After a long while, seeing that Allen had yet to react, Paul finally spoke cautiously.
"Allen, well, I received this letter last year. I know this may be difficult for you to accept, but in truth, your father really is—"
"I know James isn't my biological father."
Paul froze and looked at Allen, who wore an indifferent expression.
"That's great, then. I'll write to Philip right away and tell him you've been found. That way, you can return to Roa City."
"That won't work."
Paul looked at Allen in surprise. Allen returned his gaze with a smile.
"Uncle, please sit down and listen to me."
With that, Allen pressed Paul back into his chair, then turned to fetch the chair by the door. Paul blinked, watching him in confusion.
"First, the information about my disappearance is correct. However, my 'biological father' concealed what happened before that."
Allen walked to the doorway and rested his hand on the top of the chair back. The wooden grain felt rough beneath his palm.
"When I passed through the Red Dragon's Jaw, I was assassinated."
Paul shot to his feet.
Allen lifted the chair and turned to face Paul.
"The 'assassination' was something I deliberately arranged, because I had long realized that I was not James's biological son. By working backward from my siblings' birthdays and estimating the pregnancies, I concluded that I should never have existed in the Boreas Family of the royal capital. Another younger brother was in the same situation as me, but he died of illness at the age of five. At the end of last year, I secretly hired a band of thieves to put on a show, intending to escape the Boreas Family and come to the Fittoa Region."
Paul let out a long breath and sat down again. Allen had misled him, and he had instinctively assumed that this choice had been made to return to his biological father.
Allen walked toward Paul, narrowing his eyes.
"But something went wrong with the 'assassination.' The actual assassins did not match the numbers agreed upon with the thieves I had secretly hired. There were supposed to be five Intermediate Swordsmen, enough to make a token attempt before everyone went their separate ways, ending with me falling off a cliff and disappearing. Yet eight highly skilled swordsmen appeared before me instead. If I'm not mistaken, two of them were Advanced Swordsmen of the Water God Style, and there was also a magician..."
"They intended to kill me."
Paul shot to his feet again.
Allen had already walked up to him. Looking at Paul, he smiled unconcernedly.
"So, they died."
Paul let out another long breath and sat down again.
Allen sat down as well and met his gaze.
"Afterward, I slipped into the forest from the Red Dragon's Jaw. First, I forged evidence that I had gone north, then spent more than four months taking a detour before arriving in Buena Village. I had heard of Uncle Paul's 'heroic deeds' back in the royal capital, so I assumed you did not think highly of noble children. Buena Village was also rather remote, making it suitable for hiding my tracks, so I came to seek refuge with you. As for the news of my disappearance spreading afterward, I only learned of that today. It seems James must have believed I had successfully escaped the Asura Kingdom, which was why he released that information."
Paul blinked.
"Heroic deeds? Oh? I didn't know I had legends about me in the royal capital."
Allen spoke at lightning speed, rattling off more than a dozen words in an instant.
"Graduated from noble school at ten, messed around with all sorts of women, then got dragged before his father by the aggrieved parties."
"Stop!"
Paul immediately stood up and covered Allen's mouth. Smiling, Allen pulled Paul's hand away.
"I believe those thieves sold me out to James. James had always been wary of Philip, so he inferred that I would secretly return to help him. That was why he turned the act into reality and took the opportunity to kill me, eliminating future trouble."
The embarrassment on Paul's face instantly turned solemn. He realized that Allen had not referred to either James or Philip as his father. Paul opened and closed his mouth several times, then remembered the scene of himself leaving after arguing with his own father and could not help letting out a quiet sigh.
His nominal biological father wanted to assassinate him, while his actual biological father had never even met him. So he felt no sense of family toward either father...
"Then you could secretly return to Roa City, couldn't you? If you concealed your identity and only acknowledged Philip..."
"No."
"First, Sauros has a firm grip over the Fittoa Region. He would certainly notice, and he would not approve of what I was doing. Most likely, he would follow the Boreas tradition and send me back to James. At that point, my situation in the royal capital would become even more dangerous."
"Second, James must have arranged informants in Roa City to secretly monitor Philip."
After saying that, Allen lowered his head and spoke earnestly to Paul.
"So I sincerely ask Uncle Paul to take me in. In return, I can promise to safeguard Rudy's future. You can't stay by his side forever, after all, but we are close in age, so I imagine we can become friends in the future."
Paul looked at the letter that had been placed back on the table. After a moment, he could only nod.
Allen continued.
"Once two years have passed and the heat dies down, my body and appearance will have developed further. If I shave my eyebrows to make myself look friendlier, change to a gloomy hairstyle with bangs, then even someone who has seen me before may not dare recognize me when standing right in front of me."
Unlike the information age before my reincarnation, this world's sluggish flow of information had its advantages. There were also very few magical accessories capable of preserving an image. Even someone as fierce-looking as Ruijerd could enter a city just by changing his hair color. Besides, two years would be more than enough for me to learn from Paul and raise my swordsmanship to at least Three-Style Upper-tier.
"Of course, James and the family in the royal capital, who watched me grow up, should still be able to recognize me. But as long as I avoid meeting them, it should be fine."
Paul glanced at Allen and sighed inwardly. His instincts told him that Philip would definitely recognize him, but he did not voice any objection.
"That's true. And by then, your strength will certainly have improved even further. Other than a very small number of Sword Kings and Sword Emperors, no one should be able to threaten your life. Besides, your public status is only 'missing.' Even if they recognize you, they can only send people to assassinate you. They cannot openly tear off the mask. That is what Asura Kingdom nobles are like."
Allen nodded.
"Yes."
Just then, footsteps sounded outside. Paul and Allen both fell silent, and then the door was knocked on three times.
Lilia opened the door and poked her head in. She first examined Allen from head to toe before speaking.
"Master, dinner is ready. Please come eat."
Sure enough, Zenith's cooking was directly proportional to her SIZE.
Greatness.
Allen looked at the steaming soup and rice on the table, along with a pizza-like pastry. In the middle sat a pot of tender stewed meat that gave off a rich aroma.
Rudeus sat directly across from Allen, studying him through the rising steam.
Allen smiled instinctively.
Rudy immediately shut his eyes and turned away.
Allen's mouth twitched.
At that moment, Paul tapped the table with his fingers and cleared his throat.
"All right. After our discussion just now, I have confirmed that Allen is capable of teaching Rudeus. So there is no need for any probationary period. From now on, he will be Rudy's swordsmanship instructor. Please treat him as family, and do not look down on his role in this household because of my swordsmanship rank."
Lilia, who stood nearby attending to them, was the first to applaud. Though she also felt there was no need to hire another swordsmanship instructor, as the daughter of a former swordsmanship dojo owner, she had absolutely no doubts after seeing Allen's Water God Style earlier. With his ability, he could easily serve as a guard in the royal palace, and a high-ranking one at that.
Zenith clasped her hands before her face and smiled warmly.
"Since the head of the household has decided, then I naturally welcome Allen. I'm sure Lilia will not look down on this teacher because of his age either."
As she spoke, her hands did not stop moving. She served out the food and placed it in front of Allen.
Then Paul threw an arm around Allen's shoulders and happily introduced him to the other three, lavishing him with praise.
Zenith nodded at him repeatedly as well, wearing a kind smile.
It was completely different from the cold daily life with his so-called family in the royal capital.
Having barely experienced the warmth of a family in either of his lives, Allen felt somewhat uncomfortable under everyone's gaze. He instinctively lowered his head as the fragrance of the food washed over him.
Steam mixed with wisps of smoke, billowing against his face.
Current stage: Childhood. Cumulative participation score: 40 points. You have initially integrated into Paul's family, but Rudeus himself has a somewhat different opinion of you. Immediate task to be completed: Gain Rudeus's favor. Rudeus: Countdown: 77:38:47
Before you continue