In the late afternoon, after escorting the wounded and unconscious woman to the village gate, the three small children ran straight toward their house. They entered the house immediately. When they opened the door, Helen and Eluisa, who were in the kitchen, turned around to look at the doorway. Both were shocked to see Leon, Lucia, and Livia looking dirty, their bodies covered in mud, their faces smudged black with smoke, and wet.
"Hey, what did you kids play?" Helen asked, approaching the three and taking off her apron.
"Um… we fell down earlier," Leon answered.
"Yeah, that's right. That's why we're so dirty," Lucia added, looking at her body.
"I'm wet," Livia added, drying her clothes.
"Come on, take a bath first. Take off your clothes," Helen said, crouching down in front of the three, then helping them remove their clothes.
After the three were naked, Helen took them to the back of the house to bathe them and took all their clothes. Eluisa, who watched them while stirring the soup in the pot, smiled and shook her head. Then she returned to looking at her pot, and her face became serious again. Not long after, "KNOCK… KNOCK!" The house door was suddenly knocked on. Eluisa immediately put down her soup ladle, then walked toward the door.
She opened the door and was shocked to see three dark-skinned, red-eyed men dressed like guards standing in front of her door.
"Good afternoon. My name is Kal Thor. I am the son of the village chief, and may we ask you something?" asked the man named Kal Thor, who stood at the very front.
"Um… what is it?" Eluisa asked.
"Just now, the two guards behind me said that three small triplet children escorted Lut Tesh, who works as a hunter, back to the village injured. We also saw smoke billowing from inside the forest. We are currently sending some hunters there to investigate. Do you know anything about that?" Kal Thor asked.
"Um… um… do you mean my younger siblings brought an injured female hunter from the forest back to the village?" Eluisa asked, surprised.
"That is correct," Kal Thor replied.
"That's impossible. They are only six years old," Eluisa said.
Kal Thor turned back to look at the two guards standing behind him, then he spoke to them in a different language, appearing serious. Eluisa could see that the two guards seemed to be trying to convince Kal Thor that they were telling the truth. Then one guard spoke with Kal Thor, who nodded as he listened. After that, Kal Thor turned to look at Eluisa again.
"When this guard helped Lut Tesh, he said that Lut Tesh was delirious about three small children who defeated an Orc General easily… do your three little siblings possess extraordinary power? Because what Lut Tesh was raving about is highly impossible. It's impossible for three six-year-old children to defeat a monster that even ten experienced adults might not win against," Kal Thor said.
"W-what? That can't be, right? Let alone fighting monsters, they've never even held a weapon," Eluisa replied.
"Hmm… alright. We will return later after we have the results of the investigation. Excuse us," Kal Thor said.
Kal Thor immediately left Eluisa at the door, along with the two guards who followed him. Eluisa closed the door again, but she appeared very confused, thinking hard. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her eyes narrowed. But suddenly, her nose caught an unpleasant aroma from the kitchen. She immediately realized what was happening and ran to her pot. She stirred the soup frantically and lifted the ladle to scoop from the bottom of the pot. She smelled it and immediately felt relieved.
"My soup was almost ruined, but seriously… they are only six years old and still so small," murmured Eluisa, who was now 18 years old.
Not long after, Helen returned, drying Leon's head, then Lucia's, and finally Livia's, all three of whom were now wearing their clean clothes. Eluisa moved her pot to the side, then took off her apron. She turned to look at Leon, Lucia, and Livia, who appeared cheerful and were joking with each other like normal children their age.
"Yeah… no way," Eluisa murmured.
Leon, Lucia, and Livia saw Eluisa shaking her head to herself with a very confused expression.
"What's wrong, Sis?" Leon asked.
"Nothing," Eluisa answered.
"Who came earlier, Sis?" Livia asked.
"You knew someone came?" Eluisa asked, shocked.
"Um… we heard the knock, right?" Livia replied, turning to look at Leon and Lucia.
"Yeah, that's right," Leon replied, nodding.
"I heard it too," Lucia added, nodding.
"Someone came earlier?" Helen asked Eluisa, who was staring at her three siblings, and Helen clearly hadn't known anyone had just visited.
Eluisa didn't answer. She continued to observe her triplets siblings, who appeared to be joking confusedly. Then Leon, Lucia, and Livia asked permission to go to their room. After Eluisa nodded, the three immediately ran to their room. After that, Eluisa sat down on a chair, and Helen immediately sat down in front of her.
"What is it, Miss?" Helen asked, holding Eluisa's hand on the table.
Eluisa immediately told her what had just happened. She told her about the three people from the village coming, and she told her what they had said to her. Helen was shocked to hear it.
"Is that true, Miss?" Helen asked.
"Yes, that's what they said, but it's impossible because all three of them are only six years old, and it's clearly impossible for them to fight any monster, no matter how weak the monster is," Eluisa replied.
"Maybe they were mistaken. Don't think too much about it, Miss," Helen replied.
"I understand. I'm just afraid the prophecy in our house was actually true: that if triplet babies were born in our family… the three rulers from 1,000 years ago would be reborn. This is what caused my family to be killed… they were afraid those three kings and queen would return," Eluisa murmured.
Helen couldn't say anything. She just held Eluisa's hand on the table. Eluisa looked sad because, to her, her only family was her three twin siblings. She bowed her head and pondered.
***
Meanwhile, inside their room, Leon, Lucia, and Livia sat on the edge of their bed, deep in thought.
"If you think about it… this is the first time we've met and fought a monster again in this second life, right?" Leon said.
"Yes, that's right. It turns out we are still strong, just like before… hmm, maybe not exactly like before, because we are still young, but at least our power hasn't disappeared," Lucia replied.
"We still use the same weapons… even though our birthmarks are gone. What does that mean?" Livia asked.
"I just realized that too," Lucia replied.
"It seems we need to be careful about showing our strength from now on," Leon said.
"I agree. It's too risky if anyone finds out," Livia replied.
"Whose idea was it to bring that woman back to the village, anyway?" Lucia asked.
"We couldn't possibly leave her alone among the corpses, could we?" Livia answered.
"Never mind. What's done is done. The important thing is that we have to be careful going forward," Leon said.
"You were the one who moved first, weren't you?" Livia asked.
"My body just moved on its own… by the time I realized it, we had finished putting out the fire," Leon replied.
"Okay, let's go out now. I'm hungry," Lucia replied, rubbing her stomach.
Finally, the three of them jumped off the bed, then ran to the door and opened it. After that, they went out and closed the door again.