Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, married.
Wife: Suella Henderberg
Memoria Tris
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee)
Magic Aptitude: 9 (Quasi Demon Lord Class)
Position: Warrior
I waited for the telepathic call, hearing a sound reminiscent of a first-generation telephone in my head.
“Suella speaking.”
“Ah, Suella?”
It had only been a few seconds of waiting, but my mother’s intuition, which had already stepped into the realm of future prediction, was something I was avoiding. The time I spent waiting for Suella to answer, while not looking at her parents gathered before me, was probably short in reality, but it felt long.
“Jiro-san? I’m sorry, I’m busy right now. If it’s not urgent, I’ll call you back later.”
It seemed like there was some commotion on the other end of the telepathic call.
Unlike a mobile phone, telepathy doesn’t have static, but judging from Suella’s tone, she must have received a sudden job request. Her speech was a little fast.
Perhaps she was trying to make time for today’s discussion.
However, it would be bad to not inform her of the current situation, so I decided to briefly convey the main point.
“Ah, it’s not urgent, but Suella’s parents are here at Memoria’s store. I thought it would be bad not to tell Suella.”
Why?
There shouldn’t be any static on telepathic calls, but I thought I heard the sound of Suella bumping into something loudly on the other end.
“…Is my father here?”
“Ah, and someone claiming to be his grandfather? Suella? Suella?”
I was about to continue saying Suella’s mother was here too, but the telepathic call ended before I could.
It was an unusual way for Suella to end the call, as she always did so politely, no matter how busy she was.
So, even though I knew it was disconnected, I instinctively asked again as if it were a phone call, but of course, I was met with silence.
I wondered if she was that busy, but I couldn’t leave things as they were forever.
I also needed to face reality soon.
Shifting my gaze, I saw Smilasta, who had been waiting for me to finish my call, smiling broadly.
“Excuse me for keeping you waiting. Um, Smilasta-san?”
“No, no, I didn’t wait long. And please call me Mother-in-law or Mom.”
“Aah! That’s not fair!! I asked for that first!! Come on, son-in-law! Call me Mother-in-law!!”
“Mmuh.”
“Whoa!! We shouldn’t be fighting, my son!! That vampire is trying to claim the title of the first father-in-law! Hurry up!!”
“We’re not finished talking yet. I understand. I understand, so please don’t kick me!!”
Where had the quiet time from earlier gone?
While I thought it was difficult when it was quiet, this saintly multitasking was also quite challenging to handle.
With just one word from me, everyone except Memoria reacted.
Now, how should I resolve this?
If I simply changed the appellation, it would be over.
The problem was how to resolve the situation without causing friction.
If I addressed Memoria’s parents first, it might create ill feelings with Suella’s parents.
As I was agonizing over this, feigning a vague smile, I heard a commotion outside the store.
The inside of the store had been mixing various voices for a while, but it wasn’t exactly noisy.
Listening carefully, my enhanced body could pick up the sounds clearly.
As I focused a little of my attention, the sounds became clearer.
“Hey! Royce got hit!”
“He’s rammed his head into the wall… Medic! Meeeedic!!”
“This is bad, he’s having some weird convulsions!”
“Hey you demon! You take his right leg, I’ll take his left leg!”
Judging from the commotion nearing from beyond the accelerating noise, it seemed to be a traffic accident.
A traffic accident on the road of a fantasy underground facility?
From the conversation, I assumed a dragon had gone berserk. I decided to consider it as someone else’s problem, unrelated to me.
I probably thought this accelerating sound would just pass by the store.
However, this accelerating sound seemed to be related to me.
Instead of passing by, the sound stopped abruptly outside the store, and then…
“What are you doing?!”
“Fugo!?”
“Gofuh!?”
“Oh dear.”
Suella, dressed in a suit, entered like a flash and delivered a magnificent roundhouse kick.
Her beautiful legs unleashed a kick that swept horizontally across the back of the heads of two male Dark Elves. I was momentarily stunned.
Although she had held back on the power, she had put enough force into it to make them fall forward.
I heard a solid thud and concerned myself about the two men who were crouching and holding their pained heads.
“Um, are you alright?”
“Hahaha, we’re fine, son-in-law.”
“Mmuh, I’m impressed by my granddaughter’s roundhouse kick.”
“Also, nice to meet you. I am Jiro Tanaka.”
“Ah, Suella has told me about you. I am her father, Mait Henderberg, and this is…”
“Grandfather Muil Henderberg. Pleased to meet you, son-in-law!!”
No, I spoke because they didn’t look fine, but perhaps these two are surprisingly tough.
They stood up and offered their hands for a handshake as if nothing had happened. I wrung their hands, thinking they were sturdy and giving a wry smile.
Then, I looked next to them.
I might be witnessing something rare right now.
Suella, being lectured while sitting in seiza.
“Suella, your body is not yours alone right now, is it? Don’t engage in such strenuous exercise.”
“But…”
“No ‘buts’!! What if something happens! Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
There was nothing significant about the course of events.
Suella had probably rushed over to scold her family for acting without her knowledge.
If she were in her normal condition, it would have been fine, but she was pregnant.
That situation was the issue.
Dark Elves cherish their children.
As if embodying that statement, Smilasta, who had shed her previous gentle expression, had a fierce, almost demonic look on her face as she lectured Suella.
Her subsequent actions were swift.
Suella, after kicking the two men away, was about to assume a posture for receiving the lecture, but Smilasta moved, as if to stop her, and slipped behind Suella.
Though I could see her moving smoothly, her movements were like a snake preying on its target, and she silently slipped behind Suella. She gently, yet with more strength than it appeared, grabbed Suella’s shoulder to prevent her from escaping.
“Suella, sit in seiza right there.”
She uttered a chilling sentence.
It was probably a matter of conditioned response.
Suella, sensing she had angered someone she shouldn’t have, immediately sat on the floor in seiza at that one command, resulting in the current scene.
However, it might be a strange thought, but the sight of her being lectured somehow resembled the two men clutching their heads.
It was somewhat amusing, and the corners of my mouth twitched slightly.
I find myself often being shown familial bonds in peculiar ways.
“Now, now, Sumi-chan, I think the scolding is enough. Let’s hear what our son-in-law has to say first.”
“Oh my, I got carried away by my Dark Elf blood and was indiscreet. I apologize.”
The blood of Dark Elves is terrifying.
It was a scene sufficient to make me swear never to anger my mother-in-law. Fortunately, Suella had also come to this place, and somehow, a resolution seemed within reach.
Now, all that was left was to obtain permission for the marriage.
At this point, I decided to go through with it resolutely.
“Ngh!?”
Just as I thought that, my phone rang at the worst possible timing, crushing my resolve.
A single drop of cold sweat ran down my back, and my body reacted.
It wasn’t a bad premonition, but a sure one. Trembling, I looked at my phone screen.
“Mom.”
As expected, the call was from my mother.
I wondered why she was calling at this timing, but perhaps this timing was best for her.
I didn’t think her judgment was wrong, but I wished she had waited a little longer. I couldn’t ignore it and glanced at Suella and Memoria’s parents, gesturing for me to proceed.
“Excuse me for a moment… Hello?”
Taking advantage of the situation, I pressed the answer button.
“Oh! It connected, it connected. I thought you’d ignore me, could my intuition be fading?”
As I saw from the display, it was indeed my mother.
“Don’t worry, your intuition hasn’t faded, it’s sharper than ever. You’re calling at this exact moment. Knowing you, you’re probably going to say you’re coming here right away.”
“You know me so well! I was going to look for a hotel after our call, but I just felt like I needed to be there. You know, it was worth it to make Ichiro eat a bucket parfait to kill time!!”
“Dad.”
If my memory served me correctly, my father wasn’t that fond of sweets.
Yet, even though I had said I would introduce them later, my mother, following her intuition, had ordered something time-consuming to wait at the store.
However, it seemed she wasn’t the one eating it.
I was always impressed by her initiative, but hearing the details of her actions made me sympathize with my father.
And, knowing her, once she’s decided something like this, this mother won’t change her mind.
At this point, I had no choice but to resign myself.
“Haa, wait for thirty minutes. I’ll pick them up at the company entrance then.”
Thinking I might as well have them all gather, I let out a sigh and ended the call.
Now then.
Turning around, I felt everyone’s gaze in the store, which wasn’t small but not particularly large, focused on me.
“I apologize for the suddenness, but I need to go pick up my parents. Please excuse me.”
Thinking that I might have to prostrate myself before the supervisor, I suppressed a sigh.
Ah, Suella, and Memoria, you have time to put on makeup, so don’t rush and get ready.
I bowed to my girlfriend, who suddenly took out a compact mirror, and left Memoria’s store.
“Haa, you’ve certainly become quite the fine young man since I last saw you.”
“Is it my imagination, or did that sound like you’re implying I joined a strange company?”
“What, you know it, don’t you?”
“How many years have I been your son?”
Having gone to the supervisor with the resolve to risk my life, I somehow managed to get my parents into the company.
My mother, Tanaka Kirika, with her short, neat black hair at her shoulders and the same sharp eyes as mine, was patting my back and checking my musculature.
She was about a head shorter than me, but she had a presence that made her seem taller than she was.
She was the kind of woman I’d want to call “Ane-san.”
And she was amazing enough to pass through the company’s barrier without being given any magic tools.
If they measured her magic aptitude, I bet it would show an incredible number.
“And Ichiro, don’t wander off too far. this place seems a bit unusual.”
My mother’s eyes narrowed as she looked around, gripping my father by the collar, who seemed likely to wander off if she let go.
It was everyday life for me, but for my mother, the company grounds were an extraordinary sight.
A quick glance around, and my mother had a smile resembling a wry chuckle on her face.
“Jiro, you’re definitely my child. What’s with this company’s cheerful atmosphere?”
“You’d probably find it fun. I expected as much, and I’m relieved you’re consistent. Oh, hey Dad, that’s off-limits.”
“I know, but Jiro. This is a major discovery!! There really was another world! I can’t stop getting excited!! Hey, Jiro, can you let me take a picture, just a quick one?”
And, reluctantly, this white-haired, middle-aged man with glasses, his eyes sparkling like a child’s, is my father.
Tanaka Ichiro. He usually speaks in a rather weak tone, but when it comes to his field of interest, he becomes quite talkative.
His body is built to explore uncharted territories across the world regardless of danger.
His body is well-trained, with all unnecessary fat stripped away.
However, he is wearing a magic tool as a pass around his neck.
Judging from how the company’s barrier seemed to shift its recognition, my father seemed to have no magic aptitude.
“Denied. Calm down a bit, Dad.”
My mother was cautious, while my father, unable to hide his excitement at the passing Orc, was a different story.
I could honestly respect their adaptability, but I wished they would be a little quieter right now.
The gazes of my colleagues had been getting intense.
“Haa, this way.”
It wasn’t exactly walking on needles, but feeling uncomfortable, I led them both.
Naturally, guests who were not my relatives were not permitted entry into the underground facility.
We weren’t heading to the underground facility, but to the room where I had my interview.
It was a room for external use, so it was soundproof.
This would be convenient for today’s meeting.
I had contacted Suella and Memoria, and their relatives should be there too.
“So Jiro, what kind of girl is the one you’ve taken a liking to? Tell your mother about her.”
“Look forward to meeting her after you do.”
“What, is she someone you can’t talk about?”
“It’s not like that. It’s just that I want you to meet her without any prior information, Mom.”
“Hmm, you want me to judge her myself? You’re that confident, huh. It seems our son has found a very good girl.”
“Half right and half wrong. All I can say is that, as you can tell from the appearance of this company, my lover is not human.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll understand when you meet her. And Mom, I’m saying this again, don’t let go of Dad’s hand. If he wanders off and enters the wrong place, it won’t be funny.”
Although the distance was considerable from here, I wouldn’t be surprised if my father, with his tendency to get lost, ended up finding his way to a dungeon at this rate.
That would be quite troublesome, so I kept track of him with my senses.
“Mmm, I know. Come on, Ichiro, it’s this way, not that way.”
“Ah! My unknown world!!”
Throughout the journey, my mother teased me, but I lightly brushed it off.
After all, I was about to reveal that I was two-timing.
My mother probably suspects it, but I would keep the information hidden until the last possible moment.
Then, the short journey came to an end.
“This is it? There seem to be many presences. Is it a large family on the other side?”
“You’ll know when you enter.”
Finally, the meeting of the parents. My heart pounded intensely in my chest.
Slowly, I knocked on the door.
“Please come in.”
Hearing Suella’s voice, I slowly opened the door.
Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, married.
Wife: Suella Henderberg
Memoria Tris
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee)
Magic Aptitude: 9 (Quasi Demon Lord Class)
Position: Warrior
Today’s Word:
“When you’ve come this far, forge ahead!!”
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