Isekai For Hire Chapter 14: Family Dinner

Read chapter 14 of Isekai For Hire by wk_rust on NovelPedia.

Family Dinner I understand, Ren. But maybe right now isn’t— No. You don’t get to decide. You decide everything in my life. Where I go and when. What I eat. Who I hurt. When my life was over. No more. Lorena let out a shaky breath as something cold settled in her stomach. She had assumed she was the only one, Colton’s secret weapon. Did Everfrost’s transfer have complications as well? Or was she the only one with a voice screaming inside her head? Maybe she was defective, part of the calculation that defined acceptable product failure. Look, Ren, I get it. I didn’t know about this either. Of course you didn’t. If it wasn’t for your memories demonstrating just how ignorant you were I wouldn’t believe you. But somehow you consistently choose to be farsighted, only focused on the future. Aren’t assassins supposed to have situational awareness? Ren was right, as usual. Lorena’s pulse was in her throat. She needed to calm down or Erin would notice something was wrong. She had already clocked several inconsistencies in her character and story without Lorena even realizing she was paying attention. Can we please discuss this once we get out of here? I promise we will come up with a plan. Erin is going to know something is wrong. There was a pause as Ren considered. Lorena felt a shift, the waves of anger losing some of their steam, now swirling just beneath the surface. Fine. But the second we get out of here we’re having the discussion. Thank you, and I promise we will. Lorena’s focus shifted as she realized Erin had been talking the whole time. “But Old Town…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “Old Town has always been bad.” Lorena glanced toward the doorway and saw Emil, the oldest brother and nearly an adult. Erin scowled at him. “And how would you know that?” she said with a sharp tone and raised eyebrow. He made a motion of sealing his lips and scurried off. Erin let out a sigh as she moved the next steak into the pan. “He’s not wrong, but it’s gotten worse, a lot worse. I try my best to shield them from it but they hear things. Especially now that the crime is spilling out into the Crafters’ Quarter.” Lorena made a note of this information. She’d definitely need to spend some time in Old Town. “Good to know.” Erin let out a sharp breath, as if to cleanse herself of the negativity of the conversation. “Enough of that. Now, I’d ask how you like your steak, but I only cook it one way, medium rare.” Lorena let out a chuckle she didn’t feel, still reeling from the fight with Ren. “That works for me.” “I used to sit there but then Marcus wished for it for his birthday so now I sit here.” One of the smaller children babbled at her as they gathered around the table. “You can sit here because you’re Jade’s friend. It was her seat-” “It still is her seat.” Another brother argued. “That’s what I meant!” The envy returned and surged in size, metastasizing. She tried to think of any memorable birthday she had as a kid but she came up blank, the memories purged long ago. “Can you at least pretend I raised you with some semblance of manners while we have company?” Erin begged of the children. Are you frowning? Control yourself. Lorena adjusted her face, plastering on a smile at Erin’s exhaustive and apologetic grimace, then took a tentative bite of the steak. Her eyes went wide then her face scrunched as an almost painful explosion of flavor hit her taste buds. “That is so good,” she said between bites of food. Erin beamed a proud smile toward her. “Thank you dear.” “So Lorena, what brings you to Darnathal?” Emil, the oldest, asked. “Jade was able to help me with armor but I need a better weapon. I was hoping I could afford a dagger here.” Emil grimaced. “Good luck with that. Prices have skyrocketed ever since the issues with Brocken.” Erin shot him a look that could kill and he raised his hands in a placating gesture, then took a large bite of food. “Well there are many opportunities for work in the city. Isn’t that right Edwin?” Erin said,