落とし穴番外：孤島の屋敷 (Part1)
**Pitfall Side Story: The Mansion on the Isolated Island**
**Side: Stasia**
As expected of my husband, Yuki-sama.
He operated this high-performance cruiser with ease, bringing us smoothly to this island.
This maritime exercise, dubbed "Summer Vacation," might look like mere play at a glance. No, I suppose it does have the meaning of play. However, it is truly a training exercise.
I experienced beach volleyball, a form of physical conditioning on the sand, for the first time.
I realized through personal experience that one’s feet get caught in the sand, making it impossible to move as one wishes.
In the ocean, if a wave hits, you lose your balance.
I also learned that in such an environment, light clothing makes it easier to move.
Furthermore, the next phase was the march to the isolated island.
"This is truly a great experience."
"……Sister."
As I was deeply convinced of the brilliance of this series of training exercises devised by Yuki-sama, I heard a soft voice from behind. I turned around to find Arge staring at me with half-lidded eyes for some reason.
"Is something the matter?"
"Don't 'is something the matter' me! This is a precious chance to get all lovey-dovey with Brother, so why are you making a face like you're in the middle of military training?"
"Oh my, I am already very affectionate with Yuki-sama. He understands my feelings well, even with this expression of mine, and has even told me that it suits me. And I, too, respect and love Yuki-sama. This is what you would call being lovey-dovey at all times. If I am wearing a face of military training, it is because this 'Summer Vacation' has so much for me to gain. When I first heard of it, I avoided it thinking it was just play, but experiencing it, it is completely different. I now understand why Seraria-sama and everyone else are participating so actively. Learning while playing. I think it is a wonderful thing."
Yes, indeed, learning with dedication is very important.
But, there is also this method of learning while enjoying oneself.
No, looking back, I was the same in the past. My master told me I had a talent for the sword, and I devoted myself wholeheartedly to sword practice.
That was certainly discipline, but at the same time, I was enjoying it.
This summer vacation reminded me of that.
That nostalgic feeling.
And I have also come to understand what my hesitation toward "play" was all about.
"Muu... Sister has such a good look on her face. You really seem to be enjoying yourself."
"Yes. It is truly fun. And, perhaps the reason I hesitated toward the concept of play was that, in truth, I have no memories of playing until now."
"Eh, you've never played?"
"What do you mean?"
"It is a simple story. I had no 'playmates.' That is why training, such as with the sword, became the same thing as play for me."
"“Ah...”"
Both of them showed understanding of my clumsy explanation.
"Until George was born, I was the First Princess and the successor to the throne. I was raised strictly, you see."
"Mu-mu-mu. That makes it sound like I was spoiled."
"Was that not a fact? You often snuck out of the Imperial Castle with Princess Carrie to play, and you would swing your swords, too. With me as your supervisor."
"Ugh."
"Ah, I heard stories like that from Princess Carrie, too. Well, that’s exactly why Princess Carrie had decent sword skills."
"That was truly a blessing in disguise. I never imagined Carrie would launch an assault herself. And that she managed to survive safely. Well, if Yuki-sama had been with her, her sword skills would not have mattered at all."
Yes, as long as Yuki-sama is here, we can never be harmed.
My husband does not even allow his allies to be wounded.
Especially if they are women.
"Well, I think she managed to get that far precisely because she had the foundation of sword skills from that time. Originally, I had planned to leave her behind on the pretext that she couldn't keep up with the training."
"Ah, I heard that from Carrie. Apparently, she did special forces training together with General Steve."
"What did you say! Carrie received training directly from General Steve?"
"Hey, hey, is that what you're latching onto? Well, if she hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been able to take her along."
Indeed, if she could not handle that level of training, one could not take her to where the people of Aquenoki are.
However, it means Carrie had the strength to see it through.
She herself called it rage and hatred, but that, too, is a splendid driving force.
Next time we meet, I shall praise her for her training.
As I was thinking about that, Arge gave me that look again...
"More importantly, Sister. We are here to play, so let's stop talking about such things."
"You are right. My apologies. We are here to play, after all. However, where are Aslin and the others?"
We have been walking for quite some time since entering the island, but we have yet to see Aslin and the others.
"Come to think of it, Brother said he hid a treasure. How are we supposed to find it?"
"Ah, come to think of it, I hadn't shown you."
In response to Arge's question, Yuki-sama took out a mysterious piece of paper to show us.
It was not something clean like what they use for strategy meetings, but rather something terribly tattered and completely sun-bleached.
Peering at the paper, I didn't see clean text typed on a computer, but rather scribbled characters and a drawing that looked like a map—or perhaps not even a map—showing a location I had become familiar with since long ago.
"Well, it looks the part, doesn't it?"
"Did you go out of your way to make this?"
"Yeah. Treasure hunting has to be fun. If I just gave you a blank piece of paper or a clean map saying 'the treasure is here,' it would feel too much like it was prepared on the spot, wouldn't it?"
"I see... Indeed, in this state, it feels like a treasure hidden long ago."
"That's right. Let's see... according to this map, is there a building somewhere on this isolated island?"
As Arge said, the map was shaped roughly like this island, and a drawing of what looked like a building was depicted near the center.
By the way, I knew this map was of this island because the place where we landed was marked on it.
"That's right. Just a little further... oh, look, there it is."
In the direction Yuki-sama pointed, an old, weathered mansion stood.
"My, you are very enthusiastic. You went this far?"
"Well, it’s a place for a test of courage, and also a base for playing on this island. So I prepared something appropriate. Well, the effort was just using DP. That is a privilege of being a Dungeon Master."
"Haah, being a Dungeon Master is truly convenient."
As we talked and approached the mansion, the doors creaked open—*gigi-gigi-gii*—and peeking out from within was...
"Ah, found Brother! And Stasia-onee and Arge-onee too!"