Chapter 225 – Episode 225: Date!
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“Hey everyone~ I’m here!”
“Ah, it’s Noa, big sis!”
“It’s Noa, Unni!”
As I entered the building, several children rushed towards Noa as soon as they saw her.
“Long time no see~.”
“Long time no see!”
“Why did you come, Unni?”
“Well, to see you guys, of course!”
“Who’s that old man next to you?”
Old man…
“He’s not an old man. He’s the same age as me.”
“Really?”
“Liar!”
“He’s so big!”
“It’s true! And he’s my boyfriend!”
“Boyfriend? A boyfriend?”
“Was what you said before true?”
“Of course, it’s true!”
“Wow, Unni has a boyfriend!”
I waved my hand at the children.
“Hi, I’m Rent.”
“Hello!”
“Hi!”
“So, it’s Noa.”
At that moment, an elderly man approached us.
“Ah, Director!”
This was the director of the orphanage where Noa had lived.
The director wore glasses and had a slender build.
“Let me introduce you! This is Rent! My boyfriend!”
“Oh, so the time has come for Noa too. That’s wonderful.”
“And I’m going to become a C-rank!”
“Huh? Is that really true?”
“Yeah! Hehe, it’s all thanks to Rent!”
The director gave a kind smile.
“That’s… really great, Noa. Did you come to tell us that news today?”
“That too, but… I also wanted to give some gifts to the orphanage. Rent, bring them out!”
“Okay.”
I took out food and toys from my inventory.
“Wow! Bread!”
“There’s lots of fruit too!”
“Toys!”
“Pretty dolls!”
The children’s eyes sparkled with excitement as they saw the food and toys.
“This is…”
And the director looked at Noa with wide eyes.
“Thank you, Noa. But bringing so much… are you sure it’s okay?”
Noa grinned and rubbed her nose with her index finger.
“Hehe, I’m a skilled fighter now, good enough to become a C-rank! Buying this much is a piece of cake! My wallet is still overflowing!”
Indeed, after reaching the 9th floor, we had defeated countless monsters and earned a lot of money.
If we were to calculate the money we earned in the past month, each of us would have over 30 gold, except for me.
Even if you added up everything Noa bought, it wouldn’t even reach 80 silver, so it was a very small expense compared to the money Noa currently had.
“Really… thank you, Noa.”
“It’s nothing! I grew up here too. I should do this much.”
“This is mine!”
“No, it’s mine!”
Two boys were fighting over a toy that Noa had bought.
Noa looked at the two boys, grinned, and picked up a toy that was on the floor and approached them.
“I bought a lot of the same toys. Here, take this. Don’t fight, okay?”
“Ah, it’s the same! Okay! I won’t fight!”
“Thank you, Noa, big sis!”
“Okay, okay, get along.”
“Hey, hey! Noa, big sis! That old man is your boyfriend, right! How did you two start dating?”
“I told you, he’s not an old man~ Call him Rent, Oppa.”
“How did you start dating Rent, Oppa?”
“Well, it was a fateful encounter!”
“Kyaaa! A fateful encounter!”
“Tell us! Tell us!”
“Hehehe! If you want to know so badly, I’ll tell you! The fateful encounter between Rent and me!”
Noa was having a great time talking with the children from the orphanage.
Seeing that, I imagined a happy future where Noa would play well with her children even after having them.
Noa, the mom, playing happily with the kids.
It made me smile.
The director approached me and asked.
“You’re Rent, right?”
“Yes. And your name is…?”
“I’m Anthony.”
“Yes, Director Anthony. I’m Rent.”
“Could it be that you’re the famous Dungeon Crasher? The one who greatly helped in stopping the flood…”
“Yes. That would be me.”
“Hahaha, Noa has found a good man. When she came last time, her expression was very bright, and it seems that was because of you.”
“Wasn’t Noa always bright?”
“Well, yes. But… I’ve been watching her since she was a child, so I know. She came with a truly happy expression that I’ve never seen before. And of course, she still does.”
Director Anthony bowed his head to me once and said.
“Thank you for making her so happy.”
“It’s nothing, I’m… happy to be with Noa too.”
A boy approached me.
“Hey, hey! Old… Hyung is Noa, big sis’s boyfriend, right? Right?”
I knelt down to meet the boy’s gaze and said.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“If you’re her boyfriend… did you kiss Noa, big sis?”
“Yeah, I did.”
Asking about kissing, that’s quite cute…
“Wow! Then! Did you see Noa, big sis’s naked body too?”
Oh, he was a mature child.
How should I answer?
Considering Noa’s personality, I don’t think she would get angry if I told the child that I had seen it.
So, I answered the boy like this.
“We even took a bath together.”
“Wow! Amazing!”
“What’s so amazing, Garan?”
Noa lowered her body and looked down at the boy with a sly smile.
“Eek! Noa, big sis!”
“You’re already asking about that kind of stuff~ You little pervert~!”
Noa ruffled the boy’s hair with both hands.
“Uwaaa, sorry, Noa, big sis! Please stop~!”
“Take a little more!”
“Uwaaa~!”
Noa looked very happy.
By the way, looking at the two of them in front of me, I suddenly had a fantasy about a sweet older woman and a young boy, a so-called onee-shota relationship.
Hmm… tonight, I should ask Noa to do a big sister roleplay!
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I spent time with Noa at the orphanage.
The children at the old orphanage were all wearing shabby clothes, but their faces were full of smiles.
The girls were hugging the dolls that Noa had bought and talking about the fateful encounter between me and Noa from Noa’s perspective, and I was giving the boys piggyback rides or lifting them high, playing the hero and demon king game like we did in the village.
As we played, time passed quickly, and it was almost lunchtime. Noa and I ate the lunch boxes that Miranda had packed for us.
The director and the children ate the food that Noa had bought.
After lunch, we decided to leave the orphanage.
“Play a little longer~.”
“Noa, Unni, stay a little longer~.”
“Rent, Hyung~ lift me up higher!”
The children were very sad to see us go.
“Hehe, sorry, but it’s our date time now~ I’ll play with you next time.”
“You chose a man over the family you grew up with!”
“You’ve become a bad woman!”
“In the end, it’s love over family!”
Where did you learn those things?
The noisy children started protesting to Noa.
At that moment, Director Anthony smiled kindly and said to the children.
“Hahaha, kids. We should let Noa go now, right?”
“Yes~.”
The children answered in unison and smiled brightly.
“Come again, Noa, big sis!”
“Bring us more delicious food next time!”
“I want toys!”
“Tell us another story next time!”
“Hehe, okay! Look forward to it! Oh, right. Director, here you go.”
Noa handed a pouch of money to the director.
“Noa, this is…”
Director Anthony’s eyes widened.
I don’t know how much was in it, but it seemed to be an amount that surprised the director.
“Hehe, use that to buy the kids lots of delicious food. Or replace the old, worn-out books.”
“…Thank you so much.”
“Then we’ll be going.”
“Okay, take care.”
Noa clung to my arm and said.
“Let’s go, Rent!”
“Okay, Noa. Director Anthony. Kids. I’ll come again next time.”
“Bye~ Rent, Hyung.”
“Play with us again next time!”
And we left the orphanage.
“…Surprisingly, the kids let us go quietly.”
“Well, the director said something, but they all understand well. It’s hard to live if they don’t. If you’re poor, you learn to help each other somehow.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. If you’re too poor… well, there are times when you steal from others, but fortunately, our orphanage isn’t that poor. There’s also a monthly subsidy. It’s very small though.”
It seems there are subsidies for orphanages.
If not, the children’s clothes wouldn’t just be shabby.
If there were no subsidies at all, the children would all be skinny with completely dirty clothes.
But looking at the children, their diet didn’t seem too difficult.
Noa smiled brightly and pulled my arm.
“Instead of that, follow me, Rent! There’s still a place I want to show you!”
After that, I walked around the back alleys with Noa, mainly on the paths that Noa used to frequent when she was young.
As we walked, she told me about episodes from her childhood.
They were all stories from her childhood that were a bit mischievous, like Noa.
Like startling a walking adult from behind by shouting “Boo!”
Or running around and bumping into a wall while distracted and crying loudly.
Or sneaking out of the orphanage late at night to take a walk and getting caught by the director.
I enjoyed listening to those stories from Noa’s childhood.
Along the way, we met people who seemed to know Noa, but most of them would acknowledge Noa for a moment and then run away in fear when Noa introduced me as her boyfriend.
Am I that scary?
When I asked that question near evening, Noa chuckled and said.
“Hehe, they used to tease me a lot by telling me to imitate a cat. So they think I told Rent to punish them.”
“Just by saying I’m your boyfriend?”
“People here tend to quickly think about the worst-case scenario they could face.”
“Why do they think that way?”
“To comfort themselves that they are better off than that worst-case scenario. Or to prepare a little in case it might happen.”
It was a bit of a gloomy topic than I thought.
Then Noa said with a self-deprecating laugh.
“Well~ I was thinking that too, but I was so excited to become an E-rank that I almost died to a hobgoblin inside the first floor.”
Then Noa smiled brightly and said.
“But thanks to that, I was able to meet Rent~ So it was a good thing, hehe. Ah, here it is. This is the last place I’ll show you.”
The last place Noa guided me to was an ordinary path leading from the back alley to the street.
Noa sat down on the spot, hugging her legs, and said.
“When I was little, after playing, I always looked at the street from here.”
Noa continued to speak in a nostalgic tone, as if reminiscing about the past.
“The outside of the alley was sparkling, but where I was was dark… I always thought that one day I wanted to run out into that street freely. If I ran out… I thought I could at least do something.”
I sat down next to her and looked at Noa.
“Something like what?”
“Like earning more money to eat delicious things. Or earning a lot of money so that the director wouldn’t have to suffer. And to buy the kids better things.
When I was little, I was so young… I couldn’t do anything. I was always envious of the adventurers I saw on the street. I saw a lot of people getting hurt… but most of them always seemed to be laughing happily with their companions.
I was envious of that. That was the first reason I wanted to become an adventurer. I wanted to become an adventurer someday, go on adventures with my companions, earn a lot of money, and make the orphanage a better place.”
And Noa turned her head towards me and said with a bright smile,
“But all of that has been achieved since I met Rent! I’ve met companions who are on the same wavelength, earned a lot of money, and I can help the orphanage like this…”
Noa’s cheeks flushed… and she had a very happy face.
“I’ve fallen in love in a way I never imagined. My heart has become so warm with a happiness I’ve never felt before. Rent… thank you. I love you♡”
I reached out and stroked Noa’s cheek.
“Haaung♡”
“I’m thankful too. I’m really happy to be with Noa. It’s always fun when I’m with Noa, and even though you’re playful, you always think of your companions…
I’m really happy to have Noa, who thinks of me, by my side. Please stay by my side forever… I love you, Noa.”
“Rent…”
Tears flowed from Noa’s eyes and wet my fingers.
Noa held my hand tightly with both of her hands and rubbed her face against my palm.
“Yeah, I’ll always be by your side.”
And Noa smiled through her tears and said.
“Hehe, did I just get a proposal?”
“Yeah. Because I’m going to marry Noa someday. Besides, I always say ‘I love you’ to mean that I want to get married and have a happy family?”
“Ohh~ That’s romantic. But this romantic Rent has five other wife candidates besides me.”
“I’ll take responsibility for making everyone happy.”
“Yeah. I believe that Rent can do it.”
Noa gently lowered my hand and moved closer to me.
“Rent…♡”
“Noa.”
And we kissed at the boundary between the street and the back alley.
