Eris and I walked at a medium pace through the Millis Forest.
It was a somewhat cool environment although there was a bit of heat although most of it came from Eris who hadn't let go of me the entire way.
I even caught her looking at me a few times and when I smiled at her she just blushed and squeezed my arm tighter each time.
"Eris, you'll rip my arm off if you keep going like this," I joked.
"hmmn..." She murmured softly before letting go of me.
I could tell she had lowered her gaze in embarrassment so I just sighed and took her hand.
"W-what are you doing?!" She squealed in embarrassment.
"What? Can't I hold my beautiful fiancée's hand?" I asked with a mocking smile and she blushed even more, looking down at the ground without answering.
"When we get to the city we'll enter through the adventure district, we have to keep a low profile until we get to Paul's mercenary organization" I said and she nodded slightly still blushing.
It took us about an hour to get to the city, Ruigerd had the others follow the plan since everyone else was going around Millis to get to the North entrance of the city.
Practice after attacking Paul's organization we will have to run in a straight line to the next entrance which would be on the other side of the city.
It didn't seem like a very good plan on the outside but it would be the best way to try to lose Millis's soldiers to some extent.
"Wow..." Eris murmured in amazement as she saw the enormous city rise in the distance.
The forest had ended, so only a huge meadow remained and in the distance we could see the city in all its splendor.
But I had no intention of staying here or so I think.
Now that I think about it, I have family in this city besides Paul, like my mother's family, for example...
*Ding!*
[Earn your Aunt Therese's favor by saving the Miko of Millisl!!]
[Reward: Knowledge of Saint Level Healing and Detoxification Magic!]
"...hmmm... Interesting..." I muttered as I scratched my chin.
"Interesting?! Are you blind?! Look how beautiful that city is!!" Eris grumbled, pulling my ear.
"Oh yeah, sorry, it's just that... I was analyzing those enormous pillars..." I said, pointing at the city's pillars. "According to what I read in a book, those pillars generate god-level barrier magic in the event of a large-scale invasion," I explained, and his frown eased.
"Well then... Yes, it's interesting," she replied, kissing me on the cheek.
'I-impossible! Eris is getting interested in magic!!'
Leaving aside how I avoided my slip, I had a quick thought.
'Is my aunt being attacked?...'
I quickly activated my Super Eye and could sense it but it was quite far away...
19 kilometers to the east, one kilometer before the limit of my vision...
"tch... Eris, we'll change plans momentarily" I said taking her hand.
"Huh? What's wrong?" She replied confused.
"I can feel evil presences far from here, they are attacking innocent people, I will go, follow me" I said sternly.
Eris immediately nodded so I started running quickly.
Eris, thanks to the enhanced abilities the sword that I steal from Paul gives her, she could match my speed a bit, but I wasn't at my maximum yet.
So in less than a minute we arrived near the attackers' location.
"Who are you?! You are attacking the Miko of Millis! If you do so, you will declare war on the Cardinal's faction!!" A woman in blue full-body armor screamed in anger at the ten mercenaries in front of her.
Behind her was a slightly chubby blonde girl with diamond-shaped eyes.
I could also notice about three people killed, also with blue full body armor.
An ambush in a nutshell.
"We have nothing against you, we hand over the girl and we'll let you live," one of the mercenaries said with a sadistic smile.
"Over my dead body!!" The woman screamed and immediately two of the mercenaries rushed at her.
"Eris, take care of the others, I'll save the girl and the knight" I said and immediately launched myself towards them.
"Wh-" Before the mercenaries could even react, their heads flew off their bodies.
The woman in armor and the chubby girl were shocked to see the men's heads roll off their bodies in a millisecond.
"w-what?!, w-who?! Aaagh!!" Likewise, the remaining eight mercenaries were beheaded in less than a second by Eris.
Even though it was her first time using a sword, I could see that she adapted almost immediately.
Thus the ten mercenaries were eliminated in less than two seconds, leaving the women stunned.
"W-who are you?!" The female knight screamed in fear as she pointed her sword at him.
"My name is Rudeus... My mother is Zenith Latreia" I said looking into her eyes.
I had made the decision to reject Paul's surname since the day I killed him, I don't mind simply taking the surname of one of my women
"Rudeus?!... Zenith Latreia?!" The female knight screamed in shock as she took off her helmet immediately revealing a beautiful woman almost identical to Zenith only slightly younger.
"Yes, that's me," I muttered with an awkward smile.
"I-it can't be!...Y-you might not believe it but... My name is Therese Latreia! I'm your aunt!!" She cried with excitement before throwing herself at me and hugging me tightly.
"Hey! Get away from him!" Eris shouted with jealousy but my aunt ignored her completely.
"uum... Lady Therese..." The chubby girl muttered in fear and Therese froze in place.
"I'm so sorry, blessed girl! I lost my temper for a moment! Ahem!" Therese screamed in panic and then made a military pose looking at me with a big smile.
"Rudeus!, I would like to give you my gratitude for saving us but..." She muttered and then looked at the other fallen knights "What happened now is something very serious, you know? This could start a war," she murmured and I nodded.
But then an idea came to me.
"Eris, check the bodies of the mercenaries, see if any of them have anything valuable or anything" I told her, she looked at me in confusion but then nodded.
"What's going on? What are they going to check?" Therese asked, confused.
"You said that if the blessed girl was attacked, the cardinal's faction would be attacked, right? Wouldn't you like to know who attacked them?" I said, looking into her eyes, and she became serious.
"I see, then I'll help you," she said as she began to inspect the dead bodies.
But unfortunately nothing compromising was found or so we wanted to think but we noticed that all the mercenaries wore rings
All with the same insignia of a dragon and two swords in the middle of it forming an X.
"...The Dragon Hunters... Those bastards!!" Therese shouted angrily.
"Hmm?" I raised an eyebrow immediately. "The dragon slayers? Who are they?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
"It's a group of sleazy mercenaries in the adventure zone, the city has become more unsafe with those bastards here and they've been accused of doing detestable acts... Plus their leader has two wives..." Therese muttered angrily as the girl next to her frowned.
"I see... so this makes us allies, because I am going to destroy that organization " I said seriously.
Therese blinked in surprise for a few moments.
"I see... But why? What business do you have with them?! And why are you in Milis?! Shouldn't you be in Asura with your mother?!" She screamed in panic remembering the most important thing.
"aah... It's a long story, why don't we go back to the city and on the way I'll tell you everything okay?" I asked her and after a few moments of hesitation she nodded.
Ding!*
[Earn your Aunt Therese's favor by saving the Miko of Millisl!!]
[Reward: Knowledge of Saint Level Healing and Detoxification Magic!]
[adjusting carrier changes, please wait a few moments]
I immediately felt the changes in my knowledge, the Saint-rank healing magic... They say it is so powerful that it can regenerate severed limbs from a human body.
This change was indeed beneficial.
...
"S-so...so that bastard Paul was always your father?!" Therese shouted indignantly as we walked through the woods.
He had told her the general story of the events surrounding the Mana disaster and Paul's ambush, so she was now in a very bad mood.
"So that same mysterious Paul from the Dragon Hunters was Paul Greyrat!!" My aunt continued grumbling, even the blessed girl was frowning.
"Yes, and because he attacked my mother-in-law I had to defend her, in the end I let him go but he tried to attack us again so I had no choice but to kill him..." I muttered in a sad tone.
"Darling...I-I'm so sorry... I didn't know you'd been through all that..." My aunt murmured, clearly in shock.
"No problem... Since Paul left me and my mother, I stopped considering him part of my family," I said with a smile.
"o-oh... I see" she said with a slight smile.
*Ding!*
[Therese's affection increased to 10%]
[My nephew is so cute! I must help him!]
"And what are you planning to do? Are you going to tell your boss or someone what happened?" I asked and Eris looked at us expectantly.
"Of course!" My aunt said, placing a hand on her chest. "As captain of Squadron 15... I must report this act of treason against Millis." My aunt murmured and her tone became sad at the end, apparently she held her companions in high esteem.
"Well, in that case I suppose Paul's organization will be attacked, right?" I asked expectantly.
"Of course, this matter is of the utmost importance. When the top brass finds out about this, they won't hesitate for a second to attack that place. This will be the perfect excuse since they've already with a very bad reputation" Therese explained in a serious tone and I nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.
"That's good, since I was also going to attack that place but for personal reasons" I replied
Therese frowned slightly but then nodded.
"I understand, but you must keep in mind that there may be innocent people in there, don't try to cut everything that gets in your way with your sword," she warned.
"Of course, I won't kill left and right, only people who seem dangerous to me..." I said
"You must be very strong to have so much confidence, right?" The blessed girl said suddenly.
I turned to look at her, she was following Therese holding her hand while blushing slightly.
But when our eyes met, she blushed even more and looked away.
*Ding!*
[Blessed Girl's affection increased to 30%]
[S-so!...so lewd!!]
'Oh shit...' I clicked my tongue as I looked away.
She must have seen my memories in that single instant... But apparently she's not displeased if I'm judging by the system notification.
"Yes, I am quite strong, I trained under the tutelage of the Sword King Ghislaine Dedoldia and recently became a Sword Emperor" I said with a smile.
In front of me I could see Eris with her own proud smile at this.
"huh?!! Sword Emperor?!!" Therese screamed in astonishment.
"Yes, I know it sounds hard to believe but it's the truth" I replied scratching my cheek while looking at her face.
Therese immediately blushed visibly as she avoided eye contact.
*Ding!*
[Therese's affection increased to 45%!]
[I-isn't he my nephew?! What am I thinking?!]
'Oh gosh...'
"I see... In that case it makes sense... I couldn't even see your attacks" my aunt stuttered as she fixed her gaze on the trees around her.
"Yeah, that usually happens," I muttered with a smile as I patted her on the back.
Therese immediately shuddered but said nothing, the blessed girl next to her just looked at me with a frown and blushed equally.
"Rudeus..." Eris grunted in jealousy as she crossed her arms.
"What's wrong, my love?" I murmured in a solemn tone and in response she blushed, looking at the ground.
"It's nothing" She squealed in embarrassment at the end.
...
After another hour of walking we finally arrived at the city, passing through the adventurer district made us attract much less attention while Therese covered the blessed girl with a hood to avoid revealing her identity.
"There is the headquarters of Paul Greyrat's organization," Therese said, pointing to a huge building that stood out from the rest.
"Wow.. Paul didn't waste any time... That bastard" I muttered spitting on the ground.
"Eris, be on your guard," I told her and she put her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"Rudeus..." Therese called me in a serious tone.
"Hmm?" I turned slightly to look at her.
"Right now we will go with the cardinal to report what happened, be careful not to attract attention before the royal guard arrives" she said in a serious tone.
"I understand, you are my scapegoat after all," I said mockingly and she just snorted, crossing her arms.
"This is serious and as I told you before if you're going to kill someone then be careful not to harm innocents" she reminded and I nodded again.
"Also, tell us what happened there and that I also intervened, although just refer to me as "The Sigma"" I said, barely containing my laughter.
She raised an eyebrow and after a few seconds of silence she nodded and so we said goodbye.
When they disappeared down the road I gave a long sigh.
"Eris, it's time, stay alert, we don't know what kind of enemies we'll face there" I said and she nodded seriously but not before giving me a kiss on the cheek with a pout.
"I know what you've been doing, you have no shame with your own aunt!" She grumbled but I could see she wasn't truly angry.
"If you forgive me, I'll hold you all night telling you I love you," I whispered to her.
Eris immediately blushed deeply and nodded fervently.
I could only laugh lightly and so the two of us started walking towards the building.
[COMENT AND GIVE ME POWER STONES PLEASE!!!]