Chapter 4: David Who Wants to Earn Money

William couldn't understand why his father was being so particular about such a trivial matter, even to the point of refusing to let him train unless he swore, when previously his father had tried every day to find ways to make William train hard.

In William's view, if someone provokes you and you can't retaliate, that is sheer weakness; it not only fails to solve the problem but can invite even bigger trouble.

However, being unable to cultivate means he won't be able to improve his awakened magical talent within a year; without awakening a better magical talent, not only can he not secure a better future for Alice or fend off Demon King Kusala's assault, but even the lives of his parents would be hard to save when goblins attack the village a year later.

At present, nothing is more important to William than training.

So William nodded seriously and said, "I swear I will never strike anyone who can be called a companion; breaking this oath will bring divine punishment."

William's oath deliberately left a loophole—"someone who can be called a companion"—and how to define that is left to his own judgment.

David stared straight at William, making William feel a chill inside; after the oath, David immediately realized his ulterior motive had been seen through by his father.

But David didn't press the point further; instead he broke into a relaxed grin and laughed, "Is that so? No wonder you're my son!"

"Alright, you can go back to doing your own thing."

William, a bit surprised, asked, "So it's all fine now?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Then you won't hold me accountable for using martial techniques before, father? Aren't you curious where I learned them?"

David retorted, "If I ask, will you tell me?"

William fell silent.

David patted William's head and said, "I know my own son; even though you're stubborn and often pretend to be mature like an adult, I will definitely keep my word."

After David left, William breathed a sigh of relief; he was grateful that his old man could trust him so much, and fortunately his father seemed unaware of the demonic power within him, otherwise things might not have been resolved so easily.

"Never mind, less than a year remains before my magic awakens; I can't waste any time."

After losing a duel with William, Bulande and a few boys accompanying him sat on a small hill near Bigen Village; Bulande planted his wooden sword into the grass before him, twisted a long stalk of grass around his hand, and stared blankly at the sword.

He couldn't understand how that lazy William, who hadn't awakened his magic, managed to defeat him.

Could it be that even after he awakened a hero‑level aptitude, he's still that ordinary? He couldn't even beat William, who usually slacks off from training.

The boys beside them were clearly angry about Bulande's loss to William, all wearing disgruntled looks; they followed Bulande as their leader—their "kid king"—and they all disliked William, which unified their stance.

One of the boys finally couldn't hold back and said indignantly, "Bulande big brother, are we just going to leave it at that, never bothering that William guy again?"

Bulande replied, "Do you want me to be someone whose words don't count?"

"But William hasn't even awakened his magic; how could he possibly defeat you, Bulande big brother? He must have used some trick!"

The other boys, hearing this, felt that this was the only plausible explanation and all echoed in agreement.

"Exactly, that William guy must have used some trick—so cunning!"

"Right, we can't just let him go!"

Actually,

Children sometimes bully peers out of sheer immaturity; the more William isolates himself and ignores them, the more they try to get his attention by picking on him, though neither William nor Bulande and the others are aware of this.

Bulande suddenly thought of something, wore a smug grin, and said, "I did say I wouldn't trouble him again, but if you go after him it wouldn't count as breaking the agreement; you doing so..."

The next day, after finishing his physical training, William continued basic sword‑swing practice in the courtyard when a medium‑sized stone arced from in front of him, skimming his nose, and then more stones flew toward William.

William quickly raised his arm to shield his face and looked toward the stones' source, seeing several boys on the distant ground picking up stones and throwing them at him; they were the same boys who had been with Bulande yesterday, except Bulande was absent.

"Keep your promise, you all!"

William was irritated; aside from whether yesterday's losing bet counted, the stones' size was dangerous for kids—getting hit on the arm hurts, let alone a vital spot.

William hadn't wanted to play with the village kids in his previous life precisely because of this; children sometimes truly lack a sense of proportion!

He wanted to rush forward and teach them a lesson, but recalling his promise to his father not to strike companions, William hesitated, stayed inside the courtyard, dodged stones, and used his wooden sword to knock the incoming stones out of the air.

"William, lazy fool! Without awakening a strong magical aptitude, all training is wasted!"

"Lalalala!"

The boys, seeing their stone‑throwing at William ineffective, didn't linger; they stuck out their tongues, made funny faces, shouted taunts, and ran off.

William looked at the garden's flowerbeds and grass damaged by stones, sighed, and muttered, "In this life, who really is the lazy one..."

However, recalling how he blocked and dodged with his wooden sword, William felt his body had noticeably adapted to his previous life's combat experience, making the effect several times better than training alone, and he enjoyed the process.

"Decided—if they come again tomorrow, I'll use them for training!" William said eagerly.

Little did they know, David, hidden behind a second‑floor window, had watched the whole scene...

Mobius Town lies twelve kilometers from Bigen Village and is the only nearby town, so farmers, merchants heading to market, and adventurers from surrounding villages seeking quests all gather there.

Inside Mobius Town's tavern, the five members of the Silver‑rank adventurer squad White Eagle sat around a wooden round table near the window, drinking.

One tall man with brown beard braided at his chin gulped half a mug of beer from a wooden tankard in one go and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Phew, black beer really is the best!"

To the left of the brown‑bearded man sat a slender young woman with two short, upward‑curled ponytails, wearing a leather corset, leather short skirt, and boots.

Her skin was a healthy wheat tone; she twirled her glass with one hand, laughing as she looked at David across the table and said:

"The stingy captain who always haggles over even a single copper coin actually paid for our drinks—it's like the sun finally shone on the dwarf clan. Captain, you must have a favor to ask of us, right?"

White Eagle Squad is the strongest adventurer team across the dozen villages near Mobius Town, composed entirely of Silver‑rank adventurers above level thirty; although Silver‑rank is relatively low within the Adventurers' Guild, in this remote human region they are top‑tier.

The squad's five members are Warrior Geilan, Thief Xierna, Priest Ouli, Archer Finley, and captain Swordmaster David; the two who spoke earlier were Geilan and Xierna.

David laughed and replied, "Nothing slips past you, Xierna. Here's the thing—I want to discuss raising the level of contracts we accept to Silver rank; does anyone have any opinions?"

Xierna looked at David with curiosity and said, "Huh? Weren't you the captain who suggested we avoid Silver‑level or higher quests before? Why the change of heart now?"

David said apologetically, "I was worried about danger preventing me from returning home to see my wife and child, which is why I suggested that. But lately William has become much more diligent, training hard every day, and as a father I want to earn extra money to improve William's meals and such."

The others showed surprised expressions upon hearing this.

Xierna said, "No way—you mean that little brat William will train on his own?!"

David nodded, "Yes, he's working hard every day."

Ouli chuckled, "That's truly amazing; seems his true form is manifesting."

Finley sighed heavily, "I have no personal opinion; whatever you decide is fine..."

David looked at Geilan and the others.

Geilan took another big gulp of beer, wiped the foam off his mustache with the back of his hand, and said, "I don't have any objections."

Ouli nodded and smiled, saying, "Helping others brings joy, which is God's teaching, so I naturally agree to take on more tasks."

David looked at Xierna and asked, "Xierna, what about you?"

Xierna wore an annoyed expression and said, "I don't have any opinions, but you have to promise me one thing."

David curiously asked, "What thing?"

Xierna said, "Because the mission difficulty increased, you need to help me bear the extra workload."

"Of course, I won't let you feel bothered. Then that counts as everyone passing." David quickly smiled and nodded, then waved at the bar's female boss, saying, "Boss, give us four more beers!"

Geilan asked, "David, aren't you drinking?"

David apologetically said, "I still want to buy some beef, planning to let Helena improve William's meals tonight, so I won't keep you company. If you want anything else, don't be shy—everything's on my tab." -

Xierna said, "Don't worry about that; we definitely won't hold back."

After David left, Geilan happily continued drinking, while Finley listlessly slumped in the corner.

Ouli looked at Xierna, smiled, and said, "Xierna, what do you think about William suddenly training hard?"

Xierna, while drinking, replied irritably, "Who knows? Clearly we're poor, yet he acts like he can handle it alone—just looking at him makes me angry!"

In the evening, William finished training, and as soon as he returned home he smelled a very fragrant aroma, saying, "How fragrant! Dinner must be curry beef, right?"

Mother Helena laughed, "William, your nose is sharp—go wash your hands and eat."

William washed his hands, sat at the table, took a bite of the curry beef with rice, found the taste really good, and because his mother and father had died early in his previous life, he now feels a deep sense of cherishment and nostalgia every time he eats his mother's cooking.

"Excellent!"

William couldn't even swallow the food in his mouth before speaking, and just started gulping it down.

Helena happily said, "Training is so hard, William, you should eat a bit more."

After saying that, Helena turned her head, leaned close to her husband David, covered her mouth with her hand, and whispered to David:

"David, is it really okay to increase household expenses like this? I remember your previous salary was just enough to cover our monthly expenses. Moreover, if William awakens decent magical talent next year, we might need to save enough for tuition at an elementary magic academy."

David stepped forward, smiling, and replied softly, "Xierna and I have recently taken on missions with considerably higher rewards, so you can rest assured."