Chapter 10: A Strange Couple

They were both holding mugs.

Qiu Nuoya assumed they were probably drinking alcohol.

Apparently, the Adventurer’s Guild also served food and drinks.

But what kind of adventurers were drinking in the middle of the day?

"Um... yes? What is it?"

The female warrior smiled and gestured for him to come closer.

Honestly, Qiu Nuoya did not want to approach them.

However, he did not have the courage to ignore them either.

With some hesitation, Qiu Nuoya walked toward the two of them.

The female warrior suddenly grabbed his arm firmly.

"How old are you?"

"Eh? Ah... I am ten years old."

After Qiu Nuoya answered, the man immediately followed up with another question.

"Are you someone’s kid? There is no way you are actually an adventurer, right?"

So they really were drinking alcohol.

The man’s breath smelled strongly of it.

Qiu Nuoya had always been a lightweight and could barely drink alcohol, so he was not used to the smell.

He hated the scent.

And honestly, he was scared.

He wanted to run away.

"Um, I am not an adventurer yet, but I came here to take the test so I can register."

"I told you!"

The female warrior looked at the man with a strangely triumphant expression.

Meanwhile, the man twisted his intimidating face and muttered,

"Yeah, but still..."

"It is too early for ours..."

"No, that child is already perfectly capable of working as an adventurer! I was already working as an adventurer when I was his age!"

"But still, right now we can support him with the money we earn. Besides, he will need an education from now on, won’t he? Rather than becoming an adventurer, a profession where you never know what tomorrow will bring, there are other options too..."

As the man continued arguing, the female warrior slammed her mug onto the table with a loud bang.

Qiu Nuoya was startled by the sudden impact, and the man drinking with her also seemed surprised, letting out a small cry.

It seemed that the woman was the one in control of this pair.

Could they possibly be husband and wife?

"A man doesn’t need an education! I hate weak, skinny men who are all brains and no strength more than anything in this world! A man needs stamina, strength, and courage! You can survive without a smart head!"

"Well, I mean..."

Apparently, the wife wanted their child to start working early, while the husband wanted their child to study more.

It was strange.

Qiu Nuoya had heard of situations where the roles were reversed, but this kind of case seemed unusual.

"Boy, you think being an adventurer is a wonderful profession, don’t you?"

The wife gave Qiu Nuoya a fierce smile.

Although he felt confused by the pressure, Qiu Nuoya nodded.

"Of course, I have no complaints about the profession of adventurer either. But these days, adventurers are not just people who blindly hunt monsters for requests anymore. If someone wants to aim higher, I think they should receive some proper education as well." 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

Qiu Nuoya nodded internally.

The husband’s argument also made sense.

"But our child is already thirteen years old. This child here is only ten and he is already becoming an adventurer. Don’t you think it is cruel for our child to be left behind by others of the same age?!"

Ah...

So that was another concern.

It was true that if everyone around him continued advancing in rank while he started late, catching up might become difficult.

However, adventurers apparently could start at any age, so perhaps it was not something that needed to be worried about too much.

"Um, it may be presumptuous of me to give my opinion, but I think this is something you should discuss with your child directly and decide after hearing what they want. I do not think children are happy when their parents decide their future for them without asking."

When Qiu Nuoya lightly raised his hand and said that, the husband and wife looked at each other.

"That is true."

They nodded in agreement.

After paying their bill, the couple left the guild.

Before leaving, they both patted Qiu Nuoya’s head and said, "Good luck with your test, kid."

Whether it was another world or his original one, parents were still parents.

The way they worried about their children’s future was not so different.

Qiu Nuoya had initially thought they looked intimidating, but in the end, they were surprisingly ordinary people.

He felt a little relieved by the realization.

"What a lively scene. Did something happen?"

Just as the friendly couple left, Igor and Viktor returned to Qiu Nuoya’s side.

After Qiu Nuoya explained what had happened, both of them laughed with exasperated smiles.

"No matter how much parents worry, kids will eventually leave and walk their own path. As for me, I ran away from home and became an adventurer when I was about your age!"

"Y... You ran away from home?!"

"There are actually quite a few people from my race who do that."

Igor laughed heartily as if it were nothing unusual.

Perhaps that was simply how things were in this world.

"I am the same. I hated the closed off elven village where I was raised, so I ran away from home as well. Children never grow up exactly the way their parents expect. That is simply how it is."

Standing beside Igor, Viktor nodded in agreement.

The people of this world really did seem to have a strong sense of independence.

Qiu Nuoya found himself reflecting on his own life.

In the end, he had never truly experienced becoming independent from his parents through his own choice.

There had been many times when he wanted to live independently, but circumstances had made it difficult.

More importantly, he had never possessed the determination to leave everything behind and do it anyway.

"Don’t worry about me, Nuoya. Just live your life the way you want to."

His mother had told him those words many times.