"Dad, are you really okay? Do you feel anything weird?"
Eren asked with concern after placing the food he bought on the nearby table.
His father shook his head.
"Not you too… I am perfectly fine…"
His father's gaze lingered on Eren's face for a moment before gesturing for him to come closer.
Alan held Eren's hands firmly and looked at him with a faint smile.
"Your mother told me what you did… Eren, is it true that you've been scouted by a guild?"
Eren flinched for a second before nodding his head.
His father accepted it without doubting him.
"I see…"
A small, weary laugh formed on his lips.
"You've already been scouted by a guild, while I… on the other hand, am just holding you back…"
"No, you are not—"
"Yes, I did," Alan immediately cut him off and continued,
"Eighty-five million Alliance Coins is not a sum anyone would give away freely…"
"They must have sent that money to help you progress faster, didn't they? And you spent that money on me… your useless old man…"
"Dear, what are you talking about? Eren did—"
Once again, Alan didn't listen.
He raised his hand to stop his wife and turned back to Eren.
"I'm sorry, son. I just wanted to get proper equipment for your leveling, but I didn't expect it to end up like this. I don't even know what just happened to me…"
Eren wanted to reassure his father that everything was fine, but his father's last sentence caught his attention.
"Dad, did you just say you don't know what happened to you?"
"Yeah… I can't remember anything."
Eren looked at his mother with a puzzled expression, and she immediately explained.
"Your father has no memory of what happened before or after he was attacked. The healers said it may be due to trauma, and it should recover on its own since there's no problem with his brain or body."
Eren felt a wave of worry, but Alan shook his head dismissively.
"It's not a big deal… They said I'll get my memories back on my own, right? Then let it be."
Alan suddenly became serious.
His grip on Eren's hands tightened as he spoke.
"More importantly, Eren, you should focus on leveling up as quickly as possible. Only three months are left before the college entrance examination…"
Eren felt uncomfortable as the topic shifted, also felt slightly annoyed as his father mentioning about college exam on this situation.
"Dad, I already have a guild backing me. Why should I bother with the entrance examination? I can earn money directly without going to college…"
"You fool!"
Alan's face turned slightly aggrieved.
"They gave you so much money because they saw potential in you… It doesn't mean they've fully accepted you. You should focus on getting into a good college and raising your reputation. That way, you can assure them they made the right decision in selecting you."
"If you waste this opportunity, your potential will remain just potential without achieving anything… I need to do… something… to help you…"
The more he spoke, the more emotional he became.
Eren, Elena, and Mira immediately tried to calm him down.
"Dear, it's okay… Eren is doing fine…"
"Yes, Dad. Even today, Eren came late because he went to the dungeon to level up. That's why he arrived late…"
Eren extended his palm and showed his fake status window, displaying Level 3.
Only after seeing it clearly did Alan calm down and lean back against the bed, a blank expression on his face.
"Mom… Dad is behaving weirdly. He was talking calmly, then suddenly became unstable…"
Eren said after the three of them stepped out of the room.
Mira nodded in agreement.
But Elena simply shook her head.
"Your father just survived a near-death crisis and went through a lot of trauma. Of course he'll be unstable for a while. Let him rest for a few days, and he'll return to normal. Stop worrying about that."
She handed four portions of food to Eren and gently pushed him away.
"Here, take this food and give it to your friends."
Her repeated reassurance eased his worries a little.
When Eren came out of the ward, he found that Uncle Garrick and his team were no longer there.
He walked straight toward his friends.
"Guys, this is for you…"
As he was about to hand over the food, Eren noticed the same piercing gazes they had been giving him earlier.
"What the hell is wrong with you all? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Eren snapped.
Dorian, Kael, Lyra, and Rowan exchanged unbothered glances before Dorian finally spoke.
"Your mother said you went to the beginner dungeon to level up today…"
"Yeah…?" Eren urged them to continue.
Kael took out his phone with a smug expression.
"When I called Mr. Lucien to ask about you, he said you didn't come today…"
"…!"
Eren fell silent for a moment, instinctively checking where his mother and sister were.
From their reactions, it was clear his friends hadn't told his family anything… yet.
"You guys seriously called our headmaster to check if I was there?!"
Eren asked in a low but sharp tone.
Lyra spoke first.
"It was Kael's idea to check. At first, I was against it… but now I'm glad we found out you're hiding something."
"Eren, are you doing something illegal?"
Rowan asked.
"Don't try to deny it. We want to know what you're doing,"
Dorian added.
"Bro, it's not too late to stop whatever you're involved in,"
Kael said.
"Stop!"
Eren raised his voice, silencing all of them.
He glanced around quickly and felt relieved to see that no one was paying attention.
"Come with me. This isn't the place to talk."
Gesturing for them to follow, Eren led the four of them to the corner of the flower garden maintained in the center of the healing hall.
After checking no one was around, he took out four vials of potion from inventory and handed one to each of them.
"Drink it first."
The four of them looked at him strangely for a moment before opening the vials and gulping them down immediately.
No one asked what the potion was or why he was giving it to them.
These fools…
Even Eren hadn't expected that level of blind trust.
All four of them immediately shut their eyes as they felt the warm liquid settle in their stomachs and get absorbed by their bodies.
"What the—?!"
"This is…!"
"How did—?!"
"Eren, how did you get this?!"