章 134: Park
After they had finished eating breakfast, Jane suddenly spoke up.
"Daddy, this week a new park has opened. Do you think we can go there today?"
Hearing her request, Ivan looked at her in confusion. He didn't understand what was so special about a park, that they would have to go there. Before they had already gone to an amusement park and Jane hadn't really liked it that much.
Seeing his look Lucia explained in Janes stead, "It is something completely new. A water-themed park. You know that Jane loves swimming so this is something made for her. Originally she wanted to ask you yesterday already, but I stopped her since you had school until evening. But today you should have some time right?"
Although she explained like this, it was clear to see, that she was at least as much looking forward to visiting that park as Jane was. Not that Ivan had a problem with it. It only showed once again how well these two got along, just like sisters.
*Wait, maybe I can finish that quest this way. I'll have to ask Lara about it.*, he suddenly got an idea, when he thought about them being like sisters. If they really became sisters, then wouldn't Lucia be a member of the family and increase the counter for that quest?
"Hm, originally I have planned to go to the training dungeon with some friends, but it shouldn't be a problem to adjourn it." He didn't think that the others would have a problem with it. After all, they too had to go into the dungeon yesterday and he wasn't sure that they were already fit again. Thus going to a park and relax may just be the best thing to do.
"How about you ask them to go along?", Celine interjected.
"Yes, daddy. I wanna meet your friends as well.", Jane supported Celine's decision instantly. Until now she had only met Irena, who had come over before.
"Sure I will ask them if they want to come with us."
"Great, then I'll get everything ready so you can have fun then.", Celine smiled at them.
"Why don't you come along? Or haven't you recovered enough yet?", Ivan proposed.
When she heard his question Celine's face lit up. She was happy that he thought of her and was willing to take her with them. During the last few years, she had spent as an old woman, her mentality had changed as well. She was more mature than before and often saw herself more like an old woman, with a fragile body.
"I'd love to, but I don't think my body can handle it just yet."
"Is there really no way? I'd love for you to accompany you.", Jane asked her as well,
"Mmm, it's not that there is no way, it is just that the only way would be a bit detrimental for your father.", Celine patiently explained to her.
"Then if daddy helps, you can come with us?", Jane said while focusing on the, from her point, important thing. She had grown close to Celine as well and saw her as something like an aunt. So for her, it would be much more fun if she could accompany them.
"Yes. But there are some problems with this method."
"Let's do it.", Ivan didn't even wait for her to explain the problems. In his understanding of her, she wouldn't even have mentioned it, if there was a real problem. As such he had no problem with agreeing to it, without knowing what it was first.
Celine looks at him carefully, as if to determine if he was serious and when she saw that he didn't show any signs of nervousness, she smiled gladly. She was happy about her decision, back when her daughter had shown her the job advertisement. Not only had her daughter met Jane, who was like her sister, but Ivan and Lara were nice people as well.
"It is a form of vitality overload, which would allow me to become young again for a few hours. To be exact I would look like when I was twenty and that for about five hours, so we will have to do it after you come back from school."
She didn't mention what they would have to do and Ivan didn't ask either.
After having decided on going to the park this afternoon, it was time for Ivan to go to school. As usual, he took public transport to reach the slum, where the school was located.
While he walked down the wide street, that was lined with small stands, where people sold food and other necessities, he suddenly sensed something unusual. It came from one of those stands. Or to be exact from the young woman behind it.
He couldn't see how she looks since her face was smeared with dirt and her clothes were so baggy, that they completely hid her figure. Only her blood-red eyes were visible. Those eyes were unusual and he wondered how they came to be. Did she have them from birth or did she get them later? If not for her skin being completely smooth although dirty, he wouldn't even be able to guess that she was a young woman.
She wasn't an unusual sight on these streets since many young women had to work on these stands.
Sure everyone in the kingdom was able to attend school and thus would get some basic education. But most of those that were born in the slum would be unable to leave them since it was hard to get a job with just the school education offered by the schools in the slums.
Especially if the person didn't have any talent in fighting since adventurer was the only job anyone could do. But if one didn't have the talent, then it would only mean throwing away one's life. Most people would prefer to stay in the slum and make the best of their life.
He had heard, that the king had created many campaigns to get rid of the slums, including introducing some basic welfare. But that had only made the life in the slums more bearable. Even the kingdom wasn't able to just give those people enough to live a normal life. This could only happen if they were able to find work, that paid well enough.
But through the years, the royal family had to realize that they were unable to completely get rid of the slums. Instead, they focused on providing the most basic necessities. As such it had been a long time since someone starved or froze to death. So even though life in the slums wasn't great, it was still manageable. And there were also some who managed to get out and then took their family with them. Thus there wasn't a depressed atmosphere over the slums, but instead, it was lively and full of hope. Hope for a better future for oneself and one's descendants.
But back to that woman, which had attracted Ivan's attention. He slowly got closer to her and looked at the things on the stand, in order to hide him trying to feel her out with his spiritual sense. To his surprise, the things she sold were pills and elixirs. But they were of such an inferior quality that they could barely be called that. Still, for common illnesses, they were more than enough.
Even after using his spiritual sense to scan her he was unable to find what had attracted him. He could only feel his spiritual sense get a bit excited when it swept over her. While thinking about the best way to proceed, he took one of the pills and carefully studied them.
It was surprisingly well made, but the lack of material and technique destroyed the hard work. From the looks of it, she had only found some recipe and then used inferior material and pure determination to craft this pill. He was surprised that she had even managed to form a pill.
After that, he picked up one of the elixirs. Checking them out, he realized that they were the failed pill refining products dissolved in water. This would keep some of the properties of the pills and was a great way to recycle the failed product.
He was quite impressed by her ingenuity. Looking at them he suddenly had an idea. He had gotten to a stage in his pill refining, where it took a long time to do the basic preparation. So it would be a huge help to have an assistant.
"Excuse me, did you make these?", he asked the woman, while pointing at the pills.
"Yes. They are made by me and are guaranteed to work.", the woman confirmed his guess and instantly praised her goods.
"I know.", Ivan nodded, surprising her. "I just wanted to make sure, since I want to make me an offer."
"An offer?", she asked carefully. Since he was that interested in those pills, it shouldn't be anything untoward. As such she decided to first listen to him.
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