NOVEL WEB Chapter 6 – A Family Drama for Everyone
"What the hell are you doing?!" A slim, blue haired average looking character shouted with rage.
"Juno!" Marina angrily shouts.
"You could have at least knock the door first you idiot son!" Leonon also shouted as he stood up holding his drumstick.
"Onii-chan why are you so mad??" Even Mary is panicking.
By the looks of it it's Mary's older brother, named Juno. Judging as how he inherited his father's hair but he is short and nor wild, he looks like one of your average adventurers in front of a light novel cover.
"Mom! Dad! I saw it! Why are you having a feast without me!" He complains as he closes the door, at least even he notices his shouts are being heard of outside.
"And now you complain? Now you complain about not being able to share dinner with us?! After all the nights without us eating with you?! Go back to your adventurer party hypocrite!" Marina shouts aloud to his son who's causing a ruckus.
But his face just got even redder. "I'm already here! How could you, your own son, not be part of supper when you let a stranger be part of it!?" He rebukes, as he intently pointed his finger towards me.
"It's because you never show up in here anymore!" Marina said in response. "And how dare you insult our guest!" She added.
[I'll.... Become air now.] I blankly thought, as I made an aloof expression. It's not magic, but I still felt like becoming one with the air. [I absolutely don't wanna get involved with this, nothing can budge me now.] Family troubles should only have family members involved, so an outsider like me shouldn't stick my head to where it doesn't belong. That's why I hid my presence now and the fiber of my being slowly disappears. "Mori-san!" Even Mary notices it.
But even I couldn't hide my surprise as to what happened next.
Slap! Straight across the face, it rang so badly even I flinch when I heard it. Marina slapped his son Juno across the face.
It seems that even Leonon was shock by it and restrained the infuriated Marina by grabbing her wrists. "W-wait Marina dear!" He tries to act as the mediator.
"How could you?! Even after I told you not to get involved with those people! How could you.... You're Maria's own brother, but you did not looked for her when I desperately told you so!" Her expression tense up even more, not from anger, but from holding her tears.
"But—"
"But what?!? Impressing a girl of higher status then you?! In your dreams!" She shouted at him. "I saw it Juno, I saw it! When I was shouting all over the damn town square, as me and your father explicitly told you to start searching for her. But there you are flirting with some noble chick!" She hurl insults at him one after another, with Leonon looking intensely towards her.
[Damn, your fucking brutal mom.] If anyone, let alone my mom, would start speaking to me that way I would have cried even now when I'm in my mid thirties.
But Juno didn't just sat it down without doing anything and fought back "That's enough!" He shouts back, almost like barking. "I was asking my teammate for help to find her mom. I was not flirting with her mom." He rebuke back with a mocking grin. Trying to empathize the word teammate for clarity.
But Marina just laugh it off. "Ha, really?! What a load of bull! You even tried to flex on her! How could that woman's family ever want to ever associate, let alone help someone that has my blood!" She shouted with a grin on her face this time. "Fufu.... And that includes you Juno." She smiled, as she softens her body to the point that Leonon let go of her but still look worried.
The grin on his face was gone and replace with pure hatred once again. "Leave her out of this mother! Ever since I've let her join my party you resented me ever since. What gives?! Some unfounded rumors how you fell from grace been bothering you that much?!" He ended with a sarcastic heh..!
But it seems that what Juno said just now finally cross the line. "Juno!" It's Leonon, having let go of her wife's wrist earlier. "Are you seriously suggesting that you trust a nobleman over your own blood, family, and mother!?!" He shouted, that seriously broke a nerve out n Leonon's head.
"You shut up too dad! Unlike my mom blaming others for her own failures in the adventurer's guild, I am doing my best for this family to become a famous adventurer and getting out if this dump—" Wham! And a blunt strike hits Juno's other cheek, causing him to step back and stagger and be slam to the door by that punch.
"...Eh?" Even I couldn't have the will to remain silent and made a dumb sound.
"Leonon..!" Even Marina, who just slap him earlier, was shock and tried to hold him down this time by hugging his arm. But even then she look at Juno's state with tears, sadness and disappointment and tearing up but not the look of helping him out.
[This place? A dump? What's he smoking with?] I look around and although see a mostly wooden house, the place is well maintained and the furniture not damage at all, except for the door which was crack by the force of Juno.
No matter how I look at it, even by Earth standards, this place is most definitely not a 'dump.'
"Idiot son!! You disappoint me Juno! I've been tryin' to reason with ya all this time and that's what you answer with?!" He practically roared like a lion with bloodshot eyes and growling teeth, looking as if he'd bite the head of his own son.
"You call this a dump?! The dump Marina and I saved our allowances to buy? The dump where you were raised and grew up on?! Has that noble woman's luxuries turned you into a spoiled brat...?! As a father and as man you failed all of us Juno." After barking for a while at the end Leonon quieted down and just look at the sitting Juno holding his cheeks with pity.
"F-fine then! Alright! You hate me as a son and I should just get out of here! You would rather let a stranger join you for dinner and not me! I get it!" He slowly stands up, wobbling for a bit before turning the doorknob.
But then, an unexpected party joins up. "No nii-chan!" It's Mary, I was so focus about not being involved and looking on that I didn't see her leaving the seat. She blocks the door not letting him leave.
"M-Maria.. Get ou.." He tries to get Mary away but she won't budge.
"I don't hate you onii-chan! No one does! I don't want you and mama and papa fighting okay?!" Although her actions and reasoning are those of her age, she is quite brave either way.
But Mary does have a point. "...That's right Juno, me and your father don't hate you." Marina finally spoke out again. She seems to have recovered from her crying state earlier.
"Look, we are just concerned about you that's all. We don't want you to be involve in something dangerous..." She tries to calmly reason with it, but it seems that it mostly didn't get inside his head. "Stop treating me like a child mom... I'm already 18 and you are still keep babying me.... Didn't you see how much training I did with father mom, you even praised my skill before. Is that a lie? Am I not enough?" He quietly asks, unlike the explosive voices from earlier, he seems to have calm down as well.
"No Juno, what you're fighting with isn't something you can defeat by hitting it with your sword, it comes out from behind you, invisible but not, a shadow...." She said increasingly in a nervous tone, as if she's remembering the past. "I don't want you to end up like me." And that's the honest to god answer.
"B... But she's not mom, she's not... She's kind and—" He trembles slightly before being interrupted.
"But even if she is like that, does her family feel the same?" With that one final line from Marina he rendered Juno speechless.
"I..... I'll be going now." In the end all he could do is stay quiet his family and slowly goes upstairs, knowing that Mary won't let him out. He walk in a drooping fashion as he didn't even made eye contact with him.
"......Arrrrrrhhggggghhh......." A mentally exhausted Marina holds her forehead to her palm as she walks slowly to the door beside the counter.
After Juno left the tension was gone and replace by pure exhaustion.
"....Leon won't you mind cleaning up for today...? I'll make up to you tomorrow....." She exhaustively said as she opens the door next to the counter and looks at him with half-closed eyes.
"Yes dear." But Leonon didn't object whatsoever.
"...Good." She smile again but still has an tiredly look on her face before closing the door shut.
"...Siiiigggghhhh...." He makes the loudest sigh I've heard before walking up to me and grabbing the plates.
"Sorry Morus that you got involved in our drama." Leonon said, as he looks at me with a sincere apologetic look on his face.
"D-don't worry about it..." I quietly said. I did wanna say something about how I don't wanna be involved but can't with that look on his face.
"Well we all have our own problems to deal with right?" I jokingly ask, fully prepared for him to say not to get involved as well.
But, "Yeah but... Well it's a bit unfair for us not to tell you since you've already told us so much about your life... You're curious right? But we'll tell ya tomorrow, Marina's not really in the mood to talk right now." He agreed to tell me the problem.
"Are you sure?" I ask, thinking [Although I did say a lot about my life, I never expected you to say about yours either.]
"You've already seen it so you deserve an explanation. But well I'll ask Marina first, since she's obviously vital to what happened. But I know her well you know? So she'll definitely agree on me." He replied, basically saying he doesn't know until he asks his wife.
"Well... Okay." I have no more to say.
I finally stood up, and noticed the little Mary on the back intently listening to us. [What a nosy girl.] I thought as I smile. "Well... I guess speaking through experience I think he'll understand the value of family soon enough." I said with a positive tone.
But what I really thought about is. [He's kinda like me in a way.] I never relate to the girl part since I've always value my family, but there are times that the responsibility just weighed too heavily for me and started resenting them for it, I didn't listen to them and ran away from my duty at various points in my life. But every time afterwards and now I regretted each one.
"Well... You're right, but I hope it happens soon though." He smiles and looks on, staring around at nothing and looks like one of those over dramatic scenes of heroes looking over a hill.
He finishes grabbing all the plates using only one hand as he uses the other one for the cane. He's pretending to not notice Mary before picking her up. "There you are!" He uses the end of his cane to pull Mary's shirt at the back of her shirt. "Hyyaahh..!! You found me!!" "You'll be carrying this little missy." He gives her the plates before going back and grabbing the meat.
"There's one more room reserved to you at the back okay?" he said before grabbing the cook remains of the head of the wolf.
•••
"Uuuhh.... Fuck yes, finally!"
[I am both physically and mentally exhausted right now.] My back is finally resting on something other than hard wood. Although this might not be the best bed I've ever lay upon I'll take any right now.
After the whole ordeal with Juno, I finally got inside the spare room that Marina pick for me. She said that this is the best room they had so it's mostly used by merchants and lower-rank nobility.
Now that I look around, they're not kidding. Although it's mostly made of wood, there are beautiful handmade furniture like chairs, tables, and drawers.
Along the side of this wooden brown bed is some chest for me use, along with a cupboard on the side with a beautiful three pointed candle holder.
On the left is the dresser, and on the right is a small table, in my front is a larger round table with chairs made for putting food atop on, and finally there's a red brown carpet placed across the floor, a small, quaint chandelier like thing in the ceiling, and what looks to be like a bear's skull in the wall in front of me.
[I should probably move that away in front of me.] I thought, but seriously you can tell this is the best room in the whole inn. It's comparable to a small apartment room, this place would definitely be luxury for me back in my brief time in a collage dorm room.
"I guess I should repay them somehow...." Even if they insisted, I really want to pay them back.
I tried to, I really do, tried to cancel this room and instead put me in their regular rooms at the dinner earlier. But they just insisted till the end so I had no choice but to accept it.
"But..." I open up one of my bags and grab a coin, and look at it closely. "...Yeah I really doubt that this could be used in this place." Unless if this is the Endless World itself, then I doubt I could use this gold coin as currency.
"Wait... Gold!" I twist my body to face up and look at the shining coin above as it shimmers on the candle light.
"Yeah, yeah, I could still use this!" Gold is valuable everywhere you go, so I can always use this gold in exchange for this world's currency!
"Let's see...." I stood up, feeling energetic as I did eating Wolf soup, and strip down the things attached to my clothes.
I felt like crap before so I didn't have the motivation for changing my outfit. But with the possibility of earning some dough I definitely have now.
The strip out knives, belts, shoes, pouches, tailcoat, even the stockings and cape, essentially everything that has metal on them is gone. Until what I'm left with is me with a dark brown shoulderless sweatshirt hoodie with a heart shaped cleavage hole, a sleeveless mesh top shirt underneath, and finally some tight leather biker shorts with heart shape strings around the waistband.
[No matter how you look at me I look like a slut....] I designed my character over my own fetishes and tastes and look at the results, I am now wearing the skin of my perfect type of woman, permanently.
[So don't gender-swap folks!] I thought to myself, smirking. [Hah! Like that would ever happen.] Unless women took over gaming no one will stop me and the others from role-playing as my ideal women.
"Well not like someone's listening anyway." I laugh off that thought as I finally jump onto the bed, stretch out my back, grab the sheets and activate an ice magic spell for a good night's sleep.
"Well there are, Rin." A voice said.
I open my eyes to the one who said my real name to only find a field of white.
