Chapter 39: Family Shopping
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Elisa joined them at the table and began eating cereal from her own bowl, slowly and carefully using her spoon. She watched the colorful cartoons with the kids; her eyes focused on the screen with surprising seriousness.
"Quite honestly, I don’t understand why General Seven doesn’t just kill Trox. Isn’t he superior in both strength and authority? The Traxians are strong, but they are too sparsely distributed and divided among themselves. He could easily destroy them from the inside out through a proper infiltration campaign and..."
She took every cartoon far too serious, which only made the rest of the family laugh, even if she never intended to be funny.
"Huh? W-Why are you laughing?! I’m being serious!"
"We know that, but it’s still just a cartoon," Riven teased her gently.
"Grrr, what’s wrong with analyzing it properly?!" Elisa growled, her cheeks puffing out a little. "Anyway, it’s bath time. Let’s go take a bath already. Afterward, we can go grocery shopping. Kids, you can have anything you want today."
"YAAAAY!"
After everyone had taken a thorough bath and gotten properly dressed, Riven drove them in his car to the largest grocery store available in the city. Little Noir stayed behind at home, quietly guarding the house as usual.
The moment the kids stepped into the enormous store, they gasped in pure wonder. They stared at the endless aisles filled with countless products and things to buy — items they had never even imagined they would one day be able to afford so easily.
"Cereals? Let’s buy one of every type... more milk, right? Pancake mix... waffle formula... umm, and plenty of meat, right?" Elisa wondered aloud while moving her wheelchair with quiet authority, continuously adding more items to the shopping cart.
"Take it easy. There’s only so much the car can carry, Elisa," Riven laughed.
"I have my ring, remember?" she said, showing him her wedding ring with a small smile. "I was the one who asked for it to double as a storage ring... back then I just didn’t want a completely useless piece of jewelry on my hand."
"I see. You’re right," Riven nodded.
"But maybe... I kind of like it lately," Elisa admitted while looking at the wide selection of cakes and cheesecakes. She gently caressed her ring with her recovered fingers. "I never want to take it off now, somehow~" She glanced at him coquettishly.
"Ah... I-Is that so?" Riven asked, suddenly feeling that something deeper was going on between them. "Well... me neither."
Their quiet moment was quickly interrupted when Daniela and Carlos came running back to the shopping cart, their arms full of candies, snacks, and a few toys from the Super Robots Reboot series that Carlos had always dreamed of owning.
He was such a devoted fan that he used to spend his free time making cardboard robots based on the characters. They had so little money that he had never been able to afford proper toys. The only one he owned was an old General Seven figure his mother had gifted him years ago — his most precious possession that he carried everywhere.
"Riven! Riven, can we keep these?" Carlos asked with bright, hopeful eyes.
"Hmmm!" Elisa checked the items carefully. "You should also ask me, not just Riven... And yes, you may. As long as you keep good grades at the new school, I’ll buy you anything you want."
"Yay!" Carlos cheered happily, acting more like a real child for once instead of trying to stay overly mature and quiet.
In the end they bought so many groceries that the total was enough to feed the family for half a year or more. Riven had expected trouble loading everything into the car, but they simply stored most of the bags inside their storage rings without difficulty.
On the way out, Riven noticed a Hunter Tech Store and decided to walk inside. He bought the kids their own personal storage bracelets. The storage spaces were smaller than adult versions, but they were still worth every coin.
"Oh wow... t-thank you, Riven!" Daniela said, her voice full of genuine gratitude.
"This must have cost a lot..." Carlos added quietly.
Each bracelet cost a full million, but Riven never mentioned the prices.
"Ah, it’s nothing," he shrugged casually. "It’s just something important for both of you, so you can always carry what you need."
Before heading home, they stopped at a nearby park where the kids played together for a while. Afterward they enjoyed ice cream and then went to eat lunch at another fancy restaurant that Elisa had known for years.
Now that she could move her hands and control her body a little better, she felt far more energetic and filled with the desire to go outside again — something she had once feared deeply.
That old fear of the outside world she used to carry... was simply gone now.
Once they finally returned home, it was already getting late. After another bath and a light dinner, the kids went to bed, and another peaceful day came to an end.
"It was a nice day," Elisa smiled softly from her wheelchair. "I had a lot of fun."
"Is that so?" Riven asked while reading a thick book about monster biology, already studying his next target.
"Is that a new book you bought?" she wondered, leaning closer. "Hm? Ecology of the Wild Jungle Dungeon? World’s largest wildlife..."
"Yeah. Well, I’ve always loved animals," Riven admitted. "I remember having several pets throughout my childhood... though... well..." His expression grew a little sad.
"Uh... they... they died?" Elisa asked carefully.
"Not from natural causes..." he sighed quietly. "My siblings... always bullied me." He stared into the pages of the book in silence for a moment. "They used to think it was funny to... to do things to my pets... and leave them half-dead on my bed..."
"..."
Elisa’s eyes widened in shock. She covered her mouth with one hand, unable to hide her disbelief.
She had never heard this part of Riven’s past before.
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