Chapter 86: Esther’s Father

“You are alive, I have missed you, I have miss–Bugera Bogura!” (Store Owner)

The man opened his arms and charged at Esther.

Esther, who was about to be hugged, shifted slightly,

Avoiding the man’s hug, Esther tripped the man’s foot.

The man fell brilliantly and face planted.

In just a second.

I was so stunned by the suddenness of everything.

I could not keep up with the situation at all.

“Oh, Esther-chan’s love is heavy… even after a long time…” (Store Owner)

“What love?” (Esther)

Esther bowed to me.

“Um… Esther?”

“Oh, sorry Toru. This is… my dad.” (Esther)

Esther made a terribly disgusted face and pointed to the man at the man who was face down, squirming, while holding his face.

It is not the face that looks at their own father.

“Toru…? Who is this bastard?” (Esther’s Dad)

Suddenly Esther’s father stood up and glared at me.

His eyes are so sharp that I cannot think of anyone who would say “Esther-chuwan”.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Toru Minasuki.”

“What? I did not ask for this bastard here.”

The man gets closer and aggressively but dismissively points at me.

He is like a delinquent.

“Why is there a milk sucking bastard here, Aan!?” (Esther’s Dad)

“Father, stop threatening my companion…” (Esther)

“Huh!? The fact that this bastard appeared with Esther-chan, no way with Esther-chan…!?” (Esther’s Dad)

“Do not get me wrong. Toru is my companion!” (Esther)

“I cannot allow you to take my beloved daughter away from me! Somebody! Get me a sword!” (Esther’s Dad)

“Listen to people talking!” (Esther)

*Blam!* Esther smacked her father in the head.

(…what is this?)

I could not keep up with the interaction between father and daughter and just stared at them slack-jawed.

○

Esther explained to her outraged father what had happened so far.

The story began when Esther aspired to become an adventurer.

She learned that even merchants have political marriages.

She was about to marry into a noble family that she did not even know.

She did not like it and so Esther left the house.

Growing up while listening to heroic stories from ancient times, Esther aspired to be an adventurer.

Once she decided to become an adventurer, she would not return home until she became a proper adventurer, no matter what.

Even if it were painful, she would not raise her voice.

She will never regret the path she has chosen.

With that determination, Esther left home.

It has been three years since then.

Esther has become a D-rank adventurer.

D-ranked adventurers are considered as veteran adventurers.

She has finally done something worthy of the dreams she had started with.

It was with this in mind that Esther stepped over the threshold of the Regulus Trading Company for the first time in three years.

***

I was very surprised to hear Esther’s story.

At times, I felt that Esther’s gestures were well mannered, but I never thought that her parents’ family was so well off that she would be asked to marry for political gain.

“I will introduce him again. This is my fellow adventurer Toru.” (Esther)

“My name is Toru. I am indebted to your daughter.”

“Ke! Bastard do not you just address her as ‘my daughter’-that is it!” (Esther’s Dad)

“I said we are friends. Do not antagonize him.” (Esther)

Esther hit her father’s head without any warning.

It is not the attitude someone directs towards their own father.

However, this shows the closeness between Esther’s parents and her.

“I am Jack, the president of the Regulus Trading Company.” (Esther’s Dad => Jack)

Jack tries to intimidate me up close.

The nuance of his greeting is somewhat like a biker gang member.

Jack reached his hand out to me.

Therefore, I take it and shook hands.

That moment,

“Nugooooo!” (Jack)

Jack ground his teeth and his face turned bright red.

He is breathing as if he is enduring severe pain.

(Well, what is this?)

I was shocked by Jack’s sudden change.

Meanwhile,

“Che! It looks like you are training your grip strength… Hmm! You have to do this much.” (Jack)

“Stupid! Stop trying to intimidate him.” (Esther)

Esther hit Jack’s head with a loud smack.

“Sorry, Toru. My dad has always been like this…” (Esther)

“Uh, yeah. Well, is not he a good father?”

The values a father has is different for each person and each family.

Jack is (probably) a good father to Esther.

Regulus Trading Company has been given the status of a government merchant.

The king of that time permitted them to use the name of the founder, Regulus, as their family name.

Jack was one of the highest-ranked merchants in the kingdom.

There was no way that a merchant would be dumb as to not know where his runaway daughter was.

Information is the lifeblood of any merchant.

Merchants’ own information networks are spread all over the country.

With that information network, it would have been easy to know that her daughter was in Finlis.

Despite this, Jack did not try to bring his daughter back.

This was despite the fact that he had pulled out of a political marriage that would have affected his future as a merchant.

That is how much Jack loves Esther.

To the extent that Esther’s future is prioritized over his own and the future of Regulus.

I understand that feeling.

I do not have a daughter, but I could imagine a father’s feelings about his daughter’s happiness.

(Because originally I was 32 years old.)

“So Esther-chan. What happened today?” (Jack)

“I am 20 years old already. Stop adding “chan”… I came with Toru today to look for combat shoes.” (Esther)

“… Chi” (Jack)

Jack, who has smiling with his eyes directed to Esther, quickly turned into a glare when he looked at me.

(This is where it gets interesting.)

For Jack, I am not someone that he could consider as someone useful to him. It is quite the contrary; he thinks I am a pest buzzing around his beloved daughter.

It is no wonder that he treats me roughly.

This is the reason why I could trust Jack, who was treating me terribly.

It is easier to understand a merchant has a rude attitude rather than a smiling face.

“Well then, father. We are going back to the store to look for shoes.” (Esther)

“Wait a minute!” (Jack)

Jack calls to Esther aloud.

He ran out of the office.

A few moments later, he came back into the office carrying an expensive-looking wooden box.

“Hah … huh … If it is shoes, I think this suit Esther-chan!” (Jack)

“I told you to quit adding chan–” (Esther)

Esther took a breath as Jack opened the box.

From the inside, a pair of shoes embroidered with beautiful silver and young grass-colored threads appeared.

(… Wow, I feel magical power)

I could feel the magic in the shoes, though it was faint.

It cannot be just any shoes.

“This is a shoe made of unicorn fur and mithril. The embroidery in some places is made of dyed threads made from crushed wind spirit crystals. They combat shoes with outstanding durability.

In addition, these are magic tools. If you put magic power into these shoes, they will float for a short while. The soles of the shoes emit wind magic. How you use its ability to levitate will be a testament to your skill as an adventurer.” (Jack)

Jack, who was explaining the products, had a completely different merchant look on his face.

This was his public face.

He had a soft smile on his face, but his words were strong.

You can feel his absolute confidence in his products.

You cannot go wrong buying products from this guy.

That is how I feel.

“… It looks like a very good product, but how much is it?” (Esther)

“I do not need any money.” (Jack)

“But I am here as a customer. I want to pay.” (Esther)

“No, I do not need it. If Esther-chan does not get hurt, that is enough.” (Jack)

“… stubborn old man.” (Esther)

With this, she is not even going to be able to argue.

Esther sighed and tried to argue, but ended up just sighing in defeat.

Maybe I can buy something too.

I asked Jack while fidgeting.

“Um … my shoes”

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