Immediately after entering the dining hall, I can sense an ominous presence coming from Sara’s father. Only after sitting down does this feeling suddenly explode, turning into the same suffocating air that I felt while fighting against Professor Nakamura.

“Harold, dear, calm down, let the boy breathe.”

Sitting across a large dining table is a calm Nancy and an almost fuming Harold.

After some grumbling from Sara’s dad, he finally releases some of the pressure on me. However, the air is still thick with tension.

Nancy is the first to break the stalemate, with a stern look, she speaks:

“So Sara, could you explain the situation to us in detail? We got a call from the butler of the Honda house saying that you cheated on Kaori with multiple men and finally eloped with the one sitting right here.”

Sara gets up from her chair:

“THAT’S NOT TRUE! THEY’RE JUST LYING TO SAVE FACE! I’VE ONLY BEEN WITH REO! H-HE TOOK MY V-VIRGINITY!”

*BANG*

Harold slams his fists into the table, almost breaking it in half. His pressure is also back, this time even more suffocating:

“V-V-V-VIRGINITY! I left you two alone because I thought you were just playing around, but you dare defile my daughter?!”

“Oh relax Harold, stop thinking so old-fashioned. *SIGH* I remember begging you to do me back when we were first together, but no, you insisted on waiting till marriage.”

“N-Not in front of the kids Nancy…”

Phew, I’m finally able to somewhat catch my breath, looks like his embarrassment also got rid of the pressure he was sending out…

Finally able to speak, I nervously utter:

“Um, if I may, I just wanted to say that I’m serious about Sara, I’m not playing around. I can also confirm that the rumor that bastard spread about Sara sleeping with multiple men is 100 percent false.”

Then Nancy turns to me:

“Hmm… So you’re willing to take responsibility?... Do you even have what it takes? Not to be rude, but we did a background check on you as soon as my daughter introduced you as her ‘boyfriend’… Frankly, you have the smallest mana pool I have ever seen.”

“I… I know my starting point wasn’t amazing, you could say it was trash compared to even the worst talents out there… However, I’m certain of my future, call me overly ambitious, but I’m on a path to becoming the most powerful Machia there ever was.”

Now Harold turns to me. For the first time, without any anger:

“Hmmm… Those are some big words… Well, I suppose a man worthy of one of my daughters has to dare dream big… But, those words are useless if you can’t back em’ up.”

He’s right… I’m just boasting right now…

To my surprise, Sara suddenly speaks up for me:

“He can back it up! In only a couple of months, his Mana pool has already almost caught up to mine! His pool is now at 1000!”

“9-900 mana in under a year… Quite impressive indeed… B-But you probably just have a special gift-cartridge, you’ll hit your mana-ceiling soon. How are you planning to progress past that?”

“Hehe, I knew you would say that dad, that’s why I loaned him an empty red cartridge, look what he turned it into!”

Sara takes out the red cultivation cartridge I gave her and hands it over to her dad.

After inspecting it he exclaims:

“My God, I’ve never heard of this cultivation technique… It must be of a legendary rarity… This boy’s luck is almost godly! Or maybe he DOES have some connections…”

Well, it’s not entirely based on luck… Also, it’s of the unique rarity… But I better not tell him that.

Nancy speaks up:

“Well, luck is also a talent… A very important one for powerful Machia… Do you truly wish to be with this man Sara?”

“I really do mother, I feel like this is one of the first decisions I have ever made for myself, not in order to catch up to Eva or for you guys… But for me.”

“In that case… You both have my blessing, take good care of her Reo.”

“I will try my best... No, I will definitely take care of her!”

“Fufufu, I like your attitude.”

Harold suddenly interjects:

“Hey! What about my blessing? I’m not just giving my daughter away to some random guy who’s not even capable of conquering dungeons!”

“You’re right… I’ll do my utmost best to graduate quickly dad!”

“That’s more like it… HEY! Don’t start calling me dad already!”

After laughing for a bit, the conversation turns serious again when Sara starts explaining how we encountered an assassin on our way here.

“Those bastards! Even if they were only aiming for this brat here, they could have injured my precious daughter in the crossfire! That’s it! I’m calling the Honda house right now!”

Harold then storms off, leaving only Nancy, me, and Sara.

Nancy interrupts the silence by speaking first:

“You won’t have to worry about assassins anytime soon now, The Honda family would be the first suspect were you to be assassinated and they wouldn’t dare anger the Sunbringer house. We can’t promise they won’t go after you in other ways though…”

“That’s okay, I’m already happy I won’t have to constantly watch my back… Speaking of the Honda house, is everything going to be okay? I was under the assumption my relationship with Sara would be a big deal because of this marriage arranged by the supreme elder? Wasn’t Harold angry because of that?”