An Adventurer Mom, Who Awakened [Housewife] Skill Through a Login Bonus, Is Making the Most of Her Adventurer Life With the Weekly Flyers She Gets! - Chapter 45

“For him, that sort of thing is easy.”

“Amazing. So, are you going to see him?”

Ann looked as if she were mulling it over.

“Well, since he gave me the Acorn Chalice, I guess I should meet him at least once. But I don’t really want to go alone… If you all come with me, then maybe I’ll go.”

“Eh, really? Isn’t His Highness your lover?” Kachua asked.

“Did you break up?” Laura leaned forward to inquire.

The women were full of curiosity.

“Something like that” Ann said, sidestepping the questions.

“Um, if it’s alright, I’d like to go. I want to meet him—no, His Highness—again and ask how he obtained the Acorn Chalice” Og said, clearly interested in Bern=Luvald as a fellow adventurer.

“I want to go too” Rick said, raising his hand.

“I want to see that cloak again.”

It seemed the item maniac in him was itching.

“I’ll go too” Laura said.

“…He’s not a pretty boy.”

That was truly what concerned her.

Why did he end up looking like he does now?

His appearance had changed so drastically it was hard to believe he was really that beautiful young prince from before—it was almost like he was a different person entirely.

Kachua was, of course, curious too, but she said to everyone, “I’ll pass. Just tell me later if you find anything out.”

“Eh, Kachua-san, you should come with us” Og urged.

“I can’t stay out late because of Ed and Barbara.”

“Ah, then bring the kids along” Ann suggested.

“Eh, is that okay?”

“Of course. It’s a hotel. Room 501 at the Garfa Hotel is—what do you call it—a suite room. The bedroom and the living room are separate. If they get sleepy, they can sleep in the bed.”

Kachua hesitated. “Are you sure? Denden-mushi-san is probably expecting you to come alone, you know.”

“It’s fine. I don’t want to go alone. If everyone comes with me, I’ll feel more confident. By the way… what’s 『Denden-mushi』?”

＊＊＊

In the end, the entire team decided to go to the hotel. Naturally, Ed and Barbara came along as well.

The hotel Bern=Luvald had specified was considered just below the top class in the labyrinth city of Loa. Royalty and high-ranking nobles used the highest-grade Imperial Garfa Hotel, which was part of the Garfa Hotel Group.

This Garfa Hotel, on the other hand, was the sort of place top-ranking adventurers chose as their regular lodging—luxurious, yet without being overly formal.

It had an atmosphere where even children could feel comfortable staying.

Since Kachua’s home was within the labyrinth city of Loa, her children rarely had the chance to stay in a hotel inside the city.

Both of them gazed up at the large building with excitement.

“Are we really staying here tonight?”

“Wow!”

“Yes. We won’t be eating in the restaurant, but we’ll get room service instead—and it’s delicious” Ann said, sounding as if she knew this hotel well from personal experience.

“Room service?”

“Yay!”

Thanks to Ann’s treat, they had reserved the room next to 501, so even if Bern=Luvald refused to let them in, they had nothing to worry about.

Kachua and the others took the elevator up to the fifth floor.

The fifth floor was considered a middle level in the hotel. Room 501 was one of the suites, though not the highest-grade suite in the building.

Perhaps because he was here incognito, Bern=Luvald seemed to be making an effort not to draw attention.

“It’s me. Open up” Ann said, knocking on the door to Room 501.

“Ann!”

The door opened immediately and Bern=Luvald greeted her with a broad smile. However, when he noticed she wasn’t alone, he looked surprised.

“?”

“We’re here. Let us in.”

Room 501 had a large table where everyone could sit.

They took their seats, and immediately ordered room service for Ed and Barbara.

The adults had eaten plenty during the day, so they just ordered tea.

For the children, they chose the kids’ lunch set—a dream plate with both fried shrimp and hamburger steak.

“Wow!”

“Amazing!”

The children exclaimed in delight as the food arrived.

“Let’s eat!” they chorused, happily beginning their meal.

“…Ann, who are they?”

Bern=Luvald asked Ann with a puzzled look.

“They’re the son and daughter of one of my team members.”

“I never thought you’d form a team with anyone other than me” Bern=Luvald said, smiling wistfully.

“I’ve changed too, you know. More importantly, tell me—how did you get that Acorn Chalice?”

“Naturally, I got it myself. You remember the ninety-ninth floor, right? And Acorn Mountain?”

“Yes.”

‘Wait, Ann has been to the ninety-ninth floor before?)’

Kachua and the others were stunned, but they kept quiet so as not to interrupt the conversation.

“Back then, if you wanted to advance, you had to trigger the event, but we didn’t clear it, remember? So, the Acorn Chalice is…?”

When Ann asked, Bern=Luvald nodded.

“Yes. The Acorn Chalice is an event item you can get by clearing that event at Acorn Mountain.”

Event items were those you could obtain when certain conditions were fulfilled. 

The Moonlight Queen Grass on the twenty-fifth floor was also one such event item.

“I see… I knew it” Ann murmured, then turned toward Kachua and the others.

“Sorry, I had an idea about the Acorn Chalice. But I wasn’t certain, so I kept quiet, intending to talk about it once we’d reached higher floors and gathered more information.”

Ann apologized but since talk of the ninety-ninth floor was meaningless to them at present, they simply replied—

“That’s fine.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“We’re not bothered by it.”

“Yeah.”

The Acorn Chalice event took place at Acorn Mountain on the ninety-ninth floor.

It would trigger if you defeated three Killer Grizzlies while equipped only with bare hands or small striking weapons like knuckle dusters.

The battle could be done as a team or alone, but one person had to defeat all three themselves.

Defeating three Killer Grizzlies was already extremely difficult, but on top of that—

“The Acorn Chalice is the championship cup made by hollowing out the largest Giant Acorn grown that year on Acorn Mountain. I won it by competing in sumo, a foreign martial art, against the grizzlies and taking first place” Bern=Luvald explained.

At his words, Kachua and the others recoiled in disbelief.

“Sumo against Killer Grizzlies?”

Killer Grizzlies were among the highest-ranked species within the grizzly bear-type monsters.

Not long ago, Kachua’s team had fought a normal grizzly on the twenty-ninth floor, and it had taken a great deal of effort just to bring down a single one.

To win a sumo match against a species many times stronger than that…

“Is this guy even human?”

Such strength defied common sense.

“Um… why would you give something so valuable to us?”

Og asked the question hesitantly.

“Because Ann wanted it” Bern=Luvald replied.

Now dressed in a neat shirt and slacks—still bulging with muscle but looking tidy—he was quite a contrast to earlier.

Before, Bern=Luvald had been covered in blood.

He had likely come to see Ann immediately after obtaining the Acorn Chalice.

Why hadn’t they been more alarmed at all that blood?

It was because, on him, the splatters had looked so natural that they could almost be mistaken for a fashion choice.

“Wow, so passionate. Ann, good for you” Kachua said.

Ann made a face like『ugh, spare me』.

“It’s not good. We’re done. Well, I’ll take the Acorn Chalice, thanks. Alright, I’m going home.”

Ann started to get up right away but the Gamma Team members frantically stopped her.

“W-wait, please.”

“That’s right, we still have things we want to ask His Highness.”

“Yeah.”

Bern=Luvald turned a smile toward them.

“Do you have questions for me? I’m here in secret. I’d like you to call me Bernhardt.”

“Alright. Then, excuse me, Den—no, Bernhardt-sama” Rick said, nervously addressing him, but Ann interjected.

“No need for『sama』. Well, since he’s older, let’s go with『Bernhardt-san』.”

“Alright, then Bernhardt-san…” Rick began, about to ask something, but Laura shoved past him.

“Why aren’t you a pretty boy?”

Laura’s question was far too direct, but indeed, it was what they all most wanted to know.

“Um, we’ve seen your portrait before, Bernhardt-san” Rick rephrased in more tactful words. “It seems your appearance is quite different now. What happened?”

“Well…”

Bernhardt lowered his head slightly, letting his thick lashes fall.

In that moment, Bernhardt did resemble the young man from the portrait—a rather handsome youth.

But compared to the sheer impact of his nearly two-meter-tall frame, the overwhelming aura of a seasoned warrior, the bulging pectorals visible even through his clothes, the log-like thighs, and the firm, massive backside that screamed Bernhardt-san is ripped, his beauty was a much less prominent feature—maybe about tenth place on the list of his defining traits, something along the lines of oh yeah, he’s handsome too.

It seemed he really was the same person as the beautiful young prince. If so, then what on earth had happened to him?