Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1275 - 61: Happy Children

"So, Uncle Lion taught me this really fun game a few days ago, super exciting," the moment I got back to the mansion, I heard the noisy voices of children in the backyard, and the loudest was Little Deer, who always hid in the interlayer of Lina’s backpack. Pannis, curious, peeked out from the corner of the mansion’s wall and secretly watched the children play.

Since Annie had been dormant deep within Freya’s soul throughout the journey, only the little skeleton among the children had witnessed the whole experience of venturing into the heart of the Forest of Death. Surrounded by several overly curious children, including Annie, the little skeleton proudly recounted their journey. However, as the little fellow was still quite young mentally, some events were misunderstood, and others not remembered at all. Therefore, part of the story relied on memory, and part on pure imagination and fabrication. Fortunately, the listeners hadn’t experienced it themselves and couldn’t distinguish between the two, so they simply took everything as true, listening with great interest and occasionally gasping in amazement.

"What game, what game?" Annie stretched her ethereal body long like a snake, coiling around Little Deer a few times, asking with interest, "Can we play it here?"

"Of course! Any flat surface works. Let me show you." Little Deer hugged his head in his arms, moving his jaw as he spoke, "Michelle and Ansha, you two go find some empty bottles and set them up in a triangle over there — yes, just like that shape. Hurry up! We’ll wait here for you, and once you’re set, we can start playing."

Suddenly, the backyard was a scene of chaos. After a flurry of hurried footsteps and clashing sounds of glass, the two new idols from the City of Knowledge returned to the group, excitedly announcing, "All set, look how neatly we’ve arranged them. So, how do we play?"

"The rules are simple. Watch me — stand at this distance, then roll your skull towards those bottles like this." The crisp sound of clashing glass fully illustrated what Little Deer was doing. It was apparent from his voice swiftly moving away from its original spot: "I knocked down seven! That’s amazing, haha, I’ve finally beaten my previous record of five!"

"Hmm, so is it about who knocks down more bottles in one go?" A lively Michelle spoke excitedly, "This is fun! After hitting them, do we need to set the bottles back up? I get it. I’ll go rearrange the bottles."

"It looks pretty simple. Let me try too." Ansha, who usually appeared shy and reserved, showed no signs of introversion when playing with her peers, and wholly inherited Lina’s wild nature, she loudly urged, "Little Deer, lend me your head. I want to play too."

"No way, this is my head, not for lending," the little skeleton hugged his skull, baring his teeth in a fierce expression: "I’ve gotten used to it already. What if you break it? Then I won’t be able to use it again."

"So stingy," Ansha wrinkled her nose and said discontentedly, "Your skull is so hard, how could it possibly break?"

"You never know, hasn’t Uncle Pannis always said? The world is so vast, anything could happen," Little Deer gestured a head shake with both hands holding his skull, refusing, "Besides, don’t you have your own? Use your own."

"How can we use our own? Ours can’t just come off like yours," Ansha pouted and muttered a few times, "Never mind then. Sister, let’s think of something else. What else can we use that everyone can play with?"

First, the four little rascals turned their gazes towards the little Fox lying under the shade of a nearby tree. In the next moment, the fur on Fox’s tail puffed up, and it swiftly dashed to the mansion’s second-floor eave, warily watching the clearly well-meaning four dunces. The attempt to use the fur ball was declared a failure even before it started, but the little ones weren’t discouraged. They huddled together and whispered for a while, then cast their eyes towards the nearby training ground.

"That should work," Michelle whispered, "It’s about the same size as Little Deer’s head."

"How could that be? My skull is way prettier than that," Little Deer protested discontentedly, "But sure, the shape is somewhat similar. It should do as a substitute."

"But, is this really okay?" Ansha, still somewhat timid, spoke hesitantly, "Sister Catherine might get angry." freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"Sister Catherine should still be in her room right now and can’t hear us," Annie floated through the air and walked through the walls of the mansion, coming out moments later, certain, "Yes, she isn’t around here. Let’s just borrow it secretly for a while, and she won’t find out."

"Alright, then it’s decided," the little rascals revealed mischievous smiles. Like thieves, they sneaked into Catherine’s training ground, and soon Michelle ran out holding the young knight’s faceguard helmet.

"It’s heavier than I imagined," Michelle, returning to the original spot, placed the helmet on the ground and shook her wrists, "Can we really use this?"

"If it’s just rolling over, it should be fine," Ansha, hiding behind her sister, said uncertainly, "Shall we give it a try?"

"I’ll give it a go, watch me," Annie, truly a Gold Rank Death Banshee, had much more strength than Michelle and the Ansha sisters. She easily lifted the helmet, positioned it like Little Deer, and rolled it forcefully forward.

"Clang clang, crash"—the helmet tumbled across the ground and upon reaching its target, knocked over all ten empty wine bottles. Moreover, as expected, the helmet not only produced a loud metallic clashing sound as it rolled but also shattered the crystal bottles at the forefront with a piercing crash upon impact.

"Are you trying to take down the house?" the young knight’s voice immediately came from inside the mansion, accompanied by rapidly approaching footsteps.

The four little ones exchanged glances, realizing it was too late to destroy the evidence at the crime scene. They hesitated for less than a second, then like seasoned criminals, they all screamed together. Before Catherine could catch them red-handed, they fled in different directions and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"You four, remember this, you’ll pay for this tonight," the young knight burst through the mansion’s back door and, with hands on hips, yelled loudly at the children’s disappearing shadows, then turned and glared furiously at Pannis, who was already lying on the ground: "You just stand there enjoying the show, you jerk, can’t you look after them? They are all spoiled because of you."