They took another half an hour to finish their idle chatting while Susy served tea for everyone. 

“Is this another gold coin, aunt Susy?” Jack jested as he captured her lustrous grey eyes when she handed him the cup.

“Well, aren’t you undervaluing my services? That’s another ten golds!” Susy showed her shiny teeth as she, too, gazed at his radiant black eyes.

“That’s too expensive,” he said taking a sip of tea. Then raising his eyebrows in exaggerated surprise, he said, “This is sweet, aunt Susy! Just like you,” and grinned. And she ran away with her cheeks dyed red.

At their playful interactions, Lord Hardy’s lips curled up into a meaningful smile, yet the two didn’t notice. Lord Hardy, Alban, and the guards then went to their work.

...

Before going to the orphanage, he wanted to see his mother’s lovely smile, so Jack went to his house. And as the door slowly opened, Rita’s gorgeous face was revealed. Her rosy lips then stretched into a sweet smile.

“Oh, you are back early today!” she said and turned, “Come, lunch is almost ready.”

And here he thought of heading to the orphanage after meeting her. Making a wry smile, he entered, locked the door, and followed her to the kitchen.

As she resumed her cooking, Jack’s strong hands gently hugged her from behind as her warm, meaty body got squashed in his embrace. And although she flinched for a moment, she remained silent out of embarrassment as her cheeks turned red.

Putting his chin on her shoulder, he asked, “What are you making?”

“...Your favorite tomato soup!” she cheerfully answered.

“Hmm? Didn’t you say that my favorite was the red bean soup? Aren’t you taking advantage of my loss of memories?”

“Hehe! What are you saying? Can’t there be more than one favorite dish?”

“No, how come I didn’t hate anything?” Jack asked with a wry smile. In the Dark Woods, he either had to eat raw or roasted meat, or he could get his hands on some delicious fruits if luck granted him.

Fortunately, there were no poisonous fruits like those in cultivation novels, otherwise, the so-called fruits would lose their basic purpose. Though, there can be fruits that take a toll on digestion, leading to side effects.

However, unconsciously, he wanted the fruits to turn out to be poisonous so that he could get rid of that hell. 

Even though the fruits were delicious, Jack got bored of them over time as he craved homemade food. So when he finally returned home, the concept of hated food didn’t remain in his dictionary anymore as he found every dish to be tasty.

And Rita couldn’t be happier after knowing this. She had graciously lied through her teeth that he used to like every kind of food.

“Well… you only hated the bell peppers…” she reluctantly revealed a fragment of truth, making Jack chuckle.

He chatted like that for a while, and after pecking her cheek, went to the living room. Since he had some time at hand, he took out his spatial pouch as he sat on the sofa.

A normal person may need a little time to learn to handle the spatial pouch properly as it was a bit tricky to use. Though it was easier for those who had better control over their mana, like Jack.

He put the pouch on his left palm. Channeling his mana through it, he became able to trace a vague outline of the items stored inside. It was like touching an object to know it from its shape without seeing it.

After doing this, he had to push the required item with the mana, and this is where things get tricky. With so many items stored inside, it becomes difficult to push a specific item, especially when one can’t see it.

Though it wasn’t a big deal for him, and as he pushed, a white hilt of a knife peeked outside from the mouth of the pouch. He took it out. Repeating this process, he took out a bone knife, a bone machete, and a spear.

All were made from the bones of strong beasts. And the one he had donated to the guild paled in comparison to the quality of these.

Earlier, when he had visited the market with Miti and Milo, he had seen similar handmade equipment. So, when he remembered, he took them out to drown in nostalgia.

The knife and the machete had a one-sided blade and were entirely made out of bones. While the long spear only had its head made from bone, and the shaft was a special type of wood.

These weapons aren’t as strong on their own. Only when the mana is channeled through them do they become as hard as steel.

These little ones had helped him in many life and death situations, and he was proud of his creation. Many weapons came and went. Only these three persisted. He would not part with them even if one offered gold and jewelry in exchange.

With such thoughts, he caressed the blades, properly examined them, and thought if any more improvements could be made, while a contented smile appeared on his face.

He took out a sharpening stone, and as he honed the edges with it, his thoughts drifted somewhere else.

…

As they sat at the dining table for lunch, Rita answered his question, “Hmm, a meal should be one to two large copper coins. It can also be as low as 50 copper coins at cheaper restaurants.”

Yes, that’s where his thoughts had drifted. He couldn’t help himself from wondering if there were any better options to work at for that woman he had rescued earlier.

He then realized that he didn’t have the basic market knowledge, so he asked his mother. “What about the inns?”

“Hm, if I am not wrong, it should be 2 silver coins a month, not including the meals. Though, I am not so sure… the prices might have increased by now…” she answered.

Jack nodded in understanding. The Riri Rice from earlier cost him 30 copper coins per plate. So he got the basic idea of the pricing.

These were the prices of the most basic things. And from them, every other price gets influenced, directly or indirectly.

The currency in this world worked like this: 100 copper coins were equivalent to one large copper coin. 10 large copper coins made a silver coin, and then 10 silver coins made 1 gold coin.

For his ideas to drift any further, he needed the basic information, and for that, he would have to perform market research. Only then would he be able to select a good business opportunity for those unfortunate women.

After lunch, he finally left for the orphanage.

…

As he arrived, he couldn’t see a single soul on the ground of the orphanage, making him wonder where did everyone go. 

The yellow sunlight of the afternoon had brightened the ground, while the premises were as silent as they could get. The occasional gust of wind would remind him of the loneliness of the atmosphere.

But as he strained his senses, he could hear children’s noises from the building which was about 300m away from the gate where he was standing.

The current time was lunchtime, so it was obvious that the children would be having lunch. But Jack was feeling awkward as he understood that his timing was bad.

Yet, as he saw two men coming out of the director’s office, he proceeded forward.

…

“I thought you wouldn’t come today, Mr. Hero!” Melissa greeted him with a smile as soon as he entered her office.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Melissa. And sorry for my bad timing. Something came up on the way, or I would have arrived here in the morning,” Jack awkwardly replied. To which Melissa told him not to fret over small things.

“So, Mr. Hero, what would you like to learn?” she lifted a corner of her lips.

“Uh, can you please drop that ‘Mr. Hero’ thing…?” he smiled wryly, while she giggled. He asked her to teach him the remaining set of letters as he took out his mana slate to practice.

After she was done teaching, she went for lunch while Jack continued his practice. After an hour of practice, he had learned all the letters in the alphabet. It wasn’t that hard for him as he noticed that the muscle memory was still there.

He then asked Melissa, who had just returned, about the numbers. So he completely learned the numbers in another hour. Only 10 numbers were needed to learn since all other numbers came from them. So it was pretty easy for him.