7 Dinner

'Damn, today's been exciting,' After the new couple separated once they finished their session, Noir was walking back home with an uncontrollable smile on his face. He had an exciting day after all. He got a girlfriend, had permission to have a harem and had oral sex.

If that's not progress then I don't know what is.

'Alright, now cool off a little Noir. I got to think about how to get stronger for the hidden dungeon. Something tells me that the entity isn't simple. There could be other things that have changed, so I can't carelessly enter the dungeon.'

Thanks to Noir's careful nature, he didn't want to go into the hidden dungeon without having some of his questions answered first. Thanks to the information he gained, he wanted to gain some strength first and more information about the world before making a decision. As such, he turned towards Odin's guild instead of his house.

'First, let's look at the guild for future reference. I'm going to need to go there eventually to help with the family's livelihood after all, but I won't join until I get Olivia's skills,' Noir had plans for the guild and ways to rack up lp through it, but there's no point in joining just yet. He wants to maximise his rewards instead of getting temporary small rewards.

'I also need to think about nutrition and stuff like that. Muscles aren't just about pumping iron and boom, they're there,' For his body to properly grow muscles and to stay in peak condition, his family's food issues need to be solved. Although they are technically classed as nobles, they eat like commoners, if not worse, thanks to his second brother.

His second brother, Gillan Stargazia, is currently in another country attending a merchant school in hopes to create a business for the family. Because of the expensive tuition fees, the family has been cutting corners with their livelihood, which explains why the house and their eating situation is in such a poor state.

'I'm gonna have to sort out that guy's attitude too. I have some memories of him but not enough for me to see him in a good light. Since I've taken over Noir's body, I may as well fix up his brother's life,' Noir didn't think of him as someone good. Although in the manga it showed him standing up for Noir when he was pushed down by a wyvern, he felt like he was too much of an asshole to be let off with just that.

The family are eating bad thanks to him and he's just messing around instead of studying. He even lost levels from neglecting his training and isn't even taking his classes seriously. Noir thought a little payback for that would be in everyone's interest.

'Other than towards Noir, he doesn't take most of his relationships seriously. I wonder how I should whip him into shape?' Noir had a sadistic smile on his face as he pictured some ideas he wanted to do with his brother. He had a side project he wanted to do and his brother seems like the perfect candidate for it.

Just give him a little training and if everything goes well, they'd both gain some profit.

'Anyway, after getting the money issue sorted, I want to start learning more about this world and fill in the basic knowledge I lack thanks to my fragmented memories. After that, I want to get familiar with fighting with this body.'

To do all that, getting into the dungeon is necessary. With enough time and effort, he'd be able to reach the country's strongest. Although he simply wants to get strong just so he could enjoy life peacefully and gain as many skills as possible, his guts were also saying he should prepare for anything unexpected.

After all, his transfer here was the biggest abnormality.

'The most difficult thing on the list would be creating a harem though. I'm going to be proactive in making one. Starting with my sister Alice and then eventually my mother, then going to the girls at the guild and maybe some at the school.'

If he was being honest, he had the hots for Noir's mother in his past life. It was the cliche of an ugly fat man with a beautiful woman that always bugged him.

Like, come on, at least make the man somewhat attractive.

'I should also take advantage of the appraisal skill when I get the chance to. Finding hidden talents and bringing them to the harem or any ideas I have in mind would be great,' The analysis skill had a lot of potential in business and in many other non-combat related jobs. It's especially sought after by merchants, which Noir had some plans for.

'Well, I've upped the difficulty for myself with that, but it should be alright. This is gonna be fun.'

Unlike other people that disliked challenges in their real life, Noir saw this challenge just like a mission in his video games. His gamer blood was pumped for this world as he was barely able to contain his grin once again.

As for the surroundings, the scenery was changing while he was deep in thought. The shops were starting to become less about household and daily commodities and became more weapon and survival-orientated instead.

The people around were also different as the men and women were wearing adventuring gear, armour and weapons. A clear cut change from the regular clothes the citizens were wearing earlier.

'It feels like I went from a modern rural village to the medieval period,' That was the best way Noir could describe his current scenario. It was a strange feeling of walking through time that left him with a mysterious feeling, but he still looked around for what the guilds around here were like.

After some time he finally found something that looked like a guild. An old and broken looking tavern that says in bold letters "RAMUH GUILD".

Noir recalled that it was Odin's rival guild and people there didn't have the best personalities, except for that one blonde martial artist.

'The martial arts girl goes to this guild. I'll think of a way to get her transferred, but that'll be a problem for future me to worry about.'

Noir simply walked past Ramuh without batting an eye as he walked for another five minutes before he found another tavern. Unlike the worn-down feeling of the previous tavern, this one was much neat and had the sign "Odin's Guild" on it.

'So that's the guild huh. It doesn't look crazy nor does it really stand out. Guess they like to keep it professional here,' It wasn't that he was disappointed, but Noir thought the guilds would stand out a lot more since it's such a dangerous occupation.

It wasn't bad either, it was just his standards were slightly warped thanks to games and anime. After seeing what was outside he felt it was about time to head back. He had plans for Laura, the receptionist, and Luna, the half-elf healer, but those will wait for another day.

For the time being, he started putting those breathing techniques from earlier into practice as he walked back home.

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"Oh, hello Noir," While Noir was walking back through the busy common streets, he heard a familiar voice. He turned around and found it was his mother who was carrying a see-through bag of bread crusts and another one that was tinted black.

Whatever was in the other bag was giving Noir a bad feeling.

"Hello, mother. Would you like some help?" The two of them walked back home as Noir subconsciously asked if she needed help. He felt like he was helping his father shopping again. Those days were his carefree days before the accident.

"Yes, that would help me out a lot," His mother, unaware of what Noir was thinking, smiled before handing him the suspicious bag. He grimaced a little and inwardly regretted suggesting to help her which made her chuckle.

'His reaction to it is cute. Too bad they dislike eating these things. They're quite tasty,' His mother enjoyed looking at people's reactions to the 'Unique Creations' she makes, but her family reactions make her most pleased. She had developed a habit of eating unusual foods and combinations during the family's more dire times and they've stuck to this day.

Though she does wish some of them could share her joy of eating these strange creations. It was sad being the only one liking something after all.

"I got these bread crumbs for free from an old friend of mine. With these, I should be able to make something good for dinner." While they were walking, his mother decided to talk about what they were going to eat.

"Oh? What do you have in mind?"

"That's a secret," Noir's mother put her finger to her lip and winked at him to keep it a mystery. What would've been a sight that would take the hearts of the men nearby was something that made Noirs' anxiety worse. She only winks whenever she was planning something "unique".

"What about this bag then?" He slowly raised the arm he was carrying the bag with and looked at it in slight fear. It was quite heavy and was worrying him.

"Haha, that's also a secret. I can't spoil the surprise now, can I?"

His mother made a mysterious smile as Noir suddenly felt a shiver across his spine.

'Yeah, whenever Noir gets these kinds of shivers, it means she's got something weird.'

Noir prayed to himself that it wasn't going to be something that causes him to be immobilised for weeks. He wanted to conquer the hidden dungeon, not decimate the toilet.

"I guess you're right."

After that, the conversation then shifted towards Noir's day with Emma, which he told honestly without mentioning the kissing and sexual journeys they had.

"I've not seen little Emm in such a long time. Bring her to the house next time and I'll be sure to make her something scrumptious."

"I'll ask her the next time we see each other."

"Alright now, I'll go make us some dinner. I've gotten my hands on something wonderful this evening~."

And with that, they both entered the house. His mother went straight to the kitchen after taking off her shoes as Noir just looked at her weirdly.

'She loves giving people anxiety with her cooking, doesn't she?'

In some ways, his mother reminds him of that one female character in Shokugeki no Souma who made a mysterious and disgusting soup, yet left the judges asking for more.

'Okay, let's forget about that for now. Let's do some workouts,' Since he was finally at his home, Noir wanted to see his body's current capabilities. He only knows he has decent running stamina for someone who doesn't train.

He headed straight to the garden which was entered through the sitting room. Once there, he got down to position as he performed pushups one after another. He was only five pushups in before the pain in his arm started multiplying but he carried on until he felt it become a little too much for him.

'Looks like I'm not as weak as I thought. I can do about 20 before the pain gets too much,' Afterwards Noir performed other body strengthening exercises, including squats, sit-ups, Russian twists etc. Once he was done he lay on the grass as he started thinking.

'Good, then I should be able to get stronger a lot quicker than I thought. My leg muscles and abs are stronger than my arms, which is a good sign for me,' He was glad that his legs were the strongest. He was able to perform 40 squats without much effort. His abs exercises were about 30 reps before they hurt too much, but it was good progress.

As a former football player and someone that mainly relied on kicks in his fights, these stats were acceptable.

After knowing this information, he took a few minutes of rest before spending the rest of his time meditating using the breathing style that the Great Sage taught him. If he's able to reinforce his legs with magic then his kicks would perform crazy feats.

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After about an hour and a half of meditating, Noir wasn't feeling anything coming from him. He had already cleared his mind and was listening to nature itself, but there wasn't any spark of magical inspiration hitting him.

'Is it because I lack talent that it's taking longer to learn? I guess I should've asked a follow-up question to the great sage like how many days it would've taken and what I'm supposed to do during the breathing techniques.'

It was a misjudgement on his side, but it's difficult to ask questions properly while focusing on kissing or forms of sex. It was a little disappointing to him. He loved magic but it's so difficult to attain thanks to his condition. He went from physically crippled to magically inept it seems.

However, that wasn't enough to make him quit. He just had to work harder and smarter if he must.

"Time to eat everyone!"

Hearing his mother's words, he stopped meditating and made his way towards the dining room. His father and sister were already seated as the aroma from the kitchen started making everyone hungry.

"Big brother," Alice called out to sit next to her, opposite to her was his father who seemed to have some dark circles under his eyes. Seeing as there's time before dinner arrives, he decided to start his preparations.

"Father, can I borrow your old sword?" Noir wanted to spend the rest of the evening practising his kicking techniques and some swordsmanship before heading to the dungeon. The old Noir was able to enter the dungeon and meet Olivia without many issues, but he still wanted to guarantee that he could protect himself, even if it was just a little bit of training.

"Heeee! You don't plan on slaying your father because of that magic item, do you?" Father, however, wasn't able to understand what Noir wanted. As such, he immediately jumped out of his chair in straight fear for his life.

Seeing this, Noir decided to play along with it.

"No, not yet. That's not what I meant."

"So you do plan on slaying me!"

Noir laughed at his father's acting before seeing his mother enter the room with plates.

"Anyway, I wanted to pick up swordsmanship again."

"""Eh?/What?/Oh?"""

And just as he expected, everyone made a reaction and looked at him as if he was a different person.

"Hmm? What happened?"

Seeing his family's reaction, he still pretended to act clueless to get what he wants.

"Why do you want to pick up the sword again? You hated training when you were a child," Unlike the rest of his family, his mother seemed to be the calmest of the group. She looked Noir in the eyes as if testing him.

"Well, I wanted to try taking the hero school exam," Noir merely replied while scratching his head.

"The hero exam?" This time it was his mother's turn to become surprised as no one was expecting him to choose a path without someone guiding him. It wasn't that he was lazy or anything, he was simply ambitionless until now.

"Yup, plus I read in a book a healthy body means a better mind for learning and reading longer, so I wanted to try it out," This time Noir stopped scratching his head as he looked at his family, who try calming themselves down but fail to do so. He had to reason with them like how the old Noir's would've done, which gained some good reactions.

"Ooooo, that's my boy!"

"I support you with your goal, Noir."

His father got emotional from Noir's words as his mother smiled at him from cheek to cheek. It would always bring happiness to parents whenever they see their child try bettering themselves towards a goal after all.

But not everyone in the house believes Noirs words that easily.

"Psst," After some time with their parents celebrating, Alice whispered into Noir's ear to get his attention. She looked like she wanted to ask him something.

'Looks like she's suspicious already,' Which was part of his plan. He figured Alice would be the first one to figure out he was acting different, as such he's already made plans to deal with her.

"What's up?", he responded in a familiar tone as he started his ploy.

"What's made you want to pick up the sword again, big brother?"

Alice looked at him questioningly as her eyes looked at him with suspicion. It's strange for her to see him act like this unless he was forced to move, in which case she wants to find out why he's doing this.

"Well, I wanted to try it again. I've been feeling bored lately so I wanted to try something new. Plus I learned something from my Great Sage skill."

Noir began his excuse while adding his skill to it. It was somewhat taboo in the household to bring up the topic to Noir as it became a trauma for him, which made it a perfect bait for Alice as she'd definitely pick up on that.

"You used that skill? Why?"

As such, you could imagine how much of a shock factor that would've been for the little sister who cares dearly for her older brother.

'Why did he randomly use the skill? Just mentioning half the skills name is enough to make him uncomfortable?'

"Mhm, though I can't use it often, I asked how to get stronger through it and it gave me some words of wisdom," Noir took a sip of water as he's waiting for the moment to tell Alice about what he wanted to ask. He can't simply tell her without her curiosity being at her peak.

"How did you manage that one? You cried for 4 days and nights when you first used it," Alices face started to get a lot closer to Noir as she tried interrogating him. She wasn't convinced that it was that simple.

'And there's the chance,' Noir nearly smirked from hearing those words, but he had to calm down and pretend to be wimpy to keep up the facade of being Noir.

"Well, apparently umm…" Noir slowly started his sentence as he looked at her while pretending to be meek. It was starting to get annoying for Noir to act like this but he did so to avoid too much suspicion by the people who know him, "Certain things just nullify it, you see."

"Certain things like?" Her face was even closer this time, which usually would've pressured the old Noir and make him feel flustered but that didn't happen this time. In fact, it made it perfect for Noir's answer.

"Lewd things."

"Lew-!"

Noir replied without much difficulty before quickly covering his sister's mouth to avoid his parents finding out. It would cause a stir in the family if he admits what his skills requirements are, even if he remains single for the rest of his life.

Personally, he just doesn't want to deal with the family knowing. At least not until he conquers his sister and mother.

"Hmm? What was that?" Their father looked at the two children as Noir lets go of Alice's mouth. Alice had a shocked expression on her face while Noir was smiling.

'What are those two doing?', His father, unaware of Noir's intentions felt a little shiver. Unfortunately for him, he thought it was thanks to his wife's cooking instead of what Noir would do in the future.

"Nothing, nothing."

"Alright then."

Thinking it was the two of them goofing off, the father didn't say anything as he looked at the kitchen for tonight's meal. Dreading for what's to come today.

"Please keep it a secret, Alice," Noir got close to her on purpose before whispering in her ear. He was doing this to take advantage of the fact he knows that she has a crush on him. As such, she started squirming thanks to the feeling of Noir's breath in her ear.

"Fine, you owe me one," Alice quickly nodded her head to the side to avoid more of Noirs ASMR. Her body shivered from it and although she usually would've enjoyed it, seeing their mother about to enter the room with something producing an evil aura overcame the feeling of joy.

"Thanks!" Noir simply laughed without noticing their mother already handing out the meal.

"Dinner is ready now," Mother seemed particularly energetic thanks to Noir's announcement, but in contrast, everyone on the table seemed to have lost some of theirs and their appetite.

'What the hell even is this?'

What was in front of him was a bowl of cheesy sticks made from the bread crust he saw earlier and with some sort of cheese. On the plate, however, was some rice with… Something that looked like tuna eyeballs. Noir nearly puked from the sight of it.

He had to turn his head to the side else he would've done so. The rest of his family were having the same issue as him, other than his mother who was eating the eyeball and giving it praises like "I think I outdid myself in this one".

'I… I pray this family will be able to have some proper food someday,' Noir made a prayer to his family as he made it an immediate goal to get them better food when he becomes a full-fledged adventurer.

With that prayer, he took his first bite.

'Eh? It's kinda bland. Maybe that's a good thing,' The eyeball wasn't that flavourful, rather it wasn't as bad as he was expecting. It had a unique taste to it, with the outside of the skin chewy but the inside was soft and succulent.

As for the cheesy crusts, well, you can't ruin those. For a small meal of things randomly put together, it was a decent meal by Noir's standard. Unlike him who quickly adapted to the food in front of him, Alice and his father were struggling to even have the tuna eyeball look at them.

For his first food in this world, it wasn't bad as he thought it was.

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