I woke up warm.
That by itself was not unusual. The room was comfortable, the curtains were closed, and the morning sunlight had only just begun filtering through the narrow gaps near the window. What was unusual was the fact that I could not move my left arm properly, something soft was pressed against my shoulder, and a suspicious amount of silver-white hair had somehow migrated onto my side of the pillow.
For several seconds, I remained completely still and stared at the ceiling while my brain attempted to determine whether this was a threat, a dream, or another unfortunate consequence of agreeing to share a bedroom with a former Demon Queen.
Slowly, carefully, I turned my head.
Ria was asleep against me.
Not near me. Not accidentally brushing shoulders. Not occupying the opposite half of the mattress like the dignified sovereign she had claimed she would be the night before.
Against me.
One arm was wrapped across my chest, her forehead rested near my shoulder, and one of her legs had crossed what used to be the space separating our sides of the bed. The imaginary border from the previous night was gone, Hikari having confiscated the blanket because it was apparently "separating Mama and Papa," and Ria had responded to the absence of international boundaries by apparently annexing most of the mattress in her sleep.
I looked down at her.
Then back at the ceiling.
This was exactly what I had been worried about.
Not the sealed dungeon pulsing with increasingly unstable mana. Not ancient demonic scripture hidden around Chiba. Not Hikari dreaming about monsters, cracked skies, and something apparently being "accepted." Those were all serious problems, yes, but serious problems at least had rules. They had causes. They had patterns. Sometimes they even had weak points.
This woman had none while unconscious.
Apparently, fifteen percent of the Demon Queen was still enough to defeat one injured archmage without waking up.
I attempted to move my shoulder by less than an inch.
Ria's arm tightened around me immediately.
I stopped.
My expression flattened.
Of course.
I tried a second time, this time moving only my wrist. Her brow furrowed faintly, and before I could decide whether that meant she was waking up, she murmured something against my shoulder.
"Stop moving, Mage..."
I stared down at her.
"You're awake?"
No response.
Her breathing remained slow and even.
I waited another few seconds.
Still nothing.
Apparently, she was conscious enough to complain but not conscious enough to release me.
Convenient.
Very convenient.
I considered waking her properly, but that introduced too many possible outcomes. If I startled her, I could get hit. If I tried physically separating myself, she might tighten her grip again. If Ruruka happened to open the door before I escaped, there would probably be another photograph, and I was already one family album away from permanently losing control over my own reputation.
So I did the only reasonable thing available.
I stayed still.
There were worse ways to start a morning.
Not many, admittedly, but probably some.
Eventually, Ria shifted on her own. Her breathing changed first, then her fingers loosened slightly against my shirt. A few seconds later, her eyes opened slowly.
For half a heartbeat, she looked completely unguarded.
Sleepy.
Confused.
Almost peaceful.
Then her awareness returned.
Her gaze moved from my face to her arm, then to her leg, then back to me.
Silence.
I kept my expression neutral.
"Morning."
Ria moved away so quickly that the mattress dipped beneath her. She sat upright, silver-white hair falling messily over one shoulder, and stared at me as though I had somehow engineered the entire situation through forbidden magic.
"You moved."
I blinked.
"There is a wall behind me."
"That proves nothing."
"It proves I didn't migrate."
Ria lifted her chin, gathering dignity at terrifying speed. "Then the mattress shifted."
I stared at her.
"The mattress."
"Yes."
"The mattress shifted enough for you to cross most of the bed."
"Your measurements are unreliable."
"I woke up in the middle."
"That is not my concern."
"You were holding me."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You are injured. Perhaps I unconsciously prevented you from falling."
I looked at the edge of the bed.
Then at where I had been lying.
Then back at her.
"I was farther from the edge after you dragged me inward."
Ria's expression did not change.
"Then clearly I succeeded."
I stared at her for several seconds.
Then nodded.
"Of course."
Her eyes narrowed immediately.
"Do not say it like that."
"Like what?"
"As though you do not believe me."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face did."
"I have a tired face."
"You have an insolent face."
"That too."
Ria got out of bed and began fixing her hair with far more force than necessary. She moved with the stiff dignity of a queen recovering from a diplomatic scandal, refusing to look directly at me while smoothing her clothes and adjusting the collar of her sleepwear.
"This changes nothing," she said.
I sat up slowly and rubbed my shoulder. "Never said it did."
"Good."
"Although—"
Ria turned her head.
"Mage."
I stopped immediately.
"Nothing."
She gave me one last warning look and walked toward the door.
I watched her leave, then looked down at the large empty portion of the bed she had originally claimed.
The blanket border had not failed.
It had simply accepted defeat before I did.
By the time I entered the dining area, Ria had restored herself completely.
Hair neat. Expression composed. Posture elegant. Not a single visible trace remained of the woman who had been wrapped around me like a highly judgmental koala less than fifteen minutes earlier.
Ruruka sat at the dining table with tea, one hand resting near her ribs as she read something on her phone. Hikari was beside her in pajamas, still wrapped in a light blanket while slowly eating toast. Ruri and Karin were already dressed for school, and the smell of eggs and warm bread filled the room.
Ruruka looked at me.
Then at Ria.
Then back at me.
I stopped halfway toward the coffee.
"Don't."
My sister blinked innocently. "I haven't said anything."
"Your face did."
Ria sat down and reached for her tea. "Whatever conclusion you have reached, swordswoman, discard it."
Ruruka nodded solemnly. "Of course, Ria."
The tone was the problem.
The words themselves were harmless.
The tone could have started a war.
Ria's eyes narrowed while Ruruka calmly sipped her tea, clearly using her injured status as diplomatic immunity. I sat down before either of them escalated and focused on Hikari instead.
She looked much better than yesterday. Her cheeks were no longer as red, and her eyes had regained some of their usual brightness.
"Hikari feels less sick today," she announced.
"That's good," I said. "You're staying home."
Her smile disappeared immediately.
"But Hikari feels better."
"Excellent. Rest."
"Hikari can go to school."
"School will still exist tomorrow."
She turned toward Ria with a hopeful expression.
Ria took a slow sip of tea.
"Your father is correct."
Hikari looked personally betrayed.
Karin, who had been tying one shoe beneath the table, glanced up. "Papa has become paranoid."
Ruri immediately tried to soften the accusation. "Only a little."
I looked toward them.
"I can hear both of you."
Ria buttered a piece of toast without looking up. "They are correct."
I stared at her.
"You helped enchant Fluffy."
"That was reasonable."
"You made me add another defensive layer."
"Because yours was inadequate."
"You inspected the rear section twice."
"Because it remained inadequate."
I pointed at her with my coffee mug. "You do not get to call me paranoid."
Ria finally looked at me, her expression completely serious. "I did not call myself paranoid."
"That isn't how this works."
"It is now."
Ruruka covered her mouth again.
I looked at her.
She immediately lowered her gaze toward her tea.
Apparently, my suffering had become the household's most reliable source of morning entertainment.
After breakfast, I dropped Ruri and Karin off at school.
Ria came with me.
Technically, she had no reason to.
Practically, she had caught me lying.
I had told her I wanted to take a slightly longer route home because I felt like driving.
She had accepted that explanation for approximately six minutes.
On the third pass by the same convenience store, Ria slowly turned toward me.
"You have driven past that building three times."
I kept my eyes on the road.
"Very scenic convenience store."
"Mage."
I sighed.
"Fine."
"You intended to inspect the school district."
"Yes."
"Alone."
"I was already driving."
"That is not an answer."
"It is adjacent to one."
Ria crossed her arms and looked toward the school buildings disappearing behind us.
"You are becoming worse at hiding things."
"I'm tired."
"You use that excuse for everything."
"It has broad applications."
She made a small sound of disapproval, but did not ask me to turn back.
Instead, we parked Fluffy on a quieter side street and began walking.
There was no emergency.
That was the uncomfortable part.
Children moved through the sidewalks normally. Teachers spoke near the school gate. Delivery trucks passed. A convenience store employee dragged out a display board. Nothing looked wrong. Nothing felt wrong.
I lowered my mana presence and expanded Spatial Awareness carefully.
The local flow was stable.
No forming gate.
No spatial tearing.
No obvious corrupted dungeon residue.
Ria walked beside me, her attention drifting from buildings to narrow service roads and older structures. Unlike me, she did not need to actively project much power. She simply observed, occasionally pausing long enough to irritate pedestrians before moving again.
After several minutes, she glanced at me.
"Do you truly believe Hikari's dream was a prophecy?"
I kept my attention on the surrounding mana currents.
"I believe Hikari was scared."
"That was not my question."
"I know."
Ria waited.
She was annoyingly good at that.
Eventually, I sighed.
"I don't know. Fever dreams are weird. Light affinity is weird. Dragon blood is even weirder, and I don't exactly have a parenting manual for prophetic dragon children."
The corner of Ria's mouth moved slightly.
I continued before she could enjoy that too much.
"But I also know that ignoring strange things around my daughters has historically been a bad strategy. If I check an entire district and find nothing, I lose a few hours. If I ignore it and something actually happens..."
I stopped.
Ria looked toward me.
I finished more quietly.
"I'd rather look stupid now than be right too late."
Her expression changed.
The faint amusement disappeared.
"You will not speak casually about something happening to them."
I looked at her.
There was no anger in her voice.
Not really.
There was something sharper underneath it.
Fear.
Ria hated fear.
Especially her own.
"Yeah," I said. "Fair."
We continued walking.
I expanded my senses in small pulses rather than one large sweep. Nothing answered. No significant hostile mana. No obvious resonance tied to the old dungeon. No active demonic formation.
For a while, I started wondering whether we would find anything at all.
Then Ria stopped.
Not gradually.
Completely.
I noticed immediately.
"What?"
She looked toward a cracked retaining wall beside an old service road, half hidden behind weeds and an unused utility box.
"Something is there."
I followed her gaze.
"To me, that looks like concrete."
"To you, most things look like something you would rather avoid inspecting."
"That is unfairly accurate."
Ria ignored me and moved closer.
I followed.
At first, there was nothing.
Just old concrete, faint moisture stains, and enough dirt to suggest nobody cared about the wall.
Then I let a thin layer of Arcane Manipulation spread across the surface.
Something reacted.
Tiny.
Almost completely buried.
The slightest distortion trembled beneath the stone.
I crouched and brushed two fingers over it.
Blue light spread across the wall in narrow lines until a dark mark appeared no larger than my palm.
Ria's expression hardened instantly.
I looked at her.
"You recognize it."
"Yes."
She crouched beside me, one hand resting lightly against her knee while she studied the symbol.
I glanced toward the school, visible several blocks away between buildings.
"What does it mean?"
Ria traced one finger just above the central stroke without touching it.
"Anchor."
The word landed heavier than I wanted.
I looked back at the mark.
"Anchor for what?"
"That depends on the larger formation. Ancient territory rituals often used markings like this to establish fixed positions. Summoning structures, domain stabilization, long-distance connections. The mark itself does not perform the ritual. It tells the ritual where reality should hold still."
That description was unpleasant.
I spread my mana more carefully across the residual traces.
Old.
Faded.
But still present.
"This wasn't placed recently."
Ria looked toward me.
"How old?"
"Hard to tell exactly. Months, maybe longer."
Her gaze moved toward the school.
Mine followed.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
That was worse.
If somebody had placed the anchor yesterday, it would have meant they were responding to recent events.
If it had been here for months, then Hikari's school district had been part of whatever plan existed long before her dream.
Maybe before the Chiba gate.
Maybe before the latest dungeon fluctuations.
Maybe before I had even noticed anything was wrong.
I started expanding Spatial Awareness instinctively.
Ria caught my wrist.
Not hard.
Just enough to interrupt the spell.
"Mage."
"I'm checking the district."
"With enough mana to announce yourself to every capable awakener nearby?"
"I can make it efficient."
"You can make it obvious."
I looked at her.
She held my gaze.
"If someone placed this and is monitoring the network, a large-scale scan tells them we found it."
I hated when she was right.
That had happened too often lately.
I let the spell fade.
Ria released my wrist.
"I hate when you're right."
"You should be accustomed to it."
"I'm still adjusting."
She took out her phone and photographed the mark from several angles before looking at me again.
"We document it, conceal it, and inform the guild master only. Then we investigate the sealed dungeon as planned."
I stared at her.
"You've become annoyingly responsible."
Ria lifted her chin.
"I always was."
"You invaded Japan."
She paused.
Only for a second.
"That was a separate matter."
I looked at her.
She looked back with complete seriousness.
A laugh escaped before I could stop it.
Ria narrowed her eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You laughed."
"A little."
"My statement was perfectly reasonable."
"To you."
"To anyone with intelligence."
"Sure."
Her expression tightened immediately.
I smiled.
There it was.
If the world ended tomorrow, at least I still had "sure."
We finished documenting the mark and covered it beneath a thin concealment field. I sent Aaron a short message telling him we had found something significant but did not want mobilization yet.
Then my stomach made a sound.
Ria looked at me.
I pretended she had not heard it.
She continued looking.
Eventually, she said, "You are hungry."
"Yes."
"Then say so."
"I just did."
"You produced a bodily sound."
"That was my stomach's official report."
Ria sighed.
I pointed toward the main road. "Want lunch?"
She considered the question for half a second.
"Acceptable."
We found a small restaurant near the district, the kind of place with warm lighting, laminated menus, and exactly zero guild officials waiting to hand me paperwork.
A waitress greeted us near the entrance.
"Table for two?"
"Yes," Ria and I answered at the same time.
Neither of us reacted immediately.
Then we looked at each other.
Ria lifted one eyebrow.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Good."
We sat.
That was apparently our entire discussion about naturally answering as a couple.
Progress.
Probably.
Ria ordered something sensible.
I ordered something fried.
When the food arrived, she looked at my plate with visible disapproval.
"You are recovering."
"I'm eating."
"That does not make the food healthy."
"It makes me emotionally healthy."
"You use that excuse too often."
"It keeps working."
"It does not."
While she was still judging my meal, I reached across and stole one piece from her plate.
Ria's eyes lowered slowly toward my chopsticks.
Then lifted toward my face.
"Mage."
"Marriage tax."
"There is no such thing."
"Shared assets."
"You are testing death."
"Worth it."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Then consider this kingdom in rebellion."
I almost laughed.
The waitress passed our table and smiled at us in the way people smiled at married couples having small, stupid arguments.
That was disturbing.
I leaned back slightly.
"This is becoming dangerously domestic."
Ria took another bite with perfect composure.
"You are the one stealing from my plate."
"Domestic theft."
"Stop naming things."
We ate quietly for a while.
Not awkwardly.
That was the strange part.
Months ago, sitting across from Astrea in a restaurant would have required a barrier, an escape plan, and probably structural insurance.
Now she judged my lunch choices and pushed the vegetable dish slightly closer because I had apparently not taken enough.
I noticed.
I did not comment.
I enjoyed surviving.
Ria eventually looked toward the window.
"Why did you choose this?"
I glanced down at my food.
"This restaurant?"
"This life."
That was different.
I looked at her.
Ria's expression was calmer now.
"After defeating me, you could have gained status, wealth, influence. You could have led guilds or governments. Yet you hid your strength and lived quietly."
I leaned back.
"Saving the world had terrible working hours."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Mage."
"That's part of it."
She waited.
Again.
I hated intelligent patience.
I sighed.
"I never wanted the attention. After everything ended, quiet sounded good. No guild politics. No people asking me to solve every problem because I survived the last one. Work when I needed money, sleep when possible, eat decent food, maybe afford coffee without checking my account first."
Ria's mouth curved faintly.
"A grand ambition."
"It was going well."
"Was?"
I looked toward the direction of home.
"Then three eggs happened."
Her expression softened.
I continued.
"Then Ruruka kept finding trouble. Aaron kept finding me. The girls kept finding ways to destroy my grocery budget. Then you appeared planning revenge and somehow ended up making breakfast."
Ria immediately frowned.
"I did not 'somehow' begin making breakfast. The children required proper meals."
"That is exactly what happened."
"I chose to maintain household nutrition."
"You made pancakes shaped like animals."
"Hikari requested them."
"You learned three shapes."
"She was dissatisfied with the first two."
I smiled.
Ria looked away.
Then, after a moment, she said something quieter.
"You complain often for a man who refuses to give any of it up."
That landed harder than I expected.
I looked at her.
She kept eating as though she had simply commented on the weather.
Annoying woman.
I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Yeah."
Ria glanced up.
I gave her a tired smile.
"Annoying, isn't it?"
Something in her expression softened.
Only slightly.
Then I reached across and stole another piece from her plate.
She slapped my hand.
Balance restored.
When we returned home, Hikari had established a recovery alliance with Ruruka.
Both were on the couch.
Both had blankets.
Both had fruit.
Both had water.
Tiny spoon sat between them like neutral medical authority.
I stopped at the edge of the living room.
"What happened here?"
Ruruka looked toward me with tired resignation.
"I lost authority."
I nodded sympathetically.
"Welcome."
Hikari raised tiny spoon.
"Hikari and Auntie are patients together."
Ria walked straight over and placed the back of her hand against Hikari's forehead.
Once.
Then again.
I watched.
"Sixth time today?"
Ria did not look at me.
"Accuracy requires repetition."
"Paranoid."
Her head turned slowly.
I smiled.
Ria's eyes narrowed.
Then she lifted her chin.
"Prepared."
I stared at her.
"You stole my word."
"It was poorly used."
Ruruka laughed.
Then immediately stopped when Ria pointed at her.
"Swordswoman."
"I stopped."
"Good."
Later, after Hikari went back to resting, I showed Ruruka the photograph of the anchor mark.
Her expression changed immediately.
"That close to the school?"
"Several hundred meters," I said.
Ruruka leaned forward instinctively, winced, and sat back.
Ria noticed before I could say anything.
"Do not lean."
"I know."
"You clearly do not."
Ruruka gave her a tired look, then returned her attention to the phone.
"If it's months old, then the school district may have been part of this long before Hikari dreamed about it."
"That's what bothers me."
Ruruka's eyes sharpened.
"Do we mobilize?"
"Not yet," I said. "Too noisy."
Ria nodded beside me.
"If someone is maintaining these anchors, an obvious response may force them to move sooner."
Ruruka considered that.
Then looked at me.
"When are you two going to the sealed dungeon?"
"Tomorrow."
Her expression changed.
"I should come."
Ria and I looked at her at the same time.
Ruruka paused.
Then sighed.
"I knew that was going to be rejected."
Ria folded her arms.
"Good. Your intelligence is recovering."
Ruruka blinked.
"Thank you... I think."
I leaned back against the chair.
"You stay with the girls."
Her expression became more serious.
"If both of you are gone?"
"You're backup."
Ruruka nodded slowly.
No teasing now.
No jokes.
"I'll protect them."
"I know."
That was why I could leave.
The rest of the evening was deliberately normal.
Ruri and Karin came home, finished their homework, argued over a pencil, and helped Hikari choose something to watch. Ria made dinner while pretending she had not checked the windows twice. Ruruka stayed seated because the children had collectively decided to report her if she violated recovery rules again.
For a few hours, the anchor stayed hidden on my phone.
The sealed dungeon stayed somewhere beyond the city.
The world did not end.
That was enough.
By the time I finally went to bed, I was exhausted.
I opened the bedroom door.
Ria was already there again.
Sitting against the headboard.
Reading.
I stopped.
She looked up.
I looked at her.
This time, I did not bother asking.
"I'm not asking."
Ria returned her eyes to the book.
"Good."
I walked to my side of the bed and sat down.
No blanket border.
No diplomatic wall.
Just a suspiciously large mattress and an even more suspicious woman on the other side.
I adjusted my pillow and glanced toward her.
"If I wake up being used as furniture again, I'm charging rent."
Ria slowly lowered the book.
"What are you implying?"
I looked at her.
Then realized something.
She genuinely did not remember.
That somehow made the entire morning worse.
"Nothing."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Mage."
"Goodnight, Ria."
"You said something strange and now refuse to explain."
"I'm tired."
"That is not an answer."
"It's the foundation of most of my answers."
Ria stared at me for several seconds before closing her book with deliberate force.
"You are becoming increasingly insolent."
"I live with you. Adaptation."
"You blame me for everything."
"Not everything."
"What do you not blame me for?"
I thought about it.
"Taxes."
Ria blinked.
Then looked offended anyway.
"That is an absurd answer."
"It's honest."
"You are impossible."
"Yet here you are."
The words left my mouth before I fully processed them.
Ria went quiet.
So did I.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Her expression changed in a way I could not read completely. Surprise first. Then something softer. Then immediate defensive pride as she looked away and pulled the blanket higher.
"Do not misunderstand the situation, Mage. The children prefer this arrangement."
"Sure."
Her eyes snapped toward me.
I smiled faintly.
There it was again.
The magic word.
"Do not 'sure' me."
"I said one word."
"You weaponized it."
"I learned from Karin."
"That explains the lack of restraint."
I lay down and folded one arm beneath my head.
Ria turned away from me, but I could see the faint color near the tip of her ear.
Interesting.
Dangerous.
Best ignored.
Tomorrow, we would go to the old sealed dungeon.
We would finally start looking directly at the place where this entire mess had begun. Maybe we would find answers. Maybe we would find another problem. Knowing my life, probably both.
Tonight, however, the room was quiet.
The girls were safe.
Ruruka was recovering.
Hikari's fever was nearly gone.
Ria was on the other side of the bed pretending she had not spent the morning wrapped around me.
That was enough.
I closed my eyes.
A few seconds later, Ria shifted beneath the blanket.
I opened one eye.
She had not moved toward me.
Yet.
I closed it again.
Given recent evidence, I still did not like my odds.
***
End of Chapter 46
Arclight Parenting Status:
Parents:
Ren Arclight — Retired Archmage / Dragon Dad / Unwilling Demon Queen Body Pillow
Ria Arclight — Former Demon Queen / Dragon Mom / Unconscious Territorial Expansion Specialist
Current Family Objective:
Investigate Hikari's warning without alarming the children
Determine the purpose of ancient demonic anchors
Prepare for tomorrow's sealed dungeon investigation
Pretend the bedroom situation is completely normal
Children Under Protection:
Ruri — Ice / Emotional Anchor / Responsible Big Sister
Karin — Fire / Chaos / Official Paranoia Critic
Hikari — Light / Recovering Patient / Possible Prophetic Menace
Today's Activities:
Survived first night without the Blanket Border Treaty
Discovered Ria annexes territory while unconscious
Failed to obtain acknowledgment of said annexation
Confirmed Hikari's fever is improving
Kept Hikari home from school
Dropped Ruri and Karin off safely
Conducted discreet inspection around school district
Discovered ancient demonic anchor near the school
Confirmed anchor predates Hikari's recent dream
Avoided large-scale magical scan
Concealed and documented suspicious formation
Quietly notified Aaron
Accidentally went to lunch as a married couple
Implemented Marriage Tax
Survived immediate rebellion against Marriage Tax
Discussed Ren's retirement and increasingly nonexistent quiet life
Returned home to Patient Alliance
Briefed Ruruka on discovered anchor
Assigned Ruruka as emergency protection for the girls
Confirmed sealed dungeon investigation for tomorrow
Returned to shared bedroom without argument
Weaponized the word "sure"
Awaited possible second nocturnal Demon Queen invasion
New Developments:
Ancient demonic anchor discovered several hundred meters from the girls' school
Anchor may have existed for months
Possible ritual network predates current dungeon instability
Hikari's dream becoming significantly harder to dismiss
Ren and Ria now investigating threats as a coordinated pair
Ria prevented Ren from exposing their investigation through reckless scanning
Ruruka officially assigned as backup guardian
Sealed dungeon investigation begins tomorrow
Ria naturally answered "table for two" alongside Ren
Ria now monitors Ren's dietary choices
Ren has instituted unauthorized marital taxation
Ria admitted Ren complains constantly but refuses to give up his new life
Shared bedroom arrangement becoming routine
Ria apparently cuddles in her sleep
Ria has absolutely no memory of doing so
Ren's survival odds tonight remain statistically questionable
Household Status:
Protected
Suspicious
Dangerously Domestic
Parents Stress Levels:
Ren
Alert
Suspicious
Physically Annexed
Ria
Protective
Increasingly Concerned
Completely Innocent According to Herself
Parenting Skill Growth:
Ren: 84.3%(Preventive Fatherhood Bonus Applied)
Ria: 83.1%(Threat Detection + Maternal Vigilance Bonus Applied)
Family Synergy: 95.2%(Joint Investigation Protocol Established)
Current Parents Status:
Ren
Active
Investigating
Protecting His Side of the Mattress
Ria
Active
Coordinating
Denying All Territorial Violations
Immediate Priorities:
Keep Hikari recovering
Maintain normal routine for the girls
Investigate sealed dungeon tomorrow
Determine purpose of ancient anchors
Avoid alerting whoever established the network
Leave Ruruka responsible for home defense
Establish whether Marriage Tax is legally enforceable
Survive another night beside Ria
Operational Assessment:
Mission Type:
Parental Reconnaissance + Domestic Escalation
Difficulty:
Ancient Conspiracy With Marital Complications
Emotional Status:
Ren
Concerned — Protective — Suspiciously Content
Ria
Vigilant — Protective — Increasingly Attached
Future Outlook:
Sealed dungeon investigation begins tomorrow
Ancient anchor network requires explanation
Hikari's dream may have been a genuine warning
Ren and Ria approaching danger together
Ruruka temporarily assuming guardian duty
Bedroom borders remain permanently abolished
Domestic behavior increasingly impossible to explain as "for the children"
Ria expected to deny everything regardless
Parents Personal Statement:
Ren:
"I'd rather look stupid now than be right too late."
Ria:
"You complain often for a man who refuses to give any of it up."
Reality's Response:
"The dungeon can wait until tomorrow. The mattress cannot."