(MC POV)
Is what I like to say… But maybe I should have thought about it before offering my help because now that I think about it… What can I actually do to help?
Hmm… I could always just use some reality manipulation to change his family back to normal, but that would kind of defeat the purpose of having this setting I think.
Especially since that would be beyond the scope of what a coffee store owner might do.
Then again, everything that I've been doing now is pretty much above what a coffee store owner would do in the first place since I'm not a normal store owner by any means…
Decisions, decisions…
Maybe I should just use reality manipulation after all?
Lian Li suddenly popped up behind me, "Oh! Why don't we just introduce them to a religion of sorts, Darling?"
Eh?
"A religion?" I parroted while looking at my golden haired 'wife' whose eyes were practically sparkling.
"Yes! We can get them to believe in a Divine Being which should help them adjust their attitude, wouldn't it?"
"Err… Where did this even come from?"
She wagged her finger, "It's obvious that they're like this because they are lost lambs, Darling! All we need to do is give them someone… Ermm… Something to believe in! Then they will find their own way through their own beliefs! When they believe in a higher power, they would naturally want to follow them instead of their own vices!"
Hmm… She does have a point…
"But what can they even believe in? I don't think there's an actual religion in this World is there?"
"You can leave it to me, Darling! I'll be back in just a moment!"
Before I could even say anything else, she disappeared from sight, presumably to teleport to where Brendan's family was.
Huh… I see now that I was also making the same mistake as Brendan… I thought I had to do everything myself as well when I had others around me who could help out too. How ironic.
I guess I could just leave it to her for this, although I wonder how long she would need to try and get them to change… Especially considering how long they have been-
The door suddenly burst open, "I'm back, Darling!!"
--In their current state… What? You were barely gone for a few seconds!
Did she use her domain to manipulate them? I suppose she must have, though there's nothing wrong with that of course. Lian Li can do whatever she wants here since this is a World created for her after all.
Right as I thought of that, Brendan's family came running through the door behind Lian Li to make their way towards Brendan.
"Oh my dearest son! How this useless father has wronged you! I promise I will be a better father from now on!"
"Mother is also sorry, Brendan! You have done so much for us and yet we have been so ungrateful to you!"
"I have not been a good older brother to you, my bro! I promise you I will change right now! I will be the big brother I should have been from the very start!"
"Big bro! I'm clean now! I'm really, really clean this time! I swear I won't ever touch any drugs again big bro! You don't need to worry about your little sister doing anything like that again!"
"Us too big bro! We've seen the error of our ways! Even though big bro always tried to help us, we failed to see it! We're failures as your younger brothers!"
"That's right! But worry not big bro! Starting today, we'll become the younger brothers that you can depend on too! We swear on it!"
Seeing his family stand in front of him all cleaned up and in perfect health stunned Brendan quite a bit.
Can't blame him since he most definitely never expected the problem with his family to be solved instantly after he requested for help like that.
In fact… Neither did I.
His mouth opened and closed like that of a dying fish for a good long minute before he raised his hand to point at them, "You… What happened to all of you? Why… Why do all of you… There's no way…"
His mother went up to hug him, "Oh my poor Brendan… Mother is sorry for all that you've gone through… But High Prie-- Ahem… Missus Lian Li here has shown us that there are things greater than all of us deserving of our time and respect! How could we continue to fret over such mundane things in that case!"
Brendan blinked and turned to Lian Li who was puffing up her chest with pride.
He then shifted his gaze to me and I just shrugged in response. I had nothing to do with this after all.
He turned back to his family, "Have you… Have you all truly come back to your senses?"
"Yes!" All of them replied energetically.
"You can depend on your father from now on, Brendan!"
"Mother will also help you take care of the house from now on."
"I'll work in the company like what you told me to do, little bro! Don't worry, I won't mess up this time!"
"And this little sister will also help you with the accounts like what you suggested, big bro! I'm still inexperienced but I'm willing to learn!"
"We'll also put our fighting skills to good use instead of being in gangs, big bro!"
"Yeah! Your little bros have you to look up to, big bro! We won't disappoint you anymore!"
He reached forward and pulled everyone into a hug, "Thank you… Thank you!"
All of them hugged him back, giving the softly crying Brendan the comfort he needed after he finally let himself relax after holding back for so long.
Lian Li came over to my side, "What do you think, Darling? I did a pretty good job didn't I?"
I patted her head, "Yes, yes, you did really well. Though I wonder what did you actually do with them to make them turn out like this?"
"Ehehehe~ Secret~ Could I get more praises, Darling?"
What a greedy 'wife' I have. I'm not going to say no though.
That's why I spent the same amount of time hugging and patting her as Brendan did with his family.
This feels nice.
And of course, as though fate had ordained it, the door to our shop opened once again and the last two people of the group appeared.
"How dare you run away in the middle of our war?!!" My two little sisters screamed.
Oh, the gang that Brendan's little brothers were a part of was actually my little sisters' gangs… I should have known.
Wait a minute… Did they just say war?
