The third game, Monopoly, ended with me and Speranza bankrupting the other two teams.
âYAY! Weâre first, Papa!â
Speranza cheered so loudly while jumping up and down.
She seemed to be very happy to win the last game.
The farm members, who would have been pleased to see Speranza running around happily, had their heads preoccupied with something else.
Lia and Andras, who came last among the three teams, were still in the midst of the huge shock called âSeoul.â
Kaneff and Alfred were relieved that they avoided the last place, but were disappointed that they could not win the first place in the advantageous game.
I smiled and reminded the two who came last of the penalty.
âThen for the next month, the two of you will take care of the bath, right?â
âUgh⊠I canât help it.â
âPromise is a promise. I donât know much, but Iâll do my best.â
Lia and Andras humbly accepted the penalty.
I thought theyâd have a hard time adjusting to the two troublemakers Grify and Finny for a while.
Next, I looked at Kaneff and Alfred, who unfortunately came in second place.
âYou two must be sadâ
âAre you teasing us now because you won?â
âMaybe?â
If it hadnât been so twisted at the end it would have been those two who would have won the game.
Kaneff replied with an uncomfortable look, while Alfred couldnât speak as if he was really disappointed.
However, as soon as they heard my next words, their expressions changed rapidly.
âThe winner was supposed to have the âvacation companion ticketâ, but this time, Iâll just let you two have it.â
âWhat, really?â
âReally, Senior?â
Kaneff and Alfred opened their eyes wide with an expression of disbelief.
âI donât need that anyway, and only two teams were supposed to compete. AndâŠâŠâŠ.â
I looked at Speranza, who was still smiling, blurring the end of my words.
Thanks to the two teamsâ consideration for Speranza, we were able to win in the first place.
Of course, it was voluntary, but if they had seriously wanted to win the game, the first place would have been different.
For me, it was enough that Speranza enjoyed the game.
Lia and Andras also understood my decision and nodded quietly.
As such, the âVacation companion ticketâ went to Kaneff and Alfredâs team.
The two quickly shook off their regrets and expressed their joy.
âHahaha! Thatâs great!â
âFinally, I alsoâŠâ
Kaneffâs face had a rare happy smile, and Alfred was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes.
And they hugged each other and shared their joy.
It would have been a very heartwarming ending if it ended like this, butâŠ
âBut you two⊠Donât we still have something to decide?â
âHuh? What else is left?â
ââŠâŠ?â
âWhoâs going to get the prize? Thereâs only one âVacation companion Ticketâ
ââŠâŠ?!â
ââŠâŠ.?!â
Kaneff and Alfredâs faces quickly hardened when they realized the important fact belatedly.
Then they moved away from each other, saying, âDIBS!â
The teammates who shared the joy disappeared and quickly became competitors seeking the right to accompany me on my vacation.
âHey, Verdi kid. Why donât you yield to me this time?â
Kaneff roared with fierce eyes. But Alfred replied without backing down.
âI respected you once, and now I owe you in many ways, Boss, but I canât just give you this.â
Their intense eyes intertwined in the air.
Not only me but also Lia and Andras came out of the afterglow of last place and watched the current situation with interest.
âBoth of you have no intention of making concessions, right?â
âOf course!â
âOf course!â
It seemed impossible to come this far and solve it peacefully.
âWhat should we do?â
âSince weâve decided everything with the game so far, shouldnât we decide this one with a game, too?
Lia suggested that it should be decided with a game until the end, and both Kaneff and Alfred nodded as if they agreed.
The question was what kind of game to playâŠ
I didnât prepare for the fourth game because I didnât know we would get to this point.
As my worries deepened, Andras, who was next to me, gave an opinion.
âHow about playing a simple game?â
âA simple game?â
Andras said, taking out the Trump card we used to play [One-card].
âA game in which two people pick one card each and the person with the highest number wins. What do you think?â
The game he proposed certainly seemed simple and fair.
It already took a lot of time to play the three games, so it wouldnât be bad to finish it short.
I looked at Kaneff and Alfred in the sense of asking for consent.
âAll right, letâs do that.â
âI like it, too.â
The final match for the âvacation companion ticketâ commenced.
While enjoying the game, the rain and wind that had swept over the farm had already calmed down. By the time the final winner was decided, it seemed that we could see a little bit of sunlight.
-CHUCK CHUCK.
Under the heavy tension, I slowly shuffled the cards.
As there was a lot at stake in this deck, I put seriousness in the hand shuffling the cards.
-Tap!
A strange tension flowed and the bundle of cards was placed on the table.
âYou have to pick only one card. If you get the same number with different shapes, youâll pick it again.â
-Nod.
-Nod.
âWho will go first?â
âIâll pick first.â
Kaneff was the first to step forward.
Without hesitation, he took the card at the top of the bundle of cards by hand.
Even after checking the number on the card he picked, he maintained a calm expression.
Next, it was Alfredâs turn.
Alfred also took a card from the top and checked the number.
His eyes fluttered relentlessly as if he was uneasy about his number.
âPlace the cards on the table and flip them up at the same time on the count of three?â
-Nod.
-Nod.
Two cards were placed on the table.
Everyone looked at the back of the card with tense eyes.
âNow~ One, two⊠Three!â
Kaneff and Alfred simultaneously revealed their cards face up.
One was [Diamond 10] and the other was [Clover 9].
The winner of the last game was decided by a small margin.
As soon as the result of the match was confirmed, the emotions of the two, who had been on the same team so far, were clearly mixed with joy and disappointment.
The next day.
After a strong rainstorm, the weather on the farm became clear and sunny as if yesterdayâs weather was a lie.
Yesterdayâs rain and the wind were the last grim of summer, the wind felt cooler and the sky looked opaque.
I felt chilly after a long time, so I thought I should slowly take out the windbreaker for work.
âIt is already autumnâŠâ
I looked around the farm and the surrounding scenery.
Although the changes are still minor, the seasonal changes were emerging little by little.
While looking around the scenery, in the distance, I could see Speranza and the little demon beasts running around, dressed in her summer short-sleeved clothes.
Before the weather gets cold in earnest, I should slowly prepare her autumn clothes.
I already had a happy smile on my face at the thought of buying Speranza a lot of pretty autumn clothes.
âSihyeon!â
While I was putting out a shopping plan for the winter, Alfredâs voice came from behind.
My face frowned because I thought it would be about training swordsmanship together.
Still, I greeted him while hiding my expression as much as I could.
âWere you watching Speranza?â
âYeah. Yeah. Whatâs going on?â
âAndras was looking for you Heâs in the bossâs room right now.â
âAndras? Didnât he say he would be working at the Germour Wizardry today?â
âThatâs what I also heard, but he came back earlier than we thought.â
Expectations and anxiety arose at the same time at the news that Andras returned quickly.
Usually, when he suddenly comes back to the farm like this, something would have happened, good or bad.
âThen can you look after the children while Iâm away?â
âOkay, Iâll take care of it.â
âThank you.â
I tried to leave quickly before Alfred could say anything else, butâŠ
âAh! Senior! Donât forget, we got to train later. These days, youâve been making excuses and skipping them!â
Oh⊠Damn.
âUgh⊠I see. I wonât miss it today.â
Alfred smiled and waved his hand as if he liked my answer.
I also reluctantly waved and went to the farm building.
Arriving at the building, I headed straight to Kaneffâs room.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
âItâs me, Boss.â
â Come in.
When I opened the door and entered, Kaneff and Andras greeted me in the room.
âAndras, didnât you say you had work in the Wizardry today?â
âYes, I came back for a while to tell you something. I havenât finished my work yet, so I have to go back.â
âThereâs something you need to tell?â
When I looked at him with a curious expression, Andras pulled something out of his arms.
âMy father sent this for you.â
âLord Schnarpe?â
With an unexpected look, I accepted what Andras had brought.
This isâŠ
A letter?
The letter envelope made with a very luxurious material was stamped with the design of the Schnarpe family symbol.
I peeked to the side and found a similar letter on Kaneffâs desk.
I asked Andras with my eyes if I could open it here.
He smiled and nodded.
I opened the envelope very carefully, took out the letter inside, and read the contents slowly.
The letter began with the burdensome word âfamily benefactorâ.
After that, the words âgraceâ and âhelpâ were emphasized along with the poetic modifiers unique to the nobility.
I read the letter to the end with my poor Demon language skills.
The contents of the letter were very long and poetic, but the contents that they wanted to convey to me were very simple.
-I would like to invite you to the familyâs mansion to repay the benefactor for his great help.
In short, this letter was an invitation to the Schnarpe family.
âIs this an invitation?â
âThatâs right. Originally, I was going to invite Sihyeon to a big party, but I canceled it because I thought you wouldnât like it.â
âYou know me well, Andras!â
I lavished praise on Andras for the cancellation of the big party.
I donât know about other aristocrats, but it has always been a troublesome one for me.
âMy mother was a little disappointed because I canceled the party, so we decided to treat you to a small meal.â
âUmâŠâ
âIt wonât be burdensome, Sihyeon. We have made sure that youâll be comfortable.â