WE WENT TO HALKARA’S HOMETOWN
One day, after dinner, Halkara was very seriously reading some documents at the dining table.
That was the face of a manager. She usually seemed clumsy and messy, but she was still the president of Halkara Pharmaceuticals.
If she were just a lowly employee, I would have been concerned to see her bringing home work, but a company president would inevitably find herself troubled over big problems from time to time, so I let it slide.
Death from overwork typically happened among the people being exploited, but in my observation, stress levels were completely different for the people giving out work or doing the work because they liked it (basically, management).
People doing the work because they liked it had less stress, so they had fewer risks. But of course, it wasn’t good if they lost sleep over it and that had a negative impact on their health.
It looked like she was working hard, so I made her some tea in the kitchen and brought it to her.
“Here, some herbal tea. You’re really concentrating, aren’t you?”
“Oh, thank you, Madam Teacher. This work is part of a big project, so I thought I might give it a think at home~”
When I gave her the tea, Halkara’s expression returned to her regular carefree one.
“What kind of project?”
“Our current factory is on a very good trajectory, so I thought that it might be about time to start building a second or a third factory elsewhere.”
“I see. That’s a big deal.”
Making a factory required tons of money, and the bigger the scale, the bigger the risk. This factory sending them into the red would be no joke. It required caution.
“I’ve received invitations to build a new factory from a number of towns already. That is why I’ve gathered all these documents and started to look into it.”
Even in a different world, this stuff was still the same.
If a factory from a rich company opened in a town, then more townspeople would be hired, which meant more tax revenue. It was nothing but good things, so any town would come offering their land to build on.
“There are so many, so I am now screening the documents. I’m taking out any with problems in their terms.”
“This is almost like an idol audition…”
“For example, there is no good highway passing near this town, so that will be too much in terms of transport costs. That town doesn’t have the right water quality. Nutri-Spirits and others require relatively hard water, but this is soft water.”
Wow… Her work mode is incredible…
Honestly, Halkara right now was way more of an adult than me, who just keeled over from overwork as a corporate slave. That was why I didn’t have much to say.
“Well, if it comes down to it, I’ll decide by doing what the forest spirits tell me.”
“What a sloppy way to decide! Should you really leave it to fate like that?!” I was sure the towns giving offers would be shocked to hear that.
“Well, these are sort of like their résumés, no? That means they’ve only written good things about themselves and have left out their weak points. I can’t say that wherever I choose won’t end up having some grave problems.”
“I guess you mean you can’t get rid of the element of luck in the end. You can’t exactly build factories in thirty different places at the same time and then select from there, huh?”
If this were more like Japanese convenience stores, then she could build them everywhere and cut the ones that didn’t get business, but she couldn’t do that with factories.
“Of course, I intend to do some inspection, but even after all that screening, half of the remaining will still be a trial of luck.”
“I get what you’re trying to say, but things won’t turn out so great if you rely on luck, Halkara…”
I could already see a few crises happening, so I didn’t have any peace of mind at all.
“Hey! I have good luck, don’t I?! My factory would have gone bankrupt in a year if I didn’t!”
“Well…I think you’re a skilled manager. But I don’t think you have great luck…”
I was actually more surprised that she herself wasn’t aware of it yet. In a way, she had to be a very positive person to think she had good luck after going through so many awful things.
Then I guess that was a good thing. I had a feeling that part of the key to being a successful person was being positive, or so I read in a life-hack article in my past life. But maybe she should still be a little more attentive…
“It seems you still don’t believe me, Madam Teacher. In that case, I will prove to you that I have good luck!”
“How?”
Was there some tool that could measure luck?
“I will close my eyes and choose one of these offers! If it has good terms, then I win, and if it has bad terms, then you win!”
“Why is this turning into a competition?!”
“The pupil must one day surpass the master!”
“But I don’t really feel like I’m the master here… You were a professional even before you met me…”
“Then I will go and inspect the place on the document. I am certain it will be so wonderful that I will be able to make up my mind on the spot!”
“You can just do what you like with that, Halkara…”
“Here we go! I wonder what I’ll get, I wonder what I’ll get~”
Why’s she singing? For some reason, I imagined someone rolling dice in my mind.
Halkara closed her eyes and started rustling through the documents.
There was a hard thunk.
Halkara’s hand had collided with the cup of herbal tea I poured for her, spilling steaming hot liquid across her skin.
“Ahhhhhhh, that’s h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-hot! Was this a trap?!”
“See, bad luck! This means you definitely have it! You don’t have to prove anything to me!”
She made up her own rules, then went and burned her hand… Geez…
“No, that does not count! I wonder what I’ll get, I wonder what I’ll get~ And! Here we go!” Halkara picked out one of the documents. “Now, let’s see what sort of wonderful town this is. And its name is—”
Halkara checked the name.
“Ack…,” she murmured quietly.
I didn’t know what town it was, but the moment she made that noise, I won.
“It’s the Wellbranch Marquessate in the province of Hrant… A small elf state within kingdom territory… And where I was born…”
“Oh yeah, you’re from Hrant, aren’t you?”
That word marquessate was kind of old, but it basically meant that it was a territory ruled by a noble lord.
“And…the very town I was born in, of all things…” Halkara’s expression was darker than usual.
I was just about to say that it might be nice to go home and show off, but Halkara’s situation was a little complicated for that.
“Right, you were wandering around after getting kicked out of Hrant, and that’s why you came here, right?”
Halkara nodded. “Yes. Though it was a misunderstanding, I was forced to leave when the people of my home believed Miss Beelzebub was after my life… When I thought about the risks of the town and country retaliating against me, I had no choice. But it wasn’t fun for me.”
Yeah…
Halkara’s hometown immediately chose to make her a scapegoat once they concluded that the great demon Beelzebub hated her. They could have told Beelzebub that they wouldn’t hand her over until they got any proof or that they would handle the case themselves, but they didn’t even try to keep her safe.
If they had, then they would have learned that Beelzebub didn’t hate Halkara at all, and then Halkara wouldn’t have had to wander.
Maybe it was an ironic plan to help guard against demon attacks. But I could also tell that they still didn’t trust Halkara, because she stayed at the house in the highlands even after the problem was solved.
“This document is directly from the elven elder, the Marquess of Wellbranch himself… Well, he sure has some nerve to send me an offer to build a new factory in his town. He wrote, ‘I jumped to conclusions before. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’”
It sounded like he was handling things like an adult and actually apologizing.
“‘The past is water under the bridge—why don’t you build a factory again in your old home? Employees who once worked for you are still here, and I believe we will be more efficient than other towns.’ I have some thoughts about this, but he’s not entirely wrong…”
If people with experience were already there, then that was a good thing for management.
“‘Even if you don’t come to build a factory,’ he says, ‘why don’t you take a long-awaited visit to your home?’ Uggggghhhhh.” Halkara gave a long, long sigh.
And then she was silent.
What it said in the letter was private, so I couldn’t say anything careless. I didn’t feel like I had the right to butt in, since I didn’t have a hometown in this world.
“Well, I suppose I could take a visit home.”
Halkara looked refreshed as her regular relaxed smile spread across her face.
“And I said I’d go inspect the place I chose, didn’t I? I will keep my promises.”
“Sure. This is all your decision, so I won’t say anything.”
“Also, I would love if we all went back to my home together—what do you think? You all could treat it as a little vacation.”
This wouldn’t be your typical fun trip home to her, so if going with the entire family would ease her nerves, then it was perfect.
My daughters would probably just be happy to travel.
“Yeah! Let’s all go to Hrant!” I said.
“Thank you! I will include something to that effect in my reply!”
Afterward, I told the rest of the family what was going on, and nobody protested.
The only concern would be Sandra the mandragora. I didn’t think Sandra would like elf lands since there were lots of herbalists there, but—
“I need someone around to water me, so I’ll go.”
She decided to come along, pretending not to care all the while.
“Hey, you can move, so you can definitely get water—mgh!”
Flatorte was just about to come out with a sound argument, so I covered her mouth.
Sandra would never outright say she wanted to go, but that was her personality, and that was okay. I accepted her as she was.
We all rode on dragon-form Laika and Flatorte and headed to the Hrant Province.
I was on Laika. Falfa and Shalsha were behind me.
“The Hrant Province is called the Province of Trees. Most of the land is forested, and eighty percent of the population are elves. The elf territory is called the Wellbranch Marquessate,” Shalsha explained while we were in flight.
“By the way, how is an elf town different from a human one?”
“Some elves have stone or brick houses, but most are made of wood.”
I mean, they lived in the forest. Anyone building a home there would make it out of wood, elf or no.
“They share some similar eating habits with humans, but elves do have unique local cuisine. It is rather advanced, however, so I’ve heard that only professional chefs are able to make it nowadays.”
“Thanks, Shalsha. I think I’ve got the picture.”
“And in traditional elf abodes, you remove your shoes before going inside. They say this is because it’s easy to get shoes dirty in the woods.”
That sounded pretty Japanese to me.
“Shalsha, there are easy spots for me to land, right?” dragon-Laika asked. “If the forest goes on forever and ever, I won’t be able to land. Please check for me if you have a map on you.”
Dragons were like airplanes, so she needed something like a runway.
“You’re weak, Laika. I, the great Flatorte, can land anywhere, even in the forest. A long time ago, we blue dragons used to compete with each other to see who could land in the most dangerous places!”
“No games of chicken, okay?!” Your passengers would die! Think of Halkara and Sandra!
“It’s fine, Mistress. I’m doing my best to fly safely. I haven’t had anything to drink.”
Well, good. I’m fine with that—
Flatorte pulled in front of Laika.
“Heh-heh! I, the great Flatorte, am faster than you, Laika!”
“No racing! I don’t wanna cause an accident!”
I think if Flatorte had been born human in Japan, she would’ve been a street racer…
And as for the landing, Shalsha was flipping through the map.
“Once Hrant Province comes into view, there will be a river to the west with a flat plain nearby. There is a town close to that area that sends out carriages to the elf towns. There is also a carriage terminal there, apparently.”
“Understood! Thank you!”
We knew exactly where we were going now.
“Ah, so we are landing at the human village that serves as the entrance to the elf ones,” said Halkara. “From the terminal there, please take Marquessate Transport Bureau carriage number 206 going counterclockwise. We will then arrive at my hometown, Higashaman.”
“Two hundred and six? Are there really that many carriages going out…?”
That’s a lot of carriage lines…
“The carriages in the two hundreds are part of a loop system. The ones in the one hundreds are the express routes, and regular services are one- or two-digit numbers. And so there are only about nine lines each in the one hundreds and two hundreds. But still, including the regular ones, there are about eighty lines in total. Elves typically get around by carriage.”
This was like a bus system… I think the image I had of elf life was way different than this…
“Also, in addition to the Marquessate Transport Bureau carriages, there are also carriages belonging to different companies like Hrant Transport and Forest Carriages. You can tell by the color of the carriage—Hrant Transport is brown, Forest Carriages are red, and Marquessate Transport Bureau is green.”
“I don’t think anyone will understand me, but…these are literally just buses.” The more I heard, the carriages going into the elf towns sounded more and more like public transport!
“Also, while they’re typically different colors based on company, there have been more and more ads covering them lately, so it’s hard to tell who they belong to unless you see the inside. Sometimes we can’t tell them apart unless you’re really looking.”
Yep. Buses.
“Well, it’s not unusual to see carriages running in routes like this in human lands as well. The area around the house in the highlands is just too quiet~”
I couldn’t say for sure whether that was true or not, but if someone told me that we didn’t have much of a bus system because we were way out in the boonies, I’d think they were right.
We landed in the flatlands of Hrant Province near the human town mostly when we said we would.
We went to the carriage terminal, and just like Halkara explained, there was a huge line of carriages there.
And these weren’t tiny carts for just a few people to ride. They were the same size as buses, with a similar capacity. You might be wondering how a horse could pull such a thing because you, like me, mistakenly believed carriages could only be pulled by horses—but an entirely different creature was pulling these things.
“Ooh, Shalsha, what kind of animal is that?”
“That’s a behemoth, Big Sis. The elves have completely domesticated them. Their strength is fifteen to thirty times that of a horse.”
I listened in on my daughters talking and learned what the beasts were. There were a lot of customs around the world.
“Route 206 counterclockwise will be at stop number five. If we wait by this pole, it’ll be here in due time.”
Just as Halkara said that, a carriage that had 206 NORTH TERMINAL VIA WEST AVENUE passed stop number five and parked at a different stop.
“Hey, Halkara! It went over there! Isn’t that it?!”
“No, Miss Flatorte. That’s the clockwise route. It would technically get us there, but it would take an incredibly long time. We must take the counterclockwise route.”
“Dang, this sure is complicated… This is way different from Nascúte…” Rosalie floated there with an uneasy look.
“Our Nanterre sure is pastoral, isn’t it…? There are so many people here, too…” I said people, so you might be thinking humans, but there were more elves than humans.
The buildings were mostly crammed together, which really made it feel like a city. There were all sorts of business signs plastered on the buildings near the carriage terminal, all vying for attention. Maybe that was because this was more of a human town than an elf one?
“Oh, the carriage is here. We get on this and then get off at Higashaman. We pay when we get off, so please get on first. We’re close enough that we only need to pay the base fare, so it’ll be two hundred gold.”
I couldn’t see them as anything but buses at this point…
We crammed into the 206 carriage, and I felt like I was going to have a flashback to rush hour as a corporate slave…
We were on the carriage for about thirty minutes before we arrived at the Higashaman Community Center stop.
I had seen them from the carriage window on the way here, too, but there were lines of wooden houses that looked like boxes. They looked just like prefab houses.
“I thought elves would have a more relaxed and liberal kind of lifestyle, but they’re pretty fussy, huh…”
This was finally starting to remind me of the Tokyo commuter towns from my corporate-slave era.
They weren’t living quietly in the forest at all. The trees were just street trees, growing orderly in a straight line, and the center of the road was completely flat so the carriages could run more smoothly.
“My, the population gets denser and more crowded every year~ We elves live such a long time, you see~ And so our population just keeps growing and growing—it’s terrible.”
“Guess long-lived races have their own problems…”
“Oh, I’ve heard that elves have a much harder time having children than humans, you know? If not, then the world would just be full of elves. And yet there’s more and more of us every year. Populated areas are nice because there are so many shops, so everyone ends up in the city.”
That was the exact problem Tokyo had…
“Well, first, why don’t we go say hello to my parents? Just take it easy.”
Halkara’s parents… I honestly couldn’t imagine what they’d be like.
After a three-minute walk, we arrived at Halkara’s house.
There was an elf girl hanging up laundry to dry out front. She was young; I wondered if she was Halkara’s sister.
“Mother, I’m home~”
What?! That’s her mom?!
The young mother put her hand to her mouth with happy shock. “Oh, Halkara! You’re home! And you’ve brought your friends with you…”
We each introduced ourselves in turn.
“Oh, please come in! I am so sorry the house is so small… I will bring out drinks and snacks right away!”
Just like I heard before we got here, we took off our shoes before entering the house, and we were brought to a living room–type area.
There was a low, wooden table sitting in the room.
“Oh, so you sit right on the floor here.”
“Elves have always done this, Madam Teacher,” Halkara said, stretching out on the floor. “See, you can sleep like this whenever you like. Isn’t that convenient?”
This was definitely made for Halkara…
After that, her mom brought in the tea and snacks, and the conversation turned straight into a mother-daughter chat.
“This girl is always such a mess, you see; she even forgot to send in her school application and almost failed before she even took the exam.”
“Gosh, Mother, stop telling that story!”
It honestly felt like…I’d just come to a friend’s house in Japan…
After that, Halkara’s mom told us about all of Halkara’s horror stories in a way only a mother could.
“You see, we could never get Halkara to stop wetting the bed—”
“Hey! Why are you bringing that up?!”
“Hmm, I believe it wasn’t until she was thirty-five that she finally stopped.”
For a moment, I thought about how she should have seen a doctor if she was still doing that as a middle-aged woman, but thirty-five was still very much a child to an elf… This stuff would definitely cause confusion…
While we were talking, my eyes just happened to travel to Halkara’s mom’s chest.
It was bigger than Halkara’s—she couldn’t be someone’s wife.
It’s genetic! She got it from her mom!
“I wonder what other funny stories I have. Oh, what about how you were late for your first day of school?”
“Mother, everyone is here, so please tell them good stories about me. Why does it feel like I’m losing out when I’m the one at home?!”
Halkara was complaining, too, but she seemed fairly relaxed and in good spirits. She had never said she was fighting with her family, so maybe her grudge was only with the government.
And as an ex-Japanese person, I was incredibly grateful for the feeling of sitting on the floor with my legs folded.
This certainly did calm me down. Man, I wanted more of this. Maybe I should build a room in the house in the highlands where there were no shoes allowed and we sat directly on the floor.
“Do any of you have any complaints for Halkara? You can take this opportunity to tell her.”
Halkara’s mom was a rascal, and I could absolutely see how she had a daughter like Halkara. She didn’t seem strict at all, at least.
“Mother, don’t make me a target!”
“Miss Halkara always takes good care of us,” said Laika, ever the class act. She would never stray from her usual MO in a situation like this.
“But I sometimes wish you’d cook food with a lot of meat in it.” Flatorte was being greedy.
“Miss Halkara is funny~!”
“Miss Halkara is funny.”
My daughters’ evaluation was also honest. And they weren’t wrong.
“Ooh…I’m not sure if I should be happy…or sad about that…”
Halkara had caught the implication that the girls didn’t respect her, at least not completely.
“But, Halkara, it’s way better than someone telling you that you’re boring,” Rosalie offered.
“You might be right, Miss Rosalie…”
“Life is short, so better make it fun.”
“Er, an elf’s life isn’t all that short, though…”
Their versions of common sense were at odds…
And so, conversation with Halkara’s mom proceeded amicably the whole time, and the sun started to set.
“Mother, shouldn’t you start getting dinner ready soon…?”
“Oh, you’re right! I’m sorry!”
Yeah, she was definitely related to Halkara. I could see where the daughter got her carelessness…
“Everyone, please have dinner here! The house is rather small, so it might be a little cramped when you get to sleep.”
“We already have rooms at an inn, so it’s all right. I’m very sorry for showing up so suddenly,” I said, as the head of the house.
Halkara had already told me her house wasn’t very big. It wasn’t super small, but it was about the same size as a regular Japanese family’s house.
Just one person might be okay, but with a big group like us imposing, there would be all sorts of problems, like not enough beds and not enough blankets.
“Oh, I forgot to buy vegetables! I need to go to the market now!”
“Sheesh, you’ve forgotten everything! You’re such a mess!” Even Halkara was calling her mom a mess!
Her mother rushed out of the house in a big flurry.
“I’m sorry you had to see that… That’s what my family is generally like.”
Her own mistakes aside, Halkara had shrunk in on herself, embarrassed by her parent’s blunders.
“It’s fine. She’s a good mom. She’s so generous.”
“My family is a mess, too, so I don’t mind,” offered Flatorte.
No, Flatorte, your mess of a family was on a different level…
Five minutes later, Halkara’s mom returned.
Wow, that was pretty fast. Maybe she’s a speedy shopper?
“I noticed I forgot my wallet, so I came back!”
Classic!
I finally got it—she was just Halkara with an extra shot of Halkara-ness…
“Now I’m finally ready—oh wait, my point card for the market isn’t in here. Today is double stamp day, I can’t leave it behind. Now, where was it?”
“Mother, please pull yourself together! We have guests waiting; the point card doesn’t matter! You’re an adult; please act like one!” Halkara was starting to seem like the mature one here.
This was new… Halkara’s mom was a force to be reckoned with…
“Collecting points little by little is nothing to sneeze at. Life isn’t easy for us, so I started making lunch for your father, too. His company did some ‘restructuring,’ so he had to look for a new job where his salary was lower. Things have been rough…”
“Gosh! Stop talking about our family problems!”
“Your brother is working part-time, so his income isn’t that remarkable… Your sister works full-time at a salon, but she doesn’t make very much. She’s always moving from one store to another and never settles down…”
“Please stop! This is getting uncomfortably real!”
I was only listening, but this was getting draining even for me…
I thought Halkara was rich because she was running a factory, but her family was barely scraping by…
After her mom went out shopping for real, Halkara looked at all of us with a cloudy expression. “I can’t hide it anymore, so let me just tell you that all my family members are generally much more disorganized than I am…”
That was just plain rough…
“Please try to picture my situation objectively: People who are more of a mess and more haphazard than I am are around you all the time. Imagine the stress…”
It was truly a shameful thing to announce, and for her, it seemed to be something very serious.
“And since I’m the most responsible, I always get caught up in their messes! I couldn’t tell you how many times my brother would forget his lunch and make me bring it to him! And they would always put off paying resident tax until right before the deadline, so I sometimes had to do it for them. Don’t you think the parents should do that?”
“You sure have had your hands full…” Sandra nodded, her arms folded. “I always thought elves were nasty creatures for doing whatever they wanted with grass, but I sympathize with you.”
“I appreciate your sympathy.”
That’s what she’s thankful for…?
“I should still have savings from when I had my factory here, but I made it so that the money can’t easily be withdrawn. You never know what mess this family will make if you just give them money. They’re not terrible people, so I don’t think they would use it in a bad way, but they would buy completely useless things.”
I could see it so easily.
“For example, a pot for putting snakes in, even though there are no snakes around. Or pots that will bring happiness to the family.”
There were fortune-telling frauds in this world, too…which was puzzling, since magic actually existed here.
“Halkara, I understand now how you grew up to be someone who could run a factory.” After visiting the house she grew up in, I had seen her roots. “You’re the rock that holds this house together. That’s why you could be a manager.”
“That’s exactly right. You’re so sharp, Madam Teacher!”
Halkara hugged me. Hold on, hold on, I don’t think this is important enough for a hug, but I don’t exactly mind…
“When I was a little girl, I thought, If I’m not the one to keep everyone together, then this whole family will fall apart! My father would get fired from work now and again because of all his mistakes, and my elder brother has been surviving his whole life off part-time work! Nobody can pull it together!”
Guess every household has its own issues.
“Anyway, everyone is so spacey. And since our entire family is like that, no one tries to fix it! Someone just apologizes after making a mistake, and everyone else just lets it go! They’re all too easy on one another!”
I patted Halkara on the back. “You’ve had your hands full.”
“I am the same as them, though.”
That, I would agree with.
“I believe everyone will be coming home soon, and that’s when you’ll really see what I mean. Please be ready.”
An hour later, Halkara’s older brother came home before her mother did. He also looked rather young. He was on the handsome side, but he seemed generally nonchalant. Like he never really thought deeply about life.
“Hey, Halkara, you’re back.”
“What job are you working now, Brother? You were working at a carriage terminal before, right?”
“Yeah, but I got fired. I ended up giving wrong directions to customers a lot, and they got mad at me. Then I had a job handing out advertisements around town, but my numbers were lower than everyone else, and I’d always talk to cute chicks whenever I saw one, so. Fired.”
As he talked, Laika stared at Halkara’s brother like he was an unbelievable idiot. He was definitely her least favorite kind of guy…
“I’ve got a part-time gig at a café. But the manager doesn’t trust me—I think he hates me, actually. Wonder when my time’s up.”
“Erm, don’t you think it’s about time you got a real job? Hasn’t your girlfriend been telling you to get steady work?”
“We broke up. Technically, she dumped me. She said she liked how chill I seemed but not how I didn’t actually take anything seriously. She said that I needed to make my own living, even if I was cute.”
That was tough reasoning.
Is this really a fantasy world…? Are we sure this isn’t just twenty-first-century Tokyo…?
Afterward, the mother came home and started cooking.
The next one to come home was Halkara’s dad. He also looked a little young to have a family. Just seeing them all together made it clear how long elves really lived.
“Ah, Halkara. Man, I hate how my boss keeps criticizing me.”
“Don’t tell me he’s using his status to harass you? That does happen; some managers can be strict on mid-career hires.”
“Nah, I just got all the numbers wrong in the books, and it caused a big problem with another company.”
He has no room for excuses!
Halkara’s dad put mistakes in his accounts with the same gusto that Halkara put poison mushrooms in her cooking.
“I don’t think I’ll be getting any bonuses at this rate. Uggghhhh, what a pain. Ha-ha-ha!”
Was that something to laugh about?
It seemed Halkara’s little sister was running late, so we ate dinner with the four of them, including Halkara.
We were eating hot pot, by the way—the basic kind where we just put in a bunch of vegetables in a boiling soup. The flavor was incredibly close to Japanese style.
“Azusa, was it?” said Halkara’s brother. “My little sister’s smart, but she doesn’t do her checks, so you should be careful when you eat mushrooms with her or whatever. She sometimes puts in poisonous ones.”
He knew exactly what her weak spots were. They were family!
“Actually, I have had a few terrible experiences with poison mushrooms so far…”
“I knew it. We almost all died once because of poison mushrooms. ’Member, Dad?”
“Yeah, we were all fighting over the toilet back then. Ha-ha-ha!”
“We didn’t even think about eating mushrooms for three years after that. Heh-heh,” Halkara’s mom added.
Her parents were just treating it like a funny little anecdote, but I wondered if they knew how serious that was.
Still, even though they were a mess of a family, I could sense that everyone was having fun. Just watching them sit around the hot pot like this warmed my heart, which was perhaps a little strange.
There were plenty of families who were successful economically and socially but who were emotionally distant from one another. Compared to a family like that, maybe this household was the happier one.
The problem is that not only is happiness vague and undefined, but the more you think about it, the less meaning it has. That’s the most I knew.
But Falfa and Shalsha were delightedly pecking at their food, and everyone else in my family seemed to be included in the circle somehow.
They were full of problems, but they were tightly knit, and I thought about how Halkara had come from such a happy family.
Despite all her shortcomings, she was a generous person, which was proof enough she came from a happy home.
“Oh, I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick.” I was drinking more alcohol than I anticipated, probably thanks to the hot pot, so I stumbled a bit when I stood up.
On my way back, Halkara’s mom was standing in the hallway. I guess she was waiting to use the bathroom.
“The toilet’s free now,” I told her.
“Azusa, thank you so much for watching over my daughter for such a long time.”
That came out of nowhere.
Halkara’s mom graciously bowed her head. Wait, was she really more earnest than she seemed…?
I immediately sobered up.
“I’m sure you might be aware of this already, but she can be truly scatterbrained, so I know she must be causing you and the rest of your family so much trouble. And yet you’ve warmly accepted her, and as her mother, I can give you nothing but my thanks.”
“Oh, of course. We are having fun with her, too. There’s no need to be so humble.”
“I won’t keep you for very long, but would you mind if I had a little chat with you?”
When she asked, I had no choice but to accept.
We moved to the open veranda of an empty room and sat. Since the whole place was built for taking one’s shoes off, they had an indoor spot where you could see the garden. This was also sort of like a Japanese house.
“At first, she tried to work at various companies, but she was always late and made so many mistakes that she could never stay in one place for very long. Her grades in school were good, though. Back then I thought, Ahhh, she really is my child.”
“Yeah, her personality probably wouldn’t be landing her many jobs…”
She was the kind to constantly make tiny mistake after tiny mistake, after all… Worst comes to worst, she would never be able to enter society.
“And then, one day, she said she would start her own company. It was quite a risk for a member of this family, so I told her not to do it. For us, starting a business would just be creating debt.”
“This might be a little rude, but…I understand.”
Halkara’s mom laughed. If the company failed, not only would she lose her savings, she would also be in debt… It was a gamble.
“She wouldn’t back down. She argued that she was sure she could do it if she was managing others rather than being managed. That was the first time I saw her be so stubborn.” Halkara’s mother smiled as she gazed up at the moon, like it all happened just yesterday.
“Halkara must have wanted to help her family in her own way. She has never spoken badly about you while she’s been at my house,” I said.
“I see,” she acknowledged quietly. “She had a knack for business. I don’t know how she pulled it off, but she had the skill set a manager needed and made quite a bit of money. But she couldn’t stay here because of the incident, so she went into hiding—and that’s how she ended up with you.”
“Yes, we’re having a wonderful time with her in our family.”
“I have nothing but thanks for you. Please keep taking good care of her.”
Halkara’s mom was such a good person. I could feel the corners of my eyes growing hot. Tears were beginning to form.
Oh no. If I went back with red eyes, they’d think something was up…
“I think I’m going to sit here enjoying the breeze for a bit. It sobers me up,” I said, embracing the night air in this elven town.
I had to create a family that was just as great as Halkara’s. The most important thing was to make sure that everyone was happy.
I was alone for about ten minutes before I went back to the hot pot room. It was almost time to wrap things up.
But the room was awfully noisy.
“Blech…I drank too much… I cannot move…”
Halkara was stumbling around, and she looked really pale!
“Miss Halkara, here—let us at least go to the washroom.”
“I can’t, Miss Laika. Moving me would be the most dangerous thing right now… I can hear my stomach begging me…”
“Sheesh, don’t black out in front of the guests… I’ll bring a bucket or som’n. Oh, I stood up too fast, and now I’m all dizzy…”
Halkara’s brother’s face blanched immediately!
“Hey, I’m not gonna let you start throwing up in front of others—but I feel like I might…”
Halkara’s dad put his hand over his mouth!
“Laika! Just bring everyone out to the yard! We can’t just leave them here like this!”
“Understood, Lady Azusa!”
The story had taken a strange turn, and now we were the ones taking care of Halkara’s family as they all passed out from alcohol one after the other.
Yet another unsurprising incident with Halkara’s family…
Halkara’s mom, the only one not totally smashed, apologized to me again.
“Just look at them… I am so, so sorry… They never learn…”
“Oh, no, I mean—at least things are interesting…?” I wasn’t very confident in my reassurance.
Even if the family was happy, they could stand to be a little more put together…
Then a girl that looked like Halkara’s little sister came home.
She had a baby face, but her chest was massive. She probably got a lot of attention at school…
“Ooh…I went out drinking with my friends, but I drank too much and now I feel terrible… I’m seeing three of everyone…”
She was drunk, too!
“Lady Azusa, we should do something about all of them… We can’t leave them here like this…”
“You’re right, Laika…”
Afterward, we waited until Halkara’s family sobered up, and we ended up getting to our inn a whole lot later than we expected.
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