Playing shogi is actually something that consumes a lot of mental energy and time.
Although time seems to slow down when a person is deep in thought, constantly calculating the various possible moves on the board adds up little by little. If you ignore the passage of time, it can slip away very quickly without you noticing.
The shogi battle between the old uncle and little Ayaka could be said to have gone back and forth to some extent.
The win-loss ratio was roughly nine-to-one.
Little Ayaka nine, the old uncle one.
In the end, after losing too many times, the old uncle became completely numb and just collapsed onto the floor.
"No more, no more... I'm exhausted, I'm done..."
Little Ayaka looked at the old uncle with eyes full of unfulfilled desire.
She had just started having fun—how could he give up already?
But since the old uncle said he was tired, she obviously couldn't force him.
Little Ayaka could only sadly put away the chessboard.
"Thank you for the guidance."
Then the old uncle rolled over onto his side, looking toward little Ayaka and her mother with a somewhat unrestrained and carefree attitude.
It had to be said that talking with those two foxes from the Kamisato Clan was truly exhausting, while playing with the mother and daughter pair was also genuinely tiring in its own way.
Although he didn't know why the Kamisato family was trying so hard to curry favor with him to such an exaggerated degree...
For now... he was still quite happy.
"Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou, would you like to stay for a meal?"
Kamisato Ayaka's mother said this.
"No, no~ Next time, next time. Eating at your house on the very first visit would still make me feel too embarrassed."
After that, Ayaka's mother invited him to stay for dinner three more times, and Cid refused three more times before finally patting little Ayaka on the head and leaving the room.
Oh, little Ayaka's head felt warm and cozy to the touch, and her hair was very soft and smooth—stroking it was incredibly comfortable.
The old uncle watched as little Ayaka immediately started fixing her hair the moment he finished patting her head, smoothing out the mess he had caused, and he secretly chuckled to himself.
"Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou, won't you stay for a meal before you go?"
"No, no~ Next time, definitely next time."
"Very well then. If Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou plans to visit again in the future, the Kamisato Clan will always have a dedicated person arranged through the Adventurers' Guild to escort you."
The old uncle looked at little fox Ayato. At this moment, little Ayato seemed a bit restrained.
He had just patted little Ayaka on the head—naturally, he couldn't leave her big brother out, right?
So the old uncle reached out directly, patted little Ayato on the head, and at the same time leaned close to his ear to whisper.
"Kids should act like kids. Although I don't know what weird things you were imagining earlier, this time I'll forgive you on account of you being a child~"
After saying that, the old uncle gave little Ayato a friendly smile, then roughly tousled his hair even more.
"Bye-bye~"
Kirara the cat washed her paws in the Kamisato family's pond, then had little Eula dry them off before jumping straight back onto the old uncle's shoulder.
Oh wow, Kirara, have you gained weight?
The old uncle felt that his little cat had recently put on quite a bit thanks to all the good food.
After that, the old uncle took little Eula and boarded the carriage back.
At the same time, he stuck his head out of the carriage window to watch little Ayato's actions.
It had to be said that little Ayato and little Ayaka truly were siblings—even the way they fixed their hair was the same: left side first, then right.
So cute~
"Old uncle... the Kamisato Clan seems way too enthusiastic."
As soon as they were inside the carriage, little Eula began asking for the old uncle's opinion.
"Yeah, I think so too."
The old uncle lazily leaned back against the carriage seat.
He couldn't help but sigh in admiration at the quality of the Kamisato family's carriage.
It was so soft and plush; lying on it made you sink right in, making you feel like you could just fall asleep.
"So what should we do next? The Kamisato Clan definitely has some ulterior motive toward us."