Grit

With nothing better to do while she waited, Uote elected to make herself comfortable in the Inn's tavern area, ordering several tall glasses of mead before downing the first in a single go.

"Ahhhhh~! That hits the spot~."

Since it was against the law to consume alcohol during pregnancy, Uote had been dry for nearly a full year. Tonight was one of the few nights she had been able to get out of the house, so she figured she might as well enjoy herself before heading back to the relative rigidity of her life back in the Inner City.

"I'm assuming you're Uote?"

Though she had sensed Paul's and Reida's approach, Uote waited until they were right behind her before turning around to reveal a playful smile as she said, "Most of the time."

Raising his right brow, Paul resisted the urge to ask what Uote meant as he tapped the counter, sat a seat away from her, and asked, "Did Reida send you...?"

Before answering Paul, Uote directed a squinty-eyed smile toward the bartender. The man felt as though the tip of a blade was pressed to each of his nerve endings, so he left behind an unopened bottle of wine before promptly excusing himself to the back room.

Once they were alone, disregarding Ei, Uote gave Paul a sideline glance as she replied, "You shouldn't get in the habit of addressing my mother by name. How you refer to her in private is your business, but a certain level of decorum is expected in public. Please keep that in mind."

"Mmm..."

Reaching for the bottle of wine, Paul's face scrunched up when he read the label. His desire to drink immediately waned, so he said, "If you've nothing to discuss, I have a bevy of beautiful women awaiting my return. See ya around, Uote."

With a smile reminiscent of Gin from Bleach, Uote attempted to release a probatory amount of bloodlust. Before she could ramp it up to a level that might have caused Paul to sweat, however, a blade promptly appeared at her throat as Ei coldly repeated, "A certain level of decorum is expected in public..."

Opening her eyes ever-so-slightly, the smile on Uote's face became more than a little strained as she flatly declared, "You're fast..."

As she was actually most powerful while drunk, earning herself the title of Drunken King, Uote couldn't fathom how Ei had managed to get a blade at her throat without triggering her body's autonomic response.

While gesturing for Ei to stand down, a smile developed across Paul's face as he stated, "You'll have to forgive my companions. I appreciate it quite a bit, but they can be pretty protective at times..."

Forcing a smile of her own, Uote replied, "I can see that." while repressing the urge to get into a proper stance. She felt compelled to try and counter at least one of Ei's attacks, but that wasn't the reason her mother sent her over. Besides, if she caused a scene in a Guild-sponsored facility, it would cause a lot of problems for a lot of people.

Alighting from her barstool, Uote's smile became a little less strained as she revealed, "My mother asked me to deliver a message. Its contents are as follows: "Don't bother coming over unless you're willing to accept responsibility for your actions.""

Raising her right fist, Uote's smile regained a bit of its playfulness as she added, "She also told me to get you a few good punches, but I don't see that being an option right now."

Opening her left eye just a bit, Uote found Ei staring at her with glowing purple eyes and a rather intense expression on her face. The amount of bloodlust she was releasing was unlike anything Uote had experienced, so, even though she 'really' wanted to punch Paul's face, she held herself back. It was a shame, really, as Paul's toothy grin was basically asking to be struck...

Understanding that Uote's message was Reida's way of giving him a way out, a snort escaped Paul's nose. Even if Reida didn't have enormous tits and a perfectly toned ass, there was no way he would just let her fall into the hands of another. He also had absolutely no intention of abandoning his children. Sure, Aria might be a little standoffish, and there was a pretty good chance his son was a fat and disgusting Otaku in a previous life, but they were still his kids. Abandoning them went against the principle policy Paul lived by: not becoming a complete piece of shit.

"Go back. And when you see your mother again-no, scratch that. I'll tell her myself."

Though he could probably wait until tomorrow, if not days later, knowing Reida was close enough to send messengers made Paul want to see her. Did he love her? He wasn't entirely sure. However, she was the mother of his children and someone that had warmed his bed for several months. If he didn't love her, he sure as hell loved her body...

Adopting an approving smile, Uote replied, "Good answer." before turning to depart the Inn as she added, "There's a carriage waiting outside. It will depart in ten minutes, so hurry and gather your things."

Nodding his head, Paul resisted the urge to eye Uote's retreating figure as he and Ei made their way upstairs. The others were already well prepared to depart, so he just needed to grab the rest of his equipment before they made their way outside to board a large, two-compartment carriage...

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Though the distance between the Inn and the Citadel of Reidal was only 23km, it took nearly two and a half hours to reach it via the carriage Uote had prepared. Very little thought had gone into Ars' layout, so, as Nobles purchased up land and competed to have the most prominent estates, the roads became increasingly more complex. Your destination could be just a few hundred meters away if you passed through someone's property, but it could take well over half an hour to reach it as carriages were forced to go around and take numerous detours due to certain roads simply closing at specific times of the day.

"So this is the Citadel of Reidal? Talk about excessive..."

Staring up at the white-bricked, fortress-like structure that exuded a pale glow even in the middle of the night, Paul couldn't help being reminded of the White House from his previous life. It was a lot more angular in design and structure, but the well-maintained grounds and immaculate condition of the anti-magic bricks gave the five-story building a certain majesty.

Understanding that Paul had spent time at the Sword Sanctum, Uote took it upon herself to explain, "The Citadel of Reidal shares grounds with the Royal Academy. Those seeking to become Royal Knights and serve within the Silver Palace must complete seven years of compulsory education and spend three years within the Citadel of Reidal before being allowed to participate in the Royal Knight Selection Trials."

"Mmm...makes sense..."

Since this wasn't a novel, where 7-10-year-olds could miraculously earn the qualifications of a Royal Knight based purely on aptitude, Paul wasn't surprised by Uote's words. Children and teens could be temperamental, so making them wait until they were twenty before entrusting them with the lives of the highest-ranking Nobles made sense...

With Uote leading the way, Paul and Party were escorted through the unsurprisingly silent halls of the Citadel of Reidal. The sun had already long set over the horizon, so, while there were quite a number of people on guard, most were passed out after a long day of training. A day in the Citadel of Reidal started around 4:30 AM, so things quieted down quite a bit by sunset.

After passing through multiple checkpoints, each requiring them to write down their name and the time they passed through, Paul and Party found themselves in a large, circular chamber that split off into a total of eleven additional corridors. According to Uote, the corridors led to the individual rooms of the students staying in the Citadel, but the thing Paul was most interested in were the statues forming a spiral around the hall. There were well over a hundred present, each depicting a 2:1 scale model of each and every Water God since the first, Water God Reidal.

Noticing Reida's statue at the very center of the room, Paul was about to ask where the raven-haired vixen was at when all the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. In the next moment, a shadow descended on him from above in the form of a remarkably beautiful and voluptuous woman with cerulean blue eyes and windswept black hair.

Having already cautioned Ei and the others against attacking unless his life was in immediate danger, Paul was left to fend for himself as he rolled to the side just in time to evade Reida's sneak attack. As he bounded back to his feet, he briefly raised his gaze to the dome-shaped ceiling, asking, "Were you seriously clinging to the roof and waiting for me to arrive...?"

Instead of denying it, Reida replied, "Yeah, and...?" as she flashed forward like a phantom to try and grab Paul's collar. She was moving a hell of a lot faster than when they used to train together, but Paul had improved quite a bit since then. Not enough to dodge a serious Reida, but she was clearly just testing him. At least, that's what he believed...

Seeing Paul step back and slap her wrist, a rather vicious smile developed across Reida's face as she effortlessly thwarted his attempt to backpedal by thrusting her palm into his chest as she placed her foot in the path of his own. Paul immediately lost his balance, but before he could even think to roll backward and spring back to his feet, Reida pushed him further and promptly mounted his abdomen.

"Grit your teeth, brat."

Without waiting for Paul's response, Reida slammed her right fist into his cheek with enough force to make the stone beneath him crack. She knew Paul could use Touki now, so she used just enough strength to overwhelm his defenses and loosen a few of his teeth.

"That one was for Aiden. Now, turn the other cheek..."

Though her original intention was to beat Paul until his face looked like a pig's, Reida's intentions changed when she witnessed just how much he had matured. She kind of preferred his more youthful appearance, but the current Paul wasn't without his charms. His physique, in particular, caused Reida's heart to flutter more than she would ever admit...

Earning a toothy-grin from the buxom Goddess, a wry smile developed across Paul's face as he gritted his teeth and presented his other cheek. He already knew he would receive a beating, so he figured he might as well get it over with. Of course, not without receiving a few benefits...

As Reida continued to pound and pummel him with decreasing strength, Paul shamelessly grabbed and squeezed her ass. Reida immediately noticed this but only smiled wider as Paul's shamelessness had always been something she appreciated about him. If anyone else were to do such a thing, she would probably break each of their fingers, one by one. When Paul did it, however, it felt completely natural...

Satisfied after around twenty punches, Reida demonstrated a bit of her own shamelessness by adjusting her position from Paul's abdomen to his hips. Something warm, firm, and huge began to take shape beneath her, but she pretended not to notice as she stared into Paul's slightly swollen eyes and asked, "I suppose this means you intend to take responsibility?"

Revealing rows of bloodied teeth, Paul managed a painful yet cheeky grin as he replied, "You said it yourself. If I reached Saint Rank before 15, you would bare your heart to me. Well, get to baring..."

"..."

Though she expected Paul to say something cheeky, Reida didn't expect him to return the words she had used to casually dismiss him in the past. A sudden urge to continue punching him swelled within her heart, but she would be lying if she said it hadn't skipped a beat...

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