The Airport Pickup

Jilan Jiyu gently woke Fran, who was sleeping with her head resting on their shoulder, and said softly, "Fran, don't sleep anymore, we've arrived at our station."

"Hmm, are we getting off now?" Fran rubbed her eyes sleepily and yawned widely.

Jilan sighed and flicked Fran's forehead without any mercy, "I told you not to play so wildly last night, you've been sleeping all the way here."

"Hehe," Fran chuckled, hugging Jilan's arm. "And you're one to talk! Dad, you didn't sleep a wink all night either!"

Jilan chuckled and ruffled her hair. "I'm an adult, unlike you. Besides, I'm an actor in the show."

Fran became excited when the topic came up. "I watched Daddy's performance! He was so handsome and charismatic as King Solomon!"

Jilan said speechlessly, "I was just making a cameo appearance. When did you learn to flatter people?"

Fran shook her head and said seriously, "I wasn't flattering you! When Daddy came out yesterday, a lot of girls in swimsuits around me were screaming and saying you were flirting with them! Daddy, you can't be a womanizer!"

Huh? Did that happen? Jilan thought about it. He saw Fran in the audience the moment he went on stage to perform, and Fran had interacted a lot offstage. He did hear a few screams at the time, and he wondered if something had happened. He didn't expect it was just a commotion caused by the interaction between the father and daughter. Who's the one who's having an affair? He couldn't even see those people's faces clearly.

Last night was the festival at the Tottori Sand Dunes. Jilan finally couldn't refuse and helped the director revise the script to make it as reasonable as possible. He also played a brief role in the performance, originally played by the seal Igarashi, King Solomon.

By the way, the name of that performance was "One Thousand and One Nights." The director seems to really like this kind of crossover between fairy tales. The script chosen this time is also a fairy tale with a desert theme. It starts with Scheherazade telling a story to King Solomon, and gradually connects with some fairy tales and myths such as Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the Queen of Sheba.

Last night's performance was a great success. Most of the festival attendees were drawn to the open-air performance by the Oumagadoki Circus, which overwhelmingly became the most popular show. The Tottori Prefecture television station was also broadcasting it live at the time, and it is said that the previously sluggish television ratings increased several times over that night.

During the two-to-three-hour performance, Jilan's screen time was only a few minutes, but he was still worried that he might be recognized by some troublesome people. So he paid special attention to the camera while he was performing. Except for a few fleeting glimpses of his face, he always faced the camera with his profile.

Fortunately, the show only mentioned the name "Oumagadoki Circus" and didn't mention the performers' names at all, so Jilan was relatively relieved.

The performance ended at three or four in the morning, but at seven o'clock that morning, Jilan declined the principal's offer to stay and went to Tottori Conan Airport to board a plane to Tokyo.

"How could I not be anxious after being forced to tell such a bunch of things that shattered my worldview?" Jilan sighed and chuckled softly.

After retrieving their luggage, Jilan led Fran out of the reception hall. Fran was still somewhat dazed, yawning, "So sleepy."

"Then let's go home and catch up on our sleep. It'll be fine if we sleep all day." Jilan said this with a smile, holding Fran's hand. But then he hesitated.

Where was he taking Fran? Was it to his own house or to Erina Nakiri's house?

The only clean room in his house was his own. Although there were other rooms, none of them had been tidied. If he wanted to bring Fran to his house, he would have to let Fran into his room first before he could clean the other rooms. However, his room contained many inappropriate items that had not been hidden, and letting Fran see them was definitely not a good idea.

Should I take her to Erina's house? How am I going to explain to Fran and Erina that my room isn't tidy yet, and that Fran can stay there for a few days and I'll come back to pick her up? If I use that excuse, Fran might even enthusiastically help me tidy up my room.

Otherwise, let's go to a hotel and get a room first, and pack our things while Fran sleeps.

Jilan had just made this decision when, in the next moment, someone else had already made the choice for him.

Suddenly, Fran let go of her hand and excitedly rushed towards a girl walking towards them. "Mommy!"

Jilan looked up in surprise and saw a blonde girl smiling and hugging Fran: "Long time no see, Fran."

"Erina, what are you doing here?" Jilan, somewhat surprised. He hadn't told anyone which flight he was on, so how come Erina was here on time? Did she have something urgent to attend to at the airport?

"Of course I'm here to pick you and Fran." Erina and Jilan looked at each other and smiled gently. "Fran called me. Although she didn't know where she was, she said her father was going to perform in a desert with a group of animals and invited me to come and watch."

Upon hearing this, Jilan immediately understood. "Japan only has one publicly known desert, and a festival is about to be held there, so it's easy to guess that we're in Tottori Prefecture. But how did you know we'd be on this flight?"

Erina smiled slyly, "This is the first plane to arrive in Tokyo after the performance. I just happened to guess right. Luckily you got back quickly, otherwise I would have been waiting here all day."

Jilan smiled wryly, "You really want to see Fran that much? Looks like I should take you to the show too."

"If you'd like to bring me along, that's fine, but some people might be disappointed," Erina said with a smile, gently patting Fran's back. "Of course I want to see Fran, but I think seeing you is also important."

Do you want to see me?

"No, someone wants to see you." With that, Erina turned to look at the seating area on her right.

Following Erina's gaze, Jilan, who wanted to see me, looked in that direction and saw a girl, Momo Yaoyorozu, running towards me while holding down her skirt.

Yaoyorozu ran up to them, excitedly saying, "Jilan! It's so great to see you! But..."

Yaoyorozu's gaze shifted to Erina, who was holding Jilan's nominal daughter, "Fran," and he said wistfully, "It's quite surprising that Erina and you have become lovers and even have a child."

Yaoyorozu and Erina are very close friends. After learning from Jilan that Erina is Fran's mother, she angrily confronts Erina and has a "close conversation" with her, obtaining more specific and vivid "lies" from Erina.

Erina did not tell Yaoyorozu the fact that Fran was a homunculus.

Jilan awkwardly touched her nose and asked, "By the way, Yaoyorozu, what did you want to see me about?"

Yaoyorozu withdrew his somewhat envious gaze and said seriously, "Jilan, the forest training camp has been moved up."