CHAPTER 49: SIBLINGS HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THEIR FATHER

 

　I have no idea where to start when it comes to finding my parents.

　I suppose I could hire a detective, but those are usually expensive.

　If we could defeat Rimdobmur with just a small increase in level, we wouldn’t need to look for our parents, but based on yesterday’s fight, it seems that we don’t have a high enough level yet.

“You’re making a phone call?” (Haru)

“Yeah, I mean, normally I’d call before I consider anything.” (Kei)

　The piece of sh*t father who disappeared after leaving a note is still our parent, for the time being. He left a phone number and an email address.

“Well, let’s give him a call.” (Kei)

　I picked up the house phone and pressed a number that I was familiar with but hadn’t dialed in a while.

　Ring, ring, ring, ring.

“It’s been a while. Who the hell knows my number? Who the hell are you?” (Voice)

“‘Who the hell are you?’ Hasn’t your personality changed too much? Old man.” (Kei)

　The person who answered the phone was my old man, who had the worst mouth I’d ever heard. No, he wasn’t this bad-talking before.

“You’re Touka? It’s been a while. How are you? Are you starving? I was expecting to hear from you that you don’t have any money, but you didn’t call me. I don’t have any money either. But this phone number is new. Did you buy a phone?” (Voice => Father)

“I moved to an abandoned warehouse because it seemed like it would be hard to pay for that expensive apartment. I bought a phone. We aren’t starving.” (Kei)

“Oh, that’s good. I was worried about you kids. Even though I left my details, you never tried to contact me. Did you find a part-time job?” (Father)

“I’ve been trying to keep in touch with you, but I thought I’d just stay out of your way. As for the part-time job, I faked it by using the seal my old man didn’t bring with him, and when I explained the situation, they understood.” (Kei)

“Oh, did I forget my seal? Besides, you started calling me father ‘old man’ before I knew it. What’s wrong did you graduate from using dad?” (Father)

　I was a little annoyed. I’ll punish him a little here.

　I beckoned Haru over and told her something.

“Old man, there seems something that Haru wants to say to you. Here.” (Kei)

“Oh, what’s that? Oh, what’s up, my sweet Haru~!” (Father)

　I handed the phone to Haru. I’ve already told her what I want her to say. Go on, Haru.

“Disgusting, Die, Trash.” (Haru)

“Gaha—!” (Father)

“Waa, ehem.” (Kei)

　Haru returned the phone to me and I thought to myself. Well, I was the one who asked her to say “disgusting”. However, I can’t let a girl say “die” or “trash”. It’s too late, and it’s not good for her education. The damage to my old man will be huge, but that’s okay.

“It’s good to hear Haru’s true feelings. I called you because I had to. Where are you?” (Kei)

“Good luck! Where am I? I can’t say that even if it’s Touka. I’m having a good time with my current wife.” (Father)

　Ah, If you think you’re poor because you were tricked by a woman, you’re not.

“I’ve been thinking about it, your wife. Is she going to be our stepmother? Does she know that you left us and went away from home? If you’re hiding it, it would be bad if she knew?” (Kei)

“Hmm? I know. I know. My wife was the one who suggested that I leave home in the first place. It was my own decision to leave with all the money, as expected. But I gave her the rights to the apartment and other things I couldn’t take with me, so that’s good. And now that I’m married, she’s your stepmother. I’m not going to let you see her, though. You’ll know where I am.” (Father)

“I want to say I feel sorry for the person who married my dad, but it sounds like she’s living a normal life. And you can’t tell me where she is.” (Kei)

“Well, give up. You can earn money by exploring dungeons. You’re thinking in that direction, right?” (Father)

“No, I’m not. No. Then I’ll look for her on my own. By the way, what’s your wife’s characteristics?” (Kei)

“Oh, you’re interested in your stepmother too? She’s cute. She’s a former single mother with a beautiful child who left home about a year ago to go to college and apparently becoming a freelancer. She had no time for her kid, so she started playing pachinko and horse racing. Now she’s stopped both, and we’re living together in a room without a TV with me.” (Father)

“Oh, that’s right. See you later.” (Kei)

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t go near your house. If Haru catches me, she’s going to kill me. See you around.” (Father)

　The phone goes dead with a click. It’s a shame, but it seems that the old bastard is enjoying his life. And as expected, he wouldn’t tell me where he was. Well, if he’s going to tell me, there’s no point in him leaving a note and disappearing.

　Still, I was surprised to hear that it was the wife who initiated the disappearance from the house. And,

“Haru, did you record it all?” (Kei)

“Perfect. I’ll analyze it.” (Haru)

　We had been recording the audio of the phone conversation from the beginning because we knew he wouldn’t tell us where he was. We thought it would help us to find out where he was.

　We couldn’t trace the call, and even if we did, we wouldn’t be able to use the advanced technology to extract our old man’s voice from it, so we just turned up the volume and listened to it over and over.

“Then Haru, play it for me.” (Kei)

“Roger!” (Haru)

　I don’t expect to be able to find anything with this, but I’ll at least get some information. When I was on the phone with him, he seemed to be outdoors.

“Hmm. It’s a little scary how much information is out there.” (Kei)

“I know we are being duped.” (Haru)

　The result. Although it was called analysis, it was easy to find out where he was. I’m not sure if my old man was really trying to hide it.

　In the audio we heard, there was the sound of metal scraping, the sound of a lot of people gathering around. But we didn’t hear any shouting, so it was unlikely to be a festival. It was still too early in the morning to have a festival.

　And the occasional voices of goblins and wolves. It was probably dungeon-related.

　Well, if that’s the case, I’ll have to go to the dungeon. Based on what I’ve heard so far, it’s probably not in Tokyo. So, I can only guess, thinking about where my father would want to go.

“Haru, do you want to go around the dungeons all over the country for the time being?” (Kei)

“Yeah. I don’t even want to see him, but for the sake of the passport, can we go through all of them in about a week?” (Haru)

“No, since it’s our first trip together, let’s take it slow, maybe one day for each dungeon.” (Kei)

“Yup. I’m looking forward to it.” (Haru)

　And so we began to plan our trip, forgetting about our afternoon dungeon exploration.