Paul was not fine.

There were a lot of reasons for that, but the main reason was the new friend he had made. Or rather, the person who declared himself Paul's friend after their public bout.

"Bwahaha!" Gal Farion clapped his hand onto Paul's shoulder and grinned. "Did you see the look on that guy's face? It's like he was seeing a demon from hell or something!"

Paul laughed and did his best to ignore the white mist wreathed around Gal's body. "Yeah. Pilemon was always a bit of a scaredy cat."

Gal chuckled and took a long swig from a mug of mead. "No wonder you bailed. Hanging around a bunch of stuck-up nobles like this... If it was me, I would've cut them all down, you know?"

"Mm... I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it before."

A private manor in the Notos territory, set up specifically for the Boreas faction. Late at night.

A lot of things had happened since Paul and his companions arrived in Milbots region.

Enough that Paul could probably pen a whole book about the events in the past week alone.

But to sum things up... It was a typical cliche, like some of the trashy novels those Asuran maidens enjoyed reading.

Paul showed up at the gates with everyone else. Things went fine until it came time to check-in, where Pilemon noticed Paul and demanded something happen.

Then the Sword God and Water God popped up out of nowhere and a spontaneous sword tournament happened.

Paul ended up in the finals with said Sword God... and then it ended with a draw and Gal Farion declaring Paul his sworn brother.

Which promptly led to the man crashing with Paul and taking advantage of the Boreas family's hospitality.

Though, considering that he *was* Ghyslaine's teacher and that he was the Sword God, there wasn't much anyone could say about it.

Thankfully, the man had the sense to not hang around all the time. And overall, he seemed like a decent person who also knew a lot about sword fighting. A fact that Paul would love to take advantage of to get some tidbits back to Rudy.

Except there was the problem about him definitely being controlled or observed by that Being Whatchamacallit from that white mist following him.

A knock echoed, followed by a soft voice. "May I come in?"

Paul did his best to not let out a sigh of relief. Instead, he looked over to the door and smiled. "You don't need to be shy, Lily."

The door opened, revealing Lilia standing with a tea tray. Since it was late, she was wearing a simple black nightgown instead of her usual maid outfit.

Lilia walked over to sit beside Paul. After that, she started pouring a cup of tea and said, "Would you like some, Lord Farion?"

Gal waved his mug around and said, "I'm fine. And just call me Gal. Lord Farion..." He rubbed his chin and said, "Hearing that makes me feel itchy."

"Understood." Lilia nodded and then looked to Paul. "Husband?"

"Thanks, Lily." Paul smiled and took the cup from her. After that, he looked at Gal and said, "But being called Lord Farion makes you feel itchy? And you don't care being called a girl?"

Gal laughed and said, "Of course not." He let out a savage grin and said, "If they can live after saying it to my face."

...Alright. Paul had to admit, he was starting to feel like he got in over his head a bit here to just try and prove a point to Rudy.

Gal Farion was dangerous. Unpredictable too.

He was fine now... but the man was a wolf in disguise. Sharp and feral.

Paul had the sense that the only reason Gal was here at all and playing nice was because the Sword God was practicing some self-restraint... or listening to that Being W.

"But anyway!" Gal pointed at Paul and said, "You've got a kid, right? Rudy? Planning on sending him to practice in the Holy Land of Swords any time soon? If he's even half as good as you are, he'll be a god by the time he's through." He laughed and took another swig from his mug. "Nina needs a good rival. Jino is alright, but the kid's a bit too dull."

Lilia poured herself a cup of tea and then said, "Rudy will not be going anywhere in the near future. At the moment, he is still far too young to be considering anything."

"Right, right." Gal nodded and said, "Guess a kid does need some time to play a bit. Though Nina's play always involved her copying me instead of playing with dolls." He drained the rest of his mug and glanced out the window. After that, he stretched and said, "Mm. Think I've overstayed my welcome a bit today, so I'll leave it at that." He clapped Paul's shoulder again and said, "Nice chatting with you, Paul. Take care of yourself in the festival tomorrow, alright?"

With those words, Gal left.

Silence. Both Paul and Lilia waited until his footsteps faded away. And then just in case, Lilia used one of the spells Rudy loaded onto her bracelet to block out their conversation.

After that...

"This is troublesome." Lilia sipped on her tea and looked at Paul. "The Sword God is on that Being's side."

Paul groaned and rubbed his face. "I know. Argh... What a mess. And Pierre mentioned that everything would be happening tomorrow too. But with that guy around... Not to mention the Water God."

Reida Reia, the head of the Water God Style. A seemingly frail old woman who had showed up bickering with Gal, but vanished afterwards after mentioning something about repaying a debt.

Paul didn't get a chance to spar with her in the tournament, but from what he saw before she left, it was basically what he could do, but better. All the dodging and ultra instinct techniques that Rudy mentioned... Well, it wasn't the exact same, but Paul's gut told him that would be annoying to fight at the least, and lethal at the worst.

Then there was the fact that she ALSO had that white mist around her...

"Just what the heck does that Being W guy want here? Is he doing all of this just to mess with us, or what?" Paul couldn't understand it.

Lilia frowned and said, "It could be the case. However, if that person is truly concerned about Rudy... Perhaps his intentions are to persuade you to send him into the lion's den?"

"You mean sending him over to that place?" Paul shook his head. "Even if I didn't know that guy was pulling strings, I wouldn't do that... Mostly because Rudy might actually kill someone."

"...True."

Paul sighed and said, "Well, whatever. It's happening soon. Pilemon's going to send some men out and try to kidnap that girl. Pierre and Philip have got the logistics sorted out, Sauros threw enough of a tantrum to quiet down those Notos idiots..." He smiled and said, "After that, we get to go home and have fun with the family again."

"Yes. But there is still the ball to handle first, Husband."

"...Right. That." Paul groaned and said, "...I'm going to have to smack some heads around for staring at you, aren't I?"

"Well." Lilia sipped on her tea and said, "You could always ignore them. Of course, I will just have to tell Rudy how degenerate this family of yours is."

"I think he's already got the picture... But either way, things are gonna be messy. As usual. Dammit." Paul rubbed his face and said, "Just what the hell did I do to get into this mess? I'm trying to be a good person here, but the world seems out to just screw me over..."

Lilia leaned on Paul's shoulder and said, "It's fine. You're trying... And this time you're thinking things through. ...You are thinking things through, aren't you?"

"Every second."

"Then it will be fine. Everything is prepared and in place. Moreover, you are strong. The bout with the Sword God proved it, did it not?"

Paul snorted. "Strong enough to not die, yeah. But mostly due to Rudy's sword."

"Mm. We will have to thank him when we get back then."

"I'm going to have to say a lot to Rudy when we get back." Paul furrowed his brow. "Like how much of a pain it is to be a hero-" He paused and then let out a deep sigh. "This is what the old man felt, huh? Ugh. Well, I have to at least not be a hypocrite... Milis knows what will happen if Rudy decides he can bend his principles whenever he wants."

Lilia massaged Paul's shoulders and said, "Yes. Be a good father figure instead of the worthless man in my memories."

"...You are never going to let that go, are you?"

Lilia laughed and said, "Just ensuring that you remain a respectable man, Paul. And speaking of respectable men... Have you thought about a name for your new child yet?"

Paul froze.

"...Paul."

Paul cleared his throat and said, "I-I have a name. Right now... Well... If it's a boy-"

"Knowing your luck, it will be a daughter."

"...True. In that case... Well, since Zenith is the heavens and Norn is our little goddess... How about Stella? Because right now, a shooting star and a wish would definitely be useful..."

HappyVainGlory

Paul's shenanigans here would be probably be an arc onto itself, so we'll do an abridged version for now. Maybe in the future I'll explore it in a side-story like Roxy's adventures in canon. After finishing this up, we'll be focusing on Rudy for a while again.