Travel to the legendary hero

(Paul POV)

Once Therese and I arrived at the inn, I called Lilia and Ginger over to a room to discuss our plans while Vierra and Sierra kept Norn and Aisha busy.

If I told my daughters what was going on, Norn would feel bad for getting Claire disappointed, and Aisha would feel guilty for standing out too much with her intelligence.

Furthermore, Norn would hate her brother even more than she does now if she finds out he is the main reason.

"So that's how things are. We only need to wait for an answer."

After telling what Claire had told me and how I met Perugius's familiar, I waited for Lilia and Ginger to give their opinion.

"I believe for the sake of this country, you and your family should leave." Ginger said concerned.

"For the sake of this country?" Therese replied. "What is that supposed to mean? Are you implying Rudeus would come after the church for revenge?"

"Absolutely." Ginger instantly replied. "He would use everything within his might to obliterate the entirety of this city, disregarding the lives of anyone innocent."

Her tone was so serious that I felt we were talking about some Demon Lord, not my son.

"Ginger, you only met him for less than a day. How can you say such abhorrent things?"

With a solemn expression, she looked at me with worried eyes as if remembering something.

She then began explaining to me how Rudeus verbally told her that he put minimal concern for the families of the guards and how he punched the seventh prince in the face for slapping Lilia, made his brother, the third prince, crush his skull, and threatened to expose the wrongdoings of the seventh prince to the public for a book containing high-class Attack Magic as the prince's punishment of exile was in his words, not enough.

I wanted to laugh that out as a joke since I knew about Rudy receiving that book, but all the other details were things left out of me.

I glanced over at Lilia, only for her to look the other way.

This is my son's bad behavior we are talking about. Why did you leave me in the dark about him escalating that much?

But now I have to agree with Ginger. The way Rudeus has lost his way, I now believe he would wipe the whole country off the map.

"Who are you?" Lilia said as she quickly stood up.

The rest of us did the same after her reaction, and when I turned around to look behind me, I canceled unsheathing my sword.

"It's alright. It's just Arumanfi."

The tension we all just had went down a little but still remained. Popping up out of nowhere is bound to cause such tension.

"So, has the Armored Dragon King decided?"

"Lord Perugius will let you seek shelter at the flying sky castle [Choas Breaker]."

Wait, directly inside his fortress?! I asked for a safe place, but to be allowed to step foot at a historical structure is far above my expectations. Is there even a place safer than that?

"Hold on, what is the catch to it? Does talking with Paul seem that important?"

Therese comment may seem degrading to me, but it does make sense why she would ask.

"At first, Lord Perugius intended to deny your request, but another person wanted you to meet him."

"Another person? Who is it?" I asked.

"That person wished to stay anonymous, as it could bring complications upon revealing it."

I wanted to pry further into it, but I guess since they helped me, I will leave it at that.

"Head to the next Great World Power Monument and use this flute to call for me. Ten people is the maximum."

After he told me that, he handed me over a strange flute and vanished in a flash of light the moment later.

"I guess we better pack our things. Therese, I-"

"Say no more. I will see what I can do."

With her posture straightened, Therese, without much of my word, went and left the room. I don't know if she is determined to lend a hand to her relatives or her chivalrous nature as a knight. Either way, I'm grateful.

***

The rest of us prepared for our soon to begin departure, preparing to take mostly the essentials.

Of course, some valuables are taken as well since we don't plan on staying at the place we are heading to.

Norn and Aisha got a bit concern over all of it, but I reassured them that everything will be fine and they don't have to worry about a thing.

Norn took it as it is and Aisha gave me suspicious glances now and then. She is too smart for her own good. Literally.

On the next morning, Therese returned to inform us that she had arranged two carriages for us to head towards the safest route to the next Great World Power Monument, located at the other end of the Holy Sword Highway, a month away from Millishion.

It's better than going the other way, as the straight road is known to retract any monsters, making it a safe trip for us.

But then there is a turn of events I didn't expect.

"What do you mean you are going with us?"

"Don't play dumb. The church and its people have become paranoid lately. Of course, I can't stay here anymore after they target anyone connected to Rudeus."

"I… I get that, but what about Claire?"

"She is one of those people. Also, she is going too far when making the same mistake she did back when Zenith left. I don't know how I can talk to her anymore if she is not seeing what she is doing is wrong."

Well, it just means we added another competent fighter in our midst now.

If I'm being honest, she is probably the only person I can tolerate in this city. Besides, she is Zenith's sister.

I remember Zenith sending her letters every now and then, so their relationship to each other was good even after she left.

And the best thing is she treats Norn and Aisha equally.

Seriously, how did Claire's terrible parenting skills bring such women into the world?

***

The night after that, we left the inn with our stuff, leaving a small tip behind for the trouble.

Sneaking all the way to the gate, we came close to Therese, who got herself covered in a cloak.

It wasn't weird to wear something like that outside as people were wearing them nowadays because of the thought of another rainstorm happening.

She guided us to get to the gate, where two of her colleagues were waiting for us.

The carriages disguised as that of a merchant and are ready to load our luggage and set off, so we set off.

As we left the left the city for good, I can't help but feel grateful.

"You really outdone yourself, Therese. I thought that at least one thing would go wrong."

"That's what you say. It wasn't easy at all."

"I'm-"

"If you start that again, I will tell Zenith about what you did to your son."

"Geez, alright."

I feel pathetic.

We didn't stop during the first night of our trip and just continued traveling through the dark night.

Ginger, Therese, and Lilia took the front carriage, along with Norn and Aisha, while Shierra, Vierra, and I took the carriage behind.

The two carriage drivers were actually soldiers sent by the officials of the Demon Acceptance Faction to go to the Dwarf Village for any potential blacksmiths who are willing to take a job at Millishion.

The reason for that is because the manpower of the opposite side dwindled too much as that they could push it away further. That is why the Demon Acceptance Faction saw this as an opportunity to get their point out and seek help from another race.

It is a highly risky move, but due to the monster overhaul a while ago, their arteliry begs to differ.

***

As we got halfway through our trip, we set camp at the side of the road, Shierra and I took the first watch.

I watched the night sky as I thought about my soon-to-come talk with the Armored Dragon King.

His familiar said that it's about Rudy, but what other reason than to deal with him does he want to talk about? Demon God and the Armored Dragon King are sworn enemies. What if he asks me to assist in sealing Rudy away. I can't do that.

Ginger's story made me think that Rudy is becoming too much like the bad side of me and getting the wrong people mad already.

The people who hated me looked down on me because I slacked at my swordsmanship a lot and kept staying at the advanced level this whole time.

On the other hand, Rudy is already stronger than any above-average Magician I've ever heard of.

But if that power is going over his head, then it would cause irreparable damage in his life.

"Husband."

"Huh?!"

Lilia got me out of my thoughts as she sat next to me.

"You were thinking of him again, didn't you?"

I looked the other way while scratching the back of my head.

"You are not the only one. I also worry that the young master- I mean, Rudeus's behavior causes him to get into too much trouble."

Her little slip-up was weird, but I don't think it helps much. Knowing I'm not the only one who thinks like that doesn't exactly ease it.

"What do I do when I meet him? What do I say to convince him not to get ahead of himself? I already messed up big time. He probably doesn't even want to see me again."

"Therese told me what happened at the port."

"…"

"Even if he should have controlled himself back then, he still cares about you even when he is mad at you. When the time comes to speak with him, just remember that he is your son, and nothing in this world will change that."

She is right. I should reprimand myself for thinking too much of it again. A parent shoudln't give up on its child, they should correct them enough to guide them to a better path.

Dammit. Old memories of my own father are flooding my head now. As much as I wanted to apologies to my old man, he could've at least tone it down with the harsh parenting.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I just-"

A sudden feeling befell me while I was about to talk to Lilia. I can't describe it, but it felt like someone was directly watching me besides Lilia.

I stood up and conveyed the area despite the darkness covering everything.

"Paul? Did you hear something?"

Lilia started to be concerned and felt alarmed. She could figure it out herself. Given the direction I was looking at, she knows that it could be assassins coming after us.

"Go wake everyone up. We may need to fight."

Even if we flee now, fighting in the dark is unfavorable. The assassins are most likely trained to carry out their missions in such circumstances, giving us a disadvantage.

"Paul, what is-"

"Just go. Tell Therese and Ginger to ready themselves."

Lilia hastily did as I told her and woken everyone up, including the two who helped us with the carriages.

"Paul, what is the ruckus about?"

Therese was the first to stand next to me. Understandably, she is still half asleep from being woken up just a moment ago.

But because of her lack of awareness, she didn't notice the projectile flying to her face that I blocked with the flat side of my sword.

The sound of the projectile hitting my sword woke her fully up, making her stand behind me, clicking her tongue.

"Yet again, I let my guard down. How many do think there are?"

"Many. They are using the darkness to their advantage. Go back and wake the rest up. I'll watch your back."

"Fine. But don't do anything risky."

"No promises."

Without more complains, I we both rushed back to the others, anticipating the attack already going for us both.

///