Chapter 158 – Clearing Up Misunderstandings
My father’s name is Schneizel.
After his mother died, he raised me alone and was a single father for quite a long time.
Although he wasn’t a rich farmer, he owned enough land to live on while farming, so there was no problem for his father and me to live by relying on each other.
After living like that for 15 years, I was scouted by a master who happened to be passing by, and I was scouted to the Magic Tower, and I lived alone in the village.
The last time I saw my father was when he made a big contribution in the man-horse war and received the title of a magic knight, so it was already five years ago.
In fact, my father was also a man, and there was no such thing as a prostitute in the village, so it was understandable that he would pick up a cage in his old age.
However, what I felt regretful about was that he did not inform me, his son, of this fact.
And if there is one more uncomfortable thing, it must be that my stepmom looks younger than me no matter how I look at it.
While I was tending to the village delinquents in front of Timmy’s bar, I was momentarily at a loss for words when I saw my father, whom I had met unexpectedly.
However, I was relieved to see the correct appearance that was not much different from the father in my memory.
“Long time no see.”
When I said that and spread out my hands, my father looked at me with the expression, ‘Why is he like this all of a sudden?’, Then hesitantly approached and gave me a hug.
I held my father tightly and let him go.
My father asked with a puzzled expression, whether it was because he was unfamiliar with my behavior.
“Did you eat something wrong? Or, did you do something wrong?”
“It’s not really like that. It’s been a while since I met you, so my unfilial child expressed affection.”
I am now 30 years old, and my father has become an old man by the average life expectancy in this world.
To be honest, I think it’s only a few years away.
Unlike me, a famous wizard, my father is an ordinary human being.
Soon, my father looked at me and asked.
“So, why did you come back to your hometown all of a sudden? Without any contact.”
“I took a long vacation. So I came here to take a break to show off my future daughters-in-law.”
“…What? Daughters-in-law?”
My father listened to me and looked at the group behind me.
Then he said each one in turn.
“It’s true.”
“Concubine 1.”
“Concubine 2.”
“Concubine 3.”
“I am the master’s maid.”
As each of the beauties with outstanding looks introduced themselves in turn, the father widened his eyes.
“Are you going to marry all these people?”
I shrugged and said.
“Because I’m a bit popular.”
Then Dorothea muttered annoyedly.
“I can’t curse because it’s true.”
Vanessa, who was next to her, said with a wry smile.
“Give up. There is a saying that the one who comes to like you loses.”
Camilla, who was quiet, decorates the end.
“It’s something I’ve been prepared for from the beginning, so it’s okay.”
Among them, the most dignified was only Ozma, who introduced himself as a legitimate wife.
“Nice to meet you, father. My name is Ozma Zoroaster, who will become my daughter-in-law. She is lacking in body, but please take care of me.”
“Yeah, yes.”
When Ozma, who looked noble even at first glance, greeted her while dressed as a man as usual, bowing slightly at the waist, her father nodded her head with a bewildered expression.
Then he came up to me and whispered in my ear.
“Are you sure you want to marry all these girls?”
“Then let’s fake marriage.”
As I stared at him in amazement, my father shut his mouth, looking as if he had a lot to say.
“Rather than that, we don’t stand here and talk, but go home and talk. People’s gazes are quite burdensome.”
I said that and looked around.
As befits a rural village where most people know each other just one house away, there were a lot of villagers who came to see us, as if rumors had spread before we knew it.
Apparently, the women in my house are beauties that are hard to find in rural villages, and there were quite a few people who came to see me educating village bullies in real time.
My father nodded as if he understood what I was saying.
After telling Ozma and the others to get into the carriage, I climbed into the coachman’s seat.
Then he told his father.
“Then see you at home. I’ll be there first.”
Then, the father shouted with a puzzled expression.
“Wait! In a situation like this, I’ll have to take you with me!”
“There’s no room inside.”
In reality, there are six seats, so the seats are spacious, but I deliberately made the carriage go after saying that in order to make fun of my father.
Then the father in the back shouted urgently, “Hey! Take me too!”, But I pretended not to hear and whipped the horses’ buttocks.
It was obvious that the villagers would pour out questions to the father who was left alone, so there was a high probability that the return home would be quite late.
***
It was about an hour later that my father arrived home.
“Hey, hey, you heartless bastard.”
“If you come, open the door for me.”
I, who was sitting leaning against the carriage, said that and pointed at the door with my chin. My father sighed and opened the door with the key.
Ozma, Vanessa, Dorothea, Camilla, and Sophia hopped out of the carriage and followed their father into the house.
I was the last one to enter after chasing after them.
And as soon as we entered the house, we were involuntarily impressed by the well-decorated living room.
“Wow.”
The house was a typical two-story house.
However, the ceiling was incredibly high, so it felt more open than a typical home.
The cute decorations, presumably the workmanship of a person presumed to be a stepmother, and warm-colored wooden furniture spurred the cozy atmosphere.
“The house is nice.”
If Dorothea, who is usually picky in many ways, says this, it is as if the game is over.
Father said, scratching the back of his head as if embarrassed.
“I’m glad you like it.”
At this point, I decided to ask a question that I was very curious about.
“Father, where did you get the money to build this house?”
Then his father tilted his head as his father said.
“It’s made with the money you sent me.”
“Although I gave them a little more money, it wasn’t enough to build a new luxurious house like this.”
Then the father tilted his head and said.
“Don’t you remember? The land document you sent me about three years ago.”
“Yes? Land documents?”
And 3 years ago?
It was a first-of-its-kind fact, but I realized that something was putting the puzzle together.
It seems that the father also felt strange.
“Documents from the apple farm near the village, didn’t you send them?”
I shook my head.
“At that time, I was not in the capital because of a long-term mission. Instead, I left my property with Master.”
It seemed that Master bought the land from his father and sent it to me without telling me.
“But what does that apple farm have to do with my father being the richest man in town?”
Then my father said, avoiding my gaze.
“The war was completely over, and land prices rose a lot.”
Indeed. It’s just that the apple coin went bad.
He always had to keep in mind the battle with the demons, so it seems that he was referring to the fact that the price of lands outside the kingdom that were not very popular increased after being conquered by the demons.
Is this why real estate speculation is also called timing?
“Anyway, I thought it would be difficult to run an apple farm when I was old, so I used the money I sold to build a new house.”
“…Well done.”
If it had been held up, it would have returned to its original price as the real estate bubble burst, but it seemed to be out of the bull market at the right time.
In this part, I might rather praise my father’s judgment.
I decided to ask my father another question.
“You went to the cage more than that, but why didn’t you contact me?”
Hearing that, my father put on an unfair expression.
“You didn’t come.”
“Me? When?”
I haven’t been contacted, so how can I attend?
But my father, on the contrary, pressed me as if he had something to say.
“No matter how busy you are, can you not come to your one and only father’s wedding? To be honest, I’m sorry.”
“When was the wedding again?”
“It’s been about three years now.”
“Because I wasn’t in the capital then.”
“Ah.”
A father whose expression is belatedly enlightened.
It seems that the situation was bound to be misunderstood in many ways.
I felt that fact all over again.
“That’s right, if I had come down to my hometown frequently, this wouldn’t have happened!”
“Why are you getting angry all of a sudden! Didn’t you come because you didn’t want to come! They didn’t give you a vacation from above! Vacation!”
When I shouted that, Ozma suddenly averted his gaze with a grim expression.
Come to think of it, the only person above me right now is Ozma.
It was when I was belatedly trying to rectify my mistake.
Rattle!
“Honey? Do you have guests?”
Finally, the stepmother in question appeared.
