One Day, I Picked Up a Mom - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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One Day I Picked Up a Mother – Episode 2

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Inside the carriage heading home.

Iban ate the bread the woman had allowed him while deep in thought.

Why on earth does she want to go to my house?

Is she planning to go home, grab my mom and dad, tell them what I did wrong today, and then give me some kind of lecture?

Glance.

This rich fool apparently had plenty of time on her hands too.

Of course, even if we went home, there was no mom or dad there.

A small house that could only be reached by following the narrowest alley in the pleasure district located in the most secluded part of the village.

When she sees that, the woman will make that pained expression again.

If I tell her I’ve been starving alone in this house for a very long time because I have no mom or dad, would I look pitiful enough?

Since she was the type of woman to readily hand over 90 lokes out of sympathy, if I played my cards right, I wouldn’t have to worry about starving for a while.

The woman, who had been frowning as if lost in thought, turned her head as if sensing his gaze.

“Eat slowly, Iban.”

She said while wiping the cream from his lips.

Iban nodded as if he understood, but eating slowly as she requested was nearly impossible.

The bread the gruff man had given him wasn’t like the old, hard rye bread Iban had tried to steal.

To think such soft and sweet bread existed in this world.

“Would you like some milk?”

Iban, who had greedily stuffed the sweet bread into his mouth, nodded.

The woman then wiped Iban’s hands with the handkerchief she was holding and handed him a bottle of milk.

Iban gulped down the milk while once again glancing sideways at the woman.

Glance.

What on earth did this woman say to make that pig give me bread and even apologize to me?

“Would you like one more?”

When their eyes met, the woman asked while slightly lifting the bread bag.

“Thank you.”

When Iban smiled shyly and nodded, another delicious piece of bread was soon placed in his hand.

This seemed to be the last one, as the woman folded the bread bag flat.

Iban was about to bite into the bread but hesitated for a moment.

“Here, please have this.”

After brief consideration, Iban held out the bread in his hand toward the woman.

“You haven’t eaten any.”

“But Iban, if you give this to me, won’t you be hungry?”

The woman hesitated before taking the bread and asked quietly.

“I’m fine. Please go ahead and eat it.”

Being greedy over just one piece of bread would only make him look bad without any benefit.

Adults usually preferred to give something extra to good children rather than cunning ones.

“Alright. Thank you.”

The woman smiled slightly and expressed her gratitude to him.

Technically speaking, all this bread belonged to the woman anyway.

She really was a strange woman.

Iban was quite skilled at reading people, but this time he had various doubts.

What exactly had she said to the gruff man? Why did she want to go to his house?

The woman took a bite of the bread filled with filling.

As Iban glanced sideways at the woman who kept her mouth tightly closed while chewing the bread, various questions continued in his mind.

However, the curiosity that ultimately occupied his thoughts was this:

How much money would this woman, who had given 90 lokes even to an ugly and nasty gruff man, give to someone as good and pitiful as himself?

Iban quietly calculated.

After traveling for a long time, the carriage that had left the main road eventually entered a bumpy dirt path.

“Are you tired?”

Iban’s head swayed weakly along with the shaking carriage. Noticing this, the woman gently held the child’s shoulder and asked softly.

“Would you like to sleep a little?”

His eyelids were already beyond Iban’s control, trying to close on their own.

He really wanted to close his eyes right now. It had already been three days since he’d had proper sleep.

But if he slept here, he definitely wouldn’t wake up in time.

Iban shook his head and pinched the back of his hand hard.

“No, I need to stay alert so I can get off at Marke.”

“…I’ll wake you when we arrive at Marke.”

Before Iban could say anything more, the woman laid the child down on her lap.

This was possible because the carriage seat had become a bit more spacious after people had gotten off during the long journey.

However, when Iban found himself lying with his head on the woman’s lap, his eyes became wide awake instead—even more so than when he had pinched his hand.

What’s this?

Iban glanced up at the woman who was combing through his hair with her hand.

It was strange. Why was she being so affectionate when they had just met today?

Why wasn’t she asking him anything?

The woman hadn’t asked a single question about what his parents did or why he had been alone at the capital’s market.

Looking at her eyes that had sunk deep with worry, Iban cut off the chain of questions and forced his eyes closed.

As his breathing gradually changed under the continuous tickling touch.

The child opened his eyes again because of a quietly whispered resolve.

“Iban, mommy will try to do well.”

Startled by the incomprehensible words, Iban opened his eyes.

But he had no choice but to close his eyes again under the stroking hand that seemed to tell him not to worry and just sleep.

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When Iban, who had walked for four hours from Marke, arrived at his house, it was deep dawn when even the drunk people had all returned home.

His beaten body screamed in pain, and his eyes, which hadn’t opened properly due to his restless sleep, now truly closed on their own.

“Here it is. My house.”

Iban climbed the stairs and spoke carelessly while turning the doorknob several times to open the locked door.

As expected, the house was exactly as it had been when he left.

The trash scattered on the floor, the rotten stench, the dark and chilly house.

Mom still wasn’t there.

Mom hadn’t come. It seemed she would be away from home for even longer this time.

She must have caught herself a decent man.

“…”

Iban started to turn around to look at the woman standing behind him but stopped.

Though he knew in his head that he needed to get money from her somehow, everything felt bothersome for some reason.

He was tired and irritated, feeling as if every hair on his head was standing on end.

If she was going to leave, she should just go.

Iban familiarly navigated through the darkness and entered the chilly house, lying down.

He had hidden in a cargo wagon to go to the capital saying he would find his mother, but in the end, he was alone again.

Mom…

She was beyond his reach.

* * *

Was this the karma for putting off job hunting and clinging to web novels?

That thing that starts with “it was an unfamiliar ceiling” happened to me too.

The only difference was that the unfamiliar thing wasn’t a ceiling but a street.

To make me possess someone on the street without giving me a single piece of information. If I hadn’t met Iban, I would have become homeless.

Fine. Let’s say not knowing the original work of this world is due to my lack of ability.

The unkind timing of the possession was somehow resolved too, so let’s just let that slide.

But there was still plenty to complain about.

Passing by houses crammed together on both sides of the narrow alley, climbing stairs that looked ready to collapse at any moment, our house finally came into view.

Well, I hadn’t expected to be some princess or member of a great noble family, but still, to think I’d end up as a lower-class resident of the slums.

Remembering that there was even a child I had to take responsibility for made the future seem even more daunting.

“Ah, really…”

Even knowing it wouldn’t change anything, I looked around the palm-sized Small House once more.

The floor was covered in trash with nowhere to step, the interior filled with a foul stench I’d never smelled before in my life.

Despite the unbearably disgusting environment, the small child seemed unfazed as he pushed aside the garbage and lay down.

I caught sight of the child’s small, thin back as he lay curled up.

It was obvious how the child had been living all this time, how the child’s mother had treated him.

The child had surely grown up neglected in this Dirty House, never receiving proper attention even once.

That’s why he was so cautious with every word and cowered when dealing with his mother.

“…Right.”

There was still plenty to lament about, but I decided to stop.

Watching Iban, who had lived his entire life in this wretched place through no choice of his own, it felt like the right thing to do.

Most importantly, continuing to whine wouldn’t change anything anyway.

First, I needed to figure out where this place I had possessed was, and if it was inside a novel, what the content was!

Only then could I know what would happen here in the future, and what we should do about it.

…At the very least, I didn’t want Iban to see me as the same person as the Woman from before my possession.

Deliberately pushing away the now-faded memory of that Woman’s face, I steeled my resolve once again.

Looking at the child’s small back, I patted my thigh and stood up from my spot.

My whole body ached from walking non-stop until we got home, but I took a deep breath and rolled up my sleeves.

“Slowly. Let’s try one thing at a time.”

If I wanted to get along well with Iban, I had to clean up this trash first.

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