Concern : Curiosity

After a fairly long conversation with Ningguang, Paul agreed to meet up with her around the beginning of the fifth month. He was tempted to hurry home in time for his birthday, but the news that Roxy was on her way to Sharia made him hesitant to leave before her arrival.

Though he had no way of knowing when he would summon Varuna, the Hydro Archon, Paul couldn't think of a better candidate to receive a Hydro Vision than Roxy. She had managed to claw her way up to the pinnacle of the world through sheer hard work and effort, so, even though she was an eternal loli, Paul had a considerable amount of respect for the prodigious Migurdian.

With nothing else to do but wait for the arrival of Jean, Barbara, Razor, and eventually Roxy, Paul spent his days training, watching over the construction, educating the younger members of the Beast Race, and generally enjoying life.

If he was being completely honest, Paul felt as though his growth had stunted ever since he entered Sharia. At the same time, he also knew this might be one of the last times he could relax before establishing himself as a powerful and influential figure. Once he became Reida's successor and became entangled with the politics of the Asura Kingdom, his life was bound to be filled with stressors.

Fortunately, Paul didn't have to wait nearly as long as he expected, as, in the midst of Winter, a relatively large convoy carrying materials and goods from the Asura Kingdom entered the City of Sharia. Paul wasn't present to see it arrive, but he received a message from Lisa informing him that Roxy was among the Adventurers serving as an escort.

As he had been dining with Ei, Eula, Fischl, and Xiangling when the courier arrived, Paul didn't immediately set out to try and meet Roxy. Instead, he looked to the girls for advice, asking, "How do you girls think I should go about this? The longer I think about things, the creepier it seems to just approach her out of the blue..."

Though he could have easily managed with his youthful appearance, Paul couldn't shake the feeling that approaching Roxy now was like an old man trying to lure a little kid with confection. He didn't know what to say, much less how to broach inviting her to join his Party, a group filled with women he was actively boning.

Never one for subtlety, Ei suggested, "If she is as you described, a simple explanation of the situation should suffice. She would learn far more while traveling with us than attending the Ranoa Magic Academy."

Rather than immediately rejecting Ei's idea, Paul briefly considered the banes and boons of such an approach. The older Roxy was an incredibly rational woman, but that was when she was in her late thirties or forties. He didn't know exactly how old she was at the present moment, but she was still pretty naive even during her tutelage of Rudeus, something that would have initially taken place around ten years from now.

By informing Roxy of the truth, at least a version of it, Paul was basically binding the young Migurdian to their cause. Sure, it might be the 'best' for everyone involved, but it didn't change the fact they would be taking hold of her life. He had done the same with Ghislaine, but Paul excused that as she kind of needed someone to look after her.

In an effort to provide Paul with an alternative, Eula suggested, "If you're worried about her growing attached to you, why not send her to the Strife Zone?"

Raising his brows, Paul asked, "What makes you think I'm worried about that?"

Without missing a beat, Eula replied, "You can be overly sentimental at times. If a woman were to travel with us, they would eventually begin to feel left out if they were the only one denied your affection. After enough time has passed, they would feel compelled to leave the Party unless you proactively convinced them to stay."

As similar thoughts had crossed his mind in the past, Paul found himself unable to refute Eula's words. However, instead of beating himself up over it, he just shrugged his shoulders, adopted an awkward smile, and said, "I suppose this is a different world. So long as it doesn't bother you girls, I'm sure I can adapt pretty quickly."

In response to Paul's words, Ei, Eula, Fischl, and Xiangling exchanged glances. Ei and Eula weren't particularly bothered by the situation, but Fischl and Xiangling still had a bit of possessiveness towards Paul. They were in the camp of girls that had accepted they had to share the same man but preferred when it was just Paul and themselves.

As the two girls seemed to be conversing with just their eyes, the tense atmosphere was promptly shattered when Esme and a few of her recent followers burst into the room, shouting, "Boss! Come quicknya! There are baddies trying to stir up trouble...!"

Though she still had a verbal tick, Esme's speech had improved by leaps and bounds ever since Paul told her it was her responsibility as the Little Boss to set a good example for the other children. She received the most instruction from Paul and his group, so her growth was rather monstrous.

Rising to his feet, Paul replied, "Lead the way." without bothering to ask for the details. It didn't matter if Esme was making a mountain out of a molehill. During a crisis, even a moment's hesitation could spell disaster for the potential victims.

With Esme's group leading the way, it wasn't long before Paul learned the reason for her urgency. A group of fairly powerful Beast Race Adventurers had entered the city along with the recent convoy and were attempting to receive free room and board by asserting their dominance.

Since Ghislaine was currently leading a hunting party to secure meat and other supplies from the forest, it fell to Paul and his group to deal with any 'strays' that happened to wander into their territory uninvited. Fortunately, they were exceptionally good at it.

Activating his Dendro Vision, Paul manifested vines to restrain two of the assailants while surprising a man that resembled a gorilla with a punch to the face. The latter seemed like the strongest of the group as he was just standing back and intimidating the crowd while his lackeys kicked around the owner of a recently established tannery.

"Who the hell...!?"

Since Paul was just gauging the man's strength, he held back quite a bit with his punch. With his current strength, it was terrifyingly easy to blow up a person's head or punch clean through them, so he had to be careful if he wanted to avoid killing his opponents.

While people in the surroundings celebrated by shouting out things like, "Boss!" and "Teach these strays a lesson!" Paul was cracking his knuckles with a smile on his face as he said, "I'm only going to say this once. If you intend to stay in our community, you have to follow the rules. If you have a problem with that, your options are to leave or suffer the consequences. Which will it be?"

Snorting through his nose, the gorilla-like man raised himself to his full height of 218cm as he said, "Among the Beast Race, the strong make the rules. A shitty human brat like you should mind his own business."

Maintaining his smile, Paul said, "Wrong answer." before stepping forward like a blur. The gorilla-like man puffed out his chest as if he were about to drum it, but he wasn't even able to unleash a battle cry before Paul sent him flying with a spartan kick.

Demonstrating the resilience the Beast Race was known for, the gorilla-like man quickly recovered after tumbling head over heels seven times. Fortunately for him, he seemed to understand that they were engaged in a contest of strength as he promptly stripped away his upper body armor and weapons before charging toward Paul on all-fours.

Resisting the urge to tear away his own tunic, Paul leaned forward with a battle-crazed smile on his face as he shouted, "Come get some, banana breath...!"

Intending to do just that, the gorilla-like man leaped once he reached the halfway point between him and Paul, arms raised over his head in a very obvious precursor to a smash. Paul could have easily dodged to the side, but such actions were generally frowned upon by members of the Beast Race. Instead, he performed a half-squat, tensing the muscles in his body as a Beast Race child shouted, "He's about to do the Shoryuken...!"

While several other Beast Race children shouted and cheered, Paul shot up into the air, his fist connecting with the gorilla-like man's jaw as he landed a devastating uppercut using the man's momentum against him. Then, as the latter traced a beautiful arc through the air, he touched down on the ground before kicking off with tremendous speed, shouting, "Ever been air juggled!?"

Having suffered a concussion, the gorilla-like man couldn't process Paul's words as the world spun around him. The only thing he knew was that he had picked the wrong opponent as a series of painful impacts prevented him from hitting the ground. After that, darkness overtook his vision until he awoke several hours later in the unfinished but still functional hospital wing.

Realizing he had knocked the man unconscious, Paul prevented his head from hitting the ground as he lowered him down and shouted, "Someone bring over a stretcher!" Then, seeing the man's lackeys staring at him with vindictive glowers on their animalistic faces, he adopted a fairly malicious smile and said, "Make that three..."

...

..

.

While Paul was busy performing his duties as the Big Boss of the Western District, a youthful-looking girl with blue hair that appeared to shine green in the setting sun was making her way through the streets of Sharia along with a markedly more mature woman with wavy brown hair and expensive purple clothing. At a glance, most people would peg the former to be 10-11 years old, but the truth of the matter was that she was nearly the same age as her escort.

Noticing that the buildings were becoming increasingly shoddy as they advanced, the youthful-looking girl began to feel wary as she looked up at the much taller woman and asked, "Miss Lisa, are you sure this is the right way to go? I can't help feeling as though we're about to reach the slums..."

Aware of the rumors regarding the Magic Triumvirate's slave trade, the blue-haired girl was understandably suspicious of her guide's intentions. Her guide may be a celebrated member of the Adventurer's Guild, but the organization wasn't exactly free of corruption.

Amused by her acquaintance's remark, Lisa covered her mouth to stifle a giggle before surprising the girl by answering, "The place we're heading can, indeed, be considered a part of the slums. More specifically, we are heading to the Western District, the location of a dedicated community of Beast People."

Stopping in place, the blue-haired girl brandished a magic wand as she asked, "What are you after? If you think I'm easy to take advantage of due to my appearance, you're sorely mistaken..."

Without losing her smile, Lisa looked towards her vigilant charge and said, "Please put your wand away, Miss Roxy. As I said before, the person I'm introducing you to has tremendous sway within the Academy. He just so happens to be the 'Big Boss' of the Western District, so-"

Interrupting Lisa's explanation, the sound of exuberant cheering reached the two girls. It was currently the dead of Winter, so sounds had a habit of traveling further due to the limited pedestrian traffic and the presence of snow.

Understanding what must be happening, Lisa's smile became even more prominent as she said, "If you're truly concerned, you're free to return to the Guild. I can always arrange a meeting between the two of you at a later date and in a far more secure location. However, if you follow along, I can all but guarantee you'll see something interesting..."

Without turning to see if Roxy was following her, Lisa sped up her steps as she made her way towards the sound of cheering. Her actions made Roxy feel even more suspicious, but, at the same time, she couldn't help feeling a little curious. Curiosity was everything to an aspiring Mage, so while her reason was telling her to be cautious, her inquisitive nature was telling her to move forward, never back.

"Damnit, Roxy...what are you getting yourself into...?"

After muttering to herself under her breath, Roxy slipped her wand into the holster in her sleeve before raising her hand and shouting, "Lisa! Wait for me...!" as she hurried to catch up.

...

..

.