Mob No. 55 [I see. Well, I’m hanging up now. I need to pick some eggplants from the garden for dinner, or Mom will scold me.]
It was good that I left the victory party for defeating the terrorists early and came home, but the reward hadn’t been paid yet.
I was a bit shocked, but I could understand.
It’s not that the Count was reluctant to pay. He’s probably quite busy with local security measures, preparing to restart the energy plant,
and coordinating with the military and government.
He’s not the type to ignore mercenaries’ rewards, so I should be patient and wait.
This might be a good chance to take it easy for 2-3 days.
I returned to my room in the afternoon, and the first thing to do was clean up.
There’s no trash, but dust accumulates, and I want to keep it tidy for my peace of mind.
After that, it’s time for shopping.
I need to buy dinner for tonight and breakfast for tomorrow, as well as water, soft drinks, coffee, and portable food to stock on the ship.
When shopping, I use the three-wheeled cart scooter available to apartment residents and head to the nearby market.
The local market, “Grumineck Store,” is a mid-sized chain store that offers typical services like droid delivery, producer information browsing, remote droid proxy shopping, and a cashier-less system using data money payments. It’s popular for its variety of side dishes.
But recently, I’ve been buying from that butcher shop in the black market shopping district.
It’s not that the food isn’t tasty.
I buy what I need at the store, sometimes trying new products out of curiosity or feeling disappointed when my favorites are out of stock. It’s quite fun and stimulating.
As I was about to leave the store after finishing my shopping, I saw a little boy entering the store, holding hands with his parents.
Seeing that, I suddenly remembered my own parents.
After graduating from high school and becoming a mercenary, I’ve contacted them many times and seen their faces through video calls, but I haven’t met them in person.
I’ve thought about visiting, but as someone who could only find work as a mercenary – a somewhat disreputable profession – I don’t know how the neighbors would gossip if I went back to my hometown.
So, I’ve limited myself to sending money home and occasional video calls.
“Maybe I’ll call them…”
I went to the market parking lot and made a call using my wrist-mounted terminal, List-Com.
This device can show images, so I can see the other person’s face.
[Hello. Uzoss speaking.]
The face that appeared on the screen was my dad, Jack Uzoss.
Unlike me, Dad is tall and lean.
I imagine he must have been popular among female employees when he was working at the company.
On the other hand, Mom, Stella Uzoss, is on the shorter side and gives a round impression, though she’s not fat.
In other words, she’s more like me.
“Hey, Dad. Is now a good time?”
[What’s up? This is unusual.]
Dad, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, looked as calm as ever.
When he was working at the company, he always looked tired and seemed possessed by something. When he was falsely accused, he even seemed lifeless.
However, after quitting the company and returning to his hometown on the planet Tabul – a place that’s moderately urban and rural – to start farming, he gained a calm demeanor as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
It’s probably because various entanglements and responsibilities were gone.
“Just checking in. I was wondering about the debt situation. I thought it should be nearly paid off by now?”
[Ah, yes. With what you sent last time, there’s only about 1 million credits left.]
“That’s good. I’ll have some income from a recent job soon, so let’s use that to pay it off completely.”
[We could manage that much with our earnings here. We just harvested the cabbage and got some income.]
“Even so, let me pay it. The sooner it’s paid off, the better, right?”
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[You’re right. Alright, I’ll leave it to you.]
The debt originated from a false accusation.
We never know when someone might make another false claim and increase the remaining amount.
To prevent such things, Dad’s allies at the company transferred the debt to a reputable bank that wouldn’t agree to such practices, so the possibility is low, but you never know what might happen.
That’s why it’s undoubtedly better to pay it off as soon as possible.
Understanding this, Dad quietly bowed his head and accepted my proposal.
“By the way, where’s Mom?”
[She went to karaoke with her friends after finishing her afternoon work. Something about karaoke diet. She took me once before, but… it was just tiring…]
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I tried changing the subject, and Dad told me about Mom’s recent aggressive activities with a resigned sigh.
If it was tiring, does that mean it was somewhat effective?
“Mom hasn’t changed, has she?”
[What about you? Couldn’t you at least get slimming treatment?]
As I was marveling at Mom’s diet escapades, Dad threw an unexpected question at me.
Slimming treatment involves taking weight loss medication to forcibly burn fat.
However, the resulting fever is quite high and lasts for about two days. Including the time needed for the stretched skin to contract after the fat is gone, it requires about a week of hospitalization.
The treatment cost is considerable but not unaffordable for ordinary people.
The problem is the need for hospitalization and the high possibility of nobles snatching reservations from common people.
There are even rumors of some places taking the money without providing the treatment.
“I’m not interested in that for now.”
That’s why I wasn’t interested.
[You take after your mother in that regard.]
“I wish I got my height from you, Dad.”
Dad is about 180cm tall, but I didn’t quite reach 170cm.
I really wish I had taken after Dad in that aspect.
[Are you doing well on your end?]
“Well, yeah. I try not to take on reckless jobs.”
[Once the debt is paid off, I’ll contact you. Come home for a visit. Don’t worry about what the neighbors might say.]
It seems he had realized that I wasn’t coming home because I was concerned about the neighbors’ opinions.
As expected, I can’t outsmart Dad.
“If my schedule allows.”
[I see. Well, I’m hanging up now. I need to pick some eggplants from the garden for dinner, or Mom will scold me.]
“I’m about to have dinner too, so I’ll say goodbye.”
With that, we both ended the call.
Phew. These calls are always nerve-wracking.
If I had made the call from my room, there would have been an awkward atmosphere lingering. It was the right decision to call from the market parking lot.
After returning to my room and eating the dinner I prepared, I received an unexpected video call from Gonzales.
Ironically, the situation is reversed from when I was about to leave for the terrorist subjugation mission.
[Hey. Looks like you made it back alive.]
“Yeah, I did. It’s rare for you to call. What’s up?”
He doesn’t look too serious, so it’s probably not bad news.
[Actually, I ran into Cruz today. We talked about meeting up tomorrow since we’re both free. I thought you might be back by now, so I called to check. What do you say?]
Come to think of it, tomorrow is a day off.
When you’re working as a mercenary, you tend to lose track of the days of the week.
“I just decided to take a break, so that works for me.”
[Alright, let’s meet at ‘Play Star House’ in front of the station at 10 AM tomorrow. I’ll let Cruz know.]
“Got it.”
While I’ve run into each of them or gone on jobs with them individually, it’s been a while since all three of us got together.
By the way, ‘Play Star House’ is the game center we’ve been frequenting since our student days.
It has a wide range of game cabinets, from analog lever and button types to brain-wave controlled ones and full-dive VR systems. The titles range from the latest to retro classics.
The place is spacious with a bright atmosphere, and they even have tough-looking staff acting as bouncers, so thankfully there aren’t any troublemakers around.
“By the way, how did that meeting you mentioned before go?”
Remembering the content of the phone call when I tried to get information before leaving, I casually asked.
[Oh man, let me tell you~ It was full of sexual harassment~]
It seems he was quite beaten down by the experience and started venting his frustrations.
Since he always helps me out, I guess I can listen to his complaints for a change.
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