Paul's Year and a Half

After dinner, Paul stopped me.

"Rudeus, come outside for a minute."

His voice was quiet, but his tone was completely different from the one he had used at dinner.

Eris glanced at me. I shook my head slightly to let her know it was fine. She looked away, then turned and sat down on the edge of the bed, her hand on the hilt of her sword.

I followed Paul out of the tent.

The night wind outside the camp was much cooler than the air inside the tent, and blades of grass rustled in the breeze.

Paul walked over to an elm tree at the edge of camp and sat down on a relatively flat root.

I sat down too. The root dug into my backside a little, but I didn't move.

Paul took a small leather flask from inside his clothes, pulled out the stopper, and sniffed it before putting the stopper back. It was probably alcohol.

Things have been hard for Paul these past few years. Drinking is the only way he can ease the troubles weighing on him, but he didn't drink just now. He wants to stay sober.

We sat in silence for a while.

"It's been three years," he said.

"Yeah."

"You've grown a lot. When you were little, you only came up to my waist." His voice was soft, as if he were talking to himself.

"On the day of the Teleportation Incident," Paul said, "Norn and I were in the yard. I was teaching her how to hold a sword. Suddenly, the sky lit up, and I grabbed Norn. By the time I realized what had happened, we were already out in the wilderness in southern Asura."

His fingers tapped twice against his knee.

"Norn was only four. She was terrified and kept crying. I carried her for two days until we reached the nearest town. I bought a sword and two horses, then headed back."

He paused.

"We rode two horses to death. It took us almost a month to reach Fittoa Territory."

My fingers tightened around the fabric over my knees.

He carried four-year-old Norn for a month...

"When we got there," Paul's voice grew even quieter, "everything was gone. Buena Village had turned into a crater. The houses were gone, the fields were gone, the people were gone. I stood at the edge of the crater for a whole day. I couldn't say a word."

His Adam's apple bobbed.

"I... I thought you were all dead."

His voice was almost inaudible as he said it.

My chest felt so tight it hurt.

He thought we were dead. He stood in the ruins of Buena Village, thinking his wife, his son, his maid, everyone was gone. He held his four-year-old daughter and stood at the edge of a huge crater for an entire day.

Paul cleared his throat. His voice sounded a little more normal, but I could tell he was forcing it.

"Once I calmed down, I realized you might still be alive, so I formed a search party. I borrowed a lot of money and traveled all over half the continent. Southern Asura, the western Central Continent, the Millis Continent. I visited every town and left word at every Adventurers' Guild."

"Was that when Geese joined you?" I asked.

"Geese, huh?" Paul snorted. "That monkey-faced guy. I met him in Milishion. He said he knew you from the prison in Doldia Village in the Great Forest."

"Yeah, I made him call me senpai."

"You little..." The corners of Paul's mouth lifted, but the smile quickly faded.

"The search party found several hundred survivors over the course of it all. They were all people from Fittoa Territory. I brought them back one by one and made sure they were settled."

His voice sank again.

"I asked every one of them about my family, but..."

"Geese told you, right? There was no news of any of you for a long time. That's when I started drinking heavily."

He turned to look at me. "I thought you'd hate me, Rudeus."

My breath caught for a moment.

"I did a lot of shitty things. While your mother was pregnant, I actually... you know, that thing between me and Lilia. I knocked you out and sent you to the City of Roa to be a tutor without even asking if you wanted to go." His voice trembled, but he didn't stop. "Every single one of those things was wrong. I'm sorry. I'm not a good father."

Before this, I'd never imagined the man I called my father apologizing to me. I'd hardly ever seen him shed a tear, but now... Paul has grown up too.

I opened my mouth. It felt as if something were stuck in my throat.

"Father," I said.

He looked startled.

"I don't hate you."

He looked at me without speaking.

"You didn't give up after the Teleportation Incident. You searched for everyone. You borrowed money, formed a search party, and traveled all over half the continent." My voice was steadier than I'd expected. "That's not what a 'bad father' would do."

Paul's lips moved.

"And," I continued, "during my three years on the Demon Continent, Eris and I went through a lot, but we survived every time. Because I knew that somewhere out there, you were doing everything you could to find us too."

That really was the truth. Every night on the Demon Continent, I thought about the same things. Where was my family? Were they still alive? How could I find them? Those thoughts kept me going at all times, more effectively than any magic.

Paul looked at me for a long time.

Then his eyes reddened.

He didn't make a sound. Tears simply slipped from the corners of his eyes, ran down his cheeks to his chin, and dripped onto his collar.

I sat beside him, watching him quietly.

Paul, cry if you want to. There's nothing shameful about it. Thank you for everything you've done these past few years.

After a few minutes, Paul wiped his face haphazardly with his sleeve and sniffed.

"You've changed," he said, his voice still a little hoarse. "You're a lot more mature than I expected."

"Because I have someone I need to protect," I said.

Paul looked at me, the corners of his mouth turning up.

"Eris, right?"

"Yeah."

He nodded and said nothing more.

Geese's laughter drifted over from the distant camp. I didn't know who he was talking to. The firelight cast a swaying orange-red shadow against the canvas of a tent.

Paul stood up. He brushed the dirt off his trousers and pulled out the leather flask again. This time, he removed the stopper and took a long swig.

"All right," he said. "Let's get down to business."

I stood up too.

"Your mother, Zenith, is inside the Teleportation Labyrinth on the Begaritt Continent. Roxy has already taken a party there to investigate. Kishirika's Demon Eye confirmed the information, so it should be reliable."

"Master?"

"Yeah, she should be arriving soon too. The day after tomorrow at the latest."

He tucked the flask back inside his clothes and patted my shoulder. His hand pressed down firmly.

"Go back and get some rest first. When Roxy gets here tomorrow, we'll discuss going into the labyrinth."

I nodded.

Paul turned and headed toward the camp. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

"Rudeus."

"Yeah?"

He didn't turn around.

"Welcome back!"

Then he continued walking. The moonlight stretched his figure into a long shadow across the gray grass.

I stood beneath the elm tree, watching him walk away.

The night wind blew through the treetop, rustling the leaves. In the distance, hoofbeats approached at a rapid pace, then stopped in the direction of the camp.

In the moonlight, a brown horse stopped at the entrance to the camp. A petite figure swung down from its back.

Blue hair, tied in twin braids, flowed like water in the moonlight.

Master Roxy had arrived.