TFHITS Chapter 246

Mariana, not understanding what was going on, asked again.

-What? To the capital?

“I will keep him by my side, teach him this and that… and keep an eye on him.”

-I-Is that really okay?

“Of course. While I’m at it, he can help with my work too. Adwin’s an adult anyway, and he needs a job, right?”

-Um. He is working as a server at the family restaurant we opened.

Xenia hurriedly continued.

“That’s exactly why it won’t do.”

-Yes? Why not?

“Aren’t there a lot of female customers?”

-T-That’s true!

“They are probably all coming just to see Adwin. Sure, relationships can start that way too, but that only applies to people with a healthy approach to dating. For Adwin, that’s a dangerous environment.”

She could almost feel Mariana nodding on the other end.

-I suppose so.

“So why not leave him with me for about three years? I just happen to need a secretary for the Guardian Knights.”

-Ah.

“The work might be tough, but I will make sure the compensation is generous. More importantly, if I’m watching over Adwin, it should ease your worries too.”

There was no immediate reply, as if Mariana were thinking it over.

Before Xenia could say anything more, Mariana spoke.

-Ah… I see. This might actually be for the best. I would be perfectly satisfied leaving him with you, Xenia.

“What do you mean?”

-It’s a very good idea. I will have him pack and send him over tomorrow.

“No, I will come visit you in Agril myself. It’s been a while, so I can have lunch at your restaurant too.”

-Hehe. Then I will have to prepare quite a bit. All right.

With that, the connection ended.

Xenia smiled contentedly and practically floated toward the dining hall, her steps light.

And a few days later.

Adwin was, quite literally, dragged to the capital with his entire body tightly bound.

Returning to her office, Xenia smiled brightly and said,

“It’s been a while. The last time we met was when your parents opened their restaurant, right?”

“This is ridiculous. Why do I have to end up like this….”

“Don’t be like that. We are party members meeting again after a long time. That hurts.”

“You think I don’t know what you’re up to? My mother must have tattled on me, didn’t she.”

“Come to think of it, Mariana did seem very worried.”

Adwin dropped his head.

Looking at him now, he really had grown up a lot.

‘No. He’s really grown a lot, hasn’t he?’

She tilted her head and said,

“Stand up for a moment.”

“Huh? O-Okay.”

“Wow. You’re taller than me now. Time really flies.”

Adwin stared at Xenia.

Soon, for some reason, his face flushed slightly.

“…You haven’t changed at all, noona. Ahem.”

“Hm?”

“Well. Since it’s come to this, I guess I have no choice.”

“What are you talking about.”

Suddenly, Adwin undid one of the buttons at his chest.

He sat back in the chair and crossed his legs.

Leaning his body slightly to the side, one arm draped over the chair, he spoke in that pose.

“Now that I look at you again, your eyes are really blue, sis. Like a clear autumn sky. Like a blue sapphire polished by a master craftsman.”

“…….”

“Seeing you after so long brings back old memories. Want to go have a meal together? I don’t even need to eat. Just hearing your gentle, tender voice would be enough to fill me.”

Xenia thought to herself.

‘Ah. I see.’

He hadn’t sealed away those infamous ‘cringe-inducing’ lines.

He had just changed the direction.

From bad… to worse.

Xenia walked toward Adwin.

Adwin looked up at her with a confident smile.

And then...

Bang.

“Aaagh!”

Xenia said,

“You little runt.”

A few days before Xenia received Mariana’s call.

Serein was in a meeting with a client.

Someone who could soon become a business partner… or rather, already practically was one.

“At this price? For potions with performance like this?”

“Of course.”

“Then… will you still be making a profit? I’m grateful, of course, but.”

She would.

Because the production cost was practically nothing.

After the Hero Party was disbanded, she immediately went into seclusion for a time.

She stopped eating altogether and began researching how to efficiently infuse divine power into potions.

Whenever she hit a wall, she even contacted Bion through Mide to ask for advice.

Divine power had originally been created in the laboratory.

Though Bion was dumbfounded by Serein’s scheming, she nonetheless kindly explained the principles and properties of divine power.

‘That advice. And my own bone-grinding effort!’

The result of those combined efforts was the special potion right in front of her.

A miraculous item that produced five times the effect with just 0.1 percent of the divine power used in ordinary potions.

Without any help from other priests, she could mass-produce several thousand a day in her spare time.

So selling them at that price would naturally bring in enormous profits.

Of course, Serein didn’t reveal that secret.

“To be honest, I am accepting a certain amount of loss.”

-A-As expected.

“But I’m not trying to make up for that loss with money. Compared to my relationship with you, gold coins are trivial.”

Suppressing the strange urge to lick her lips, Serein continued.

“You’re the head of a merchant guild with the greatest distribution network on the continent, aren’t you?”

“…….”

“I want my potions to spread as widely as possible through your network. That way, everyone who is injured or ill can benefit from them.”

“That’s something our guild would naturally...”

“I know you will handle it well, of course. But I would like to see it with my own eyes.”

The guildmaster’s eyes shifted.

Serein smiled as brightly as she could.

The suspicion in his heart melted away like snow.

‘Ah. What was I doubting?’

Wasn’t the person before him one of ‘those’ people, a former party member of the hero Mide Mohan?

Serein Magnus, known as the gentlest and warmest among them, alongside Neril, the Saint of Compulsion.

“Please tell me. What is it that you want?”

Serein replied softly.

“Just as a small token of sincerity, I would like to invest in your guild.”

The meeting continued for a while longer that way.

When the client finally left, Serein leaned back heavily in her chair.

Then, with a movement far too familiar, she propped her legs up on the desk.

“Ugh. I can’t do this anymore. All this just to skim a few coins.”

“No way. You’re raking it in pretty well, actually. Especially once you swallow the whole merchant guild later.”

“Well, obviously. Do you have any idea how much effort I put into this… Huh?”

Serein abruptly jumped to her feet.

In one corner of the meeting room, Offense was standing quite literally like a shadow.

“What? When did you get here?”

“From the start of the meeting. Still different on the outside and inside, I see.”

“Oh, come on. You vanished without a trace for ages. We were all supposed to meet at Mariana’s restaurant opening last time, but you were the only one who didn’t show.”

“Yeah. Sorry. I really couldn’t leave my post.”

He scratched his cheek.

Serein poured him a cup of tea with whatever was at hand and spoke.

“What were you so busy with?”

“My parents passed away.”

Serein’s hand froze mid pour.

Visibly flustered, she spoke.

“Huh? Uh. I mean... what?”

“After we disbanded the party at the starting point, it took me less than two weeks to find them.”

“…That’s impressive. By then, the Branch’s effective period should have already ended.”

“I didn’t use fame. No, I guess I did use fame.”

“…?”

“I ended up being able to command every assassin guild on the continent with a single finger.”

Serein understood.

Even if the branch’s effect had expired and fame could no longer be converted directly into power, the fame itself still remained, resounding across the entire continent.

“I see.”

“I will tell you in advance since you’re probably wondering. There wasn’t anything particularly special. They were just ordinary people.”

“….”

“No deep backstory either. They were just so desperately poor that they needed to reduce mouths to feed. Of course, they didn’t know the place they abandoned me was an assassin guild.”

“….”

“They had grown old, and dementia had set in. They didn’t recognize me at all. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to leave them. So I stayed by their side until they passed away not long ago.”

Swish.

Before she realized it, Serein was holding Offense’s hand.

Both of them noticed it only belatedly.

But neither withdrew first.

“You should have contacted me. I could have used the finest potions—”

“No matter how incredible your divine power or potions are, they can’t restore lost memories, can they?”

“….”

“Physically speaking, I cared for them as well as anyone possibly could, so don’t make that face. Still, I appreciate the sentiment.”

Serein asked carefully.

“Are you… okay?”

“Hmm. No.”

“….”

“Before they died, I told them countless times. That I was their son. I begged them to call me their son just once. But they snapped at me, asking what kind of nonsense I was spouting.”

“….”

“And with their dying words, they said to me, ‘Thank you, young man.’”

They never called him their son. Not even at the end.

Serein’s grip on Offense’s hand tightened.

She cautiously gauged his mood, then spoke in a deliberately playful tone, trying somehow to ease his heart.

“So you came to me for comfort, then.”

“That’s right.”

“…What? Uh, I was joking.”

“I’m not an idiot. I already realized back at the lab that we were probably married.”

“…!”

“But I thought I didn’t have that right anymore. You may be pitch black on the inside, but at least on the outside you shine.”

That’s not a compliment, no matter how you hear it, right?

As Serein puffed out her lips, Offense continued.

“But I’m pitch black inside and out...”

“Ugh, seriously, I can’t listen to this anymore!”

Tap.

Suddenly, Serein sprang to her feet.

“Come with me.”

“What? Where?”

“Just come with me already.”

Thud, thud.

With angry steps, Serein stormed out.

After being dragged around here and there for a while, Offense soon found himself facing a shabby door utterly out of place in this grand, luxurious mansion.

“This is…?”

“I took custody of those people I call parent from the capital’s assassin guild.”

“Th-then?”

“They are living quite well here.”

Bang.

Serein kicked the door open.

Inside, her parents flinched in fright.

Offense was impressed.

“Why are they unharmed?”

They were living far more comfortably than expected.

Honestly, considering Serein’s old temperament, he would half expected torture.

In truth, Offense wasn’t wrong.

Serein was very much torturing them.

“You two. Have you finished today’s quota?”

“Y-yes. Here…”

“Hmm. Let’s see.”

She took the paper.

Offense glanced sideways at it and spoke.

“Reflection letters?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of reflection letters?”

“As you know, my father, Magnus, used to be a proper lord. But he went mad over the Celestial God and abused me, Pirensha, and the people of the territory.”

“Right. And as punishment, the territory was confiscated by the emperor. Though really, the emperor just needed an excuse.”

Serein gave a small snort and shrugged.

“That wasn’t punishment. My parents never apologized to the people of the territory.”

“Ah….”

“Mide went around every territory with Idria and made her apologize personally, remember? I got a bit of inspiration from that. So.”

So they were made to write reflection letters to every single citizen of the territory.

“The population back then… let’s see. About 3.5 million, I think?”

“Don’t tell me they have to write 3.5 million letters.”

“Yes. And they are not allowed to reuse phrases. They have to squeeze their brains dry and write only fresh, sincere sentences.”

“That’s definitely torture.”

Still, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

Now that the Celestial God had fallen, the Magnus couple, who had abused their people in that god’s name, could no longer roam the world freely.

For them, being confined here was probably safer.

Setting aside the fact that they had to write 3.5 million reflection letters before they died.

Offense asked.

“Then why are they obeying you so meekly?”

“Want to hear why? What happened?”

“…No.”

“Good choice.”

He changed the subject.

“More importantly, why did you bring me here?”

“Oh, right.”

Serein flicked the reflection papers aside and said.

“Rewrite these. The handwriting’s too messy.”

“Aaah. Please…”

“Oh, and Dad. I have something to say.”

“Hiiik. Please, anything but increasing the daily quota...”

“That’s not it.”

Serein took a deep breath.

“You see this ordinary man standing next to me?”

“…?”

“From today on, call this person your son. You too, Mom.”