Ex-Hero, Now Freeloader

10 - The Hero Hiding from the Bunny Eared Ogre

「Fooound you...!」

The sensation of a small finger prodding me followed that voice.

「Darn...」

As a sign of good sport as the loser, I surrender without resisting.

「Ahaha, you're the first one I found mister Hero.」

She was a bunny-eared girl with droopy eyes.

She's called Carro.

One of the kids we rescued on the day I met Eleanor.

「W-what...?」

I hang my head in defeat.

『Of course you are... I mean, I was shocked when you said your plan was to hide behind the curtains...』

Said the surprised Mika, who I was holding close to my chest.

Hide and seek.

It is a game where there is a seeker and people who scatter to hide.

The seekers, also known as the ogre, will count to ten, and in the meantime, the others will go look for a place to hide, finding the optimal spot. [TL Note 1: Hide and Seek in Japan is slightly different where the seeker is called the Oni or ogre, rather than just "It".]

They hold their breath, knowing that they must never be found and devoured by the ogre as they wander around searching.

A characteristic of this game is the fact that those who have been found cannot do anything.

In a real situation where someone was found by an ogre under such conditions, they would launch a counterattack in order to facilitate an escape, provided they are not scared stiff, but I guess that is forbidden in this game.

Learning how to hide is good, but I think they should also learn how to handle being found.

Even the War God said so. Strategies are still not enough, even when prepared to handle the worst-case scenario.

「Hiding your body behind a curtain would definitely be impossible. 'Cause of the legs sticking out, right? That's why I used Wind Magic to float! Luckily, these curtains are long, so I could float up and still have my whole body hidden, so there was no problem.」

『I don't think that was the issue. You could clearly see the curtains bulging from the outside.』

「I thought about that. I chose the farthest room from the ogre's starting point. Since ogres tend to search nearby, I used Wind Magic to blow up all the curtains that Carro was searching in.」

『Wow, you put a lot of thought into this.』

「With this, she would have witnessed many bulging curtains with nothing inside by the time she gets to me, so she would gradually think that it is useless to search them. I'm not the only one hiding. The curtains, which were probably empty anyway, would be less and less attractive to her, and she would focus her search elsewhere.」

『You're putting so much effort into a children's game... This isn't a desperate situation like the time you went Orc exterminating.』

「But that's exactly why I was so shocked. Carro, when you say I'm the first one...」

Carro, who doesn't even look ten years old when compared to a human child, smiled and nodded.

「Yup. I haven't found the others yet~.」

「How... Tell me. Those who cannot learn from how they were defeated cannot grow... Please tell me. I cannot understand... How was I the first...」

Of course, just like last time, it is easy to completely disappear from children if I took it seriously.