Chapter 52

While taking a warm bath, I was chilled to the bone by a truly plausible scary story, but anyway, after getting out of the bath, I was eating delicious tonkatsu!

The golden-brown batter was crispy, and the more I chewed, the more the meat juice spread across my tongue. The meat, with just the right amount of fat, melted in my mouth. When I put the steaming white rice in my mouth as a side dish, oh, it was irresistible!!

"Delicious! Delicious!"

"Chew your food well. Eating too fast is not good for your body."

"Mmm, mmm!"

"The sun doesn't set on the road at night, so take your time eating."

"Delicious, delicious."

"Eat your vegetables too... Are you listening? Hey."

Yes, Mom. I'm listening, so please stop making that scary face.

I was so hungry that I couldn't help but eat quickly. Meat, meat, meat! But as you said, it's of course better to eat vegetables too. Cabbage is delicious.

'Well, I was a bit worried that I might have scared you too much, but it seems you're doing fine, Liebchen.'

Lieb's usual voice, but with a hint of relief, echoed in my head.

This guy was worried about me too, I guess. If he hadn't cared, he wouldn't have given me that warning in the first place.

It's so touching that I almost cried, really.

Anyway, the fact that I'm the only one who can use the Administrator's skill.

I was confused and terrified by the dark and scary imagination it sparked. But then I realized that I just needed to keep that to myself, and I immediately relaxed.

Because, isn't that right? Whether talking about the Administrator, Operator, System, or Lieb, no one would know that my skill was originally prepared for the Administrator unless I said so.

It would be better if Lieb, not me, conveyed the necessary minimum information in a way that felt like divine revelation. I don't need to be on the front stage at all. When the time comes, Lieb can make a grand entrance and take the spotlight all alone.

'You're the perfect scapegoat... But don't worry, I'll take care of it. It's absolutely unacceptable for someone like you to be manipulated by human whims, both from the System's and Lieb's perspectives, and on a global scale. The System is even ready to issue divine judgment or divine punishment, or whatever it takes.'

No, that's scary! Too scary, System!

I was taken aback by the unexpected divine wrath-like statement in my head, and my chopsticks stopped. Thinking I had choked, Yuzuko poured me a glass of tea.

I drank it to cover up, and it was cold and delicious...

"Eating too much and choking is so lame, bro."

"Ouch."

I wanted to say, "No, it's not like that!" but I accepted it. Damn Lieb, trapping me like that.

'Okay, okay. Anyway, please enjoy exploring the dungeon without any worries, Koutarou! Hahaha!'

With that, the voice in my head disappeared. So, how old are you?!

While complaining, I continued to eat my dinner.

With Lieb gone, I focused on my meal for a while.

"Itadakimasu!"

"Please, enjoy your meal."

I finished my meal, feeling quite full.

The tonkatsu, which was quite a lot, was all gone. Of course, not only I but also Mom, Dad, and Yuzuko had been eating heartily. We're all big eaters.

Well, let's relax in the living room for a while. Our family style is to spend 30 minutes together after dinner, then help with the cleanup and brush our teeth before returning to our rooms.

"This comedian, I see him a lot lately."

"Really? Is he funny?"

"Eh, average? I haven't seen him do any skits or stand-up. I just see him as a reporter on variety shows."

"See..."

Such meaningless conversation continued.

Not all conversations need to be meaningful or damaging.

Thinking that even casual conversation can be good, I asked Yuzuko about something that had been bothering me.

"Yuzuko, do you have any worries or anything?"

"Eh, why?"

"Well, the other day, when you said you were going to introduce Kana, or rather, Mr. Goudou, you seemed a bit off."

The family doesn't know about Kana yet, so I have to be careful.

At my words, Yuzuko's eyes widened, and she looked down. She closed her eyes as if deep in thought, then opened them determinedly and looked at me.

"Bro, you see, I have a friend who's an explorer."

The words that came out of my sister's mouth were unexpected.

At the time of posting this story,

it has ranked 1st in the Low Fantasy daily, weekly, and monthly rankings, 8th in the quarterly ranking,

8th in the overall daily ranking, 2nd in the weekly ranking, and 21st in the monthly ranking.

Thank you very much.

I would appreciate it if you could continue to bookmark and rate the story.