Family Time

(MC's POV)

Sighing in resignation at how my fate is entirely at the whims of the Supreme Ones, I soon buried that thought away as I arrived at one of the doors that led to the dining room.

The maid who was leading me there stood by the side of the door frame before giving me a bow.

I nodded at her and then pushed open the big wooden door. In there, I saw a long table made of wood with chairs lining each side and one chair at the end of the table.

The Master seat, the seat reserved for the master of the house. In this case, Gramps. He's sitting there waiting patiently with his eyes closed and standing to his right was Roy.

Noticing my presence since I wasn't using [Stealth], the two turned their attention towards me.

Roy's brows flicker slightly before a satisfied smile bloomed on his face as he nodded approvingly.

Gramps, on the other hand, had his eyes widen in surprise for a moment; then, a slight smile surfaced.

"Good evening, Gramps, Roy" I said while walking to the two.

"Good evening, Roger" Gramps returned the greeting with that smile still on his face.

"Good evening, Young Master Roger" Roy had already returned back to his neutral face again, keeping his image of the perfect butler.

"So, how do I look?" I stood near them and struck a thinking pose while sporting a slight smile.

"Great, you look like you would fit in perfectly with the children and grandchildren of my business partners" Gramps commented. Well, that's what I was going for so I guess I succeeded.

"What are your thoughts, Roy?" Gramps turned to his right and addressed Roy.

"If I am to be frank, the Young Master would catch the eyes of a few daughters of wealthy families just from his looks and the feeling he gives off alone, just off the top of my head I can already think of a few names" Roy delivered his verdict with calculative eyes.

"Oh, now that you mention it, you're right about that. I hear many younger ladies of this generation like this more mature and intellectual type" Gramps' eyes widened slightly before he nodded at Roy.

"Uh, I guess I'll take that as a compliment then" I decided to ignore their statement about the 'catching the eyes of daughters of wealthy families' and take it as me succeeding in trying to look more like a 'Young Master'.

I pulled out a chair and sat down to Gramps' right. I then sensed a few maids nearing a different entrance than the one I came through, that entrance opened up, and in came 2 maids each pushing along a trolley with something different on them.

The leading one has what looked like an entire tea brewing set along with sugar, honey, milk, ginger, and all that other stuff on the side. While the one at the back has many dishes with a silver dome covering the contents of each dish along with various utensils.

Once the two walked in, the doors seemed like they slowly closed shut on their own but I sensed there were other maids who closed it.

The mansion sure has a lot of maidpower to be designating 2 maids aside just to close the doors; I mean, they do go off somewhere after closing the doors but still.

I also noticed that the cute and attractive maid that brought me here isn't near the door anymore, and the door I opened was now closed. Yeah, way too much excess maidpower.

Anyway, the trolley with the tea brewing set and all that jazz was parked off to the side while the one with, I presume, our dinner was set next to the dining table.

The maid who carted it here then started to set the dishes down on the table with smooth and elegant movements; once she was finished, she gave a bow before leaving along with the other maid.

"I shall now excuse myself" Roy also gave a bow before leaving the room as well; though, unlike the other maids, he stayed just on the other side of the door.

"Let's eat, I'm sure you're just rearing to have normal food after being discharged from the hospital" Gramps lifted each of the silver domes in order and set them on the trolley.

"Are the foods you brought for me while I was in the hospital, not normal food?" I smiled wryly at his remark; ever since I woke up from my coma, he had been visiting every mealtime and brought along foods that were quite questionable for a hospital patient.

"Of course not, those are only hospital food. They were made with your recovery in mind" Gramps had that sagely vibe to him when he said that that I was almost convinced the dishes that were way more delicious than anything I've ever eaten were only 'hospital food'.

"If those were 'hospital food' then how good are these?" I followed him and lifted the domes. Suddenly, my nose was assaulted by a smoky and meaty smell along with the fragrance of herbs and spices that were completely foreign to me. Following that, the scented smell of spring washed over me and stayed lingering at the tip of my nose.

I can feel the eldritch god in my stomach rearing and ready to unleash its mighty and gluttonous roar for the world to hear; however, I somehow managed to keep it at bay by its shackle, though I don't think I can restraint it for much longer.

Thus, the sacrifice has to be made to appease the old god that lay dormant within me.

I cut into the piece of steak sitting on the dish in front of me and brought the piece to my mouth. Once the piece of meat was in my mouth, a flavor explosion happened; it was akin to a firework show of umami as each time I sank my teeth into the piece of meat, meat juice oozed out and mixed with the sauce of the outside of the steak, giving it a different taste altogether.

I savored the taste of the meat before swallowing it, then I moved on to the other dishes lined up on the table in front of me.

Each dish had its own unique flavor different from each other, however, the taste of the dishes did not clash with each other but instead harmonized and complimented each other's strength.

Soon, before I even noticed it- that's a lie, it took just under 20 minutes for us to finish having dinner. Once finished though, I gave a sigh of contentment as the food was just heavenly.

"So, how was the food?" Gramps had an amused smile on his face while wiping his mouth with a soft white cloth.

"Best food I've ever eaten. I feel like this is the kind of food they serve at a 5-star fancy restaurant reserved only for the richest people in the world" I gave my honest thought, nothing I've eaten in my memory could compare to this, not even my favorite pizza at my favorite pizza place; though cost-wise, the pizza might just win overall, maybe, that's a strong maybe.

"Hahaha, well, the chef who made this used to work at a 5-star restaurant so you're not far off" Gramps chuckled a little as the door to the room was opened and Roy walked in with several maids following him.

The maids picked up the empty dishes and cleaned the table before exiting the room with impressive haste. Meanwhile, Roy pushed over the trolley with the tea brewing set and proceeded to whip up some nice fragrant tea for us.

Taking a sip of the tea after blowing on it a bit, I feel a warmth spreading throughout my body as the little bit of tension left in me after the quest completely faded away, bringing me to what I believe to be true relaxation.

"This is some delicious tea, Roy. I didn't know tea could be this good without anything added in" I praised before taking another sip and enjoyed both the taste and the warmth I get from it.

"I thought the same too until I tasted the tea brewed by Roy, it is truly a mystery" Gramps followed up, taking another sip of his own tea.

"Thank you for the compliment, Master, Young Master" He gave a light bow, then picked up the teapot and refilled my empty cup.

Gramps and I sat in silence while enjoying the tea for a while before the silence was broken by him.

"So, Roger. I heard you got an interest in the training room" Gramps asked; Roy probably told him about it, which I don't really mind as he's only doing his job.

"Yeah, ever since I woke up, I've had this itchy feeling whenever I'm just sitting around and not doing anything in my hospital bed. So, I played around with throwing paper balls to try to alleviate that itch and also boredom, that's when I got interested in throwing stuff and looked into throwing knives and such"

Technically I didn't tell any lies, that 'itch' as I call it is actually real, I get some tingling feeling whenever I'm not actively trying to get stronger. And, the 'interest in throwing stuff' is me being curious about what I can do with Throwing 10 (MAX).

So, nothing was a lie. Just not the whole truth.

Gramps nodded at me in understanding.

"But, Roy told me you were down in the training room for 5 hours" Gramps raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, so when I got the chance to try out my skill with real weapons, I kinda got absorbed in it and started to try out the things I've seen on the internet and then lost track of time" I looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Hahaha! The youth are really energetic, huh?" Gramps laughed heartily with a big smile on his face.

"So, tell me, Roger. Do you want to properly learn to use throwing weapons or any other weapons for that matter?" Gramps had a serious look on his face and yet his eyes were gentle and tender.

"Hmm, I think I'll just try to figure things out myself with throwing weapons, but I would like to try learning how to use a sword though" I mentally slide the screen that just popped up to the side.

"The sword? Haha, isn't this quite a coincidence, Roy?" Gramps had a smirk on his face as he turned to Roy while touching his beard, and I know exactly why.

"It is indeed, Master" Roy smiled slightly while also rubbing his beard.

"How about it? Would you teach the boy the way of the sword?"

"If it is what you wish, Master, I will gladly accept" Roy did a bow before turning to me.

"Will you, Young Master Roger, accept me as your teacher?"

"From the way you two were talking, I take it you're quite good with the sword; if so then, of course, I would gladly accept you as my teacher" I said with a wide smile.

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『Soul Board』

Roy - Human

Age: 72 Rank: 40

Soul Points: 6

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[Weapon Mastery]

- Sword 5/10

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A/N: The end is near...

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For Volume 1, that is. 2 more chapters to go.