Chapter 157 – Father and Son Reunion
Unable to call my stepmother stepmother, I temporarily retreated.
It was because I was reluctant to call a woman younger than me mother.
My family is not a family tree like some kind of aristocratic family.
Sitting in the only tavern in town from broad daylight, drinking only her beer in silence, Camilla, who was next to her, brought out her words.
“For now, why don’t we meet and talk to your father in person? We haven’t even talked to each other yet.”
Then Dorothea, who was by her side, grabbed her horse by the tail.
“Father?”
“Since you have a relationship like that with Kaldrash-sama, there doesn’t seem to be any problem with my title, right?”
“Why are you suddenly like this, everyone in the same situation.”
When Vanessa hurriedly intervened, the two ended a brief fight.
Meanwhile, Ozma, who was sitting across from her, sipped her milk and spoke to her.
“I also agree with Camilla’s opinion. It could be that your father couldn’t contact you because of unavoidable circumstances. Still, he’s the only son, so he couldn’t have invited you to his own wedding.”
“I don’t know. Maybe it was because I wanted a fresh start?”
“Dorotea, you’d better keep your mouth shut.”
As Ozma looked at her with her stern eyes, Dorothea turned her head away, sticking out her tongue.
I listened to the conversation between the four people and came to a conclusion.
“Okay. I’ve decided.”
“Oh? Finally?”
She said as if she was glad to see Dorothea, who had a bored expression on her face.
I nodded and put down the finished beer glass.
“First of all, father, I need to meet that person. I’ll have him tell you what the hell happened while I was gone.”
“Well thought of. Nothing would have been solved if I had been drinking here like this.”
Ozma said that and patted me on the shoulder, then she winked at the others.
Then, everyone packed their things and got up.
I said that I would pay for a while and then headed to the store counter.
“It’s three silvers in total.”
I paid for cheap alcohol and food like a rural waterfront, and when I tried to go out wearing a bowler hat that I had taken off, the owner of the store flinched and spoke out.
“Could it be Kaldrash?”
I stopped walking when I heard that.
“Who are you?”
Then the shopkeeper hurriedly took off the hood he was wearing and pointed at himself with his thumb.
“It’s me, me! Timmy! I used to play with you when I was a kid!”
“…Ahhh!”
I just remembered
He was weak when he was young, so he lived with herbs in his mouth every day.
I didn’t recognize him at first because he looked completely different from when I was younger, but I remember seeing his eyes.
I asked, shaking hands with him.
“What happened? My body has become very strong.”
Then Timmy scratched the back of her head as if she was embarrassed.
“It was about two years after you left town. A famous priest passing by treated me for my illness. After that, I worked hard and became what I am today.”
As Timmy said, she showed off her gnarled muscles.
My stomach came out a little, but the rice cake stand was no joke, so I felt like I could beat a bear with my bare hands.
“That’s right, Kaldrash, you’re not old at all. Who’s going to see you in your 30s? Is it because you live on good things in the capital?”
I waved my hand at his praise.
“Hey, hey, don’t say that. I heard you from a village kid earlier.”
Actually, I did this with words, but I felt better inside.
It seemed more like that right after hearing the title of uncle for the second time in a row.
“Did you come to see Mr. Schneizel?
“Father?”
“Uh. You always boasted a lot about yourself. Well, now everyone seems to be like that, but I mean.”
Timmy said that with her wry smile, then put her thick arm around her waist.
“Still, it’s nice to see you after a long time. How many years have you been coming to the village?”
“Uh… About five years?”
“I should have heard it a little when I came before. If I did, I would have done better.”
“Well…I usually eat and drink at home when I return to my hometown.”
I didn’t know what to do with Timmy’s favor, who was more than happy to see me.
In fact, it was because I completely forgot about it until the story came out.
In the capital, I was always cursed at wherever I went, but seeing people welcoming me as my hometown made me feel better.
After I told him I would come again tomorrow, I left the bar with the four people waiting in the back.
“Kaldrasch, you had a friend too.”
Said Dorothea, putting her hands in the pockets of her robes.
I pouted her lips when I heard that.
“Hey, it’s not like I only have enemies everywhere, right?”
“There’s no one in the capital.”
“That’s… Right.”
I couldn’t resist and agreed.
In the past, human relationships were quite narrow, so there were few people to open up to except for Master.
At best, I could call the guys I met on the battlefield comrades, but most of them would die the next day after waking up.
In the Mage Tower, the distribution was so high that no one came to talk to him comfortably.
Even so, there were more people who were jealous that I had grown to greatness at a young age.
It’s also something to think about when people are too good.
We were about to get back into the carriage we had parked in front of the tavern for a while, but for some reason, three or four guys who seemed to be village youths were hanging around the carriage.
The guys turned their heads towards me, probably feeling the presence.
“Mister, is this carriage man’s?”
“Can’t we just try one ride?”
These guys look bad even at first glance.
“I don’t know why they’re playing thugs in a village like this, but if their parents find out, they’ll wail.”
“What? Are you talking to us now?”
Ah mistake. Thoughts came out of my mouth.
Three or four village youths surrounding the wagon abruptly stood up.
“If you’re an outsider, you’ll stay calm like an outsider and then leave. I don’t know what you believe in and act like that.”
The guy standing in the front muttered that and clenched his fists.
Oh, did these guys think I was an outsider?
I gestured to the four people behind me not to step forward.
Then, everyone backed away.
Their eyes instantly turned to my women, but I interrupted them and said,
“I’ll correct your misunderstandings for now.”
Spread your fingers one by one.
“First, I’m not an outsider.”
“Second, what I said is objectively true.”
“And third, most important, I’m not a mister.”
Right after that, I flicked my palms at the fussing guys.
“If you twist it, you will attack.”
***
Needless to say, the fight ended trivially.
“So, where is your house?”
When I asked while sitting on the floor like a cushion, the guy who talked back first answered with a creeping voice.
“…A watermill.”
“Ah, you know the uncle of the house. The guy who was snotty when I left town has grown up and started running around like a gangster.”
“No! I didn’t mean to be a gangster! Yo.”
As I stared at him, thug 1, who hurriedly turned to honorifics, looked up at me with an expression of regret.
“Ehh, don’t you show your face? One, two…”
“I’ll do it! I opened it!”
“It’s because my brother has been through it all. Even if he was young and carried around like this, there’s nothing good about being old. You know that it only takes a moment for rumors to spread in this small town?”
Vanessa, who was listening to my story from the side, asked with an innocent face.
“What is Gao?”
“Uh… You’re putting strength on your shoulders?”
“Aha.”
Thanks to that, the story derailed for a while, but I didn’t forget to cheer up the guys under the butt.
“There! My arm is weak! Aren’t you doing it straight!”
It was then.
“No, who the hell are you!”
People who seemed to be the parents of these guys came from far away.
It was definitely something I overlooked.
Rumors spread quickly as the village is small, but I did not expect that I would throw away my work and run to pick up my children.
“Mom!”
“Oh! My baby!”
The guys who were being cheered by me hurriedly ran, as if they wanted to stop now.
It was embarrassing to see that, but I was going to quit anyway, so I decided to leave it alone.
I flinched as if the son of the watermill beneath me wanted to run away, but unfortunately I had no intention of letting him go.
If you go, who will do my chair?
I said, crossing my legs leisurely.
“I was disciplining you a little harshly because your sons were playing with someone else’s carriage.”
Then, the parents who wrapped their son around said in anger.
“How much did that wagon…”
Pointing at the wagon next to the tavern, the tone suddenly became polite.
Probably because it looks expensive.
I said it in plain language.
“If it’s damaged, I can’t fix it even if I sell my house.”
Then the parents who defended their children looked at their children with ax eyes.
“This bastard! He didn’t work and went out to play whenever he had free time, and then decided to eat the whole house!”
“Apa! Apa! Mom!”
I watched with satisfaction as they were smashed in the back by their parents, then got up from the biopsy chair.
Then the guy below looked up at me.
It seems that he has learned what will happen if he doesn’t take my permission.
I put my hands in my pants pockets and said with a chin gesture.
“Go.”
Then he got up in a hurry, and bowed down on his back, not even thinking of brushing the dirt off his clothes.
“Thank you!”
Ah! I rehabilitated three stray lambs today too!
It was a time when he was congratulating himself saying he had done a good deed for the first time in a while.
“Kaldrash? What are you doing there?”
“Father?”
My father, whom I thought was somewhere in the village, suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
