With the low mechanical yet familiar sound, the children drifted in and out of consciousness as the turbulent road lulled them to a deep slumber.

After what seemed to last forever the mechanical lullaby finally stopped in its tracks as the children were then carried one by one to a single destination.

They were sure of the fact that they would again have to wake up to that same routine and soon once again power up the mysterious artifact.

Wary of the unknown and yet the feeling of each other’s warmth prompted the children to soon open their eyes.

What greeted them however was not the loud howler of the brutes, nor the musty underground smell of the lowest floor in the labyrinth or even the overbearing pressure it exudes.

But rather, they had awoken to the dance of flickering embers burning brightly and warmly.

“Oh look guide, the runts are awake. Did you all have a pleasant time dreaming about playing house or something?”

“Enough.”

“Ack! You didn’t have to chop my head like that our dear guide!”

“Go back and set the barrier already.”

“Yes yes~ on it”

Contrary to what they had initially expected, what assaulted their view in turn were the faces of two strangers.

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To ease up the atmosphere the Guide made pudding, an idea that he had kept to the back of his mind ever since seeing the Hero’s hair color.

“What… is this? It’s so sweet and refreshing…”

“Its crème isn’t it?? Or is it cake???”

“It melts in one bite…”

““Its...Delicious!””

“Glad that you all like it.” Replying to the delighted children, the Guide couldn’t help but smile.

But then, a looming shadow came from behind.

“Dear guide, it seems that you have forgotten about me ME! Where is my shareeee??? guideee~ helloo~~”

It was apparently none other than the childish Hero that just got back from setting up the barrier using the tools that the Guide had provided him.

“….How shameless….Please do the world a favor and act your age….”

“I want some! NOO this is too much! The Honig that we painstakingly gathered are getting devoured right before my very eyes!”

“Stop being dramatic already! The children are looking at you as if you’re some kind of unidentified specie…”

“What? I can’t help it ok? I mean we are stuck down here too and have a limited food supply yet we have to-“

Without giving the Hero a chance to speak a word further, the Guide scooped a spoonful of pudding and shoved it into the former’s mouth.

“There. Happy now?”

After that motion, the childish frown on the Hero’s face was instantly replaced with pure bliss as he savored that single bite.

‘A pudding eating a pudding…’ The Guide couldn’t help but inwardly muse at such a sight.

“Pwah-! This is soo good! But what about your share our benevolent dear guide?”

“I don’t need to eat much.”

Hearing that, the children all paused and looked towards the Guide.

They soon looked towards what was left of their own pudding and with hesitant voices all of them were ready to offer the pudding they had left to the Guide.

But before any of them could speak a word, a single yet resonating voice spoke ahead of them.

“… You know what, I still have to collect those sleeping essences since our dear guide can’t seem to handle ants. Bye-bye~ and you brats! Don’t run off somewhere!”

Giving the barely eaten pudding back to the Guide’s hand, the Hero suddenly stood up and went on his way.

And of course, he did so without failing to give the stink eye to the children.

How very childish indeed.

“You don’t have to do that right now-“ As the Guide was about to go after the Hero, the latter quickly returned and placed both hands onto the Former’s shoulder thus making him reluctantly sit back down.

“I said its fine, so its fine.”

“Bu-“ Preparing to say a counter argument to the Hero’s impulsiveness, the Guide was forcefully shut down by a spoonful of pudding being shoved into his mouth.

“Shh! No buts, you know that I rarely get motivated to do something of my own volition right? So sit tight and let me gather those precious materials you always obsess over.”

“…You didn’t have to shove the spoon in my mouth…”

“What can I say my dear guide? I love paybacks~” Finally making his way down the winded path, for real this time, the Hero waved goodbye without bothering to look back.

“How childish.” The Guide could only grumble his complaints about his childish companion.

“Hey I heard that!” Soon the echoing voice of the Hero resounded in the fair distance in an attempt to refute the Guide’s comments.

“…And yet, despite throwing a tantrum over it so much to the point of getting us caught up in this very mess. You didn’t even take as much as more than a single bite.”

With a tone as audible as a whisper, the Guide started to mumble underneath his breath without even taking his eyes off of the distancing Hero.