Chapter 54
“Yeah. You wanted to ask me something, daughter-in-law?”
“Is that ri—No, we’re not in that kind of relationship!”
“Is that so? For now, let’s leave it at that. Oh, and feel free to speak casually.”
“…Then I’ll be a little more casual.”
I sent Ian off somewhere else for a while, giving me time to talk to the Hero alone.
The conversation I was about to have was a little sensitive, after all.
“So, what did you want to ask…”
“By any chance, did you come from another world, Hero?”
“…!”
-Shiver!
“Ghk…!”
“…That’s a secret only my wives and I know. How did you find out?”
The Hero responded to my question about whether he came from another world with what was basically an affirmative.
But at the same time, he began radiating an overwhelming killing intent at me.
So this… was the aura of a Grand Swordmaster and the Hero!
Even I, a Swordmaster, could barely keep from falling to my knees under that pressure.
No, if I’d let my guard down even a little, I might’ve collapsed right there.
“I asked how you knew. I don’t want to hurt my friend’s daughter, so you’d better give me a straight answer.”
“I-I’ll tell you, so please stop with the killing intent…!”
Then do something about this damn killing intent first, you old man!
Of course, thinking that wouldn’t make him ease up on it.
Well… I’d just have to force my way through it.
“Hup!”
“Hm?”
I gathered my mana and pushed back against the Hero’s killing intent.
I’d only let it wash over me earlier because I was trying to be as polite as possible. I could shrug off a little killing intent, you know?
…Of course, just releasing my mana would probably make it dissipate in no time, but the important thing is that I can push it back right now.
“You said you wanted to know how… I found that out, right?”
“That’s right. You’d better hurry up and tell me. I’m not very patient.”
If you want to know that badly, fine. Just don’t be shocked.
“The truth is… I’m from Earth, too.”
“…Huh?”
-Pssht…
With a kind of anticlimactic sound, the killing intent the Hero had been sending my way faded.
He must’ve been so surprised that even his killing intent disappeared.
Of course, I’d be shocked, too.
I mean, think about it. You get transported to another world and save it, and then twenty years after the ending, a girl (your friend’s daughter) suddenly shows up saying she’s from another world~ How shocked would you be?
“What you just said… Is it true? And how did you know I came from Earth?”
“Of course it’s true. And I’ve cleared [Gaia Academy] dozens of times. You could call me a seasoned player. So when I heard from my father that you’d obtained the Pantena Elixir, I figured it out. The Pantena Elixir isn’t something you can get through normal means, is it?”
The Hero nodded, looking convinced by what I’d said. Well, it was ridiculously hard to get the Pantena Elixir.
Setting aside how bizarre the method was, that naked, headstand dance… If anyone had caught me, I’d have gone to check whether the Han River was cold.
“No… Ha… I can’t believe it. To think I’d meet someone from home like this…”
“I know…”
Honestly, I didn’t have any particular attachment to Earth or anything, so I had no plans to go back.
Still, I did occasionally miss things like Earth food and cell phones…
Seeing someone from home makes me feel a little better.
“By the way, how did you end up in this other world?”
“Me? I got hit by a truck, then woke up reborn as a baby in this world.”
“So it really was that thing called an isekai truck… And of all people, you became Plien’s daughter…”
“Well… I guess you could call it cruel fate.”
Sorry, Plien… but I was reincarnated, right? It’s not like I possessed someone, so it should be fine.
“Haha… I see. It is nice to meet someone from home. Are you satisfied with your life in this other world?”
“Of course. I’m completely satisfied! Though I can’t compare to you, Hero, who got the harem route that wasn’t even in the original game.”
“Ahem…”
“How on earth did you win over all four of them? Is there some special trick only the Hero knows?”
I was teasing him a little, but I was genuinely curious, too.
Setting aside how he won over all four, there must’ve been all sorts of obstacles to marrying every one of them. How did he deal with all that?
I was seriously curious.
“Come on, tell me your romance stories already.”
“Ahaha. Well, all right. Let me tell you how I won over my wives…”
The Hero’s story was pretty shocking, yet somehow made sense in places.
Especially the bond events.
As is usually the case in games with heroines, there comes a point when you have to choose just one character.
The most obvious example is the bond event at the end of a chapter, where you choose one of the four and greatly increase her affection.
In the game, if you chose one, the other heroines became unavailable and you moved on to the next chapter. But the Hero took advantage of the fact that this was reality and did all four bond events.
But if that was the case…
“Whoa. So you planned from the start to win over all four? What a playboy…”
“Now, now! Don’t call me a playboy! I liked all four of them from the start! I even got each character’s ending five times!”
“Wow. Total game addict.”
“Ghk…!”
Of course, I’d cleared it more than twenty times myself, so I wasn’t exactly in a position to talk.
It was because the game was fun, not because I particularly wanted to see all the heroines’ endings.
“Anyway, what about the confessions? How did you confess? Don’t tell me you confessed to each of them separately, then called all four together to beg for forgiveness…”
“I’m not that much of a scumbag! I just gathered all four and openly confessed that I wanted to date all of them!”
“Ugh. That’s not romantic at all. What kind of confession is that?”
“Ghk…!”
Of course, compared to being confessed to in real time, this is much less impressive.
Maybe the Hero was cooler for saying it courageously?
‘…I don’t think so.’
Yeah. No matter what, our Ian is way cooler than that kind of confession.
“Still, they accepted you pretty well.”
“Yeah. It worked out wonderfully.”
“But why didn’t you give up your divine power?”
If it were me, I’d give up my power and get all four of them pregnant.
It’s not like this is Hell Joseon. The Gailis family could easily raise about four children.
“Well, you see… I didn’t know how to give up my divine power.”
“Huh?”
What did he mean by that?
In the game, after the player became a Grand Swordmaster and defeated the Demon King, the Goddess asked if they wanted to relinquish their divine power.
Then all he had to do was say yes…
“The Goddess never showed up. I don’t know why…”
“Whaaat?”
The Goddess didn’t show up?
“Really?”
“That’s right. I don’t know why she didn’t show up either… My wives nearly beat me to death over it.”
“Ahaha…”
Poor guy.
“Anyway, I don’t know why, but there was nothing I could do. Of course, that didn’t mean I loved my other wives any less, so don’t worry.”
“It’s not like I’m the one who needs to worry…”
Well, he was the Hero. I was sure he’d handled it somehow.
“Well, anyway, they all treat Ian like their own son. That’s a relief. I was worried they might not treat him well because they couldn’t have children themselves.”
“From what Ian says, I don’t think that’s the case.”
Whenever he talked about his mothers, he was smiling brightly.
…Enough to make me a little jealous.
“That’s good, then. So? How far have you gotten with my son?”
“W-what? How far? We’re not in that kind of relationship!”
“And yet I heard you live in the same house and sleep in the same bed.”
“Eek?!”
When did he hear about that?!
“I secretly overheard you two while you were walking earlier.”
“Are you a pervert? Why are you listening to things like that!”
“Can’t a father be curious about his son’s love life?!”
“Well… I guess.”
“Then answer me! What does it mean that you lie down and sleep in the same bed in the same house?!”
This shameless old man…!
“Sigh… Fine. I’ll explain it once, so listen carefully, okay?”
“Go ahead.”
“Living in the same house means we’re in the same dorm. Ian and I are first and second in our class, so we share a special dormitory.”
“Right. I remember that system.”
“And sleeping in the same bed is… because there’s only one bedroom.”
“Hm? That’s strange. I thought there were two bedrooms. And even if there was only one, couldn’t one of you sleep on the sofa or bring in another bed? You were free to decorate it, weren’t you? Surely it’s because you have feelings for each other…”
“It’s not like that! The bed in the one bedroom is just so luxurious that we can’t settle for another one, okay? It was made by none other than Wintack!”
“What?! Is that true? The one made by Wintack, the only one even our family has?”
“I’m more jealous that your family has one at all… Anyway, that bed is so comfortable I don’t want to sleep anywhere else… And I felt bad making Ian sleep somewhere else… That’s all.”
“Goodness. I’ll admit, that’s fair. I should be grateful that you sleep with my son, then.”
“Exactly.”
Phew… Somehow, I’d managed to talk my way out of it.
If I could just change the subject now…
“So when are you getting married?”
…What the hell was this old man listening to the whole time?!