Shirou's sudden anger directly shocked everyone in the Greyrat family.
Not only was Paul knocked to the ground with a punch, confused and dazed, but Zenith, Rudeus, Lilia, and others were also stunned. They never expected Shirou to be so impulsive, even showing more anger than the victim, Zenith.
"Shirou..."
Zenith's gaze was fixed on the red-haired boy. For a moment, she didn't know how to react. Her eyes showed obvious softness and warmth.
"Young Master Shirou..."
Lilia's expression was also complicated. Shirou's defense of Zenith and his beating of Paul was also helping her, making Paul face reality and take responsibility.
His choice was for the sake of the family.
Rudeus realized this instantly and didn't say anything. Instead, he showed support for Shirou.
Among those present, Paul was probably the only one who hadn't come to his senses and didn't understand the situation.
After being knocked away by Shirou, he was confused for a long time. When everyone's eyes focused on him, the indescribable shame and his pride as a man made him slowly get up and look at Shirou.
Compared to Paul, Shirou's attitude remained unchanged. His expression was cold and intense, as if he was still waiting for Paul's answer.
Faced with such a Shirou, Paul was inexplicably afraid to face him.
In fact, Paul had never been a successful man. He had never seen himself as a father with authority or a sense of responsibility.
Having seen too many serious and cold fathers who didn't show any emotion in his childhood, Paul's rebellious nature led him to run away from home in his youth and wander the world. Later, he became an adventurer, living a nomadic life.
Even after marrying Zenith, his nature remained unchanged. He was still that dissolute young master, never considering the consequences of his actions, only caring about the present.
So, after accidentally having relations with Lilia that day, instead of ending it immediately, he repeatedly met with Lilia at night because Zenith was pregnant and he felt lonely. This led to Lilia also becoming pregnant.
When he realized that Lilia was pregnant and his affair could no longer be hidden, his first reaction was not to admit his mistake, but to escape reality, even trying to gloss over it with jokes.
Paul had never developed a sense of responsibility as a father or a husband. He still lived his life with an adventurer's mindset, but he had played the role well enough, constantly trying to act like a good father and set an example for Shirou and Rudeus.
That's why he always put on a great show when the family was together, teaching Shirou and Rudeus to be upright, to be like men, not to bully the weak, to protect girls, and not to do dishonest things.
Because Paul himself had never done these things, he couldn't lead by example. He could only constantly emphasize it in words, doing what a father should do.
In the past, he had never made any particularly big mistakes, so even small flaws could be easily covered up.
But this time, the mistake he made was no longer a small matter.
If not handled properly, it would be a terrible thing that could directly break up the family, causing great harm to Zenith and Lilia.
That's why Shirou used such violent means to provoke Paul, hoping that he could stand up like a man, admit his mistake, and find a solution.
However, Shirou clearly overestimated Paul's sense of responsibility as a man.
Paul had never had that so-called sense of responsibility. He had always been restraining himself, playing the role of a father, but he had never truly done it.
So, even with Shirou's anger and targeting, Paul not only didn't admit reality and face the difficulty, but instead opened his mouth with a displeased expression:
"Why are you getting involved at a time like this, Shirou? This has nothing to do with you! Could it be that Lilia's child is really yours?! And why are you fighting me to decide Zenith's fate? Zenith is my wife!"
"Paul..."
Shirou didn't know what to say after seeing Paul's self-destructive attitude.
He even felt a long-lost anger in his heart because of the other party's reaction, and his fists clenched again.
But before he could act, another figure appeared in front of him.
"Slap!"
A loud slap echoed throughout the room.
The blonde woman, Zenith, with tears in the corners of her eyes, looked at the dumbfounded Paul with extreme disappointment, and then said loudly without hesitation: "You still refuse to admit your mistake? I really misjudged you. You're still the same as before, a coward who won't take responsibility!"
"Ze, Zenith..."
"I agree with Shirou's request. Go fight Shirou! If you can't even beat Shirou, I'll leave this house with Shirou today!"
Zenith's words showed an unspeakable determination.
Her attitude made Paul fully aware of the harsh reality, and his expression finally changed from confusion to understanding and acceptance of reality.
As an adventurer, Paul was indeed quite rough in handling emotional problems, even completely clueless, not knowing what to do at what time to solve the problem.
But if the problem was turned into a battle, using the battle to decide the fate of his wife, he immediately realized what he should do.
So he took a deep breath and looked at the red-haired boy not far away.
Shirou had also been waiting for his response, looking directly at Paul without hesitation.
The father and son didn't say anything to each other, but the fighting spirit and determination had completely enveloped the entire hall, making it seem like a huge storm was gradually forming.
"Paul, let's go outside."
Shirou took the lead to speak, picking up his long sword and walking outside the house.
"..."
Although Paul couldn't respond, he immediately followed.
Zenith, Lilia, and Rudeus naturally followed as well, wanting to witness how this battle that would determine the future of the family would unfold.
"Madam, is this okay?"
Lilia's eyes wavered. "I'm the one who should leave this house. I should take the initiative to leave here."
"Don't say anything, I've already decided."
Zenith did this not only because of Shirou's attitude, following Shirou's words.
She had also considered a lot, realizing how much danger a disabled semi-crippled person with an inconvenient leg, plus a pregnant woman, might encounter on the journey if she drove Lilia away.
Conversely, if Zenith left herself, she was not only a former adventurer, but also a priest who was good at healing magic, and could heal herself if she encountered illness.
Plus, if Shirou was there to protect her, returning to her mother's family in the Holy Kingdom of Milis would probably not be difficult.
Of course, all of this was based on the premise that Paul was a coward who dared not take responsibility and was unwilling to stand up and accept the consequences of his mistakes.
If he lacked courage and didn't even have the ability to face reality, then Zenith would inevitably be completely disappointed in him and would rather leave this house.
The moment Zenith's attitude was revealed, Lilia and Rudeus realized that it was impossible to persuade her.
Paul, who was far away, felt a sense of confusion at the words of both parties, and as a result, he gripped the sword in his hand even more tightly.
For him, dealing with emotional problems was far simpler than waving a sword and defeating an enemy.
Since Zenith had given a condition, then he only needed to fulfill the condition.
"Shirou, I will definitely not lose!"
Arriving in the courtyard, Paul's expression had become incomparably cold. "Every sword training session in the past, I was just playing around, and never used my true strength. If you think you can beat me because of this, I will let you know the price of naivety."
Paul's words made sense. When he taught Shirou swordsmanship in the past, he basically fought using the Sword God Style techniques, and rarely used other moves.
However, Paul in fact possessed not only the Sword God Style, but also reached the high level in the North God Style and Water God Style, the three major swordsmanship schools.
This made his strength far from ordinary high-level Swordsman, and could be called quasi-Saint level.
Therefore, fighting Shirou was an acceptable outcome for him, because he had complete confidence in defeating Shirou.
At the same time, Shirou completely ignored Paul's words. He just gripped the long sword in his hand and slowly stepped to the opposite side of Paul.
His gaze was open, but it carried a vicissitude and maturity that didn't belong to his age.
When the two stood facing each other, Shirou seemed more like he was standing in his father's position, intending to educate Paul.
At this moment, Shirou stared firmly into Paul's eyes, wanting to see the determination of a man in his eyes.
But the other party took the initiative to look away, as if he didn't have the courage to meet his gaze.
Seeing such a worthless scene of Paul, Shirou sighed, but also completely realized that he must beat Paul to a pulp today to make this guy understand the meaning of responsibility again.
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