Chapter 48 – Riri

“Sue has been behaving aggressively since John had gone missing. She would lash out at anyone, even for simple things. That’s why she blamed you that day…” Richard made a sad wry smile.

He added, “But ever since you have been visiting and talking to her, she seems to have calmed down a lot. Maybe she sees her son in you… so...”

Jack understood where he was going, so he nodded, “I understand, Mr. Richard. I will make sure to visit her frequently until I am here.”

Richard smiled and deeply nodded, “Thank you! I will be indebted to you in that case!”

“Haha, what are you saying, Mr. Richard? I should at least do that much for my friend’s mother, right?” Jack said.

And Richard smiled, “Then I will leave her in your care.”

Poor Richard, how would he know that he had invited the wolf in sheep’s den? Jack’s imagination had already gone out of control as he thought about how he can properly take care of Sue.

Then again, perhaps the sheep in the den is also a bitch in sheep’s clothing?

…

The path to the adventurer’s guild was clean and paved. The market line had already started from a few hundred meters away. Restaurants, inns, bars, weapon shops, and food stalls crowded the place.

The rushing, drinking, and eating adventurers made the atmosphere bustling. They start their job early in the morning and aim for returning before lunchtime.

And on this crowded path walked two figures, hand in hand, receiving various gazes from the surroundings. The third figure present didn’t actually walk, for she was in the arms of the tallest figure among them.

Miti had already gotten tired of walking, so she enjoyed the bigger view of the surroundings from above in Jack’s arms. As they made their way to the guild, many adventurers greeted them. And to Jack’s surprise, many among them greeted the two fluffs as well.

Even when they entered the guild, the attendants acted familiarly as they fawned over them. Though, the fluffs puckered up their faces in annoyance as their cheeks got pulled and played.

So Jack rescued them as he asked the attendants, “Has guild master arrived?” To which, the attendants nodded in affirmation, so they directly headed towards the office on the second floor.

Jack came to know from the two fluffs that they occasionally come here with their mother. Since Susy is a physician, she is affiliated with the guild. So she comes here in the evening to work for few hours, during which, she either leaves the two fluffs in Rita’s care or at her father’s home.

Jack knocked on the door and entered after getting permission. There he was, sitting behind the pile of papers. And Albert’s eyes shined seeing the two fluffs.

“Ho, it has been a while since you visited this poor man’s office,” Albert said with a big smile.

Milo leisurely walked towards the chair, “You are not a poor man, you are a cheap man!” and said while he climbed and sat on the chair.

And his statement was enough to make Jack dumbfounded for a moment. He then tried hard to control his laughter.

“All the toys you bought until now are all broken!” Milo added.

“Huh? How come only the toys that I bought are broken?” Albert playfully asked.

Milo shrugged his shoulders, “How would I know? Grandpa said that you bring cheap toys even though you have so much money…”

He was saying some outrageous things to the guild master, so Jack, to hid his face, silently sat Miti on the wooden sofa nearby as he approached the right corner.

“He said that you are a stingy man!” another outrageous thing slipped from Milo’s mouth, and Jack could only make a wry smile, suppressing his laughter.

But to save Albert’s face, he coughed, “Ahem, are the cores ready?” as he thought that Milo lacked talking manners, probably because there wasn’t a father figure to teach him. Lord Hardy could only do so much. Milo is smart for his age, and precisely because of that, he needs proper guidance, Jack thought.

“Yes, the box is over here,” Albert pointed. Jack approached it and carried the huge box towards the sofa.

The two fluffs’ curiosity tingled, and they approached him. “What are you doing, big brother?” they couldn’t help asking. So Jack briefly explained. His purification began, and the two observed it attentively.

And just as a few minutes passed, their eyes shined brightly. The beast cores had various colors, and although some of them appeared dark and dull, most of them were beautiful.

“Big brother, can I take this?” Miti asked with puppy eyes, and Jack couldn’t refuse her. Milo was more interested in the transparent, purified crystals, so he took one of them. Though Jack only permitted them to take the medium-sized ones as they were quite expensive.

And Albert didn’t forget to bark from behind the desk, “The money will be deducted from your share.

…

As another half an hour passed in refining the cores, the two fluffs became impatient. So they came out of the guild and directly headed towards the toy shop, which was located several blocks ahead of the guild.

On their way, Jack brought up the topic of how to behave before elders as he told him as gently as he could because he knew that children’s hearts are fragile things.

Though Milo just became confused as he couldn’t understand what wrong was in whatever he said. To which, Jack said, “Do you know that demons can change their faces?!”

“R-really?” Milo asked.

“Yes!”

“T-That’s scary!” Milo hissed before suspiciously looking at Jack, “W-was he a demon?”

Jack chuckled as he shook his head. The conversation strayed away from that point with the two fluff’s questions, but Jack eventually reigned it as he said, “What if he was a demon in disguise? If you said rude words to him, wouldn’t he have eaten you?” he spouted nonsense once again. It was a convenient way of explaining things, so Jack didn’t hesitate to use it.

“But if you talked politely to them, they might become your friends!” Jack energetically said, making the two fluffs raise their eyebrows in surprise.

They reached their destination as they saw several street vendors selling wooden toys along with wooden tools. While there were peddlers who sold various types of toys made up of wood, animal bones, and some stuffed toys.

Miti and Milo’s eyes sparkled, and another half an hour passed while buying them toys. Even after buying one, their attention would slip to another one. And since they didn’t understand moderation, Jack limited the number to two toys each. Money wasn’t the problem, but he didn’t want to spoil them too much.

What’s more, even the vendor offered the toys free as soon as someone told him that he was the hero. But Jack firmly refused.

So Milo bought the biggest top out there and a monster figurine. While Miti bought a wooden doll and a stuffed doll.

By the time they returned to the guild area, Miti and Milo’s stomachs already growled. No, it wasn’t the sight and aroma of the fried Riri Rice. Definitely not! Their previous sweets were digested with all the walking they did.

Jack also felt the aroma appetizing, so they all approached the famous stall that Milo pointed. It was their regular, he said.

Since it was still breakfast time, there was a crowd of adventurers surrounding the stall. So they decided to wait in what seemed like a queue.

“Mr. Hero!” a young man in front of them exclaimed. Since the atmosphere was a lot noisy, people didn’t notice Jack at first. But as soon as they did, a ruckus arose.

“Hey, give way to our hero!” and even though Jack politely refused, all the people present firmly refused to make him wait.

Upon nearing the stall, he saw a couple diligently working on making the fried rice. While there was a teenage boy who delivered the plates.

“We are blessed with your presence, Mr. Hero!” the owner politely greeted Jack as did the man’s wife. “Please sit on the chairs over there until the rice is ready,” the man then guided.

There were a few chairs behind the stall that Jack couldn’t notice due to the crowd. People sitting there naturally emptied for Jack and the party.

Riri is the chicken-like bird that is reared by the people in this world. Due to their fast birth rate, Riri meat is sold rather cheaply. Roasted Riri meat is added to the fried rice to make the fried Riri Rice. That’s what Jack was going to eat now.

It only took them a few minutes to present the mouthwatering dish to Jack. The dish was brown as it was made from the brown rice of this world. And even though it wasn’t that spicy for Jack, it was simply delicious.

Though what was intriguing for him was the couple working on the stall. He knew that the stall is closed at noon, which means they earn a decent amount of money in just a few hours. Judging from the number of regular customers this business had, it was obvious.

(Until now, I have committed a lot of mistakes... and I am afraid of making them again in the future... So I am slowly losing my motivation to write... Please, someone advice!

I'm planning on editing Aunt's past again, and I will never touch sensitive topics like ra-pe. So please forgive me for that.)