Chapter 283. Third Season (8)
“Shim-nim, are you okay!?”
When I came back to the mansion all tattered from breaking through the 81st floor, I was caught by Sumire.
“Ah, Sumire, this is… Mm, I just had a pretty long fight.”
“You look tired. Please wash up and sleep.”
“Yeah, I will.”
I retorted half-heartedly and wondered why Sumire was out in the garden. Before I could continue my thoughts, however, Sumire clapped her hands and asked.
“Would you like me to wash your back? I often did it when my father was still alive.”
“I’ll have to refuse. For the record, don’t do that to a man unless you plan on marrying him.”
“Yes…?”
Hm? Don’t tell me Sumire was treating me like I was her father? Rather than that, Sumire’s father made a grown up girl wash his back!? I fell into stupor. At the same time, I saw a piece of the garden land flipped over from the corner of my eyes. No, it wasn’t just flipped over. Since there were some plants growing on it, it looked like someone was growing some vegetables.
When Sumire saw what I was looking at, she smiled sweetly.
“Ah, those things. You see, vegetables from the Residential Area don’t grow well on Earth. But when I tried growing them here, they magically grew well. Isn’t the dungeon amazing?”
I immediately thought back to Iana and Pookie, the two corpses fermented by the elementals in the garden. It was likely Marianne’s Garden being special rather than the dungeon itself, but I didn’t tell Sumire my thoughts. I figured she wouldn’t need to go into other mansions or residences of the Residential Area.
I also just realized that Sumire was wearing a comfortable clothes, an ap.r.o.n, and a pair of work gloves stained with dirt. Among the guild members, she was probably the most family-oriented girl.
I don’t think Hwaya would be the type to do something like this, and Ye-Eun confidently said she was good at cooking ramen, which meant she wasn’t good at cooking anything else. Only Ludia, who helped Mother with ch.o.r.es around the house, had the potential to surpa.s.s her. Still, to think Sumire was growing vegetables here… I spoke with a bitter smile.
“You could just buy them.”
“Hehe, I’m just taking care of them whenever I’m taking a break from training. I don’t plan on climbing the dungeon until I learn the technique Shin-nim taught me.”
“Why?”
“Erm… It’s a bit embarra.s.sing, but after I saw Shin-nim’s spear attack, I subconsciously kept trying to use it whenever I held a spear. I figured it was better to climb the dungeon after I learned it to a usable level. I became a First Dungeon explorer, after all.”
“Ah, right, Sumire entered the First Dungeon too.”
“Yes, it’s been a bit under a month!”
… I only showed it to her once. Did it get stuck in her mind? If she wasn’t talented, I might have scolded myself for stunting her growth, but Sumire was a genius even amongst all the geniuses I’ve seen, so I probably didn’t need to worry. I believed she would learn this technique even quicker than I imagined. With that in mind, there was only one thing I could do to help her.
“Do you want to spar after I take a shower? I have to impart Peruta Circuit to you in the afternoon, so it’s a good opportunity.”
“Yes! Ah, n-no… Shin-nim should rest. We can spar afterwards…”
“I’ll be fine once I take a bath. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Yes, yes!”
She didn’t refuse a second time. With a grin, I waved my hand and headed to the bath. The grand bathroom on the first floor was big enough be a public bath from Rome. Although it wasn’t used often, it was the best place to relieve fatigue after a tiring day. After walking to the men’s bath, I realized there was another visitor. It was Father.
“Oh, you’re back? It took a while this time.”
“Father, I’ll chase you out if you fart in the bath.”
“Is that the first thing you say to your father?”
“Can you blame me with how many times I suffered from it?”
I threw a bucket of hot water over me and stepped into the hot bath. Father retorted as he snickered.
“Don’t worry, my body isn’t what it used to be. I can control most physiological phenomenon.”
“Ah.”
With what he said, I scanned over Father’s body. He always had a tough build and his face was always younger than he actually was. Looking at him now, however, he didn’t just look younger. He was practically a handsome man in his mid-30’s!
“… Did you remold your body or something, Father?”
“Hmph, I only made a slight breakthrough in my spearmanship.”
I flinched. I remembered the moment I mastered Peruta Circuit when my body broke down once and reforged itself. Just in case, I asked him.
“Father, did your body break down and reappear, or anything like that?”
“Mm, no, not really.”
This time, Father flinched. His leisurely face had a slight tension to it.
“I did feel my body being renewed. It felt like my mind was clearing up, and I had an epiphany or some sort. I felt like I finally understood what mana was and the nature of the power I had. But you… Your body broke down?”
“Maybe that was because I learned Peruta Circuit.”
“Hmm.”
Father really hated losing to his son. What he said next made me blank out for a moment.
“Are you going to teach it to your mom?”
“Huh?”
“Your mom. Shouldn’t you teach her something? Even if she doesn’t become an explorer.”
After blanking out a bit longer, I shook my head.
“Peruta Circuit isn’t that easy to learn. Still, it’ll be nice to teach her a mana cultivation method. I think you should teach her yours.”
At the same time, I fell in thought. I neglected Mother recently, and with everything that’s going on with the dungeon, Earth, monsters, and demons, the number of times I saw her could be counted on one hand. I felt sorry, then I felt relieved that Father was so devoted to Mother.
How enticing was the dungeon? If you were skilled, beautiful female explorers lined up to receive your help. With Father’s skill, even if he had a face that would make an orc call him elder brother, there would still be explorers that would jump at him. Mother was also a beauty when she was young, but compared to the dungeon where beauties of all races gathered…
“You see, this woman keeps scolding me for eating good things by myself.”
“Rather than waiting for Mother to get younger by mastering a mana cultivation method, it’ll probably be quicker to bring her items that do that.”
“I doubt items that make you younger are common. Don’t say such absurd things.’
I could understand how Mother would feel excluded. Other than her, everyone in the family became dungeon explorers. Now that her husband suddenly looked much younger, even I felt a bit guilty.
“I’ll try to look for it too, Father. If I have time while saving the world, that is.”
“You might as well just say I should solve it on my own.”
Father slapped the surface of the water, creating a vibration that shot a water bullet towards me. I put the tip of my hand underwater and created a small whirlpool to block it. It was a playful water fight between a father and a son, but if an ordinary person was. .h.i.t by that bullet, he would most certainly die.
“Shin, I heard you’re here. There’s something I need to tell you!”
At that moment, someone rushed into the bath. The only person who would call me like this was Hwaya. Even knowing that I was in the bath, she barged in confidently and stared at me brazenly. Thankfully, both Father and I had our underparts covered. When she saw that Father was here, she made a face that easily read ‘what a shame.’
“Oh, Ajusshi was here too.”
“Can’t you act more embarra.s.sed? Actually, don’t come in here! Can’t you just send a message!?”
“Why would I do that? We’re in the same house, so isn’t it better to talk face to face? It’s not like you and Ajusshi are naked.”
With Hwaya acting shameless, I became lost for words. While I was thinking hard about what to say, Hwaya stuck out her tongue and continued.
“Sorry, my bad, I didn’t think Ajusshi was here too. I’ll apologize. I’m sorry, Ajusshi.”
“It’s fine, Hwaya. Like you said, it’s not like I’m naked. Plus, you’ll be my daughter soon anyways.”
“Hehe, I knew Ajusshi was on my side! I’ll serve you well later!”
Dear G.o.d, Father was already compromised! When I sighed with my hand on my forehead, she apologized to me again and added.
“I thought it was the perfect chance to take you out and I ended up being let down, so aren’t we even?”
This woman just revealed her intention of trying to attack a son in front of his father.
“Father, she’s like this.”
“Isn’t it wonderful? Your mother keeps saying she wants to see her grandson, and I’m perfectly fine if it’s Hwaya. I feel a bit bad about Ludia, but can’t you take them both? There’s a huge decrease in population because of monsters, so you should do your best.”
Since when did Father and Mother become so progressive? Or was I just too conservative? I first gestured at Hwaya to go… No, go out, not come in!
“I was kidding. I really just ran in because I was in a hurry.”
“If you really were in a hurry, you could have just messaged me…”
Hwaya whistled and avoided my gaze. So she was in a hurry but had other intentions too? Trying to achieve two goals with one move, a true tactician! Since she was cute, I forgave her.
“If you don’t plan on leaving, just tell me what you came for.”
“Right, we found another king. Including an SS rank ability user we made into an explorer, a total of 150 people went missing. The succubi managed to capture a video they barely sent.”
d.a.m.n, can’t I relax and take a bath!? I shot up and shouted.
“If that’s what happened, say it earlier!”
“I told you I was in a hurry… Oh, how nice.”
Nice my a.s.s! … was what I was going to yell, but I realized that my lower body felt breezy. Although my body was tougher than steel, the towel wrapped around my waist wasn’t, and it couldn’t hold its position against my abrupt movement.
“W-What…”
After realizing what happened, I sat back down and shouted.
“Kyaaaaaak!”
“… Shin, that’s the wrong reaction.”
Hwaya added as she continued to stare at me fixedly. I didn’t think that was the correct reaction either. But hey, can you look away!?
In the end, another 5 minutes pa.s.sed before I put my clothes back on and returned to Earth.