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Boxes piled up in front of our front door.
I looked at them with a little tired face.
“It’s Sihyeon, right?”
“Yes, but where did this come from?”
“ It’s written Lee Junho Strawberry Farm.”
“Oh…”
The boxes were sent by Junho, the eldest son of Uncle.
“Thank you Sir.”
“Thank you for the service.”
I greeted farewell to the courier guy and looked at the boxes.
The inside was full of fresh ripe red strawberries.
Not long ago, I heard that brother Junho would send strawberries through uncle, but I didn’t know he would send this much.
It’s definitely more than enough for me and my mother to eat together.
It was a lot.
-Kachak.
Maybe because of the fuss, the door of the neighbor opened and someone slightly showed their face.
“What’s the occasion…Why did you order so much?”
“I didn’t order it, an acquaintance from our hometown sent. He runs a strawberry farm.”
“Strawberry? I really like strawberries.”
Seo Yerin came to the side in her casual wear.
Since the Rift incident, the lady next door, became more friendly with us.
My mother frequently shared food with her, as a form of thanks for the help we received during the incident, and Seo Yerin also gladly accepted them, saying, she missed the home-cooked meals.
The ensuing exchanges quickly brought us closer than before.
Now, she has become close enough to come over to our house and have a meal together at any time.
She treats my mother so well that she presented my mother high-end cosmetics, luxury bags,..etc.
She and my mother even goes on shopping together.
I was grateful that she seemed to take care of what I couldn’t take care of.
On an additional note, since both of us were in the same age group, we had decided to call each other comfortably.
“Do you want some Rin ? I don’t think both my mom and me can eat all of it anyway.”
“Really? Then I’ll have also ask Aunt and get it.”
“Aunt Saya, are you there. It’s Yerin.!”
Seo Yerin walked into our house like it was her own house.
After laughing at her appearance for a while, I began to move the strawberry boxes into the house.
My mother was also surprised to see numerous strawberry boxes.
“What’s all this.?”
“It’s from brother Junho’s strawberry farm. Didn’t Uncle say about it when he called last time.?”
“Yes, he did. But, I never thought he would send this much.Rin, you should take some.”
“Hehe. Thank you Aunt Saya.”
Seo Yerin smiled hearing mother’s words and began to pick strawberries from the box.
Looking at the strawberry boxes that didn’t decrease even after giving to Rin, my mother said as if she was troubled.
“Si. What shall we do with the rest?”
“Hmm…”
Looking at the stacked strawberry boxes, faces of some guys, passed over my mind.
“What’s the name of this red fruit?”
“Strawberry.”
“Hmm. Strawberry… … Not bad.”
Kaneff looked at the strawberry and took a bite.
Unlike his lukewarm reaction, his hands kept picking up strawberries.
“I’ve never tasted such sweet a fruit before.”
“Me, too. I really want to visit the world where Sihyun lives.”
Unlike Kaneff, Andras and Lia were excited very much at the taste of strawberries.
– Pat. Pat.
“Papa.., Papa….., this.”
“Are you giving it to me, Speranza? Thank you for the concern darling.”
I ate the strawberries Speranza picked for me.
“Hmm. I think it tastes even better since came from my Speranza darling’s hand”.
Giggle
Speranza laughed as if she liked my exaggerated reaction.
Meanwhile, Kaneff, who was watching this, muttered as if he found my reaction pathetic.
“Sihyeon, don’t you have become more and more stupid since the arrival of that Erul kid ?”
“What’s wrong with that Mr. Kaneff.? I think it’s nice to see both Speranza and Sihyeon happy.”
“Lia is right Mr. Kanfeff. Just because you are jealous, you shouldn’t make such snarky comments.”
“What? Me..getting jealous? What do you guys take me for. You and you don’t deserve these strawberries.”
Click..Clang
The chains that came from Kaneff’s hand grabbed the Strawberry box and lifted it in the air.
“Ahhhhh! Mr. Kaneff, what are you doing?”
“Is this the attitude of a person-in-charge Mr. Kaneff ?”
When the strawberries in front of them disappeared, agitated Lia and Andras raised their voices.
In response, Kaneff took out strawberries one by one using the chain as if he wanted them to see him eating.
The two couldn’t do anything to the cheeky attitude of Kaneff.
Then they started sending a desperate look of help towards me.
“Boss, please put down the strawberry box. Is this the attitude you want to show in front of a kid.?”
“What did I do? They started it first.”
“If you keep doing that, I will give all the remaining boxes of strawberries to Andras?”
At my threat, Kaneff reluctantly lowered the strawberry box and placed it back in its place and sent a hot gaze towards Andras and Lia as if saying ‘ this isn’t over’.
It suddenly felt like I became a father of not one but four Demons.
While I was shaking my head, driving away the regretful thought on my head, Andras opened his mouth with an excited voice
“Sihyeon, can I get some strawberries on my way return.? I want to show the taste to the Demons I work with.”
“Yes. It’s okay. Just leave one box that’s wrapped as a gift and take the as much as you want from the rest of the boxes.”
“Thank you, Sihyeon!”
While I was looking at Andras, who was smiling happily, Kaneff asked in a serious tone.
“Gift? Whom are you going to give it to ?”
“Gold watch chamber merchants are coming to Beast-people Village today. I owe you a lot of things last time, so I’m going to repay them, even if it’s a little.”
“To that Ergin or something merchant?”
With an expression, as if he didn’t like what I was doing, Kaneff said.
“Why do you prepare such a gift for him?”
“Of course, for the help I got  from him.”
“Help? Don’t you know that, there is no such word called help in  the dictionary of a merchant belonging to the Golden Clock Chamber?”
“But he did help me without expecting any reward…”
“What do you mean by there was no reward? Did you forget the kind of status you have in this Demon world.?
A Ester appointed by the Demon Lord himself, was my position in this Demon world.
“From the perspective of the Golden Clock, they’ll think it’s a great benefit just to get to know about the new ester. No, they must have already sold your information somewhere else.”
“Be careful. They always smile on the outside and pretend to be considerate, but their minds only think about how to make money.
Andras also supported Kaneff’s warning, saying.
“I exchange a lot of deals with the Golden Clock Chamber through my family, but it’s not bad to be careful as Mr. Kaneff said. Maybe they’ll try to gain something based on the favor they had given to Sihyeon.”
“Lia. If that Ergin or something says some kind of nonsense to Sihyeon, just rip his mouth off.”
“Yuk, I don’t like to do such vulgar things, but I’ll be right next to Sihyeon and protect him.”
I scratched my head with an ambiguous look at the more negative response from everyone.
Elden Village.
Not long ago, this small village almost suffered great damage because of the Beasts that started settling around the area.
Fortunately, as Golden watch Chamber merchants began to visit the village by hiring mercenaries, the damage caused by the Beasts started decreasing, and now the village has regained its former stability.
By trading with merchants of a scale that was incomparable to before, the village was gaining vitality that had never existed before.
It was so good that I and Lia, who visited after a long time, noticed the change in atmosphere at a glance.
The first to notice our visit was of course, the children of the village, who were waiting for me.
News quickly spread that I had arrived among the children thirsty for snacks and candy.
It didn’t take long for children to flock around me.
After handing out candy and snacks to the crowded children, and after the satisfied children were scattered, Reville and Miru slowly approached.
“Candy Uncle, Did you  have a hard time.?”
“Hahahah. It’s okay. It’s something I do because I like it.
“How have you been?”
“Thanks for asking Reville. I’m doing fine”
“How have you been doing, Lady Maid and Lady Fox?”
Lia smiled slightly and nodded her head.
Speranza stuck close to me as she still felt unfamiliar towards Reville.
“Papa…”
Reville and Miru’s eyes opened wide, hearing Speranza’s words.
At their reaction, I smiled awkwardly and scratched my head.
“Hahahah..”
Reville smiled.
“Something good must have happened to Sihyeon. For now let’s get going. Lagos is waiting.
“Uncle Reville. I’ll play with Speranza.”
Miru jumped onto the wagon and sat next to me and Speranza, and began to chat.
Speranza, who was not used to talking yet, nodded her head and responded quite actively to Miru’s conversation.
I headed inside the village to meet Lagos with Reville.
Since it was the day of an important merchant’s visit, the villagers were busy.
When we arrived in front of the familiar house, Lagos greeted us with a smile all over his face.
“Welcome Mr. Sihyeon. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Hello, Lagos. You can speak comfortably.”
“I feel comfortable with this way.”
I got off the wagon and started walking side by side with Lagos and Reville.
“The situation in the village seems to be better.”
“Yes, it is. Thanks to the Golden watch merchants hiring mercenaries, we don’t have to worry about getting attached by the Beast’s anymore. In addition, we were able to buy high-quality items at a low price. The lives of the villagers has improved a lot.”
“The merchants who used to come here before, often ripped us off.
” It’s all thanks to you.”
I got embarrassed looking at the two, praising me with their trustful eyes.
“But I’m now worried about how long these days will continue. Thanks to Mr. Sihyeon, we earned their favor for a while, but from the standpoint of a merchant, this place would not be very attractive. ”
Whether it’s the Fruits and herbs collected directly from the forest. Or whether it was a by-product of the Beasts obtained from hunting.
Local merchants could make small gains by ripping-off, but there was nothing to benefit from the standpoint of the big scale merchants from Golden watch Chamber.
Lagos was well aware of the fact, so he couldn’t help but look a bit gloomy.
“Lagos, don’t worry too much. Me, the villagers and people from other villages are preparing little by little. Don’t try to do everything on your own.”
“Okay. I’ll accept the help as much as I can. Thank you. I feel reassured just by hearing it.”
Talking about this and that, we headed toward the entrance of the village.
When we arrived, I began to see a procession of merchants from afar.
The man who leads the procession on horseback….
Was Ergin, whom I  had met in the city of Kaldinium,
He found me and came to my side.
“It’s been a while Sir. Ester.”