Hey, Mom, I finished the job you asked me to do.

Thank you, Val. Here's your wages.

　The man called Val gets his wages from the landlady at the diner.

Val is old enough to get a better job instead of doing this day job.

　His caring wife, as usual, starts to worry about him and make small talk.

"Haha, sorry to worry you,

　Val responds with an affectionate smile, knowing that her ladyship is genuinely concerned.

'You're old enough to be thinking about marriage,'

I don't know of any woman who would be willing to marry such a swaggering, middle-aged man.

　As Val self-deprecated, the lady put her hands on her hips and said with a sigh.

'You can't marry because of how you look, it's not because of how much money you make,' she said. I'm sorry to say it, but even my husband is not much of a looker.

　Val couldn't help but laugh at the clear statement.
　The reason why he doesn't get any animosity from this kind of talk is because of the lady's personality.
　In fact, Bal doesn't have the kind of appearance that would attract the attention of a woman, but he's not so awful that he would be disliked at first sight either.
　Maybe it's because he takes his day job seriously, but he's not sloppy either.　

'But I'm not particularly tame, so ......

　Val said and the wife glared at her.

It's not too late to get down and learn something or get a job. You don't seem very motivated, though.

Haha, but I have no idea where to start.

　Val scratched his head in annoyance.

'There's a lot going on here. You can apprentice yourself to your husband if you want.'

　The lady is more persistent than usual today.

''I'm already thirty-five, so I'm going to start training as a chef now: ......

'You still only have a day job as a result of saying that, don't you?　Is your life okay?

　The lady interrupts Val's argument midway through and asks her to step in.

'Well, that's something,'

You're a man of few words.

　His vague words made her gaze grow even more impatient.

'Hey, come on,'

　Her husband's annoyed voice can be heard from inside the store.
　Fortunately, Val thanks him and runs off.

'Oh, hey,'

　The lady tried to call her off, but Val decided to pretend not to hear her.

(Whew, man! ...... You were about three times as persistent as usual today.)

　I know why.
　Living as a day laborer is precarious, and there is a lot of danger of it drying up all at once if something goes wrong.
　Here in the Imperial City, there was plenty of wealth and work, but there was no absolute guarantee.
　Any kind person would be right to be worried.
　Nevertheless, Val would not stop living a day job.
　His house was a shoddy wooden structure in what he called a second class area.
　His house is in need of renovation, but he has put up with a lot of things on the condition that he can keep the rent down.
　His house has a kitchen, but he is not a good cook and usually eats outside or takes the finished product home with him.

'Baru?　It's nice to be a good customer, but if you're buying and eating all the time, you're not going to be able to save up for emergencies, are you?

　The dad of the stall sells skewers and worries about Baru.

'I've done some of that, in case you were wondering.

Really?

　No wonder my father's gaze was almost suspicious.
　Because if you know the life of Val, all of us think it's strange that he has savings.
　And my father knows most of them.

I'm sure that if something were to happen, we could make a plea to the imperial capital. "Well, if it goes wrong, we can just go to the imperial capital and ask for help.

In all honesty, I'm counting on it.

　Val replied in a frightened tone.
　During the more than twenty years since his accession to the throne, the current emperor has a reputation among the people as a great monarch because of his low taxes and generous guarantees.
　As long as he was alive and well, the common people would have no worries about the life of tomorrow.