Family Reconciliation
It was not surprising that Shia was nervous.
Goran was the guild’s Grand Master. He was the most important person in the Adventurer’s guild.
“Alright, I’ll go and talk to him first.”
“Th-thank you.”
Shia said and bowed.
I left the room and walked towards the main entrance.
Goran saw me and smiled.
“Ahhh, Ru-…Locke! So you’re back.”
Goran nearly called me Ruck.
I felt that it didn’t really matter inside of the house, but I guess it was best to be safe.
“Yes. The quest finished early today. You came back pretty early too, Goran.”
“Ah, yes. But more importantly, I heard from the staff that you helped Serulis today.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say helped. We just cleared a quest together.”
“But with the differences in your abilities, most people would call it help.”
Even if Serulis was as strong as a B Ranker, she was still a newcomer.
And a B Rank was still very far away from S Rank.
“She is a great Warrior. It’s impressive for her age.”
She was still green as an Adventurer, but first-rate as a fighter.
“I see. Having you praise my daughter makes me happy, even if it’s just flattery!”
Goran said with a boisterous laugh.
Just then, Serulis’ voice came from behind us.
“Um, daddy.”
“What? Serulis.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Hm? Uh, what are you talking about?”
Goran looked at me with a confused expression.
As this was a family matter, I smiled silently and backed away.
I didn’t need to interfere with this.
And so I snuck away to the dining hall.
I was trying to be polite here, however, I could still hear their voices.
Even if I wasn’t trying to listen, their voices were too loud.
“Daddy, I’m sorry.”
“F-for what?”
Goran seemed frantic.
The dauntless Goran was apparently weak when it came to his daughter. It was pretty funny.
“I’m sorry for ignoring you, daddy.”
“Ahh, that. That’s what you’re talking about.”
“It’s not just that. I did something horrible to you…”
“Don’t worry about that. But why were you ignoring me? Was it because I was against you becoming an Adventurer?”
“No…I thought…”
“Hm?”
“I thought that you had brought in a secret child while mom was away…”
Serulis seemed very sorry.
However, Goran laughed good-humoredly.
“Gahahaha. As if I would ever have any secret children!”
“Of course! But I had mistaken Mister Ruck for being my younger brother.”
“Bbffhh…”
Goran burst out again.
Serulis must have felt relaxed now because she called me Ruck.
That wasn’t too smart of her, considering Luchila was here.
Of course, I did intend to tell Luchila at some point.
And so I didn’t really mind, but it would be best for her to be careful.
“Daddy?”
“Serulis. It’s something I’ve slowly started to realize, but you do misunderstand things a lot.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You do. You must be more careful.”
“I suppose. There really is no way Mister Ruck could be my younger brother.”
“E-exactly.”
After they had reconciled, Goran came to the dining hall alone.
Serulis had gone somewhere else.
“Ru…Locke.”
“What is it? Also, you keep almost saying my name.”
“Sorry.”
“Well, it’s nothing. What is it?”
“Please, do what you can for her… Please.”
Goran looked more serious than I had ever seen him.
“Uh, sure.”
“I did not realize how…how unfortunate she was.”
“Well, it seems that I’ve become a little younger for some reason. A little misunderstanding can’t be helped.”
Goran was in a severe shock over the fact that Serulis had assumed I was her younger brother.
Especially because Goran saw us as being the same age.
“If this continues, she will be tricked by some bad people…”
He was muttering to himself.
“Uh, I’m sure she will be fine?”
“Locke, this is very serious.”
“I’ll do what I can to warn her.”
“Thank you. Thank you.”
Goran took my hand and squeezed it. He had been moved to tears.
I was a little taken aback by his reaction.
“…Really, Goran. You are blowing this out of proportion.”
And then Serulis walked in.
“Daddy, I have a request to make…”
Then she saw her father crying as he held my hand, and she froze.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
She said and tried to back away.
I wasn’t sure what it was, but I felt that she was misunderstanding something again.
“Serulis, wait.”
“…Take your time.”
“No, it’s not whatever it is that you’re thinking.”
“What’s not?”
“Uhh…”
This was very annoying.
I couldn’t exactly tell her that Goran was crying because he was worried about how dumb she was.
“We were talking about the past…”
“Oh, so that’s what it was! I assumed that you had rejected daddy’s advances.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“You’re right!”
Clearly, nothing had changed yet with Serulis.
Goran listened to his daughter and then looked at me with a grave expression.
“See?”
Don’t look at me like that.
But I understood how he felt. She kept running wild and it was worrying.
“Serulis. Did you want to ask your father something? Should I leave?”
“I don’t mind.”
And then Serulis said,
“Daddy. Can I have a pet chicken?”
“No… No way… Just think about it… They cry so much all morning, these chickens.”
Goran said immediately as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying.