Chapter 42 - Exuberant Time

"Your sister is a slut!"

"Aren't you a slut as well?"

The villagers had started to gossip. Someone had even directly said to her. And as a teenage girl, she had fiercely objected and denied their claim.

It took her a few years to become mature enough to understand that her elder sister had sold her body to earn a living. Something that their father should have done. Though he had done them a favor when he died drinking and gambling.

A year or so later, the elder sister revealed her savings which were enough to leave that village and find opportunities in bigger towns.

That girl single-handedly managed to take care of her younger sister, settle down in a town, marry a merchant, and found a suitable partner for her younger sister as well.

"A woman's body is her greatest weapon, why shouldn't I use it? Hehe!" She had once said smiling which Rita would have found disgusting if she had not been mature enough to understand.

…

The village chief limply laid on the ground, unconscious. While Rita stared at him in a stupor. She couldn't believe what she had just done!

Did she actually kill him? It took her a while to process as she looked at Susy with a troubled expression just to find out that she was smiling brightly.

"Hehe! I knew you were strong! You took care of him with a single hit!" Susy cheerfully said. But she couldn't see a relieved expression on Rita's face. Instead, her eyes were moist and her tears threatened to fall. She was on the verge of crying. So Susy became bewildered, "...Big sis?"

"...D-did I kill him?" Rita asked with a regretful expression as if she had committed a grave crime.

Susy stared at her for a moment before answering, "...So you were worried about that?" She then added, "Don't worry, scums like these don't easily die! He is just unconscious."

As Rita heard her, she finally breathed out a sigh of relief. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself, though her anxious expression did not subside. Her body was still shuddering.

Both of them then left the area as Susy consoled her along the way by saying she had done nothing wrong.

…

"I want my top back!" Milo had pestered, so Jack had to agree to buy him a new one. So Milo showed a victorious grin as if his plan had succeeded.

"And me? Me?" Miti looked at him with puppy eyes. Her adorable look made Jack giggle, "Hehe! You want a top too?"

"No! I want a doll!" she replied.

"Okay, we will go buy it later," he said as he sat on the nearby steps. Miti quickly sat on his lap, "Yes!" and exclaimed cheerfully.

"Let's go then!" Milo excitedly said, already ready to go.

"Hm, I'm talking about tomorrow morning!"

"Tomorrow morning, stupid Milo!" Miti berated.

"You!..."

"Hm, look at that star…" Jack interrupted to prevent the fight and distracted, "that's your great-grandpa!"

"Pff, hehehe!" both of them giggled. Then Jack began telling them stories as he also enjoyed the starry night.

…

When Rita and Susy arrived, they found the door of Rita's house closed from the outside, Alban had yet to return it seemed. So Rita put her bag inside as they decided to check Susy's house. They could faintly hear Milo and Miti giggling as they approached the house.

Susy smiled and directly headed towards the backyard as Rita followed her.

"Hehe! Look, that's a beetle," Milo's voice came, and Susy saw him pointing towards the sky.

"That's a butterfly, stupid!" Miti said.

"You called me stupid again? I will…"

But Milo couldn't complete as Jack interrupted, "That's right! There's a beetle and a butterfly. Both are racing," he spouted nonsense to prevent their quarrel.

"See! My beetle will surely defeat your butterfly!"

"It won't!"

They both accepted his lie while he properly suppressed his laugh. Susy saw how he took care of them as a delighted smile appeared on her face. But her smile became a wry one when she heard Jack's voice saying, "How long are you going to stand there, Aunt Susy?"

She really likes to eavesdrop, he thought. Well, she was probably looking at her children, or was she looking at him? How cute!

She revealed herself and both the fluffs ran towards her enthusiastically asking what she had brought for them as they peeked inside her bag.

"Let's go inside first," Susy said and made her way towards the backdoor.

"Aunt Rita, what did you bring for us?" Upon seeing Rita, the two fluffs approached her with expectant smiles.

Rita was still a bit gloomy because of the previous incident. But her lips curled up in a thin smile when she saw the two excited fluffs before her. Her gloominess couldn't last long as she replied, "I brought sweets for you! Look inside mommy's bag…" And the fluffs cheered.

But Jack felt her expression a bit off for some reason. It wasn't as worrying as before, but it seemed there were various emotions mixed within.

So he approached her with a mischievous smile, shook her hand, and, "Mommy! What about me!" tried to plead like them.

"Pfff!"

"Hahahaha!" Everyone burst out.

"Pff! We bought a large chunk of deer meat for your huge appetite!" Rita giggled and playfully replied.

"Meat! Hahaha! Big brother, you eat meat while we enjoy sweets! Hahaha!" Milo laughed hard.

"Don't worry big brother, I will give you some from my share…" Miti said as she held his hand while Jack's heart couldn't help but sway with her cuteness.

What should he do with such an overload of cuteness? So he lifted Miti in his arms and kissed her cheek, "Only you care about me, Miti! You are the best!"

"Hehehe!"

"How much will you give me then?"

"Juuuust a little…" she gestured with her thumb and index finger. An ant could barely pass between them.

"Pff, even an ant would eat more than that!"

"Then how about this…"

"That's just a bigger ant…"

…

"So, what happened along the way?" Jack couldn't help asking after everyone got inside. He worded his question like that to show his suspicions were clear, even though they were not. He had just felt something off.

"Nothing, it was just a stalker…" Susy said with a wry smile. Can anything stay hidden from him, she wondered.

"Who was he?"

His voice deepened and Susy's body became stiff. Rita was in no better condition.

So Susy hurriedly replied, "Hehe, you don't need to worry about him, Jack. Big sis has already taken care of him! You know, she created a huge earth hand and *bam* slammed it on his stomach! And he was no more! Hehe!" Susy illustrated enthusiastically to Miti and Milo with hand gestures.

"Whoa!!"

....

An hour later, both the ladies busied themselves in cooking. When Susy had asked Jack how he would like the curry, he replied with a single word, "Spicy!"

It has been a long time since he had eaten something spicy. Not that he would be able to eat like his previous world's cuisine, but still. From where he came, a curry there would contain more spices than water. In fact, almost every dish contained spices, except the sweet ones of course.

Although the dishes here were completely different, made up of different ingredients, there were similarities. Like the rice, which was like the brown rice of his world, except it being a lot thicker and longer. The bread was also different with a thickness like an adult hand. Though its sweetness and texture were simply delicious, at least for Jack.

When Alban arrived, "Wahahaha! So you have returned, Mr. Monster! Now, this hero will surely defeat you!" Milo had exclaimed, raising his fists.

"Whoa! Mr. Hero, please go easy on me…" Alban played along.

"Hump! Are you scared already? Come fight me!" His loud declaration livened up the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Jack sat on the sofa as Miti sat on his lap. He was holding a wooden doll and carving on it with a knife, while she attentively watched him carving.

She had shown her collection of dolls to him earlier, and he had spotted some design defects in them. He started reshaping them as he felt he could make them better.

Crafting is an essential survival skill and he had a good experience in it thanks to the Dark Woods. He had to craft various weapons and tools to survive.

Crap! He exclaimed inwardly. One of the legs had gotten thinner than the other one! He looked at Miti and found her smiling. So she hadn't noticed, he concluded and started working on other areas. Well, he was going to buy her new ones anyway…

Soon, an appetizing aroma wafted into the air stimulating everyone's stomachs. The dinner was almost ready.

…

Later, everyone had a peaceful dinner as they laughed and joked and ate. The atmosphere was extra cheerful with the noise of the two fluffs.

Jack didn't hold back even a bit in praising Susy's cooking skills until she blushed hard. Then he felt satisfied. Though he wouldn't deny that the meat curry truly tasted delicious.