“Let’s play hide and seek!”

With their stomachs filled with bread, cookies, and cake, the little ones were excited. Having enjoyed some sweets, feeling the cool breeze, and surrounded by the refreshing fragrance of the forest transitioning into autumn, it was enough to thrill the kids who were merely eight years old.

For those children who usually didn’t have the opportunity to play and frolic in the forest, it was even more…

Crony, who usually didn’t say much, suddenly stood up and shouted to play hide and seek. Ariante, energetically flipping her dress, joined him.

“Great! Let’s play hide and seek!”

Then, Silas spoke.

“Ariante, isn’t playing hide and seek in the forest a bit dangerous? Hide and seek used to be played… let’s do it in the garden.”

Unexpectedly, Ariante hesitated momentarily upon hearing his words. If it were any other time, she would have stubbornly said ‘no’ right away, but…

“W-Well, playing hide and seek in the forest wouldn’t be too dangerous. What’s the big deal? Whether it’s in the garden or the forest, it won’t make much of a difference. Right, Umbróz?”

It was Lucian. Umbróz, surprised by Lucian’s words, still nodded with a cookie in his mouth.

“There aren’t any dangerous animals in the forest. Right, Ariante?”

“Exactly! Since this forest is far from the hunting grounds, there aren’t any dangerous animals. There are rabbits and squirrels, though…”

As Crony, Ariante, Umbróz, and unexpectedly even Lucian took sides and stood up, Silas found himself in a dilemma. Despite being a bit older than the other children, Silas was still just a ten-year-old boy, so he naturally didn’t want to miss the opportunity to play freely in a new place.

Lost in serious contemplation, Silas spoke.

“Fine, but let’s not go too far, everyone. Okay? If the seeker can’t find you, come back here. Let’s leave the basket here, so it can be seen from afar.”

Everyone, except for the still reluctant Cici, agreed. Although Cici had an expression that showed she didn’t want to comply, she stayed close to Silas when they decided who would be the seeker.

“I’ll be the first seeker!”

Ariante raised her hand energetically. Then Cici briskly said,

“Then count to thirty. You have to count properly. Can you count in order?”

“I can. Can you hide well? I’m going to hide with Silas.”

Ariante’s lips moved mischievously. Silas, looking somewhat uncomfortable with Cici clinging to his arm, followed Ariante as she turned her head away and started counting.

While covering her eyes and counting, Ariante giggled. It was because she heard rustling sounds not far away. Simultaneously, there was a very careful sound of crispy breaking. It was the sound of a cookie breaking.

“Twenty-nine… thirty!”

Ariante turned around suddenly, her mischievous smile widening. At the same time, through the bushes where the sounds had come from…

“Eek!”

“Ugh!”

Umbróz, who was covering his mouth while enjoying a cookie, choked, pounding on his chest. Ariante’s loud laughter echoed through the forest.

“I found you, Umbróz!”

“How did you find me so quickly? I thought I hid well…”

Umbróz, pouting and tapping his chest, Ariante said,

“Yeah, you hid well. But while playing hide and seek, you got caught eating a cookie! Did you think I found you because I heard the sound of you eating a cookie?”

“Are you saying I found you because I heard the sound of you eating a cookie?”

“That’s right! Now, quickly go and sit next to the basket.”

Ariante, hands on her hips, pointed to the basket. Umbróz, still mumbling, went to sit in the middle of the open space, away from the remaining cookies.

Ariante was able to find Crony easily as well. He was crouching behind a tree, but when he saw a small ant crawling on the ground, he was surprised and screamed.
“Ariante! Ariante, there’s a bug! What should we do? What if it comes into the dress?”

“It’s okay! Ants won’t come into the dress. Don’t worry. And ants don’t have poison! They won’t bite!”

At that moment, a voice they hadn’t expected came from behind a round rock.

“Are you stupid? There are ants with poison! They can bite!”

Crony screamed with a trembling voice. Ariante, who was holding little Crony tightly, stuck out her tongue and said,

“Luzian, who pretends to be smart, you’ve been caught! Come out quickly!”

After a moment of silence, Luzian’s voice was heard again.

“You don’t know where I am! You won’t find me until you do!”

Luzian, who was hiding behind the rock, had one hair sticking out beside his face.

“Ahh!”

“Found you?”

It was Ariante. Luzian, who had been staring blankly at the blonde hair flowing down like a waterfall due to Ariante tilting her head, blushed red.

“Oh, come on! It’s all because of Crony!”

“Why is it because of me? Luzian oppa was pretending to be cool, so…”

Crony, frowning and glaring, sat next to Umbróz. Luzian, glancing at Ariante and sitting next to the basket, now left only two people.

“We just need to find Silas and Cici!”

Umbróz said,