Chapter 92: 92 Permission.

“What? What happened?”.

Jin’s voice reverberated in the room full of worry. He stormed toward the elvish girl with a crumpled face, clutching her other elbow.

“Nothing”. Iris shook her head and lifted her gaze. “That was fast. How much was the reward?”

A pouch materialized from thin air before landing on the boy’s palm with a satisfying ’clink’.

“We have thirty gold coins”.

Jin shook the pouch, which struck a chord in the other hearts, for the effort and fighting they had done.

Although the fight was instantly ended when Iris accidently infused too much power and let the monster’s neck be blown to bits.

However, the fact that they did it as a team couldn’t be denied, so Jin opened his mouth to divide each other proportionally.

“Here, ten gold each.” He stashed the ten gold coins and gave the remaining to others.

“Thank you”.

Iris gratefully accepted the coins as she took a steaming cup and gave it to Jin.

“Here, have some of it”.

“Thanks, this half was yours, Silvia”.

“I’m sorry, Jin. Could you hold it for me?”. Silvia muttered while pouring the hot water into another cup.

“Alright”.

Jin waved his hand to store the gold coins in his Item Box and walked toward the dining table.

His nose twitched upon smelling a delicious smell coming from the bag, he took a peek inside and found various meals, from sandwiches, skewers, and fruit.

“Iris, Silvia, can I open this?”.

“Go ahead.” Both girls’ voices overlapped as they exchanged chuckles.

He dug a hand inside and took a single sandwich in his hand, then lay his tired but on the seat, sniffing the fragrant tea that warmed his heart.

Without minding the other two, he took a bite to feel the crunchy texture of salad and the salty taste of meat filled his entire mouth.

Sadly, there was no sauce or other additional taste that could have enhanced the meal further.

As his mind wandered around the food, a brilliant idea resurfaced. ’Wait, I can make a white sauce, but let’s put it on hold for now’.

Jin took another bite to satisfy his empty stomach after the adventuring he had, searching for the existence of the Cockatrice that lives in the Dark Forest.

“Wow, I can’t believe you started eating without us”. Iris’ grumbled came from his side as she took a seat opposite him.

Silvia kept her mouth closed, and her hand never stopped unloading all the food inside the bag.

“Iris, I think we brought too much food,” Silvia commented, watching all the food sprawled on the table.

“Don’t worry,” Iris bit the sandwich in her hand and pointed a finger at Jin. “We have an adolescent boy whose appetite could swallow a whole Orc”.

“Hell no, what makes you think I could eat an Orc?”. Jin scowled as he glared at Iris, who shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

“Ahaha, help yourself, Jin”.

Silvia pushed some of the meal toward Jin and took a seat beside Iris, placing the steaming cup to her lips to savor the tea.

The three enjoyed the calm atmosphere while exchanging silly conversation, especially the two girls.

Jin, who faded into the background, gulped his tea, tasting the mild and fragrant tea that washed away the sea in his mouth.

’Yeah, I need to consider opening a store someday. ’ Jin licked his lips clean, putting away the cup on the table.

“So, Iris, why did you hesitate earlier?”.

Silvia’s calm voice pulled Jin’s attention toward them as he witnessed Silvia stare at the stiffened Elves who’s trying to hide her twitching brows by sipping the tea.

Iris put back the cup, playing pretend. “What are you talking about?”.

“It was about the Academy”.

Like a hammer of justice that fell from the sky, it knocked the calm atmosphere in the room and changed it to a heavy one.

Jin gulped his saliva. He saw Iris’ expression tighten upon the mention of the word Academy.

“Jin?”.

“Yes”.

Silvia’s sharp question twisted his neck in quick succession. He stopped breathing as if not wanting to disrupt the calm waves that washed away the shores.

“Do you plan to enter the academy?”.

Jin nodded and opened his lips. “Yeah, I promise my mother will attend it in my senior class”.

“Senior class?”.

Iris tilted her head and kept avoiding the glare on her side.

“Let’s skip that for now,” Silvia said, then brought her seat closer toward the running Elves.

“Iris, I want to hear your thoughts?”.

The Elves girl bit her lips, she clenched the cup in hand with a bit of power, making it crack then turn like a crumpled can.

“I can’t leave Nina alone”. Iris squeezed those words from her cramped throat.

Jin and Silvia gasped, their minds blanked upon witnessing the frail expression on the Elven girl.

They couldn’t visualize the struggle and the pain that she must endure to raise a child that was not her own, alone at that.

Iris had to sacrifice not only her time but also her whole life in dedicating herself to the heartfelt wish of her deceased sister.

“How foolish of me!”. Silvia exhaled with her shoulder shrugged down, lamenting her foolish thoughts.

“I’m sorry, Iris”.

“No, it’s alright. I also wanted to experience going to the Academy with a close friend”.

Iris leaned toward her back seat, loosened a bit of her facial muscles to force a smile that cast a heavy silence over the room.

Silvia’s lips curled downward, so as regret gnawed at her beating heart. She lifted her trembling gaze and stared at Jin.

The boy nodded and leaned his torso forward, wanting to see Iris’s expression. “If you are so worried about that, why not ask Nina’s permission?”.

Her pointy ears twitched. She gazed forward with her lips trembling. “Wh-What do you mean?”.

“You truly have little faith in Nina, huh?”.

Jin’s confident smirk lit the flame in Iris’ eyes. A vein popped out on her temple as she slammed a fist on the table.

“What did you say?”.

In front of her fiery temperament that burnt even the atmosphere surrounding them. Jin lifted the corner of his lips and showed his smile.

“Is it that hard to ask about being selfish?”.

“What’s this all about?”.

Iris abruptly stood up, pushing the chair toward Jin’s side, who kept pressing her into a corner.

“You want to experience school life, right?”.

“Like I said, I can’t leave Nina alone”.

“Let’s ask the girl then”.

“Hah?”.

Jin pressed a thumb to his forehead, holding the throbbing pain that could split his skull open if he continued this never-ending banter.

Iris, who wished to attend the same school as him, averted her gaze from the truth and sought refugee toward the reason called, ’for Nina’s sake’.

He stood up from his chair and grasped the stubborn Elves wrist.

“Let’s go meet the Girl”.

Without minding others’ feelings, he dragged the girl’s listless body, braving the cold wind, and passed the bustling town, before arriving at the mansion in a blink.

The towering white mansion suddenly turned dark with black clouds gathered above, forming a spiral in her eyes. It stood like a demon king’s castle, making Iris’ face darken as she didn’t dare to lift her eyes.

“Open the gate!”.

Jin shout his instruction, and the guard opened the steel gate that protected the mansion.

He walked around the paved road that goes straight toward the mansion, ignoring the servant’s shocked expression.

Followed by Silvia behind, Jin, with Iris in his hands, entered the mansion. They strolled over the hallway until luckily stumbled upon the figure of a young girl who was wiping a vase with smile plastered across her lips.

“Good, today too, I did my best to clean you, Mr. Vase, hm?”.

The girl who noticed a looming shadow approached her side, turned only to widen her eyes to see Jin, Iris, and Silvia.

“What’s going on? Why is Mother here?”.

Jin pulled Iris forward to face the small demon queen. But her legs gave out as she fell on her butt, still afraid to look toward the girl.

“Mother, are you alright?” Nina threw the cloth in her hand and crouched before her mothers with eyes glittering in tears.

Jin, who lost his patience, clicked his tongue and opened his mouth for everyone to listen. “Nina, please listen…”.

Nina sat still as she listened to the explanation while occasionally nodding in understanding and placed a hand to support her chin, deep in thought.

A heavy silence descended upon the room, and the center of that pressure came from the little girl with furrowed brows, staring at her mother, who went limp like a doll that lost its string.

“Why not? You should go, mother”.

Nina’s clear, bell-like voice broke the hovering pressure in the room as the Elven girl finally lifted her face with eyes that almost popped out of their sockets, muttering.

“Eh?”.

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