Chapter 104: Brother and Sister, Father and Son

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"Miss Eris?"

In the morning light, Eris was the first to run up to Ghislaine, though her gaze remained fixed on the figure beside her.

In her line of sight, Allen was holding Sylphie, his expression a mix of helplessness and awkwardness as he tried to comfort her.

Eris stood just a few dozen centimeters in front of Ghislaine, her head still tilted to the side.

When she heard Ghislaine's voice, she snapped her head around to look up at her. Her red hair, drenched from the rain, was a tangled mess, with some strands sticking up like little "horns."

But because of this, her hair seemed to burn like fire in the morning light.

To Rudeus, who was standing not far behind, it looked like she might twist her neck with how quickly she turned her head.

He seemed to have completely forgotten that he had turned his head just as fast when he realized Allen had returned.

Eris looked Ghislaine up and down, noticing that the woman didn't have any new scars, and a wide smile spread across her face.

"Ghislaine! Did you save him?"

Ghislaine silently looked at Eris, then glanced at Allen's hand.

In his hand were two heads.

Eris followed Ghislaine's gaze and froze for a moment.

Nuckel. Gard.

Their faces were identical.

Eris had seen them just a few hours ago.

The assassins who had come charging at them.

At the same time, she remembered something Ghislaine had once told her.

The beast race still retained the instinct to hunt prey.

So, the prey belonged to the one who caught it.

And now…

She didn't care why one head had become two. She just blinked rapidly and immediately asked,

"Is Allen stronger than you, Teacher?"

Ghislaine, though not one to read the room, didn't hesitate to tell the truth.

"Last night, he was stronger than me. Now, I'm stronger than him. But in the future…"

"He'll be stronger than me."

Eris was stunned for a moment, her eyebrows twitching slightly, but she quickly suppressed it. She pursed her lips and turned to Allen, crossing her arms.

"Hey! Ghislaine says you're stronger than her, so I'll allow you to be my teacher!"

Her voice was loud, as if she was afraid Allen wouldn't hear her.

It startled Allen so much that he jumped.

"Huh?"

Dust appeared before his eyes.

[Free Immediate Mission—Encounter with Eris—Completed. Time: 13:14:12.]

[You skipped the stage of awe and directly earned Eris's admiration. At this moment, she is more than willing and is about to 'magnanimously' accept you as her teacher.]

[Evaluation: Roxy, Paul, Sylphie, Rudeus, Zenith, Lilia, Laws, Norn, Ghislaine, Eris…]

[Who's next?]

[This is the power of the Jobless Succubus?]

[Tsk tsk.]

[Dragon Saint Battle Aura Slot Unlocked.]

The dust, almost tangible, crawled over the nascent core of Allen's Dragon Saint Battle Aura, emitting a faint buzzing sound that only his soul could hear. After a moment, a new slot appeared next to the dark brown one.

It was a fiery red, like the morning dawn.

But Allen's expression was just blank.

Wait.

Jobless Succubus?

System, what kind of name is that?

Eris waited for a while but didn't hear Allen agree. Seeing his expression twitching, she grew impatient.

"What's with that look! Did you hear me or not?!"

Allen blinked, snapping out of his daze. He exchanged a glance with Ghislaine, who looked somewhat resigned but had no intention of correcting Eris.

"Uh… I heard you. Sure."

"Hmph!"

The young lady was quite pleased with her new teacher. She closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and nodded smugly, letting the catgirl who had rushed over comb her hair.

Sylphie, who had stopped crying the moment she heard Eris's booming voice, seemed to realize she was still clinging to Allen. Her body stiffened like a rod, and she awkwardly "slid" off him.

Feeling the solid ground beneath her feet, she grabbed the hair in front of her forehead. She wanted to look down at her shoes but hesitated for a moment before forcing herself to look up.

Tear stains still marked her face.

But she met Allen's eyes directly.

"You don't need to apologize for making me worry. And…"

"Welcome back, Allen."

Her smile bloomed in the morning light, a bit forced, as if she realized she shouldn't have cried.

But it was enough to ease the tension Allen had been holding all night.

After confirming that the three carriages could still make it to Roa, the one Allen had sliced in half was truly beyond repair.

Once that was settled, Ghislaine even commented on Allen's Soundless Sword Strike.

"Not bad. A clean cut."

This made Allen almost lose his composure. Since almost everyone had been waiting in the rain all night, the usable rain covers in the carriages had been pulled out by the catgirls, leaving the ground a mess. Allen wanted to help clean up, but Ghislaine, who had spent the night in the water and felt she hadn't been of much help, "planted" him next to Philip like a stake, telling him to just watch.

The others, assuming he was the most exhausted from last night, didn't disturb him.

Well, actually, everyone was just being considerate.

Except for Eris, who was dragged away by Ghislaine.

Because at this moment, standing next to Allen was his biological father.

They had intentionally left the two of them to talk.

A breeze blew past.

Allen looked down at his legs, half-buried in the mud from Ghislaine's forceful planting, and silently pulled them out.

"Are you satisfied with this outcome?"

Philip, standing beside him, had a conflicted look in his eyes. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"…This was unexpected. I didn't anticipate this. The information must have been leaked to James by the 'mole' around me. Otherwise, there's no explanation for what happened. But based on my previous investigations, he's always been Darius's man. He shouldn't have done this."

Allen watched as Rudeus and Eris suddenly started arguing in the distance, their voices rising as they fought over who would share a carriage with Allen.

"There are many things you didn't anticipate. The sudden appearance of the North King assassins was the first. My ability to take down both of them was the second. Ghislaine getting trapped in the forest was the third. Too many things. You always think you can anticipate everything, but when things spiral out of your control, all you can say is that you didn't expect it."

"…"

"Did you ever think that if just one more thing had gone wrong, you might not be seeing this happy reunion? Instead, you'd be looking at Eris's corpse, my corpse, Ghislaine's corpse…"

"Or maybe you wouldn't even be alive to see it."

Philip fell silent, his lips parting but no words coming out.

"The good news is, this assassination attempt proves that even if James realizes I'm still in the Asura Kingdom, he has no intention of letting me return to his side. Instead, he's trying to have me killed again."

"And after this attempt, he'll be even less likely to let me return."

"Once we're in your territory, he'll probably lay low for a while. The Asura nobles have to maintain at least a facade of harmony, especially since you're brothers. At least I can use this time to grow stronger."

Philip's eyes flickered at this, and he turned to look at Allen with a serious expression.

"We could go to the capital and take back—"

"I'm just a tutor you hired."

Allen cut him off, shaking the mud off his feet.

"Who's the mole?"

Philip was momentarily stunned but still answered.

"My steward, Thomas."

With that, Allen walked toward Rudeus and Eris, who were now in the middle of a heated argument.

The morning breeze brushed past him, carrying the scent of blood.

From beginning to end, he never once looked at Philip.

Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 170 on my patreon, go check it out and remember that if we reach the goal of 80 power stones I will publish the next chapter.