TBE Chapter 86

TBE Chapter 86

Just like the day before, the whole family camped earlier than usual. After all the chores of settling down were done, they ate some snacks, and then Simon began practicing with his crossbow outside.

Robert and Luke ran off somewhere, probably on the second or third floor, to play with their toys, and Ezekiel began arranging the tools that he would use to craft wooden things.

For a moment, Ezekiel thought of the fact that his brothers just kept on playing and were not doing anything helpful for the family like chores or other important stuff. He remembered that in some animes that he had seen, noble children were supposed to occupy the majority of their days studying different things but then again, they were not nobles.

Even if Ezekiel was supposed to be considered as one due to his power, the fact that he was hiding his magic meant that they would still probably be considered by a lot of people, especially those from huge cities, as commoners, and to be honest, he didn’t mind that.

Ezekiel grew up in a place where the only class that existed was based on wealth, but usually, that would only apply to the very rich. The majority of the population on Earth was just an average Joe, so everyone was the same as everyone else.

After he had arranged his tools, Ezekiel went outside briefly to check on Simon. He noticed that the man was wearing the sword that Ezekiel had given him. It was from one of the bandits that he had destroyed but he knew that Simon didn’t know how to use it. Ezekiel didn’t know how to use it as well so he decided that if they arrived some place that had a sword teacher, he would pay for Simon to study under that teacher.

Ezekiel decided to invest in Simon because the man-boy was young enough that he could earn Simon’s loyalty and that meant that the man would help him and his brothers and would not betray them.

He was already giving Simon a good life with the delicious food and the remuneration that he was giving the man and at the same time, Ezekiel also made sure that the man feared him for his power as a mage but that he would know that even though Ezekiel was powerful, he wasn’t cruel but a benevolent master that deserved Simon’s loyalty.

Ezekiel, Robert, and Luke were already treating the man as their family and he hoped that it would be enough for them to truly earn Simon’s loyalty.

Of course, even though Ezekiel grew up on Earth, and that meant that he hadn’t experienced severe betrayal or anything like that, he was of age enough that he knew that he couldn’t fully trust the man, but Simon was truly too young.

After a few minutes of observing Simon, Ezekiel went inside the Kitchen slash Workroom and started creating a chair. Once he was used to making the chair, he would start on creating a more elaborate one. One hour after and Ezekiel was done creating the chair, but before he started on a new one, he went outside to gather some wood from the forest. Then, once he returned, he spent the remaining time cutting and polishing the wood that he had collected using his tools.

When the sun fully settled down, Simon entered the house and Ezekiel told him to take a bath but to not forget to bring him his soiled clothes to be cleaned. In the meantime, he continued cutting, polishing, and arranging all the wood in a storage chest that he asked Simon to carry inside the house.

Ezekiel also made sure that the amount of wood would not be too much so that it would not be a burden for Prince Charming. Their donkey was already carrying a huge load, pulling a cart with a man and three children and all of their things.  That meant that buying another donkey to share Prince Charming’s load became Ezekiel’s priority.

Soon, he went to the third floor to bathe while his brothers and Simon were waiting on the first floor for him to teach them their letters. He repeated his technique of enticing everyone’s motivation by displaying a delicious desert in front of them, and this time, he chose to buy a chocolate cake worth 20 copper coins. At first, he wanted to purchase ice cream, but due to the length of their lesson, it would have melted before they were done.

Ezekiel was highly amused when Simon asked what the chocolate cake was, and Robert and Luke began describing the dessert. His brothers' descriptions were effective enough that Luke began drooling while looking at the cake, and Robert and Simon were almost the same.

The three boys were highly motivated during the lesson to the delight of Ezekiel and knew that soon, everyone should be able to read and write.  When the lesson ended, everyone ate their dinner, but the food they consumed was much less than before due to the fact that they ate some snacks earlier and that they wanted room for the chocolate cake.

Ezekiel couldn’t help but laugh out loud when he saw Simon’s reaction on his first taste of chocolate cake.

“So how is it?” Ezekiel asked the man.

“It this the food of the gods? This is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted!”

“You’re wrong! The most delicious thing is pizza!” Robert refuted.

“No, it’s Ice Cream!” Luke joined in on the fun.

Simon asked the two boys what food they were talking about and their description brought yearning on the three boys’ faces even though they were all full from the food they all just ate.

“Don’t worry. Tomorrow night, if I see that you three are truly motivated in learning, we will have a pizza and soda party!” Ezekiel promised, and everyone cheered even though Simon didn’t know what a Pizza and a Soda was.  

After dinner, Ezekiel cleaned everything using his favorite spell, and then Robert and Luke started playing. The two boys invited Simon to play with them using the game boards that they hadn’t touched for a long time, and Ezekiel went to the first floor to start crafting a chair.

This time, he chose a more elaborate one that he felt he was good enough to make. Since the chair was more complex, Ezekiel knew that he wouldn’t be able to complete it that night, so after an hour of crafting, he joined his brothers and Simon on the second floor.

He played with them as well for several minutes, but after that, he resolutely told everyone that it was time for them to rest. That night, by request, he continued telling them the fairy tale story that Ezekiel told them the night before that they were not able to finish because they all fell asleep.

Ezekiel knew that the main reason why the boys almost always fell asleep after a few minutes of him telling them a bedtime story was because of how he read the story to them. He imitated the way those ASMR storytellers did it on the most famous video streaming site and it was highly effective on the boys. When he saw that Robert, Luke, and Simon were asleep, again with smiles on their faces, he also started sleeping as well.

The next day, everyone woke up early. After breakfast, Simon started his hunt after Ezekiel made sure that the man was prepared by casting the mage armor spell on him and making sure that Yuki Onna was following him. Simon was also followed by several butcher knives awakened by the Tiny Servant spell and he reiterated to the man to return before noon.

Robert and Luke wanted to play in the forest, and they promised that they would not go too far. Since Ezekiel didn’t want to imprison them in the house, he allowed them to, but the rest of the awakened butcher knives followed the boys.

Not only that, Ezekiel checked the map on the 1st tab in his browser that came with his system every few minutes so he would be aware of his brothers’ location all the time.

In the meantime, he continued on the chair that he started working on last night and after another hour, he was able to complete it. He then cast the spell Fabricate to check if he could conjure the same chair, and he was successful in doing so. Ezekiel then chose a much more complex chair that was truly good to look at, but he knew that it would probably take him longer to master it. The moment he did so, he could create a copy of the chair whenever he wanted using his Fabricate Spell. Once he mastered a much more beautiful chair, he would then start working on its partner table so he could sell them as a set.

While working on the chair, Yuki Onna informed him that Simon was arriving, so he asked his familiar to get his brothers as well. In the meantime, he cleaned the workshop since it would now be used as a place for Simon to butcher the game that he caught.

Robert and Luke were the first to enter the house, and they excitedly told him that Simon caught a lot of game even though they didn’t need to since their guardian followed them soon after.