Before deciding to co to the Crimson Demon Village this morning, following Darkness's suggestion, the group bought so snacks as gifts to give to gumin's parents as a small courtesy for visiting. Unexpectedly, gumin's mom brought it up first.
"Oh my, please co in, co in! You really didn't have to bring gifts, this is so embarrassing..."
gumin's mom swiftly took the paper box with lightning speed and warmly invited everyone inside.
"Did you used to lure a lot of suckers back ho too?"
Eiji quietly asked gumin.
"Of course not! What kind of person do you think I am?"
gumin glared at Eiji discontentedly.
"At most, I just lured a few als back ho!"
"So you really do lure people!" x4
gumin's family was poor.
Extrely poor.
This was the strongest impression the group felt after stepping inside the house.
The most eye-catching thing was the rice jar placed in the living room—the rice inside was only a shallow layer, looking like it wasn't even enough for one al. A glance into the kitchen revealed the lunch being cooked was just a pot of watery porridge so thin you could count the grains of rice!
"Just a small token, please don't mind it!"
Kazuma's expression shifted several tis, but ultimately, he couldn't bear the tornt of his conscience and handed over the entire package.
Actually, that package contained gifts for gumin's family—originally, he had planned to eat them all himself.
Eiji, Darkness, and Aqua simultaneously shot him contemptuous looks.
Dammit, and here I thought that package was your luggage!
You even take kickbacks from re snacks? Have you no conscience!
"Oh my, thank you so much! We can eat our fill tonight!"
gumin's mom accepted the package with a beaming smile.
"Really? We can eat our fill tonight? Putting the rice jar in the living room really works!"
Xiaomi was imrsed in the blissful aning of the phrase "eat our fill," drool trickling from the corner of her mouth.
"This child, saying whatever cos to mind. I hope you don't mind! Please co visit often in the future!"
gumin's mom's expression didn't change as she smoothly glossed over it with a chuckle.
"..."
Kazuma's expression shifted again.
What should I do? I kind of want to snatch the package back!
"Dear, you're back. How was business today?"
"Don't even ntion it. No one recognized quality goods!"
By the ti lunch began, the group had already been sitting cross-legged at the table for a while.
gumin's dad finally returned from outside, carrying a large, coarse cloth bundle that looked well-used.
"gumin, what does your dad do?"
"He's an item craftsman. His usual work involves designing and making various magic items, then selling them in towns where adventurers live."
gumin glanced outside, making sure her parents hadn't noticed them yet, and quietly explained to Eiji and the others.
"But the items he makes are all very... imaginative. For example, scrolls that store flash magic and such. He insists they'd be really useful when exploring dungeons, but he hasn't managed to sell a single one!"
Huh?
Scrolls that store flash magic... why does that sound familiar?
"Dad, where did you go to sell today?"
While Eiji was lost in thought, gumin had already gone to greet him.
"Oh, is gumin back? I went to Axel today. There's an item shop there where the owner always appreciated my works. I used to sell them to her, but when I went today, I found the shop had changed owners. Not only did they refuse to buy any of my goods, but they unreasonably chased out! That masked person even yelled at , forbidding from ever coming back. It's infuriating!"
gumin's father plopped down on the floor, his face full of anger.
"My works are clearly masterpieces, why won't anyone buy them?"
"So it was you!"
Eiji kicked the table, shattering it to pieces!
"The table! The only usable table in our house!"
"The snacks! The snacks spilled!"
...
"Sorry, I lost my temper for a mont. I'll pay for the table."
After a while, Eiji finally cald down.
"Is 100,000 enough?"
"Why are you looking at ?"
"I didn't bring any money. Shouldn't a subordinate share their leader's burdens?"
Kazuma sighed helplessly and took out ten 10,000-Eris bills.
"More than enough, way more than enough!"
gumin's father imdiately wiped the fierce expression off his face, beaming brightly as he accepted the compensation money. He moved so fast that Kazuma almost thought he hadn't taken the money out yet.
"By the way, didn't I send a lot of money ho?"
"I used all that money to buy materials for making magic items. After all, no investnt ans no inco!"
gumin's father said this with such a matter-of-fact expression that gumin instantly fell silent.
Maybe I really shouldn't send money ho anymore.
"I'm Kazuma, gumin's party leader."
"Ah, I'm Darkness, a Crusader."
"This goddess is nad Aqua. Actually, I'm the real leader. Don't mind that Kazuma, he often has brain malfunctions!"
Kazuma rushed over, grabbed Aqua's head and started knocking on it while shouting about whose brain was malfunctioning.
"You're Kazuma? Kazuma Satou?"
gumin's parents exchanged glances, their eyes full of pity.
"I thought Kazuma Satou was that rich, handso guy. I thought our gumin had finally caught a big fish. What a sha!"
Are you really saying this in front of your own daughter? Is that really okay?
gumin's mother smiled with an innocent expression.
"Please forgive !"
Kazuma bowed deeply, knocking his head loudly against the floor.
Eiji, Darkness, and Aqua all cast disdainful looks at him again.
"But, he's a good companion."
gumin suddenly spoke up, drawing surprised stares from everyone present.
Her face turned red as she awkwardly looked away.
"Wait, ma'am, what's this?"
"Hot pot. We have to serve sothing decent when we have guests."
"But I saw thin porridge in the pot earlier?"
"Hehe, I never said that was our lunch!"
Eiji fell into confused silence.
He had been tricked.
Seeing the rice in the jar and the thin porridge in the pot, he had genuinely thought this family was extrely poor, which was why he specifically gave 100,000 in compensation.
Kazuma: Goddammit!
Turns out the rice in the jar was a trick, and even the thin porridge in the pot was a trick!
Is this family actually poor or not?
Why so many tricks?
No wonder Xiaomi called them easy marks as soon as she saw them!
They really are a bunch of brainless easy marks!
Tch!
In the afternoon, after dropping off their luggage at gumin's house, the group followed her lead to tour the famous landmarks of the Crimson Demon Village.
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