"Oh? Even after everything I just told you, you're still gonna stick to that dream?" Dad asked, perhaps searching in my eyes, for any sign of hesitation.
"So what?" I puffed out my chest, "I'm not afraid of dying, Dad!"
"Huu..." He let out a long, heavy breath, looking down at his calloused palms. "Of course you aren't, Nobody is, at first." he muttered.
his voice dropping so low I could barely catch it, "How can you be afraid of a something you've never felt? How can you fear a shadow you haven't stood in?"
"What did you say ?" I asked, leaning in.
"Nothing, kid. Nothing." He shook his head, the somber moment vanishing as quickly as it had arrived. "So? When do you plan to join the Guild?"
"Hehe... of course! as soon as possible!" I grinned. "The moment I hit the age of requirement, I'm crashing straight to the guild registration desk."
"Heh... Then you have less than two years left! You better get prepared!"
"Just you see! I'm going to climb higher than D-Rank!" I challenged him, pointing a finger at his chest, "I'll hit C-Rank before I'm even twenty!"
Dad laughed, but this time it wasn't a mocking laugh. It was a hearty, proud sound that filled our small room, "Trying to overtake your old man? Good! That's the spirit I wanted to hear."
He paused, his gaze drifting to the corner of the room where his old adventurer's gear sat under a heavy cloth. "Didn't you always say you liked my sword?"
"Yes, But you never let me hold or swing it ? You always said i was too young and clumsy for it!"
"Because you are. But how about this?" Dad leaned in, his expression suddenly very serious. "If you succeed in registering as an adventurer on your first try—no failures, no re-tests—then that sword is yours. It'll be my congratulatory gift to the new 'D-Rank' in the family."
I looked at him in surprise.
"You... you really mean that?!" I asked to confirm, my voice cracking.
"Of course I mean it! Have you ever known your old man to be a liar?" Dad asked, puffing out his chest with a sudden surge of bravado that nobody asked for.
I squinted at him, unimpressed. "....I mean, you lied literally ten seconds ago and you also lied to mom yesterday."
Dad's heroic posture deflated instantly. "When exactly did I lie to your mother?"
"When mom asked you yesterday morning, why were you so late the night before, you told her that you went to uncle Mark to help with some 'heavy lifting' for work. But you were out drinking in the tavern that night, weren't you ?"
The speed at which he moved was faster than any of our sparring sessions.
He lunged across the table and clamped his hand over my mouth, his eyes darting around like a cornered animal. "Ssh! How the heck did you know that?" he whispered frantically.
"I ran into Uncle Mark this morning," I muffled through his palm. "He asked me if you were feeling alright today, seeing as you were 'drinking for three men' last night."
"That damn Mark..."
Just then "Da.ar.li.ing." a voice came from behind.
Dad froze like a statue and turned his head slowly—like a rusted mechanical doll—toward the source of the sound.
"H-honey!"
There, my mom was standing with my one year old sis in her hands.
Seriously, how can a grown man, a former D rank adventurer be afraid of a normal woman ? where's all your bravado, old man ?
But I am an intelligent man. And intelligent people know when to stay silent. So, the best thing to do right now is to become invisible.
"I felt like I heard something about... drinking?" Mom asked with a smile that did not look like smile at all.
Her smile didn't reach her eyes, which were currently narrowed into terrifying slits. "Hmm? Did I mishear, dear?"
Why do I feel like I can fire sparks behind her. She doesn't know fire or illusion magic, though. are my senses tricking me ?
"O-oh? T-that?" Dad stuttered, his knees actually shaking. He looked at me, his eyes were pleading for a miracle, and then his expression changed. "It was Jimmy! He was the one who suggested it!"
"Hmm?" Mom's gaze flickered to me.
What the hell are you planning, you sneaky old man?! You're really going to throw your own son under the carriage to save your own skin?
"Jimmy said he wanted to drink Lohan's fruit juice today, on our way back from the parade!" Dad shouted, pointing at me with a finger that didn't even tremble.
The man was a former D-Rank adventurer, yet he was shamelessly using his twelve-year-old son as a human shield to survive the storm.
Mom's gaze shifted to me, her eyes narrowing as she searched for a crack in the story. "...Is that true, Jimmy?"
Just when I was about to deny it, I felt a pinch on my hand. It was my Damn Dad!
"Y-yes!" I answered.
"....I see," Mom said, her voice dropping into a calm that was somehow even more terrifying than her shout.
Dad let out a long, audible sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping. "See? Just a misunderstanding, honey. Now, we really should be going or—"
"Is that what you expect me to say?!" Suddenly, the house seemed to shake. Mom's voice sound level went from zero to a hundred unit in a heartbeat. "Do you think my ears are for decoration?! Do you think I can't tell the difference between 'three man' and 'fruit juice' when you're whispering like a pair of thieves?!"
"Crap! Jimmy! Ready to run!" Dad barked, already halfway to the door.
"Roger that!" I didn't need to be told twice. I knew a losing battle when I saw one.
We sprinted out of the house at full speed, our boots thumping against the dirt path as we fled the epicenter of the maternal earthquake.
"Oy! Be careful! You two!" Mom shouted from the doorway, her anger instantly shifting back into that habitual worry as she watched us bolt.
"We will, dear!"
"We will, Mom!"
And we started walking towards the main road.
"See ? this is why i love your mom. she just can't stay angry at me for long"
"we will see that when we return."
"But, From now on, refrain from talking about those things when your mom is nearby, got it ?"
"That's going to require a bribe," I said, crossing my arms. "A big one."
"Huu... how did my son become so corrupted?" Dad groaned, shaking his head. "It must be Mark's influence. I'm banning you from his workshop for a month."
While bickering like that we finally reached the main road.