There was a deafening silence after the priest placed his glowing palm on Jordan's head, letting holy magic flood through his body.
The energy crawled along his nerves like warm sunlight mixed with sparkling soda.
Stella sat back down slowly, her hands folded tightly in her lap as she watched him with the wary caution of a woman who genuinely believed her son had been replaced by a demon wearing a charming smile.
'This is not my son,' Stella thought while watching him intensely.
Her Ren was not nice… Her Ren was not sociable… Her Ren was not someone who voluntarily sat at a dinner table with his family unless tied to it and he definitely wasn't someone who willingly looked at vegetables without calling them "rabbit garbage."
The real Ren spent most of his time training like a possessed man and rehearsing cringe lines to impress the Saintess. He was hardly the type to say "we're a family, we should eat together." If anything, he would rather duel a dragon than share bread with them.
She liked this new behavior… she really did but it was honestly too good to be true.
The priest cleared his throat as the holy aura fizzled out.
『Purification is finished』
『There was nothing to purify』
He slowly withdrew his hand and trembled.
Everyone knew how vengeful this boy could be... Ren Crowhurst was infamous for holding grudges over the most microscopic inconveniences.
If someone sneezed too loudly near him, he might challenge them to a duel. If someone bumped into him, he'd make them run laps around the estate.
So when the priest finished purifying him without asking permission, everyone in the dining hall expected him to explode.
To their shock, Jordan calmly adjusted his hair.
"Are you done doubting me?" he asked dryly. "I'd like to have dinner now."
"Y-yes…" Stella stuttered, startled not just by his tone but by the fact that he wasn't erupting like a volcano. "Thank you, Priest."
The priest nodded quickly, backing away like someone escaping a wild beast that had suddenly lost interest in eating him.
He left the Crowhurst estate with surprising speed, his robes flapping behind him.
"Big Brother… are you sure that you aren't angry?" Alina whispered, observing him carefully.
She had no idea what was going on.
Ren's fuse was usually so short it might as well not exist… The only thing he tolerated without a tantrum was anything involving the Saintess. Even then, he reacted so dramatically she often wondered whether he needed therapy.
"I'm sure," Jordan said, lifting his knife and cutting into the chicken. He raised the piece to his lips with a fork, inhaling the aroma with reverence.
'Be angry at that little thing?' he scoffed inwardly. 'Please. Maybe Ren would be, but I'm more mature than that monkey bastard. Imagine missing your chance to eat this heavenly dish because you want to throw a tantrum.'
He took his first bite and nearly ascended to the heavens!
He didn't moan, but the urge was there. Oh, it was there.
He swallowed and dipped the chicken in a sauce Alina had passed him just now, savoring every second.
'It's so good…' he thought as warmth spread through his entire body like a divine blessing.
This chicken was better than instant noodles! Better than drinking water to fall asleep! Better than the garlic biscuits he often ate!
He devoured the rest of the chicken with the efficiency of a starving god, finishing it clean.
Without hesitation, he plunged his fork into the sauce bowl and popped a bite of vegetables into his mouth and then something incredible happened.
'It's like the vegetables back on Earth… but different. I feel rejuvenated.' The flavors were rich but refreshing and seasoned with a depth he had never experienced.
Before anyone could process what was happening, he lifted the entire salad bowl… yes, the same bowl of vegetables Ren Crowhurst had claimed he despised, and started eating straight from it.
Stella stared, Alina stared and even the maids stared.
'Did he hit his head…?' Stella thought anxiously, biting her lip. She felt guilty for calling the priest, but surely it wasn't her fault.
He was acting strange, but he looked happier and… normal.
Just then, footsteps pounded through the hallway and Mandy burst in holding a bottle with two hands as if presenting a sacred relic.
"Master… here is the special Volcanic Spring water that you usually take with your dinner," Mandy announced proudly.
Jordan looked at the bottle. He didn't know what it tasted like, but he could hazard a guess: probably like dirt mixed with pain.
Only the original Ren would enjoy something called Volcanic Spring water. Still, he uncapped it and took a sip… and blinked.
'Ren's first good decision…?' he thought with his eyebrows rising. He drank more… greedily. The water tasted crisp.
Maybe it was the minerals or maybe it was fantasy logic. Either way, it was delicious.
He finished it and crushed the bottle out of habit, tossing it lightly back toward Mandy. "Here. Thank you."
Mandy caught it with the reflexes of a trained soldier and scampered out of the room like a delighted puppy.
Jordan resumed eating, trying dish after dish like a man rediscovering life. All of that changed the moment another presence entered the dining room.
The air shifted and Jordan paused mid-bite of a chicken wing, turning instinctively toward the entrance.
A man walked in… calling him a man felt insufficient.
He had a towering physique… taller than Ren, with broad shoulders and a chest that looked like it had bench-pressed dragons.
His muscles strained beneath his noble robes, and his long hair framed a stern face marked with a bold scar slashing across his cheek.
He radiated power, authority, and most of all… testosterone.
'Ah Thor, is that you?' Jordan thought with a stunned look on his face.
He wasn't sure whether to be impressed or worried.
The man… Rowan Crowhurst, Ren's father took a seat beside Stella.
He didn't speak at first. He just simply sat there, exuding an aura so intense it made the maids step back fearfully.
Suddenly, he slapped his own cheeks lightly.
"Ah… good evening, my love, and you too, my sweet daughter." His voice was far calmer than Jordan expected from someone who looked like they wrestled bears for training.
Rowan picked up his fork slowly… and then noticed an additional person at the table, his eyes widened.
"You didn't say you had someone ove… Eh????"
Father and son stared at each other.
Rowan was frozen with a dumbfounded expression, his fork suspended in midair. Jordan paused with a chicken wing hanging from his mouth.
This was the first time they had made direct eye contact in months.
Rowan slowly set his fork down with his eyes widening further.
"Why… how… Who bribed you to come here?" he demanded, leaning forward with suspicion. "I'm sure you're here to hurt your dear old man's feelings again… guess what? I don't care anymore."
"Papa… he called you Father."
Silence crashed over the table like a thunderbolt… There was utter, complete silence then Rowan shot to his feet with such speed the table rattled violently. "He did what?!"
"She's not lying," Stella added quickly, turning toward Rowan with a helpless shrug. "He's been behaving really strangely today… he even ate vegetables."
That sentence alone was enough to make Rowan… who was already at the fifth-class, making him one of the most powerful people in this world pause.
The man who had faced monsters without blinking was genuinely shaken by the idea of his son eating vegetables.
Right from the moment he was born, Ren hadn't liked them after all.
Rowan sat back down slowly, coughed into his hand, and tried to regain some dignity.
He eyed Jordan with narrowed suspicion, waiting for the boy to reveal he was a shapeshifting demon in disguise but the young man wasn't even looking at him.
Jordan sat there calmly, enjoying himself, eating like he hadn't tasted good food in a long time. It was terrifying.
"The priest just left," Stella sighed heavily. "Nothing is wrong with him."
Rowan blinked. "The priest… left?"
He suddenly recalled bumping into someone sprinting away from the house earlier, robes flapping wildly like they belonged to a man running from certain death. Was that the priest? That would explain the fear in his eyes.
"I see." Rowan nodded sitting straighter. Outwardly, he maintained a calm expression that showed why he was a noble.
Inwardly, he was smiling wide enough to need stitches.
'Is it time for some father-son bonding?' he wondered, nearly trembling with excitement.
Ever since Ren awakened his first class, he had grown distant.
He barely spoke to his father unless it was to ask permission to train harder… He hadn't called him "Father" in years, referring to him simply as "old man" or "you."
Eye contact was rare and conversations were completely non-existent, Rowan had tried to understand where he went wrong, but Ren never gave him the chance.
Maybe today marked the start of something new.
"How was work today?" Jordan suddenly asked.
Rowan froze mid-breath.
The question was simple but it hit Rowan with the emotional force of a divine revelation. He blinked several times before catching himself. "Work? Yes… yes, work…"
He certainly couldn't say he'd been lounging around the clan compound drinking expensive tea with the other clan heads while debating whose son was more annoying.
He cleared his throat dramatically. "We went to the Pagoda Waterfalls to search for a Unique ranked Item."
That instantly grabbed Alina's attention and Stella's too… even Jordan was a bit intrigued.
'There are several ranks for items and Unique is right below Legendary and Godly. It's been a while so I don't exactly remember if there was any unique item in the original novel.' He thought.
"Papa," Alina whispered with excitement, tugging gently at his sleeve across the table. "I heard Pagoda Waterfalls is known for their excellent hot springs… you're telling me there's actually a Unique Item there? Come on, did you find it?"
Rowan gave a dramatic sigh. "No."
Then he laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Turns out the clan heads are organizing their eldest sons tomorrow to find the item too. I'll have to sit out and see if they find it then I'll tell you."
『Ding』
『You have received a Main Mission』
Jordan already knew what was coming, He didn't even need to see the tab unfold but it did anyway.
『Main Mission: Find the Unique Item in Pagoda Waterfalls』
『Reward: 10,000 SP』
『Assigned by the 「Honored Venerable God of Games」』
Jordan sighed internally. 'Damn…'
So much for immediately going after the Heroine's aunt to start his seduction arc.
All he wanted was to head toward the town where that thirty-year-old woman lived, unleash his charm stat of 100, and start cooking but no, now the God of Games wanted him to play scavenger hunt.
Well… 10,000 SP wasn't a small reward. He could probably buy something ridiculous with that, maybe a spell that incinerated the Hero's hopes and dreams.
"I'll go," Jordan announced confidently.
Rowan choked on the air.
"You'll… go?" A bead of sweat slid down his forehead.
He had only said all of that as a lie… A very big lie… He wasn't planning some expedition.
He had no items, no preparations, no permission from the clan. He was just trying to show off a little… and now his son wanted to actually go?
How was he supposed to organize everything in a single night?! Eldest sons? Permission slips? A search party? Supplies?
Alina leaned closer, eyes bright. "Big brother… you'll go for real? Can you find the item? Maybe if you bring it home, I can draw it."
Jordan flexed his arm casually, showing off his bicep. "Sure. I'll go all in and bring it back just for you, alright?"
"Okay, big brother." Her voice sparkled with pure joy.
In that moment, Rowan's internal monologue screamed so loudly he could've sworn the gods heard it.
'Wallahi… I'm finished!'
Jordan suddenly stood up, pushing his chair neatly back into place.
"Thank you all for the food." He said with a polite bow.
Everyone flinched.
A bow? From Ren?
This was beyond purification… It was something they hadn't expected to see in their lifetimes.
"Since I'll be going out tomorrow," Jordan continued, "I'll just get some rest now."
He wasn't sure if bowing was part of noble etiquette, Ren had never cared enough to learn any so he simply winged it. He bowed slightly again, turned around, and walked toward the stairs.
"That cannot be him…" Rowan whispered.
He looked like a grown man fighting back tears. Stella, sitting beside him, placed a gentle hand on his broad back.
"There… there…" she murmured sympathetically. "I know how long you've waited for this day."
Rowan didn't sniffle… he was too proud for that but he did reach for a whole bowl of food and eat furiously to mask his emotions.
Emotional damage tasted better when chewed with meat.
Finally, after swallowing a massive chunk, he stood abruptly.
"I have to run." His voice was firm again, though his eyes were suspiciously glossy. "Don't wait for me… I have some people to visit."
And with that, Rowan Crowhurst stormed out of the dining room like a man possessed… probably heading straight to the clan compound to beg, bribe, or threaten his way into organizing tomorrow's expedition.