Samuel’s Perspective

Old man…. What are you trying to do now?

My brow furrowed as I gazed at him intently.

He was wheeling through the door, his expression placid like a dead fish.

Did something happen… or — Once again did he come to say ‘Do as I say. This is my house. Something, something?’ Or something else…

Mom got up to tend to dad. The stony gaze of a martial commander from before was nowhere to be found.

The finding caused a spark of excitement to fill my aching heart.

Whatever this old man is doing, good! Good Job! Good Job! I am saved!

A smile of relief almost bloomed on my face. Untill…

“Everyone, I have something to say.” Before I could continue my train of thought, a firm voice broke me out of it.

Looking at the source of the voice, my eyes met his.

“Yes, dad?” I spoke, unsure of what he wanted to talk about.

His eyes shifted towards me, and as soon as our gazes met, he averted his eyes.

Can’t even look your own family in the eye now? Has this old man gone senile again or something? Bitterness flooded me the more I looked at him. Shaking my head, I sighed as I dismissed the feeling.

“About what?” Zack asked, scratching his head.

Dad sighed as he gestured us all to come inside.

A few minutes later…

We all sat around the dining table, looking at dad.

“Alright. So, I thought about it a lot and…” dad stuttered. Taking in a deep breath, he continued, “And I realised that I was being too imposing. A lot more than I should have.”

So you did realise that. I nodded.

“So, I have decided. I will allow you all to go outside.”

Hoh? This is interesting. Did he hit his head somewhere? Pretty sure that what’s next will be…

“But… I have some conditions.” Dad declared.

Hah, expected as much. I shrugged inwardly with a smirk, making sure to keep my expression blank on the outside.

Staring up at the ceiling, he sighed as his shoulders drooped lower than I imagined possible.

He brought his gaze back down before stating, “You kids won’t cause a ruckus. No fights, no arguments, nothing of that sort. No matter what the issue is. If there is a problem, tell either me or your mom. Next, you would stay low. Well, this one you all should be quite accustomed to by now. And, most importantly. None of you, and I mean none of you will go anywhere near the border of the village, let alone out of it. Doesn’t matter what the reason is, that is not allowed. At all.”

I could feel his gaze boring through me as he spoke the last words. A bit passed as silence enveloped the room.

Just that? Where’s the rest? I blinked as I stared at him in confusion.

As if reading my expression, dad spoke, “That’s it. I hope no one has any issues with it.”

Thinking about something, I asked, “What about Uncle Kyle’s shack?“

Understanding what I was getting at, he replied, “The area until the northern stream was still considered the part of the village last I checked.”

Nodding, I said, “What’s with the sudden change in attitude, old… man?”

Alright dad, no problems! Shit!

My thoughts got jumbled and I spoke something that wasn’t meant to come out. Cold beads popped all over the back of my neck. Aw crap… I screwed up.

Looking at me unfazed, he took a sidelong glance at mom as he muttered, “Your mother will be the end of— *cough!*” He coughed lightly before continuing, “I meant, I realised some things and remembered other ones, leading me to the conclusion that I was getting lost. But it’s no time for that, is it?”

I smiled wryly, looking at mom smiling at dad ‘tenderly’.

Damn, he almost said that. And when she was here as well. Only if he hadn’t stopped. My eyes widened a little as astonishment filled my face for a moment. I used my hand to cover my lips, unable to maintain a placid expression.

Intermittently, my gaze landed on the one clueless boy at the side, looking around in confusion. The grip on my face tightened as I barely held back the laugh about to leak.

Seeing right through me, dad looked at me as he bragged smugly, “I’m cool, aren’t I? Seems my charm hasn’t faded one bit over the aevis.” His brows wriggled up and down, and his decrepit face made it look even worse.

“Your mom still loves me a lot. Look how gentle and caring she is to me. Son, even if you look around for days, you won’t find a woman half… no even a tenth as good as her. I got quite lucky, right?”

Damn you, old man! I turned my contorting face to the side while covering the visible half with my palm. My stomach hurt and my body shook as I almost burst into laughter. Biting my lower lip, I took in deep breaths to calm myself. Damn, he almost got me.

Turning my head back, I smiled while feeling a bit light at heart. Seems this old man of mine isn’t as hopeless as I thought. Though, he is right that he sure got lucky mom is with him.

Unconsciously, my gaze wandered to mom. She smiled at me warmly and I returned the gesture.

I turned my head to the ceiling, diving deep within my thoughts, remembering the words of a long-lost, foolhardy man. ‘Yeah, like he said, fighting for something noble or whatever isn’t my thing. What I fight for is the smiles of my family. Kinda foolish, right? Well, whatever, I don’t care a lot about what you think of it.’ I kinda get that, even if it’s just a little.

Clutching my fists, I steeled my resolve.

“…muel? Samuel? You’re sleeping or something?” Dad’s voice woke me as I turned my head down to look at him.

“You alright?” he asked, a bit concerned.

Scratching the back of my head, I replied, “Yeah, I’m alright. It’s nothing.”

“So, as I was saying, what are your plans after you return?” dad asked.

“Return? From where?” I asked, unaware after having lost the track of conversation.

However, before he could reply, a certain matter flashed through my head as I asked, “From the man you found to be my teacher?”

Dad nodded as he rubbed his chin.

Rubbing my chin thoughtfully, I mulled over the matter before replying, “I was thinking that becoming an adventurer afterwards will be good for now. As it is, I’m still too young for anything else. Travelling is also another option, but being an adventurer already accomplishes that. As for trading and stuff, I don’t really have much interest in that so I’ll pass on it.”

“Hmm, I see. I’ll try asking Zhu for writing you a recommendation or something. That should help you out in getting the licence far easy,” Dad commented. “Though, knowing his personality and teaching method, I doubt he will. And if he does, to what extent he’ll help.”

“Yeah,” I replied, nodding.

“Uh, what’s going on and where’s Samuel going?” Zack asked, scratching the back of his head.

Looking at him, I replied, “I am going to train under a friend of Dad to get stronger and get cured of an illness.”

“What illness?” Zack asked. “And are you fine?”

“Ah…” I scratched my cheek, unable to give a better explanation due to not understanding the matter enough myself.

To my rescue, mom took over the explanation. “It’s not an illness, per se. As you might have read that book, you would know that cores and magic place a large burden on a person. Without us knowing, Samuel’s core somehow progressed to a point where he can’t contain it. And so, he faces issues, which he is calling an illness. For this purpose, we are sending him to a teacher to learn the art of Ki and strengthen his body. Though, I hope he won’t explode in the middle of it, though, given his tendency to slack off.”

“I did see a book about this Ki thing, but I haven’t gotten to reading it yet…” Zack spoke as he nodded. “And about this Zhu person you mentioned?”

“He’s a friend of daddy,” Amelia replied. “Dad says that he is an old bald pervert who always keeps on talking about how dad apparently cheated him or something and that I should stay away from him.”

Zack looked at Dad incredulously, causing Amelia to let out a giggle.

Dad rubbed the bridge of his nose as he spoke, “That was one old thing…” Dad spoke, looking up at the ceiling in remembrance. After a bit, he continued, “Amelia, don’t go spreading words of things. And why do you know of it in the first place?”

“I heard it when you were talking with him last time about asking him to take Brother with him,” Amelia replied. “Oh! I remember that he also said when you were in the capital, there were many wome—”

Dad shut her up by putting his hand on her mouth.

The temperature in the room got chilly as mom spoke, smiling, “Dear, what is she talking about?”

“I — I don’t know.” Dad replied, stuttering a little. Beads of sweat popped up on his forehead.

“We’ll have a long chat about it later.” Mom declared, still smiling ‘warmly’.

“I… I see…” Dad replied, looking somewhat distraught. Silence filled the room again.

“So about a month…” Mom spoke again. “Before he leaves us for a long time.”

“Yeah, barely over a month,” Dad nodded. “He’s grown up a lot since he was young…”

Mom went ahead and hugged dad to console him, looking the perfect picture of a happy couple. Though, if I’ve were to point something out, dad’s pale skin and bony frame stuck out like a sore thumb.

Feeling it necessary to give both some alone time, I decided to take Zack and head out.

“Alright, dad, then we’ll be heading out!” I spoke, excited to leave the house after who knows how long.

From behind, mom spoke, “Come back before sunset.”

“Ah, one more thing I forgot to mention,“ Dad said, while scratching his cheek awkwardly. “You both can’t go outside before tomorrow. Besides, it’s less than an hour or two before sunset.“

“You…” I almost laughed out in hysteria. Taking a deep breath, I rolled my eyes and responded with an “Okay.”