Paul resisted the urge to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Instead, he held his sword out and analyzed the situation.

The glass-framed pictures on the walls had completely shattered. The porcelain vases had broken as well. Not only that, but the explosion that resulted from Paul canceling Sylphy's magic spell created a hole in the wall, letting in a chilly breeze from outside.

It was a gigantic mistake. Paul COMPLETELY misread the situation.

Thankfully, he had been keeping up with his training so he managed to get there in time before Sylphy made a mistake she would regret for the rest of her life.

"P-Paul?" Eris's voice echoed from behind him. "W-What are you doing?!"

Ghyslaine stepped forward. The wolf beastkin rested her hand on her sword hilt and frowned. She glanced at Paul and said, "It seems like you really don't know your kid or his friends, do you, Paul?"

"I know Rudy and Sylphy very well, thank you very much! I just... Uh. Didn't expect them both to have such explosive tempers."

Rudy, Paul understood. After all, while Rudy took a lot after his mother in terms of disposition and personality, he *definitely* inherited Paul's temper and stubbornness.

Though for some reason, not Paul's natural talent with fighting.

That was probably a good thing though, otherwise things would have been even messier when Paul was trying to leave.

But anyway, Paul understood why Rudy had an explosive temper.

Sylphy on the other hand...

Paul frowned and stared at Sylphy.

The cute young elf girl *looked* the same as ever. But there was a clear difference in her demeanor.

A bright but chilling smile. Shining green eyes that were almost blinding to look at. Not only that, but there was a strange flash of silver and green flickering within her mana.

Sylphy giggled and then said, "Mister Paul's strong! Suuuper strong. No wonder Rudy trusts you so much."

Paul laughed back. "Y-Yeah. You're pretty strong too, Sylphy."

"Mmhm!" Sylphy leaned back. As she did, she suddenly floated in the air, sitting on an invisible chair and idly kicking her legs.

"Um." Eris spoke up and said, "Is... Is that a normal thing for magicians?"

Ghyslaine shook her head. "No. And Paul." She stepped forward, blocking Eris from view and said, "That girl's weird too. Just like your kid."

"Yeah. Got the message, Ghyslaine." Paul muttered and wracked his brain on how to resolve the situation.

It was similar to how Rudy reacted when he first saw Ghyslaine.

Sylphy was still Sylphy. But she also wasn't. The peaceful, polite, and sweet young girl was mostly there. But there was a harsh edge to her now. Unnatural and twisted.

Which could be seen in how her mana seemed to be inverting a bit, spinning in on itself to emit that strange green and silver flash.

Paul didn't know much about mana. And he especially didn't know much about what it was supposed to look like since Rudy just helped him learn how to see it earlier in the day.

But his instincts were telling him that Sylphy was dangerous right now. Like a powder keg waiting to blow.

Sylphy giggled again and said, "Mister Paul is so responsible. Running out to protect Rudy's wife like that... You're very responsible these days."

Paul slowly nodded and said, "That's right. So as the responsible adult, I'm going to ask you to stop fighting Eris, okay?"

Sylphy tilted her head. "But I'm not fighting that girl?"

Paul blinked. "You're not?"

"Nope!" She smiled and said, "I'm just waiting for an apology. She was really mean to me, you know? I was just worried about you, but then she started going crazy and ran towards me with that sword." Sylphy giggled. "That could poke someone's eye out, you know? Or stab someone's heart and make them bleed out."

Eris growled and stepped forward, pointing her finger at Sylphy. "You're the one who attacked first! Who asked you to use magic and mmph?!"

Paul quickly covered Eris's mouth and let out a nervous laugh.

Eris growled and bit Paul's fingers, but he didn't budge.

After all, Paul had a very, very, very vivid memory of what happened when Rudy snapped. And he was *not* about to let his cute but dumb future daughter-in-law run her mouth and cause Sylphy to snap right now.

"Don't mind her, Sylphy." Paul laughed and said, "Eris is a bit older than you and Rudy, but she's a lot less mature, you know? Just treat her like a little kid."

Eris screamed, letting out muffled words that sounded something like 'I am not a little kid!'

"Oh I know." Sylphy nodded, slowly drifting forward. "But that's no good, you know?"

A subtle shift in atmosphere.

Paul glanced at Ghyslaine and muttered, "Go find Laws and bring him here. Rudy too."

Ghyslaine kept staring at Sylphy and muttered back. "And Ojou-sama?"

"If we try to take Eris away, Sylphy will snap."

A gut feeling. Paul sensed that the moment they did anything overtly trying to take Eris away, Sylphy would go all out.

Which meant that Rudy would notice and then ALSO go all out to save his best friend who he either was pretending he didn't love or was too dense to realize that he loved.

...Which meant that the two of them would actually cause that explosion they joked about earlier and wipe out all of Roa.

Not good, to say the least.

Zenith and Lilia would never let him live that down.

No, better to nip that little problem in the bud.

Sylphy giggled, focusing her gaze on Eris. "Someone that childish and selfish is only going to be bad for Rudy. He's already stressed out enough from worrying about everyone. Someone like that who only adds more stress..." She held out her left hand. As she did, icy wind blew in from outside before gathering behind Sylphy, forming a pair of skeletal wings. "...She's not necessary."

A cold and ruthless voice. Completely devoid of Sylphy's usual kind and sweet tone.

"Ghyslaine!" Paul called out and stepped forward.

Ghyslaine clicked her tongue and then jumped out of the hole before dashing off towards the other parts of the castle.

Sylphy glanced at Ghyslaine for a brief moment, but then she turned her gaze back to Paul and said, "Let me talk to her, Mister Paul."

"...I'm going to ask you the same thing I did Rudy. You aren't going to try and kill her again, are you?"

Eris tensed, her crimson eyes flitting to look at Sylphy.

Sylphy laughed and said, "Of course not! But I can't help it if her heart suddenly stops while we're talking in the cold, right?"

Paul let go of Eris and groaned. "Laws is *definitely* going to try and kill me after this."

Eris trembled and quickly ducked behind Paul again. "D-Do something! She's insane!"

Sylphy's eye twitched.

That was the only cue Paul had.

In the next moment, a storm of icicles flew towards Paul.

Eris screamed.

Paul stared at the oncoming wave of icicles and tracked the mana fueling it.

A haphazard pattern of blue-green bubbles. Roiling, but also delicate.

Then...

Paul laced his sword with mana and then swung. Silver light flashed, piercing the bubbles.

And then the icicles shattered, crumbling into white powder.

Sylphy frowned and said, "That's not fair, Mister Paul. Adults should just do adult things and let kids play by themselves."

Paul shook his head and stood firm. "Sorry, Sylphy. But adults are also responsible for stepping in when kids are throwing temper tantrums, you know?"

And especially when one of those kids was letting out enough bloodlust to send the average adventurer running for the hills.

"I AM NOT THROWING A TEMPER TANTRUM!"

Sylphy screamed. And as she screamed, snow spontaneously formed, covering the hallway in white.

Paul glanced at Eris, still trembling behind him, and said, "Would you *please* just apologize, Eris?"

Eris paused. The fear in her eyes faded a bit, replaced by a stubborn glare. After that, she shook her head and said, "No! She started it!"

"For the love of-"

A faint breeze.

Paul clicked his tongue and then spun in place, swinging his sword.

Silver flashed and another explosion erupted. Icicles, completely shredding the halls all around them.

Icicles that would have shredded them if Paul hadn't reversed the flow of mana.

Eris paled.

Paul groaned and said, "I should never have left Buina village. Should've just kept my damned mouth shut and let Philip handle the situation."

Who cared about Paul's brother Pilemon showing up with troops and the backing of the Asura Kingdom? With how stupidly powerful Rudy and Sylphy were, it would take the Sword God, Water God, and a whole cast of other insanely powerful figures to pose a threat.

No, the real worry was the fact that there was something wrong... or maybe 'right' with both Rudy and Sylphy's mana that let them give into bloodlust and wrath more easily. As well as grant them insane strength when they-

A faint breeze.

Paul instinctively grabbed Eris with his left hand and threw her into the air. After that, he pivoted and swung his sword again.

Eris's scream was drowned out by the sound of screeching wind. The result of Paul's sword crashing against invisible blades that tried to rip apart the place where Eris had just been standing.

Paul reached up and grabbed Eris again before setting her down beside him.

Eris growled and said, "What was that-"

"Look, Missy. If you want to not die, it would be best for you to either bow your head and apologize or shut the hell up."

Eris flinched and looked at Sylphy. But then she tossed her head to the side and pursed her lips.

Paul groaned. "What the hell did I do to deserve this?"

Sure, Paul had been a pretty terrible person in the past. And he had done a lot of bad things to a lot of good people. But he was doing better. And he *was* better.

But even *he* didn't do anything bad enough to deserve this headache, right?

Ah. Wait.

He knew the answer to that question, and it was 'yes.'

Dammit.

Paul looked up towards Sylphy and raised his sword.

The sweet young elf girl who wore her heart on her sleeve was gone, replaced by a cold-hearted killer. And one who looked like she didn't care what happened to Paul as long as Eris disappeared.

Paul started to sweat, wracking his mind for a solution.

Fighting was no good. If he actually hurt Sylphy, Rudy would kill him straight up. At least, that was what Paul would do in Rudy's situation. And Rudy was even more murderous than Paul was considering how casually he mentioned keeping someone half-dead to set an example to other people.

But that was all that Paul knew how to do-

Wait.

That wasn't true.

There were two things Paul was good at.

The first was fighting.

And the second was sweet talking girls and getting out of tricky situations involving them.

Since the first option was out, he'd have to try the second.

Now, obviously he couldn't flirt with Sylphy. That would be a dead end for Paul from more than one person.

But he could still talk her down.

Paul sheathed his sword.

Eris's eyes widened and she said, "What in the world are you doing?!"

Paul ignored her and looked at Sylphy.

Sylphy paused. It seemed like she was confused by Paul's action. Enough to stop and think about what he was doing.

Which meant there was an opening. So-

Paul immediately jumped forward and then slammed his head on the ground. "I'm sorry, Sylphy! I was stupid and should have thought about your feelings! I'll cancel the betrothal contract between Rudy and Eris! And instead, I'll make one between you and Rudy! You love him, right? Right. And I've always thought of you like a cute daughter-in-law too, so it's fine!"

"E-Eh?" Sylphy's voice turned back to normal. Not only that, but she sounded a bit flustered. "M-Mister Paul?"

Paul kept his gaze lowered and said, "I've always thought that you and Rudy are a perfect match! And you're already like a part of the family, so we can just make it official!"

"T-That's...!"

Paul looked up.

Sylphy wasn't floating in the air anymore. The ice wings were gone, and she was standing in the middle of the hall, clutching her red cheeks. But not only that, her eerie green eyes had gone back to normal, their usual garnet color. She fidgeted in place for a bit and then looked at Paul. "R-Really? R-Rudy and me... Married? I... can be Rudy's wife?"

"Y-"

Before Paul could say anything else, someone flew through the air and landed on the ground outside.

Sauros.

The old man left a crater in the ground. He also groaned. But he wasn't injured.

Paul didn't have the time to think through why that happened though.

Before he could react, someone tackled him from behind. And then that someone threw a flurry of punches at his ribs.

"You inconsiderate, irresponsible, inconceivably *stupid* man!"

"Gah!" Paul quickly rolled away and held up his hands. "I'm sorry!"

As he said that, Paul's attacker drew near.

At first, Paul thought it was Rudy. But it wasn't.

A handsome man with blonde hair and eyes the same color as Sylphy's. The person that Paul was heading out to meet in the first place when returning to Roa.

Laws growled and held up his fists. "You were right! Family really is your worst enemy! To think I considered you as a brother...!"

"N-Now hold on, Laws-"

Paul stood up and held up his hands. "I-I can explain."

Ghyslaine was leaning on the ruined wall behind Laws. It seemed that she was the reason why Laws managed to reach him so fast... Did she toss the guy to attack Paul?

Probably. Paul wouldn't put it past her.

Laws cracked his knuckles and said, "There is nothing to explain! You said it before, did you not? Real men speak with their fists!" He stomped on the ground and held out his fists. "Prepare yourself! I have an entire epic that I wish to recite!"

Paul gulped.

But before Laws could attack, a small impact echoed from outside. After that, a familiar voice called out.

"Hold on a bit, Mister Laws."

Rudy.

Paul glanced over and saw his son idly walking through the snow.

Rudy's clothes were disheveled. There were also a few blood splatters on him... and on his fists.

Paul let out a nervous laugh and waved his hand. "H-Heya, Kiddo. H-How did the chat with Philip go?"

"Peachy. Just... peachy." Rudy grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Now. What was this bullshit I heard about you canceling and signing another betrothal contract?"

"Ahaha... I... can explain?"

Paul started scanning the surroundings, wracking his mind on how to solve this mess.

And then someone walked out from the broken wall. A familiar face, and the only lifeline he had in this situation.

Paul threw out his arms and smiled. "Philip! My cousin!"

The man paused and smiled back. "Paul." Philip's usually closed eyes opened and his smile started to twitch. "You... really know how to treat a place as your own, don't you?"

Ah. Well, there went his last lifeline.

Philip let out a deep sigh and then said, "Well, so be it. For now..." He took a look around at everyone and said, "It seems like we've caused enough mayhem for the night. I am certain that the help is frightened out of their minds... And Hilda is absolutely going to throttle me later for this mess. But for now... Let's have dinner. We can air our grievances peacefully then over some delightful food."

After saying that, Philip turned to look at Paul. A look that seemed to say, 'you owe me.'

Paul laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

...Yeah. He definitely wasn't cut out for politics, huh?