Chapter Seventy: Ahara's Aunt

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  Miss Ayame took us kids to the kind old lady's house who wanted to treat the new genin of Konoha to a meal.

  We quietly followed Ms. Irises.

  The journey is not long, just from one end of the street to the other.

  "Hey kids, this is Ah-ji's house. She lives alone and her family left her many years ago, so don't ask about her family, okay? It'll make her very sad. Don't worry, she's very skilled and even the tea and snacks are delicious. I'm going to go help my dad with some stuff, bye!"

  Miss Ayame said all this without getting any response, still speaking cheerfully before leaving abruptly. This reminds me of someone else who is like that, and it's the type of person I have the hardest time dealing with.

  Rarely see Miss Irises' acting part, didn't expect her personality to be like this, associating with the boss's behavior just now, truly a father-daughter duo!

  But she just left us four kids at someone else's doorstep and took off...

  At least press the doorbell for us and introduce yourself before leaving! Honestly.

  I stopped Kimura from directly knocking on someone else's door and said, "Wait."

  The scenery around here, I have seen it before.

  The scenery on this side seems a bit familiar! Have you been here before? Jiu Ye blurted out at the same time.

  I took a glance around and said calmly, "Let me take a look."

  I went around to the back of the Araki family's main house and saw a square area that seemed to have been burned by fire, with several charred and broken wooden boards.

  "It was burned extremely thoroughly, not a single trace was left behind. Except for the fact that the grass didn't grow back after being scorched by the fire, there's no way to tell that there used to be a small warehouse here, right?" I looked at the three people who were following me and surrounding me.

  "What's wrong here?" asked Rokuya, this was the first time Rokuya saw such an expression that could be called fragile on my face.

  I shook my head and said, "Let's go eat! I just wanted to take one last look... forget it." As soon as I finished speaking, I turned around and walked back.

  "Again?" said Juroku-ya in puzzlement. Of the three of them, Juroku-ya was the one who had spent the least amount of time with me, and there were many things she still didn't know.

  "Let's go!" Kimura dragged Akane away from the broken wooden boards she seemed to want to continue examining.

  "Kunagare, let me go! Don't drag me, I can walk by myself." The sixteenth night struggled with all her might.

  "Shh, don't make so much noise, you'll wake up the grown-ups!" Bai whispered.

  Then, the three of them also followed me to the door immediately, and at this time, they found that in just a short while, my hair had turned black.

  "What's with your hair?" asked Ichiya in surprise.

  "It's just a tiny application of transformation magic, everyone is here, let's go in! I think the owner of this house should have been waiting for us for a long time." I don't want to answer that question.

  "I'm asking you why you changed your hair color again................" Juroku-ya still wanted to ask for clarification.

  "Adults don't want to answer that question, so stop asking, Tengoku." Shiro stopped Juroku's attempt to continue.

  At that moment, the sixteenth night saw me gazing at her lightly, and immediately afterwards, the sixteenth night calmed down. She felt a strange sense of oppression from my eyes.

  At this time, the door opened and a middle-aged European woman in her fifties appeared at the entrance.

  "Hey kids! I thought you guys were lost and was just about to go ask the iris what's going on! Come on in!"

  Obasan, that is, Ahara's aunt, smiled and invited us into the house. I inconspicuously moved from the front to the back of the original position.

  "Auntie, I usually eat alone, but just now I heard that the iris said that Muye brought a few new little guests. It's just right that Auntie cooked more today, so let the iris girl bring you over for a meal."

  "Thank you for your kind intentions, Auntie." This is the most polite way to decline.

  The corridor from the entrance to the dining room is not long, but it's decorated warmly and has a homey feel. I can tell that Bai, Junmaru, and Izayoi all quite like this atmosphere.

  And you? Do you like this atmosphere? Jiu Ye suddenly popped out with another sentence.

  What's with the atmosphere? I think that in this world, there probably isn't a feeling more unfamiliar to me than "warmth". I honestly replied to Jiu Ye, but apparently he was very dissatisfied with my answer, and let out a "humph" before going to sleep.

  What's wrong with Jiǔ Yuè lately? I really don't understand, he has a tendency to evolve into an "old mother" and always leaves me with just one nasal sound.

  Has he reached his prime? I sat in the corner, lost in thought, listening to Juroku-ya and Ahara-san's cheerful conversation, with Shirabe occasionally interjecting a few words to fill in the gaps in Juroku-ya's speech, while Kimamare sat down beside me and closed his eyes.

  Arai Obasan quickly arranged many dishes and rice on the large square table where we sat, of course Haku and Izayoi also helped.

  Throughout the meal, I also noticed that Ahara-san was particularly nice to Shirabe and Izayoi, and seemed to have a good impression of Kimamoru too. It's probably just a matter of appearance. As for me, when she tried to chat with me a few times, I responded indifferently, so she didn't pay much attention to me after that.

  It's okay like this... I really don't know what attitude to use towards her!

  Suddenly I was shaken by someone, I came back to my senses and asked the sixteen nights with a hand still on my shoulder, "What's wrong?" Weren't they chatting happily? What do they want from me?

  "What do you think?" asked Juroku-ya.

  "......Can you let me get a clear understanding of the current situation first? Rokuya." I was really perplexed.

  "If we stay, Ah-rong's aunt said that the four of us might as well live with her. This house is quite big and she's lonely living alone, so she wants us to live with her. Anyway, we're not planning to settle in Muye, it's better to have an adult around."

  "Is that so? I have a question to ask...... Araki...... aunt." It's not really a question, more like...... confirmation!"

  "What's wrong? Little friend." Ahara Obasan's attitude remained kind as ever.

  "We just passed by... Araki... aunt's house, and it seems like there is an abandoned small wooden hut behind it, which appears to have been burned down. What was that hut used for?"

  "Ah, that guy!" Aoi's face showed a clear expression of distaste, as if she didn't want to say it, or rather, felt that saying it out loud would make her feel dirty too. It was the same kind of expression some people have when they don't even want to mention cockroaches or the names of criminals, just like how I feel about those two tribes.

  It seems that they noticed how much I cared about this matter, and both Haku and Izayoi also joined in to persuade her, and finally, Arashiyama-san was convinced.