Chapter 81: Young Thomas

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Young Thomas

Seeing Hesia come down the stairs, Lady Cassandra called out warmly, "Galen, I forgot to ask earlier, have you two had lunch? I’ve baked some meat pies. Would you like to try some?"

Hesia’s stomach chose that moment to let out an approving RUMBLE.

He took a still-steaming meat pie and took a large bite.

The pie’s crust was baked to a fragrant crisp, letting out a CRUNCH with even the lightest bite.

The meat filling inside was tender and juicy, fragrant with onions and herbs. Scalding hot juices instantly flooded his mouth.

He wolfed down several more before his hunger finally abated, at which point he felt a little embarrassed. "These are incredible, Lady Cassandra. Please, allow me to pay you."

Lady Cassandra started to wave a hand in refusal, but seeing how sincere Hesia was, she said, "Tell you what. I have to prepare three meals a day anyway. If you two don’t mind joining us, it’ll just be an extra two Silver Scales per person, per month."

Two Silver Scales a month came out to less than seven copper nails per day. Out in town, even living on the cheapest black bread would cost three copper nails a day.

Not to mention, Lady Cassandra’s cooking was far superior.

"Deal!" he mumbled, his mouth still full of pie. At the same time, he pulled six Silver Scales from his Money Bag and set them on the table.

"Oh, why so much?"

"That includes Bruce’s share."

Hesia pointed to the dog, which had practically buried its face in its food.

"Oh, you don’t have to pay for the little guy. He doesn’t eat much."

He glanced at Bruce, who was already gnawing on his third meat pie by his feet. He opened his mouth, about to say something.

But Lady Cassandra was already looking at Bruce with a fond expression. "Just look at the little fella. So full of life."

Hesia could only drop it. He couldn’t refuse Lady Cassandra’s goodwill.

’In other words, this was good fortune Bruce had earned in his own way.’

He called Zoya down from upstairs as well.

Zoya nibbled delicately on her pie, a stark contrast to the unrestrained way Bruce was devouring his beside her.

Taking advantage of the lull, Hesia decided to try out his newly learned Assessment Skill.

He concentrated, silently performed the Incantation, and focused his gaze on Zoya as she took small bites of her pie.

A faint stream of Magic Power flowed from his eyes. The world before him seemed as if it were covered by a light filter.

In his vision, a slightly blurry, pale yellow halo appeared above Zoya’s head. Next to the halo was a clear number—16.

Understanding dawned on Hesia.

’This feels like trying to read distant words in dim light.’

’I’m level 9, and I’m assessing the level-16 Zoya. The gap isn’t too large, so I can make out the number, but the process is a bit strenuous. That must be why the halo is blurry and yellowish.’

He theorized to himself, ’If the level gap were more than ten, this Magic would probably be like being nearsighted without glasses—I’d just see a blur, and the assessment would fail completely.’

’Still, even if I can’t determine the exact level of a powerful opponent, at least it’ll tell me when it’s time to run for it.’

Hesia briefly outlined his plans for the next day, which included finding a place to practice his skills and asking around for a shop that sold Magic Wands.

Zoya gave a soft "Mm" of acknowledgment. Then, as if remembering something, she added, "Tomorrow, I find... Captain."

"We moved. Have to tell him."

That’s when Hesia remembered. Captain Hulk had said that after he finished processing the materials from the Thorny Wild Boar, he would bring Zoya her share.

Now that they had moved, if they didn’t let him know in advance, the captain might really make a trip for nothing.

"Perfect," he said. "When you go see the captain tomorrow, just bring my share back with you."

"Mm."

...

As evening fell, the aroma of food drifted from the kitchen.

Lady Cassandra was preparing dinner. A twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy was hovering around her, excitedly asking nonstop, "Mom! You finally decided to rent out the upstairs? And to Adventurers?"

"Yes, Tom," Cassandra replied, stirring a pot of pea puree. "They are two very nice young people. But remember, you are not to go upstairs and bother them. Do you hear me?"

Thomas pouted. "I know, Mom! You’ve said that like, a million times!"

Cassandra sighed inwardly.

’Ever since she’d kicked out those last Adventurer tenants—the ones who spent all day bragging in the tavern—she’d become much more cautious about who she rented to.’

’Thomas was at an age full of unrealistic fantasies about adventuring, and she absolutely refused to let him see those drunks as role models.’

’In her eyes, it didn’t matter whether her son learned any impressive skills. Good character was what came first.’

She had been quite pleased with the two young people who arrived today, right from the first glance.

They were polite and courteous, which was a relief.

The young man named Galen, in particular, was not much older than Thomas and would make a perfect role model for him.

At that thought, she reminded him, "They’ll be down for dinner later. Remember to be polite."

"Really?"

"Of course. They think my cooking is good and have already paid for a month’s worth of meals in advance."

Thomas muttered under his breath, "That’s because they haven’t gotten sick of it yet."

...

After a short rest, Hesia and Zoya came downstairs on time for dinner.

Lady Cassandra made the introductions, "Mr. Galen, Miss Zoya, this is my son, Thomas. Thomas, these two are our new tenants."

Dinner was multigrain bread with a rich pea puree. The bread was dense and chewy, the puree smooth and delicious.

At the dinner table, Thomas chewed his bread distractedly while secretly sizing up the two new tenants.

’These two didn’t look like much, no matter how he sized them up.’

’That Zoya woman, dressed in a black robe with her hood pulled low, was obviously a Stalker—the Profession he despised the most.’

’He hadn’t forgotten the Adventurers who lived here before. They were all brawny, barrel-chested Warriors.’

’More than once, they had thumped their chests and drilled a "truth" into him:’

"Kid, remember this! Only Warriors who can face Demons head-on are real Adventurers! As for the other Professions, they’re all just there to make up the numbers!"

’According to them, Stalkers like her did nothing but fish keys out of gutters or help rich ladies find their lost kittens around town.’

’And as for this Galen guy, he was even worse.’

’He was scrawny, and to top it off, he was dragging along some mutt.’

’If Zoya could at least handle professional odd jobs, then this guy was absolutely just taking up space.’

’He was honestly a little disappointed. These two probably didn’t even count as real Adventurers.’

Seeing his mom go back into the kitchen, he finally couldn’t help but ask, "Uh... your name’s Galen, right? Are you an Adventurer? What’s your Profession?"

Hesia looked at the kid before him and was inexplicably reminded of his own bratty little brother from back home.

He even had the exact same "I’m the greatest" look on his face.

He smiled and replied, "Yes, I’m an Adventurer. A Mage Apprentice for now, I guess."

"A Mage?" Thomas looked confused. "What are they good for?"

It wasn’t his fault, though. There really weren’t many Mages in Rose Town.

Proper Mage Apprentices would either be poring over books in a Magic Academy or running errands for some Great Mage. Who would run off to Rose Town to be an Adventurer?

Thomas’s tone became even more dismissive. "So what rank of Adventurer are you?"

Hesia answered casually, "I only registered a few days ago. I’m Black Iron right now."

"Of course I know you’re Black Iron!" Thomas pressed. "I mean, Black-Iron-what?"

"Black Iron III."

"Liar! You just said you registered a few days ago, how could you be Black Iron III already! Blair’s older brother has been an Adventurer for two years, and he’s only Black Iron IV!"

Hesia didn’t explain further, simply taking the guild badge engraved with a "III" from his pocket and placing it on the table.

Thomas leaned in for a closer look, and the disdain on his face turned to admiration. "Whoa! It really is Black Iron III! That’s one rank higher than Blair’s brother, who’s always bragging! That’s so awesome!"

Immediately, he turned his curious gaze to Zoya, who had been eating quietly as if she wasn’t even there. "What about you?"

Zoya hadn’t wanted to bother with the little brat, but seeing him constantly harassing Hesia, she silently took a badge from an inner pocket of her robe and placed it on the table.

Under the light, the badge shimmered with... a silvery-white glow.

Thomas’s mouth gaped wide enough to fit an egg.

"S-S-Silver?! A... a legendary Silver Level Adventurer?!"

COUGH! COUGH COUGH!

Hesia almost choked, a mouthful of pea puree going down the wrong pipe.

’The sense of déjà vu was getting stronger.’

’He could almost see his little brother from years ago, the one who used to follow him to the internet cafe to watch him play games. He could see him staring at the rank icon on the screen with the exact same shimmering eyes:’

"Silver?! Bro, you’re already a Silver-tier god?! Carry me!"