Sitting on the edge of town with a fairly sizable interior, a pair of cute four-paned windows in front, a single door, and an atmosphere that screamed "I am very cozy" perfectly describes the building that I had recently purchased.

  The owner was kind enough to tell me that the place used to belong to his mother before he passed away, and since he didn't have any use for it he decided to sell it, hoping the money will get him enough funds to reach the capital.

  Upon entering, my nose immediately caught the scent of dust, it reminded me of freshly bought books or maybe even cinnamon? For some reason? Point is, the strange feeling of nostalgia that I got from it was enough to convince me that this is the place that I wanted.

  Originally, I wanted to scout out 5 different locations before making my choice but this place just felt so right that I thought I might as well buy it, it's not like I'm in a rush or hell, starting a business.

  Okay, okay, I'm not totally stupid and I can understand just how important locations are so I specifically picked areas with a lot of public traction— for example this one is close to the gate. — to begin with so buying this specific building isn't as bad of an idea as I'm currently making it out to be.

  "Furniture isn't bad, I'm just happy that this place was used as a store in the past..." I muttered out loud to keep my thoughts from focusing on my recent bad decision. "It'll take a while before things really settle though, signs will need to be commissioned, chairs too. There's also the problem of me getting another class..."

  So many things to do, so little time. Should I leave some of this work with mom and dad? I don't trust Laself and Howaph to be able to do a good job, and I don't want Wardcruncha to do something like this, even if he wants to. It just feels like I'm disrespecting him, you know?

  I definitely need to leave some of this work to other people though, and mom and dad aren't really doing anything anyway so I might as well ask them to help out. And both of them can benefit from leaving the house from time to time, exercise and all that.

  And no, I'm not making up an excuse to make them work.

  Leaving the building as it is sounds like a good idea for the time being, later, I'll tell Howaph and the rest to focus on cleaning the place instead of selling food tomorrow while I work on obtaining my second class.

  There's a good chance that I won't actually be getting the class I have been aiming for, and I have put some thought into this. Getting [Enchanted Hoplite] instead of spearman was odd, doubly so when I haven't even practiced the shield? Hoplites used shields right? The class effects implied that much I think?

  Even then, I won't really stop getting my second and third classes since I need them to properly farm the humus dungeon. And I guess having extra classes is just good for me in the long run.

  Looking around for someone who might be able to teach me some kind of assassin class was pretty hard though, I'm more than happy to settle for [Rogue] too.

  Sadly, elusive pricks will always be elusive and I have to put actual effort into finding my next teacher.

  Fortunately, I found a guy before the day ended. He was on the thinner end of adventurers, with a lean body and a glare that could kill, he had a lot of belts on his body and almost all of them held a knife or similar. I asked him to teach me, he agreed— for a price. — and that's how my arrangement with him started.

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  Back at home, I told everyone the good news. And also what my mom and dad will be doing in the long run, their reactions were... Strange? To say the least?

  "Rontress... Was this necessary?" My mom asked, clearly uncomfortable. Is this one of the things that she thinks is too much? Buying a house?

  ... Okay, I'm only 8, almost nine, so I can understand how she feels.

  "Yes actually." I said as a matter of factly, selling food on the street or inside a tavern didn't sit right with my pride. If I have the money to get my own store then why shouldn't I? Settling for less just doesn't feel right. "And I think that you two need to go out every now and then anyway."

  Laself and Howaph wisely kept themselves out of the situation, and dad, while he looks like he wants to say something, kept his mouth shut. Naturally, mom caught on and made him say his piece.

  "Say what you want to say, Thomala."

  "... Rontress, we're okay with how things currently are, we have a lot of money, Laself's parents even talked to us earlier! I think that you shouldn't move too fast?"

  "Did mom ever say that to you? Not to move too fast?" I drawled.

  "Rontress!" My mother exclaimed. "Who taught you to say things like that?!"

  "My newest teacher." My smile was full of teeth as I threw the man I just hired under the bus without hesitation. He didn't actually tell me anything, but he's a good scapegoat. "He's a rogue!"

  "Well I think I need to give him a stern talking." Dad scowled, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Rontress, you're a smart girl, I know you won't do anything stupid but just... Tone it down okay?"

  "Yes, of course." I replied honestly, I'm not some kind of sex pest who makes jokes like that, I just felt like making my parents uncomfortable earlier. "Can we go back to what we were talking about now? Mom, dad, I think you two should go ahead and start working on the store, I don't wanna talk to wood workers so it's your job to get the chairs and the signage."

  They looked at me, then at each other. I waited patiently for them to come to a decision, and depending on what they'd say, I'd either refuse or agree, there's some inkling of truth to what Monemon said to me earlier and I am aware that my family is way too reliant on me.

  Fixing that will take a while, but giving them a foundation they can move in sounds like a good start.

  "Well if that's what you want then... Yes, sure." Mom finally relented. "But are you sure about this?"

  "Yes, and don't worry, I'll give you guys the money to use in the store. Around a hundred gold or so?"

  My dad sputtered and my mom shook her head, "that's way too much!" She said, voice high. "Rontress, it's just a store!"

  "Then keep the change?" I raise an eyebrow, why are they acting like this? It's not like they need to spend it all. "Mom, I really don't care what you do with the money right as long as there are chairs in that building in the end."

  "... Okay, if that's what you want." My mother gave me a bitter smile and added, "it feels like you're growing up too fast, isn't it?"

  "Yeah, I know." And that's exactly what I wanted, to grow fast. I've waited 8 years to get my class and now that I have it, I'm not gonna slow down. "But like you said before, I'm an adult now aren't I?"

  That seemed to satisfy her somewhat because she nodded. "Yes, you're right. You are an adult now."

  Yeah... An adult. Thank god for this world's weird perception of adulthood.

  "Rontress, you said that you have a new teacher?" Howaph turned to me, his question laced with suspicion. "What's going on with that? I thought you already got the class that you wanted?"

  "Not all of it." I admitted, "I need two more."

  "Why?" Now it was Laself who asked a question. "Is it because you want to be an adventurer? Isn't needing that many sub classes too much?"

  "No, not really." I shake my head, actually, adventurers need a lot of sub classes, it just so happens that most of them don't agree on that and just become adventurers the moment they have the stats for it.

  "Oh okay... It keeps you safe though so I won't really push you too much." Laself giggled. "Good luck?"

  "Thank you." I smiled. "And good luck with your store as well, I'm sure it'll thrive."

  "I hope so." Laself stopped eating. "... I wouldn't want your effort to go to waste."

  "Laself, it's not about me." I pushed, feeling alienated from my own family feels so goddamn wrong... It's like I'm on one side and all of them are on another. "That store is yours, you know? So anything you earn from that wouldn't be mine, never be mine. You don't have to put me at the center of it."

  "Mmm. Okay." The older girl nodded, I know she did it to end the conversation.

  Again, it feels like I just got alienated at this dinner table. It sucks. But if this is what it means to cut off their dependency then so be it.