Dinner With The Wolf Family

Changing into the only set of clothes Asti or the masked man left behind, Paia was finally ready to see another world. It was a simple white and blue dress that you can probably buy with a single gold coin back on Auzeweth, but it does not reduce Paia's cuteness at all. Instead, she looked like a humble little girl coming from a humble little family.

Brian on the other hand stayed the same. His brown vest with and white inner shirt accompanied by black pants was somewhat formal looking if he just added a tie. He told to himself while looking at the small reflecting glass near the window, 'We should shop for clothes tomorrow.'

Paia was happily checking everything around her. She reached out her hands to Brian asking him to carry her. He gladly followed his princess' request and took her into his shoulder without showing any signs of struggle.

Like Brian bragged to Raju a while ago, Paia is a genius. She can already walk and have a normal conversation on her own, but her child spirit wanted her to be as close as she can with her father.

They left their house making sure they are set and ready. The door does not have any lock or some sort but Brian doubts that someone will be tempted to steal something from their run-down house.

The view of the moon shining at the darkening sky gave Brian some relief knowing that they are still some things that will not change despite everything being chaotic recently. This includes his love for his daughter.

Raju's house was not that far so it only took a minute or so to reach there. It was almost dinner time which means almost everyone is in their home. However, there are still some monsters roaming the streets that have caught Paia's eyes.

"Look father! He got wings… Why is he walking weirdly…? That man's face is funny to look at!" Paia was having fun observing on top of Brian's shoulder.

Thankfully, she was using their language so no one can understand her. They only glance towards the father and daughter combo because of how adorable the girl was having the time of her life.

'It will be nice to teach Paia monster's language if we are going to decide to stay here. Maybe I can ask Raine for a teacher later.'

Brian did not immediately enter when he was in front of Raju's household. He does not really know the proper etiquette of monsters, but it will be very rude for someone to suddenly barge into their home without letting the other side know.

He dropped Paia on his shoulder and knocked on the door.

"That must be Mister Brian! Richi, go welcome our guests." Brian can hear Raine shouting behind the door.

There was a lot of commotion going on, showing how lively their family was. Although another reason for their ruckus is probably because both Raju and Reine have a total of 12 children.

A younger version of Raju opened the door for them. After a respectful gesture of inviting them to their home, Brian and Paia took both of their footwear because they saw how everyone in their family was barefooted.

The wolf named Richi has a noticeable burnt spot on his left cheek which made him distinct among the members of his family.

"Father! It's the fluffy wolf!" Paia beside him said excitedly.

"They cannot understand you because they are people of a different race, but make sure to be respectful with your actions. Ok?"

"Yes!"

Brian accompanied his daughter along with Richi to meet the rest of the family. Glancing around, their place was definitely neater and more orderly compared to what Brian has back home. It also has a lot more space, but it was still not enough for 14 Dire Wolves to move around freely.

"Oh! Is that your daughter, Brian! She's the most adorable human I have ever seen. Almost as adorable as my daughters." A lively familiar hoarse voice bragged in a friendly tone.

Raju who has already changed into more comfortable clothes patted Brian's back to welcome him.

"Your children are already so big. If you add one more, you'll probably need a new house." Brain teased.

"Hahaha! They might look like that but some of them have the same age as your daughter. It's normal for us to grow this fast."

"My daughter doesn't know your language so it might be difficult to connect with them." Brian looked at his daughter who already has shining eyes ready to play with her fluffy friends.

"Don't worry about it! Children play with their body, not their mouth."

"You're right…"

He lowered down to meet Paia's eyes and told her in human language, "You can play and make friends, but don't overexert yourself too much. Dinner will be served soon."

Paia nodded and immediately stared at the group of smaller wolves playing outside their backyard. Brian kissed her forehead before letting her go. He knows his daughter is better than him in terms of social activities.

"They'll be friends before we know it. Come, Raine is still cooking so we can have a light drink before the meal."

Brian has no reason to refuse him. He might have drunk himself to death in his previous life, and the same might be said on the current one. But it does not remove his desire to drink at all, especially when he is with good company.

Passing by the kitchen and greeting Raine quickly, his appetite begun to growl out loud. Now that Brian thought about it, he never had any meals starting from the time he woke up with a bottle of poison in his hand. The smell suddenly reminded him of all the hunger that has not been satiated for long.

Brian already expected the table to be quite long because of the size of their family. Both chairs and the table have a calming design that made you feel at home, and he sat on one of them. The mug Raju served for both of them was as large as Brian's head. The size of it should be because of their size and appetite of Dire Wolves.

Both men have a lighthearted talk mostly about their experiences as a father. When Raju shared the one time when he forgot the birthday of one of his children and Raine reprimanded him for days, Brian laughed out loud and thought to himself he will never follow in his footsteps in the future.

Then in the midst of their drinking, Richi and one more begun preparing the plates for dinner. This also indicated that both men should already stop consuming alcohol and move aside.

"Looks like you have fun, both of you," Raine said while she was holding a gigantic plate of boar emitting a savory smell. Its length almost covered all space on the table, and its height was as tall as Raju when he was sitting down.

He never saw something served this big at the table in both of Brian's life. A feeling of amazement and anticipation joined his hunger when all dishes were served.

"Hon, call the kids back here."

"I'll also fetch my daughter." Brian stood up with Raju accompanying him to their backyard.

Even before he can see them, he can already guess that his daughter was having a fun time because of her laughter that was distinguishable among the rest. He was happy to know Paia was able to make friends despite the other party's race and language barrier.

When both fathers stepped outside, the scene they saw was a human girl riding a wolf while chasing another wolf. They do not know how the situation came to be but seeing their smiles, they did not care about it.

"Dinner is already here. Make sure to shake off the dirt before you come inside." Raju pointed at the four wolves who were playing and carried the youngest among them.

Not all children of Raju were in the age of playing like kids. The rest were just simply watching or busy on their own business. The oldest for example was busy tinkering with something before he put it down and went back inside.

Raju instructed one of his sons to fetch those who stayed in their rooms above to call them for dinner.

'Their household is really busy.' Brian thought.

So their group went first and sat in their designated places to wait for the rest to come. Paia seems to be very fond of Raju and Raine's youngest daughter since they were still busy playing with themselves even though the game was done. Their connection might be due to the fact that among the rest of her siblings, she was the one whose height is closest to Paia.

The family of 14 wolves plus 2 humans looked very natural despite how few spaces in between one of them. Being a part of it, Brian wished they had the same peaceful family atmosphere back in their home.

Brian picked up Paia and let her sit on his lap for the meal. She had a joyful expression before looking up and said, "Thank you, father."