âIf you mess with the kids in that shack, Iâll have you pinned to the top of Mount Kyrios and fed to the harpies. They gnaw slowlyâŠreally slowly, from the tips of the hands and legs so their prey doesnât die.â
No, I donât know. I donât know anything about harpies.
But there is no way these guys can understand such a thing, and everyoneâs face turned pale and they were trembling.
âŠlook at my face.
The town of Bastok, where I am based, is located along the highway that connects the royal capital of this country with other countries, and it is a large town with a large population.
There is a large adventurersâ guild, and there are many requests of a certain level of difficulty with commensurate rewards, which makes life easy and rewarding for a full-time adventurer like me.
But, well, a large population means that there are also criminals who pretend to be hoodlums or dark guilds.
While being beaten by me, these guys also frequently mentioned the name of the organization behind them.
I think it was âThe Greedy SpiderââŠ.
âDonât think you get a free pass for doing this to us! Greedy(ry)!â
âRemember us! Greedy!â
âOw ow ow! My arms donât turn in that direction.â
I donât remember it very well, but Iâm pretty sure it is.
The reason these guys got involved with me was that they thought I was a competitor. In their business, itâs basically first come, first served, and if the person who comes later has to hand over their prey, theyâll have to pay the price properly, and if they donât come to an agreement with each other, it will become quite troublesome later onâŠ
That means he was trying to negotiate with me. Damn it!
Didnât you learn in elementary school that you shouldnât judge people by their appearance? There is no elementary school in this world.
I roll the thugs into the back alley and go shopping at the market as originally planned.
I bought apples to make the bread porridge, and pots and wooden utensils for the night shift at a familiar store before returning to the hut.
When I started preparing in front of the hut, Iska and Fio were very surprised, saying, âEhâŠGray-san is going to cook?!â
Iâm aware that it doesnât suit me, but despite my appearance, I always do the cooking, laundry, and cleaning. Iâve been doing it since before I remembered my previous lifeâŠ
âOhâŠat least let me help you.â
With that, she put down Nina, who was holding her, and Ariamel came up to me.
I stroked the head of Ratz, who was staring at the apples with his fingers in his mouth and told him to âwait a little longer,â to which he nodded obediently.
As Iâm pouring the finished bread porridge from the pot onto a dish I bought, someone grabs my clothes from behind.
âHmm?â
When I look behind me, Nina stares at my face with a runny nose.
ââŠHey, donât move.â
After wiping Ninaâs runny nose
âWait over there, Iâll bring it right away.â
Even though I said that Nina still grabbed my clothes and stared at my face.
Wha⊠what?
Iâm glad she doesnât get scared when I look at her faceâŠbut itâs kind of embarrassing to have her stare at me so muchâŠ
ââŠOto-san?â (Father?)
Nina spoke as she stared into my face.
ăNo, no. Iâm not your father.ă
I was going to say so, but for some reason, I couldnât speak when I thought that this child might get sad.
What should I do?
âHey, Nina. Gray-san is in trouble, right?â
As I was perplexed, Ariamel picked up Nina.
When I saw Nina reach out her hand when she left me, I almost took it.