"Mom! Dad! Loo!" Tanya waved her small sword with a smile. Showing it off to their parents.
At this moment, Jin said, "Tanya, it's disrespectful to bring toys to the table. Do you want the food to be angry at you?"
Tanya pouted and shook her head.
"Then put your sword down first, okay? You can show it to Mother and Father later."
Tanya obediently nodded her head and placed her sword on the nearby shelf.
Leo and Tiana both had strange and amused expressions on their faces.
They seem to think that Jin seemed better than them as a parent and at handling Tanya.
However, they also found it amusing.
But it was also strange that Tanya liked swords more than dolls.
The two of them shook their heads in order to drive these thoughts away. They knew that no matter what, they would love their children unconditionally.
"Good Tanya! Let's eat!" Tiana said as she rubbed Tanya's head.
Tanya smiled brightly before taking a bite of the bread and drinking some potato soup.
The family ate lunch together happily. Leo shared stories about his experiences when hunting demonic beasts, causing both Jin and Tanya's eyes to shine brightly.
After they ate, Leo got up to wash the dishes while Tiana played with their children.
"Mom, why is Father's expression look kind of grim?" Jin asked his mother who was teaching Tanya how to write.
Hearing her son's question made Tiana quite startled, "Oh, you noticed that? Hmm… I think it's better for me to tell you…"
Seeing her conflicted expression made Jin and Tanya curious.
After a short moment, Tiana said, "Well, it's because it's the time of the month again."
Jin asked in confusion, "The time of the month when you're always annoyed at Father? I heard him say that it had passed though…"
Tiana blushed and said, "No, not that time of the month!"
'Argh, Leo I'll get you later!' Thought Tiana as she glared briefly at Leo's back.
Shiver~
Leo, who was obediently washing the dishes, felt a shiver up his spine.
"Mom, then what twime of the mownth awe yoo saying?" Tanya asked with a curious expression on her face.
Tiana rubbed Tanya's head and said, "Well, it's because every month, there will be a day where demon beasts will attack the fortress by waves."
Jin pondered with his little hand on his chin, "Demon beasts… waves… ack—"
This sight was so adorable that Tiana wasn't able to resist and pulled Jin towards her and hugged him.
"Yayyyy! Gwoup hug!" Tanya, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying it to the fullest.
"What!? You're having a group hug without daddy!?" Leo feigned being hurt and acted pitiful.
Tanya went over to him and held his hand, "No, Dad! Come! Hehehe…"
Just like that, Jin, who was squished within his mother's embrace, was further squished when Leo joined.
* * *
That night…
"Ungaaaa! Doo yoo weally hawe two go, Dad!?" Tanya cried as she held the hem of Leo's shirt, unwilling to let him go.
Jin comforted his sister, "Why are you crying like a baby? Aren't you a grown up now?"
Tanya stared at her brother and said, "Yoo awe cwying two!"
"N-No, I'm not" Jin denied as he looked away to hide his teary eyes from his sister.
"Jin, Tanya, don't worry, okay? After all, Dad is strong!" Leo reassured his children as he hugged them.
"Honey, are you really going to be fine? Why not just take a leave for a while…" Tiana could not help but ask worriedly.
Leo looked at his wife and smiled, "Hon, I've already taken too many leaves of absences. Besides, it's just a normal demon beast wave. At most, there would be a large number of Lesser Demon Beasts and a few Third Class Demon Beasts."
"Mhm, okay. Take care." Tiana said unwillingly.
Smooch!!
Leo grinned and stole a kiss from Tiana's lips.
"Hehe, I'm leaving!" Leo ran away before Tiana could react any further.
On the other hand, Jin and Tanya smiled at each other cheekily. They always liked it whenever their parents showed their affection for each other.
After Leo's departing back disappeared, the blushing Tiana held her children's hands and went back to their wooden house.
Unbeknownst to them, there was someone who had been observing them from the dark…
* * *
Deep into the night…
Jin sat up from the bed. He looked at the sleeping profile of his sister and mother and giggled.
Then, he looked right and saw that his father was not there, making him feel a bit gloomy.
Normally, he and his sister would be surrounded by their parents when asleep. As such, Jin felt that something was missing due to Leo's absence.
Unable to sleep, he carefully moved towards the edge of the bed and got down. The moonlight was relatively bright, so he didn't really have any trouble seeing.
Their house was made of wood and was relatively large, enough for even 5-8 people to live in.
It has two floors, the second floor contains three bedrooms. However, they had always slept in one room. Their mother said that when they grow up, they would have a room of their own.
As Jin exited their bedroom, he walked carefully to avoid producing noise that might wake up his mother and sister.
Then, he carefully went down the stairs. The oil lamps on the walls made it easy for Jin to navigate his way throughout the house.
After a short while of walking, he arrived at a room on the first floor.
Creak~
Opening the door, what greeted his sight was a room full of bookshelves and a table for reading.
This was his favorite part of their house and this was where he spends most of his time.
The reason he went there was because he became intrigued about the demon beast wave that his mother mentioned.
He lit up an oil lamp and used it to browse the books on the shelves.
After a while, he found a book titled "Introduction to Demon Beasts".
However, it was at the second section of the shelf, making it hard to reach for a six year old boy.
As such, he pushed a chair using his small hands and stood on it to get the book. Then, he pushed the chair back in place and sat on it.
Placing the book on the table, he opened it with eyes full of curiousity.