The Basement and the Potatoes

The entire ordeal, from Ax's apology to the departure of his group, took less than fifteen minutes.

Under the "kind" persuasion of the old lady, Ax finally yielded. He apologized through gritted teeth and ordered his men to clean Dick up. In the end, they carried Dick away, slinking out of the Riser family gates in disgrace.

The silence and haste of their departure spoke volumes about the humiliation they felt. Yet, the old lady, who had orchestrated it all, seemed completely oblivious, waving them off with a look of grandmotherly warmth.

"Travel safely now. Our Riser family welcomes your visits anytime."

Ax shot the old lady a vicious glare, said nothing, and marched out the gate without looking back.

Just like that, the Fool family was gone.

Benjamin was overjoyed, though he tried his best to keep his face neutral and not show it.

This was perhaps the first time since his transmigration that someone had stepped up to save him when he was at his lowest. As an adult in mind, he was used to relying on himself for everything, but being able to win without lifting a finger felt surprisingly good.

Did this mean his luck was finally turning around?

Regardless, he was absolutely determined not to have a chamber pot shoved onto his head. Escaping that fate alone was reason enough to be happy.

However, he soon realized he had celebrated too early.

"Benjamin, what exactly happened last night? Was this your doing?"

After the Fool family left, the old lady fell silent, and Claude, seemingly regaining the authority of the head of the house, suddenly spoke up, questioning Benjamin with a stern expression.

Benjamin's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately cast a pleading look toward the old lady.

The old lady yawned, pretending not to notice.

"..."

It was over.

You should have seen it through to the end! Why give up halfway!

Claude clearly saw Benjamin's guilty expression. He let out a dissatisfied huff, his face turning menacing. He cast a fleeting glance at the old lady before continuing his lecture to Benjamin:

"Don't think this matter is over. How have I raised you? Where did your pride as a noble go? Running away from home is one thing, but to cause such a scene less than a day after returning—can't you give us some peace of mind for once?"

As Benjamin listened, a question mark suddenly popped into his mind at a certain phrase.

Running away from home?

What was this? Why did it feel like he'd missed a chapter or skipped a plot point?

"Hey, what's this about running away from home? Did Benjamin run away before?" Benjamin asked the system, confused.

"He did not," the system replied firmly.

"Then what is this about?" Benjamin pressed.

"I don't know," the system answered.

"You..." Benjamin was momentarily speechless. But this wasn't the first time, so he quickly recovered and retorted sharply:

"What use are you?"

The system's tone remained completely flat: "None. So stop coming to me. Let's break up."

"..."

This system was toxic.

Returning his consciousness to reality and sorting through the timeline, Benjamin quickly realized the only possibility for the "running away" narrative.

Could it be... that no one knew he had been kidnapped, and they all assumed he had just run away?

Eureka, I've found the point!

Damn it, no wonder no one had offered him any sympathy since he got back. They didn't know he had narrowly escaped death! What was wrong with this family? Their son had been kidnapped and they didn't even know, thinking he'd just run off? The Church was likely the same; to hide the news about Michelle, they hadn't told the Riser family the truth.

No wonder! No wonder he hadn't seen a single friendly face, and no wonder their attitudes were so poor!

He had just returned from the gates of hell, after all. If these people knew that, how could they treat him like this?

Thinking of this, he immediately began to defend himself:

"I didn't run away from home, I was—"

"Shut your mouth! You brat, where did you learn to lie like that? Do you think I'm a fool?" Claude interrupted him mercilessly, leaving no room for argument. "Trying to trick me? You didn't run away... if you didn't run away, then where have you been these past few days? Don't tell me you were kidnapped!"

"..."

Yes, I actually was kidnapped.

Benjamin wanted to say it, but in this situation, if he actually said that, he'd probably be beaten to death.

Damn it, another person stealing his lines.

Looking at Claude's state, his anger was even more intense than before, likely mixed with the frustration of being outmaneuvered by the old lady in front of outsiders. Claude couldn't vent his anger on her, so Benjamin was the only unlucky target left.

With him this angry, anything Benjamin said would be useless.

He could only bow his head and take the scolding.

Sure enough, good luck was only temporary; bad luck was eternal.

And so, Benjamin gritted his teeth and endured fifteen minutes of being berated by Claude in front of everyone. The specific content need not be detailed. During this time, everyone else in the living room stood frozen, neither moving nor speaking, eyes fixed on their own noses, while the maid continued to tremble as she cleaned up the mess.

Finally, after the barrage of scolding, Claude's fury began to subside. He looked at the silent Benjamin, paused for a moment, and suddenly said:

"Go to the basement and reflect on your actions! Don't even think about eating until you admit your mistake!"

And so, Benjamin was dragged off and locked in the basement.

The "struggle session" came to an end, and everyone in the living room went their separate ways. Meanwhile, under Claude's long face and menacing glare, a maid accepted the task of locking Benjamin away and led him to the Riser family basement.

It wasn't like the typical fantasy novels where basements hid family secrets or contained books that could summon demons to sign contracts. The Riser family basement... was really just a small basement.

It was a room of about eight square meters with walls made of dark bricks, moss crawling through the gaps. And inside this basement, there was nothing but bag after bag of potatoes.

As soon as Benjamin entered, he stepped on a potato, lost his balance, and tumbled into a sea of them.

Just as he was dazed and about to turn back to ask for help, bang—the maid who had led him in vanished, leaving only the heavy black iron door, which slammed shut and locked instantly.

Benjamin stared at the keyhole, through which a sliver of light shone, stunned for a moment before sighing.

He slowly climbed up from the pile of potatoes.

"Grounded, huh..." He looked around to confirm his environment.

He brushed the dust off his clothes, found a clear spot without potatoes, and sat down. He leaned against a large sack of potatoes as a backrest, finding a position that wasn't too uncomfortable, and slowly relaxed.

"Phew... even though I'm grounded, I guess this is a chance to catch my breath." He muttered to himself.

Although he ended up being punished, it was still much better than having a chamber pot shoved on his face. It was just being grounded; surely they wouldn't keep him here for a year or two? He'd probably be out in a few days; he wouldn't suffer too much.

He could even treat this as a chance to rest.

Come to think of it, he had only been in this world for five days. Excluding the three days he was unconscious, he had been in a state of constant tension for the remaining two. Wits-battling with Michelle, throwing a chamber pot at a sleepwalking Dick, being assassinated, scouting the Church, and the struggle session with the Fool family... he really had done a lot in two days.

It really... felt like a dream.

Life was truly restless, with more problems than a client at a design firm, and each one more headache-inducing than the last.

He felt completely drained.

At this moment, he even started to think that being sent to the basement by Claude was the best thing that had happened to him since he arrived.

The basement was small and cramped, but it wasn't unpleasant. The dim light and quiet environment were good for calming his restless heart, not to mention the faint, earthy scent of potatoes in the air.

The scent of potatoes... it was actually quite nice.

Maybe it was because he was hungry.

Thinking of this, Benjamin suddenly realized a very serious problem. This problem had existed from the start and had already shown its terrifying destructive power. If left unchecked, it would surely lead to unpredictable and dire consequences.

That problem was: he was hungry.

Very... very hungry.

He hadn't eaten for a day and a night. A fierce hunger pang traveled from his esophagus to his stomach, through his intestines, and back up to his throat. That bone-deep feeling was, quite literally, starving.

At this moment, he remembered Claude's words: "Don't even think about eating until you admit your mistake!" The words echoed in his ears like a morning alarm until they became a trauma.

Don't think about eating...

Think about eating...

Eating...

Food...

He froze for a moment, and then, as if he had suddenly realized something, he sprang up from the ground like a coiled spring, rushed to the locked iron door, and clawed desperately at the rusty keyhole.

"Let me out! I want to admit my mistake! You can't stop me from admitting my mistake! Open the door and I'll admit it! I love admitting mistakes! Admitting mistakes makes me happy..."

His heart-wrenching cries echoed in the basement over and over again.

By the time Benjamin was too weak to cling to the door and his throat was so dry he couldn't help but cough, there was still no response from the world outside. He slid down from the door like a gecko, collapsing limply on the floor, feeling a bit weary.

He began to realize just how terrifying a punishment being grounded was.

After lying on the floor for a while, his gaze turned to the scattered potatoes.

They were raw, and the taste definitely wouldn't be good, but... they should be edible, right?

"Can you eat potatoes raw?" he asked the system.

"I haven't tried it, you can give it a go," the system replied.

"..."

If he weren't too weak from hunger, Benjamin would have cursed the system out.

Forget it! I'm starving, I can't care about that anymore! Don't they say people eat tree bark during famines? If tree bark is edible, and belts are edible, why can't a raw potato be eaten? The mashed potatoes at KFC aren't much different from raw ones, and he's still alive.

He would rather die of food poisoning than starve to death.

Starving to death was too miserable; it was the kind of death people would tell as a joke while eating dinner. It was too embarrassing.

Though, dying from eating a raw potato seemed pretty embarrassing too...

Forget it! Why think so much! I'll be the first hero to eat a raw potato!

Driven by hunger, Benjamin picked up a potato, opened his mouth, and prepared to take a bite.

Just then, a clack sound suddenly echoed in the basement.

Benjamin was startled, but he had already committed to the bite, and he couldn't pull back. His teeth sank hard into the potato. With a surge of sourness, he felt his gums go soft, as if his jaw were about to dislocate.

Damn it, it's so hard, I can't even bite into it!

With his teeth aching, Benjamin quickly threw the potato away, turned around, and looked toward the source of the strange sound.

He saw that a small opening had appeared in the iron door, and a pair of blue eyes appeared in the gap. Those eyes were wide, staring fixedly at Benjamin, giving him a huge fright.

What the hell is this now?

First time on the rankings... I'll post an extra chapter today!