I contacted Village One, Village Two, and Village Three to confirm their safety.

It seems like their buildings are okay.

I left my snow removal work to someone else and went to Alfred’s room to apologize.

「I’m sorry about earlier.」

To be honest, I don’t think there’s a problem with how Alfred handled the incident in Village Five.

Perhaps society would have defended him too.

In fact, as village chief, there’s not even a single reason for me to scold Alfred.

However, I think it would be bad for him to depend on the protection of society on whatever he does.

Therefore, I scolded him as a parent.

His brothers, Ririus, Riguru, and Ratte, have done something dangerous because of him.

He should reflect as the elder brother.

What I’m apologizing for is because I did not explain it to him.

I will thoroughly chew it in my explanation.

Ah, you don’t have to be so depressed.

You now know why I scolded you. Make best use of it next time.

I also think you being grounded is a little too much but it’s dangerous for children to wander around during snow removal work.

Look around.

So much snow.

There is still snow on buildings and trees.

It is dangerous if it falls.

I said you are to be grounded for three days but I’ll let you go out once the snow removal is over.

Stay still in your room for now.

Hnn?

Ah, I’ll visit your siblings next door one by one.

Of course, I’ll go to Ursa and Nutt too.

Don’t worry.

Alfred will be nine years old next year.

It has been nine years since I’ve become a father.

I’m still a newbie.

It’s hard to raise a child.

After going around the children’s rooms, I took a break.

I’m tired.

Other than Alfred, everyone’s dissatisfied with Alfred being grounded.

「As the eldest brother, he shouldn’t have left his younger siblings do something dangerous.」

Even so, they were not convinced.

When I was troubled on how to convince them, Ann came and rephrased what I’m trying to say.

「As the eldest brother, Alfred-sama took the responsibility for the blunder of his little brothers.」

That’s not what I want to say but they are already convinced so I can’t correct it.

I heard that it is not good for children if adults flip their words over and over.

Also, don’t take the word “blunder” seriously.

Take it easy, take it easy.

Hahaha.

The most difficult opponent was Ursa.

Because Hakuren’s not here.

If she’s here, I would have left Ursa to her but she’s not so it can’t be helped.

I’ll do it as a father.

「I know you’re thinking about Big Tree Village but you don’t have to deal with it yourself. Talk to an adult nearby. Why couldn’t you do it?」

「….sorry.」

It took an hour for me to hear Ursa’s apology.

「Since Gol, Sil, and Bron are gone, you suddenly became the eldest sister. You did your best. Well done. But from now on, try to rely on adults more.」

I hugged Ursa tightly.

….that was really hard.

I didn’t mean to leave it to them but I’m thankful for their mothers.

「Village chief, the first stage of snow removal has been completed.」

One of the high elves came to report.

I only intended to leave for a while, my apologies for taking a long time.

The first stage of snow removal is removing snow to the point that it is possible to move around the residential area.

「Thank you for your hard work. That’s it for today. Let’s continue tomorrow.」

The sun is about to set.

「Got it. I’ll inform those who are going to the ranch area and fruit area.」

「Please. And don’t slip.」

Night.

I’ve gathered the mothers who evacuated to Village Five.

In that incident, they are completely unsupervised by the mothers.

That’s especially true for Loo, who’s supposed to be the overseer.

That’s the reason why I sentenced Loo with no research for 10 days.

Loo may have trusted Alfred too much but they are in an unfamiliar territory.

Someone should have kept an eye on them or at least let them be in a place where they could see them.

This might sound bad but you can trust Alfred but don’t trust them too much.

They are still children.

What I just said can’t be said in the presence of children.

This time, everyone should take responsibility.

However, the pregnant Gran Maria, Ann who was taking care of Gran Maria, and Hakuren who left to help Doraim are not included.

Hakuren still hasn’t come back yet.

I’ll punish the rest.

「One month, no snusnu.」

The place was covered with screams.

Yeah yeah, I know it’s a cruel punishment.

「Don’t worry, I’ll join you with your punishment.」

It is not only the mothers who are at fault.

Even if it is for the village, I’m also at fault since I did not evacuate with them.

Because of that, I’ll receive punishment too.

I also won’t have snusnu for a month.

When I told them that, I was surrounded by the mothers and was told to sit in seiza.

「We understand that both us, the mothers, and you, the father, have faults. However, we are not convinced with the punishment. Let’s talk.」

Areh?

Did you practice those lines?

It’s strange that they are all saying the same thing at once.

Eh, y-you’re deceiving….

We talked.

The mother’s punishment: 10 days no snusnu, and 30 days no flirting.

Father’s punishment, three days in Village Five.

I heard that I’m not that recognized in Village Five.

I’ll work hard.