episode_0441

“And how many days of vacation do you have left?”

“Yes, I have some days left.”

“It seems like you’re planning to train during the remaining period, but how about spending time with your father instead?”

“With my father?”

The reason for suddenly drinking alcohol that he didn’t drink before was probably due to the disability that occurred in his body.

But that alone couldn’t be the only reason.

Numerous factors combined to bring on depression.

Gabriel seems to think that once he regains the use of his legs, his depression will disappear immediately, but in reality, it’s not that simple.

“Would your father enjoy that? I’ve never tried something like that before…”

“Not trying something just because you’ve never done it before is not a good choice. Have the courage to try it. It will surely help your father with his illness.”

“Isn’t fixing my legs the solution?”

“How long has your father been retired?”

“About 3 years.”

“He probably didn’t drink alcohol from the beginning, and even if he recovered from the injury, can he suddenly stop drinking alcohol that he has been consuming every day for at least 2 years?”

“Um…”

Gabriel’s pupils shake.

It hasn’t been long since he discovered his respected father’s weak side, so it must not have been pleasant for him to assert that his father wouldn’t be able to do it.

His father probably wants to say that he is different from such weak people.

“Of course, he has willpower and determination, so he will eventually be able to quit.”

“Yes, I believe so.”

Gabriel agrees and nods vigorously.

“But admitting that you can’t quit alcohol immediately is also important, right?”

“…Yes, it’s not easy.”

It’s normal for people to not be able to do it. It’s something that requires consistent effort. That’s why you are needed.

“I don’t understand how I can be helpful if he thinks I am. Your father can do it even without me…”

He’s someone who has already collapsed once.

You shouldn’t expect him to return to his former strong self.

“Your father needs to acknowledge that he can also be weak.”

“!!”

“He probably seemed as solid as a mountain. He might have been expecting that he wouldn’t collapse. But don’t you have a goal too? Do you want to become strong like your father, stand by his side, or support him? That kind of goal.”

“Yes, I do.”

“It would be nice to see your father healthy again, but it would also be a good feeling for you to protect him. Moreover, you don’t have to do anything extraordinary.”

Gabriel asked, finding it hard to believe.

“Is protecting him an easy task?”

“Well, you just have to create good memories with your father. If he’s your father, just your presence alone should be enough to give him the willpower.”

Would any father just succumb to depression and weakness in such a situation?

“As you train hard without being lazy because you want to emulate your father, you will want to show him that you can stand up again.”

“I hope it turns out that way.”

To solve Gabriel’s original personal scenario, there needed to be more trial and error than there is now.

He was so stubborn that it wasn’t easy to get him to seek treatment.

The depression was more serious than he thought, making it difficult to fully recover.

“Moreover, reaching the limits of gameplay in the game made it impossible to find a flexible solution like now. It’s a scenario that’s as sharp as a razor, especially for my stubborn father. Looking back now, it was a scenario that was impossible to solve.”

But he solved this high-difficulty personal scenario too easily.

Fran’s abilities are so overwhelmingly deceptive that they collapse the balance.

“The production team deliberately made it difficult, and now that it’s been solved in one go…”

If Gabriel’s personal scenario had been easy, he would have become a scam champion.

Isn’t Gabriel the one with evenly high stats?

That’s why it was difficult to design a way to raise the maximum stats.

The character’s maximum stats were set so high that it was difficult to reach them through personal scenarios.

※ ※ ※

Yul said he would pay attention to Princess Haehwa, but he didn’t have high expectations.

He didn’t know how much it would help.

But Yul did his best.

“Friend! Long time no see! I missed you, so I came.”

Princess Haehwa visited the general store with Yul in a lively manner.

It was hard to find a gloomy appearance as worrying as Yul had feared.

But Yul noticed that Princess Haehwa’s consideration was to not worry him and said, “If you said you would come often, why didn’t you come?”

“I’m sorry. I was busy. I studied hard.”

“If you studied hard, you did well. Yul, come in quickly.”

“What should I do if I visit when you’re busy?”

“It’s okay because I have staff.”

“There are a lot of customers at the general store!”

“That’s right. There are a lot of customers at the general store.”

Yul and Princess Haehwa seem amazed by the many customers at the general store.

In fact, the scene right now is amazing to me too.

The general store hasn’t changed, and only one person has been added, but the atmosphere of the store has changed.

After taking over the store, Nae-gi started to touch the inconspicuous places little by little.

‘Nae-gi’s meticulous care is mixed among the big things I made.’

I didn’t say anything special, but I wondered what the point was in doing that.

But that small detail turned out to be unexpectedly important.

Although I didn’t think about promoting the sale of goods, I brought a signboard from somewhere and placed it in various places.

And thanks to that signboard, the general store received the most customers on the day it opened.

“It seems like cleaning up the street made a big difference.”

“That’s right! It was nice to come here! It was sparkling!”

Princess Haehwa and Yul seem pleased that the general store business is going well.

“The atmosphere of the store seems to have brightened up, right?”

“Yes! It’s brighter.”

…Even though I didn’t change the lighting.

It seems like the previous store was a bit gloomy.

Moreover, with pretty staff smiling and guarding the place, it wasn’t strange to feel brighter.

“It seems to have improved, right?”

“Yes!”

“Totally!”

Customers started coming in, indicating that the store is changing for the better.

“Come up to the second floor.”

I took the kids upstairs.

“This place hasn’t changed.”

“This is my living space, so there’s no reason to change. Sit comfortably.”

I quickly started cooking.

“How are you so good at cooking, sponsor? To be this good at cooking, you must have been cooking for a long time.”

“I started when I first started my mercenary life.”

“Mercenary life?”

“I was a mercenary, friend.”

They both opened their eyes wide, curious about my mercenary life when I answered the question.

“Curious?”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“It’s not that impressive.”

My mercenary life was the most difficult time in my life.

In the future, rankings may change as I travel to purify contaminated areas, but so far, my mercenary days have been the toughest.

I talked about the things I experienced during my mercenary life while eating.

“Oh, that’s terrible.”

The stories I told Princess Haehwa and Yul were about the unfair things I experienced during my mercenary life.

They might have found it fascinating because nobles don’t know how difficult it is to live as commoners.

“How could that happen? We don’t experience such things even in the North!”

“It’s because of the large wealth gap.”

Princess Haehwa, who usually spoke with a slightly hesitant and distinctive rhythm, was now speaking rapidly and angrily.

Her fists were trembling in her hands, indicating just how angry Princess Haehwa was.

“So, what happened?”

“Isn’t it better for your mental health not to know? This isn’t a fairy tale. In reality, villains rarely get their comeuppance.”

“Ugh!! Can’t we go and seek revenge now?”

“Right. I’ll help you!”

“Revenge sounds tempting, but it’s not something I can do.”

In truth, I didn’t want to tell them the ending because I thought it would shock them.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s dead.”

“???”

“!!!”

The kids’ eyes widened at the mention of death.

It was unfortunate, but…

“Why are you so scared? Just so you know, I didn’t kill him.”

“Oh! Oops. Sorry.”

Yul quickly apologized, seeming to have misunderstood, while Princess Haehwa confidently stated that she hadn’t misunderstood.

“I didn’t misunderstand!”

“He died because he kept doing the same things to others that he did to me, and he ended up getting stabbed. I let it go, thinking it was karma, but others couldn’t let it go.”

I’m someone who doesn’t forget grudges easily.

So, when I tried to seek revenge later, I found out that he was already dead and no longer of this world.

“He’s dead….”

“Incredible….”

Suddenly, the two of them looked solemn at my words of death.

Although he did wrong, they seemed sorry now that he was dead.

“No, we won’t mourn for a bad person. It’s just that his actions came back to haunt him.”

“Right. Exploiting the vulnerable is the worst.”

“In the North, if you do such things, you’ll be tied to a tree for a week.”

“The welfare for commoners is definitely better in the North. The Empire should learn from that, but to do so, they would have to fundamentally change the country, which is difficult.”

Having experienced both the life of a commoner and a noble, I knew better than anyone the flaws in the Empire.

It must be a pity for them, but even I didn’t have the will to improve the lives of commoners yet.

Right now, my top priority is cleansing the contaminated zones.

Improving the lives of commoners will naturally change once the world stabilizes.

‘As long as the impact of an awakened individual on maintaining the world is significant, commoners cannot voice their opinions.’

Therefore, cleansing the contaminated zones was an essential task for the Empire to move towards a better future.