My Disciples Think I’m Strong

“Delma, good work.”

“Hmph, talk to me again when you need me. Of course, I expect to be paid.”

That’s the epitome of a tsundere.

But it’s not particularly pleasing to hear it from the old hag, you know?

I watched the departing carriage before looking up at the house.

Having been away from home for nearly a month, I was quite nostalgic. But upon seeing it, the ducal family’s lifestyle seemed more comfortable.

I missed the ducal family’s beds!

“Is this Praus’s house?”

“Yes.”

I confidently answered Tina’s question. The three heroes then exchanged glances with dissatisfied expressions.

“It’s more…”

“Rundown than expected.”

“Yeah.”

The heroes’ candid impressions.

[Ho, a splendid house. Not bad at all.]

It seemed Pasma approved of it. But what meaning did a mere soul’s approval carry?

“By the way, Praus.”

“What is it?”

“Why is your house away from the village?”

I didn’t know myself.

Tracing Praus’s memories, it was a house built before his birth, so the reason was unknown.

“I don’t know. It’s a house my parents built.”

I said as I unlocked the door.

Speaking of which, it had been a month since I left. I hope no thieves broke in, though there was nothing worth stealing in this house.

Creeak.

The old door opened with an eerie sound.

Between everything that happened over the past month, it felt like experiencing a year’s worth of events.

Now, I should nurture the children’s growth and help them become independent. After that, I could sell a few relics and prepare for retirement.

I should enjoy a life of leisure every day.

Since I’m at it, village life is inconvenient, so it might be good to buy a house in Pretium.

As I was thinking that, the children and Aerial entered the house.

“Wow, so dusty! It seems even worse than when I lived with Dingc!”

Keep those impressions to yourself.

“It seems Lord Praus leads a frugal life.”

No. Just how much money did you think a commoner would have?

Isn’t this a decent house? Was I the only one who thought so?

“It’s a bit shabby, but not too bad, I think…”

Maria looked around cautiously as she spoke.

“Praus, should we clean the house for you?”

“If you’re thinking of gathering all my belongings, compressing them, and making them disappear, don’t bother.”

“Don’t you know me too well? Pasma might get jealous.”

[Surely not…! My friend! Were you eyeing Eri?!]

Damn this idiotic couple, just disappear already instead of dragging me into this.

I shook my head vigorously.

“Still, there don’t seem to be enough rooms for women and children to live together.”

Aerial, who had entered the house uninvited, fluttered about in a dress fit for a fairy, peering into each room.

“Who said anything about women? Aerial, you can easily travel between the human and spirit realms. Don’t think of this as your home.”

“Doesn’t ‘we’ include me too?”

“No. My business with you ends with receiving the Aura.”

“So Praus was the kind of man who uses women and throws them away?”

‘No, I’m not.’

“Say that again, and I’ll kill you.”

I don’t know how something like ‘No, I’m not’ comes out as ‘I’ll kill you’.

“No, we haven’t made a contract yet! I could still be helpful!”

As I firmly denied it, she raised her voice, seemingly offended.

“Weren’t you going to make a contract with me?”

“Um…”

What’s with that? Why is she contemplating it so seriously?

Since there are four main attributes, there exist four Spirit Kings.

Spirits can basically only contract with a single lifeform when making a contract. Conversely, the contracted lifeform can have overlapping contracts.

That’s why it would be far better to choose one of the three heroes instead of someone weak like me.

It wasn’t even worth contemplating.

“What are you pondering over? Isn’t it something not worth thinking about?”

“Well… it’s because Praus is so strong.”

Me? Why am I strong?

You were just mocking me for being weak a few days ago.

Perplexed by her incomprehensible words, I recalled the Mirage Tempest I had used to defeat Urkha.

Certainly, it had enough impact to erase an entire mountain, but that was only by borrowing the relic’s power.

Being a late-game relic, it could exert that much force.

It was by no means my own strength. I was still weak.

“Don’t waste your thoughts. Choose from those children. Only they can defeat the Demon King.”

I spoke as I watched the children excitedly exploring every corner of the house.

Aerial snorted and said something absurd:

“To my eyes, you seem more like a hero.”

If I were a hero, I would have gone around this other world being all cool and stuff. Can’t you see I’m just a weakling acting tough?

“…Refrain from such nonsense. The children might feel burdened if they knew they were heroes.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. But you do seem to cherish those children, despite your outward coldness.”

“I just want those children to be happy.”

Since they would inevitably suffer hardships ahead.

It would be nice if they could at least have a happy ending, right?

“You say that with such a gruff voice, it doesn’t sound sincere at all.”

“Begone.”

“You could learn to speak more gently sometimes.”

My actions were the only thing unrestrained. My expressions and speech were beyond my control.

Recently, though, my words have occasionally come out as intended.

Perhaps when the Emotionless Mask skill temporarily wore off, it allowed for some flexibility.

My tone was still blunt, but at least the content was under my control now.

She chuckled and patted my shoulder.

“Ah, well, I’ll be living in this house, so keep that in mind.”

“Is this your house? Did you sell your sense of propriety?”

“Says the one who sold his tact, judging by Praus’s tone? I may look like this, but I’m a Spirit King who has lived for hundreds of years, you know? How does it feel to be spoken to rudely by Praus, who’s only been alive for 19 years?”

‘Fair point.’

“What’s so great about being old?”

“What did you say?!”

This time, the filter worked quite well.

Aerial stomped around with an indignant expression upon hearing my words.

But do spirits really care about age? The game’s settings were quite unpredictable at times.

“Since you called me old, I’m not leaving this house now.”

“…Do as you please.”

She thought she was the ten-year-old Tina or something.

If she weren’t a Spirit King, I would have kicked her butt and thrown her out.

“Praus!”

“What is it?”

“Look at this! So much dust!”

She unnecessarily wiped the dusty shelf with her palm and showed it to me. These kids really know how to annoy people.

“Lord Praus, it would be best to clean first.”

“I, I’ll help too.”

Iris and Maria said as they hid the mischievous Tina behind them.

“Do as you wish.”

“Yes!”

And so, the cleaning frenzy began.

“It seems livable now.”

Aerial, with her arms folded tightly, remarked.

“Why are you the one judging?”

“I helped too, didn’t I?”

“If you consider using wind magic to scatter dust all over the house as ‘helping’, I’d appreciate it if you returned to the spirit realm immediately.”

“You’re at it again.”

Did she think I was joking?

[My friend, don’t you think your tone is rather harsh towards Eri?]

Ugh… Someone’s whipped, defending his girlfriend mindlessly like that.

“Do you not think you’re inviting trouble by acting this way? Pasma, don’t just blindly defend your lover like that.”

And Aerial, her occasional provocations and subtle digs really get on my nerves. Her mental age seems lower than those ten-year-old kids.

To avoid further annoyance, I looked at the three children standing beside Aerial instead.

The children were proudly surveying the house with a sense of accomplishment.

Every so often, they would glance at me, as if prompting me to praise them.

I ruffled their dusty heads, brushing off the dust in the process.

“Good work.”

The children smiled and accepted my gesture. Maria, in particular, leaned closer, as if wanting more.

“It must feel stuffy, so I’ll heat up some water. Wait a bit.”

As I picked up a match to head to the bathroom, Maria stopped me.

“Ah, Lord Praus… let me do it. I can use fire and water magic.”

Alright, from today onward, you’re in charge of bathwater.

I won’t have to chop firewood anymore! Yes!

“Lord Praus, what should I do?”

“Praus! What should I do?”

“Both of you can bathe and rest once Maria prepares the water. I’ll handle the cooking myself in the meantime.”

I went to the kitchen, washed my hands, and checked the ingredients. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have been affected by the dust.

Not only grains and vegetables, but spices and seasonings were also neatly arranged in the house.

It was perfect for cooking the home-cooked meals I was used to from the modern era.

While spices and seasonings were far more expensive than grains, that wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

Regardless, the food had to taste good for the children to enjoy it.

Tonight’s menu was hamburgers.

In this medieval era, I couldn’t make them as delicious as the hamburgers sold in modern times. But considering that ordinary commoners would make do with just potatoes or bread for a meal, this was relatively high-class fare.

At any rate, since I had purchased bread ingredients, I just needed to warm them up. I thinly sliced lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.

Recalling recipes for making ketchup and mayonnaise from memory, I prepared each sauce one by one.

For the patties, I lightly ground the meat before adding salt, pepper, and other spices and seasonings to enhance the flavor.

After that, I lit a fire with matches and grilled the patties until nicely browned.

[My friend, you seem to possess an impressively diverse range of knowledge.]

“Praus, you can cook too?”

“I know a little. There were many times when I had to cook for myself.”

“But this kind of dish seems unfamiliar.”

“Is that so?”

I responded indifferently as I placed a pot over the fire to boil some soup.

While stirring the vegetables and seasonings for the soup, I repeatedly flipped the patties to ensure they were cooking properly.

After a while, the children came out from their baths and caught the aroma of the patties.

“Wow, it smells delicious!”

“Lord Praus, you know how to cook?”

“Wow, impressive.”

The three children eagerly entered the kitchen, watching me cook.

“Instead of pointless chatter, get your hair dried. Ask Aerial to use wind magic.”

“What? Use my magic for something like that?”

An incredulous reaction. So inflexible.

Wouldn’t it be more convenient to live in this inconvenient medieval era by utilizing magic, even if it meant wasting some?

“Not like you’ll be using it for anything else.”

“I have nothing to say, but… then I want some of what Praus is making too.”

“What a glutton.”

The Spirit Kings in the game weren’t this troublesome, as I recall.

When I agreed, Aerial smiled contentedly and snapped her fingers.

The children’s hair ruffled in the wind before quickly drying.

“Set the tableware. It’ll be ready soon.”

“Okaaay!”

The children excitedly set the table, seeming to have high expectations for my cooking.

Well, it would be a novel dish they had never tasted before, so their curiosity was understandable.

I spread mayonnaise on the bun bottoms and placed the nicely browned patties on top. Then I smeared ketchup and layered lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese before completing the hamburgers by covering them with the bun tops.

“Looks good.”

I examined the satisfactorily assembled hamburgers. Their appearance wasn’t bad.

The soup I had been boiling was also ready. A taste test confirmed the seasoning was just right.

I brought the hamburgers and pot of soup to the table.

“Eat up.”

“Praus! What kind of dish is this?!”

“It’s called a hamburger.”

“Hamburger!”

“The way to eat it is simple. Eat it all at once like this.”

I demonstrated the typical hamburger eating pose.

After pressing the buns together to compact the contents, I opened my mouth wide and took a big bite.

While I had made them, the taste wasn’t bad at all.

“If it seems too big, you can cut it with a knife and eat it that way. Eat however is comfortable for you.”

The children watched me eat with keen interest before imitating my actions. However, their small mouths couldn’t fit the whole hamburger.

I ended up cutting them into bite-sized pieces.

“Mm, delicious!”

Aerial exclaimed with her cheeks puffed out, her hand placed on them. Seeing her reaction, the children seemed to follow suit, hastily digging in.

“It’s so tasty!”

“It’s as delicious as the food we had at the ducal family’s!”

“Really tasty…”

As I listened to the children’s praises following Aerial’s, a familiar voice unexpectedly chimed in with a request for seconds.

[My friend, can I not taste it as well? Let me possess you for a bit.]

I inwardly burst into laughter at Pasma’s demand.

Reluctantly letting him possess me and eat a hamburger, he began raving through my mouth, oblivious to the children’s presence.

“It’s been so long since I’ve tasted anything this delicious!”

“Ah, in any case, cook more often from now on. You all just need to eat it up.”

I hurriedly opened my mouth to cover it up.

“Me too?”

Aerial pointed at herself.

“Aerial, you’re on dishwashing duty.”

“Eh… That’s too much! Where have you seen a Spirit King doing the dishes?”

“If it’s too much, then don’t expect to be fed.”

“Tch. Alright then.”

Even the Spirit King fell for the taste of hamburgers.

Thinking I should occasionally utilize cooking to take advantage of her, I took another bite of the hamburger.