"That Mrs. Yamada really is a legend…"
The Shura Anyakonsen-shou had now gained a deep appreciation for the fact that true masters could be found among the common folk.
But if everyone was able to start their own businesses, it meant that everyone's hard work hadn't gone to waste.
Thinking about this, the old man felt a sense of relief wash over him. He leaned backward, letting his body relax against the tree.
Unfortunately, the old man had clearly overestimated the tree's ability to bear weight—and underestimated the weight of the Shura Anyakonsen-shou armor he was wearing.
In merely an instant, the tree gave way under the old man's heavy burden and snapped.
Bang!
It was a muffled thud.
"Eh!? Old man, are you okay!?"
Little Yoimiya looked down at the old man sprawled on the ground, extremely worried.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I subconsciously cushioned myself with wind elemental energy just now."
Sometimes the old man couldn't help but marvel at how quick his instinctive reactions were.
Speaking of which, there was one thing from before he transmigrated that he could still brag about endlessly.
Back in school during a casual jog, he had zoned out while running. One leg stepped too late, and his whole body started falling forward.
But purely out of instinct, his body curled into a ball, rolled with the momentum in a full circle, and somehow ended up back in a normal running posture.
Seriously—he still couldn't believe that he had managed to roll once while falling and recover straight back into running form.
At the time, it had utterly stunned the classmates around him.
It was exactly the same kind of instinctive reaction as when he subconsciously used wind elemental energy to cushion his fall just now—something he wouldn't have thought he was capable of.
Not much else to say, but the way he perfectly salvaged an accident after it happened was just incredibly cool.
Don't ask where the accident came from—just know that he heroically saved the day from disaster and looked badass doing it.
The old man stood up and used wind elemental energy to brush the dust off his Shura armor.
By the time little Yoimiya anxiously climbed down from the tree, the Shura Anyakonsen-shou had already regained his full dignified and imposing demeanor.
"See? I'm perfectly fine, right?"
The old man looked a little proud of himself.
"Mm-hmm! Old man, you're so amazing~"
Little Yoimiya's words couldn't exactly be called "big-sister-like"—in this conversation, it was hard to tell who was actually the adult.
But the old man didn't care about that. Despite having already wiped his hands clean with wind elemental energy (he had a slight germophobia), he still couldn't resist the urge to wash them properly.
He summoned a bucket of water from his Vision, washed his hands, dried them with a gust of wind, and only then reached out to pat little Yoimiya on the head.
Little Yoimiya didn't mind at all. She simply turned toward the old man and gave him a bright, radiant, sunny smile—like a little sun.
She even reached up with both hands to hold his hand in place so it wouldn't leave, then rubbed her cheek against his palm.
Truly worthy of being little Yoimiya's big-sister figure…
The old man, once again healed by the child's presence, found himself at a loss for words.
This life was worth it.
"Speaking of which, that little gift I gave your dad Ryuunosuke last time—he's still wearing it, right?"
"Mm! Dad really likes that gift. He hasn't taken it off even once, day or night."
As she spoke, little Yoimiya reached into her small pocket and pulled out the old man's ear protection headphones.
"But for me, I only wear them when I'm making fireworks. Normally I don't put them on much—sometimes I just want to hear all the original sounds around me."
"That makes sense too. That's nice."
The old man nodded, and the two of them started chatting casually about everyday things.
"By the way, if you ever have some free time, you should consider going to check out the Narukami Shrine's forest area. I heard the little wooden cabin I used over there has been turned into a small shrine now. Not much else to say about it,
but the little foxes there—I've basically petted every single one. If you bring some good food, they should all be super friendly and affectionate toward you."