CH 239

Chapter 239 : A Special Day

It’s already past noon when the race is over. I think it’s about time to call my parents.

I looked at Nicola as I thought about that. She seemed somewhat restless.

She pouted and pulled the hem of my clothes.

『Onii-chan…』(Nicola)

『I know, I know.』(Mark)

It seems like she can’t wait to hear our parents’ voices.

I turned to Celine and Ester who were chatting with each other next to us.

「Celine, Ester, we have to call our parents, so we’re going home now. I think it’s going to be a little longer than usual.」(Mark)

「Okay~ Tonight, Ester will be joining us for dinner, so don’t forget to come~」(Celine)

「Is that so?」(Mark)

I turned my gaze to Ester and asked.

「Yup! Look forward to it!」(Ester)

Celine and Ester smiled happily at me and Nicola.

Today is the harvest festival day so there’s probably a custom where everyone eats a feast together.

I wanted to hear the details, but Nicola was grabbing my hem and didn’t seem to want to let it go.

It seems that she wants to go home as soon as possible. Well, I can understand her feelings.

「Well then, see you later guys.」(Mark)

「See you, Ester-chan, Celine onee-chan~!」(Nicola)

「Okay~ I’ll see you later~」(Celine)

「We’ll be waiting for you~!」(Ester)

After saying goodbye to the two, Nicola and I immediately returned home.

――――――

As soon as we got home, I took out the Resonance Stone from my Item Box and put it on the table, and then we sat on the chair side by side.

I stretched my arms toward the stone and began pouring my wind-attributed mana into it to start the call.

「Mom? Dad? It’s me, Mark. Is anyone there? Delica? Nei?」(Mark)

「Mama…? Papa…?」(Nicola)

……….

No one is answering…

This is weird…

Today is a special day for Nicola and me, so I thought everyone was already waiting for us, but…

「Onii-chan, I wonder if they’re busy…」(Nicola)

「Yeah, probably…」(Mark)

「Khu khu…!」(Nei)

Hm?

Just when we thought that everyone was busy, I heard Nei’s voice from the Resonance Stone. I don’t know why but she was giggling.

「Nei, is that you?」(Mark)

………..

I asked but what I got in return was silence for a few seconds.

However, suddenlyー

「「Mark, Nicola, happy birthdayーー！！」」(Everyone)

As soon as we heard everyone’s voice, Nicola and I looked at each other and smiled.

「Geez! I thought no one was waiting for us.」(Mark)

「Fufu. I’m sorry, but we wanted to give you a surprise. Mark, Nicola, happy birthday. Thank you for being born.」(Mom)

「Thank you, Mom.」(Mark)

「Mama, thank you!」(Nicola)

「By the way, Nicola, how’s your work? You didn’t skip any work shift, did you?」(Mom)

「N, No, of course! He, Hehe…」(Nicola)

As she replied to Mom, Nicola glanced at me with sharp eyes.

「S, She has been doing great. She works really hard, helping Ester sell her family’s dishes every morning.」(Mark)

After I told Mom that, Nicola raised her thumb up.

「Ara, is that so? I can rest easy then~」(Mom)

「Uwoooo!! Nicola-tan! Mark-tan! Happy ninth birthday!」(Grandpa)

Suddenly, a thick voice of an old man was heard from the Resonance Stone.

Apparently, Grandpa is there too.

「Grandpa, thank you!」(Mark)

「Ojii-chan, thank you~!」(Nicola)

「I can finally celebrate my cute granddaughter and grandson’s birthday! I’m so happy! It’s too bad that you two are not here today… However! I bought you a lot of birthday presents! So please come back soon!」(Grandpa)

「Fufu. That’s right, your grandpa kept buying you two presents, but I thought he bought too much so I stopped him.」(Mom)

「It can’t be helped! Thinking that I’d be able to see the smiles of my two cute grandchildren, I can’t stop buying presents for them! Forget about me. Oi, Jean, it’s your turn!」(Grandpa)

After Grandpa said my dad’s name, I heard the sound of someone slapping someone else’s back.

It seems that Grandpa has totally forgiven Dad and started to get along with him.

I’m glad for both of them.

「…..Mark, Nicola… Happy birthday.」(Dad)

Fi, Finally!! After two hundred and thirty nine chapters my dad’s finally speaking!!

Just kidding… He doesn’t talk much but he talks sometimes.

「Thanks, Dad.」(Mark)

「Thank you, Papa!」(Nicola)

「Mark, Delica, happy birthday!!」(Delica)

「Happy birthday, you two!」(Nei)

「M, Mark-kun, Delica-chan, happy birthday.」(Pamella)

「Everyone, thank you!」(Mark)

「Thank you!!」(Nicola)

We are not in Fatia, but I’m glad that we can celebrate our birthday with everyone thanks to Celine’s Resonance Stone. I have to thank her later for this.

By the way, because I didn’t usually celebrate my birthday in my previous life, I feel kinda embarrassed now that I celebrate it with other people.

Nicola, on the other hand, looked so happy. She’s always looking forward to celebrating birthdays, especially with our parents.

She looked kind of depressed lately because she knew she wouldn’t be able to celebrate it in Fatia, but now that she has heard everyone’s voices, she was talking in front of the resonance stone with a big smile on her face.

「By the way, yesterday you told me that there would be a festival today. How was it?」(Mom)

Mom asked with a curious tone.

I think everyone wants to hear about it too.

However, before I could answer her, Nicola started talking about the festival today.

「Today, there are a lot of people in the square! And we can eat whatever we want for free!! Onii-chan brought pickled cucumbers and distributed them to the villagers, while Ester-chan and I were distributing beef stew! After that, after thatーー!」(Nicola)

Nicola seemed so excited.

Thinking that the conversation would be long, I took out a drink from my Item Box and placed it next to Nicola.

――――――

「Well then, Mark, Nicola, enjoy the rest of your day~」(Mom)

「I’ll call you again tomorrow.」(Mark)

「Mama, Papa, Ojii-chan, everyone, bye bye~!」(Nicola)

After talking for almost an hour, we decided to end the call.

Although I have gotten used to pouring my mana into the Resonance Stone, it’s still quite tiring.

I leaned my back against my chair and exhaled. Then, I glanced at Nicola and smiled.

Noticing my gaze, Nicola squinted.

「W, What? Why are you looking at me with warm eyes like a kind older brother watching over his little sister?」(Nicola)

「It’s because I AM a kind older brother who’s watching over his little sister. Nicola, happy birthday.」(Mark)

「U, Un… Happy birthday, Onii-chan…」(Nicola)

She looked away as she replied to me, but somehow her face turned a bit red.

She’s a selfish and lazy girl, but she has a cute side too.

「S, Stop smiling like that! It’s time for lunch and I’m hungry! Can you start preparing some food, please?」(Nicola)

「Alright, alright. Today’s our birthday, so I guess we can eat something special today.」(Mark)

「That’s my onii-chan!」(Nicola)

I took out the most delicious dishes Dad made from my Item Box, lined them on the table, and ate together with Nicola.