Paul was silent for a few seconds, unsure of whether to tell me what had happened to him or how he had gotten here.
I could obviously tell, he was never good at making excuses and I could see in real time that he was deciding not to tell me certain things.
"The day I left home, I think I should start from there," he mumbled and I crossed my arms and Paul started telling me.
Apparently after leaving Buena Village and after recommending me in Roa he left for the south of Asura.
There he started again as an S-rank adventurer where he rebuilt his reputation.
People admired and followed him because of his strength so he formed a new group of adventurers called "The Dragon Hunters" because their first job was to take down a hopeless Red Wrym.
His reputation and strength grew more and more as the months passed.
That's when he became a Sword Saint and
In addition to becoming one of the guild's most powerful assets, he was offered to be the leader of a combined group of five individual groups to make expeditions to the south of the continent.
They worked mostly in the kingdom of Sanakia, Shirone and North of the Kingdom of the Dragon King and he always used the name Paul omitting the "Greyrat".
There he created his own extension of the guild and also created the mercenary organization of "Dragon Hunters".
And by "fate" they settled in Millis for several months and that's how we arrived until today.
It was obvious that he had hidden several parts to save his skin but that does not justify his actions.
Yes, I'm playing the role of a child resentful of the father who went for cigarettes.
"I see, you've had a good life, right? But that doesn't explain why you were chasing and attacking Lady Hilda," I declared, crossing my arms.
Paul opened his mouth but the words stuck in his throat.
"I didn't know who she was, we were just on a mission to capture the suspicious woman in the woods," he murmured softly.
"Well, in that case, now that this misunderstanding is resolved, you'll let her go, right?" I asked as my hand lightly moved to the hilt of my sword.
Paul just raised an eyebrow and started laughing loudly, it was clear that he was confident in his own strength.
But in the end he stopped laughing and looked at me fixedly.
"Yes... I'll let her go, but I don't think it's good for you to stay in Millis for long. Even if it was self-defense, she killed many of my men, and they all had families who would want revenge." He sternly warned.
I just shrugged and nodded.
But I still couldn't help but feel that something about Paul wasn't right, he was quite tense, more than a shameless guy like him should be.
But I still started walking in the direction where Ruigerd had taken Hilda but Paul spoke again.
"Rudeus... I'm glad you're okay..." He murmured sadly.
"Yes, me too, despite everything," I said, and he immediately looked at the floor with his fists clenched.
I quickly got lost among the trees and opened the ring map.
Fortunately, my group was only a couple of kilometers away, so if I ran a little, I would reach them in no time.
...
As Rudeus walked away Paul stood in place with his fists tightly clenched as he stared at the ground in anger.
'It's all this kid's fault!! bastard!!'
Anger began to grow in Paul as he recalled his recent encounter with his son.
"There's no doubt! There's no doubt now! Because of him!... It was because of him that my life in Buena Village ended!"
Paul gritted his teeth tightly as he mentally put the pieces of his puzzle together.
'He must have manipulated Zenith and Lilia into isolating me! That's what happened! He never saw me as a father in the first place!... So it's not a bad thing that I don't see him as a son anymore, right?...'
"After all... I still have my two precious children and one on the way... It won't be a great loss..." He muttered with an evil smile.
With these thoughts Paul took his horse and prepared to return to the city of Millis.
'I'll have to let Gesse know what he thinks about this...'
...
It wasn't necessary for me to run for too long
Using gravity magic to lighten my weight and using the ring map, I arrived at my group's location in less than five minutes.
I slowed down and trotted up to them.
There I found Hilda talking animatedly with Hope and Sylphie while hugging Eris tightly.
Ruigerd watched all this with a slight smile, but when he looked at me his posture visibly relaxed.
I didn't realize until recently but apparently he considers me his superior.
"Rudeus!" Hilda cried out in relief before lunging at me and hugging me tightly, making sure my face was buried in her tits.
"Ooh! I'm so glad everyone is okay!" I'm so happy!... Seeing your messages on the ring wasn't enough!" She said with tears in her already swollen eyes, it was clear that she had been crying even after my arrival.
"Don't worry Lady Hilda, you are all my family after all" I replied while returning the hug.
"Call me mother-in-law!" She said with slight fake indignation as she stroked my head.
"Woow! So how many mothers-in-law do you have, Rudeus?" Kishirika muttered in surprise.
"Three in total, just that" I replied while the demon Loli smiled mockingly.
"That doesn't matter! What matters to you is that Rudeus loves all his wives equally, right?" She asked, looking at me out of the corner of her eye.
Immediately all the women fixed their eyes on me and when I nodded fervently they sighed in relief.
"Lady Hilda, it seems you haven't had the best week, have you?" I asked, pointing at her tattered dress.
She immediately blushed and moved away from me.
"I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't realize!" She said in panic.
"Ha! That doesn't matter, it's just an observation. How about we camp here? I can help You bathe with my magic while Ruigerd and Eris hunt for something to eat."
Hilda's cheeks immediately blushed but she nodded anyway.
Eris and Ruigerd She also nodded, the girl was excited to face enemies here and I could only sigh.
"Sylphie, can you make a fire please? There's some wood scattered around here," I said and she nodded.
"I'll help you Sylphie!" Hope said immediately as she started picking up wood from the ground.
"And me? What do I do?" Kishirika asked, crossing her arms.
"Nothing, you'll just have to wait until lunch is ready," I said and she nodded, smiling her typical shark smile.
...
Hilda and I moved a couple of hundred meters away from the place where the bonfire would be.
I could see Hilda clearly blushing as we traveled in silence.
"Without your ring I would be dead..." She murmured weakly as she took my hand.
I smiled at her and gave her hand a light squeeze.
"There's no need, you're my woman and it's my duty to protect you."
"Your woman..." Hilda murmured as a smile formed on her face. "I want that to change to being your wife soon," she murmured.
"Me too" I said and so we stopped in a slightly clear place.
"Okay, so you want me to make walls for you so you can bathe?" I asked and she nodded.
Immediately with earth magic I created four walls without a roof and with a hole for the door.
And also I created a bathtub and fill it with water.
"There's no soap to clean you properly, but at least you'll be able to get all that dirt off," I said with a mocking smile.
"Hmmm... B-but doesn't the smell bother you?" She asked unsure.
"Not too much, now undress and I'll wash your dress."
Hilda nodded without hesitation and slowly and provocatively undressed in front of me.
Her huge L-cup breasts swayed with every movement of her sensual body.
Her pussy was wet with some red pubic hairs and her beautiful, round pussy bounced as she took off her panties.
"Hurry up or I'll fuck you right here" I warned.
"Oh please yes!~" She moaned and I just sighed.
"So if you don't hurry up there won't be sex for a week," I said.
And with an "eeep!" she jumped into the tub with a splash
She spent about twenty minutes bathing and at once she said "please look at me" so I had no choice but to look at her beautiful naked body while she was bathing.
But besides that I washed her dress and underwear using hot water magic and wind magic.
The dirt fell off the clothes and in its place they were slightly grayish but nothing serious.
In the end we both returned to camp as if nothing had happened.
Ruigerd was lucky because he caught a huge wild boar, two meters long, which we all feasted on, especially Hilda.
But something changed when I noticed about fifty very powerful human presences approaching us at high speed.
Apparently my degree of detection is higher than Ruigerd's since he continued eating without worries.
"Everyone, eat quickly and prepare, many hostile presences are approaching and fast." I said and everyone tensed up even Ruigerd.
"R-Rudy...s-should we run away?" Sylphie asked scared.
"Yes, one of the presences is familiar... It's my father" I said and everyone except Ruigerd and Kishirika tensed.
"Your father?... Your father?...the one who cheated on your mother and got another woman pregnant? Your father, the one who abandoned you? That same father?" Sylphie muttered while frowning.
'Apparently, this topic bothers her...wow'
"Yes, that same father and it seems he doesn't have good intentions, I think we have to fight" I said and everyone nodded upon hearing my words.
"Mothers-in-law, please take Kishirika to a safe place, Sylphie will protect you" I said and my adorable little elf nodded determinedly.
"Rudeus, how many did you say there were?" Ruigerd asked.
"About fifty men, most of them intermediate rank, some advanced rank, the most powerful of them all is my father," I said, and he nodded.
"I want to fight too!" Eris said staring at me and I nodded.
"Okay, but activate your barrier, that's an order," I said, staring at her.
She made an adorable pout and with a moan of dissatisfaction a faint green light enveloped her body.
'Well' with that thought I fixed my gaze ahead of me where the presences were getting closer and closer.
"Ha... I can see them now... How come you were able to see them before?" Ruigerd asked as he took his spear into attack position.
"Magic..." I said with a smile as I unsheathed my sword.
Eris didn't have a sword unfortunately but with the ring she is just as fast and deadly as she is with a sword.
A few seconds later the sound of several horses galloping rapidly began to be heard in the distance only to stop about 200 meters from us.
My father was the only presence who continued to advance until he was in front of us.
"..."
"..."
We both remained silent as we looked at each other.
But there was something strange about Paul, his presence...
I activated my mana eye and my eyes opened wide.
His once normal armor was now completely covered in Touki and his sword emitted a golden glow.
Paul's Touki was multi-colored and so bright that I couldn't help but squint my mana eye until I deactivated it.
"Dad... What are you doing here now?" I asked.
"What I should have done before leaving home was kill you. You're a danger to this world. God told me so." Paul declared in a solemn tone as he got into a fighting stance.
"God?...I see," I murmured sadly.
"Ruigerd, Eris, take care of the bandits, this fight is personal" I demanded.
Eris nodded and Ruigerd wanted to object but in the end he obeyed.
So they both ran off into the bushes and battle cries began to echo through the forest.
"So God, huh? He also told you to attack Lady Hilda?" I asked, staring at him.
My sword was immediately engulfed in fire and electricity as I raised it over my head.
"You don't need to know that," he replied and immediately lunged at me.
*clanck!!*
The sound of clashing metal echoed through the forest, Paul's eyes widened, and I smirked.
"Is that all?" I asked and he gritted his teeth.
'Ha! And I was scared just a few seconds ago!'
Apparently Paul's sword and armor increased his strength significantly but nothing out of the ordinary.
He's barely at Sword King rank, even Ghislaine could defeat him right now.
"h-how?!...how is it possible!, y-you shouldn't be so strong!!!" Paul shouted angrily
"What? Don't you remember? Even before you left home, I had defeated you," I muttered with a mocking smile, and a vein appeared on Paul's forehead.
"e-even so!!, even so you shouldn't be so powerful!!"He shouted indignantly and I just sighed.
"Since you are weaker than me, that you took out Hilda and that you are an apostle of Hitogami then I have no choice but to kill you" I said and Paul's eyes widened.
"h-how do you know about hi?!-"
Before Paul finished speaking I moved towards him in a split second.
He didn't even have time to react until his head fell out of his body, killing him.
Paul's body fell to the ground with a thud and at the same time Ruigerd and Eris returned from their battles.
Ruigerd wasn't even sweaty, but Eris was covered in mud and blood, and also que had a terrifying smile that disappeared when she saw the corpse in front of me.
Ruigerd wanted to speak again but just patted me on the shoulder in the end.
"Let's meet up with the others, we're leaving here," I said, sheathing my sword and throwing a fireball at Paul's body, which burned to a crisp in seconds.
[COMENT AND GIVE ME POWER STONES!!]