Chapter 172 - A Date With Pandora (I)

My father was quite a secretive guy and he tends to solo everything like the problem he has right now. However, he is quite weak in terms of confrontation. Once someone knows he is lying or anything similar, he will immediately spill out the beans. He can't hold a secret for very long.

"So you knew huh..." my father sighed on the other line.

"Do you want to tell me something that I don't know father?"

"Not now, son. I know I have lots of secrets but I am not going to involve you in this matter. This is my mess and I am going to solve it by myself."

"Father! Don't just -" before I can finish what I was about to say, he dropped the line and only the dial tone remained.

I sighed and shook my head. I never expected my father to be quite stubborn to the point he won't even divulge the things I wanted to know. I also can't go to Nagoya right now since classes are just around the corner. And even though I wanted to help, he is the one who wanted to decline that help. It looks like I have to do things my own way.

Since I already have the ability to use magic and materialize my weapon, the next thing I have to do is to learn the ability to teleport. Teleporting in the game was fine since you can do it with the Teleportation stones found in towns and cities. However, if I want to use that ability here in the real world, I need at least a place where I can safely teleport to Nagoya and then teleport back to Tokyo without a problem. It would be a big problem if I got teleported to a random place. I need to get an anchor where it will serve as a safe place for me to teleport and use the chance to transfer from Nagoya to Tokyo without going into public transport.

That's it, next plan is to buy a house that will act as an anchor for me in Nagoya. A place where I can teleport whenever I needed to.

....

I went out of my room after and saw Pandora with the siblings on the kitchen table. Suhei is the one cooking food with the ingredients in the fridge.

"Oh, you guys are back?" I casually went to the kitchen and went to the fridge.

"Is that you, Manato-kun? Come and join us for dinner! I just cooked a few dishes I know how to cook. There is plenty enough for every one of us!" Suhei said.

"Is that curry?" I asked. It smells good and I can already tell my mouth is salivating. 

"Yep, to be precise, it is chicken curry. Come and dig in before it gets cold! Don't be shy, the ingredients I used are yours after all."

"Then don't mind if I also joined in," I said with a smile and grab a plate and spoon I especially use only if I am going to eat curry.

The siblings were too busy to even greet me and just stuff food in their mouths. Even Sora who is blind accurately eats the curry with the same speed her brother does. She seemed to be getting used to her ability to sense more things after playing the game. After all, if your senses get really high, even if you close your eyes, you can precisely "see" without seeing things.

"Don't rush eating guys, there is still plenty of food to go, you guys won't be running out of it soon so eat at your own pace," Suhei said.

"But this curry is just too good! It's almost on par with Brother's cooking! Are you perhaps a chef too?" Akira asked while he keeps on stuffing his face with food.

"Haha, I appreciate the compliment but I am not a chef, I am just an ordinary guy capable of cooking things since I was the one taking care of my sister. There is no way I would disregard my cooking ability. I even wasted quite a lot of ingredients when I was just starting out in the past to get this kind of taste," Suhei said.

"You didn't join a cooking class?" I asked.

"Nope. The time I would spend attending such lessons would be much better if I use it for working and earning money. I can just practice cooking by watching videos on the internet, that way, I don't have to pay a fee to any instructor. Besides, I only cook so that we can eat some decent meal, not for professional take of cooking."

I understand what Suhei meant, instead of trying to learn from someone, why not practice by yourself? There is always an alternative to everything to learn it by yourself.

"Anyway, Manato. Are you perhaps free tomorrow?" Suhei asked.

"I don't have particular plans but I have something to do in the afternoon. What is it?"

"Well, that is good enough. Can I ask a favor to go with my sister tomorrow? She wanted to visit some places around Tokyo but she has no one to accompany her tomorrow. I can't join her since I have to deal with some things at work."

"Huh?"

"It's alright if you can't go. I will just find someone else to go to tomorrow. It is unreasonable for me to ask you some favor even though we barely know each other," Suhei smiled.

"Ah, if it is just about accompanying Pandora around Tokyo, then that is fine. I will accept. Besides, I have somewhere to go tomorrow, I can just bring her along with me."

"Really? If that is the case, I will pay you for the trouble then."

"Uh, no. There is no need for you to go that far, I am fine accompanying her without getting any payment. Just save it up instead of spending it as a salary for me for looking out for her."

"Are you sure? I am already intruding to your time," Suhei wanted to insist but I declined him about it.

"As I said earlier, there is no need to pay me. I am quite fine with accompanying her. You can rest assured your sister will be safe and sound with me tomorrow."

Suhei sighed and smiled. "If that is the case, then please take care of her while I am not with her. I will be giving you some pocket money too for the expense of the trip. You don't need to waste a single coin to enjoy some things. Don't decline this one, since this is for my sister anyway. Also, you will just accompany her during the morning so if you have something to do during the afternoon, you don't need to cancel it."

I looked at Pandora and she was already holding her sketchbook with her words, "I look forward to our trip together."

In the end, I was going to accompany Suhei's sister, Pandora. It doesn't conflict with the schedule of playing the game. Besides, I also plan to rest during the morning to at least organize my thoughts for a bit. With all the stress I have in many things, I needed to relax, and walking around in Tokyo and visiting places would be a good way to relax and get rid of the bad vibes.

After our dinner, I returned to my room. I asked the two if they plan to play the game once they return to their room but they declined and said they wanted to rest early.

I opened the pc and browsed around the Alternate World's forums to check on the latest happenings in the game. The very first topic that appeared when I browsed, is the raid that the siblings and I made to piss off Kazuki and take his chances of claiming the dungeons as his own.

It was rowdy and many of the players who have known the way of Kazuki's guild trying to block some players who wanted to clear it. Some of the players who are a bit knowledgeable explained why Kazuki's plan to own the dungeons was foiled by our raid. Due to this, many of the players who wanted to clear the dungeons before but were chased or killed by the players camping outside the dungeon's entrance appeared and also stated how this treatment happened to them.

Many players who are not in a guild poured support on the raiders who managed to reclaim the dungeons by setting a record that is close to impossible to surpass. They also bash and dissing off on Kazuki's guild and the members.

Some of the players were also confused as to why we didn't stay and also make claim on the dungeon since we cleared it the fastest. We can have the dungeon as our personal dungeon too just like how Kazuki wanted it to happen. They applauded whoever the raiders are and gave thanks to them even without knowing them to be us and treated us with quite a cheer by the people in the game.

Now that Kazuki is now in trouble with this, I will be able to halt his growth for a little bit. This way, I can do what I needed to do before he can do things he needed to do.