The whole process was so fast that it was jaw-dropping. Before the young man could even react to what had happened, both his feet had already left the ground, leaving his whole body suspended in midair. He looked both comical and miserable.
Eris watched this scene from the side as if she had seen some interesting performance. She couldn't help letting out a "pfft" laugh, while cheering with loud "woo-hoo" sounds and continuously clapping for Ash in celebration.
Seeing this, Ash merely signaled with his eyes for her to behave herself, hoping she wouldn't cause him trouble.
Then, looking at the young man in front of him who was constantly swinging his legs in the air, trying to kick him, Ash let out a deep sigh and said, "...Can't we solve this peacefully?"
"Peacefully what!? I'll never make peace with you for the rest of my life! Roxy will be protected by me!!"
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about? At your level, you should protect yourself first before thinking about anything else, shouldn't you?"
His hopping appearance and his attitude of refusing negotiations made Ash unable to hold back, and he teasingly mocked him.
The moment those words came out, the young man became as angry as a lit bomb, instantly erupting into a furious roar like a pot boiling over, "You bastard....you've said something you absolutely can't say to a father! As long as I'm alive in this life, I absolutely won't let you set foot in my house! And I absolutely won't let you hurt Roxy again!"
"Mm....Father?", Ash froze the moment he heard this. He felt like he had heard some line that was impossible to ignore. The somewhat teasing smile on his face instantly became stiff, and his head unconsciously tilted to the side.
But this reaction of his only added fuel to the young man's anger, making him so furious that his eyes seemed ready to spit fire. He shouted at the top of his voice:
"What nonsense are you talking about! As long as I'm alive, I will never let you call me fathe!!"
"No, no, no, you've misunderstood. I didn't mean that. I just didn't expect you to be Master's father...", Ash hurriedly explained. The unexpected turn of events had even left him somewhat dumbfounded.
After all, the Migurdia tribe's appearance was far too deceptive, making it difficult to make that association from the beginning. Honestly, if this anger hadn't been genuine, the sense of incongruity would have been strong enough to make him suspect that the other party was lying to him. Besides, normally, it shouldn't have been such a coincidence.
Although he had encountered long-lived and unchanging races before, those guys basically had no children. This was the first time he had encountered one who had a child.
This made him, while holding the father-in-law... no, rather, holding this grandmaster, genuinely unsure what to do with him.
No, "what to do with him" wasn't quite appropriate either, but...
"!!!", While Ash was troubled, the young-looking grandmaster let out a low growl resembling the grinding of teeth, completely out of keeping with his apparent age, while glaring fiercely at him.
It was easy to predict that if he put the grandmaster down now, the man would disregard everything and fight him to the death.
Although Ash couldn't figure out why the situation had turned out like this when they were supposed to be one family... Could it be that he had bullied Roxy before? And even let her down?
As he racked his brain without finding an answer, Ash quickly chose to stop thinking.
"...Damn it!", He simply turned his body slightly, suddenly swung his arm, and threw the grandmaster away like a sandbag.
The grandmaster flew through the air in a parabola, heading toward the distance.
Fortunately, Ash had held back somewhat. When throwing him, he controlled the force and angle, so when the grandmaster landed, he only rolled across the ground for a while. Other than getting some dust on him, he wasn't injured.
But... the physical damage was small, while the humiliation was enormous.
"...That guy looks really angry? Is he okay?", Eris looked at the young man who rose like an evil ghost, unconsciously tugging at Ash's clothes with a face full of confusion.
"He'll be fine!", Ash answered while reaching out to pick her up, then immediately took off running toward the distance.
Eris was dumbfounded. She looked at Ash in disbelief, then couldn't help turning her head to glance at the young man who looked as though he had returned from hell, his entire body radiating killing intent.
"This is fine? Didn't you say one sentence would make them warmly welcome us? Why does he look really angry, and he's already drawn his sword too?"
"Because he wanted to marry his daughter to me, and I didn't agree!", To avoid being proven wrong, Ash casually made up a reason while running.
"Really? He likes you that much? You're not lying to me just because I can't understand Demon God language, are you?"
"Am I that kind of person?"
"No?"
"Other than that one time when you were the one who broke your promise, have I ever lied to you?"
"I see... Mm, demons really are strange!"
Ash dared say that simple-minded Eris really believed his nonsense, making him sigh at how being trustworthy in the past really was a very important thing.
But Eris wasn't behaving herself either. Even while being carried by him, she turned toward the grandmaster chasing after them and cursing furiously, then made a face at him.
Her mischievous appearance was as though she hadn't taken the tense situation at all to heart.
Meanwhile...
Some time ago, his daughter had finally returned after so many years, saying that she had acquired two disciples. Yet whenever she mentioned her only male disciple, her expression was strange, and she seemed evasive, as though she had been seriously hurt. No matter how he asked, she refused to say what had happened.
As her father, Rowin had kept thinking about this matter, always feeling that that disciple must have done something bad to his daughter.
Now, upon seeing Ash, this guy who had most likely abandoned his daughter, actually swaggering all the way to his own doorstep with another woman, the anger in his heart "whoosh" rose up.
Now he had not only been thrown away, he had also been mocked by that "wild woman," making him so furious that he chased after them without any concern for his dignity. And when he finally couldn't catch up, he directly threw the sword in his hand.
Unfortunately, Ash was simply too fast. The blade flew through the air for a while without even touching the hem of Ash's clothes, before finally hitting the ground with a "clang."
Seeing this, Rowin cursed and grumbled again in anger. He could only walk back while angrily brushing the dust off his body, his heart filled with regret.
He hated himself for not drawing his sword and charging forward at the first opportunity, directly cutting down this guy who had bullied his daughter and still dared come here to run wild.
After putting some distance between themselves and that Migurdia village, Ash walked aimlessly with Eris in his arms, his footsteps slightly heavy. Yet no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand why he had received that kind of treatment. There was no reason for it.
Ash frowned in frustration, but Eris had completely put the earlier pursuit out of her mind.
After getting down from his arms, she waved the sword in her hand and hopped along in front of him, clearing the way. Her face was full of an excited smile as she happily slaughtered the monsters that occasionally appeared in this wilderness.
It was as though everything in her eyes was filled with fun at this moment, while those dangers and unpleasant things had long since been thrown to the ends of the earth.
Even though she had been frightened by the overly powerful lizard at first, she was now immediately beginning to get used to the feeling of living on the Demon Continent. She hadn't even asked about her family, which made Ash admire how carefree she was.
After killing a wolf, Eris became even more quick and efficient, immediately getting busy. She went to find firewood herself, skillfully used magic to start a fire, then put the wolf meat over it to roast.
Although it was hard to say much about the taste, still....
"It's so bad!", Eris took a big bite of the meat and chewed it with difficulty, yet her face was full of smiles.
"You're actually able to eat something this bad with a smile. I really admire you too."
"Because~! I!", Eris said enthusiastically while wolfing down her food, "I've wanted to live an adventurer's life like Ghislaine for a long time! This is my dream!"
"You'll complain once enough time passes."
"I won't~"
"I hope so," Hearing this, Ash didn't want to say anything more. He decided to let this girl enjoy the happiness of the present for now.
After Eris was full, she contentedly patted her round belly, then happily spread her arms and simply fell against Ash's leg, lying there comfortably. As she looked up at the sky, she sighed:
"I'm full, I'm full~ Today was really fun!"
"I can't feel happy at all."
Rather, he had originally been somewhat looking forward to meeting Roxy again, but now he was worried about seeing Roxy again.
[T/N: Your support keeps the novels and fanfics going. Consider joining P@treon or giving reviews to make me motivated to keep going. Thank you~ Enjoy~
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