CHAPTER 353: CHAPTER 352: BOTTOM OF THE FAMILY PECKING ORDER

Chapter 352: Bottom of the Family Pecking Order

"Hahaha... a Memokeeper?"

"An ’elegant, noble’ Memokeeper, getting her swan feathers plucked! This is too much fun!"

Sparkle was holding a camera (not March 7th’s), recording Black Swan’s repeated "fails."

The "Jail Goose" (Black Swan) show... Director Sparkle was very satisfied.

She felt that this Memokeeper, Black Swan, was perfect for the Tavern. She was a "Saintly Body of a Natural-Born Chaos-Seeker" (Fun-lover).

Is Boss Aha (Aeon of Elation) getting old? How could he not even "glance" at such a good seedling?

(Aha: How could Aha dare to ’glance’ at Lord Jail Goose? Aha only became the Aeon of Elation because Lord Jail Goose ’glanced’ at him.)

Wolffy gave Black Swan to the Express crew. He had sheep to eat now; he didn’t need "stewed goose."

(Black Swan: Am I part of the Express crew now?)

...

"Dad! This is too dangerous!"

Little Shi was "drifting" (running) across the open prairie. Kenji and the others were following behind on Lotta (Battle Wolf).

What kind of training is this?! Am I even their real son?!

"Otouto (Little Brother)! Go!" Little Anya waved her small hands, cheering for her brother.

She felt no sympathy. With "Otouto" distracting their mother, she wouldn’t have to be a "clothes rack" for a while, trying on all kinds of outfits.

(Little Anya does like looking pretty, but changing clothes that many times a day is annoying.)

So... it was just better to let ’Otouto’ suffer a bit.

"Little Shi, be brave! Charge at Lotta!" Kenji said lazily.

He had no other motive. He really was just training his precious son.

Today it was Lotta. In a few years, he’d let Shi-kun experience the feeling of being chased by the Astral Express.

Or maybe a comet.

Oh... if I hit him with ’the big one’ (a special vehicle), I wonder if it would ’isekai’ (transport) him to another world?

Kenji rubbed his chin.

"Kenji, your way of raising kids... is pretty hardcore," Toriko said, appearing on his Battle Wolf, Terry. He felt a little bad for the kid.

"Hardcore?"

"As I recall... didn’t you four... spar with all kinds of beasts in the ’Biotope’ (IGO Biotope 0) when you were kids?" Kenji said, thinking back.

Ichiryu’s teaching method for the Four Heavenly Kings was "free-range." After teaching them the basics, he let them develop on their own.

The Biotope was full of beasts, so it was either fighting or eating.

"Now that you mention it... yeah. We were fighting for our lives, and the Old Man (Ichiryu) was just ’watching the show’ (eating melon). So mean," Toriko grumbled.

"Hahaha! Little Toriko-kun! I just got back and I hear you speaking ill of me!"

His descent was so fast that Ichiryu, wreathed in flames, drop-kicked Toriko, sending him rolling across the ground.

"Damn it, Old Man! No honor! A sucker punch (ambush)!"

Toriko spat out the rocks and sand he’d eaten, rubbing his chest. He probably thought nothing on Earth could hurt him, so he let his guard down.

"It wasn’t a sucker punch! I called out to you first!"

Ichiryu said righteously. He spoke before he hit. It wasn’t a "sudden attack."

It’s Toriko’s fault for not dodging. How can he blame me?

"How was I supposed to know you’d just attack?!" Toriko was speechless.

This Old Man’s mentality... is still way too ’good’.

"Little Ichi (Ichiryu), you ’sucker-punched’ my son. It’s only fair I ’sucker-punch’ you, right?"

"Wait! Listen—"

POW!

Ichiryu’s face changed. Before he could finish his sentence, he was sent flying by a leg-sweep.

He was now experiencing what Toriko had, skipping across the ocean’s surface.

"You’re all grown men," Froese said, shaking her head. She was the one who’d attacked.

"Old Ma! Why are you here?"

Toriko’s expression was strange. Ichiryu hits him; his mother (Froese) hits Ichiryu. There’s always someone higher up the food chain.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

It had been years... this was the first time he’d seen his mother attack.

"I sensed Little Ichi (Ichiryu) was back, so I came to look. And I just happened to see him ’acting his age’ (being immature)," Froese said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Lady Froese! You almost dislocated my arm!"

Ichiryu rubbed his arm. Don’t be fooled... Froese is a chef, but her ’hard strength’ is no joke.

"Stop faking. I know your strength."

Froese knew Ichiryu’s power. Even if she’d gone all out, she’d be hard-pressed to actually injure him.

"Now that you’re back... want me to set you up on a blind date?"

As Ichiryu’s elder, she had to show concern. She’d never been a "matchmaker" before, but she could try.

"I... think I’ll pass." Ichiryu’s face froze. He suddenly had the urge to flee Earth.

[Hahaha! Ichiryu, you’re being set up! Just agree!]

Don Slime’s laughter echoed in Ichiryu’s head, completely shameless.

You’ve been a bachelor for this long! Go on the date!

[Slime, that’s enough! Don’t add to my troubles!]

Ichiryu’s head was buzzing. A blind date? He had no interest.

"Senior Uncle Ichiryu, Senior Froese is just kidding," Kenji said, amused. So... even Ichiryu can’t handle this.

It was understandable. There were few people on Earth of Ichiryu’s age. He’d been this way for hundreds of years; he wasn’t going to start thinking about that now.

Froese smiled. She wasn’t going to force him. But if Ichiryu was interested... that would be great.

Ichiryu’s mouth twitched. Forget it. This is the ’Grandmaster’ . I can’t get mad. Cannot target.

Wait... Coco and the others aren’t married yet! I’ll go ’supervise’ them when I get back!

(Coco, Sunny, Zebra: ?)

"Old Ma, Big Brother Starjun doesn’t have a girlfriend either," Toriko reminded her.

Kenji and the others looked at Toriko. What a ’good’ little brother you are... "helping" your big brother find a partner.

"..."

Little Anya looked at Little Shi. I need to be careful... or this annoying little brother will screw me over just like that.

"Sis, why are you looking at me?" Little Shi’s eyebrow twitched.

He was truly at the "bottom of the family pecking order" . Even Lotta, the pet, probably had a higher status.

"Nothing, Otouto (Little Brother). If you don’t behave... I’ll just..." Little Anya gave a scummy smile.

"I get it! I will always listen to ’Sister-sama’ !"

Little Shi instantly understood what his sister meant. His skin crawled. He quickly put on an obsequious smile.

His sister... had a copy of his "dark history" (the dress photos). His future... was bleak.

If he made his sister unhappy, his "dark history" would probably fly everywhere. The whole world would know.

Auntie Tina (the reporter) is in charge of global media... one word to her, and I’ll be the world’s top ’hot search’ topic.

My life is so hard...