Idiot (1)
When you come out into the world with only one body and leave, you leave even one body behind.
It is a saying from an old story.
Over the course of my life, nothing has touched me more than this.
No matter how much wealth you can collect, if you return again, you will be an empty body with nothing.
No matter how much I change the world into a better place to live, the things I did become meaningless.
No matter how many people you save, no one will remember you.
No matter how much I try to find someone I like and build friendships with, I don’t even know my name.
That’s why I kept a proper distance from people at any time and tried hard not to get involved in a deep relationship.
If no one else can fill the void in my heart, I’d rather have no one by my side.
Thoroughly put a wall around my heart to protect myself from further wear and tear.
Could it be because it’s been so long?
It was natural for me to live alone, and I was comfortable with that too.
And then, the fact that there is someone to greet you when you return home… … .
“Dad is here.”
I had completely forgotten how happy I was.
“Dad!”
As soon as I open the door, I cry! The silver life that ran swiftly with a sound threw its body towards me with all its might.
I had opened my arms before, but I leaned down slightly to safely receive the flying small body.
f*ck!
Wow, what is heavier than I thought is the sense of general.
Enduring the pain, he lowered his head, digging so hard that only his silver hair caught his eye.
The arms were holding me tightly around my waist, so I couldn’t seem to get them off easily.
Still, it was just as cute in my eyes.
Without realizing it, I smiled happily and quietly called his name.
“Rise?”
Right after that, a face appeared quickly enough to make a loud noise.
The chubby cheeks that hadn’t lost their breasts yet and the bright eyes seemed to contain all the loveliness of that age.
Whose daughter is this insanely cute child?
is it so. That’s my daughter.
Rize, who was held in my arms, smiled briskly and opened her mouth.
“Have you been?”
I couldn’t stand it any longer and hugged Rize tightly again, and Rize hugged her back with a small laugh.
I couldn’t see my cute daughter for two days.
I shouldn’t be working for a while to make up for Rize, which was so lacking.
Numerous emotions surged in my heart, and I took Rize out of my arms again and said a word with a smile.
“My daughter, have you been watching the house?”
“huh! Did you clean today?”
“For some reason, it seemed to sparkle as soon as I entered the house. Wasn’t it hard on yourself?”
“no it’s okay. Dad works outside, so I’ll do all the housework.”
How can every single thing you say be so unique?
No matter how hard it was outside, it seemed like it would melt right away.
No, actually, all the fatigue was melting away.
When I met her blue eyes that seemed to contain the night sky, I unknowingly hugged Rize once again, and Rize hugged me face to face without being surprised at all.
“Thank you, Rize. Thanks to you, my fatigue has gone away.”
“Hi-Hi.”
The tickling sound of laughter echoed in my ears, filling my chest.
At first, I just decided to raise Rize to get my life back together… … To me now, Rize was more precious than anything else in life.
Like that, after a deep meeting that seemed like we hadn’t met in a year, I picked up the burden I had put down again.
It was only half a day away.
“Then Dad will go to the guild for a while.”
Originally, I should have stopped by first, but I changed my priority because I missed Rize so much.
I wanted to quickly finish post-processing at the guild and spend time with Rize.
As I was about to leave, Rize approached me and her eyes twinkled.
“Dad, are you going to the guild?”
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.”
“I want to come too!”
“no. You said you shouldn’t go there often, right? wait patiently.”
Perhaps it was because they hadn’t seen each other in a while, Rize didn’t want to leave, but since the mercenary guild had such a rough atmosphere, she didn’t want to take her with her.
“Hey… … .”
When I said it right off the bat, Rize pouted. I wanted to use a group, but I felt like I was forced to endure it for fear of bothering me.
Seeing that, I smiled and held out my hand slightly.
“Okay, let’s go together.”
“lol.”
As if waiting, Rize grabbed it with the other hand.
With such an exciting gait, we left the house together and captured the scenery of the unfolding street with our eyes.
On one side of the street, stylishly decorated buildings lined up, while on the other side, buildings under construction were erected sparsely.
Findel.
This is the name of the city where Rize and I settled down three years ago.
what to hide
This was a city rebuilt on the ruins where I first met Rize.
After the monsters’ sudden attack, the Faerun Empire immediately proceeded with the city reconstruction plan.
It is said that he expressed his will to prove the safety of the empire through this and to actively respond to the monsters’ movements.
Anyway, there was one reason why I came back here.
There is no better city to raise children than Findel.
It was neatly organized like a city planned by the state, and numerous facilities were located here, and were also planned to be located.
earth! earth! earth!
Just looking at the large school building under construction over there right now, it was like that.
It was not the exclusive property of some people, but it was a school where even commoners could enter, so if you passed the entrance exam, you could receive a high level of education.
In fact, I had taught here before, so it was a place that Rize rated so highly that she wanted to enroll right away if she wanted to.
In addition to these schools, there were also various learning centers for other occupations.
In other words, it meant that Rize could provide ample support for anything she wanted to do.
And lastly, having been to many cities in many lives, I was convinced that this was the best.
However, in order to fully enjoy these benefits, there was also a downside to having to be economically affluent… … Currently, that hasn’t been a problem for me.
“Are you free now?”
“Oh my, Mr. Irvin? welcome.”
Daisy, the signboard receptionist of the Mercenary Guild, Findel Branch, bowed her head at my words and greeted me.
It was the time when all mercenaries looking for work had left, so the guild was quiet.
It looked like she was doing paperwork during that time, but I didn’t call her for nothing.
“Did Rize come with you?”
“Receptionist sister, how are you?”
“It’s been a while, Rize. Has our Rize grown up a lot again?”
But before that, I couldn’t leave out Rize’s greetings.
She had been brought to the mercenary guild several times, so she had gotten acquainted with Daisy to some extent.
I don’t think it’s to the point of being called ‘our Rize’ though.
As if it was really nice to meet Daisy, she came out of the reception desk and crouched down in front of Rize, making eye contact with her.
“Unnie missed Rize so much, but why did you come here after such a long time?”
“I missed you too! But my dad said I shouldn’t come here often.”
Daisy stared at me at Rize’s answer.
They were just following the common sense that they were not taking children to the mercenary guild.
If it wasn’t for a leisurely time like now, this really wouldn’t be a place Rize would come to.
After all, it was a mess where the mercenaries, who had no match for their toughness, raised their voices, fought useless fights, and even fought fists out of pride.
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It was clearly the worst place for education.
Of course, Daisy, knowing these facts, smiled and looked at Rize again.
“Then can my sister go to Rize’s house to play?”
“yes! Come to my house and play together. I have something I want to give to my sister! It’s a picture, but ah, I said it.”
“Fufu, I will definitely go. I’ll talk to you and promise you.”
Daisy gave me a meaningful look as she said that.
It seems that that was the purpose from the beginning.
He had a delicate appearance with a hint of innocence, befitting a receptionist at a signboard, but he was as clever as a person of the lowest class.
No matter what the promise was, I was worried that Rize would see it and copy it.
He opened his mouth with a firm smile as he pulled Rize away from the girl who was trying to whisper something.
“I want you to take care of this part first?”
“I forgot something because I was possessed by Rize. please wait for a moment.”
Because Rize is cute, it can’t be helped.
I felt cheated for some reason, but I nodded involuntarily and went back into the reception desk to look at Daisy, who was back in work mode.
“Let’s see. The quest you took on this time is ‘Subjugation of the Dire Wolves’, right?”
“that’s right. Proof of subjugation here.”
I said that and put the bag I had brought with me on the reception desk.
It wasn’t gross, but there were a bunch of dire wolf fangs inside.
“Then I will confirm the request. Dire Wolf Gun… … 21 horses. It seems there were more than I thought.”
“There are more footprints than I heard, so I found the dire wolf lair. Now that we’ve dried up the wolves, there won’t be any problems for a while.”
“As expected, it is a skill worthy of an A-class mercenary. Thank you for your hard work. After confirming the order… … I’ll give you an extra remuneration as well.”
Daisy filled the other pocket with the gold coins she quickly counted and handed them over.
I smiled with satisfaction at the feeling of the heavy feeling in my hands.
It was an amount that would have doubled the normal request fee, but considering the risk and achievement of the mission, it could be said that it was a reasonable amount.
You don’t have to say it, you know, but my current job was a mercenary.
It also had a high grade of A.
Considering that the new mercenary who just made a name for himself is a D-class.
You can do any job proficiently, but mercenaries are the most familiar, and eating a knife was the best for a man to make money quickly by himself.
There are many mercenary jobs in this era, but the main one was monster eradication.
An incident that happened 9 years ago.
After a large group of monsters attacked this place, the activities of monsters from all over the continent became active, and the existing people had no choice but to feel insufficient to defeat them.
In such a modern era, as I remember how to deal with all the monsters with my body and head, it was as easy as breathing for me to successfully complete the request and raise the grade.
“thank you. Oh, and I got a call for help on the way. They seem to be C-class guys, but it was a request to subjugate Rebek.”
“Ah, those are the people. Anyway, even though I, the receptionist, said that, you still had an accident.”
“Tsk, is the guild so lacking in talent? Even those who don’t even follow the basics are promoted.”
“I must have been confident in one fight. Don’t you know that if you trust your body and don’t use your head, you’ll die soon? Of course, if it was Mr. Irvin, the story would have been different.”
Daisy added that, then winked one eye.
Even if it was true to some extent, it seemed like it was giving too much attention, but since it was a long-awaited compliment in front of Rize, I decided to take it sweetly.
Daisy also glanced at Rize and smiled lightly, then turned her gaze back to me.
“I will definitely take care of that. If the danger of relegation looms, they will pretend to be scared.”
“Please. As for the cost of the rescue, you can pay it after processing the request.”
“all right.”
Rescue requests among mercenaries were not uncommon.
Either way, you may encounter problems you never expected.
However, when a rescue request is made, most of the request fee has to be given to the rescuer, and the reputation has fallen. The risk of a rating downgrade is a bonus.
So, in the mercenary world, requesting rescue was tantamount to request failure.
Of course, nothing is as precious as life, but it is fatal for mercenaries who live on trust.
“dad.”
Lizee, who had been alienated from having a brief conversation, called out to me while pulling on my collar.
He immediately turned around and smiled, leaning his back slightly to meet his gaze.
“what’s the matter?”
“Why do you take money to save people?”
“… … .”
This was a really unexpected question.
He was speechless for a moment, as if he had been hit in the head with a hammer.
To put it bluntly, it was something that could be glossed over because it was an adult situation, but that shouldn’t be the case.
As much as I was in raising a child, I was still no different from a beginner, so I hesitated a lot in this situation.
“Rize, if you want to buy something at the store, you have to pay. That’s between the customer and the store manager… … It’s a promise, so to speak. Likewise, mercenaries promised to pay money in return for help from other mercenaries. Promises must be kept. yes?”
“Yes, you must keep your promise.”
Rize nodded, but her expression was somewhat disapproving.
Maybe it’s because of my lack of explanation?
Let’s not pay attention to Daisy laughing in the background.
Rize, who showed hesitation several times, looked at me again with her small fists clenched together and opened her mouth.
“Dad, I… … If others are in danger… … Just save me.”
“Why do you think Rize is like that?”
The child’s innocence was so admirable that I smiled unconsciously.
Rize’s words further deepened that smile.
“My dad who protected others was so cool. I want to be like that too.”
“… … .”
Rize’s words woke up a memory that I didn’t attach much importance to.
It was probably because he protected the people from being attacked by monsters when he moved to Findel.
It was something I did without much thought, but I still remember it.
Besides, what father in the world could not feel good when his daughter praised him?
Immediately, I jumped up from my seat, holding Rize tightly.
“How can our Rize be so kind?”
“Hi-Hi.”
I was deeply moved and immersed in my time with Rize, but soon I heard a voice that broke the afterglow.
“If you want to say that my daughter is the best, why don’t you say it out loud? It’s frustrating for me to see everything. It’s heartwarming, but how long are you going to stay in such a dull place? hahahaha, when I first saw him, I never thought he would be such an idiot.”
Come to think of it, I felt sorry for doing this at someone else’s workplace.
When I slightly bowed my head to Daisy, who gave me a look saying that she would like to go somewhere else, she smiled and waved her hand gently.
“just joke. Because I want to have a daughter like Rize.”
“Oh, if Miss Daisy retires, there will be many mercenaries who will be sad.”
“Oh, I won’t stop being a receptionist just because I get married.”
After restoring the strange atmosphere by continuing the story in light words, he asked the last question.
“Didn’t you receive a nomination request?”
“Yes, it is my personal opinion that Mr. Irvin will not be there for a while because he quickly finished the quests he had to solve. Wouldn’t you know if there was an emergency?”
“Then it’s fine.”
I turned my gaze to Rize, who was still holding me in my arms.
“Do you want to go play with Daddy tomorrow?”
“Um, no!”