Father-Daughter Crafting Team (5)

Lan-lan-i and Lulu's bellies were stuffed full, but the adults had been so absorbed in watching the kids that none of them had eaten a thing.

Evni and I, who'd been working nonstop in the workshop, were just as starving, so we went looking for a decent place to eat.

"There's a café we always hit whenever we come to Starting Village. The full kids can ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠order drinks, and the hungry ones among us can grab some fruit or brunch. Want to go there?"

We took Dohoyo up on the suggestion. The café was done up in a Greek style. An attendant in white robes straight out of a comic book took our orders.

"Lady Dohoyo. Welcome back. Are these your companions?"

"My friend Sophia and her minions."

"I'll show you to a table for the whole party."

Dohoyo's party and ours ended up seated across from each other. Sophia and Cheonsol both tried to claim the seats beside me, but the kids beat them to it.

My seat is…

A slave spirit trying to share a table with her master? We'll stay in miniature form.

The earth spirits shrank themselves down of their own accord and perched on the table. They blended in so well they could've passed for café décor.

"Your drinks are ready."

"Lan-lan-i's!"

Lan-lan-i took a sip of the red juice and muttered,

"It's not blood…"

"You ordered tomato juice, did you not? Still, it's sweet and tart. Tasty, is it not?"

"Yeah!"

Lan-lan-i happily chugged her juice. Lulu sipped at an espresso.

Daddy. The bitter taste suits my mouth better. Earlier was way too sweet.

"That…!"

Across the table, Ebrote deflated as he watched the kids. Lulu hurriedly tried to soothe her uncle.

The snacks Uncle bought were delicious too. This just happens to be more my taste.

"Lulu is such a good girl. Evrande was just as sweet when she was little. One day she picked wild strawberries for her big brother and—"

"Big Brother!!"

Evrande, who'd been about to bite into a sandwich, bellowed at the top of her lungs. Then she turned to me in a flustered rush to explain herself.

"Mad Demon, I'm not normally this hot-tempered, okay? It's just that Big Brother keeps doing this…"

"It's fine."

I understood completely. Little sisters were born to snap at their older brothers.

"It's nice seeing a family get along so well."

"Mad Demon…"

While Evrande was still touched, every last dish arrived. One spoonful of the Greek-style soup and I couldn't help but marvel.

"There's seafood in this, and it's still good."

"Ah, right. This lady recalls that the Mad Demon dislikes seafood. Would you care to trade soups with me?"

"It's edible enough. I'm fine. But I'm curious, so let's share a little."

"Heh. Very well."

We amicably spooned from each other's bowls. Sophia, meanwhile, couldn't even touch her soup—her hands were trembling.

"Lady Sophia, what's wrong?"

"This one bowl of soup costs the same as a single serving of Sehrimnir roast…"

"No wonder it tasted so good."

So that was why it was expensive.

"Sophia. Aren't you raking in divinity these days?"

"My income's gone up, but the habits from when I was scraping by are still there. It's not actually a burden at this point, so I should just eat it."

Hesitantly, Sophia took a spoonful—then her eyes lit up and she inhaled the rest of the soup. Good. Our goddess was eating well.

Click-click. Click-click.

"Urgh…"

Thud.

Ebrote, who hadn't so much as touched his drink and had been taking photos the entire time, let out a groan and slumped face-first onto the table. Then he shoved his camera at me.

"Brother-in-law… this is as far as I go… Take the photos in my place…"

"Just what did you shoot to end up like this?"

I checked the pictures. There was Evril eating bread, and Evni right before biting into a fig.

"Urgh…"

Thud.

I had no choice but to collapse too. They were too cute.

"Seriously. Is there a single normal guy among you? Dohoyo, you must have it rough."

"I told Yohan earlier—your hardships are way worse. At least Ebrote doesn't wear Naked Armor."

Ebrote, who'd been face-down, twitched. Ebria shot me a look of pure pity.

"Brother-in-law, what exactly do you do that the community only ever talks about how insane you are? You're seriously famous."

"I'm completely normal."

Honestly, it felt unfair. The skill existed to be used in battle. Of course I was going to use it to win.

"There are quite a few photos of the Mad Demon up on the community boards too. You placed third in today's raid, so the footage dropped, right? Someone screenshotted it and posted it on the elf board."

"Evrande, you even know the word 'screenshot'?"

"Of course I do?"

This time Cheonsol flinched. Coming from an Eastern-style martial arts world, Cheonsol was still weak with English.

"Evrande. Might you be willing to instruct this lady in community slang? It is far too difficult for me."

"Sure, but why not learn from the Mad Demon instead of me?"

I'd taught Cheonsol community slang before. I'd goofed around a bit during the lessons, gotten smacked for it, and the tutoring had been cut short.

"Naturally, it is because this lady wishes to grow closer to Evrande, is it not?"

"Cheonsol…"

Evrande was moved. Ebria dabbed at the corners of her eyes and nodded along.

Our Cheonsol really did have a way with words. Put her next to a certain massive-chested, foul-mouthed goddess and the contrast was night and day.

"Hm? What is it?"

"You spilled some soup. I'll wipe it off for you."

But Sophia's chest made everything forgivable. I pulled out a tissue and wiped the white liquid off her chest.

Dohoyo muttered with a sour look,

"Going that far? Sophia. Aren't you getting a little too close with your minion?"

Sophia scrambled to defend herself.

"No—Yohan is my first minion, and the one who contributed the most to our undefeated streak. Cheonsol joined because of him too. The kids exist because of him. Of course we're close."

"That wasn't what I meant. But if you're happy, fine."

Once we'd finished filling our stomachs, we traded idle chatter about nothing in particular. Most of it was about how we were raising the kids.

Goddesses talked with goddesses. Women chatted among themselves. The kids entertained themselves just fine, so I ended up talking with Ebrote the most.

"By the way, hyung-nim. Even though Lan-lan-i's gotten pretty big, you still treat her like she's as cute as the little ones."

"I've got ears too, you know. I heard everything. Lan-lan-i hasn't even been born a full year yet, right?"

Lan-lan-i, who'd been regaling her younger sisters with heroic tales, perked up her ears.

"Lan-lan-i is an adult!"

"Yes, yes. Our niece is an adult. Want some of this too?"

"I'm full!"

A sulky Lan-lan-i refused the fruit Ebrote offered. He gave an awkward laugh.

"And I'm an elf, remember? You don't even count as a teenager until you're a hundred, so of course I see her that way."

Rumble-crash.

This time Evni reacted. She looked up at me with glistening eyes.

"Daddy…"

"When will Evni become an adult? It's okay. You'll get there soon."

Kids born through impregnation supposedly reached adulthood within a year. Lan-lan-i had started smaller than my palm, and look at her now—a proper young woman.

"One day you might wake up and find you've grown as big as your unnie."

"Even so, just in case—listen well to the Mad Demon and your mother. Practice hard with your spirits. Eat well and sleep well."

Cheonsol gently coached her. Evni, receiving a head-pat from her vampire mother, smiled.

"Okay…"

"I'll grow up soon too!"

"That's right. Evril will grow up soon as well."

Evrande stroked Evril's hair. Back in our divine realm, Cheonsol and I would've been run ragged looking after the kids alone. Having two moms around really did make things easier.

"Whyyy are you looking at Naa-a like thaaat?"

"…No reason."

Na-a was big in body only. Mentally, she was about on Lan-lan-i's level. Thanks to her playing with the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kids, I got a bit of free time—but the rest of the time it just felt like I'd gained one more child.

If I was already feeling like I'd gained one more kid… impregnating Na-a and turning that into two might not be such a bad idea.

After I kept my massage promise to Sophia, I'd have to start sizing things up.

"Oh, right. I never even said thank you."

Suddenly Ebrote pulled out his staff. Evni's eyes sparkled.

"I…"

"What? Evni helped too? Then did Evni make Uncle's staff?"

"Yes…"

"My niece giving her uncle a gift! How precious!"

Ebria looked at Ebrote like he was hopeless.

"We paid divinity and commissioned the workshop, remember? It was expensive."

"True. It really was expensive."

Dohoyo agreed. For Dohoyo—who regularly visited a café expensive enough to make Sophia's hands shake—to call something expensive…

Sophia, who'd been scraping her soup bowl clean and had just ordered another dish, tilted her head.

"Expensive? It's a bit pricier than other workshops, but it's still a reasonable rate, isn't it?"

"You don't pay divinity thanks to Yohan, so of course you wouldn't know. Because of the event raid special, production costs doubled."

"Good heavens…"

Sophia looked at me. I winked, and her face twisted.

"I'm not going to praise you."

"Aw, why not? Fine. Let's pretend I didn't wink. I was generous and gave you a discount, so now praise me."

"Your olive pasta is ready."

"I'm too busy to praise you!"

Sophia inhaled the pasta. What a glutton of a goddess. Still, she ate so well. If she'd filmed mukbangs back on Earth, she would've easily cleared a hundred thousand subscribers.

Even the way she clumsily dropped noodles on her chest was charming. I cleaned it up for her myself, and she thanked me with her eyes.

"…You two are seriously close. Zero sense of personal space."

"Uh, Lady Dohoyo, do you want that too?"

Evrande pulled out a tissue. Dohoyo compared Sophia's chest to her own and went dead serious.

"No. We have our own way of doing things. I like things as they are."

"I like Lady Dohoyo just fine."

"Me too!"

Ebria's flattery and Evril's flattery worked—Dohoyo's mood recovered.

Sophia had already finished her pasta in the meantime.

"So what now? It's raid week, and the village is putting on something. Want to go check it out?"

"Oh. Now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that's an interesting contest."

I had no idea what an event raid had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to do with crafting, but it had my attention. The tournament started in an hour, so the timing was perfect.

"Why didn't the workshop tell us about this?"

"They're swamped just handling the flood of crafting orders. And festivals like this are for the minions, so they probably didn't even care."

Unlike us, who were excited, Dohoyo's group looked disappointed.

"We don't have any minions who craft items. Originally the family was going to send us more minions for support, but that fell through when Ebrote showed up."

Dohoyo glanced at her minion. Ebrote looked so thrilled he clearly hadn't heard a word she'd said.

"Evni! How about entering this? The Evni who made Uncle's staff is bound to get a great result! And just think how cute she'd look."

His true feelings slipped out at the end. I was thinking the same thing.

"Evni. Want to enter with Daddy?"

"Okay…"

"Urgh. Lan-lan-i wants to do something with Daddy too, but crafting is boring."

I don't have any handiwork talent either. It's a shame.

"Then it's decided."

Sophia filled out the application form on the spot.