NOVEL WEB Chapter 420
“Looks like you’ve truly settled down in the dungeon.”
Fur from bears scattered around the entrance of the dungeon.
Bear footprints covering the floor.
Clearly, anyone could tell that the bears had declared this place as their new territory. An ordinary person would have turned around and fled the moment they saw these signs.
But not me.
Why would I flee?
If anyone should be fleeing, it should be them.
“Seems like there are bears here!”
“Contractor, I want to see bears!”
“Bears are just slightly bigger animals.”
And anyway, this isn’t a zoo. The bears are watching us while we peek at them. I’m not some hunter here to collect bear bile for a power boost—no reason to bother the bears unnecessarily.
So, we should just pass through.
“Johann! Look! A baby bear!”
“Oh my, so cute…”
Did it lose the timing to hide while playing outside? We watched a baby bear peeking out from the bushes, waddling away from us like it was barely born.
“Isn’t it fascinating how something that looks so cute grows up to be massive…”
“Every living creature has its childhood, after all.”
What? Why is everyone looking at me?
“Johann probably looked terrifying even as a kid!”
“…I can’t deny that.”
Why are you all like this?
“I don’t want to say this, but calling you handsome right now feels a bit… off, doesn’t it?”
Renny scratched her cheek, avoiding my gaze.
“I’m still somewhat decent—”
“Uh… Uncle… um… sorry.”
“Johann, I don’t think that’s right.”
Why are you all like this?
“But to me, there’s no one better looking than Johann!”
Karina offered me a heartwarming compliment. Indeed, having a big heart makes someone kind, doesn’t it?
“Hehe, Johann! That’s why I like you! Looks don’t matter!”
Millia said this and tugged at her hair, planting a kiss on my cheek. The other wives also, looking a bit awkward, showed me some light affection.
Chuu?
“Oh, a newcomer to the mansion!”
“…As I said before, we can’t keep it.”
The mother bear behind us was looking at her baby with nervous eyes. Right now, the mother bear is probably conflicted about whether to bring her cub back or not.
I turned my back on purpose and said, “I’ll be heading east now.”
We should see the snakes instead of the bears. I took Millia’s hand, who looked a bit disappointed, and we set off.
——————
“Still, it seems a bit better as time passes.”
No matter how potent the poison, it can’t withstand the passage of time.
I looked around the neatly cleaned snake territory, checking if there might be a Hydra. At least they’re not visible to the naked eye, but judging from the shed skins, it seems like there are some baby snakes around.
Should I kill them in advance?
No, leaving them be might be better. We need something to eat the rapidly multiplying rabbits. Just bears alone won’t stop the explosion of rabbits.
“This place is a wilderness…”
“Well, it had been scorched once, so it’s no surprise.”
“Scorched?”
“What happened here?”
“To explain, it’s quite a long story…”
As I walked, I casually sprinkled a bit of seasoning on the tale of my fierce battle with Hydra three years ago. From luring zombies to terrorize the Hydra’s habitat, to the final showdown.
“That sounds incredible…”
“Renny had quite a tough time.”
She had just gotten out of bed some time ago, so she did have a rough go of it.
“Uncle, can we go see where the Hydra’s body is…?”
“Hmm… If you want to see it, let’s have a simple meal first.”
We turned and headed towards where the Hydra’s body was located. Since the body was quite far away, we sat in a suitable open space and laid out the food we had brought.
“Having a meal in such a beautiful spot feels like a stroll.”
“In a way, it’s pretty much a stroll. I’d like it if you enjoyed it since I chose this spot thoughtfully.”
“Well, as long as Johann’s here, anywhere is great…”
Saying this, Millia sat between my legs, looking up at me. Is she my wife or daughter?
Whether on purpose or not, Millia grinned and fed me a sandwich. Mmm, this tastes nice. It’s hard to mess up a sandwich.
“By the way, Uncle, you’ve been living in a place like this for 10 years…”
“You’ve really had it tough.”
“Ha ha, but because of those hardships, I think that’s how we were able to meet.”
Karina said with a bright smile as she took my hand. The soft and warm sensation felt ticklish against my palm.
Perhaps so.
Thinking back, if I hadn’t honed my survival abilities over those ten years, I might not have reached this conclusion.
In that sense, my deserted island life might not have been in vain.
“Thank you.”
“I’m grateful too. After all, Johann has saved me several times. Without you, I’d probably be…”
“Me too! I’m thankful too!”
“…Come to think of it, aren’t we all people who have been saved by Johann at least once here?”
…Hmm.
I looked at Sif, who was trying to turn her head away and avoiding eye contact. The cold sweat on her face suggested past events might be haunting her.
As I directed my gaze towards Sif, the other wives began to look at her as well.
“Hmm?”
“Why is Sif acting like that?”
“Come to think of it, we’ve never heard how Sif met Johann.”
As Karina initiated, the other wives gazed curiously at Sif. Sif desperately avoided their gaze, but it was no use.
Sif, her ears flapping in a frenzy, hesitated before speaking.
“Thief…”
“Excuse me?”
“While robbing… I got caught, and that was… the beginning.”
“…”
“It was an unnecessarily intense first meeting.”
“Johann, I don’t get it. How did you go from being a thief to being in a relationship?”
“W-well, I thought we were just like fellow dungeon explorers…”
“I just thought you looked useful and picked you up.”
Well, such things happen in life.
There are no eternal enemies, nor eternal allies.
Just like the Observer who is probably having a blast over at the Quartz family. I wonder if they’re complaining again after eating so much lately.
Next time I visit the Quartz family, I’ll take earplugs to block it out.
“Unexpected behind-the-scenes story hiding here.”
“You were on drugs, trying to kill me.”
“…That was beyond my control.”
“That’s another intense first meeting.”
Honestly, is there even a non-intense first meeting in this place? I turned to Elisa, who was sitting next to me.
“When we first met…”
“Ha, hawa wa wa!”
“What did Elisa say to get that reaction? Uncle, what did Elisa say?”
“A monster.”
“Oh.”
“I heard that from the side too!”
Elisa added with a proud tone. Thinking back, that was true. I had encountered that while eating with Millia in the cafeteria.
“Then what about Viola?”
“Ah…”
Viola seemed uncomfortable, letting out a moan and scratching her cheek.
“I… um. Technically, I first saw her when Elisa saved me, and the next time we met…”
“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to.”
Though it suddenly turned into a first meeting storytelling session, if someone doesn’t want to share, there’s no need to force it. Meeting Viola for the first time might stir up bad memories.
Perhaps aware of that, Viola began fiddling with her prosthetic arm again, which now barely distinguished from a human arm.
“Um, you cut off this arm, you know… I think that’s when I first saw you.”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry!”
“That’s unfortunate… I’m sorry.”
“No, no, don’t apologize. More importantly, Millia! I’m really curious about how I first met you!”
Viola shifted the spotlight to Millia. This is something I should talk about. I gently stroked Millia’s cheek and satisfied Viola’s curiosity.
“I dug you out from the dungeon wall.”
“Eh?”
“Believe it or not, it’s true.”
“Right! I was being watched when suddenly I was dug up and taken away!”
With Karina’s testimony added, the group looked at Millia in wonder.
“That’s an extremely intense first meeting… I feel like I lost somehow…”
“You don’t need to feel competitive over that.”
What’s so special about that?
I addressed my now chaotic wives.
“No matter how we first met, you’re all my precious wives now. So, maybe it’s better not to worry about the past and talk about the future. For example…”
I slowly stroked Millia’s tummy. Slightly more pronounced than when we first started our honeymoon. I imagined the form of the baby growing inside Millia’s belly and continued speaking.
“…Names we might give to our children.”
The past is the past.
The present is the present.
I smiled back at the smiles blooming on my wives’ lips.