I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Hero Who Paved the Way for Her Cousin’s Flowers – Episode 069
This evening, Dein had insisted on going shopping because he was in an excellent mood after learning the Turog Kyungong.
[To the high-end shopping district, no less!]
[Since it’s evening, the lights are on—it looks even more impressive.]
Leo, Jake, and Milo, who had just left work, were all dressed in their finest clothes and couldn’t tear their eyes away from the magnificent high-end shopping district.
“Wow! Everything’s so shiny!”
“Ahhh! It’s amazing!”
“Wow!”
Though they’d felt nervous about the atmosphere when they first entered the shopping district, they couldn’t contain their amazement.
“Uncle, look! There are jewels here too! They’re so pretty!”
Walking along the well-kept promenade, Alex and the children explored the high-end shopping district.
“That jeweler has been run by the same family for three generations, so it’s very popular. People come from other territories just to shop there.”
“Really?”
With Dein as their knowledgeable guide, they were able to enjoy the high-end shopping district all the more.
“This dessert shop—the owner’s ancestor was a royal pastry chef who made desserts for the king himself. So you can imagine how good it is.”
[Ooh! The royal family! Desserts!]
“The king’s desserts? Wow!”
“That’s incredible!”
Watching the children press their faces against the glass, Alex made a mental note to pick up a few pastries on the way back.
After browsing the shopping district for a while, when hunger started to set in, Dein, who had been leading the way, pointed to a rather spacious restaurant ahead.
“The place I want to recommend is there.”
“That one over there?”
“Sniff sniff! It smells delicious!”
The children’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the restaurant Dein had pointed out. They looked ready to run straight in.
[A real foodie spot!!]
That’s how it was in the other world too.
“Let’s go in.”
“Okay!”
“Yes!”
As they were about to enter the restaurant, the children seemed a bit tense, unlike the excited energy they’d shown moments before.
Unlike the bustling shops in the marketplace, this place was quiet, and soft music drifted through it.
Still, Leo, who had been to a noble’s mansion before, looked somewhat less nervous.
[Isn’t the cliché that commoners get thrown out of places like this?]
Alex too had witnessed such scenes a few times in the “future.”
But because Dein had recommended this restaurant, the waiter’s face was filled with nothing but kindness as he greeted them.
“Welcome!”
The waiter guided Alex’s group to an empty table and handed them a menu.
“Uncle, I can’t read any of this!”
Of course, the children who couldn’t read the script couldn’t decipher it at all.
Even Ibek and Alex, who could read, stared at the menu with confused expressions.
[What exactly is this ‘Dance of the Fairy Greeting Autumn’?]
Who knew?
Since Alex didn’t know what the dish was either, he couldn’t explain it.
Everyone’s gaze naturally turned to Dein, who had recommended the place. He chuckled and placed the order.
“Wow!”
While they waited for the food to arrive, the children looked around the restaurant.
Nobles and knights, merchants and commoners dressed respectably—a diverse crowd dining together, while musicians with instruments played from one corner.
“Uncle, what’s that instrument?”
“That’s a violin. You draw the bow across the strings like that to make it sound. Next to it is a cello, and the big one over there is a piano.”
“I see!”
[So this world has similar instruments to ours!]
Leo, Jake, and Milo listened to the performance with fascinated expressions.
Though the music was gentler than the boisterous street musicians in the marketplace, the sound was somehow richer and more full-bodied.
Above them, the ceiling was brightly lit by magic lamps.
“It’s so bright even though it’s evening.”
“They’re magic lamps!”
Leo explained the magic lamps that Arden Caldis had taught him to Jake.
“Magic lamps!”
Jake and Milo, seeing magical tools for the first time, tilted their heads up with interest to look at the magic lamps, but squinted at the brightness.
At their reaction, Leo, Alex, and Dein smiled quietly.
“Your food is here!”
In the meantime.
The dishes arrived, and the table overflowed with them.
[Autumn harvest ingredients… what was it called again? Anyway, these are dishes made with seasonal autumn fare.]
[Looks good, though.]
Just as Ibek had said, the menu featured dishes prepared with autumn’s bounty. The plating was beautiful, the aroma inviting—and the children swallowed hard without realizing it.
“Enjoy your meal, everyone.”
Dein, who was treating them to dinner that evening, smiled broadly as he spoke.
“Thank you for the meal!”
“Thank you for the meal!”
True to form, Alex took the first bite. Dein, familiar with Alex’s ways, helped him sample the other dishes too.
“This is delicious, Uncle!”
“It’s wonderful!”
[Wow. The High-end Shopping District really is different.]
[The ingredients are so varied, and the dishes have a personal philosophy behind them—you can taste it!]
The flavors and textures were certainly more refined than at any ordinary establishment. Yet everything was balanced perfectly, hitting just the right note.
[If the High-end Shopping District is this good, the Count’s table must be even more extraordinary.]
[Hm. That time I had a brief taste at the estate—aside from the poison, it wasn’t half bad.]
Watching Leo eat contentedly, his round cheeks flushed, Alex found himself a little envious.
[Maybe I should ask them to pack some of the Count’s cooking as thanks?]
That didn’t seem like a bad idea at all.
When it came to Leo, Alex had no room for embarrassment.
[4.3 stars!]
[That was delicious!]
After leaving, their bellies satisfied, the carriage they’d called earlier was waiting outside.
[So they have ride services here too—not taxis, but ride carriages.]
Alex heard Ibek laugh.
Alex smiled watching Leo, animated and chattering away with Jake and Milo about how delicious tonight’s dinner had been.
On the way home, they stopped by a dessert shop and ordered a few things to take with them.
“Driver.”
Just as they were leaving the High-end Shopping District, about to drop Jake and Milo off first.
Someone knocked on the carriage door.
“What is it?”
Dein asked, puzzled, glancing at his attendant.
“A young lord has come to the shop.”
“A young lord?”
Klaus Brodell?
Both Dein and Alex exchanged puzzled looks.
“Yes. He’s brought an invitation.”
Alex and Dein’s eyes met.
It seemed Klaus was inviting them to dinner as thanks for their help earlier.
[Perfect!]
[The Count’s cooking! Let’s go!]
[If the High-end Shopping District restaurant was this good, how amazing will the Count’s kitchen be!]
“All right. I’ll head over right away.”
Dein nodded. Alex planned to go along as well.
“I’ll be back in a bit, Leo. You stay here and play with Jake and Milo. Jake, Milo—I’m counting on you for now.”
“Got it!”
“Yes, sir!”
Having left Leo in Jake’s care, Alex headed with Dein toward Dein’s tavern.
[It’s quiet.]
As Ibek had noted, the tavern that would normally be raucous from outside the door was unusually calm today.
“We won’t be getting any business tonight.”
“It’s fine. The young lord compensated us generously.”
One of the guild members chuckled, delighted at being paid without any work to do.
As they stepped inside, Alex spotted Klaus Brodell seated at one of the tables.
Whether from the trouble of last night—or rather, early this morning—he looked worn, his face drawn.
“Klaus. What brings you here?” Dein asked formally.
“Ah, Dein. I’ve been waiting for you. And you’ve come too, Alex.”
Klaus Brodell rose to his feet, welcoming them both.
He then turned to Alex with an apologetic expression.
“I must first offer my sincerest apologies. As you learned yesterday, the person who poisoned the meal during our last dinner was… my younger brother, Domeric.”
[So the poisoning case isn’t finished after all.]
Alex and Ibek already knew the culprit, and Domeric Brodell had confessed everything himself in the underground chamber yesterday, but the Brodell Count Family had never officially mentioned it until now.
“I am truly sorry.”
Klaus Brodell, the young lord, bowed his head in apology. A brief wave of surprise and silence rippled through the tavern. It was fortunate there were no ordinary patrons present.
“It’s all right. The perpetrator is already dead.”
Alex was not one to harbor resentment toward the innocent.
“Thank you for your understanding. I will certainly provide compensation. And this—an invitation.”
“An invitation?”
Klaus Brodell extended an invitation bearing the Brodell family crest to Alex and Dein.
“Yes. My grandfather wishes to invite you both and the others who came that day to a banquet. Of course, Leo may come as well.”
Klaus Brodell quickly added this last part.
“Of course, if you would prefer to decline, you are free to do so. This time, there will be nothing like what happened before.”
Everyone understood perfectly well what “nothing like what happened before” meant.
“The scheduled date is in two days, but if that doesn’t suit your schedule, we can change it.”
[He came in person to apologize and deliver the invitation.]
[He’s even willing to reschedule entirely at our convenience?]
It was clear how much they wanted him to attend.
[Let’s go!]
[This time there’s no one who’ll poison the food.]
[And we can feed Leo something delicious, and maybe we’ll even get a chance to climb the tower.]
Alex agreed as well.
He recalled how Leo had looked disappointed on the way back that day.
“Thank you for the invitation.”
“We’ll be happy to attend.”
With Alex and Dein’s acceptance, Klaus Brodell let out a relieved sigh.
“Thank goodness. The food this time will be far more delicious than before.”
Klaus Brodell lowered his voice and spoke to Alex alone.
“The book and the underground chamber—I reported them to the temple this morning as you instructed. It looks like the report will depart for the capital early tomorrow morning.”
[That’s fast.]
[Don’t we need to leave quickly?]
So he’d decided to depart in three days.
He’d have to tell Leo today. They needed to say a proper farewell to Jake and Milo, to Dein, to everyone.
After receiving the invitation and leaving Dein’s tavern, Alex picked up Leo from Jake’s house and they returned together to the Blue Forest Inn.
“Uncle, so we’re going to the Count’s mansion again?”
“That’s right. We’ll eat all the dishes you missed last time.”
“Yay!”
[Hooray!]
Alex smiled at Leo’s joy, then his expression grew slightly apologetic as he continued.
“And the day after that, in three days’ time, we’ll be leaving Brodell Lordship.”
“Oh…”
Images of Jake and Milo and Dein flashed through Leo’s mind. His face fell at once.
[Wouldn’t it be better to tell him later?]
No. It was better to know in advance than to learn on the day itself.
“…Okay!”
Leo nodded his head.
Goodbyes were painful, but he understood they were inevitable. Instead, he resolved to play all the harder during the remaining time.
“Then can I go to Jake’s house tomorrow and the day after? And visit Dein’s shop too!”
“Of course.”
Alex nodded with a smile, and Leo broke into a wide grin.
The next day.
True to his word, Alex and Leo went to Jake’s house first thing in the morning.
“The day after tomorrow… you’re leaving?”
At the news that they would soon be departing Brodell Lordship, Jake and Milo’s eyes grew misty with regret.
“That’s why we should have lots of fun, Jake!”
“Yeah! Let’s do it!”
Jake’s entrance to elementary school was only a few days away anyway, so the timing worked out.
“The day after tomorrow—what time will you be leaving?”
“It looks like we’ll depart before lunch.”
“I see.”
At Alex’s words, Milo nodded. It seemed he was planning to head out to work.
After Milo left for his shift, Dein arrived in his place. He’d come to learn more of the Turog Kyungong.
“Wait, you’re leaving the day after tomorrow?”
He’d known they’d be departing soon, but he hadn’t realized it would be in just a few days.
“I haven’t even finished mastering the Kyungong yet.”
So that morning, Alex taught Dein intensively.
Of course, Alex himself had only read the Secret Manual in the “Future” and seen the “Hero Party” practicing there, so there wasn’t much he could teach.
“I’ll give you the organized Secret Manual before we leave tomorrow. The rest you’ll have to learn on your own by studying it.”
“Alright. Got it.”
Dein nodded. That was more than enough.
“Where are you going after lunch, Uncle?”
“To the Mercenary Guild.”
[The Mercenary Guild he visited on the second day and never returned to!]
[Are you even a mercenary?]
At Ibek’s giggling, Alex couldn’t help but laugh as well.
For a mercenary like Alex, the Mercenary Guild was practically his workplace, yet he’d only stopped by once—and even then, just briefly.
“Are you going on a job?”
Leo, who had once taken on an herb-gathering commission with Alex in Caldis territory, perked up with interest.
“Yeah. To rank up, I need to complete plenty of commissions, not just have the skill.”
“Really? Can I help too?”
“Of course you can.”
He’d never intended to leave him behind anyway.
“Jake, do you want to come along?”
“Yes, I do! Oh, just a moment.”
At the mention of going to the Mercenary Guild, Jake quickly gathered some snacks.
They were for the receptionist who had let Jake inside from outside the Mercenary Guild building and even provided him with a blanket and warm water.
Of course, as soon as he’d had a chance, he’d gone with Milo to express his thanks.
After lunch, Alex, Leo, and Jake headed toward the Mercenary Guild.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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