Two Younger Sisters

It was worth mentioning that the idiot Paul had ultimately made the same mistake as in the original story.

Was this what they meant by "That's Paul for you"? Although Paul had promised to settle down and live a good life with Zenith, it seemed he still couldn't rein in his lustful nature.

As a result, Paul had a rough time during the winter two years ago.

Paul had always been a man full of energy. Roa knew that.

When Zenith was pregnant, he had kept himself in check and lived a life free of desire.

But how could Paul's personality possibly let him behave himself forever?

And then—and then there was nothing more to say.

Sure enough, something had gone wrong.

That day, looking at Paul's fidgety expression, Roa wanted to laugh.

By all rights, having several wives and concubines was perfectly acceptable in the New World. This world was much like Europe: never mind having several wives and concubines—if you were strong enough, you could marry as many as you liked.

But Zenith happened to follow the Milis faith. She was a devout believer who strictly observed the church's rule of monogamy when she married Paul. Though she knew that, given Paul's personality, he might break their agreement someday, she had still chosen to be with him on the basis of his verbal promise.

That was why Paul had always held such deep affection for Zenith.

Zenith knew that Paul and Lilia were close, and had still allowed Lilia to become a maid in their home. But when she learned that Paul had been unfaithful, she was still furious.

The situation was complicated, and Roa couldn't say much. And since it was winter, if Lilia returned to her hometown then, the only thing awaiting her and the child in her womb would be death. With no other choice, Roa shot Rudeus a look. The two of them put on a little act, pinning all the blame on Paul, and that was the only way they managed to keep Lilia in the household.

Roa could still picture Paul's baffled, helpless expression. But he had brought this on himself, and he had no choice but to take the blame.

After that, though, life got rough for Rudeus. As soon as winter passed, Paul found him with a sinister grin and called it training, giving Rudeus a brutal workout.

Rudeus could only groan and endure the whole ordeal.

As for Roa, his strength was already up to par, so there wasn't much Paul could do to make things difficult for him.

As time went on, Paul gained a clearer sense of Roa's strength.

With Zenith and Lilia's children on the way, Paul had certainly had his hands full the previous year.

Because of the Lilia incident, Paul's standing in the household had fallen lower and lower, until he'd become its least important member.

His status was practically that of a paramecium.

Time could dull anything.

Looking at the two adorable, fair-skinned little ones, even Zenith had let go of much of her anger.

She still resented Paul, but she had come to regard Lilia as family.

Zenith was a kind person. Having such a wonderful wife made Roa wonder what kind of incredible luck Paul had stumbled into.

With the two rosy-cheeked babies born, the whole family was swept up in joy.

Paul bustled about, and Roa smiled too.

These two would be his younger sisters. He'd have little sisters of his own from now on.

Zenith's daughter was named Norn Greyrat, while Lilia's was named Aisha Greyrat. Both were extremely adorable little girls.

Paul had a lot on his plate. For a while, he had been caring for his two daughters, and he couldn't exactly neglect Roa and Rudeus, either.

After nearly half a year of leaving them to their own devices, he finally had enough free time to properly train with Roa and Rudeus.

Then Paul had something new to worry about.

He knew how talented Roa was, and had expected him to leave home eventually and seek out a wider world.

But he had never imagined Roa would improve so quickly. Even Paul had to use most of his strength to deal with him.

And with each fight, the gap between them continued to close.

First Paul had used seventy percent of his strength, then eighty, and finally ninety.

Now, Paul had to use every trick at his disposal to keep Roa in check.

Though he hadn't fought Roa for a while because of his daughters, he could tell that Roa was still getting stronger.

Paul was a confident man, and he was also an arrogant one. But after watching Roa rise step by step, even he had to admit that Roa was indeed stronger than he was.

So Paul had more than once discussed it with Zenith, his face full of worry.

"My son's future shouldn't end here. He deserves a better teacher." Those were Paul's exact words.

He had thought he could keep up for a while, but he still hadn't expected Roa to grow so quickly.

But who could he turn to? Paul had no idea.

He had recently learned about the Magic Academy from one of Roxy's letters, and the news had left him troubled.

The Magic Academy gathered the world's top students. Unfortunately, tuition there was steep, and both Roa and Rudeus were exceptionally gifted. Sending one of them to study there would undoubtedly be unfair to the other.

But if things stayed as they were, the family simply didn't have enough money to guarantee that both boys could attend the Magic Academy.

What's more, Rudeus wanted Sylphiette to go to school with him.

Lately, Paul had been getting more and more wrinkles.

Paul sighed, estimated the time, and realized it was time for another assessment.

He got up, got dressed, picked up his wooden sword, and headed outside.

The grass grew lush, and all things came back to life.

It was spring. There was none of summer's heat or winter's bitter cold. The spring breeze swept past, brushing Paul's clothes.

Outside, Roa stood quietly beside a wooden post. He held a long sword in his right hand, but a closer look revealed that the boy's sword was a little unusual.

To be precise, it was a homemade wooden sword. Its blade wasn't as thick as a typical wooden sword's; it was slender and three feet long. Since it was made of wood, the blade itself wasn't sharp.

This wooden sword also represented the path Roa planned to follow in the future.

He had actually decided to focus on speed.

Paul took a deep breath. To be honest, the more they fought lately, the more unsettled he felt. He was starting to lose track of just how strong his son had become.

Paul put on a stern expression. "Roa, let's begin training. Show me what you can do."

Roa was eleven now, and still had a lovely, doll-like face.

For some reason, no matter how much he grew, he kept the same appearance. Roa had given up trying to change the way he looked.

After training for so long, his body had grown tall and lean without appearing frail.

As Paul came in, Roa took off his coat, revealing his strong, slender build.

Roa wore a white short-sleeved shirt, and the faint outline of his abs could be seen beneath it.

Paul's smile stiffened a little. Standing ten meters away from Roa, he said, "Let's begin. You can only use swordsmanship."

Roa nodded, gripped his wooden sword horizontally, and assumed the standard opening stance of the Sword God Style.

Paul's expression turned grave as he took up the Sword God Style's opening stance as well.

Eighty-eight thousand characters! Two more updates after this.

Exams are coming up soon, so I need to study to avoid failing.