「Kyuru?」
I rubbed Pochi’s cheeks as I explained.
「To a nice spot by a lake or in a meadow, somewhere pleasant. We’ll bring a bento and have lunch outside, just relaxing… it’s called a picnic.」
I wonder if Mother had ever done one. I doubt it. And even when I was little in this world, I don’t remember having a picnic.
In the fields of Nertep where we used to live, the views were beautiful and peaceful. It was such a scenic place that just being at home felt like a picnic, so I doubt father had ever thought of anything like this.
「Remember eating lunch outside in the snow a few days ago? It’ll be like that, but a bit further from the yard.」
I’d felt like it was a picnic then, but I doubt anyone else thought the same. Especially Mother, who’d never had any reason to go out on a simple outing like this.
「I see… eating onigiri outside were great.」
「Right? This time, I’ll make a proper bento.」
「You make bento!?」
Mint leaned forward, her excitement unmistakable.
「Yup. I’ll make it extra special.」
「Wooooo! Bento! Mother, we’re getting bento!」
「Oh my, so full of energy!」
Mint giggled with excitement in Mother’s arms, and Karen and I exchanged a knowing glance and a nod.
「Viole-sama, it’s true, picnics are more of a spring thing, but a winter picnic will be fun, too. You’ll see.」
「And how would you know that, Karen? Picnics aren’t really familiar to you, either.」
「Fufufu! Sui told me, when we made onigiri together.」
「Oh, that snowy day… Right, so you were discussing things like that… Ahem.」
Mother had been about to say something with a look of understanding but quickly cut herself off. Karen didn’t notice, proudly looking smug. That was a close one. I’d caught her sneaking a peek at us then…
Anyway, the plan was set.
It’d be a fun winter picnic for some family bonding—and to let Pochi blow off some steam.
「Alright, then. Let’s start looking for a nice spot today.」
「Bark!」
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