Ceasing the Family Disputes

[Third POV]

"Norn, is that you?" Rudeus asked as he looks at the small blond-haired girl in shock.

He wasn't expecting for his little sister to come in a place like this and was happy to see her again.

However, Norn didn't answer his question and she instead observes the current situation in front of her. She individually looked the three people and noticed that her father's clenched fist.

"Papa, are you trying to hurt them?"

Norn inquires, wanting to know why her father is raising his fist towards Rudeus and Saga. This causes Paul to be flustered as he quickly lowers his hand and tries to explain himself.

"Ah, no! It's not what it looks like!"

"It's not?"

"That's right! It was because... erm... ah, it's because of these two"

Paul pointed at Rudeus and Saga as he defends himself. This causes agitation and confusion to the two respectively.

"Wait, hold on! Why are you blaming us?!" Rudeus shouted, asking why they're being accused.

"It's your fault why we have gotten us into this mess!"

"My fault?! It was your temper and unreasonableness that lead us here, father!"

"Oh really, I wonder why?!"

"You're just angry that Saga is here to comfort me from your absurd expectations!"

"Why you, bastard!"

The father and the son continue to argue with each other while the people in the bar were growing wary of their family dispute, which includes Norn who is confused and afraid.

She doesn't know how to intervene at their argument because of how intense their shouting and slandering has become.

"Papa, please stop this..."

"Not now, Norn. I will give your bastard brother a piece of my mind!"

"Oh really? Bring it on, you scumbag father!"

The two of them ignored Norn's plead and kept on arguing more. This disheartens the girl as she desperately tried to cease the fight.

But then someone place their hand on Norn's head, which startles her. She quickly searches for the person who touches her and found Saga standing beside her.

"Subete ga daijōbudesu"

Saga tried to cheer up Norn in her own language while giving her a warm smile and head pats. This baffles the little girl but it also gave her a sense of reassurance.

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[Saga POV]

I have no idea what is going on but I can only deduce that everything is not doing okay. It is due to Rudeus and his father arguing once again.

Despite being advice to calm down earlier, they return on ranting with each other and this time they're doing it in front of another family member.

It's quite sad to see the little girl desperately doing her best to stop their family squabbles but to no avail. The only thing I could do for the girl in this moment is comforting her.

So, I tried comforting the girl to the best of my ability, which works quite well even though she's confused with my Japanese.

However, while I was in the midst of keeping the little girl company, I noticed that the father is glaring at me for some reason.

*Angry gibberish noises*

Then the father furiously shouted, pointing at me and marching towards my direction. All of which were puzzling me because I didn't know what I do wrong this time.

Rudeus then positions himself in front of us in order to block his father's path once again. The father scowls intensely as he clenches both of his fists in frustration.

"My lord, what did I do to make him mad again?!"

"That scumbag is mad at you because you got too close to Norn!"

"Huh?!"

Hold on, how could this be? Am I not allowed to interact with Rudeus's sister? Did I provoke an overprotective father because of what I did?

What should I do? If I don't resolve this problem soon, then I will be in big trouble and Rudeus will suffer in the process. Think, Saga, think!

*Childish Gibberish noises*

While I was anxiously contemplating with my thoughts, the girl beside me walks forward and confronts her father.

Then the girl proceeds to protest against the father and he was progressively getting troubled for every word she throwed at him.

"Hey my lord, what's going on?"

"Norn is standing up to father and she's telling him to stop being angry to us"

Rudeus explained to me about the current situation and it was more apparent when his father has regained his composure after being scolded by the little girl.

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[Rudeus POV]

Things are going great for us. That scumbag of a father is finally getting a taste of his own medicine and he was being reprimanded by Norn.

Looking at my little sister rebuking Paul reminds me of Zenith in some way. Speaking of which, I haven't seen her in Millishion for a while now. I wonder where is she and the others were?

"Hey father, since you're all calm down now, I have a question for you"

"What do you want?"

"Where's mother and the others? I want to talk with them"

As I asked that question, his expression darkens and his frown becomes more prominent. He glared at me once again and he spoke.

"They're missing, Rudy"

"What?!"

"Zenith, Lilia, and Ashia, as well as the people of Buena Village missing since the Teleportation Incident"

How could this be? Why haven't I realized the possibility of the huge beam of light from reaching the village?

Wait a minute, if Zenith and the others were missing, does this means that the other people from the village were also taken by the event?!

"What about Sylphiette?! How was she?!"

"Tch, you damn womanizer..."

"Huh? What was that supposed to mean?!"

"How could you worry about your women than your own mother, Rudy! Do you have any idea how much we suffered in searching for the people we lost?!"

Upon hearing Paul's rebuke, I was totally baffled. I mean he has a point from what he said, but why does he have to be such huge jerk about it.

This really sucks.... What is wrong with him? Or better yet, what is wrong with me? Why do I feel empty just by thinking about all of these?

"My lord, is everything okay?"

While I was sulking, I heard Saga's voice calling out to me. I turn my attention to her and she was looking at me with a worried expression on her face.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me"

"Are you sure? You look a bit distress. Perhaps, we should-"

"Tch, I said I'm fine!"

Without any warning, I abruptly yelled at Saga, causing her to back away in shock. Realizing that I made a mistake, I wanted to apologize.

However, I noticed that the people in the bar were all staring at me with concerned and disdainful expressions. Because of that, I run away from them without looking back.

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Several minutes later, I end up returning to the inn and waited for the others to come back from their adventure.

I am currently lying down on the bed, contemplating about everything that happened today. To be honest, there's a lot to take in and I don't know where to begin.

"Alright, things were quite rough today but I guess it will be better tomorrow"

I calmly said to myself in order to reassure my own being and cope with the terrible things that happened earlier.

Unfortunately, I feel the sudden urge to throw up because of the stress that has built up in my system for the past few hours. So, I quickly went to the window to puke.

However, before I could release my vomit, I saw Saga standing outside of the inn. Our eyes met when she noticed me peeking out of the window and she waved her hand at me.

'Crap, I can't let her see me throwing up. I need to do something'

I quickly create a bucket using earth magic and immediately release my puke in there. Then I sealed off the backet and hide it in the corner.

After that, I went downstairs and meet with Saga at the entrance of the inn. Upon arriving at her location, she happily wags her tail when she saw me approaching.

"There you are, lord Rudeus. I was so worried when you ran away from the bar"

"What are you doing here, Saga?"

"Huh?"

"I mean how did you find where I went?"

"Ah, that? I just followed your scent and I end up here"

This is quite unexpected. I didn't expect for Saga to follow me here even though I yelled at her earlier. Not only that, it seems that she doesn't holds a grudge on what happened.

"Hey Saga..."

"What is it, my lord"

"I'm very sorry for yelling at you earlier"

"It's okay, I forgive you"

Saga accepted my apology willingly, which improves my mood. So, invited her to the inn so we can chat and get to know each other even more.