A loud cry could be heard from the side all of a sudden, startling the father and son .

Claude turned to look and saw Arbeit show up from nowhere . He was standing at the entrance of the dining hall and glaring at the thale and riyas on the table with bloodshot eyes .

Morssen furrowed his brow from the abnormally pungent stench of alcohol that emanated from Arbeit .

"Where have you gone? You didn't return home for the whole night and even smell of alcohol . Did you drink a little too much?" Morssen appeared rather mad as his expression turned dark .

"I . . . I didn't go anywhere . . . I was just . . . just playing cards with some friends . . . and . . . and drank some alcohol . . . " Arbeit belched as he fumbled his way over . "No . . . That's not it . . . Why are you giving him so . . . so much money . . . You . . . you've never given me so much money before . . . "

Seeing Arbeit stretch his hand towards the money on the table, Claude slapped it away and said, "This isn't money for me . I'm going to pay someone else I borrowed money from back to buy an antique cookbook . "

"You . . . you're making this up!" Arbeit almost fell down and he clutched the side of the table to regain his balance with much difficulty . "What . . . what piece of c.r.a.p antique cook . . . cookbook . . . since when were antique cookbooks there . . . you . . . lying to me are you . . . "

Arbeit pointed at Morssen . He was so close that the finger almost b.u.mped into Morssen's face . "You . . . you're picking favorites . . . giving him so . . . so much money . . . If I didn't come back . . . I . . . I wouldn't get a single hint about it . . . "L

Morssen was already at the brink of rage . Anyone who was pointed at straight in the face would feel p.i.s.sed, not to mention when the one to do the pointing was his own son . He stood up and tried his best to suppress his anger and maintain his dignity as a father . "Arbeit, you're drunk . Go wash your face, gargle, and tidy yourself up . As Sir f.u.x's personal secretary, you have to look your part like a person in high society . You must always maintain your stature . Don't make yourself look no different from those drunk vagrants out on the streets . "

However, the drunk Arbeit couldn't be bothered to take his father seriously . He only looked at the two coins on the table . "You . . . you can't give him . . . my . . . my money . . . this is my money . . . all this . . . is mine . . . "

Arbeit grabbed Morssen's collar and belched loudly once more, disgusting his father thoroughly .

"Let go now!" shouted Morssen angrily at his son .

"No . . . I won't!" Arbeit refused to stop . He had completely lost all fear for his father . "Give me my . . . money . . . all this house's money . . . is . . . mine . . . "

What's the point in messing with an alcoholic? Claude stepped forward, held onto Arbeit's two hands and gave them a twist before pus.h.i.+ng him back, causing Arbeit to let go of Morssen's collar and stumbling back a few steps before finally stabilizing himself .

"You, step aside!" Morssen pushed Claude away and gave his eldest son a huge slap on the face . A loud, audible whack could be heard . The slap was really forceful, causing Arbeit to spin twice before falling to the ground . The left side of his face could be seen swelling up at a rate visible to the naked eye .

"Buzz off into your room and see me tomorrow when you're sober!" roared Morssen, before he ignored his son on the ground and prepared to go upstairs . He turned back after taking two steps to the dining table to take the magical cookbook before heading back upstairs .

Claude picked up the two coins from the table and looked at the floored Arbeit . He then noticed that he was out cold, either from his father's slap or from getting dead drunk . He lay there, completely unmoving .

Upon kneeling down to take a look, he noticed that the pathetic fool was still breathing .  Seems like he's still fine .  Claude stood up and gave Arbeit a light kick to wake him up, but he didn't react at all . After scratching his head for a bit, he decided that he would just leave him be . But when he looked up, he saw his younger sister standing at the entrance of the kitchen in a daze . The scene that transpired in the dining hall had shocked the little girl .

"It's fine, Anna . Arbeit just got drunk and Father thought him a lesson for it," said Claude as he went over to stroke her head to calm her down .

"Are you going to leave him lying there like this?" asked his little sister .

"Yup . It's not like I can carry him . Who asked him to grow so tall?" He really couldn't be bothered to deal with that piece of c.r.a.p .

But he still decided after a while to drag Arbeit by his two legs into a corner in the dining hall . After that, he told his sister, "Anna, go upstairs into his room and get him a blanket to cover up with . We don't want him to catch a cold now . "

Looking confused, she asked, "Big Brother, what difference would it make for him to lie there instead?"

Claude nodded and said, "Mom won't be able to see him from the stairwell at that angle since the table is blocking the view . That way, she'll think that he already went to his room to sleep . Since I won't be able to carry him upstairs anyway, I might as well leave him lying there . He'll get back into his room if he wakes up in the middle of the night . There's no need for us to worry about him . Oh, and have you cleaned up the kitchen already? If so, let's put out the candles and shut the doors and windows . Go get the blanket first . I'll wait for you . "

"Okay, Big Brother," said Angelina before she went upstairs obediently .

With the magical cookbook out of his hands and no longer having to copy and decode the diary, Claude no longer had anything bothering him . After briefly arranging his desk and considering what he would have to prepare for his trip to Egret tomorrow, he quickly went to bed and fell asleep . He slept soundly and only woke up when the bell of the warG.o.d shrine rang at six in the morning .

That was a great slumber . . .  Claude felt fully energized when he awakened and completely refreshed . He went to the bathroom in the first floor to wash up before he had breakfast .

However, he just recalled that incident last night with Arbeit when he was was.h.i.+ng up and wondered whether he had woken up already .

When he went downstairs, he saw the fellow taking small ips from his tea at the dining table . He looked completely pale and there was some slight swelling on the left of his face with clear, red finger marks . However, he had already changed into his pajamas and even looked like he had taken a bath, as was evident from his slightly wet maroon-colored hair .

Morssen must've been lecturing him right now . Arbeit no longer looked as daring as the night before when he was drunk and only nodded nonstop to admit his faults . But when he saw Claude going downstairs, he glared at him with a begrudging gaze filled with hate .

"Claude, come here," said Morssen in a deep voice .

"Good morning, Father . Is there anything you need me for?" Claude ignored Arbeit's hateful receptin .

"Why did you leave your elder brother in the dining hall yesterday and went to sleep by yourself?"

Claude shrugged and replied innocently, "I couldn't move him, nor could I drag him upstairs . You were so angry last night, so I didn't dare to call you to do it, and Anna's still young and we won't be able to move him even with the two of us . Also, I didn't leave him completely unattended . I even got Anna to get him a blanket to cover up with lest he got a cold . "

"Ugh . . . " Morssen was at a loss of words . He had forgotten that the palm mark on Arbeit's face was of his own making . He was far too infuriated by this son of his the last night and had forgotten to carry him up to his bedroom on the first floor . Even though he suspected that Claude had intentionally left Arbeit in the dining room, he couldn't do anything about it since Claude insisted that the reason he did so was because he couldn't carry Arbeit .

"You definitely did it on purpose . Aren't you usually really strong?" said Arbeit with a start .

"You still find it in yourself to criticize me for that? If you weren't dead drunk, that wouldn't have happened . You wouldn't have been slapped and wouldn't have lied on the ground . Oh, and last night you said that you went drinking and playing cards with your friends, right? You must've lost all your money . That's why you freaked out when you saw money the moment you returned home . I wonder how much you lost, huh?" snapped Claude back .

"You still find it in yourself to criticize me for that? If you weren't dead drunk, that wouldn't have happened . You wouldn't have been slapped and wouldn't have lied on the ground . Oh, and last night you said that you went drinking and playing cards with your friends, right? You must've lost all your money . That's why you freaked out when you saw money the moment you returned home . I wonder how much you lost, huh?" snapped Claude back .

"I . . . I didn't play any cards . . . I only went drinking a little . Don't spout bulls.h.i.+t," said Arbeit a little sense of guilt .

"Did you forget what you said yourself?" Claude was well aware that his father hated alcoholics and gamblers with a pa.s.sion . Claude's alcoholic grandfather had left his father with a horrible impression of them and the greatest lesson his grandfather taught his father was on gambling: he was the perfect antimodel for it who had lost all his a.s.sets from gambling!

"I . . . I was only spouting nonsense cause I was drunk . I didn't play any cards," insisted Arbeit stubbornly .

"You two, shut up . Stop arguing," said Morssen angrily .

Claude sat down and started eating breakfast .

"Are you going fis.h.i.+ng this afternoon?" asked Morssen after a period of silence .

"Yes . We have already paid for the rent for the fis.h.i.+ng boat . I hope that I will be able to earn some money during the two-day break to pay back the debt," replied Claude .

"Since that's the case, I'll let you go . However, make sure to pay attention to your safety when camping outside, understood?"

"Yes, Father . I will be mindful . "

"As for you, Arbeit, stay at home and don't go anywhere during this two-day break . Let your face heal up first lest you disgrace yourself even further . Sir f.u.x should be returning from the prefecture capital after the break, so you have to freshen up and work hard by his side . Don't disappoint me again . "

"I know, Father," replied Arbeit crestfallenly .

Every year on the 26th day of the 5th month, the eve of Restoration Day, the middle and elementary schools of Whitestag would organize celebratory events to commemorate the holiday .

Every year on the 26th day of the 5th month, the eve of Restoration Day, the middle and elementary schools of Whitestag would organize celebratory events to commemorate the holiday .

Basically, the activities didn't change much . They would first gather the whole student body and parade around town led by the instructors . They would then gather and line up orderly at the memorial plaza where Stellin IX fired the first shot that led to the kingdom's restoration .

First, they would offer flower rings of grat.i.tude to the statue of Stellin IX . After that, the headmaster would make a long speech about the hards.h.i.+ps Stellin IX experienced during the restoration, before a student representative would go on stage and deliver a speech of grat.i.tude for their wonderful lives and go on about how all their blessings were thanks to the grace and legacy of the Stellin royal family .

In the end, the mayor would go on stage to conclude the event . He would call for everyone to unite under the banner of the Stellin royal family and the wise guidance of Stellin X to strive to build a better Aueras, a better home .

After all that was over, everyone would bow three times to Stellin IX's statue before dispersing and returning to their respective homes . The schools even got to save on lunch costs for the students on that day .

Claude had to return home first and change out of his uniform . He couldn't wear a uniform like that on an adventure to Egret . His hunting gear was the ideal choice instead .

At two in the afternoon, they gathered at the private jetty of Eriksson's family .

Old Sunny had already docked his fis.h.i.+ng boat at the jetty . It was approximately seven meters in length and four meters in width . Not counting the front and back of the boat, there wasn't much s.p.a.ce to move around in it, with the area sitting at only about ten square meters .

That was the most commonly seen fis.h.i.+ng boat in Whitestag . Each could carry two to three people and could be used for shallow-water fis.h.i.+ng and diving activities . But it couldn't go deep into the ocean as there was a danger of the s.h.i.+p flipping over from the strong winds and waves .

Borkal paid the agreed upon fee to Old Sunny . The boat owner gave a few words of blessing before he left and everyone brought their luggage onto the deck of the boat .

Eriksson asked, "Have we got everything on board? We didn't leave anything out, right? Make a final check . We're about to set sail . "

Currently, he was the captain of the little fis.h.i.+ng boat .

"Wait," Claude said, "Eyke, don't you also have a net in your storehouse? Bring it aboard too . I told my family that I would go fis.h.i.+ng, so I can't leave without even bringing a net . We'll find a spot to let it down when we're there . Perhaps we might even be in for a surprise . "

.  .

A loud cry could be heard from the side all of a sudden, startling the father and son

Claude turned to look and saw Arbeit show up from nowhere . He was standing at the entrance of the dining hall and glaring at the thale and riyas on the table with bloodshot eyes

Morssen furrowed his brow from the abnormally pungent stench of alcohol that emanated from Arbeit

"Where have you gone? You didn't return home for the whole night and even smell of alcohol . Did you drink a little too much?" Morssen appeared rather mad as his expression turned dark

"I . I didn't go anywhere . I was just . just playing cards with some friends . and . and drank some alcohol . " Arbeit belched as he fumbled his way over . "No . That's not it . Why are you giving him so . so much money . You . you've never given me so much money before . ".

Seeing Arbeit stretch his hand towards the money on the table, Claude slapped it away and said, "This isn't money for me . I'm going to pay someone else I borrowed money from back to buy an antique cookbook . ".

"You . you're making this up!" Arbeit almost fell down and he clutched the side of the table to regain his balance with much difficulty . "What . what piece of c.r.a.p antique cook . cookbook . since when were antique cookbooks there . you . lying to me are you . ".

Arbeit pointed at Morssen . He was so close that the finger almost b.u.mped into Morssen's face . "You . you're picking favorites . giving him so . so much money . If I didn't come back . I . I wouldn't get a single hint about it . "L.

Morssen was already at the brink of rage . Anyone who was pointed at straight in the face would feel p.i.s.sed, not to mention when the one to do the pointing was his own son . He stood up and tried his best to suppress his anger and maintain his dignity as a father . "Arbeit, you're drunk . Go wash your face, gargle, and tidy yourself up . As Sir f.u.x's personal secretary, you have to look your part like a person in high society . You must always maintain your stature . Don't make yourself look no different from those drunk vagrants out on the streets . ".

However, the drunk Arbeit couldn't be bothered to take his father seriously . He only looked at the two coins on the table . "You . you can't give him . my . my money . this is my money . all this . is mine . ".

Arbeit grabbed Morssen's collar and belched loudly once more, disgusting his father thoroughly

"Let go now!" shouted Morssen angrily at his son

"No . I won't!" Arbeit refused to stop . He had completely lost all fear for his father . "Give me my . money . all this house's money . is . mine . ".

What's the point in messing with an alcoholic? Claude stepped forward, held onto Arbeit's two hands and gave them a twist before pus.h.i.+ng him back, causing Arbeit to let go of Morssen's collar and stumbling back a few steps before finally stabilizing himself

"You, step aside!" Morssen pushed Claude away and gave his eldest son a huge slap on the face . A loud, audible whack could be heard . The slap was really forceful, causing Arbeit to spin twice before falling to the ground . The left side of his face could be seen swelling up at a rate visible to the naked eye

"Buzz off into your room and see me tomorrow when you're sober!" roared Morssen, before he ignored his son on the ground and prepared to go upstairs . He turned back after taking two steps to the dining table to take the magical cookbook before heading back upstairs

Claude picked up the two coins from the table and looked at the floored Arbeit . He then noticed that he was out cold, either from his father's slap or from getting dead drunk . He lay there, completely unmoving

Upon kneeling down to take a look, he noticed that the pathetic fool was still breathing .  Seems like he's still fine .  Claude stood up and gave Arbeit a light kick to wake him up, but he didn't react at all . After scratching his head for a bit, he decided that he would just leave him be . But when he looked up, he saw his younger sister standing at the entrance of the kitchen in a daze . The scene that transpired in the dining hall had shocked the little girl

"It's fine, Anna . Arbeit just got drunk and Father thought him a lesson for it," said Claude as he went over to stroke her head to calm her down

"Are you going to leave him lying there like this?" asked his little sister

"Yup . It's not like I can carry him . Who asked him to grow so tall?" He really couldn't be bothered to deal with that piece of c.r.a.p

But he still decided after a while to drag Arbeit by his two legs into a corner in the dining hall . After that, he told his sister, "Anna, go upstairs into his room and get him a blanket to cover up with . We don't want him to catch a cold now . ".

Looking confused, she asked, "Big Brother, what difference would it make for him to lie there instead?".

Claude nodded and said, "Mom won't be able to see him from the stairwell at that angle since the table is blocking the view . That way, she'll think that he already went to his room to sleep . Since I won't be able to carry him upstairs anyway, I might as well leave him lying there . He'll get back into his room if he wakes up in the middle of the night . There's no need for us to worry about him . Oh, and have you cleaned up the kitchen already? If so, let's put out the candles and shut the doors and windows . Go get the blanket first . I'll wait for you . ".

"Okay, Big Brother," said Angelina before she went upstairs obediently

.

With the magical cookbook out of his hands and no longer having to copy and decode the diary, Claude no longer had anything bothering him . After briefly arranging his desk and considering what he would have to prepare for his trip to Egret tomorrow, he quickly went to bed and fell asleep . He slept soundly and only woke up when the bell of the warG.o.d shrine rang at six in the morning

That was a great slumber .  Claude felt fully energized when he awakened and completely refreshed . He went to the bathroom in the first floor to wash up before he had breakfast

However, he just recalled that incident last night with Arbeit when he was was.h.i.+ng up and wondered whether he had woken up already

When he went downstairs, he saw the fellow taking small ips from his tea at the dining table . He looked completely pale and there was some slight swelling on the left of his face with clear, red finger marks . However, he had already changed into his pajamas and even looked like he had taken a bath, as was evident from his slightly wet maroon-colored hair

Morssen must've been lecturing him right now . Arbeit no longer looked as daring as the night before when he was drunk and only nodded nonstop to admit his faults . But when he saw Claude going downstairs, he glared at him with a begrudging gaze filled with hate

"Claude, come here," said Morssen in a deep voice

"Good morning, Father . Is there anything you need me for?" Claude ignored Arbeit's hateful receptin

"Why did you leave your elder brother in the dining hall yesterday and went to sleep by yourself?".

Claude shrugged and replied innocently, "I couldn't move him, nor could I drag him upstairs . You were so angry last night, so I didn't dare to call you to do it, and Anna's still young and we won't be able to move him even with the two of us . Also, I didn't leave him completely unattended . I even got Anna to get him a blanket to cover up with lest he got a cold . ".

"Ugh . " Morssen was at a loss of words . He had forgotten that the palm mark on Arbeit's face was of his own making . He was far too infuriated by this son of his the last night and had forgotten to carry him up to his bedroom on the first floor . Even though he suspected that Claude had intentionally left Arbeit in the dining room, he couldn't do anything about it since Claude insisted that the reason he did so was because he couldn't carry Arbeit

"You definitely did it on purpose . Aren't you usually really strong?" said Arbeit with a start

"You still find it in yourself to criticize me for that? If you weren't dead drunk, that wouldn't have happened . You wouldn't have been slapped and wouldn't have lied on the ground . Oh, and last night you said that you went drinking and playing cards with your friends, right? You must've lost all your money . That's why you freaked out when you saw money the moment you returned home . I wonder how much you lost, huh?" snapped Claude back

"I . I didn't play any cards . I only went drinking a little . Don't spout bulls.h.i.+t," said Arbeit a little sense of guilt

"Did you forget what you said yourself?" Claude was well aware that his father hated alcoholics and gamblers with a pa.s.sion . Claude's alcoholic grandfather had left his father with a horrible impression of them and the greatest lesson his grandfather taught his father was on gambling: he was the perfect antimodel for it who had lost all his a.s.sets from gambling!.

"I . I was only spouting nonsense cause I was drunk . I didn't play any cards," insisted Arbeit stubbornly

"You two, shut up . Stop arguing," said Morssen angrily

Claude sat down and started eating breakfast

"Are you going fis.h.i.+ng this afternoon?" asked Morssen after a period of silence

"Yes . We have already paid for the rent for the fis.h.i.+ng boat . I hope that I will be able to earn some money during the two-day break to pay back the debt," replied Claude

"Since that's the case, I'll let you go . However, make sure to pay attention to your safety when camping outside, understood?".

"Yes, Father . I will be mindful . ".

"As for you, Arbeit, stay at home and don't go anywhere during this two-day break . Let your face heal up first lest you disgrace yourself even further . Sir f.u.x should be returning from the prefecture capital after the break, so you have to freshen up and work hard by his side . Don't disappoint me again . ".

"I know, Father," replied Arbeit crestfallenly

.

Every year on the 26th day of the 5th month, the eve of Restoration Day, the middle and elementary schools of Whitestag would organize celebratory events to commemorate the holiday

Basically, the activities didn't change much . They would first gather the whole student body and parade around town led by the instructors . They would then gather and line up orderly at the memorial plaza where Stellin IX fired the first shot that led to the kingdom's restoration

First, they would offer flower rings of grat.i.tude to the statue of Stellin IX . After that, the headmaster would make a long speech about the hards.h.i.+ps Stellin IX experienced during the restoration, before a student representative would go on stage and deliver a speech of grat.i.tude for their wonderful lives and go on about how all their blessings were thanks to the grace and legacy of the Stellin royal family

In the end, the mayor would go on stage to conclude the event . He would call for everyone to unite under the banner of the Stellin royal family and the wise guidance of Stellin X to strive to build a better Aueras, a better home

After all that was over, everyone would bow three times to Stellin IX's statue before dispersing and returning to their respective homes . The schools even got to save on lunch costs for the students on that day

Claude had to return home first and change out of his uniform . He couldn't wear a uniform like that on an adventure to Egret . His hunting gear was the ideal choice instead

At two in the afternoon, they gathered at the private jetty of Eriksson's family

Old Sunny had already docked his fis.h.i.+ng boat at the jetty . It was approximately seven meters in length and four meters in width . Not counting the front and back of the boat, there wasn't much s.p.a.ce to move around in it, with the area sitting at only about ten square meters

That was the most commonly seen fis.h.i.+ng boat in Whitestag . Each could carry two to three people and could be used for shallow-water fis.h.i.+ng and diving activities . But it couldn't go deep into the ocean as there was a danger of the s.h.i.+p flipping over from the strong winds and waves

Borkal paid the agreed upon fee to Old Sunny . The boat owner gave a few words of blessing before he left and everyone brought their luggage onto the deck of the boat

Eriksson asked, "Have we got everything on board? We didn't leave anything out, right? Make a final check . We're about to set sail . ".

Currently, he was the captain of the little fis.h.i.+ng boat

"Wait," Claude said, "Eyke, don't you also have a net in your storehouse? Bring it aboard too . I told my family that I would go fis.h.i.+ng, so I can't leave without even bringing a net . We'll find a spot to let it down when we're there . Perhaps we might even be in for a surprise . ".