A Lewd Cultivator in Brockton Bay 72 (Patreon)

A Lewd Cultivator in Brockton Bay

Chapter 72

-VB-

Mark gently swayed his arms along with his torso as the two babies in his arms slept peacefully.

Oh, he knew why the babies were still in his house even though Alan, Vicky, and Amy were all free, but the young couple needed their alone time, and if they gave him more grandchildren to look after in exchange for a few hours each day that he could spend more time with the little ones, then he wasn’t going to complain.

Unlike Carol.

Carol’s approval-hate relationship with Alan was one that he still didn’t understand. He never chalked it up to “women” or “mother-in-law distaste” stuff. Oh, at any point except the deepest pits of his depression, he knew why Carol didn’t like Alan.

He reminded her a lot of Marquis.

It wasn’t the mannerism or power. No, it was something that … shouldn’t have reminded her of Marquis but did regardless.

Alan’s ability to make girls fall for him.

Yes, Carol disliked Alan for his natural(?) charisma.

Mark chalked that up to Alan’s long relationship as friends with both Vicky and Amy. His son-in-law didn’t have the kind of charisma Carol seemed to think he has, and certainly didn’t go around collecting trophy girlfriends like some people who do have that kind of allure.

He slowed down when he noticed Carol standing in the doorway of the guest room that the two of them had blitzed into a new baby room.

Carol looked at the two babies in his arms and snorted.

He just smiled, and she smiled back.

Olenna and Mark Jr. certainly made their lives happier simply by being here.

Especially happier than when he had to take care of Vicky as a baby because this time around, he didn’t have to deal with the babies waking up at night. That was the job of the parents.

-VB-

Taking a week off rutting with my wives and taking care of the kids helped me recover from some the stress that had been unknowingly been building up. I relaxed and wasn’t as … aggressive as I had been when I filed that formal complaint.

But I was also a little disappointed in myself.

First off, I should have killed Jack Slash, but I backed off right at the end because I didn’t want to expose myself to anything Bonesaw could cook up. I might be able to pull off some decent ki purging stuff, but there was a limit to that at my current level which could not overcome basic biology. Amy could have healed me but what if I infected her too with whatever Bonesaw cooked up? No. Disappointing as not having finished off Jack, it was still the right decision.

I may be strong and powerful, I learned, but I was not omnipotent.

Second, it’s been almost two years since I began working with my powers but the improvements that I have seen were … mediocre. Sure, if I was to compare myself with wuxia or xianxia characters, I could technically be called a genius. But I wasn’t. I was here through a CYOA some ROB decided to use as template for my new life. A lot of what I knew and did was based off of things that I had no right knowing.

But I did and improved.

Not fast enough when comparing myself to … other instances of people getting isekaied into Worm with a CYOA. Sure, those were all stories, but were they? I was here in Worm with a CYOA. I was not a story, so they weren’t either, at least from my perspective. Compared to so many of those, I was weak and slow to grow. I survived Leviathan by a stroke of luck, for God’s sake!

Third, I -.

“Alan?”

My train of thoughts came to a stop and I looked around to my left. Vicky had called my name, and when I saw her, she looked worried.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“I am. Why are you asking?”

“You were frowning.”

I hummed. “It’s nothing interesting or abnormal,” I replied as I reached up and gave her hand a squeeze. I glanced over my right and saw Amy, who was sleeping away with the post-coital bliss. Snorting, I turned back to look at Vicky. “Just thinking about how I could have done better,” I replied. “In … just about everything.”

She hummed with me. “I guess that might make you frow-. Wait, why would that make you frown?”

“I think I could have grown stronger faster.”

“... Really?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t because I wanted other things in life. Now that I look back on it, though, I still don’t know whether that was the right decision or not. Maybe I could have done less patrols. Maybe I could have gone for Jack Slash first. Maybe I could have dealt with Tagg’s power play more subtly. A lot of maybes that keep living rent free in my head. The kind of things that make me frown because, sometimes, I think I made a lot of mistakes.”

Vicky stared at me, searching for something in my eyes.

And then gave me a mock chop to the head.

“Ow,” I played along.

“You’re thinking too much,” she replied.

“I am?”

“You are. It’s not like you could have seen the future, and there were things you couldn’t do if you wanted to achieve something worthwhile. I mean, Amy and I are here with you, right? We wouldn’t have been here with you if you decided to hole up improving your power while ignoring us.”

“... Yeah, you two are definitely worth having in my arms.”

She rolled her eyes. “And Olenna and Mark.”

“They are worth it, too.”

“There you go. You’re thinking too much. Sometimes, you just have to roll with the punches. Besides, you’re doing really well, so stop selling yourself short, alright?”

“... Okay. Thanks, love.”

“Any time, my fist-happy idiot.”

I snorted.

“You know I can ramp up our training, right?”

“... You wouldn’t. I just laid here in your arms listening to your woes and giving you great advice. You wouldn’t be so cruel…?”

I snorted again. I curled up my arms, drawing both Vicky and Amy closer to me.

“I guess I shouldn’t. It would mean less time spent in bed for sleeping and sexy times.”

“Yes, that is the smart decision, hon.”

And for the first time in a long time, we got to experience some peace.