Chapter 20: Friend(1)

Spencer, Selena, and the children had blank expressions while sitting in front of Luke, who is awkwardly looking at them, and an unknown lady waving at them happily. They all blinked a few times, they were currently speechless. Then Selena shot a question while holding her temples.

"Hold up, since when did you hook up an elf? When?"

"Uh... Last night?"

"...My god."

Selena looked up on the ceiling while looking like she is about to have a migraine. Luke then frowned and corrected her.

"I did not hook her up, she is the one that followed me."

"Huh? How is that possible? Aren't you inside your room last night?"

"U-uh, I..."

Luke couldn't answer, he thought that explaining the things he'd done last night will complicate things. And besides, it is troublesome to explain things. He then heard Josh speaking while looking at Lina.

"Is she coming with us?"

Luke is about to answer, but Lina was faster.

"Yes, I'll come with you! You little cuties! Let's get along!"

Luke just sighed and introduced Lina to the group.

"So, this is Lina Clenn, she is a half-elf and she will come with us from now on."

"By Clenn, do you mean the famous assassin's household in the Eastern continent?"

"Yep."

Spencer clicked his tongue and spoke to Luke in a rude tone.

"Really, you always attract weird things wherever you go."

"So that means you're also weird?"

Spencer frowned and answered.

"Except for me and my siblings, of course."

Selena then butted in with a surprised expression.

"Wait, does that mean that I'm weird?!"

Spencer answered her with a blank face.

"Of course, a child loved by God who is expected to be gentle and holy looking is actually a loud foul-mouthed brawn. How is that not weird? Even the God of Light will question himself if it's really the right choice that he chose you as his child."

"What?! How rude! Well, you are a weird magician with a mouth that has no breaks! No wonder the kids won't cling to you! And your not even handsome! You are a squid if you stand side by side Luke!"

"What?! Are you asking for a fight?!"

"Come here you little shit, I'll give you a taste of my fists!"

Luke looked at Spencer and Selena who were glaring at each other, he thought he saw some sparks in the air between them and decided to butt in.

Really, they are all weird in his opinion.

"Hey, hey! Calm down you two. Let's settle this calmly. We are talking about Lina here, not the issue between members."

Spencer and Selena sat back down in their chairs with a frown on their faces. They then snorted at the same time. Luke looked at the childlessness of the two before speaking to Lina, who was beside him.

"So, this is our group."

Lily, Josh, Jessa, and Michael then talked to Lina and greeted her.

"Welcome to the group!"

"Is sister really an elf? So cool!"

"Sister, can you perhaps tell me about the elves?"

"We have another big sis! Our family is growing!"

Lina then smiled brightly at them and patted their heads.

"Hmm! Yes, I am an elf! And if you need anything, just ask me!"

"Ooooh!"

The children looked at Lina and clapped at her. She then formed a proud face and puffed out her chest. Luke just stared at this for a moment before sighing. He then heard Nash's voice in his head.

• She looks reliable, I can sense that she is very strong. She will be helpful for us.

Luke then glanced at Lina doing magic tricks in front of the children. He then started to question his choice.

'Did I really did the right thing? Why do I feel like I will regret it?

Luke shake off the bad feeling his getting and got up from his seat. The group then looked up at him. Luke looked at them for a moment before speaking while turning around.

"Let's go."

Lina then asked a question.

"To where?"

"Uh, to the... Beach?"

Selena, Lina, and the children's eyes sparkled at his declaration and started to chatter some things.

"Beach!"

"Hooray!"

"I heard that the sand there is really good!"

"I heard that magical sea creatures are very interesting looking there!"

"Whooo! Kids! Let's go fishing!"

"Finally! Some relaxation."

Spencer just blankly stared at them excitedly shouting then looked at Luke.

"We're not going there for a vacation right?"

"Yes, I have some business there. But you and the kids should enjoy the beach."

"What are you gonna do this time?"

"...Who knows?"

Spencer frowned and looked at Luke suspiciously. Luke just blankly stared at him back.

Actually, there is an important person that he will have to meet. He will be important for the upcoming war. And he has business with the ocean too. There is a power there that will be good for defense. It is an odd shield unlike the crown prince's, but it'll work.

Luke then walked out of the inn and his group followed him. He then heard Selena's voice.

"Hey um... Are we going to run again?"

Luke then looked at Selena's tired face. He saw Lina's wondering look while looking at them. Luke just answered with a straight face.

"No, we'll use the carriage this time."

Selena's face brightened.

"Really?! I'll call for one then!"

"We'll come with you!"

Lina and the children followed behind Selena. Luke and Spencer waited for them and when they returned, they were all inside a carriage while waving at them. Luke and Spencer then walked inside the carriage and sat down. Luke then spoke to the carriage driver.

"To the west coast please."

"Got it."

The carriage driver nodded and started to move the carriage. Luke just crossed his arms and legs while looking outside the window. He then heard his group chattering behind him but he just ignored it. He then heard Nash's voice on his shoulders.

"Beach.... Is beach a fun place?"

"Hmm? Yes, you should go and play with the kids in the ocean. It is really fun."

"Then what about you?"

"I have something to do."

"Then, I'll come with you."

Luke flinched and asked Nash in a confused voice.

"Are you sure? What I'll be doing is gonna be really boring. You should just go and have fun with the others."

Nash was silent for a moment before answering.

"....No, I'll come with you. I want to come with you."

Luke was surprised for a moment but then nodded.

"Okay then, it'll be also good if you come with me."

Nash didn't answer and Luke just let him be. He then just stared at the scenery outside the window.

------------

After a few days of traveling, the group finally arrived in front of the beach.

They stared at the beach with amazement. The blue ocean glistened under the sun and the sand is pure and white. They also saw some dolphins jumping from the oceans. Selena, Lina, and the children couldn't contain their excitement anymore and rushed to the shore. They all jumped in the ocean while splashing water at each other happily. Luke then heard Spencer from beside him.

"Haa, troublesome brats."

"I'll leave them to you."

"Fine, do what you need to do."

Luke smiled and nodded. He then turned around and walked away. He could still hear his group laughing but just ignored it.

He then walked into the nearest village in the area. Luke entered the village and looked around.

The village is pretty big and people selling kinds of seafood and other stuff could be seen everywhere. Luke just walked straight while heading to a deep and dark alleyway. He then heard Nash ask him.

• Are you sure we're in the right way?

"Yes."

Luke walked to the dark alleyway and saw some homeless people laying on the ground on the way. The homeless people looked at him but Luke just ignored them and walked straight.

He doesn't like looking at homeless people, it reminds him of Jane in her childhood.

Luke just kept on walking and he then finally arrived at the end of the alley and knocked on the worn-out door in front of him.

Knock, knock

Luke then hears a loud and grumpy voice.

"Who's there?!"

"May I come in first?"

The door slowly opened and a man in his early thirties with goggles on his head could be seen on the door, he has a shaved beard and a wrinkly face. Luke smiled at him and spoke.

"Hi, Klein Schwarz. I want to talk to you."

The man named Klein frowned and asked.

"Who are you? How can a pretty boy like you know my name?"

Luke's eyebrows twitched at the word 'pretty boy' but brushed it aside. He then introduced himself.

"My name is Luke Viscellete. I am here to hire you, sir Klein."

'Aaah, it is so weird to use the male lead's last name but I'll soon be part of the family anyway, so might as well use it to my advantage.'

Klein looked surprised for a moment before pondering about whether he should invite me to come in or not. After a while, he finally opened the door and welcomed me.... With a grumpy face.

"Fine, come in. Don't complain about the mess, I don't have time to clean up. Touch something, and I'll kill you."

The inside of the room looks messy, there are so many metal scraps and weird machines hanging on the ceiling. Tools and equipment are everywhere and crumpled blueprint papers can be seen anywhere on the ground.

Really, it's a shabby workshop.

Torches are the only thing that lit up the workshop. Luke observed some more before hearing Nash's cold voice which made Luke flinch.

• What did he just say? What an arrogant bastard.

Luke looked surprised for a moment because of the words that came in his head from Nash before frowning.

'This kid, did he just cursed? Where did he get those words from?'

Luke wanted to ask but he then saw Klein sitting impatiently while looking at him. Luke just brushed off the thought aside and sat right in front of Klein, who is crossing his arms while looking at him. Klein then asked the question right away.

"Spit out your business."

Luke smiled at Klein who also seemed to want to go straight to the point. Luke then slowly spoke.

"I want to hire you to work for the Viscellete family."

Klein frowned and shot a question.

"Why should I? I don't want to work under others"

'I knew it would be like this'

Luke then took a deep breath and spoke in a manner fitting of a noble, which also weirded him out internally.

"You see, I heard about a man with a talent to build things here. He could invent and make anything he likes as long as there are proper materials. But I recently heard that that man just got plagiarized? Isn't that right? Sir Klein?"

Klein's face suddenly became dark as if remembering a bitter memory. Luke just stared at him.

At the time of war with the three kingdoms in the novel, the three kingdoms hired Klein to create warships and weapons for destruction in exchange for bringing Klein's name to glory.

His inventions are so destructive that they almost destroyed a third of the kingdom. In the novel, Klein died in the middle of the war and never even got his name mentioned after that. But there is something that the author and me, the reader, knew about Klein. Klein didn't want fame, money, success, all he wanted is...

To meet his wife and daughter and live together happily with them.

The reason why Klein pursued inventing despite all of his inventions being plagiarized and his business almost shutting down, is to make his daughter happy. His daughter always loved tinkering with stuff since she was little and his father wanted to make her the best invention and give it to her as a present and become close.

But 14 years have passed, Klein still can't found the whereabouts of his wife and daughter and is also struggling to create new ideas. Klein is always devastated about that fact but never gave up on searching for his wife and daughter.

But... Luke knew where they are.

And that is what Luke will use to rope in Klein, who is desperately searching for them.

"Listen here, Sir Klein. I'll cut to the chase since I don't have that much time..."

"What? What is it?"

Klein spoke in a grumpy voice. Luke smiled gently at him.

"I know where your daughter and wife are."