Chapter Six #2
“I’ve never gotten to tell anyone the full story,” I said. “Is—is it alright if I tell you?”
“I’ll listen to anything you want to say,” Frolin answered.
“Then… I’ll tell you everything.”
Time flew by after that.
I ended up telling Frolin—and Ailsa since she overheard and saw the whole thing from the beginning—everything.
I told them about my childhood which I hadn’t even told Rosie about yet.
I told them about what happened to my spine.
I told them about the world originally just being a game and getting brought to it by Seth.
I was even honest and told them about how I always romanced their daughter in the game.
There wasn’t a single thing I kept secret from them, and the two of them earnestly listened to every last word, stopping to comfort me whenever they thought I needed it.
It was an experience unlike anything I ever felt before. But, thanks to it… I felt like I could really move on from the past and walk down the path of becoming a man I was proud of. Not just someone who knew how to build RPG classes, but someone who was a respectable person all around.
Eventually, after another hour, the front door opened up and I heard Rosie call out, “I’m home!
” Then she noticed me since the open kitchen was visible from the entrance.
“What—what’s he doing here?! And why is he dressed up so cutely?
!” She must have been referring to how I was wearing her mom’s apron with my hair tied back.
Frolin, who was standing by me to guide me step-by-step without ever taking his eyes away, turned to look at her and said, “Rosie… don’t you dare mistreat my son.”
“What happened while I was gone?! Did he steal my parents from me or something?!”
Even Ailsa walked up to Rosie and said, with an almost scary voice, “We’re disowning you if you break his heart.”
“Seriously, what happened while I was gone?!”
Frolin gave me a pat on my lower back, since that was all he could reach, and said, “Go on, son. Show her the result of all your effort.”
I took a deep breath, grabbed the plate of pasta I prepared, and turned to face Rosie with it.
It… didn’t look like anything special. It was nothing compared to the plating that Frolin did for his wife.
While his plate looked like something out of a premium restaurant, mine looked like something that was microwaved and sloppily tossed together despite how hard I tried to make it perfect.
But at least it wasn’t burnt.
“This is the first time I’ve ever cooked, so… I hope it’s not too bad,” I said, presenting the dish to Rosie.
I had no idea what I expected. Rosie wasn’t the kind of girl to turn down free food, but she was also raised by a clearly incredible chef. To go from his cooking to mine must have been—
“Ooh! My favorite!” Rosie shouted out, drool running from her lip down to her chin. She was quick to take the plate from me and sat down at the table, wasting no time diving straight into it. “It’s delicious!” Her voice was muffled from having a full mouth.
“Dear,” Ailsa said, “don’t speak with food in your mouth.”
Rosie was happy to nod and focus on eating rather than talking.
“It’s all thanks to your dad helping me out,” I said. “The first attempt is in the trash, aha…”
Frolin gave my back a smack before nodding toward the table, telling me to go take a seat. Ailsa made sure to pull the chair next to Rosie out so I’d be sitting next to her.
Rosie was already half done with her plate when Frolin brought a plate over to me. One that looked just as good as the one prepared for Ailsa. “Here, son,” he told me. “Eat up. You’ve earned it.”
“Thanks,” I told him. “For uh… everything.”
He gave me a nod before pulling a chair out for his wife, then the two of them sat down opposite of us.
I waited until everyone was seated and ready before taking a bite of the food Frolin made.
And as soon as the first bite of food reached my tongue, I had to do my best to hold back my feelings so that I didn’t end up crying again.
I had no idea that food could taste so… warm. And not warm in terms of temperature.
The food I ate at the hospital and nursing home was always so… sterile. Safe, simple, and bland. It was meant to be nutritious, not taste good. Eating that food had the same feeling as taking medicine.
For the first time I could remember, I tasted food, not medicine.
It was incredibly warming.
Still, no matter how much I tried to hold back, it must have been obvious. Frolin and Ailsa, even Rosie, shot silent glances at me every now and then to check on me as I ate. That was almost as embarrassing as them calling out the kind of expression I must have been wearing.
“That was delicious,” I said after finishing my plate to a spotless degree. “Thank you. Can I help with the dishes?”
Ailsa shook her head. “You two did all the cooking, so I’ll handle the cleaning.” I wanted to help despite that, but she shot me a look that told me not to dare try offering again. Then she smiled once she knew I understood.
“You probably don’t have a place to stay, huh?” Frolin asked me. “What with being from another world and all.”
Rosie looked shocked when she heard that. “You told them?!”
“Yeah,” I answered. “Is that a—”
“My dad is the worst person you could have told! Do you have any idea how many ideas that’s going to put in his stupid writer brain?! This guy is a fiend! He wants to turn everyone’s life into a novel!”
Frolin looked smugly proud of every word Rosie said.
“It wouldn’t be right to hide the truth from someone helping me so much,” I said.
“And uh… I don’t have anywhere to stay, but I think I’ve got enough money to afford a room for the night at a tavern.
And if I don’t, then I’ve got more than enough energy now to go back into the dungeon to earn some more! ”
“Absolutely not,” Frolin said. “We have a guest room you can use.”
“Then, let me pay—”
“No. What kind of host would I be if I made a guest pay for a room? As long as you don’t try sneaking into my daughter’s room without her consent—”
“Dad!” Rosie whined.
“—you can stay here for as long as you need.”
I knew there was no arguing back.
The Rosie from the game was an incredible woman worthy of respect for her kindness and how much she loved to help others.
Now, I could see where the real Rosie learned it from.
If her dad was anything like her, then he wouldn’t stop worrying about me until he knew I was safe and had somewhere to sleep, and I didn’t want to put him, Ailsa, nor Rosie through that.
“Thank you,” I said. For once, I wasn’t about to cry. Probably. “I’ll take you up on that, but I’m going to be selfish and demand that you let me pay you back someday.”
“A bit of selfishness every now and then is a good thing,” Frolin said. “But I’ll settle for paying me back by taking good care of my daughter.”
Rosie whined and grabbed onto her dad to shake him around, prompting both him and I to laugh.
Poor Rosie. Her dad was shipping her with me even harder than I was shipping her with me.
But, despite just how kind and eager to help she was, she was also the kind of girl who knew how to put her foot down and say no when it mattered. I had full confidence in her to shut me down and reject me if she wanted to.
“Let me show you to the guest room,” Frolin said. “Or rather, your room for the near future.”
“Thank you once again,” I said.
First Seth, then Rosie, Frolin, Ailsa—in just one day, I went from having nobody and being alone to feeling so blessed and full of warmth.
I had no idea how desperately I needed that.