Sarah's Story Chapter 059 - Homecoming

The carriage ride from the capital back to her home village was, in a word, boring.

The sky was overcast, ranging from medium to dark grey the entire time—promising first snowfall any day now. But the roads were tidy, there was no sign of monsters anywhere, and even when Sarah moved to the top of the carriage, despite the driver’s protests, and focused her Finder Class on looking for bandits, there was no trace.

The only company they had on the road was a few merchants with their carts, hauling the last of the late harvests to the markets, where customers would buy them to top up their winter preparations. But the wind was cold and gusty, so other than the common shouted greeting as they passed each other by, there was no conversation. No rumors nor gossip.

At the inn where Sarah had stayed with her mother, the second night after her Choosing, she went unrecognized. It had been two years, after all, and only a single night’s stay, and her mother had been the one networking and plotting. Sarah could only marvel, thinking back on it now. Her mother was incredible.

Would her Finder Class ever reach the height her mother’s Homemaker Class had?

But Sarah knew that, if there was a way for them to trade Classes, her mother would have taken it in a heartbeat.

Sarah could only be Sarah; thinking about hypotheticals was a waste of time that could be spent training or searching. That’s surely what her mother would say.

And so the Brawler and Finder enjoyed a nostalgic, delicious meal; a warm, safe bed in one of the inn’s nicer rooms; and early in the morning she grabbed some pastries and fruit for breakfast on the go, reunited with the carriage driver, and they set off.

Annoyingly, they went straight to the Baron’s manor, and Sarah was forced into afternoon tea with the Baron and his heir, a rather attractive young man in his early twenties, even before she could visit with her family or rest after two days of travel.

“Welcome home, Sarah, daughter of Stephen and Helen,” the Baron said grandiosely, and his silver-haired Butler poured the three of them tea before retreating to the edge of the room.

Sarah nodded and made a point of taking several pastries onto her plate.

The Baron’s son’s expression tightened, almost imperceptibly, but Sarah saw it.

Of course she did.

Synergy Skill [Visual Acuity] has reached level 12.

Sarah momentarily wondered if she could get the skill as high as Delphi, the Scout of the Golden Swan, had hers. Level 34 was a long way off…

The Baron cleared his throat, sipped his tea, and continued. “Yes, we have heard much of your career, both in the capital and in the Grand Duchy of Rolland. Most impressive, to rise as high as a B Rank Adventurer! As such, I would like to offer you a position in my household, as a retainer…”

“A Rank.”

The Baron, his son, and the Butler all twitched.

“Ahem, beg your pardon?”

Sarah took a moment to take a bit of pastry, chew it thoroughly, and then wash it down with tea. It was pretty decent tea, prepared excellently.

“Excuse me, but this tea is very well prepared. My compliments to your Butler.” She nodded at the older gentleman, and he nodded back cautiously. “Ah, as I said, I’ve just promoted to A Rank in the Adventurer’s Guild, so…”

“What?!” the Baron’s son interrupted, unable to contain himself any longer. “That’s impossible!”

The Baron raised a hand, silencing his son. “Promoted to A Rank, eh…” He paused, thinking a moment, then took a pastry onto his own plate and leaned back in his chair. “There must be quite a story there. Our last report from the Capital was that you were returning from Rolland having disposed of the Horn Clan criminal syndicate. But there was no word of promotion in that report… Would you tell us the story?”

“I want to see some proof of this! What an outlandish claim, A Rank…”

“Christopher! Stay your tongue!” the Baron barked, and the young man clenched his jaw shut.

Sarah looked back and forth between the Baron, who seemed resigned, and his son Christopher, who seemed outraged. “It’s no trouble, here.” She fished the crest from within her shirt, where she kept it tucked away, attached to a leather strap like a necklace or amulet. Christopher blushed, but the Baron merely looked at the crest and nodded.

“Indeed, that is the crest of the Adventurer’s Guild, given only to A Rank Adventurers to bear. Look closely, Christopher, that you may recognize it in the future.” He narrowed his eyes and glared at his son, but subtly.

He was also ordering his son to take a close look at Sarah, the A Rank Adventurer himself, so that he would hopefully learn to recognize strength, and when to show respect and hold his tongue.

Christopher blushed another shade redder, and leaned forward, inspecting the crest. “Ahem, I see. You have my apologies for speaking out of turn, Brawler Sarah.”

With that, he took a pastry onto his own plate and leaned back in his chair, withdrawing from active participation in the conversation.

He was in over his head, and he belatedly recognized that.

Sarah then told the story of her emergency quest to rescue the Treasure Seekers party in the Deep Woods Dungeon and her subsequent promotion.

“...and as I’m sure you can imagine, I’m quite eager to see my family again, after so long away…” she looked pointedly at the Baron while finishing off the last of the pastries.

“Of course, of course. What a fascinating story; you have my thanks for sharing it with us. See, Christopher? You must continue your training. The heights of power truly are limitless…”

Christopher merely nodded, face slightly pale.

“But, before you go, Brawler Sarah. Would you consider a position as retainer in my household?”

“I’m afraid not, m’lord. I still intend to find my brother, James.”

The Baron frowned. Not out of displeasure, but out of regret and shame.

“Yes, James… You have my apologies, Sarah.” He dropped the customary appellation of her Class, speaking more familiarly. “I truly do wish I could aid you in this, but it has been many years since he stopped being my subject, at least as far as my Class is concerned. I would offer you what help I can, but I’ve made the same offer to your mother and there’s nothing more I can do, within the bounds of my power.”

Sarah nodded gracefully. “It’s fine, m’lord. I understand. I spoke with the priests in the temple at the capital, and they did confirm that he’s still alive, at least.”

“That’s a relief to hear,” the Baron said sincerely.

“And I will find him.”

With that, finally, Sarah was taken in the carriage with all her goods and gifts back to her family home, on the outskirts of the village surrounding the Baron’s manor.

The village was largely the same, but all the little changes stuck out to Sarah.

The house with the new door.

The abandoned cottage with an overgrown garden, long since untended.

The expanded smithy, with a newly constructed cottage next to Smith Jared’s home. He must have found a new apprentice in the years Sarah was gone.

Her own home was almost exactly the same as when she had left it, and seeing it in good shape, with light shining from the windows in the late evening dimness warmed her heart and loosened a knot of tension she hadn’t known she’d been carrying.

The carriage stopped in front of the path to the front door, and Sarah alighted. “I’m home!” she called out, and her father opened the front door.

Sarah raced ahead, leaping into his arms for a hug.

“Dad!” she yelled, and Stephen spun around to bleed off some of the momentum of her tackle.

He squeezed her tight. “Welcome home, Sarah.”

And she felt it, when he said it.

He set her down, and placed his hands on her shoulder, holding her at arm’s length as he looked her up and down.

“Still got all your fingers and toes?” he asked, and Sarah pouted, holding up her hands and wiggling her fingers.

“Of course!”

“Good, good,” he smiled. Then he looked over her shoulder, where the driver was unloading Sarah’s luggage and packages. “You go on inside and say hi to your mother; I’ll bring in your things.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Sarah smiled and headed inside without a second glance.

And so the Brawlers of the family reunited, and there was exciting news shared over dinner.

“They’re gonna stay for the whole winter?!” Sarah exclaimed.

“That’s right,” her father nodded. “Paul, Samuel, and Brandon are all staying over in our village for the winter, and they’re bringing their whole families. It’s been a rough few years—” Stephen glanced at Helen, who nodded, “and you haven’t seen them the last two years when they visited. There’s not much for them to do on their Farms over the winter, and so we all thought it was a good opportunity before you took off again.”

Sarah nodded, beaming. This was great! She loved seeing her older brothers.

She wasn’t worried about delaying her search; that was inevitable.

Iberteria, her next destination, was a large peninsula far to the south and west of Asufal, beyond a mountain chain that was very difficult to traverse even in good weather. In the winter, it was basically impassible.

Perhaps not for Sarah, if she really pushed herself, but it would certainly be unpleasant.

There was another reason to hold off, as well.

Training.

Her mother had taught Sarah a few Techniques after she got her second Class, but those were only Techniques she had incidentally copied and learned over the years.

The real secret Techniques, the ones passed down from Brawler to Brawler going all the way back to the First Brawler, those had been passed down to her Father, so that he could control his unruly wife.

Even in a family of Brawlers, Helen stood out as someone considered a handful and a half.

So her mother, Sarah’s grandmother, had decided to pass down the secret family techniques to Stephen instead; trusting him to pass the Techniques on to the next generation after him.

And that was only Sarah.

None of her brothers had Chosen Brawler.

Her Aunt Nadine had no children of her own, and had decided not to learn the Techniques anyway.

That said, even without the Techniques, Helen was still a match for her husband.

So Sarah decided to wait until almost the end of Winter to depart. As soon as the southern roads cleared up, she’d head out, despite the snow that would remain in the north.

In the meantime, she’d take a much needed break, reconnect with family, and focus on her training.

Or, so she planned, but when her brothers arrived with their families, she was stunned.

Her brothers and their wives had been busy.

Paul, her eldest brother, had five children already! The oldest, a girl, was already ten years old. Then he had a son aged eight, another son aged six, a daughter aged five, and another son aged three.

Sam, her second oldest brother, had four children: three daughters aged eight, five, and two, and a son aged four.

Brandon, the middle child of Sarah’s family, had three children: sons aged six and four, and a daughter who was just about to turn one year old.

Sarah was a bit overwhelmed, and a little concerned. Sure, for the last five years, she’d been focused mainly on her own training and on her quest to find James, but had she really not been paying attention as her other brothers’ families grew this much?

She worried she was becoming her mother for a second, but quickly discarded that thought.

Of course she wasn’t her mother. She was much more levelheaded.

This also answered a long-standing mystery Sarah had never been able to solve.

Why was their family home so big?

It was a large two story house, and the rooms within were quite a bit larger than necessary. It was never a problem of being too much to clean, given her mother’s Homemaker Class, but as her brothers had moved out, their rooms had simply been closed off and left unused, and after James went missing, Sarah had felt like she and her parents were rattling around inside too large of a house.

With this many people, though, it was just about enough. Her brothers took their old rooms, and their families were just about able to squeeze in. James’ old room was repurposed into a sleepover room for the older cousins, and Sarah, blessedly, was able to keep her old room to herself.

Sarah watched, mouth hanging open, as nearly a dozen children bounced around the large living room, running and shouting and laughing and screaming, and her father clapped a hand on her shoulder.

“Just wait until we’re snowed in and they’re trapped inside all day,” he said wryly, and Sarah shuddered.

Still, Sarah felt blessed. Both for her brothers’ happiness, and for her Classes and Skills.

[Brawler’s Domain] and [Family Trace] were both getting a fantastic workout, tracking all the children as they scurried about.

And even more than that, Sarah was thrilled to see her mother back in her element as a Homemaker. While Sarah and her brothers and their wives all relaxed at the table, enjoying some evening herbal tea and cookies, as well as some of the gifts Sarah had brought from Rolland, Helen was minding the children. Playing games with them, feeding them little treats, listening to them tell rambling, incoherent stories, answering questions—Sarah couldn’t detect her mask at all.

Helen was simply happy and living her best life as a doting grandmother.