After coming to Earth with me, the first situation Ludia had to deal with was meeting my family.
âOh?â
â⊠I, Iâm back.â
The moment Ludia and I left my room, we ran into mother who was climbing the stairs with a vacuum cleaner. Her eyes became incredibly big the moment she saw us, and she frozen. Soon, with a calm expression, she put the vacuum cleaner down, cleaned her hand on her apron, and walked up to me. Putting her hand on my shoulder, she whispered.
âIs that my daughter-in-law?â
âSheâs my friend.â
Thankfully, her question was within my expectations so I could give an instant reply. However, Ludia tilted her head and spoke.
âWhat did she say?â
âAh.â
Now that I thought about it, Ludia was from Luka continent! She could talk to me since we were both dungeon explorers, but she couldnât understand mother, who wasnât a dungeon explorer! What happened next surprised me. With her hand not holding onto me, she reached into the air and took something out. That is, she had taken something out from her inventory. It was a black leather choker. She put it on and spoke.
âHello.â
It was Korean!
âW-What? What did you just equip?â
âItâs a translator that the dungeon sells for 300,000 gold. It translates what I say or what others say to languages we can understand. Since people in my continent also speak different languages, I bought one.â
âWhy didnât Loretta and Lin tell me about such an itemâŠ!?â
I could have easily solved my poor English problem at Britain!
While I was feeling a slight rage at Fairy Gardenâs guild master and vice-guild master, mother approached Ludia curiously.
âIs she a foreigner?â
âAs you can see, yes. Ludiaâs a foreigner.â
âWhere is she from? With her Western appearance, is it America? Britain? France? She doesnât look ItalianâŠâ
If youâre going to throw away your status, can you talk with honorifics?1 I gazed at Ludia strongly, but she turned her head the other way with a snort. For the record, she put more strength into holding onto me. Hearing the word âEhuir Empire,â mother tilted her head.
âEhuirâŠâ
âMom, sheâs a friend I made in the dungeon. I want to let her stay here for a while, is that okay? Iâll tell father and Yua too.â
I changed the subject and asked mother. She immediately stopped thinking about where Ehuir Empire was, as she put her hands on Ludiaâs shoulders.
âOf course! You can live here forever! God, I didnât think my son would bring such a pretty girl home. So? How far have you gone?â
âMom, sheâs really just my friend, so donât misunderstandâŠ!â
âIf youâre going to make excuses that sheâs just a friend, at least stop linking your arms together.â
When Ludia heard what mother said, she suddenly became pale, pulling on my arm harder and throwing herself into my embrace. Feeling that something was wrong, motherâs expression became stiff. With a bitter smile, I asked.
âMom, please?â
â⊠Alright. Since Shin brought a friend home, Iâll have to show off. I have to appease Yua too.â
âAppease Yua? Is she mad that I wasnât home for a while?â
âYouâll know once you see her.â
With that, mother smiled. I tilted my head and looked at Ludia, but she still shaking lightly in my embrace.
In any case, Yua really seemed mad, just like mother sad.
âNâŠNo! Y-You canât live together⊠oppa! Especially with someone so pretty!â
âSheâs just a friend, Yua. Thereâs a complicated circumstance, so I hope you can understand.â
I looked at mother and father as I tried to convince Yua, but they were both more concerned with Ludia. Mother asked Ludia what her hobbies were and father seemed interested by the fact that Ludia was an explorer. In any case, they were telling me to convince Yua on my own.
âOppa, to be honest, Iâm mad. It hasnât been long since you came back from Britain, but you left home for four days. You even brought back someone so pretty!â
âSorry, but thereâs a circumstance I canât tell you about. Itâs hard to explainâŠâ
âWhy is it hard to explain!?â
As it had been a long time since I saw Yua be so unreasonable, I didnât know what to do. Then, Ludia sighed and pulled on my sleeve. Holding onto chopsticks strangely, she asked.
âShin, can you explain how I use this tool?â
âI told you to use a fork instead of chopsticks.â
âI donât want to. No matter what country you go to, diplomacy starts from your table manners. So you teach me.â
âYou didnât come here as a diplomatâŠâ
âIâm a person of this world now, so it has to be perfect. You have to teach me everything.â
âYouâŠâ
âOppa!â
âHuk!â
While I was paying attention to Ludia, Yua got up from her seat, shaking.
âIâm really angry! Oppa can do whatever you want, I donât know anymore!â
âYua!?â
After putting her empty dish in the sink, she left. Y-Yua was finally going through pubertyâŠ!
âShin, can you show me how to use this? I canât figure out how.â
âIâm surprised you can ignore others so well.â
Even as I sighed, I spent a long time to teach Ludia how to use chopsticks. Since I didnât know how or why I had to appease Yua, I could only sigh.
When I told Loretta what happened, even she got mad.
âYouâre saying a customer named Palludia is staying in Shin-nimâs house? The one you gave the headband to!?â
âYes.â
âIâm jeal⊠No, send her back to the Residential Area!â
âYouâre saying this too, Loretta? Iâm worried about Ludia. I want to watch over her for a while.â
âT-Thatâs⊠I know Shin-nim doesnât have any ulterior motive, butâŠâ
Loretta looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she simply sighed. Then, she spoke as if there was no other choice.
âFine. Iâll allow it.â
âThanksâŠ?â
Strange. Why did I get Lorettaâs approval? What approval did I even get? My head was filled with questions. Meanwhile, Loretta continued.
âThen, Iâll first teach you how to appease your sister.â
âTell me quickly!â
The questions immediately disappeared.
When I returned from the dungeon, it was midnight. As I only went to the dungeon after Ludia fell asleep and set me free, talking to Loretta for a bit didnât pass the night.
âYua, are you sleeping?â
[Yes, Iâm sleeping!]
âCan I go in?â
[⊠Yes.]
After shouting angrily that she was sleeping, she easily crumbled at my request. I entered the door with a grin. Yua seemed to have been studying, as she was looking at her notebook and using the internet. She turned her rotating chair around and faced me. Her cheeks were puffed up.
âI thought you were with Palludia-ssi.â
âShe went to sleep a while ago. Oppa just came back from the dungeon.â
âUuuu, so she was clinging so closely to oppa before going to bed?â
âYua, you also realized that something was wrong, right?â
When I asked her calmly, Yua made a difficult expression⊠then nodded her head.
âHow did you meet her?â
âI met her in the dungeon, and we became friends. You see, I went to help Ludia this time.â
âSheâs really just a friend? You guys arenât dating?â
âOf course not.â
âThen why is she sticking to oppa so closely?â
âItâs hard to explain in detail, just that she went through some difficulties. She lost her place in her country too. I couldnât leave her alone, so I brought her here.â
âThe details are what I want to hearâŠâ
Yua murmured weakly and drooped her shoulders. Then, she said something I never would have imagined.
âI want to help oppa too.â
âEhâŠ?â
âOppa looks like youâre having a hard time lately. Plus, youâre always busy. The incident that made oppaâs friend like that⊠oppa must have been there too. So Iâm worried about oppa.â
âUm.â
While I was panicking as Yuaâs response was different than what Loretta said, Yua continued with her head down.
âWhen oppa first became a dungeon explorer, I was happy. You were always smiling, full of confidence, and even lost muscles and became handsome⊠Ah, oppa was always handsome, but oppa became even more handsome.â
âT-Thanks.â
âBut after the second moon rose and monsters began to appear⊠Oppa began to change. I was happy that I could be proud of oppa, but lately, Iâve been restless. Iâm worried that oppa might suddenly leave me and disappear.â
A day would come where people without abilities would have trouble being near the Hero. It was when I would have to leave my family. Because Yuaâs words were so accurate, I couldnât argue against her.
Then, Yua looked up, staring at my eyes.
âIf I become a dungeon explorer⊠can I help oppa, too?â
âNo.â
Although I was surprised from Yuaâs words, I could answer her question immediately.
âYua doesnât have to fight. Fighting can be done by people like father and oppa, who only knows how to fight. Yua can help oppa by staying safe and being healthy.â
âI know how to fight too!â
âNo, Yua. Youâre more suited to things other than fighting.â
Yua didnât have talent for physical activities like fighting. I was certain. Since I couldnât tell her that outright, I tried to say it in a roundabout way, but it didnât seem to work, as Yuaâs eyes became sharp.
âI hate oppa.â
âHuk!â
âOppa sucks! Leave!â
Yua talked to me without honorifics!2 When Yua pushed me with her hands, I became worried that my tough body would hurt her and quickly left her room. Immediately afterwards, the door closed with a boom. Left alone outside the room, I found a word to objectively describe this situation, and murmured as my heart crumbled.
âSibling quarrelâŠ!â
Loretta, this is all your fault! Even though I didnât get to say what you taught me or use the present you gave me!
I found a target to lash out on. It was the Wendigo. However, the Wendigo had a critical weakness to serve as my stress reliever.
[Choose your reward.]
[1. Wendigoâs Fur Pants
2. Frozen Crystal]
âDamn, this guy is too weak!â
Heâs so weak, I donât even feel like fighting him! I kicked the snow on the ground in anger, and swallowed the Frozen Crystal.
[By consuming the Frozen Crystal, your resistance and affinity to freezing energy increases. Your magic increases by 1.]
[I love Shin! It became colder!]
âI think my affinity with Ruyue is already at its peak, but⊠Ruyue, I like Ruyue too.â
[EheheâŠ]
Ruyue rubbed her head in my chest, and I patted her while thinking about what to do next. First, I had to appease Yua⊠No, thatâs probably not possible right now. Since Yua rarely got mad, I didnât even know when she would calm down. I had an idea why she got mad, but it wasnât possible for me to do anything about itâŠ
âI guess itâs the Wyvernâs Nest.â
America, Arizona State, Pageâs Antelope Canyon. Its Field Dungeon, Wyvernâs Nest. If I went there, I could meet Ciara Kenex, the woman who addressed me as Hero. I would know once I met her. Why she called me Hero and who she was. If she refused to speak, I would have to squeeze the info out of her. I was more than capable now.
Alright, I decided. Once I finished grinding Wendigo and Ruyueâs ability grew, I would go to Wyvernâs Nest. Wash your neck and wait, Ciara Kenex!
Authorâs note:
Itâs the start of a new arc. I lightly portrayed Ludia assimilating to Earthâs culture. Itâs now time for dungeon, dungeon, dungeon! Then, weâll focus on Ciara Kenex, that suspicious woman!
For the record, if you donât read this chapter carefully, youâll regret it later. Why? Thatâs a secret
Translatorâs note:
ICDS â romcom edition. Wait, what about when Ludia takes showers!?
1. Kind of hard to convey in English, but you have to use honorifics when talking to older people in Korean, which she didnât do.