CH 81

(TL: In the previous chapter I translated Yuuri’s last dialogue incorrectly since I changed ‘dashi’ into ‘flavor’. However it turns out dashi is important in this chapter, so I have changed the dialogue in the previous chapter to include it. Sorry! Also, stay safe everyone!)

「Yuuri-oneechan, what’s dashi?」

Eh?!

「What came out of the kraken?」

Dashi… Now that I think about it, do they not have the concept of dashi?

They don’t?

「No, um, like… A nice flavor that seeped out from the kraken, and it soaked the daikon…?」

「Heeh. So the yummy flavor that seeps out is called dashi.」

I nodded at what Kirika-chan said.

It’s not wrong, I thought.

「Flavors from a kraken… basically. That means we can’t taste flavors like this very often.」

「Well well, you don’t have to be so disappointed. Everything Yuuri makes is delicious, whether it’s a kraken dish or not.」

But… Oh, I know.

If they don’t have things like dashi, then…

I shouldn’t expect things like bonito flakes or kelp to exist either.

Sigh… Is niboshi (*1) impossible too? Uuu.

「Nii-san, you really got charmed by Yuuri-chan.」

Saga-san said as he chewed a piece of daikon and smiled.

Also, charmed?

Just what and where was he looking?

「Don’t tell me you’re planning to make her your family?」

Eh? Become a family? Does that mean marriage?

「Saga, that’s it! That! You say some good things sometimes!」

Rofas-san stood up.

「Yuuri, come on, let’s become a family!」

What is he saying?

「People around me keep telling me things like, ‘Hurry up and get married,’ but this’ll solve the problem!」

Huh?

「No thank you. I won’t get married to you, Rofas-san!」

I’m not kidding, it’s just that… Too many things happened.

Rofas-san’s eyes became dots in shock.

「Ah, oh, I see, marriage, huh. So marrying Yuuri was another method…」

Eh?

「Fufu, nii-san, you just got rejected. Then again, if I was Yuuri-chan, I wouldn’t want to get married to a middle-aged guy like you either.」

Middle-aged guy… Umm, but I’m about the same age as him… That makes me a middle-aged woman.

I felt pain from that statement.

「Don’t worry, Yuuri-chan. What nii-san means by family is making you his adopted daughter. It’s not strange for us nobles to adopt a child.」

Ah, now that I think about it, some of Rofas-san and Saga-san’s siblings were adopted too.

「A-adopted…」

Hahaha. I’m not so sure about that.

I’m almost the same age as Rofas-san, yet he wants me to become his child? That’s impossible.

「How about it, Yuuri? Do you want to become a family? I’ll be your dad, Yuuri.」

…No, nuh uh.

That’s even worse than getting married…

「Then, if I marry Yuuri-san, I’ll become your son, Rofas-san.」

Bryce-kun looked like he was getting fed up with this situation.

「Oh! That’s it! That’s a great idea! We’ll be the best parent-and-child adventurers. That sounds cool!」

Rofas-san looks like he’s enjoying this, but, you know…? Couldn’t he tell that Bryce-kun and I were uncomfortable with this situation?

「I politely decline.」

I ignored Rofas-san who began tearing up from shock, and asked the children if they wanted seconds.

「Fufu, that’s unfortunate for you, nii-san. I don’t think adopting a child is going to stop people from telling you to get married though.」

Saga-san said, making Bryce-kun say something with a cold tone.

「You can make anyone your child, it doesn’t have to be Yuuri-san. If it’s you, Rofas-san, you can support ten or even twenty adopted children, can’t you?」

Rofas-san sipped his alcohol with a sulky expression.

「That’s, well, if I said that I wanted to adopt a regular person as my child, I probably won’t get permission to do so… My adopted children will be related to a duke’s family, after all. They have to have some outstanding talent or our family has to have some obligation towards them.」

I see, that makes sense.

After all, for somebody like Rofas-san who likes children, if he was told he could adopt as many children as he wanted, it’d be a problem if he ended up adopting a hundred or even two hundred children.

His family wouldn’t allow it unless the child had some sort of ability that could support the kingdom or was talented in some way.

Huh? But then…

「Even if you tell them you want to make me your child, your family wouldn’t allow it, would they? I’m just a puny level two girl, and I barely know anything about this country. I’m basically clueless.」

Saga-san looked at me apologetically.