DMS Chapter 157

When the sun had set, Flinx was still swimming in the huge lake managed by Pondy. Having a powerful water elemental oversee a body of water like the man-made lake was one of the best ideas he had ever come up with.

One could float effortlessly on the surface of the lake while doing something else, such as watching a movie while waiting for others to return home.

When darkness arrived, the entire area was illuminated by the solar lights that one of his fellow Earthlings had bought from their System Shopping Site. The lights gave the whole place a much more magical ambiance.

Soon, Olivia and the others arrived. As expected, they already knew that Flinx’s “countrymen” had left.

They ate the dinner that the cooks had prepared. While they were eating, Flinx asked Olivia if she was alright.

“I will be. I knew that things with Samuel wouldn’t have worked out. You and your countrymen are full of secrets, and when I asked Samuel about it, he said that all of you had experienced something so dark that it would take a long time before he could share it with others. He did tell me that you rescued them from somewhere,” Olivia said with a shrug.

“Paul advised me that none of you were truly ready to be with anyone. He warned me not to become too attached to Samuel, so I was actually prepared when he suddenly told me that all of them were leaving. Besides, our relationship was still only in the friendship phase,” Olivia continued.

Flinx noticed that the children were also a little down because the others had left. To cheer them up, after dinner, he cajoled them into playing with him in the lake despite it already being late. Olivia, Christopher, and Ambrose joined them as well.

While they were playing, Olivia told Flinx that although the place felt a little empty, it had become extremely beautiful. Flinx then took the opportunity to tell Olivia that she needed to talk to the cooks and their assistants. Their job descriptions would need to be adjusted since there were now fewer people living in the compound.

“Do you think we should let some of them go?” Olivia asked.

“No. You can just ask them if any of them are willing to change their jobs from being cooks to butlers, grounds caretakers, or something similar,” Flinx answered.

Olivia nodded, saying that she knew what to do.

Soon, everyone focused on playing, and after about an hour, Flinx noticed that the four children were tired. They stopped playing and told everyone to take showers before going to sleep.

Before everyone left for their rooms, Flinx told them that he would still be busy during the next few weeks because he needed to continue dungeon delving.

“You still need to delve?” David asked.

Since Flinx saw that everyone was curious, he explained that he and his fellow countrymen still needed him to increase his strength through dungeon delving. Their quest was not yet complete and could only be finished once he reached a certain level of power.

After that, he told everyone not to ask him about it anymore since it was a personal matter between him and his fellow countrymen.

Everyone went to their rooms except Olivia, who gave Flinx a report regarding the children’s schooling.

She told him that their education was progressing normally and that no one had encountered any problems while attending school. In fact, the four children seemed to genuinely enjoy going to school.

Olivia told Flinx that Violet had admitted that the four children were extremely grateful for the chance to study like the children of noble families. Because of that opportunity, they were determined to make the most of it and become well-educated.

She also told Olivia that the four of them wanted Flinx to be proud of them.

“You know that they see you as the most important person in their lives. You have given all of us the chance to become better people, and we are truly grateful to you,” Olivia told Flinx before leaving to rest.

During the next month, Flinx proceeded to delve into the final floor of the dungeon of Mara four times a day, five days a week. He decided to rest for two days each week because he did not want to burn himself out.

On the weekends, when he was not delving into dungeons, he spent time with the four children. They swam in the lake, played console games, watched movies, and even accompanied the children while exploring the city of Ilioven.

When they passed by the orphanage where the children had lived when they were younger, Flinx asked if they wanted to visit it. However, all four of them immediately shook their heads.

“The orphanage is not a nice place. Let’s not go there,” Arcios said.

Flinx was extremely surprised. He wondered what kind of experiences they had gone through there to make them hate the place so much.

Before this, he had planned to make some donations. However, when he brought up the idea with David and the others, they strongly advised him against it. They told him that any coins he donated would not go to the children but instead would end up in the pockets of the people managing the orphanage.

When he suggested donating food instead, they simply ignored him, which confused Flinx.

For the next two months, Flinx’s activities became routine. He delved into dungeons four times a day, five times a week, then rested and spent time with the children during the weekends.

Flinx did receive letters from the others. The letters were long and contained information about what they were doing. He felt a little envious when he read them because, based on their messages, everyone seemed to be enjoying their adventures.

The others reminded him through their letters that they would return in a year. It was basically implied that they expected him to have reached the required level by then, so everyone could return to Earth.

They also advised him not to write back since they rarely stayed in one place long enough to receive letters. Flinx guessed that he could probably find some magical method to send messages, but he felt it was unnecessary.

There was nothing important for him to tell them anyway. The only thing he could say was that he was still trying to level up as quickly as possible.

Christopher continued training to become a chef, while Ambrose had started delving into the upper levels of the basic dungeons with his classmates.

The shop continued doing well and was still earning them a large amount of gold coins despite some competitors appearing. The truth was that no one could compete with the quality of Olivia’s shop’s products, even though they only sold three types of items.

Although Olivia liked the two products that Flinx had suggested adding to the shop, he decided against introducing them. He felt that doing so would only add more complications to his already busy schedule, and thankfully, Olivia accepted his reasoning.

Besides, Olivia admitted that even after accounting for all of the household expenses, the amount of gold coins she had managed to save was still unbelievably large.

Regarding their employees, one of them remained as the cook, while two of the assistants became his assistants. One of the cooks became the compound’s butler, and the other became the head servant. The remaining two assistants became ordinary servants.

Still, their work was not difficult, and the pay they received from Olivia was generous. It was also a bonus that Flinx did not forbid any of them from swimming in the lake.

They could even bring guests into their tower if they requested permission from Olivia.

Flinx was simply impressed by the quality of servants Olivia had hired. However, what he did not know was that none of them wanted to risk being thrown out of the magical place that had become Flinx’s home.