The Boisterous Reunion
Even after the recent battle, I felt nothing out of the ordinary besides a slight dizziness and nausea. Come to think of it, the symptoms were a bit similar to early pregnancy, but if anyone dared to joke about me being pregnant, I'd kill them on the spot. Whether by magic or with my fists, I'd smash them until every last kernel of popcorn was gone. While I was lost in such pointless thoughts, a knock came from outside. For some reason, the irregular rhythm grated on my nerves.
"I've brought your meal."
"Come in."
A neatly dressed maid wheeled in a serving cart and began laying out the dishes. The menu consisted of potato herb potage soup, cod and salmon terrine with fig jam, and scones. The combination was a complete mess, but I decided to just eat it anyway. Werner supposedly hated fish terrine, but since I was eating alone, there was no need to worry about such details.
I sliced off a bit of the terrine and popped it into my mouth. The fig jam gave it a sweet taste, but it lacked salt. A spoonful of the soup confirmed it was bland as well. Whether northern cuisine was simply like this or it was just Glacia's taste, the food overall was far too mild. Bechem, where I'd lived, was quite far south, so the food there was heavily seasoned with spices and salt. Eating this bland fare made me crave ramen—without the jin soon, of course. I'd rather eat what was already here than that.
I tore off a piece of scone, dipped it in the potato potage, and tried it. It was edible enough, though still ridiculously bland. Was the Grand Duke's household that poor? Why were they so stingy with salt?
"Haa... I'm full. You can take it away."
"But you've barely touched it. Perhaps you should eat a little more..."
"Sorry, but I don't have much of an appetite to begin with."
Back in my old life, my stomach could handle five bowls of offal stew plus two chicken sandwiches. But no matter how hungry I was, this tasteless food only left me feeling bloated.
"However, the young lady instructed us to ensure Sir Werner finished everything so he wouldn't collapse again."
Then they should have made it properly salty. Still, it would be rude to complain about the seasoning while staying as a guest, so I kept quiet. Flipping the table and demanding better food like some cooking manga character would be insane.
"Unfortunately, my stomach isn't feeling well right now."
I tried to politely send the meal away when the door suddenly burst open with a bang. Was it Umihara? Or Glacia, angry about my picky eating? The people who entered were nothing like what I'd expected. Neither Umihara nor Glacia.
"Werner!!!!!"
"Kiddo!!!!"
Their voices alone were deafening. The entire mansion shook as if train whistles were being boiled daily. How had someone as gentle and composed as Glacia come from between these two professional loudmouths? Was this the mystery of biology or whatever it was called?
"It's been how many years, kiddo!!! Twelve years, right!!!"
The whale-sized giant bellowing at the top of his lungs was Melchior Winterhart. Glacia's father, the former Grand Duke of the North, and the strongest warrior. In the game, his defense, stamina, and attack power were absurdly high, making him a reliable tank and sub-dealer. Pair him with a good damage dealer on raid missions and there was nothing to fear.
"Kiddo! Didn't you miss your big sis?! That little runt's all grown up now!"
The woman pounding on my back was Melissa Winterhart. Glacia's mother, the Queen of Vampires, and one of the greatest mages. In the game, she was fragile but could output massive burst damage with blood magic once properly protected. That trait made her an excellent match with her husband Melchior. On top of that, there was one particularly notable thing about her...
"Melchior, you're still a walking slab of muscle... and Melissa, you're still a little kid."
"Werner, want to die by your big sis's hand?"
She looked like a very short child. At a glance she resembled a teenage girl, but she was a vampire hundreds of years old. The height difference between Melchior and Melissa was so extreme that she often rode on his shoulder while traveling. Though she could fly as a vampire, she simply preferred it that way.
"Anyway, it's been a long time, brother, sister."
"Yeah, Werner! I'm so glad to see you after all this time!!!"
"Brother, could you lower your voice a bit...? The maid over there just fainted..."
Whether he'd infused his voice with inner energy or not, the maid who'd brought my meal was unconscious on the floor. Was that even human lung capacity?
"Tsk, you idiot! I told you to control your volume in front of people!"
"Sorry, Melissa... I just got so happy seeing our kiddo after so long..."
Seeing that massive, muscular giant cowering before a wife half his height was exactly like the fan comics people drew. A laugh slipped out.
"Pfft..."
"What's so funny, kiddo?"
"Nothing, it's just hilarious, sis. A two-meter-plus slab of muscle getting scolded by someone the size of his own forearm... Ah, damn it."
"Our kiddo must like drinking, huh?"
"Why would I—?"
"Your liver's swollen to bursting."
With a thud, Melissa punched me with a fist packed full of blood and sent me flying across the room. An ordinary person would have been seriously injured, but since the target was Werner, it only hurt like hell.
"Your violent streak hasn't changed one bit, sister."
"Anyway, kiddo, I'll say it again—I'm glad you're back."
That wasn't something you said after punching someone with a blood fist, but I supposed that was just how they greeted each other. These two had been through every kind of hardship imaginable, so this was probably just their version of affection.
"Right, Werner. Welcome to the North. First time here? Want to take a look around with your big brother?"
Melchior helped me up and brushed the dust off my clothes. Muscle really was the way to go—there were no bad people among those bulky, muscle-bound big-brother types. Even at the gym, the jacked trainers were usually nice guys. There were exceptions, of course, but those types got expelled from the National Bodybuilder Association.
"Yeah, I missed you both. But... um..."
"Kiddo, didn't your big sis teach you not to trail off like that?"
"You're not angry? I ran away and abandoned your daughter twelve years ago."
If it were me, I'd have torn the culprit into a thousand pieces. Yet Melchior and Melissa simply chuckled and patted my shoulders.
"Werner, did I look so narrow-minded that I'd get angry over something like that? Besides, you were going through a lot too."
"That's right. If anything, it's this big sis's fault for not being able to look after you properly."
These people... really cared about Werner. Whether this was reincarnation or possession, was it okay for me to feel this warmth after suddenly taking over Werner's body? I wasn't sure if this was what family felt like. Both Werner and I had been alone without blood relatives. If I could keep feeling this warmth...
Unexpectedly, the idea of marriage didn't seem so bad after all. For a moment, it felt like someone from the stock gallery was shouting "Don't do it, you crazy bastard!" but I decided to ignore it. Speaking of stocks, I never sold my Samsung Electronics shares before reincarnating. They must have tanked hard by now.
"By the way, Werner, what's this?"
Melchior frowned as he looked at the remains of my meal.
"Ah, that's my food... It didn't suit my taste, so..."
"Don't you hate fish terrine? And herbs too..."
"That's why I left it..."
"How dare they feed my little brother this garbage!!!!!"
Melchior's roar shook the entire mansion, and my eardrums felt like they were about to burst. Come on, that was a bit much... The food was just bland, not actual garbage. It was bad enough to be jin soon level, sure, but it wasn't trash.
"Brother, don't be like that... It just didn't suit my taste..."
"That's exactly what makes it garbage!"
Did he think so little of other people's palates that he equated "a dog wouldn't eat it" with "Werner wouldn't eat it"? I was starting to feel a little hurt.
Melissa grabbed a passing servant and gave orders.
"Go tell the chef to roast a whole goose right now."
"And you, go buy some melons immediately. Tell them to make juice."
I was a little surprised. I'd seen Werner's favorite foods listed in the official guidebook, but I never expected these two to actually remember them—especially not the two with the simplest personalities. The fact that they even knew what he disliked was particularly unexpected.
"Brother, sister, you remembered what I like? Even after twelve years...?"
"What kind of nonsense is that, Werner? Of course we know what our kiddo likes."
"That's right. What kind of big sister would I be if I didn't know my little brother loves goose meat?"
I felt a little happy. These people really seemed to care about Werner. Maybe staying like this wouldn't be so bad after all. I decided not to worry about the servants and chefs who would now have to work overtime starting from this moment.