Du Pont, the Master of Emotions

Exiting meditation, Du Pont watched Boulderstone, who had returned empty-handed and was cursing his bad luck, and couldn't help but feel curious.

"What's wrong with you? Did you run into the Old Hag and she had her way with you?"

"Get lost! If there really was such a thing trying to seduce me, see if I don't smash him!" Boulderstone said with a disgruntled expression. "I originally wanted to see if there was any suitable prey. Luckily, I ran into the tracks of a brown bear today. But just when I was about to catch up, I ran into one of my old women. She saw I was hunting and chased me all the way down the mountain, scolding me the whole time. It was so annoying."

"...Hunting is also a way of life. Why did she scold you?"

This guy really thinks too highly of himself. Can he even beat a brown bear right now?

"That's what I'm saying! No one cares when those farmers and hunters go up the mountain to hunt some game. But when I go, she won't let me. She says I'm killing innocent creatures indiscriminately, destroying the ecological environment, and easily causing a natural imbalance. Maybe a natural disaster will descend here the next day to punish the world, and I'll be the culprit of it all, as if Orcus of the Abyss himself is going to make way for me."

"Ah, this." Du Pont blinked after hearing this. "Is this your former ex-wife?"

"Ah, sort of." Boulderstone looked impatient. "What bad luck. I should have prayed to the ancestors before going out."

"...Brother, have you ever considered that she might be flirting with you?"

"Flirting?" Boulderstone looked disbelieving. "Don't talk nonsense. Setting aside the fact that she turns into animals all day, how much femininity does she even have? And flirting like that? Isn't that just disgusting!"

"Maybe she's not very good at expressing herself. You said she's with animals all day." Du Pont pointed to the wolf that had already cooled down. "Let's assume that a creature you don't care about dies. Would you be sad?"

"Of course not." Boulderstone replied without thinking. "There are so many people dying in this world every day. It's not like I killed them. Why should I care?"

"That's right. Those farmers hunt to make a living, and even the Druid wouldn't say much, since humans are also part of nature." As he said this, the two walked towards the gazebo. "But you're different. She knows you and had a relationship with you, so her expectations of you are naturally different from those of strangers. In her mind, your behavior should be more in line with her aesthetics and values. And because you can't do that, she's very harsh on you."

Boulderstone was surprised to hear this, and his expression was incredulous. "You're saying that she's so demanding of me because I have a good relationship with her?"

"That's right." Du Pont nodded. "It's human nature. Like parents always have higher expectations for their own children, while they usually just give insincere praise to other people's children. As for whether other people's children are good or bad, what does it matter to them? Saying cheap words to please people is the way to go."

Boulderstone was silent for a long time. Just when Du Pont thought he had successfully enlightened him, this barbarian finally opened his mouth. "...You're saying this woman is sick?"

Du Pont almost vomited blood. "...How can you say she's sick? On the contrary, I think she still has feelings for you. If she really hated you, why would she even appear in front of you? She's a Druid, and her mastery of nature and perception of the environment is definitely much stronger than yours. Killing an animal isn't too big of a problem for the entire environment. If she really hated you from the bottom of her heart, she could just not show up. Would you specifically appear in front of someone you hate just to scold them?"

Boulderstone blinked. "If I could beat him, then why wouldn't I do it?"

"...Your understanding isn't wrong, but women's way of thinking is different from men's. If she's annoyed with you, she definitely wouldn't be idle enough to specifically come and do something so childish. Finding a man who is no worse than you, or even better, and then appearing in front of you with that man, mocking you and then beating you up, wouldn't that work too?"

Boulderstone fell into a long silence. He scratched the braids in his hair, looking like he was pondering. "What you're saying seems to make a little sense, but she has friends, and it's not like I don't have friends. If she wanted to beat me up, I could also find friends to beat her back."

Du Pont was also speechless. This guy definitely wasn't misunderstanding, but was subconsciously making excuses for himself. "That's not the point! She doesn't have to fight you. She can just bring a man to mock you. Are you really going to call people to beat them up just because of that? The real reason is that she feels differently about you, so she has more demands on you. And even if she still has feelings for you, Faerûn is so big, and Haluar isn't small either. Why does she have to stay in this remote mountain gully, bickering with you where you can't help but run into each other?"

Boulderstone scratched his head, and after a long time, he said, "What you're saying seems to make a little sense, but she used to have a lot of demands on Lavoisier and Judy when we were adventuring. What you're saying about her only having a preference for me is completely unfounded."

Du Pont smiled and threw out a game-ending question. "Does she still go to Lavoisier and Judy now?"

Boulderstone didn't speak, and the expression on his face was very interesting.

Although he doesn't see Lavoisier much now, he hangs out with Judy every day, but he hasn't heard him say anything about this.

After a long time, Boulderstone asked cautiously, "So, you're saying that woman definitely still has feelings for me, right?"

"I wouldn't say 100%, but there's definitely a high possibility." Du Pont nodded. "If you haven't lost your feelings for her either, you can actually try to communicate with her. Maybe you can get back together."

"I don't have any feelings for her." Boulderstone subconsciously retorted, but then fell silent. After a long time, he looked at Du Pont suspiciously. "How do you know all this stuff, you little brat? Are you making fun of me?"

"Except for a small number of rare races with low perception or who are naturally unfeeling, emotions are the same for adventurers and ordinary people." Du Pont supported his chin with his right hand and smiled charmingly. "According to worldly standards, although you and I belong to two different types of handsome, whether it's age or appearance, I'm more likely to be favored by women than you. My natural charm is also higher than mortals, and I'm a smart Mage. There are quite a few girls in the academy who have a good impression of me. Isn't it normal to get these insights?"

"Hmph, my muscles are what make a real man. You're just a pretty boy right now." Boulderstone retorted again, but Du Pont ignored him, just sitting aside and smiling demurely, his eyes teasing.

"Damn it, so annoying." After pacing for a long time, Boulderstone first cursed, then looked at Du Pont. "What if your guess is wrong?"

"Then you'll just get scolded again, right? You just got scolded, what's the big deal?" Du Pont looked incredulous. "Your risk is only getting a few harmless insults, while the possibility of success is reuniting and finding a woman who loves you. Isn't the return completely insignificant compared to the risk?"

Boulderstone stood there blankly after hearing this. After a long time, he scratched his head. "What you're saying does seem to make a little sense."

"Yeah, anyway, you're not losing anything." Du Pont said, standing up. "Of course, if you feel embarrassed, then I can leave now. Maybe that will give you more courage?"

"Get lost! Even dragons can't intimidate me, what's a woman?"

"Women are sometimes more terrifying than dragons. After all, you only need to take out your weapon to face the latter." Du Pont smiled. "Alright, let's go. She might not have gone far yet. If you miss this opportunity, maybe she'll leave tomorrow. Then you'll probably regret it every day, because you lost this opportunity because you cared about your pride."

"...I really didn't see that you talk so much nonsense." Boulderstone muttered, then got up and walked into the house.

This surprised Du Pont. He didn't expect this guy to be so stubborn. "Hey, why are you going back? Aren't you really afraid of regretting it later?"

"Regret my ass, I'm going to change my clothes and find my Ring of Charisma."

Du Pont: "..."

This damn rich guy, I hate the rich.