Chapter 339 – The Power Of Friendship
◈
It was dinner time, so I stopped by Melissa’s house.
“Sorry, Rent. We’re having a family dinner tonight.”
“Okay. Then, enjoy your meal with your mother and father.”
“Yeah. Oh, and this.”
Melissa handed me a piece of paper.
Looking at it, there were various titles that seemed to be romance novels listed.
“They asked me to buy these next time… Of course, if you don’t want to, I’ll refuse tomorrow.”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Rather, it’s more beneficial here to bring the books next time and raise the village women’s opinion of me.
I left Melissa’s house and went into my own.
“Son! Oh, oh, oh, you brought the Orc Champion steak!”
“Yeah, I thought Mom and Dad would want it for dinner.”
“Oh my, my sweet son!”
Mom hugged me, delighted.
“I’m so sorry, even though I wanted to give our son and daughters-in-law something delicious, all I can make is soup with lots of meat…”
“No, Mom. I love the meat soup you make.”
“Oh, Mother, we, we also love the soup you make.”
“That’s right, the simple, rich meat flavor is so delicious.”
“It’s also great for moving around at night♡”
Elsie, Noah, and Ninya, who had eaten Mom’s meat soup before, told her not to worry.
By the way, Tikia, who hadn’t tried it, was quietly waiting.
Like before, I used my mana weapon to create a table and placed the Orc Champion steak on it.
Mom had bought chairs beforehand, so we used those.
And then we had dinner.
Mom and Dad had very happy expressions every time they took a bite of the Orc Champion steak, which they hadn’t had in a long time.
“Ah, delicious!”
Tikia also seemed to like the meat soup Mom made.
“The vegetables are cut into easy-to-eat sizes, and the meat itself is well-infused into the soup… Mother, you’re a good cook.”
Is it because Tikia had to take care of her old master that she also knows how to do housework?
She didn’t just evaluate the taste but also praised the cooking skills.
Normally, Mom would have been happy with Tikia’s praise, but right now, she was too busy eating the Orc Champion steak.
After dinner…
“Son…”
Dad gave me a look.
He probably wants to have some intimate time with Mom, like last time.
…But it’s really surprising that I didn’t get a sibling from last time.
Could it really happen this time?
As I was thinking that, Ninya whispered to me.
“Rent♡ I engraved a Yin Rune on your mother.”
Ninya?!
Well, if Mom has a Yin Rune, she doesn’t have to worry about having a late child, and the effects of the Yin Rune are good for women, so it’s good to engrave it…
As a child, it feels a bit awkward that Mom has a Yin Rune.
But that’s that, and this is this.
If I don’t have to worry about Mom having a sibling…
I can give this to Dad without worry.
“Dad, take this.”
“…Huh? What is this, son?”
From my inventory, I took out the gift from Mr. Kelban that made me go berserk.
That’s right.
It’s the Minotaur’s stamina booster.
“Stamina booster.”
“S-Stamina booster?”
“Yeah, it’s super effective. I’ll give it to you, Dad.”
I don’t need it anyway, and if I use it, I’ll go berserk.
If that’s the case, it would be good to use it to strengthen the bond between Dad and Mom.
“Just take one, Dad, the effect is really strong.”
“O-Okay. Th-Thank you, son.”
And we immediately left the house.
I guess in a few minutes, the squeaking sounds will be heard outside?
As a child, I don’t want to hear those sounds, so we immediately returned to Sima’s Inn.
At Sima’s Inn, the village men and kids my age were gathered, drinking.
“Oh? It’s Rent! Hey, come here!”
Dave, who was drinking, waved at me.
“Dave, what are you doing?”
“Hic! What else! Drinking!”
“What about the store?”
“You know we don’t open the store at this time anyway? Today’s a good day, so I came to drink with my dad. Ah, my dad is over there drinking with the other men.”
“It’s strangely crowded today.”
“Well, it’s because you bought a refrigerator, Rent? Everyone’s excited about that and drinking happily!”
“Of course, it’s not just that… Ugh!”
Dave covered the mouth of another boy who was about to say something.
“Hahaha, Rent’s lovers are here, so you have to be careful, right? Huh?”
Nod nod.
It seems that the reason the boys and Dave gathered, besides the older men, is because I brought the Miss Solario.
“Huh? Did Rent bring something else?”
When Noah asked, Dave desperately shook his hands, denying it.
“Ahahaha! No! It’s nothing!”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
“Well, whatever! Rent! Let’s drink too!”
“We just ate?”
“Hehehe, an adventurer who moves their body can’t be that full, right? Ninya, Elsie… Tikia, are you okay with it too?”
Elsie and Ninya nodded at Noah’s words, but Tikia had a sulky expression.
“I don’t really like alcohol…”
“Huh? Why?”
“It tastes bad. And…”
“And?”
“I hate being drunk. I hate being in a state where I’m drunk. Every time my master came back drunk, I had to deal with his drunken behavior… Ugh.”
It seems that she has a negative feeling towards alcohol because she had to take care of her drunken master.
“But since we’re here, let’s drink~ …Don’t you want to see Rent drunk?”
“D-Drunk Rent?”
“Yeah. When Rent is drunk~ he seems like he’d be super clingy and cute, right?”
Noah… you know I don’t get drunk…
Of course, Noah didn’t lie.
Noah only used the word “seem,” which is an assumption.
She didn’t confirm it, so it’s not a lie.
And Tikia fell for that lie.
“…I, I’ll only drink a little?”
“Yeah, yeah! It’s important that we’re together!”
We also sat down and ordered drinks.
Our table was close to the one where Dave was sitting.
While we were waiting for the drinks and snacks, Sima brought the snacks to where Dave was.
“D-Dave… H-Here are your snacks…”
“Oh… U-Uh. Sima. Thank you.”
Sima was her usual self, but Dave’s attitude towards Sima had changed a bit.
Gulp.
Dave swallowed once and then said to Sima.
“Sima.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Now that I see it… that hairstyle suits you.”
“Oh? R-Really?”
“Yeah. I… I think you’re pretty.”
“I-Is that so? I-I see… Th-Thank you…”
There seems to be a sweet atmosphere between Sima and Dave.
Good, Dave.
Keep closing the distance with Sima.
Sima had to serve other tables, so she moved away, and Dave stared blankly at her back.
And the boys sitting at the same table as Dave started whispering.
“He’s finally trying to make progress.”
“Now? Wow, I feel sorry for Sima.”
“Hey, it’s better than nothing.”
As expected, everyone except them knows that Sima likes Dave.
“…That Dave guy is more of a blockhead than I imagined. In my school days, most of the guys and girls were just openly asking, ‘Will you go out with me?’ ‘I like you!’ so someone like him is refreshing.”
“How bad was the atmosphere at the magic academy Tikia went to?”
“I heard later that it was the worst in the history of the academy. Well… as long as your magic scores were good, they wouldn’t bother you unless you caused a big accident.”
“Hehe, but~ won’t Tikia be living a more promiscuous life than the kids she met in school? You did it together yesterday, right?”
“Th-That’s… Ugh… Thinking about it, even though I cheated, those guys never did a 3P… I, I’ve somehow done worse things than those guys!”
“Hahaha, well~ as long as you both agree and love each other, right?”
“Haa! Y-Yes. Tikia. You, you don’t have to worry too much…”
After that, we continued our conversation while drinking the alcohol and snacks that Sima brought.
We talked about our impressions of the monsters on each floor, the thrill Noah felt when sparring with me, and how surprised Tikia was when she first saw me using magic search.
In the middle of it, when Tikia was about to talk about her school life during her Dark Side days, Ninya read the atmosphere and started talking about her solo days.
While we were having various conversations, I had a question.
“By the way, what are you all going to do about clothes? I didn’t put any pajamas in my inventory this time.”
“Don’t worry about that, Rent. I put them in Tikia’s inventory.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Yeah. It’s easier to leave the pajamas with Tikia, who’s also a woman.”
Well, that’s true.
Even if we’re lovers, it might be a little embarrassing to leave pajamas with me.
While I was thinking that, Ninya said with a sly smile.
“Besides, I can also leave sexy clothes… I can surprise Rent later, right?”
Th-That’s a brilliant idea!
If I had them, I would know the contents, so it would reduce the fun of surprising me for my lovers.
Since Tikia, who has an inventory, is here, I don’t know what clothes my lovers will wear at night.
One more unknown pleasure has been added.
“Well… it’s just a costume, so it’s okay to put them in. But my inventory isn’t a closet, so don’t leave too much.”
Tikia and Noah are looking at Ninya with slightly disgusted expressions.
“Hehe♡ I’m sorry this morning, Tikia~ I was just excited at the thought of surprising Rent~.”
“Anyway, most of the luggage is in Rent’s inventory, so isn’t it okay?”
“There’s a limit, you know. At least like Elsie…”
“T-Tikia!”
“Ah, sorry.”
Like Elsie?
I didn’t fully understand what they were talking about… but at least I could guess that Elsie had left at least one costume with Tikia.
Hmm… I wonder what kind of outfit Elsie will wear? I’m very excited!
◈
Two hours later.
“Ahahahahaha! Look! This is my magic show!”
Tikia, who was wearing a pretty dress, was standing on the table, waving a staff she had taken out of her inventory, and performing magic tricks.
The genius magic girl Tikia could manipulate mana and give it attributes without chanting spells if the power was weak.
She created fire birds and water dragons, and Tikia performed tricks.
“Woooah! Amazing!”
“Miss, you’re amazing!”
“More! Show us more!”
“Uwahahahahaha!!! You see how amazing I am? Okay! I’m in a good mood! This time, it’s an electric dragon!”
“Woooooooah!!!”
The pub on the first floor had completely turned into Tikia’s stage.
Tikia’s cheeks were very red.
She was completely drunk.
Is it because the restrictions on her desire to be praised were lifted after drinking?
Every time people praised her, Tikia got more excited and showed off her magic.
“More! More!”
“Yay~ Tikia is cool~ pretty~♪”
“Ahahahahahaha! Thank you! Thank you!”
Noah and Ninya, who were also drunk and in high spirits, were encouraging her.
“Ah, ahaha… Rent… shouldn’t we stop her a little?”
Elsie, who had only drunk a little and wasn’t very drunk, said to me with an awkward smile.
“She looks like she’s having fun, so let’s leave her be. If it seems too much, I’ll stop her. For now, let’s enjoy Tikia’s magic show.”
“Yes.”
“Rent! Come here! I’m running out of mana!”
“Yes, Tikia.”
When I approached Tikia, she puffed out her cheeks.
Why?
“Rent! Turn around and lower your head! Guide me to a higher place!”
Ah, she wants me to give her a piggyback ride.
When I gave her a piggyback ride, Tikia put her hand on the top of my head and absorbed my mana.
“Uwahahahaha! Everything is lower than me! Lower! Uwahaha! I will show mercy to you lowlifes! It’s the battle of the Water Dragon and the Phoenix!”
“Woooooooooooooooah!!!”
Tikia went a little berserk, but as a result, everyone was happy, so that’s good.
