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The wind and rain howled outside the window.
Zenith looked worriedly at the door. It had been some time since the two had left.
"Do you think... Allen will agree?"
Paul, who had been tense all afternoon, now seemed to have come to terms with something. He relaxed, slouching in his chair like a lazy cat.
"It's best if he doesn't agree."
He winked at his wife, a playful expression on his face, and held up two fingers.
"But if he does agree, wouldn't that also be a good thing?"
Zenith stiffened at Paul's gesture, quickly glancing at the children across the room. Seeing Rudeus's twitching expression, she stomped on Paul's foot.
"Ouch!! What was that for?!"
Lilia, sitting nearby, covered her face in exasperation, while Zenith's cheeks flushed red.
"N-nothing, dear... Keep talking..."
Paul realized what Zenith was thinking, and his expression turned mischievous. But when he caught Rudeus's awkward look out of the corner of his eye, he quickly composed himself.
There were too many kids around. Better keep it serious.
He began counting on his fingers.
"First, even though Allen acts much more mature than his peers, I still feel like he's a child who lacks love. Even though we've treated him as family, before last winter, he was quite distant. It wasn't until after the incident in the snowy valley that we felt he truly accepted us."
"I still think placing him with his real family, no matter the outcome, will help him grow."
"Second, we can't afford his wages anymore... I've been skimping for a while now."
Zenith and Lilia nodded in understanding.
Raising children takes both energy and money.
Paul used to have some extra income from helping out in the village, and Zenith had her clinic earnings. But with two new "gold-devouring beasts" added to the family, neither Paul nor Zenith had time to take on extra work.
Naturally, the family's income had plummeted.
"So, it's good to let Rudeus go out and earn some money too."
Rudeus, sitting nearby, made a face as if he'd just seen the family dog eating out of the toilet: ??? Don't I lack love too? Am I adopted or something? Paul!!
While the family was talking, Eris, sitting across the room, pouted and swung her legs rapidly on the stool. Her red eyes kept darting toward Sylphie, but she stubbornly fixed her gaze on the air in front of her, blinking rapidly.
However, her raised eyebrows betrayed her happiness!
"Sylphie! Can you use magic?!"
Sylphie's gentle voice responded.
"...Yes, I can."
"Are you better than Rudeus?!"
"He's better than me."
"Huh??? That shorty is strong?!"
Rudeus: ??? Sylphie is half a head shorter than me!
Eris glared at Rudeus, who immediately turned away and rejoined the family discussion.
Smooth.
Eris snorted and continued asking.
"What about that guy taller than me, Allen? How's his swordsmanship? Before coming here, Ghyslaine told me his swordsmanship is supposed to be good, but he looks so ordinary! Hmph, he didn't even dare to come out!"
In the young lady's eyes, height was an important measure of strength.
In the original story, her initial dissatisfaction with Rudeus also stemmed from the fact that her "teacher" was shorter than her.
Hearing this, Sylphie instinctively frowned and looked at Eris.
"Allen is the strongest."
It was a statement, her tone no longer gentle but serious, even grave.
Eris wanted to get angry, but seeing Sylphie's earnest expression, devoid of any provocation, she opened and closed her mouth several times before finally grumbling.
"I won't argue with you. We'll be going back together anyway. Let Ghyslaine spar with him! I'll see for myself if he's really the strongest!"
Sylphie wanted to say more but ultimately just lowered her head and fell silent, her fingers fidgeting with the dirty white dress on her lap.
Her eyes dimmed.
Eris noticed this out of the corner of her eye. She immediately turned to look at Sylphie, her eyes widening before a look of realization and subtle self-reproach crossed her face. She quickly turned to Rudeus and shouted.
"What's with you?! You're so annoying!"
Rudeus slowly turned to look at Eris, utterly speechless.
"What does this have to do with me? Are you taking your anger out on others? Can't you reflect on your own mistakes?"
"Who's making mistakes?! You're so arrogant!"
"What, are you going to hit me again?"
"Huh? You think I won't?!"
Eris jumped to her feet, her eyebrows raised as Rudeus visibly panicked.
Just then,
The door opened.
Wind rushed into the living room, snuffing out the brewing chaos.
Outside, Allen stood as if enveloped in a misty veil of water vapor.
As he stepped into the room,
The veil shattered.
Raindrops scattered like crystal beads, pattering onto the floor. Allen brushed off nonexistent water from his clothes and walked inside.
The system panel materialized like smoke before him.
[Expectations (2/2), responded in advance, time taken: 4 hours, 37 minutes, and 21 seconds.]
[Philip had originally planned this "expectation" talk in his study in Roa. He took this conversation very seriously and didn't want to have it on some rural roadside.]
[However, he didn't expect that playing the family card would have no effect on you. Instead, you directly laid bare his intentions. Thus, he had no choice but to have this important talk with you on the side of the road in Buena Village.]
[With your "response," you chose the path you'll take during your tutoring period.]
[Expectation 1: Philip's Ambition—Rejected. "With power, strength will naturally follow"? You clearly disagree with his view and have no desire to waste time on power struggles.]
[Expectation 2: Philip's Gift—Accepted. As a transmigrator, you won't pass up any opportunity for free gains, even if it's from your biological father.]
[Task Reward: Participation Score: 10 points.]
[Current Stage: Youth Tutoring Period, Total Participation Score: 17 points.]
[Evaluation: You needed a reason to get involved in the tutoring period, and now you've even scored a free teacher. This is a victory for freeloaders. You've won big.]
The smoke dissipated as Allen watched.
'There's still one uncompleted task from Philip...'
'If I'm not mistaken, it should be related to strength.'
'Ghyslaine didn't come with him...'
Allen glanced behind him.
Philip stepped back into the living room from the rain, his clothes thoroughly soaked.
But his expression was full of vigor.
Exuding an inexplicable drive.
"Allen and I have talked. He's agreed to return to Roa with me! Paul, you don't have any objections now, do you?"
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 157 on my patreon, go check it out and remember that if we reach the goal of 90 power stones I will publish the next chapter.