Billy frowned when he heard that… was he being punished for some mistake? He didn't remember doing anything wrong or messing up during the mission. The others also looked a bit confused, but they probably couldn't question Edward's authority in front of Jean.
"Calm down, everyone, it is nothing like that," Edward said. "It is just… this isn't a topic that we should discuss away from home."
Edward was being creepily ambiguous, to the point where Billy was starting to get really suspicious and uncomfortable. In the end, Edward laughed and then shrugged. There was no point in hiding that, even Drew looked troubled. It was better to solve that matter right now instead of putting doubts in everyone's minds.
"I suppose it can't be helped…" Edward said. "I don't have male heirs, only one daughter. So, I was planning to make Billy take my place someday. He is a brilliant kid, after all."
"I don't think you are going to die anytime soon, sir," Drew said. "You are in your forties and you look strong as a bull."
"Maybe, but as you know, I am a widower, my wife died due to a rare disease that slowly drains the strength of those afflicted by it," Edward said. "Unfortunately, my daughter also is afflicted by the same disease and I am afraid she won't live long. So, I was planning to make them marry. I am not planning to get married again, after all."
Billy was wondering if he was lacking the common sense of that world… to force his daughter to marry someone just for him to take his place. If she wasn't going to live for long, he should stay by her side at all times instead of making a stranger take his place. Everyone looked surprised, Natalie was particularly shocked… even her mouth was hanging open.
"See? That was why I was planning to tell this back home," Edward said. "Don't worry, Billy. I told her many stories about you and your talents, so she wants to meet the youngest prodigy of our town."
"I am not sure I have that many stories and accomplishments for others to talk about me so highly," Billy frowned. "Regardless, things here are more developed than back home, so maybe you could find a medicine for her."
"Edward mentioned that two days ago, we know that disease, but we don't know any method to treat it," Jean said.
That was… even though he never mentioned her existence, it seemed that despite his actions, Edward tried to heal her. Still, the idea of arranged marriage existed in that world, but Billy was still speechless… for him to marry a girl who had a deadly disease. That was way too cruel for both parts.
"You can always say no, I am not going to force you," Edward said. "What do you think, Drew?"
"I have to talk about this with my wife… but I am going to respect Billy's decision," Drew replied.
"I suppose that is fine as well…" Edward said. "In any case, you have time to think about it, Billy. Don't feel forced to do anything."
"... All right," Billy said.
"Sir, I forgot to mention, but we were attacked by a giant scorpion two nights ago," Drew said. "More specifically, Billy and Natalie were. I assume that kind of monster is rare to find out…"
"Ah, yes… it probably happened while it was under their control," Jean said. "While the Toles state also wanted to take over our territory, they began the invasion when the scorpion's dungeon appeared. That monster probably left the dungeon"
Billy's head was starting to hurt… first he had to do something unreasonable, now he had to think about marriage and now he just heard that dungeons exist. Things were moving way too fast… In the end, Billy spent the rest of the day in his room trying to organize his thoughts while his friends were sightseeing.
Fortunately, on the next day, they departed toward home. During the trip, Billy was having mixed feelings about finally being able to see his family after several months, and about his future. Truth to be told, the marriage never crossed his mind because all the possible partners would be kids around his age. Considering his mental age, he would be almost twenty years older than them… which would be way too weird.
Meanwhile, Alexander and Lily were looking forward to their return to Vergena city. After hearing what dungeons were, they wanted to try to clear. Dungeons were basically places where large concentrations of mana existed and lured some species of animals and monsters and mutated them. The mix of so many monsters created a weird environment to the point where mana started to gain a certain level of sentience. Their goal was only to lure monsters and make them stronger by feeding them with mana and in exchange of that, they multiplied inside at fearsome rates and became completely obedient to the dungeon itself.
Another weird thing was that even objects were occasionally affected by the mana of the dungeon, so they could become magic weapons or magic tools. Since these places were where people died often, it wasn't rare to find a magic item. In any other situation, Billy would feel excited about it, but he had other worries in mind, right now.
During that week, Billy managed to make his rings reach level ten and now he was recovering ten times more mana passively than before. He had finally achieved one of his middle-term goals, but again… he wasn't that excited. Fortunately, when he arrived home, he saw his siblings practicing, he felt like his worries had disappeared. Billy could tell that their skills had improved just by looking at them… his tips helped them.
"Billy!" Samuel and Samara said in unison and then jumped on Billy's arms.
"Hey, it has been a while," Billy said.
"Where is my welcome?" Drew asked. "Could it be that I lost my place for Billy?"
