After a lot of conversations, info dumps, and more, we finally decided to take a break. It was already getting late, so once I logged-off, I decided to cook dinner for my daughter. Having seen all the fish that I had caught in the morning really made me want to cook some myself, I could probably retrieve the lowest ranked fish from my Inventory, but they would still count as "magic items" and I better just not give that to my daughter.
Thankfully, I can also store normal items! And in our trip back to my parent's house, we still fished a lot of fish from he river, I can store them inside of my inventory and they were as fresh as caught once I retrieved them. This Inventory Ability is really handy… I can already imagine how crazy people would become if they heard of such a miraculous ability, it has a lot of uses.
I decided to first clean the fish with some cleaning magic, and then cut their meat into filets, which I seasoned and fried over olive oil. I also prepared some white rice, and fried potatoes using the potatoes that I've naturally grown in my garden, alongside some tomato and lettuce salad.
While cooking this delicious dinner, I was overhearing the news.
"In other news, it has been reported that the Dungeon Gate located on New York has yet to be completed. The Military and Hunters that entered the Dungeon led by a special Hunter representing the country seem to have hold several complications."
"However- Huh? Oh, we got breaking news! Just a few minutes ago, a survivor had finally crawled out of the Dungeon Gate and… this is what he said."
The news reporter stayed silent as the video was shown. From within the portal in midair, a wounded soldier dragged himself outside, gasping for air and half-dead.
"Call the medics! HURRY!"
"Sir, what happened inside?!"
"Sir?!"
"Uugh…! No… It's impossible… Everyone… everyone's dead… We can't win… Humanity… we are all doomed…" The soldier groaned, suddenly beginning to laugh. "These monsters… nobody can defeat them… Hahah… Humanity… this is our doom. Our end… God has finally decided to punish us for our sins… Everyone is dead… everyone is dead…"
The Soldier continued muttering that, with his face filled with despair as he was dragged away by authorities and doctors.
"T-That's… what he said." Sighed the news reporter. "It appears that there might be no other survivors, and the United States are now beginning to create a new team to clear this dungeon."
I felt rather shocked, they weren't able to clear it? But if they were strong enough at the very least… Unless the dungeon by itself is already of a very high rank?
"Hmm, can't really tell from here but… I think that Dungeon could had been as high as B Rank." Said the Great Spirit, appearing at my side. "Nobody's going to clear that thing any time soon… Well, maybe the United States will employ their secret supernatural agencies now."
"I am… Well, I'm a bit worried, but let's trust that things will get better there." I sighed. "Not like I can do anything; I'm living in here after all."
"Well, are you sure that's true?" The Great Spirit wondered. "You're such a good girl sometimes, you can't help yourself but do good things for people! I bet you'll go there on a heartbeat."
"I mean… Maybe." I sighed. "If things get really bad and there's nobody else that can help… Though it would be a first to travel on the skies to another country…"
"See? You're already considering it!" Laughed the Great Spirit.
"Ugh, just cut it out for now." I sighed, crossing my arms. "Elena! Dinner's ready, honey."
The door opened rather quickly, as my daughter emerged from there, looking slightly sleepy.
"That smell woke me up…" She said.
"Were you sleeping?" I wondered. "I made some fish filets."
"Yeah, I was resting." She sighed. "I've studied too hard."
"Hahaha, well, let's eat something so you can feel more awake, dear." I smiled gently, giving her a head pat.
As we enjoyed our meal and we talked about our own things, suddenly, Elena brought up some topic that scared me a bit…
"Mom, if I see… someone being bullied in my school, should I do something to help them or protect them? Or maybe I shouldn't get involved?" She wondered.
"Eh?" I asked. "Someone… is being bullied? But that school is so expensive and prestigious. Are the teachers just allowing that?"
"I… don't know…" She sighed. "It's getting pretty far… Its just that the girl, she's a bit shy and has social anxiety, and has a lot of difficulty talking too… And sometimes they often bully her because she's looking at me. I feel bad…"
"Elena…" I sighed for a bit, feeling both sad yet… a bit happy that my daughter had such empathy.
It is so common nowadays for youth to grow without any empathy at all, it makes me so happy my daughter would think that away about these things.
Yet I simply can't let her expose herself to bullying just because she feels bad…
"If you feel like arguing with the bullies, don't engage with their game." I said. "Try to make that girl… What's her name?"
"Monica." She said.
"Try to help Monica socialize. And if you really… want to, then keep her alongside you and your friends, maybe." I said. "I used to go through a bit of bullying when I was younger, but Rita was always there to protect me, so I can't really help much. How about I talk to your teacher tomorrow? We'll talk about Monica to them."
"Hmm." She nodded. "It would be better to do that first before fighting anybody…"
Of course, I don't want her to fight her classmates, risking getting expulsed and all, but we'll talk about this with the teachers. And if they don't listen to me… I'll force them to listen.
There's no way I'm letting this type of bullying happen in my daughter's classroom, even less when it is so damn expensive to pay there monthly!
