Chapter 66
Working hard, paying off debts, and coming home to play with the children. The repetitive daily routine passed by relentlessly.
I was so busy that I hardly noticed time passing.
'They say time flies when you're raising children. I guess that's true.'
I never thought I'd experience it firsthand.
Anyway, I'm doing my best to fulfill the role of a head of household.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted. Today's dimensional gate was too wide."
My legs are killing me. I should put on some pain relief patches when I get home.
I left the dimensional gate, dragging my wobbly legs. The staff waiting for me approached to check on my condition.
"Good work, Hero Lee Ha-jun. We're glad you're safe today too. Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just walked a lot anyway."
Overlord's aura.
Since I've been consistently eating dragon-related foods recently, the magical beasts didn't even try to approach me. Because of this, I was receiving quite good treatment from the association.
"100 days without incident. Still no injuries. With this kind of record, we might need to report to the higher-ups in the association. Since you handled it quickly and safely, we'll deposit a higher performance bonus than usual."
Great. If this keeps up, I might be able to pay off all my debts by the end of winter.
I headed home, imagining a future where I'm rich.
"A good educational environment for the kids... A house with a night view... Even a modest and pretty wife..."
I had given up on marriage in this life, but if things continue like this, I might be able to dream of a bright future.
The priority is for the dragon kids to become adults first, though.
"Their bodies grew fast, but their mental age is still that of babies. I wonder when they'll grow up and leave home."
A house without dragons.
It's noisy and chaotic, but there's constant laughter. I might actually feel lonely if they're not at home. Still, I'm only raising them until they become adults.
'I promised too. After that, I'll tell them to live on their own. They can't hide in the nest forever.'
With these various thoughts, I returned home.
When I opened the door, Choryeon greeted me with a bright smile.
"Welcome home, Father! I've been waiting!"
"Oh, Choryeon, did you play well?"
"Yes, I had fun watching TV!"
This is one of the recent changes.
Usually, the children were tired of Hwaryeon's dictatorship and didn't show interest in TV. However, when Hwaryeon started giving up her right to change channels, the children began to show interest in TV again.
'Now society is functioning properly.'
Moving from dictatorship to a society of mutual compromise, I couldn't help but praise Hwaryeon.
After washing up, I spoke to Hwaryeon, who was sitting in front of the TV with her mouth open stupidly.
"Hwaryeon."
"It's an important scene, Dad! The Red Masked Ranger is about to defeat the villain! Talk to me in a bit!"
Shoo, shoo—
Hwaryeon waved me away, focusing on the TV.
'This kid doesn't know how rare praise is.'
I immediately turned away, saying.
"I was going to praise you. If you don't need it, forget it."
"Hmph, I don't need praise! But what were you going to praise me for? I'm curious about that!"
"...I thought you didn't need praise."
"Not needing it and being curious are different! Tell me quickly! I'm getting dizzy!"
Hwaryeon held her forehead, pretending to be dizzy. Her obvious acting was ridiculous, but I decided to praise her anyway.
"I heard you've started giving the remote to the other kids. Is that true?"
"Of course! It's boring to watch alone! So I'm letting my siblings watch what they want too!"
"You're acting like a good older sister. That's what I wanted to praise you for. Well done."
Pat, pat—
I gently patted Hwaryeon's head to praise her. Hwaryeon allowed the patting for about 3 seconds.
"Stop touching now! That's enough praise!"
After that, she naturally pushed my hand away and refused. I wondered if she had to stick to her self-imposed 3-second rule.
'This kid is simple yet strange.'
She's my daughter, but she's really peculiar, though sometimes she seems the most normal.
Thinking this, I headed to the kitchen and opened the small refrigerator door.
"Hmm..."
There wasn't much food suitable for dinner. It was all simple frozen food.
So, I decided to eat something a bit special for dinner tonight. I approached Suryeon, who was looking at her smartphone, and said.
"Suryeon. Can I borrow your smartphone for a moment?"
Frown—
Suryeon frowned at my words and asked.
"Why? Are you going out, Dad? If that's the reason, I won't give it to you."
Whoosh—
Suryeon hid the smartphone behind her back. It seemed like she was daring me to take it if I was going out.
'Does she hate me going out that much? It seems she still has PTSD.'
It's not good to be too dependent.
With a slightly worried heart, I answered Suryeon's question.
"I'm not going out. I just need to make a call."
"Hmm, if that's the reason, then it's okay."
Swish—
After hearing the reason, Suryeon very obediently handed over the smartphone. I took the smartphone and immediately searched the internet.
"There's... one chicken place... that delivers nearby."
The delivery fee is quite high if I order just one chicken. But if I order two, the delivery is almost free.
'Even though the kids eat well, two chickens should be enough to fill them up.'
One chicken per person would be too much, I guess. Thinking this, I called the chicken place and placed an order.
One fried chicken, one seasoned chicken. A very classic combination.
"It should arrive soon if we wait."
I decided to lie down in the living room and watch TV in the meantime.
As I lay down in the center, Suryeon, who had been using her smartphone in the corner, came and lay down next to me to play games.
"Hmm..."
Choryeon seemed uncomfortable with that sight. She immediately snuggled up next to me and said.
"Father, let me use your arm as a pillow!"
"Well, it's not difficult, but..."
I don't know why she suddenly asked for this. I went along with Choryeon's request and let her use my arm as a pillow. Seeing this, Suryeon glanced sideways and muttered.
"...Interesting."
Is the game interesting? Or is the current situation interesting? I'm not sure of the exact meaning.
'Did Suryeon and Choryeon fight?'
I realized that the atmosphere between the two dragons was not normal. So, I spent an uncomfortable time sandwiched between the two dragons until the chicken delivery arrived.
Knock knock—
-Chicken delivery.
"Looks like it's finally here."
At last, an escape.
I stretched my stiff arm and went to the front door. Then, I opened the door to receive the chicken.
"Huh?"
"Oh? Isn't it you, big bro?"
There was a familiar face standing there.
"Fatty. You're doing deliveries?"
"Yes, I do it sometimes when I'm short on money. Big bro, you ordered chicken, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. I've already made the payment, so you can go."
"Yes, big bro. Enjoy your meal."
Fatty bowed 90 degrees to me. As he was about to turn away, he handed me something as if he had forgotten.
"Ah, right! Big bro, take this."
"What's this?"
"It's a coupon. Collect 10 and get one chicken free. It's good to collect them. The chicken here is good."
A coupon, huh. It's good to collect them.
I thanked Fatty and stuck the magnetic coupon on the refrigerator. Then, holding the chicken, I called out to the children.
"Kids! Let's eat chicken!"
"Chicken...? What's that! I don't know, but it smells delicious!"
"...Yeah, it smells good."
"Hmm, I'm curious what it is...!"
Pitter-patter—
The children flocked to the table, drawn by the smell of chicken.
Amidst their expectant gazes, I carefully opened the packaging to reveal the glorious sight of the chicken.
"Ah, this is what we call chicken."
The children's eyes sparkled as they looked at the chicken.
"It's meat! It smells good and looks delicious! I want to eat it!"
"It's fried food that's not good for health. But it looks tasty."
"It-It's not vegetables... but... I think I can try it once..."
Gulp—
The children swallowed their saliva with the chicken in front of them. I brought plates and distributed the chicken fairly for the expectant kids.
"One drumstick each. It's bound to be delicious, so try it."
The children put on plastic gloves and put the drumsticks in their mouths.
Munch—
They put the tender chicken legs in their mouths and took a big bite of the meat, crispy fried chicken and spicy-sweet seasoned chicken.
After trying chicken for the first time, the children opened their eyes wide and said.
"I-It's delicious!"
"This is a high-quality food. It's well-made. This dragon gives it a high rating."
"This isn't... carnivorous...! It's not violence, it's art...!"
They seem to be impressed. The children munched on the chicken, enjoying it deliciously.
They alternated between fried and seasoned chicken, enjoying happiness according to their tastes. Meanwhile, Choryeon handed me a meaty chicken breast piece and said.
"Father, you eat too! This part has a lot of meat and should be delicious!"
"You eat first, Choryeon."
"Hehe, I'm fine! You eat first, Father!"
As expected. Is Choryeon the only one who thinks of me first?
I ate the seasoned chicken breast that Choryeon gave me. Suryeon watched this quietly, then smiled slightly and murmured.
"Pretending to be nice..."
Choryeon didn't miss those words and coldly retorted.
"...Suryeon, do you dislike me?"
Glare—
Suryeon and Choryeon glared at each other. After a while, Suryeon turned away first, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Hmm, the chicken is delicious."
Suryeon pretended not to hear and left the situation. Watching this tension, I thought to myself.
'Why are they fighting while eating delicious chicken?'
I felt like I needed to resolve this discord that arose between the two dragons before it became serious. This situation was likely to lead to unfavorable results.
'Still, even though they're fighting, they're all eating the chicken deliciously.'
I hope they don't start asking to eat chicken every day. Although they have different tastes, it seemed that everyone enjoyed the chicken without any likes or dislikes.
"Give me more?! Why is there no more chicken!"
To the point where we needed to order more chicken.
'Damn.'
Why are they eating so well? I didn't expect them to eat this much.
I had no choice but to order soy sauce and garlic chicken as well.