Family Reconciliation
It was not surprising that Shia was nervous.
Goran was the guildâs Grand Master. He was the most important person in the Adventurerâs guild.
âAlright, Iâll go and talk to him first.â
âTh-thank you.â
Shia said and bowed.
I left the room and walked towards the main entrance.
Goran saw me and smiled.
âAhhh, Ru-â¦Locke! So youâre back.â
Goran nearly called me Ruck.
I felt that it didnât really matter inside of the house, but I guess it was best to be safe.
âYes. The quest finished early today. You came back pretty early too, Goran.â
âAh, yes. But more importantly, I heard from the staff that you helped Serulis today.â
âWell, I wouldnât say helped. We just cleared a quest together.â
âBut with the differences in your abilities, most people would call it help.â
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.
âShe is a great Warrior. Itâs impressive for her age.â
She was still green as an Adventurer, but first-rate as a fighter.
âI see. Having you praise my daughter makes me happy, even if itâs just flattery!â
Goran said with a boisterous laugh.
Just then, Serulisâ voice came from behind us.
âUm, daddy.â
âWhat? Serulis.â
âIâm sorry.â
âHm? Uh, what are you talking about?â
Goran looked at me with a confused expression.
As this was a family matter, I smiled silently and backed away.
I didnât 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 wasnât trying to listen, their voices were too loud.
âDaddy, Iâm sorry.â
âF-for what?â
Goran seemed frantic.
The dauntless Goran was apparently weak when it came to his daughter. It was pretty funny.
âIâm sorry for ignoring you, daddy.â
âAhh, that. Thatâs what youâre talking about.â
âItâs not just that. I did something horrible to youâ¦â
âDonât worry about that. But why were you ignoring me? Was it because I was against you becoming an Adventurer?â
âNoâ¦I thoughtâ¦â
âHm?â
âI thought that you had brought in a secret child while mom was awayâ¦â
Serulis seemed very sorry.
However, Goran laughed good-humoredly.
âGahahaha. As if I would ever have any secret children!â
âOf course! But I had mistaken Mister Ruck for being my younger brother.â
âBbffhhâ¦â
Goran burst out again.
Serulis must have felt relaxed now because she called me Ruck.
That wasnât too smart of her, considering Luchila was here.
Of course, I did intend to tell Luchila at some point.
And so I didnât really mind, but it would be best for her to be careful.
âDaddy?â
âSerulis. Itâs something Iâve slowly started to realize, but you do misunderstand things a lot.â
âI donât think so.â
âYou do. You must be more careful.â
âI suppose. There really is no way Mister Ruck could be my younger brother.â
âE-exactly.â
After they had reconciled, Goran came to the dining hall alone.
Serulis had gone somewhere else.
âRuâ¦Locke.â
âWhat is it? Also, you keep almost saying my name.â
âSorry.â
âWell, itâs nothing. What is it?â
âPlease, do what you can for her⦠Please.â
Goran looked more serious than I had ever seen him.
âUh, sure.â
âI did not realize howâ¦how unfortunate she was.â
âWell, it seems that Iâve become a little younger for some reason. A little misunderstanding canât be helped.â
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.
âIf this continues, she will be tricked by some bad peopleâ¦â
He was muttering to himself.
âUh, Iâm sure she will be fine?â
âLocke, this is very serious.â
âIâll do what I can to warn her.â
âThank you. Thank you.â
Goran took my hand and squeezed it. He had been moved to tears.
I was a little taken aback by his reaction.
ââ¦Really, Goran. You are blowing this out of proportion.â
And then Serulis walked in.
âDaddy, I have a request to makeâ¦â
Then she saw her father crying as he held my hand, and she froze.
âOh, Iâm sorry.â
She said and tried to back away.
I wasnât sure what it was, but I felt that she was misunderstanding something again.
âSerulis, wait.â
ââ¦Take your time.â
âNo, itâs not whatever it is that youâre thinking.â
âWhatâs not?â
âUhhâ¦â
This was very annoying.
I couldnât exactly tell her that Goran was crying because he was worried about how dumb she was.
âWe were talking about the pastâ¦â
âOh, so thatâs what it was! I assumed that you had rejected daddyâs advances.â
âThatâs ridiculous.â
âYouâre right!â
Clearly, nothing had changed yet with Serulis.
Goran listened to his daughter and then looked at me with a grave expression.
âSee?â
Donât look at me like that.
But I understood how he felt. She kept running wild and it was worrying.
âSerulis. Did you want to ask your father something? Should I leave?â
âI donât mind.â
And then Serulis said,
âDaddy. Can I have a pet chicken?â
âNo⦠No way⦠Just think about it⦠They cry so much all morning, these chickens.â
Goran said immediately as if he couldnât believe what she was saying.