Chapter 53: home sweet home

Clark involuntarily smiled as he drove into the familiar looking street. The sports car drew a lot of attention from passersby, as a lot of people stared at the sparkling car. He already transmitted a message through his implant to his house’s A.I. On arriving, the gate automatically opened as he drove inside the compound. They all came down after he parked the car at the parking lot.

“The house looks exactly the same as three years ago, technology really makes things more convenient,” Clark thought in appreciation. “Benny, Leo, welcome to my home, it’s not too big but it’s better than some other homes”.

“Hahaha Clark what are you saying, the house is completely fine, it’s even better than I expected,” Leo commented with a laugh. Despite the small talks they didn’t linger in one place as they quickly entered the house.

Clark plopped down directly on the sofa as he finally felt the strain from the 6 hours speedy journey seeping in. On the way he already ordered food from a local restaurant. The courier arrived with the food shortly after, as he already paid online, the delivery man returned directly after dropping it.

The 2 guys were pretty famished also as Leo smiled gratefully at him before they wolved down the food together. Clark slept not too long after eating, Leo and Benny relaxed as they switched on the television watching a comedy program leisurely. They slept shortly after also, leaving the television on.

Clark woke up in the night to find both Leo and Benny already asleep on the sofa. He decided not to disturb their sleep as he got a blanket to cover them with. The A.I finally welcomed him officially as it discovered both of his friends asleep.

A. Is were designed to not reveal themselves to outsiders and visitors so that in case of any assault it can surprise the assaulters by erecting hidden defenses.

“Good evening master Clark, welcome back home,” the A.I communicated with Clark by speaking through the speakers installed in the house. It transferred a bunch of documents to his implant about the expenses for the last 3 years. He simply ignored it; “I don’t have the time for all that,” he muttered in a contemplative tone.

Clark started planning on where he would take his two companions to tomorrow and a lot of other things. He finally slept in his bedroom after making some series of decisions.

The golden rays of the sun shone into the room as Clark stretched, yawned before standing up. “Woah!! It’s already to 8:00am, I think those two guys are already awake”.

“Good morning master”, the A.I greeted materializing as a robot in the form of a projection. Clark already instructed it last night that it could appear before his friends. He went downstairs and saw the 2 boys watching another program on the television, “as expected 2 uncultured pieces of shit,” he cursed.

“Ah, Clark you are awake, good morning, come and join us this comedian is really funny”. Leo immediately chatted away on seeing Clark while ignoring his glowering face.

“Are the 2 of you not hungry? You both woke up instead of cooking you are both here watching a comedy program”.

“Chill man, my guy Benny already cooked we were just waiting for you”. Leo replied with a stop behaving like a kid expression on his face.

“Oh…, if that’s it lets eat then”. Clark said while feeling slightly awkward and weird. He knew Leo well enough to know his thoughts, but this new Benny was actually a diligent type. To even think of cooking after waking up was impressive in his perspective as he was sure that he nor Leo would do that, instead opting to eat in a restaurant.

The 3 soldiers went outside on completely brand-new clothes after eating. Surprisingly Benny bought identical clothes and shoes for the 3 of them, Clark offered to pay but he vehemently refused. “I can’t pay for a battle art now, but this is completely within my budget so chill man,” he argued.

They didn’t take the car as they were prepared to go on a sight-seeing journey around Clark’s neighborhood for the whole day. This was kind of a vacation to them and they were prepared to waste it in a way that they liked.

The hallow of being the best student finally started showing as some rich men on luxurious cars frequently stopped to speak with them, after seeing them on the way. Most of these people asked for Clark to have a photo with their kids, he figured that most of these kids were probably his fans. Not everyone recognized them, a lot of people here especially the poor and average ones didn’t recognize them as they didn’t watch their graduation ceremony.

Only the rich fellows recognized them as they frequently stopped to greet them politely. The identity of being a soldier alone was enough to propel them into the higher ranks of society. The first place Clark took his friends to was a place he went to almost on a daily basis when he was younger, his favorite restaurant “Eat with delight”.

They quickly arrived as Clark directly led them inside. Leo and Benny naturally complained about how they’ve already eaten but Clark easily nullified their complaints.

Clark smiled involuntarily on entering as he saw the owner of the restaurant, the ageing woman sat at her favorite spot as always. Despite it already being 3 years, she still recognized him on sight.

“Little Clark, is that you,” the old woman asked with undisguised surprise. Clark smiled wider on hearing this as he quickly went forward to give her a hug.

“It’s really you, little Clark you are already this big. I thought you left this area after your parent’s death”. Clark and the woman quickly ignored the 2 staring dumfounded boys as he told her about his experiences for the past 3 years. She smiled proudly at him as she continued listening to his story.

This old woman occupied a very special place in Clark’s heart, she was kind of his mom in a sense. His parents frequently brought him to eat here when he was small, that was when his parents still stayed mostly at home with him.

Clark slowly developed a bond with her after some time. She took him as her child, as her husband was already dead and she didn’t have any biological child. He grew so fond of her that when his parents started going for their deployments, he came to stay with her every day. Her food was also very delicious so he simply ate at her place for free. Clark felt a feeling of fulfillment fill his heart when he saw her proud expression after finishing his story.

She joked with him a little before congratulating him on his graduation. She finally paid attention to Clark’s ignored friends as she served them free food, she never took money from him even if he insists on it till forever.

She packaged another food for them as take away before she sent them on their way. Leo complained severely as they left but Clark wasn’t even listening to him as his mom’s word of advice still resounded in his mind.

[Thank you for reading this chapter I really appreciate. Please if there is any problem with the translation quality or if there is any wrong spelling or sentence, indicate I'll try to fix it immediately.]