Chapter 47 : Pedrell

T/N: No Malik-san yet but soon! Soon Ren will reunite with Malik-san!

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"Uuugh.. Do we have to depart today….?"

Thanks to 'Heal' I didn't feel any pain but I was still emotionally drained.

It was already 08:00 PM by the time I woke up.

Should I start preparing our dinner?

"Hmm… We can go back to sleep after dinner then. If we depart by sunrise, we will arrive at Pedrell in the afternoon. It should be fine I guess. We have a lot of times to spare."

"That'd be great, thank you Fer-san."

That was great, so I could relax a little more now.

"Ren-kun you can go back to sleep now. The three of us will prepare dinner for you." Fer-san smiled tenderly at me.

Now that I think about it, I was the only one that in charge of our meal.

I wonder what they would prepare for me?

"We still have that wild boar, right? Let's roast it over the fire." Sig-san suggested.

"Roasted wild boar sounds good~" Chris-san agreed.

Back when we were subjugating the monster in Calhea, we hunted a lot of wild animals as well.

One of them were the wild boar.

I think the boar would taste good if I were to cut it in thick slice, grilled both sides until they were brown on the outside but still juicy on the inside. Then, put it on a plate with vegetables as the side dishes and pour steak sauces over it as the finis.h.i.+ng touch.

Well I could use that idea for our next meal instead.

For now, I'm going to lay back and see what they were going to do with the boar.

"Okay, we will call you when we're done so you just go back to sleep now, Ren."

"The food we make cannot be compared with your cooking but please look forward to it, Ren-kun."

Chris-san gently stroked my head and murmured lowly, "Sweet dream, Ren-chan!~"

The three of them then parted the tent's door and exited the tent.

I laid down on the thin mattress and talked to myself, "I wonder what kind of food they will make? Are they going to plainly roast the boar? Since we've been eating the food that I created beforehand, I'm getting excited imagining what kind of food they could make. I'm sure the boar will taste very good!"

I could hear the sound of them chattering and utensils being used from outside.

Truly, the three of them had a good relations.h.i.+p together huh.

It was very lucky of me that all of my fiance could get along well together, at least my life together with them seemed like it was going to be full of peaceful times.

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After 10 minutes had pa.s.sed, Fer-san called out to me.

"Ren-kun! The food is ready! Are you going to eat with us?"

"Yes! I'm coming!"

As soon I exited the tent, a waff of delicious aroma entered my senses.

Near the tent, there was a blazing fireplace with a.s.sortments of skewer surrounding it.

There was fishes, vegetables and what I a.s.sume as pork skewer, the pork was cut in thick dices.

Near the fireplace, there was a bowl of sauce.

They coated the skewer with plenty of sauce and grilled it over the fire.

"Have you ever eaten anything like this, Ren? During a quest, we prioritize efficiency and simplicity so we often eat like this instead of preparing complicated stuff."

"Most of the ingredients here are the stuff we gathered during subjugation quest. Well there are some that I brought from the market though. Anyway this sauce that we used tastes really good you know! Come and sit with us, Ren-chan! I want you to hurry and try this skewer!~"

The food definitely looked easy and simple to make.

They only needed to cut the ingredients, put it on a stick, coat it with sauce and grill it over the fire.

The sauce that they used was giving off a really delicious aroma!

I couldn't wait to taste it!

"We've troubled Ren-kun with our meals all these time so this time it is our turn to cook for Ren-kun." Fer-san said apologetically.

"Eh? But I had a lot of fun preparing all those food, you know. I really like cooking so Fer-san, you don't have to worry about it."

I really enjoyed cooking so I never thought of it was something tiring or troublesome at all.

The process of creating a delicious food that everyone could enjoy was very fun for me.

Especially I really liked it when they told me that they liked my food.

If the three of them really liked it, if possible.. I wanted to keep cooking for them.

"Well if Ren truly think so then it's fine but I think that taking a break once in a while is fine too, you know. Anyway, come sit over here, Ren. Try this pork skewer first." Sig-san beckoned me to sit on a chair near the fireplace and gave me the pork skewer.

"Ah yeah, itadakimasu."

I took the skewer from Sig-san, the meat was definitely too big for me.

I don't think I'm able to fit it in my mouth..

I opened my mouth wide and bite down the piping hot skewer, tearing the meat apart from the stick.

Immediately, my mouth was overflowed with the meat's juice.

"Wow! This tastes really good!" I exclaimed happily.

The sauce that they used enhanced the flavour of the meat greatly and gave the meat this delicious sticky glaze that looked so appetizing!

The meat was very tender too, when I bite it down it was like there was no resistance at all!

So delicious! I'm glad the meat was easy to chew, if it was too hard, I wouldn't be able to eat it and made them sad instead.

"Ah, right. Since we completed the quest under Luche, that means the funds we received will be under Luche name too, right? What should we do about the fund management of Luche?~" Chris-san said with a fish skewer in hand.

"Eh? Fund management?"

Hmm, I wonder what should we do with the money we received.

"Yes, that's right. First we need to pay Ren-kun for the cost of food that we ate during the quest. The inn fees, the restaurant bill as well. We need to settle all of our bill first before we decide the rest." Fer-san suggested.

"Yeah and also since we're going to be family, I guess that means the money we received will need to go to our household funds. Maybe we can implement pocket money system for each one of us?"  Sig-san added.

Ah pocket money system..

We definitely could use that but.. I think..

Receiving allowance for personal use didn't suit their image at all.

"Hmm~ We need to do some maintenance for our equipment and to buy supplies for our next quest as well.. If we're doing the quest as a party I guess we can split the money half for household expenses and the other half between all of us. If we're doing solo quest I guess that means the money can be considered as our pocket money? It'd be bad if I can't acquire my own pocket money!~ I want to buy presents for Ren-chan after all!~"

Umm.. Using all of the money you gathered for buying me present was a little..over the top I guess.

But in the end, that means we didn't have a fixed amount of income each month then.

I'd need to manage our funds carefully..

"Okay then it's decided. We will split our income half for household expenses and the rest for equipment maintenance and our own pocket money. Do you agree with this conditions, Ren-kun?"

"Yes, I don't really mind."

I wonder how much was half of their income?

I didn't know how much money it was going to be so I wasn't sure whether it'd be enough or it'd be too much.

"Okay then, let's continue our meal before the food gets cold." Sig-san suggested.

"Yeah."

The four of us continued to eat our skewer.

In the end I only ate 1 vegetable skewer, 1 pork skewer and 1 fish skewer.

I was already full only by eating three skewers in total while the three of them ate 3 servings of each skewer, resulting in total 9 skewers each person.

I guess that means their portion was three times my portion.

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After we finished our dinner, the four of us decided to kick back and relax for a little.

We talked about various things in the tent while laying down next to each other.

And then morning came, it was time for us to continue our journey back to Pedrell.

"Mmmgh~ We will arrive at Pedrell today, I can't wait!"

I stretched my body and looked around me.

The other three were still sleeping soundly.

Quietly, as not to wake them up, I exited the tent and started to prepare our breakfast.

It had been 2 weeks since I last saw Malik-san, there was heaps of things that I wanted to talk with him about.

I think I will cook Malik-san's favorite, chicken teriyaki for tonight's dinner.

"Ah,right. I wonder where the three of them will be staying at?"

As for me, I will be returning home to Malik-san's house.

Maybe the three of them could rent a room in the guild's inn?

Or maybe they could stay in Malik-san's house with me?

Since there was a lot of vacant room and it would be a waste not to use it.

Ah but since we've become fiance.. First, I need to know whether Malik-san was fine with it or not.

I wonder whether Malik-san would be delighted? Or maybe he would become upset instead?

Ahh, just imagining about it somehow made me feel very embarra.s.sed.

Of course I knew that it was inevitable, no matter what, the four of us need to properly greet Malik-san since Malik-san was my legal guardian in Alsar.

"Uuh.. My heart is beating so fast.." I clenched my heart while muttering to myself.

"Why is your heart beating so fast?"

"Uwah!"

Suddenly someone was hugging me from behind while whispering into my ear.

"F-Fer-san! You surprised me! Umm.. I was thinking about what to say to Malik-san when we get back and somehow my heart started to race while thinking about various scenario…"

"Fufu, I'm sorry for surprising you." Fer-san smiled apologetically and released my arms before he continued,"I don't think there's anything much to worry about, Ren-kun. We will go through this together so you can rest a.s.sured. Also, people usually give their greetings after the marriage anyway. I rarely ever heard there was parents that actually opposed to the marriage so  I'm sure everything will be fine. I already promised Malik-san to come visit and drink with him after the subjugation quest too."

"Is that so.."

Ah even though Fer-san said something like that, I couldn't help but to feel nervous about it.

Furthermore, I need to give greetings not only to one, but three families! Three!

Well it couldn't be helped since I had 3 fiance but I never gave my greetings to someone else's family before so I was really nervous.

"Fu-ah~ Morning~ Ren-chan, what we're going to have for breakfast?"

Chris-san came out from the tent with a big yawn on his face.

Even though he had just woken up and his hair was sticking out in weird angle, he still looked very charming.

Ah, scratch that. I think his messy hair look made him looked even more sensual instead!

The power of an ikemen was truly terrifying..

"Good morning, Chris-san. We're having the traditional j.a.panese style breakfast today. You can go and eat first, I will wake Sig-san up." I pointed at the table.

While I was talking with Fer-san, I also set the table up so everyone could eat by the time they woke up.

On the table, there was two lines of onigiri. We had two different kind of onigiri today.

The first one was a mix between salmon, soy sauce, sesame oil and green onions.

The second row was a mix between edamame and seaweed.

For the side dishes we had sweet potato miso soup and rolled omelette mixed with salmon and green onions.

Rolled Omelette

"Uwah~ Today's meal look very delicious as usual~ Itadakimasu~"

"Itadakimasu." Fer-san said while clasping his hands together.

Leaving both Chris-san and Fer-san, I entered the tent and called out to Sig-san.

"Sig-san? Are you awake? It's time for breakfast, Sig-san~"

"Ngh.. I'm awake.. Where's the other?"

Sig-san groggily replied, his green eyes was peeking from beneath the thin cover he used.

"Good morning, Sig-san. The others is eating breakfast now."

"Ah, morning Ren. I see, let's go then."

Sig-san woke up abruptly, he folded the towel and tried to flatten his bedhair briskly.

"Ahh, I slept well." Sig-san stretched his body and went outside.

I took a seat next to Sig-san and joined the others for breakfast.

While I was busy chewing down on my second onigiri, the others were already finished eating breakfast.

They tidied up their equipment first and by the time I was done with my meal, they were already prepared to go.

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"Ooh! I can already see the city wall!" I pointed excitedly.

We had taken a few short breaks along the way and now I could see the city's wall!

Ah, it had been a long time since I last saw it.

"You're right~ Okay first, we need to stop by the stable to talk about purchasing William and then we can go visit the guild~" Chris-san said from behind me.

It was Chris-san's turn so I was riding with him.

Chris-san already decided to buy William since days ago but I wonder how expensive it was going to be?

"But even if we bought William, we still need to put him in the stable because we don't have a place to store the horses yet. We need to consider things like this for our new house hmm~"

"Maybe we will need to search for a house with a stable?"

"That's a good idea~ Or maybe we could buy an empty plot of land and build our house from the scratch. I think it'd be cheaper rather than buying a premade house with a stable."

Somehow the idle conversation about horses turned into a plan to build our own house.

I felt like we were progressing at a very fast pace..

"Oh if it isn't Ren! Are you returning home from the subjugation quest? How did it go?"

The gatekeeper called out to me, I often went out to gather lulu gra.s.s so I was pretty close with him.

"Ah, h.e.l.lo there! Yeah thanks to these three, the quest went without a hitch."

He was a friendly and kind man so I enjoyed talking with him.

"Ooh I see! And the person behind you.. Isn't he Lightning Twin Sword Chris?"

"Ugh.. That nickname.. I wonder if there's any way to change my own nickname.. So embarra.s.sing.. Anyway, you're right. My name's Chris and I'm Ren-chan's fiance. Nice to meet you."

"Hah?! Fiance?!" The gatekeeper shouted, his eyes was wide open.

Well I guess his reaction was reasonable enough.

If your acquaintance suddenly got engaged with a celebrity, it'd be normal to be surprised.

"Chris, don't forget about us. The two of us are Ren's fiance as well, you know? If you're going to spread the news about our engagement, you better include us in so no one get misinformed."

"That's right. Well, I guess spreading the news is a good thing to do. This way, we could suppress annoying bugs from getting close to Ren-kun in one go."

"You're..! Silver Wolf and Ice Prince?!" The gatekeeper looked even more surprised, his mouth was hanging open now.

"Umm.. Yeah, these three are my fiance.. Hehehe.."

This was the first time I ever introduced these three as my fiance to my acquaintance, somehow I felt embarra.s.sed and happy at the same time.

"Is..Is that so? I wish you best of luck then.."

"…Hm? Thank you."

Hmm.. Somehow the gatekeeper became dejected without any reason. His shoulder was slumped and he laid his head down.

"Are you done talking with him? Okay then let's go in. Our first destination is the stable, right? Here we go!"

Sig-san had been talking with the other gatekeeper.

After he finished the checking, he beckoned us to follow him.

"Ah,yeah! Well then, it's nice talking with you. I will take my leave now." I bowed to the gatekeeper.

"Ah, yeah.."

The gatekeeper was looking at me with glistened eyes, as if he was ready to cry at any moment now.

I wonder why?

"Ren-chan, don't worry about him!~ There's something that got into his eyes that's why his eyes become red. Isn't that right?" Chris-san asked the gatekeeper, waiting for his confirmation.

The gatekeeper shook his head and straightened his posture before he replied, "Aah! T-that's right! Take care, Ren! I will see you guys later!"

The gatekeeper waved his hand at us as we followed Oscar's lead into the town.

"I knew it, he had his eyes on Ren-chan too~"

Chris-san murmured something but his voice was too low for me to catch.

"Eh? What did you say, Chris-san?"

"Hm?~ Nothing~ I was only talking to myself~ Ah, here we are! Ren-chan, wait here for a moment. I will be done in a jiffy, okay?~"

Ah, right.

Maybe Chris-san wanted to negotiate William's price or something like that I guess?

Chris-san got down from William nimbly and held both of his arms in the air, beckoning me to let him helped me got down from William's saddle.

When I was safely on the ground, Chris-san went into the stable with William in tow.

"Ren-kun, we will store our horses too. We won't be long so, wait for us here, okay?"

Fer-san and Sig-san came to me with their hands holding to their horse's reins.

"After we're done here, let's head to the guild and have a light meal there. Since we have so much time to spare, we can go to the jewelry store and order ear cuffs for all of us." Sig-san said as he brushed his fingers over my left ear.

"H-yah! D-don't suddenly touch me like that!"

My ear was really sensitive so I was very startled when Sig-san suddenly touched it!

"Fufu~ Ren-kun is so cute. I wonder what kind of ear cuff we should get for you? I can't wait for it." Fer-san smiled delightfully while looking at me warmly.

Since ear cuff was the equal of engagement ring in earth, somehow I felt my heartbeat racing from thinking about it.

"Thank you for waiting~ I've successfully bought William ~ The contract will be ready tomorrow so I will need to come here again to sign the contract. Let's go to the guild now~"

"Congratulations Chris-san! That means William has officially become part of our family!"

Since Chris-san had finished his business here, we started to walk toward the adventurer guild.

William must've cost a lot since the contract couldn't be prepared on the spot like that.

If William was cheap, I don't think there was a need to wait for a whole day to prepare the contract.

But I felt happy knowing that from now on William will become part of our family!~

"Ren-kun's right. We have a new family member now. From now on, our family is going to grow even bigger in the future."

"Yeah, suddenly I have 6 new family member. 3 grown men and 3 horses." I chuckled at the thought.

Magical horse was very big in size for a house pet though.

Since I also wanted to have a child in the future, we will need a big house to be able to accomodate all of us in.

"Here we are. I wonder if Malik-san's working today?" Fer-san asked.

"Umm.. I'm not sure.." I replied.

We've arrived at the adventurer guild.

I didn't know about Malik-san schedule so I wasn't sure if he was here or not.

Opening the door leading to the guild, I wondered to myself what kind of expression Malik-san will show as he looked at us.

Ah, I couldn't wait to meet with Malik-san!

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Chapter 48 (not yet)