Chapter 31

"Don't worry otou-san. I'll go straight home from academy," I say for the thousandth time, close to the doorway.

"I know that, but," Mr. Sato seemed to think he was still dreaming, small tears trickling from the corners of his eyes. His dear and only son was not dead.

"Anyway, you'll be okay alone here at home? What did the people at your work tell you?" I asked as I finally finished putting my shoes on.

Mr. Sato had spent a vacation in Hawaii. It was supposed to be a fun trip, though, even with the magic I'd put into him to deal with my disappearance wasn't enough. He didn't enjoy the trip.

Upon being contacted by the authorities about the reappearance of his son, He promptly abandoned the trip and returned to Japan.

"Frustrating. I had asked to abstain from work for at least a year," he said a little despondently. "I had no intention of returning to Japan before. They hired another younger guy to replace me at the firm. Our finances will be a little tighter these months."

Of course money wouldn't be an issue for me. The biggest headache was creating the alibi for Sato and others not to suspect where so much money came from.

These past few months I've done a lot of mercenary work at the point of unaffiliated mages (AN: The Osaka bar.)

I also stol-*cough*-I mean--- I appropriated material possessions from rogue magician and stray priests.

But most important of all.

Near the entrance to the nest, the cave that needed to go through the cracks to enter the underworld of the harpies...

I realized through appraise magic that the rocks on the wall had a high concentration of palladium. There were tons and tons of this ore present there.

A kilo of palladium is equivalent to 3600 dollars, that is, I'M RICH.

We're talking at least millions of dollars ready to be added to my wallet. I had already filed the papers to create a mining company with a false identity, and in a few days the money would fall into my vaults.

"Why are you wearing that silly smile?" asked Mr. Sato with a questioning look.

"Nothing. Just glad for my first day back to school," I give him my best innocent look, my school bag already in my right hand.

"Hmmmm," He has a suspicious expression, but I soon decide to say, "Anyway --- good class. Later we'll meet the new tenant who rented the upstairs room. We need money and I ended up putting in the ad that we had a extra room."

The alibi had to be done as soon as possible, I'll probably use my identity as a novel author to say I'm making lots of money.

The way to school was pretty much the same as always, except for the small detail, some shopkeepers and passers-by in the middle of the street looked at me and whispered from time to time.

The news of my reappearance made me something of a celebrity and the spotlight was on me.

The boy who lived... Just kidding.

"Class. I know everyone is excited today, but please --- be quiet," said the female teacher aloud for the second time.

After managing to calm the teenagers' tempers, "I want to welcome our previously missing student, please come in Sato-san."

My entry was followed by murmurs and curious looks. Even the teacher stares at me as if she expects me to say some speech in front of the class and satisfy their curiosity.

Before I could say anything, two teenagers rose grimly from their chairs and raised their fists in a swing.

"Ouch, Ouch" I rubbed my sore shoulder from his blows. Of course it hadn't really hurt, but I wanted to keep up appearances.

"Welcome back, Motohama," smiled Matsuda.

"Bastard," growled Issei. "Next time you scare us like that I promise I'll kick your ass."

"And steal your Sailor Puri Puri collection," growled Matsuda too.

Ohhh, what would they do if they knew I sold all my collections? They would probably treat me like a Heretic.

"It's good to see you two too," I said smiling.

Even though we were known as perverts, most of the girls and some of the boys looked at us sympathetically. Most were happy for my return and although they didn't like the old Motohama's perversions... They didn't want me dead either.

"Hyoudou-san, Chomei-san, please have a seat. Let him breathe a little and give us a greeting,"- Teacher.

Obviously the teacher was just eager to satisfy her inner gossip, as were many others.

Sweat running down the back of my neck, I say, "Er-- It's great to be with everyone. As you know I was rescued by the police a few days ago. My life is still a mess and I hope I can count on everyone's help."

The teacher looks at me as if to say, is that all?

"Hey, Hey, Motohama-kun," a girl in the class called to me, "Is it true that you faced 5 criminals and survived alone in a prison with just one cracker of salt and water?"

"Hmph. I heard they were chips," said another girl in derision.

"You're both wrong," One boy shook his head from side to side. "He survived on a desert island with just a ball and his survival skills. Every day he hunted fish and faced bears --- With just a wooden stake."

"Ohhh," said the gang in unison as they looked at me in awe.

That same boy didn't want to stop and kept saying, "On the eleventh day with six trees, straw and mud, he built a fort the size of an average house. All this in less than six hours... And under the sun and rain."

They couldn't be believing this bullsh*t, could they? I looked in disbelief at that situation.

"It's true," the teacher said equally excitedly. "With a radio he found near the shores, he took it apart and created a telegraph to send morse code."

"In less than two hours," The boy smiled at the teacher in an accent, confirming.

"Hmph, he had chips," said that same girl in derision.

Fortunately, a girl soon denied everything, as her father is a policeman and she told everyone the 'truth' of the reports.

But even hearing the truth from the girl's lips and me denying that nonsense... Some still stared at my back during class.

The school made an exception due to my unique situation and I would have to take exams to forgive my lost class time. I wasn't worried. With Appraise Magic I already had the books for the entire year and the following years decorated word for word.

English lesson.

Everyone expected disgruntled because the teacher was late.

"OooaaHhhhhhh!!" The class shouted with excitement when they saw the new member who came through the door.

"Good morning, class. Sorry I'm late," said a blonde with a serene smile before tossing the books on the table in front of the class, "I'm the new substitute English teacher. Angelie Piero. I came from Italy recently and I hope to count on everyone's collaboration. Please be kind to me."

The boys' cries of excitement and happiness were audible.

And in the same way the girls complained because they wanted to see the previous English teacher, who was hot according to them.

Angelie seeing the girls' displeasure, she smiled brightly at them, like an angel incarnate on Earth and said, "I hope I can count on you girls as well."

The girls who had just been complaining like fury, froze when they saw the smile and angelic face of the blonde. Some of them had slightly rosy cheeks and others had a big internal dilemma, as if for the first time they were questioning their sexuality.

"Professor, I have a lot of doubts in English. My tongue sometimes hangs and I don't know how to move them right. You know --- every language has a different way of using them," said a girl with red cheeks and slightly euphoric. "How much do you charge for - umm, some private lessons?"

"Hm? Sorry miss -- umm- I don't know the name," Angelie replied awkwardly. "My schedule is full and I don't have time for it. I mean --"

Angelie stops the speech and looks at me. She smiles warmly and says, "It breaks my heart to hear about the kidnapping of such a promising student. I can give you some private lessons later, Motohama-kun."

Motohama-kun? Did the teacher and Motohama know each other?

The class's eyes pierced my back like a spear.

Most already wanted to condemn me to the stake, but strangely...

Some were already creating a fanfic that the two of us met on the desert island and that I saved her from drowning... Amidst sharks, at least five of them.

Ugh. Why doesn't burning at the stake look so bad?

After we managed to dodge all the questions, the class continued. I still didn't know what Angelie was doing here, but I must say she was a great teacher.

Everyone praised her Japanese as it sounded perfectly fluent, almost as if she were a native.

The end of class came and I was walking back through the streets. All normal except for the blonde who walks beside me in a good mood.

"What are you doing there?" I asked as I walked, not looking in her direction.

"Working? I need money," She smiled kindly in my direction.

"Is it gospel that asked you to do this?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

She shook her head sideways in denial, "It's my own choice."

I stared at her for a few more seconds and she blurted out in displeasure, "What? I can't be around my little brother? I've waited over five hundred years, I deserve this."

"How did you get the spot? It couldn't have been easy," I say trying to forget about the blonde's implications at academy.

"Huh? The Da Vinci family although almost extinct, there are many new families that originated from us. Rossi, Argento, Santoro and many others are branches of the ancient Da Vinci family." She replied calmly.

Was Argento descended from the Da Vinci family? Could Asia be a descendant of our family?

No, there may be many others who have this same surname out there.

"Rossi family has contact with me and I have power over their leader. They are a family of influential mages and have many ties to the devils. Getting this spot was a breeze," She lightly hugged my shirt sleeve.

Of course the blonde had used a privacy spell so our conversation didn't spill over.

We were so distracted in our conversations that we didn't even notice when we'd arrived in front of my house.

"M-Motohama?" Said Mr. Sato's eyes widened as he saw the blonde girl hugging my right arm.

Mr. Sato, who was idle at home, had decided to do a painting on the external facade and because of his age... He was having more difficulties than he thought and so he wasn't finished yet.

I couldn't even finish explaining myself, as Mr. Sato jumped towards Angelie and grabbed both her hands in excitement, "You can call me father-in-law. You know - Errr-- Motohama is a different boy-- umm-- but please don't give up on him. Please don't give up of us."

Not give up on them?

The nearly sixty-year-old gentleman seems in his own world as he rambles aloud.

"Ohhh! This looks like a dream! I want grandchildren," He had a hoarse voice, "Grandchildren. Lots of grandchildren. I can already see them blonde and black haired ones. What a wonderful sight. What a magnificent sight."

"Otou-san, I think~" Before I could explain I was interrupted.

"What are you doing that you haven't asked your girlfriend in yet?" said Mr. Sato in slight rebuke.

I was just going to say she wasn't my girlfriend, but to my surprise, "Don't blame him, father-in-law. *Sniff* *Sniff* I love him regardless." Angelie said slightly tearfully.

After Mr. Sato was moved by Angelie's little theater, he gave me a little lecture on how I should treat women. And explained why I should take as an example the way he treated my late mother when he was younger.

And Angelie looked mildly amused by my misfortune.

Looks like I've found someone as shameless as I am.

"A good daughter-in-law you brought my son. You must treat her well," Mr. Sato smiled at us, looking at least five years younger. "Let's go in then."

After we go inside and we have tea, Angelie says sitting in the chair at the table, "Actually I'm the tenant who requested the extra room. I'm coming from Italy and I don't have a place to stay. I'll give you three months' rent in advance."

Mr. Sato looks at this in surprise as he didn't expect this 'coincidence' and says quickly: "No need to pay. I would never charge my son's girlfriend. You can keep the room."

"No. I insist," the blonde girl took a paper package out of her suitcase, "I have a job and I earn well. I make sure to help with the expenses."

Mr. Sato couldn't help but be surprised, before turning to me and piercing my soul with his gaze.

It was as if he was saying...

Don't you see it?

She's blonde, pretty, foreign and has a good job. I don't know how the hell this happened, but you can't pass up the opportunity.

A meteor doesn't fall twice in the same place.

That was the hope of the Sato family lineage.

A light at the end of the tunnel.