Chapter 331 – 331: Relationship Counseling!
“Honey, calm down.”
Aunt Telisha grabbed Uncle Vice by the scruff of his neck as he lunged towards Melissa.
“Gweh!”
“Why don’t you come inside first?”
“Okay.”
And so, we went inside Melissa’s house.
◈
I sat on a chair at Melissa’s dining table.
Melissa sat right next to me, and across from us were Aunt Telisha and Uncle Vice.
Uncle Vice clasped his hands together, rested his chin on them, and said to me,
“Rent… I thought you were a sincere and good kid. You don’t really play with the other kids, but you help your dad, Philip, a lot… and you even helped carry heavy things sometimes, right?
But… but… to kidnap our… our beautiful princess, what is the meaning of this!”
“No, Dad. Kidnap? I said I wanted to go…”
“Our princess, be quiet! Your dad is talking!”
“Haa…”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Vice. But Melissa and I are truly in love.”
“If you’re in love, shouldn’t you have properly greeted us? Suddenly taking our princess away… I was so sad!”
“That… I’m sorry.”
“Oh, honey. It wasn’t sudden, was it? Melissa had already been learning cooking and housework from me, preparing to be taken by Rent, even before Rent took her.”
“Kuhk. I thought my daughter was just trying to cook something for her dad!”
“You really are a fool for your daughter… Oh, right, Melissa. How was Peldan? Are you doing well?”
“Yeah, Mom. I’m working as a waitress at the Adventurer’s Guild in Peldan.”
At Melissa’s words, Uncle Vice shouted loudly.
“What?! A waitress?! No way! Our princess can’t do such a thing!”
“No, Dad, why?”
“Adventurers… adventurers are bound to be full of vigor and lust! I can’t forgive our beautiful Melissa working as a waitress in a den full of such guys!”
“It’s okay, don’t worry. Rent is so famous that everyone already knows I’m Rent’s girl. No one would dare touch me because they’re scared of Rent.”
“Oh my, is Rent that famous?”
“Yeah. If you’re talking about the strongest person in Peldan, everyone would say it’s Rent.”
“Oh my, oh my. Our daughter is head over heels for Rent?”
It seems Aunt Telisha thinks Melissa is saying these things because she’s smitten.
“Ah, even… even so, won’t you come back home, Melissa? Huh?”
“I don’t want to. I’ve already decided to marry Rent.”
At Melissa’s words, Vice clutched his chest, looking utterly shocked.
“Ma, ma, ma, marriage…!!! Re, Rent…!!!”
Oh, Uncle Vice is glaring at me with eyes that could devour a person.
Conversely, Aunt Melissa looked at Melissa, very pleased.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my! Really, Melissa? You’re going to marry Rent?”
“Yeah. Not yet, but someday I will. Right now, Rent is busy working as an adventurer.”
“No!!! No, no! Even if Philip says Rent makes a lot of money, it’s no good! No matter how much money he makes, adventurers spend a lot on equipment and other things!
I can’t entrust our princess to Rent, who has such a job!”
Uncle Vice seems very worried about my financial situation.
Well, it’s true that adventurers spend a lot of the money they earn on equipment.
It was hard to dismiss Uncle Vice’s concerns as unreasonable.
Then, let’s prove my wealth here.
It’s perfect timing since I was planning to give Aunt Telisha and Uncle Vice, who will become my parents, an allowance as an apology for suddenly taking Melissa away.
“Um… Aunt Melissa, Uncle Vice, please accept this.”
I took out two money pouches from my inventory and placed them on the table.
“Oh my, what is this?”
“Well… since Aunt Telisha and Uncle Vice will eventually become my parents, this is an allowance for now…”
“Oh my, honey, it’s an allowance.”
“A, are you already trying to call us Mom and Dad!? I, I can’t accept it! Just with this…”
Uncle Vice, getting angry, opened the money pouch with a huff.
“A few silver… huh? Th, th… there are silvers inside?”
Aunt Telisha, her eyes wide, also opened the pouch next to her.
“How much is all this?”
“There’s 1 gold in each pouch.”
“Wow! Honey, it’s 1 gold. That’s 2 gold in total. Rent seems very capable?”
“I, I can’t accept it! Do you think my love for my daughter will waver just because of 2 gold!”
“Ah, of course, that’s not all.”
I got up from my seat, moved a little away from the table, and took out the rest of the money pouches from my inventory.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, 198 money pouches poured out.
“Oh my!”
“What…!?”
“Including the two you’re holding, there are 200 in total.”
“T, total of 200…”
“T, 200 gold!?”
I brought 200 gold as an allowance for Aunt Telisha and Uncle Vice.
Originally, I wanted to bring only gold to make a big impact, but honestly, there’s no use for gold in our village.
Besides, 200 gold is easily earned by regularly collecting orc meat and selling the whole minotaur from the 10th floor to the guild.
Of course, not as much as me, but adventurers on the same 10th floor can easily earn 10 gold per person.
However, equipment repair and crafting cost several times that amount.
Really… the inflation based on adventurer prices is strange.
“Um… Rent? Are you, are you going to give all that money to Mom and Dad?”
“Huh? Of course.”
“Isn’t it… too much?”
“Hahaha, what are you talking about, Melissa? This much is easily earned if you go to a dungeon.”
“Really…?”
“Ah, Melissa didn’t know how much we earn?”
“I don’t know, usually, when Rent gets money, we just exchange it directly through the inventory.”
“Come to think of it, that’s true.”
“Re, Rent…”
Uncle Vice approached me with stiff, creaking movements.
At first, he was a little shaken by the 1 gold worth of silver, but he said he couldn’t entrust his daughter with just that.
That Uncle Vice grabbed my hands with both of his and said to me,
“Please take good care of our princess!”
“Yes, Uncle Vice.”
“You can call me Father!”
“Yes, Father.”
It seems that 200 gold was enough to reassure Uncle Vice’s heart.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my, our daughter has really caught a good fiancé?”
“Mom… I’m telling you, I didn’t choose Rent for his money?”
“Of course, I know. Oh, are you going to stay the night today?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
With this, I think I’ve properly received permission from Aunt Telisha and Uncle Vice.
“Ah, Father, Mother.”
“What is it, our son-in-law!”
“Oh my, oh my, Mother.”
“I’m sorry, but can I go home? I also have gifts for my parents…”
“Of course, you can! Oh my, our son-in-law is a man who earns money well and takes good care of his parents! Hahahaha! Ah, our princess will stay home, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll tell Mom how I’ve been in Peldan.”
“…Yeah. It’s been a month since I came home. I’ll stay for a bit. Rent, you can go first.”
“Okay. See you later, Melissa.”
I left Melissa’s house and went back to my own.
“Ah, Rent, you’re back early?”
“Where’s Melissa?”
“Melissa is at her house for now.”
“Well, it’s been a month since she came home, so she must have things to talk about with her parents.”
“Rent… did you talk well?”
“Yes. I talked properly and gave them an allowance, so they welcomed me as their son-in-law.”
“That’s bribery…”
“It’s a sincerity with all my heart. More importantly, how’s Mother?”
“She hasn’t woken up yet. And… Father is sitting next to her.”
I went into the master bedroom.
“Ugh, ughm…”
Just then, Mother started to regain consciousness.
“Ah, honey.”
“Mother.”
“You… ou, our son…”
Mother reached out her hand and gestured for me to bring my face closer.
“Mother, are you okay?”
When I asked about Mother’s well-being,
*Gwaaaak!*
Mother grabbed my ear and whispered in my ear.
“I trust our son, so I won’t say anything about how many women you make… but if you make even one of them cry, our son will die by my hands, got it?”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mother.”
As expected of our Mother.
She’s fiery.
“Oh my, how many times have I fainted because of our son.”
“I’m sorry, Mother.”
“Oh, it’s okay. It’s all because our son is too amazing that Mom was surprised. Come here, let’s hug once.”
“Okay.”
Pat, pat, Mother and I patted each other and hugged.
I think this kind of skinship with family is very important.
When I was five and feeling depressed, Mother often hugged me like this.
Each time, my depressed mood gradually improved.
After separating from Mother, I said to Mother and Father,
“Ah, Mother, Father, I bought you gifts.”
“Gifts? What kind of gifts? Ah, son. The allowance is enough now. No, it’s not that it’s enough, but can you give it to us again when we need it? Honestly, I’m grateful that our son gave us a lot of allowance, but we have nowhere to keep it. We can’t even use the money we have now.”
“Okay, Mother. And the gifts aren’t allowances. Can you get up?”
“It’s not because I’m sick, I just got a shock, so it’s okay.”
“Then come to the living room, Father too.”
I went to the living room with Mother and Father.
“…”
Ms. Tikia was staring at me intently.
“Huh? Why are you doing that, Ms. Tikia?”
When I asked, Ms. Tikia shook her head.
“No, I just… I thought Rent’s family was harmonious. It’s nice to see.”
“Hehehe.”
Hearing that from Ms. Tikia makes me smile.
“Soon, Ms. Tikia will be part of the same family, you know.”
“Eep! I, is that how it works?”
“Yes, Ms. Tikia, you’re going to marry me too.”
I knelt down and took Ms. Tikia’s hand and said,
“Let’s all build a close and happy family together in the future.”
Ms. Tikia’s face turned bright red.
Cute.
“U, uh! L, let’s do that! A, all together harmoniously… fa, family…”
“…Honey, our son is a pro at making moves.”
“It’s just like what you did to me when you were young. He makes a woman’s heart flutter in his natural state.”
“Huh? Did I do that?”
“You did. …That’s why it was so hard for me to keep my man from looking at other women.”
“Uhm? Did I? I only looked at you?”
“…You made me only look at you. So that my man wouldn’t look at other women.”
“Honey… you’re amazing…”
Uhm~ Just from the sound, I can clearly see Father looking at Mother with sparkling eyes.
“Hehe, Mother is really amazing.”
“Rent’s love offensive is hereditary. Maybe he got the cool parts from his mom?”
“I, I think I inherited good things.”
“Son! What are the gifts? Show them to us quickly!”
“Okay, Mother.”
I let go of Ms. Tikia’s hand and walked towards the table.
“First, I bought some food that Mother and Father like.”
I placed cream bread and cake on the table.
“So much cream bread!”
“Oh my, that cake looks delicious!”
Next, I took out the gifts for Father and Mother.
“And this is an axe for Father.”
“Ooh! The blade is sharp, so it’ll cut wood well!”
“And this is a necklace for Mother.”
“Oh my! It’s so pretty~! Thank you, my beautiful son!”
I’m glad that both Mother and Father seem to like the gifts very much.
“But what about this cake… it hasn’t been long since we ate breakfast… it’ll go bad if we leave it like this. Rent, why don’t you put it back for now?”
“Don’t worry about that, Mother. The last gift will solve everything.”
“The last gift?”
I walked to the kitchen, found a suitable place to put the refrigerator, and took out the refrigerator from my inventory and placed it in a good spot.
“Ta-da~ A refrigerator!”
I stretched out my arm and pointed at the refrigerator as I introduced it.
“Re… refrigerator!?”
Mother was very surprised.
“I, is that the refrigerator? The one that’s only in the city… the one that always has cold air inside, so it’s very good for preserving food…”
“Yes, Mother. That’s the refrigerator. Ah, I also brought a year’s worth of magic stones to use as fuel, I’ll take them out later.”
“Ah, son…”
Mother started to tremble.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Mother?”
And then Mother ran towards me and hugged me.
“Our son is the best! Oh my, my beautiful son!”
Not only did she hug me, but Mother also reached up high and stroked my head.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Mother this happy.
As expected, home appliances are the best gifts for housewives.
