Chapter 170 – Visiting My Hometown
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After a pleasant conversation with my father, I put the trees to be moved into my inventory.
The sight of my father’s eyes and mouth widening in surprise the moment I put them in was a little funny.
When I told him it was something I got from working hard, my father clenched both fists tightly and said,
“Oh, our son is amazing!”
He praised me.
I was happy.
Then, after returning home and placing the trees in the backyard, my father and I went inside.
“I’m home.”
“Welcome back, dear.”
As soon as we entered the house,
“Rent has always been kind-hearted, but he never played with other kids.”
“Really?”
“Rent?”
“I can’t believe it. Rent is always polite and kind.”
“Well, our son is kind-hearted, but he rarely played with kids his age. I was worried about why such a strong kid didn’t socialize with others.
Ah, there was a day when Rent came home with a tearful face. Should I tell you about that?”
“Rent?”
“Wow, I’m curious!”
“Was Rent cute when he cried?”
Mother, Elsie, Noah, and Ms. Ninya were completely engrossed in the conversation.
It was mostly about my old stories.
No, it’s fine to tell old stories, but don’t you have any better episodes, Mother?
Even though I didn’t play with kids much, there were plenty of episodes where I helped the village elders carry their things.
*Whoosh*
And when a slight breeze blew, that’s when Mother and the three of them noticed that Father and I had arrived.
“Oh my, you’re here? Come here and join the conversation. Let’s tell our Rent’s lovely companions more about him.”
“Alright, dear. But what were you talking about?”
“Ah. Rent, welcome!”
“Welcome, Rent~ Rent’s mom is a great storyteller.”
“Welcome, Rent. Your mother is so young.”
“Oh my! Ninya, you don’t have to flatter me like that.”
“It’s not flattery, I really think so.”
“Oh my, oh my, ohohoho.”
Mother seems very pleased with Ms. Ninya’s words.
Well, I know that Mother’s ‘face’ is pretty and youthful.
It seems like Father will be dragged in, and my stories will continue.
It’s awkward to keep standing, so I created a chair with my mana weapon and sat down.
“Huh?! Rent, what is that?!”
“It’s a skill I got from the Platoon, Mother.”
“There’s even a skill to make chairs? And isn’t it glowing?”
“It’s a skill called Mana Weapon.”
“Weapon…?”
Mother tilted her head.
“If you hit a chair, it’s a weapon.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
Mother immediately understood.
I think this easygoing side of her is a good thing.
Mother continued the story.
“Anyway, when Rent was little, about… 8 years old, he came home with a tearful face, covered in bright red blood, you know? I was so shocked when I first saw him. You remember that, right?”
Hmm… wasn’t that when I caught my first goblin?
“I remember. It was the day our son caught his first monster.”
“Rent caught a monster?”
Father closed his eyes as if reminiscing about the past.
“It was when I went to the forest to cut down trees with him. That day, three goblins appeared, and I managed to take down two with my axe, but one goblin ran towards Rent.
I was rushing over, worried about our son, but Rent wasn’t intimidated at all. Instead, he got into a stance to hit the goblin.”
“Heh~ It seems like you weren’t afraid of monsters even when you were little.”
“Little Rent bravely fighting monsters… I want to see that.”
Noah grinned at me, and Elsie blushed slightly.
Ms. Ninya asked Father with an excited expression.
“So, what happened, Father?”
“He punched the goblin that was charging at him very accurately. I was shocked at that time. Because… the goblin was shattered into pieces when it hit our son’s fist. Haha, that’s when I knew our son’s strength was something to be reckoned with.”
“Rent was really formidable even when he was little.”
“It seems like Rent was really strong since he was born.”
“So, the blood and guts were all over his face… and our son threw up right there.”
“Oh my, Rent, why did you throw up then?”
To Ms. Ninya’s question, I told her the reason why I threw up as it was.
“The smell was too disgusting. Not just the smell of blood, but the smell of guts…”
It was so disgusting that I threw up right away.
Maybe there were also remnants of excrement in the guts?
“Ah…”
Ms. Ninya made an understanding face.
Has Ms. Ninya also been covered in monster guts or blood before?
“Um, do you have any other stories about Rent?”
“Of course, there are many more. But this time, can you tell us how our Rent is doing in the Platoon?”
At Mother’s words, Noah smiled brightly and answered.
“Yes! Then, I’ll tell you about Rent’s muscle carriage!”
Father tilted his head.
“Muscle carriage?”
“Well, you see…”
After that, Elsie, Noah, and Ms. Ninya told Mother and Father about my life in the Platoon, and Mother and Father also talked about my life in the village.
I also joined the conversation and added explanations along the way.
The three were surprised that I was different in the village, and Mother and Father stared at me with wide eyes at my exploits in the dungeon.
They were truly amazed when I showed them the Ragefang’s leather as proof.
Father’s eyes lit up, and he looked at me with envy, saying it was cool.
Should I give him a piece of monster leather as a gift next time I come?
Anyway, we had a pleasant conversation while talking about various things.
…Of course, we didn’t bring up the fact that we were in a romantic relationship, the relationship between Ms. Miranda and Tina, or my first meeting with Ms. Ninya. We either didn’t mention it or glossed over it.
As we were talking, it was almost lunchtime, so Mother started cooking.
The dish that came out for lunch was a soup filled with meat, which I had loved since I was little.
“It might be humble compared to the food you eat in the city, but please eat it.”
“No, Mother. It looks delicious enough.”
“The smell of meat is so strong… I like it.”
“It looks delicious.”
“Then, I’ll have to eat this with it.”
Father took out the cream bread that he had forgotten to eat while talking with me in the forest.
“Oh my, you still haven’t eaten it?”
“I forgot because I was talking with our son after a long time. Your meat soup goes well with cream bread, so I like it.”
“It’s just because you like cream bread.”
“Hahaha, is that so?”
“Son, I made a lot, so eat as much as you want.”
“Okay, Mother.”
And I ate the meat soup that Mother had made after a long time.
It was a familiar taste that I hadn’t had in almost two weeks.
The food that Ms. Miranda made was also delicious, but… this dish that Mother made was also very delicious.
And while eating, I realized.
Ah, I forgot to give them the Orc Champion steak…
I’ll tell them to eat the steak at night.
But I thought I might forget if I didn’t say it in advance, so I spoke while eating.
“Father, Mother.”
“What is it?”
“What’s wrong, son?”
“I brought some very delicious food from the city for you to eat, so please have that for dinner.”
“Really? But shouldn’t we eat it now? What if it goes bad?”
“It’s okay. You saw the inventory, right? I put it in there. You don’t have to worry about it going bad if it’s in there.”
“Hoo, that inventory thing is really convenient. You said our son got it for working hard, right?”
I smiled slightly, wanting to show off a little, and gently held up the inventory.
“Yeah, it’s something that even veteran adventurers have a hard time getting.”
“You got something like that just two weeks after leaving… it seems like our son is really suited to be an adventurer.”
Mother looked at me again with admiration.
“But Rent… I know you’re healthy and strong, but… there were no dangerous situations, right?”
“Not at all, Father.”
Rather, the dungeon was almost destroyed because of me.
“…Hehe.”
“Hehe.”
“Hehehe.”
Elsie, Noah, and Ms. Ninya were looking at me, Father, and Mother with very warm gazes.
…It’s a little embarrassing.
After lunch.
Since we decided to have the orc steak for dinner, I thought I should give them the money first.
“Father, Mother, I’ll give you the money.”
Mother’s eyes became the most sparkling I had seen today.
“Oh my, now that I think about it, our son said he came to see his parents and give them money!”
To be precise, the amount was so large that I came to see them and give them money.
“Okay, how much did you earn? They say you can earn a lot of money in the dungeon, and our son is doing well, so… are you giving us 50 silver?”
“Dear, isn’t that too much? It’s only been two weeks, and our son has to live too… it’ll probably be around 30 silver.”
“Hey, I was just saying. But even 30 silver would be enough to buy a new set of dishes. We can replace these wooden bowls with new ones.”
“I want to eat the strawberry cream bread that the bakery recently developed…”
“Hahaha…”
“Hmm…”
“Hehe…”
At Mother and Father’s conversation, Elsie, Noah, and Ms. Ninya showed reactions of dry laughter, awkwardness, and anticipation, respectively.
I thought it would be faster to show them the actual items than to talk about it, so I took out the money pouches from my inventory onto the already cleared table.
*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Each time I placed a pouch containing 100 silver on the table, it made a slightly heavy sound.
I placed nine pouches and a small pouch containing 10 gold on the table.
“Here you go, Father, Mother.”
““…Huh?””
Both Father and Mother tilted their heads, looking at the money pouches on the table.
“Son.”
“Yeah.”
“Even if you want to emphasize it, it’s hard to store so much bronze at once. At least exchange it for silver…”
Father, who was speaking, opened one of the pouches containing silver.
“Thuh-uh-uh-uh!”
Father shouted loudly, his eyes and mouth widening at the same time.
“Oh my, what a surprise! Why are you suddenly shouting, you scared me!”
“D-d-d-dear… t-t-this…”
“This? You’ve never seen so much bronze before…”
Mother also looked inside the money pouch.
“Thuh-uh-uh-uh!”
Mother also screamed the same way as Father.
“R-r-r-Rent, what is all this!?”
“It’s money, Mother.”
“S-s-son. How much is in here?”
“About 1 gold per pouch, so 100 silver each, Father. Ah, except for this small one.”
“O-o-one hundred silver? So, if each of these big pouches has 100 silver, that’s 900 silver…”
“Oh my, oh my, oh my.”
Father stared at the ceiling for a moment, stunned, and Mother covered her wide-open mouth with both hands.
Father and Mother’s reactions were more amusing than I had expected.
I tapped Father’s shoulder.
“Father, Father.”
“U-u-uh!? Ah, son, what is it?”
“Here.”
I handed the small pouch containing 10 gold to Father.
“This small pouch is… ah, it was 910 silver, but 10 silver was left, so I put it here… Hooo-uh!?”
Father, who opened the small pouch, widened his mouth again at the shining gold inside.
“D-d-d-d-dear!”
“Oh my, what’s wrong, dear… Oh my, oh my, oh my!”
Mother also approached Father, but she screamed again when she saw the 10 gold.
Father looked at me, his hands trembling.
“R-r-r-Rent. H-h-h-how much did you earn in two weeks?”
Father asked me in a trembling voice.
I smiled and held up my index and middle fingers.
“I caught some wanted criminals, so I have over 500 gold. How is it? Your son is good, right?”
“F-f-f-five hundred…”
“Hoo-uh…”
“Dear!”
Father trembled at the amount I said, and Mother covered her mouth with both hands and fainted.
Father hurriedly supported Mother, who was about to fall.
…Oh, was the shock too strong?
“Mother!”
I grabbed Mother’s shoulders and shook her, trying to wake her up.
“O-o-oh… Rent, I just had a strange dream. It was a dream where our son brought 10 gold and 900 silver. It was so vivid, son…”
“Mother, it’s not a dream. And there are still many pouches with silver.”
“Ah, still many?”
“I brought exactly 100 gold worth, so there are 90 more to go.”
“O-one hundred gold… Hoo-uh…”
Mother fainted again.
“Mother!”
“Dear!”
“Hehe, Rent’s parents are fun people.”
“I understand why she fainted…”
“Yeah, if I had heard something like that when I first formed a party with Elsie, I would have fainted too.”
First, Father and I moved Mother to the bed.
Mother’s face, who had fainted, was somehow… a vague mix of shock and joy.
“R-Rent. If Mom sees the money, she might faint again, so you keep it for now.”
“Yes, Father.”
I put the pouches on the table back into my inventory.
And just then.
*Knock knock.*
“Rent, let’s go to the village chief’s house!”
Dave’s voice was heard from beyond the door.
