SWNOVELXO Chapter 73.1
Small Friends: Amigurumi
It was the apprentices in charge of cleaning the hideout who noticed it first. At the entrance to the hideout was a large shoe rack, and in the center of the rack was a display shelf. Until recently, it had been an empty space, but ever since Yuuri had been staying at the hideout, a single flower vase had been placed there. The apprentices knew that the flowers were changed every few days.
There didn’t seem to be any deep reason for it. Yuuri just said it was because “it’s a good spot for display.” Well, that’s fine. But then, in that spot where the flowers were displayed, something odd appeared. Small, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and round.
That’s fine. Yes, it’s fine. The problem is…
“…There’s more?”
Urgus muttered under his breath. There was no response, but Yakk, Camille, and Magg, who were standing nearby, silently agreed. The thing that had been sitting next to the flower vase, round and rolled up—it had definitely been just one at first. No mistake about it. And yet, somehow, now there were five of them, each a different color. How did this happen?
Yakk gave it a poke. Due to its round shape, it immediately rolled over. Picking it up and staring at it, Yakk tilted his head. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew who had put it there.
“…Yuuri, what’s this?”
“Huh? Amigurumi.”
““Amigurumi?””
Yuuri, who had come to change the flowers in the vase, responded casually when asked by Yakk. But it was a word unfamiliar to the boys. “What’s that?” muttered Camille. “Are you up to something again?” grumbled Urgus. Magg, not particularly interested, said nothing. Yakk, meanwhile, kept staring at the soft little thing in his hand—the amigurumi.
Yes, it was something Yuuri had made. Amigurumi are knitted stuffed animals made of yarn. Essentially, they’re yarn mascots. With a crochet hook and some yarn, you can make them. Advanced crafters can even combine various colors to recreate characters. Yuuri had been making animals, and now, scattered on the display shelf, were a dog, cat, rabbit, bird, and elephant.
“Cute, right?”
“…What’s the point of making them cute?”
“Huh? Don’t they make you feel relaxed when you look at them?”
““They don’t.””
“Oh… I thought they’d be relaxing. They’re so cute.”
The animals rolled around, surrounding the flower vase. Sure, maybe they were cute. But the boys weren’t particularly charmed. Even if Yuuri said they were relaxing, they didn’t feel it. In fact, they could only wonder why they were even there in the first place.
And, after all, this was a clan that trained treasure hunters. Why were these laid-back, whimsical objects sitting at the entrance of the Scarlet Lynx, a clan known by name? The boys couldn’t understand it, and they wondered if the adults had even noticed. If they had, surely one of the fathers would have ordered them removed by now.
Ignoring the boys’ confusion, Yuuri rearranged the amigurumi with a smile, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“I’ll bring a bear next time.”
““Still more?!””
“Huh? It’s almost done.”
Yuuri, looking puzzled, seemed not to feel any sense of awkwardness. The four of them couldn’t bring themselves to say anything else, especially since Yuuri, looking rather pleased, said he’d finish it after hanging the laundry. The boys watched him leave, thinking, “It’s not our fault, right?”
Sooner or later, the leader will find out and get mad, but none of them said that out loud.
And so, a few days later, after three more amigurumi had been added…
“What are you trying to pull?”
“Ahh! Ali-san, it hurts, it hurts! I give, I give, I give!”
“What’s with the weird, cutesy things on top of the shoe rack?”
“They’re amigurumi…! Ow, Ali-san, my head!”
“Do you think this is a joke?! You need to feel the pain for this to be a proper scolding, idiot!”
Yuuri, caught in an iron claw, kept crying out in pain, but there was no sign of mercy. The apprentices, having accepted the situation, watched the scene with calm expressions. Their gaze shifted to the circle of amigurumi gathered around the vase. Besides the bear, a differently-designed bird and a tiger had also been added. All of them were in a simplified style, but their quality was so high that it was obvious what they represented.
Yes, the craftsmanship was impressive, but, again, this was an adventurers’ clan. A treasure hunter training clan, to be precise, and everyone here, whether an adventurer or apprentice, held a guild card. This was a place where they honed their skills. Yet, despite that, there was still this gentle, fluffy aura, completely out of place, much like the person who made them.
“Look, I don’t care if you make things as a hobby, but don’t put weird stuff in the entrance.”
“They’re not weird. They’re amigurumi.”
“I’m telling you! These unnecessarily fancy yarn mascots don’t belong here!”
“I thought everyone would feel relaxed when they saw something cute at the entrance.”
“They won’t!”
Father was furious. Of course, he was. After all, they were adventurers, a rough-and-tumble profession, and yet these soft, fluffy mascots had somehow taken up residence in the clan’s entrance. No other clan hideout had anything like this. Sure, some might display flowers or paintings to look nice, but why amigurumi? It didn’t make sense.
However, Yuuri seemed to have his own reasoning. After being released from Ali’s iron claw, he pouted a little and said, “Well…” In his hand was a new amigurumi, a lion, that he had planned to add to the collection. It was cute—too cute. Not fierce at all. Despite being a lion, it had been softened to the point of being completely non-threatening.
“I thought that when everyone comes back and sees something cute, they’d feel relaxed.”
“We don’t need to relax—”
“But this is everyone’s home, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“This is the home where everyone from the clan comes back to, right?”