CH 108

Chapter 108 : Persuading Grandpa

「Aa-ahh… Looks like Leona hasn’t forgiven me yet…」(Grandpa)

Grandpa, who regained consciousness after eating the food Mom made for him and fainted, said that while shedding tears.

He looked so depressed, as if his HP nearly reached zero.

「N, No. Grandpa, you misunderstand. For some reason, Mom is just eager to add bad ingredients to her dishes. We sometimes have terrible experiences eating her food too, so it doesn’t mean that she hates you!」(Mark)

「R, Really…? Can I trust you…?」(Grandpa)

Grandpa looked at me with teary eyes.

「Un, trust me! She doesn’t hate you. She is just terrible at cooking. You know that very well, don’t you?」(Mark)

「Well, yeah… Hahh… I see. I thought she got better at cooking…」(Grandpa)

「Anyway, you should try to eat other dishes.」(Mark)

「Ojii-chan, I recommend this white one! It’s good!」(Nicola)

Nicola pointed to the roasted Tentacles in Grandpa’s lunch box.

「Really? If Nicola-tan said that, I should eat it then!」(Grandpa)

Seeing Nicola’s smile, Grandpa’s sad face immediately turned into a smile too. He then stabbed the roasted Tentacles with a fork.

Good job, Nicola!

It’s just Tentacles meat that was roasted and seasoned with salt, so there’s no way it would taste bad…… Perhaps.

I hope Mom didn’t put weird ingredients into it, or else Grandpa’s HP would be minus and the parent-child relationship between Grandpa and Mom would be ruined…

While praying, I watched Grandpa put the roasted Tentacles into his mouth.

「Mmm! This is really good!」(Grandpa)

Thank God… Looks like Mom didn’t put anything weird into it.

When I stroked my chest and sighed in relief, Grandpa stabbed the second piece of roasted Tentacles and talked to me.

「This is the monster meat you bought from Secard Village, right? I’ve been wanting to try this for once, but I can’t bring myself to come to your dad’s dining hall. The ones sold at stalls in this town aren’t as delicious as this one!」(Grandpa)

It wouldn’t be strange if merchants from this town went to Secard Village to buy Tentacles meat, but aside from food stalls, there was no dining hall that sold Tentacles meat other than ours in this town.

「This chewy texture is really addicting! Mark-tan, you’re really amazing to have a business talent at a very young age. I’m proud of you!」(Grandpa)

While smiling at me, Grandpa put the second piece of grilled Tentacles into his mouth.

With a happy face, Grandpa kept eating the food that Mom made (without weird ingredients) for a while, but he never touched the one that Dad made for him.

「Grandpa, I know you hate Dad, but would you like to at least take a bite of the food he made for you?」(Mark)

「Ojii-chan, Papa’s food is really good, you know!」(Nicola)

「U, Ughh… Alright then…」(Grandpa)

After we persuaded him, he finally took a bite of Dad’s food.

「…..Hmph. It tastes exactly like his dad’s cooking…」(Grandpa)

Grandpa then looked at the distance as if he was reminiscing about the old days.

It seemed like he knew my dad’s parents a long time ago.

***

「Fuhh…. It’s been a long time since I had a fun meal like this. Thank you, Mark-tan, Nicola-tan.」(Grandpa)

After the meal was over, Grandpa smiled at me and presented his empty lunch box to me.

「Grandpa, Mom said you should wash it before you return it.」(Mark)

「A, Ahh! You’re right, haha! I should at least do that. Wait a minute, I’ll do it quickly.」(Grandpa)

「Ah, hold on, Grandpa. Can you show me the equipment for traveling first? You can wash the lunch box later. Mom will come here to take it.」(Mark)

「….I see… Alright then, I’ll wash it later. Mark-tan, thank you…」(Grandpa)

After replying with a slightly quivering voice, Grandpa walked to the kitchen and placed the empty lunch box in the sink.

I could just put the lunch box into my item box and bring it home, but it looks like Mom wanted to make an excuse to visit him, and Grandpa realized it.

「Alright, let’s go to the front! I have a lot of clothes and other equipment for you! After all, I purchased and made the goods in my shop while thinking of you two!」(Grandpa)

While saying that, Grandpa smiled at us with a slightly red face.

I knew it. That’s why there are a lot of children’s clothes in his shop.

「Apparently, because there’s no shop in this town that specializes in selling children’s clothes, my shop’s sales have increased since I added more children’s clothes in my shop, so it’s basically thanks to both of you that my business is thriving! Just tell me if you want anything, I will bring them to you!」(Grandpa)

After hearing that, Nicola made a victory pose with a somewhat greedy expression behind my back.

「Then, Ojii-chan, do you have any recommendations?」(Nicola)

「Of course! I will make Nicola-tan look even cuter! You can leave it to me!」(Grandpa)

After that, Grandpa guided us to the front and gave us clothes and other equipment.

Including the small items, I felt like the price of all the equipment he gave us was very, very expensive… but I want to believe that it won’t affect the management of this shop.

Honestly, after seeing Grandpa’s happy face, I didn’t hesitate to receive everything he gave.

After Nicola and I got everything we needed for the trip, it was time for us to go home, but before we went home, we wore the equipment to test its comfort.

I’m now wearing the leather shoes that Grandpa hit with a stick-shaped magic tool earlier. It was so comfortable on my feet as if I had been wearing it for so long. As expected of a professional’s work.

On my back, was a light blue cloak. Since it was originally for an adult, Grandpa adjusted the size by folding and sewing the hem and other parts without cutting it so that I could still wear it as I grew, and even though it was folded here and there, it was quite light for me.

As for the material, it looked like this cloak was made from the skin of a snow wolf that lived in a cold region.

It was resistant to the cold, and it was stronger than it looks since it was made out of a monster’s skin. It could protect me from beast bites to a certain degree.

「Well then, we will come back with Mom after we return from the trip.」(Mark)

I decided not to include Dad because I thought it would be better to wait for Grandpa to forgive him first.

「Ou! You’re going to help your adventurer friend clear a quest, right? I’m sure both of you can do it! I’m looking forward to listening to your story about your adventure!」(Grandpa)

「Un! Thank you and see you later, Grandpa!」(Mark)

「See you, Ojii-chan!」(Nicola)

Grandpa sent us confidently without worries just like Mom. As expected from Mom’s dad.

After that, we left the shop while waving at Grandpa. Grandpa also waved and smiled at us, sending us off.

Along the way, I saw Grandpa’s neighbors making surprised faces after seeing Grandpa, the grumpy man of the neighborhood, smiling while waving like that.

Grandpa seemed to realize their reactions, but he didn’t care and kept waving at us until he could no longer see us.