NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 89: [Short Story] A Town Where I Don't Belong, Part Two
Zect’s POV
When my father said 'as soon as possible,' he did not mean right now, but rather 'no settling down.'
"You can stay here for a month or so for now, and if you want a house, you can talk to the Mayor..."
"Well, I'll think about it..."
After Chihua-san went to bed, my father started to tell me the story of how he and my mother had met.
I thought he was a scumbag as usual. After all, I didn't think he would sell out his own wife.
Well, this is what Ceres and the others had been talking about...
But now, there's no point in blaming him.
As of now, my mother is happy being Ceres' wife, and that's the way it should be.
Speaking of which...
'I want to marry Aunt Shizuko.'
Ceres said something like that.
'Alright, Ceres, by the time you're 15, she'll be a good old lady... but, I'll give her to you for a gold coin.'
And I remember hearing such a story.
It is not strange in a village society to give away your wife to a young man when you get tired of her.
This is especially common in villages where there is a serious shortage of women.
※ This is a story based on the custom in some Japanese villages that really existed a long time ago.
Anyway, it happened the way it did, that's all.
Still, I didn't think he was serious.
And right now, my father, Sector, is working hard with the help of Ceres and even his current wife.
He's clearing land and starting over with about 2/3 of what he used to own.
"I've stopped cheating and I'm going to stay with Chihua... And now, what I want is a good woman, a drink, and a job."
He laughs with a smile on his face and arms that are so scratched up it's hard to imagine what he went through to get to this point.
Ceres was a great guy.
In that situation, he sent money to the village, and the village was developed with that money... And because Ceres became a 'hero (Eiyuu)', the Lord also gave his money to the village, and the village is now a 'Hero's (Eiyuu) Hometown' because of Ceres' success, and it even has tourism income.
"He's amazing!"
"Not only that... well, he's been in love with them since he was a little boy... married to all his childhood friends' mothers."
"Yeah, I know that."
Huff... I didn't think he was really a mother-con and a babacon...
But is that really a harem?
Well, they're all pretty, to begin with...
Still, they're all old ladies around 30 years old!
Maybe our mothers are beautiful.
Princess Mariane, Cecilia-sama, and Princess Frey are beautiful...
But in my opinion, they are just 'pretty old ladies.'
It's as if Ceres were forced to deal with a troubled latecomer or a returnee woman.
If someone did the same thing to me, I'd be pissed.
But he was smiling happily.
Sure, he lost his mother when he was young, and he looked up to my mother.
Well... his biggest flaw was that he could do anything.
He was a babacon and a mother-con.
That's what it was. Still...
'How could I have forgotten?'
I've been seeing that scene over and over since I was little.
If I had realized it earlier, if I had made a connection with my mother and Ceres first... everything would have been smoother, wouldn't it?
※ The life expectancy of the human race in this world is 50 to 60 years old. And in the village society, due to the shortage of women, sometimes spouses are given to young men.
※ This is based on the actual customs of the past.
Maybe it was his longing for a mother's love that made him do it.
Still, sorry to say, but an old lady like that... who is loved by a young man not for her wealth or position but for her true love... it's funny, isn't it?
As for the face... she didn't have a mother's face, she had a woman's face.
"I made sure to talk to everyone about it... it would have been a problem if he had cuckolded us, but according to the rules and etiquette of the village... Ceres bought us all young wives to take our place, not just the Mayor to compensate us because he knew we'd have trouble in our old age... Really... He was a good man. And I felt very sorry because I was the one who sold Shizuko into slavery, not to mention everyone else."
This rule came about because in the old days when the village was poor and there were few women and a 'wife shortage', older women were given away because 'young men would be sexually distressed because they could not get married'.
After all, at the age of 30, one is usually finished as a woman.
※ In this world, the life expectancy is 50-60 years old.
Therefore, it is said that the reward was very small, and even if there was a shortage of women, it was hard for a young teenage man to live with an old woman... so there were few cases of it being used.
The only thing I remember hearing about was a rough young man who had no wife and the woman was used once or twice.
He would take a woman of about 30 years old and give her husband a young teenage slave instead.
He's probably the only one who does that except Ceres...
"I think Ceres is going too far, even if he's a babacon or a mother-con..."
"No, I have a feeling that's not the case with him, he likes this village and... Well... the fond memories... Maybe, he even reached out to me, even though I'm such a scum because of that... And if you ask me, I'd rather him be a Mr. Jimna Village (ミスタージムナ村) than a hero (Eiyuu)."
Well... that's for sure.
"Yeah, well..."
"So Zect... you've been helped by Ceres too, right? Do you want to help Ceres to develop the village?"
"I owe him a favor, but I'm going to repay it in other ways..."
"Well... it's your choice, good luck!"
I felt that Sector, my father, had become much more serious.
Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience