Yuxian, the Unwanted One / Fairness Is My Guiding Principle

The group made such a ruckus that what had only been dinner did not end until very late, practically turning into a late-night snack.

Fortunately, this was a private residence rather than a restaurant, so they would not disturb anyone else.

Mash had to put in considerable effort to get Yuxian back to his room. Perhaps because he had vented for so long, Yuxian slept like a dead pig the moment he returned to the room, completely unconscious.

The little ones had originally planned to sleep with Yuxian, but when they saw the unpleasant smell of alcohol wafting off him, Gretel was the first to flee the room. After thinking it over, Illya and Little Jeanne followed her out.

Jack did not mind and did not want to leave. She still wanted to stay with Yuxian, but Gretel came back and dragged her away.

The four little ones found another room to sleep in, leaving Mash alone to look after the drunken Yuxian.

Mash carefully tucked Yuxian in. Even in summer, the seaside nights still carried a trace of chill.

After finishing all that, Mash quietly sat nearby and stared blankly at Yuxian...

Chapter 19: Yuxian, the Unwanted One

The next day, Yuxian woke with a splitting headache. It was a hangover. His alcohol tolerance really was rather poor, so there was nothing to be done about it.

After getting up and washing, he sat there recalling what had happened the night before. His memories from when he was drunk were incredibly hazy, and he could no longer remember what exactly he had said in the end.

Still, it probably had not been anything important. He rubbed his temples to ease the headache and decided not to dwell on it any longer.

Since they were on vacation, they had not gotten up particularly early. The sun was already out by then, and after a simple breakfast, everyone prepared to begin another day of fun.

They had originally planned to continue going to the beach, but during breakfast, the owner of the private residence introduced them to a new attraction.

"Rafting? That sounds like a great idea!" Martha immediately showed great interest upon hearing it.

There was a river nearby that flowed down from the mountain. It had been developed into a rafting attraction and opened to tourists. After the owner introduced it, everyone wanted to give it a try.

So the group changed their plans and set off to go rafting instead.

After taking a car to the foot of the mountain, Yuxian was dumbfounded. Since they would be traveling downstream, the rafting starting point was halfway up the mountain, and there was still quite a long distance from where they currently were.

The only way to cover that distance was on foot. In other words, Yuxian and the others had to climb the mountain first...

This was definitely a challenge for Yuxian. Although his stamina had improved greatly, climbing up there with ease was absolutely no simple task.

Kobayashi felt the same way. Compared with Yuxian, her physical condition was even worse, and Yuxian could roughly imagine how she felt right then.

"Kobayashi, I'll fly you up there!" Seeing Kobayashi's predicament, Tohru immediately decided to transform into a dragon and fly her up.

Kobayashi shook her head and refused. This was a tourist attraction, so she could not let Tohru run wild. Besides, everyone had come out to have fun together, and Kobayashi did not want to ruin everyone's enjoyment because of herself. She decided to try conquering this hill.

The group slowly made their way up the mountain. The scenery along the way was quite nice. The mountain path was shaded by lush trees, so there was none of the scorching heat from direct sunlight. A mountain breeze would occasionally sweep past, bringing waves of coolness.

The trees on the mountain were thick and flourishing. They could hear birdsong and spot small animals. The environment here was far better than they had imagined, and it had not been heavily damaged despite being opened up for tourism.

Mountain climbing was rather tiring. Everyone walked and rested intermittently, making slow progress. Kobayashi in particular was already panting heavily.

With Kobayashi bringing up the rear, Yuxian looked fairly relaxed. He even had the energy to play around with the children.

"Kanna, you can't eat that!" Little Jeanne stopped Kanna from stuffing a cicada into her mouth.

Kanna blinked her big eyes. She had wanted to taste it and see what it was like, but since Little Jeanne stopped her, she did not insist.

Jack was even more active. She leaped between the trees like an elf, occasionally catching small animals to play with.

If Yuxian had not told her beforehand that she was not allowed to kill these little animals, this forest would already have been littered with corpses.

Gretel walked carefully. Her outfit was not suited for an activity like mountain climbing, and she certainly could not dart around like Jack.

Seeing how much she was struggling, Yuxian asked with concern, "Alice, do you want me to carry you?"

Gretel blinked, then happily nodded. Yuxian carried her on his back and continued climbing the mountain.

"Alice is so sneaky! She got Master to carry her while we weren't paying attention!" The other children discovered it and protested Gretel's actions, believing she was taking the chance to monopolize Yuxian.

Gretel leaned against Yuxian's back, delighted inside. She turned a deaf ear to the others' protests and ignored them completely. She was determined to monopolize Master.

After traveling a considerable distance along the mountain path, everyone finally arrived halfway up the mountain. This was their destination and also the starting point for the rafting course.

There was a massive waterfall halfway up the mountain. The plunging water crashed against the rocks, splashing up sprays of water and creating a mist that drifted onto their faces with the wind, leaving them feeling refreshed.

The waterfall was incredibly loud, rumbling beside their ears. They had to raise their voices here for anyone to hear them.

Everyone found a place a little farther from the waterfall to rest. Once they were farther away, the noise was less deafening and did not affect them as much.

It was already getting late, so the group found a patch of flat ground, spread out a tablecloth, and prepared to eat lunch.

There was nowhere here to have lunch, so they had brought boxed meals with them when they left that morning.

Everyone sat in a circle and enjoyed their simple boxed meals together. It had its own unique charm.

Gretel especially loved this kind of atmosphere. After finishing her boxed meal, she took out her tea set so everyone could continue enjoying afternoon tea.

After a brief rest, everyone was full of energy, as though all the exhaustion from climbing the mountain had been swept away.

Next came the most important purpose of their trip: rafting.

When they arrived at the starting point, they began dividing into groups because each boat could only hold a maximum of two people.

Then another problem arose. How should they divide themselves?

Yuxian did not particularly care. He was fine with being paired with anyone.

Tohru immediately wrapped her arms around Kobayashi. She wanted to be in the same boat as Kobayashi.

The little ones gathered together to discuss it. After whispering among themselves for quite a while, they finally settled on the groups.

Illya and Mash were together, Kanna and Little Jeanne were together, Gretel and Jack were together, and Martha and Elma were together.

Meow meow meow?

Yuxian pointed at himself. "I'm alone?"

Yuxian had thought the little ones would be fighting to be in the same group as him, so he was completely baffled by this outcome. He had no idea what they were plotting.

Martha suggested, "How about we ride Tarasque? Then everyone can stay together."

"No!" Everyone unanimously objected. Martha could only shrug and give up.

Alone was fine by Yuxian. He had no objections, only some surprise and curiosity about what the little ones were up to.

The groups had been decided, and everyone got into their respective boats, ready to set off. The boats were truly tiny, only able to fit two people. The river channel here was not wide to begin with, so larger boats would actually be inconvenient.

Although it was called rafting, the current here was not particularly rapid. It was relatively gentle, and the river was not especially deep. Looking down through the clear water, they could see fish swimming along the bottom at a glance.

The boats slowly drifted downstream along the river's surface. They were not moving quickly; it even felt a little slow.

But that made it perfect for admiring the scenery along both banks of the river.

Chapter 20: Fairness Is My Guiding Principle

The group began boarding their boats.

Tohru and Kobayashi set off first. Tohru had no intention of drifting along leisurely. The moment they started, she rapidly paddled with both hands, and the little boat shot forward like an arrow.

She thought Kobayashi would be frightened and hug her, convinced that her plan was flawless.

However, Kobayashi showed no reaction whatsoever. She was calm as could be. Other than the wind blowing her hair straight back, she did not even blink.

After all, she was someone who could chat with a giant dragon while drunk. Her nerves were not ordinary, so Tohru had clearly overestimated her chances of scaring her.

Little Jeanne and Kanna departed second. Seeing Tohru take the lead and speed ahead, Kanna copied her and paddled hard, charging forward.

"Kanna! Slow... slow down..." Little Jeanne was not as calm as Kobayashi. She was not used to that kind of speed, so she gripped the edge of the boat tightly with both hands and refused to let go.

"Master, we're heading out first. Do you need any help?" Martha and Elma were ready as well. Martha asked Yuxian symbolically, then waved her hand and instructed Elma to paddle.

As the big sister, she had no need to do it herself.

Behind Martha were Mash and Illya. The two of them were leisurely drifting forward. They did not paddle hard, instead allowing the current to carry their boat onward.

Mash turned back and waved at Yuxian. "Senpai, hurry up."

Yuxian was not in any rush. He planned to leave last. Jack and Gretel were the only two remaining, so it would not be too late for him to board after they set off.

Jack and Gretel dawdled, refusing to leave.

When Yuxian walked closer, he discovered that Gretel seemed to be sulking. After what had happened yesterday, she was somewhat resistant to water.

Yuxian could only step forward and urge her on. They had already come this far, so backing out now would not do. They had climbed all the way up the mountain; they could not possibly climb back down again. That would be far too troublesome.

He encouraged her, "Alice, the boat is very slow. Nothing will happen, so don't worry. I'll be following right behind you. If anything happens, just call for me."

Gretel finally worked up the courage to get into the boat. She and Jack slowly began drifting downstream as well.

Yuxian was the only one left at the rear, and he was happy to have some peace and quiet. Once his boat started moving, he lay back in it and let it naturally drift downstream, with no intention of speeding up at all.

The banks of the river were shaded by greenery, and sunlight could not reach the river's surface. Yuxian lay back humming a tune as the leaves overhead slowly passed behind him. Cool breezes swept over him, and he was in an exceptionally good mood.

Being with the children was fun, but having some quiet time alone now and then was also quite nice.

Just as Yuxian was thinking that, his boat suddenly hit something with a bang.

He immediately jolted upright and discovered that his boat had collided with Jack and Gretel's boat ahead of him.

"What happened?! What happened?!" The collision between the two boats terrified Gretel. She was afraid of falling into the water and panicked badly.

Yuxian looked at the two little ones speechlessly. "Why are you still here?"

"It's all Jack's fault. She doesn't know how to row, so the boat keeps swaying around and refuses to move forward," Gretel complained with a pout.

Jack did not pay attention to Gretel's words. All her focus was on the paddle. She curiously rowed here and there, fascinated by this novel object.

Her hands were nimble enough to make a dagger dance in all sorts of patterns, but rowing a boat with paddles was obviously not that simple. The result of her endless experimenting was that their boat began swaying from side to side, sometimes even turning sideways. In short, it just would not go forward.

"Master, can I share a boat with you?" Gretel looked at Yuxian with sparkling, aggrieved eyes, hoping to get into his boat. She no longer wanted to be with Jack.

Yuxian asked in confusion, "Didn't you all agree that I should be alone? Why do you want to be with me now?"

"That was because everyone thought that no matter how we divided things, it wouldn't be fair..." Gretel said pitifully.

"Hmm..." Yuxian stroked his chin. "Then Alice should keep her promise."

He did not intend to break the agreement between the children by secretly taking Gretel into his boat. As the saying went, people did not fear scarcity but inequality. As their Master, he should treat everyone fairly.

(Hero of Justice, Second Generation: Are you really treating everyone fairly? Don't you have any self-awareness?)

"How about this? I'll teach you how to row."

Yuxian felt that this could not continue. Using the paddle in his own boat, he pushed one end of Jack and Gretel's boat hard to correct its direction, then slowly taught Jack how to paddle.

Under Yuxian's guidance, Jack quickly began to look the part. She was a smart child.

But the result was that Yuxian became even more exhausted. Sure enough, having peaceful time alone had nothing to do with him.

His boat and Jack's boat were like conjoined twins, slowly moving forward one behind the other.

Not only did he have to teach Jack how to row, but he also had to manually correct their direction whenever she got lost. He was basically rowing two boats by himself...

As they slowly moved forward and reached a large bend in the river, he spotted Mash and Illya.

Their boat had become tangled in tree roots sticking out from the riverbank, and the two of them were at a complete loss.

"Mash, let's smash these roots apart!" Illya took out the Ruby Wand, preparing to solve the problem with brute force.

Ruby: ...

Mash stopped her. "We can't do that. We can't casually damage the trees here."

"Then what should we do?" Illya was a little dejected. Just then, she saw Yuxian and the others arriving and quickly waved. "Master, come save us!"

After understanding their situation, Yuxian was immediately covered in black lines. Helping Jack and Gretel was already exhausting enough, and he had not expected Mash and Illya to be this unreliable too.

He paddled closer and slowly helped them free their boat from the tangled roots.

After the boat broke free from the roots, Mash and Illya breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing Master helped us, or we wouldn't have been able to get back!"

"How did you get tangled up in the roots?" Yuxian was somewhat curious. This was a wide bend in the river, and the channel was relatively spacious. Logically speaking, the roots along the bank should not have been easy to run into.

"We wanted to rest here and wait for Master," Illya explained.

Yuxian asked strangely, "Why were you waiting for me?"

"Mash was worried something might happen to you because you were alone."

Yuxian glanced at Mash when he heard that. It really was the sort of thing Mash would do. But nothing had happened to him; they were the ones who had gotten themselves into trouble.