The return

The flight was a few hours and the whole way he was asked questions from "how have you been" to "did you find a good girl for yourself".

to say that Alex was annoyed would be an understatement.

don't get him wrong he loved his parents but constant questions were making his patience to run thin.

so the sigh of relief he breathed out was heard by everyone inside their house... more like they heard the dragon landing.

Two girls rushed out of the front door, looking at the dragon with hopeful eyes.

"Big Brother! did you bring them back? you brought them back, right?".

Norn questioned, giving a pleading look to his big brother.

but before they could answer a blur shot past him, which even he had a hard time following.

"Norn! oh you grew up so much".

yes, it was Zenith, currently hugging the lights out of her daughter.

Iliya calmly got down from Ace but couldn't resist hugging her daughter.

Paul got off next and waited for the girls to finish.

the two sisters looked up and saw him, they were gone from their mother's hands and tackling their father.

""DAD"".

both of them yelled out, throwing their arms around Pauls's neck.

Alex couldn't help but smile at the scene, it was good to have the whole family back.

he didn't get to admire the scene for long when a red blur tackled him, securing his hands, and kissing him fiercely.

when she let go, he looked up with fondness in his eyes at the red-haired woman on top of him.

"I was only gone for two weeks, did you miss me this much, Eris?".

the redhead just smirked and got off of Alex.

"About time you came back, don't tell me that something caused you trouble down there".

Alex just grinned, it was only a matter of time until the maps were updated for the... slight re-arrangement of the terrain he did.

hearing the gate open, everyone turned to the sound to see Rudeus running towards Paul.

(...)

Paul extends his hands, ready to hug his son who he hasn't seen for way too long.

(...)

Rudeus runs past him into Zenith's arms, leaving Paul staring blankly at the empty space in front of him.

"Mom!".

(that was sweet, hilarious, and sad at the same time).

He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of a blank-faced Paul and mother and son hugging right behind him.

"Come on dad, I'm sure you have a lot to talk about, and a lot to catch up on".

Alex tried to comfort the man but failed immensely judging from the slumped figure.

"Oh? like what, you reached an S-rank while adventuring?".

he says with sarcasm and awaits a response, but looks up when Alex didn't say anything.

when he sees the smile on his son's face he gets a little nervous.

"Son, what rank adventurer are you three?".

Alex kept smiling, not responding to his father's questioning stare.

___

(what a good day, the sun is shining, no clouds, I don't have to go to school for a few more days, why not take a rest, after all, I did just come back from a long journey, I deserve it).

"Big brother, can you teach me how to wield a sword?".

Norn, the sweet little sister of Alex just asked his big brother a question that should have been asked to their father.

(damn it).

taking a deep breath, he got up from the couch and looked at his sister with a smile.

"Sure".

It was the day after their return, and instead of just clinging to her mother, Norn wanted to be stronger like his favorite big brother... and that was his unbiased opinion, Totally.

walking up to his sword he strapped it to his side and walked into the storage room.

(it should be here, where did I put it? I knew this would happen so I kept an ext... here).

Holding two wooden swords in his hands, he walked out of the storage room.

"Get dressed for training sister of mine, because today, I'm directing your training, you will regret ever requesting my help, but you won't argue with the results".

the smile that was directed at her sent a shiver down Norns spine.

and im the future she would agree with his brother completely.

she regretted asking him for help, but the new sword saint can't argue with the results.