Having Reincarnated a Million Times I Won’t Let My Guard Down Even in a Peaceful World

88: At the Calm Lake**

“Let’s make a plan then.”

We promptly began designing a flowchart in our schedule book for conceiving a child.

After several days of research and discussions, our rough schedule was finally determined.

“Shall we go fishing?”

On a summer day when Milim’s pregnancy was confirmed, my father suddenly made such an invitation.

It was an unprecedented offer in every way.

Firstly, my father had never directly contacted me on my mobile device before.

Usually, communication came through my mother.

My father was an indoor person.

He had never taken me to the sea or mountains, and when I was a child, he took me to leisure facilities such as amusement parks, but that was largely at my mother’s insistence, and my father never proposed any activities himself.

Also, it was not common for just the two of us to go out together.

We didn’t have a bad relationship.

Perhaps this was the typical relationship between a “father and son” in the world?

Regardless of his abilities, his nature was that of an ordinary and average man, so it was rare for him to take “unusual actions,” and I simply accepted without doubting him and said, “Sure.”

Well, I don’t think of my father as a “pawn of the enemy” now—more like “there’s no point in considering it.”

If my father or mother were pawns of the “enemy” or the “enemy” themselves, the basic premise of my life would be shaken, and my life plan would have been thwarted from the outset. There’s no point in thinking about it.

“I’ve recently taken up fishing.”

My father packed two fishing rods and a cooler box into the trunk and drove the car.

It was three in the morning. It was no longer morning but already night.

I sat in the passenger seat and gazed at my father’s profile as he drove the car swiftly along the night road.

My father was a nervously thin-faced man. He had weak eyesight and always wore glasses.

His body was not very muscular, and he tended to hunch over, perhaps due to reading books while curling up, and his hair, which had been jet black, had begun to show scattered white hairs, and his face from the side lacked a sense of vigor.

We were just silent in the car. Road and weather information flowed from the radio, and it was clear that we would reach the fishing spot without any trouble.

Eventually, we didn’t say a word until we reached our destination and silently gazed at the scenery outside the window.

…But perhaps what we were looking at was not the scenery outside the window, but rather the reflection of the father and son in the window.

When we reached the lake we intended to visit, my father set up the area skillfully, brought out chairs, and lined up the fishing rods.

“Try over there.”

He said that to me with a slightly unfamiliar tone and then focused on the lake with a serious expression.

I sat down in the chair as instructed and held the fishing rod.

After waiting for a while, a fish caught onto my fishing rod, and I took it off and put it in the cooler box with my father.

“It’s delicious, isn’t it?”

I felt happy when I was praised.

It was just a compliment about my fishing skills, just a lucky catch, but for some reason, it made me strangely happy.

“…Yeah. That’s right. Rex, it seems like I’m not good at this after all.”

While looking at the fishing line that didn’t catch anything, my father smiled gently.

“There were so many things I wanted to tell you. As you become a parent from now on, as the parent who raised you, I think there are countless things that I should convey to you. But, you know, when I’m in front of you, I can’t seem to find the right words to say.”

Even though he’s a teacher, my father said so.

It didn’t seem like a joking remark. Actually, he might have been worried. …He’s a strangely serious father.

“…Yeah. That’s right. I think we’ve had quite a privileged life. When you were in your mother’s womb, we were able to go out like this with your real father and stepfather. Judging by the discussions, I think your grandmothers and such took your mother out and talked about various things. Just like what our fathers did for me.”

In a tone that made it seem like an academic discussion, I couldn’t help but laugh.

My father looked away from the lake and looked at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” I shook my head.

I see, he returned his gaze to the lake.

“Rex, there may be times when you find us annoying. …Ah, that might be right now or tomorrow. You’ve always had a look like you know everything, like you’ve given up, so you might have felt annoyed by us for a long, long time…”

I was taken aback.

I haven’t told my father about my reincarnation.

I judged that such a story wouldn’t be received by my serious, realistic, and logical father, or even if it was, it would only unnecessarily trouble him.

…Well, at first, I also didn’t want to reveal too much about myself to a possible “enemy.”

“…We, um, want you to think that we had a privileged life when you die of old age. So… yeah, so, please do the same for your child. It’s scary to be disregarded, to be alienated, but we can only do what we can do, and I want to do as much as I can for my child.”

After that, my father fell silent and continued to stare at the fishing line he had let down.

Other than what I caught first, we didn’t have any other harvests, and we silently stared at the calm lake until around noon.

I have always lived by learning.

Efficiently, without wasting time, I have cherished every little thing.

I dislike idle time.

So, from that perspective…

These few hours spent without catching anything were by no means wasted.

Including the long silence, I thought it was a time where I could learn a lot.