{Paul POV}
Waking up with sweat on my forehead, I open my eyes. It was another nightmare. The same one as usual.
It was about Zenith and the other, undead, and asking me why I didn't save them.
I tried to answer them, but the only thing that would come out of it would be excuses.
Once I spotted Rudy, in the next second, the nightmare ended.
Those nightmares started coming back once I got sober again. The amount of alcohol I drank to suppress them was definitely too much, even for my standards.
But what was different lately was the part where Rudy's dead body appeared, not calling out to me.
The reason for that might be because of the recent event that happened a while ago.
I look to my side and saw Norn sleeping next to me. Her blonde hair and her sleepy face keep reminding me of Zenith.
After a while, I got up, making sure not to waking up Norn, washed myself up and ate breakfast. Once I'm done, I head towards a specific inn.
Once I get in, I was greeted by one of my old party member, Geese. He was sitting at a table close to the stairway. As I approach him, he notices me.
"Morning, Paul. Here again early?"
"Y-yeah. It's the least I can do for now."
"Don't beat yourself up over it. It's not your fault. Okay?" His words may be considerate, but not helpful.
I took a seat at his table and started looking up at the sealing.
"That's easier said than done, y'know."
Then I looked him in the eyes, and started talking before he could say another thing to put me at ease.
"So has he woken up yet?" at that question, his face turned into a sympathetic smile.
"Not yet. But his fever finally started going down a bit."
I relaxed just a little at that. That was basically the only good news about his conditions for days.
I then looked back up at the sealing, thinking about hiring a high-class Healer to heal him. But are there any around?
The church might have some, although the price might be a bit expensive. Perhaps asking Zenith's family could be an option? Probably not, since they don't like me. Most likely not even Rudeus.
"Oh, here he comes."
As I was lost in my thoughts, a tall, bald man wearing tribal clothes and a forehead protector comes down the stairs. I came to know that this man goes by the name of Ruijerd Superdia.
"Hey big guy? Did he wake up?" Ruijerd then looked over to us as he approached us, taking a seat to us.
"He did." At that, I stood up from my chair.
"Really?!" I was almost about to go run up the stairs and check it for myself.
"But Eris hugged him, and he fell unconscious again."
"What? From a hug? How?" I was perplexed.
How can someone black out from a hug? Could Phillip's daughter perhaps not control herself and hug him too hard? She surely has a temperament that would scold him for nearly dying.
"What exactly happened?" Geese asked, also being confused.
Ruijerd was silent for a moment before he opened his mouth again.
"Once Eris saw him awake she hugged him, and he seemed in a lot of pain and couldn't breathe, so he fainted. His body must still be sensitive."
"I see. Guess that was to be expected." Geese said as he leaned back in his chair.
I'm still confused at what I heard, but I saw myself how damaged his body was. And it seems he's still not fully healed.
He must still be going through recovery, so touching him while he is awake will end badly on his side.
"I guess I pay him a visit, then." I said as I walked towards the stairs.
"Sure. You do that pal." Geese said, as I went my way up the stairs.
Now before the door to their room, I take a deep breath. I may have done this a handful of times, but it still makes me nervous.
Opening the door, I was greeted by a red-headed, angry looking girl.
Her name's Eris. She is Phillip's daughter. She started to look at me, which instantly turned into a glare.
"What do you want?"
"I-I just wanted to see how he's doing."
Her personality reminded me of Ghislaine, but her attitude was like Sauros. How the heck did my son deal with her? His patience must be God-class, for sure.
"Whatever. He's asleep, so don't hurt him again. You hear me?"
"I will." Honestly, how did you do it, Rudy? Have you used one of my advices on how to deal with woman?
"Hmph" is all she said as she went downstairs.
As I went inside the room, I saw my son. Rudeus. Still asleep.
He has been unconscious for about five days now.
I closed the door behind me and kneeled before his bed, brushing his now white hair off his face. It's like Geese said. His fever really did go down.
Before he arrived in Millishion, I imagined how he and the rest of my family might have died.
And yet, I was certain that my son, a prodigy, would definitely survive and start looking after them as soon as possible too. But... I was wrong.
I then started to remember how we fought in the warehouse. And then our fight at the inn. The latter one wasn't as serious, but he still beat my ass.
And if what Geese said was true, he can even fight head on against a North Saint. I'm getting weaker already. Probably because I slacked off too much when I was young.
If I took my training more serious, could I have saved Rudy from whatever happened at that field?
My mind starts shifting towards the night I decided to apologize to him.
I was just about done shaving my beard off, when suddenly, I heard multiple explosions and looking up, I saw the sky turning bright. It was like each explosion created more explosions and expanded all over the sky.
The ground started shaking from all the shockwaves. I could hear people screaming and horses panicking. After a while, everything went quiet for a minute. Norn started screaming, asking where I am. That night took a moment to take in.
What was that? Was it an enemy kingdom attack? If so, they missed the target by a lot. Such a massive attack spell must be at least Emperor-class. Maybe even God-class. I'm no expert on magic like Rudeus, so I wouldn't know.
The sun already started rising, so I didn't sleep at all. In the morning, I was greeted by Geese, who was wondering if I already saw Rudy.
Geese thinks that Rudy might have caused that massive explosion.
At that moment, I thought about in what kind of danger Rudy would be to be forced to use such magic. But my worries soon got turned into the worst possibility.
The tall and bald man Ruijerd was coming through the door, holding a child in his arms.
The boy was covered in mud and blood. He was bleeding from all over his body, even his eyes, mouth, nose and ears.
His hair was messy and disheveled, but you could see that it was white. The veins in his hands and arms were purple. His clothes messed up and damaged all over.
The man holding the child was looking directly at Geese and begging for help.
As he got closer, I recognized the boy. It was Rudeus. The image of his barely alive body got burned into my memory. I couldn't protect him. It's my fault. Because I realized too late that I put too many expectations on him.
And now, I might not be able to apologize to him. It will be just like between me and my father.
I pulled some connections and hired an advanced healer to save him. I didn't bother asking Ruijerd what happened. What mattered now was to save his life.
At first, he got his entire body fully healed, but he was not showing any signs of waking up. Even worse, he developed a fever.
His party took care of him, while I could do nothing but wait. I'm useless.
I visited at every morning, waited for about an hour, went back to Norn, and visited again in the evening for another hour or so.
As days passed, I couldn't stop thinking how he might never wake up again.
I was already contemplating about the idea of hiring a Saint-class or above healer. Even If that went above my current budget. But Geese advised me against it, saying he just needed to rest.
After that, Ruijerd started explaining how he wasn't coming back that day. But as soon as they saw the explosion, they went to look from where it started, assuming it might have been him.
Apparently, they found him in this condition while he was laying in the middle of what they think might have been a battlefield.
In the later days, where he was asleep, Geese started explaining to the others what happened between me and Rudeus.
Ruijerd understood our little misunderstanding and was reassuring me that everything will work out if we just talked to each other.
Eris, however, was furious. She was about to go after me, unsheathing her sword, but Ruijerd stopped her.
Yet, she still yelled at me. Saying things like how bad of a father I am because of what I said and accused him of.
She even insulted me for not showing up at his tenth birthday. And it's not like she wasn't wrong.
Thankfully, she calmed down a bit after Geese talked to her.
And now, I'm here. Kneeling before my son. Praying that he would soon wake up again.
My mind then wandered over our time at Buena village, him and Sylphiette spending time together when we laughed while practicing.
Pretty much normal, but still happy moment indeed. Those good times may never come back.
"*Sob* Rudy *Sniff*, please forgive me. I don't want to separate like this."
Not being able to hold back anymore, I cried while talking to my son. This went for about another hour or so, until I decided to head back.
I then arrived at my inn and was greeted by Vierra and Shierra shortly before going into my room.
"Daddy." Norn came and greeted me with a hug.
"Hello sweetie. Were you a good girl?"
I tried my best not to show any signed that I cried recently. I know I have little of it, but I have to keep my pride as a man somehow.
Patting her head, I gave her a smile. However, her face started to frown a bit.
"Did you cry? Did he hit you again?"
Well, there goes my chance to keep my pride. I probably have red eyes from all the crying earlier.
"It's nothing to worry about, Norn. And you shouldn't say something like that. He's your brother." Her face then turned into an angry one.
"I don't wanna. I hate him. He hit you."
I mentally sigh at that. Guess Rudy gotta work on changing her image of him soon.
But knowing that he turned Phillip's daughter to his side, as well as make friends with a Superd, he might find a way.
Even through my best efforts, I couldn't convince Norn to give him another chance. Rather, it ended up with Norn demanding me I take her with me on the next morning.
As promised, we got up together. After getting up in the morning, we ate breakfast together (which we haven't done in a while) and then proceeded to go over to their inn.
Because she only just woke up, I was holding her in my arms while trying to keep her awake. She could perhaps sleep on one of the beds, once we arrive.
Although when we went through the entrance, I couldn't find Geese anywhere. Weird. Usually, I would see him at one of the tables around here.
Out of nowhere, a booming wave could be heard, making everyone inside startled. Including me and Norn.
"Daddy? What's happening?" Norn sounded panicked, but I didn't answer her.
All I could think of was, 'Rudy?'.
The sound came from upstairs, so it must be him. He's awake.
I ran upstairs, making sure that I was holding Norn tidily. But what went through my mind was one thing.
'Don't let her hug him.'
***
{Rudeus POV}
I woke up, surrounded in a white, foggy, void. It's the dreamworld where I usually meet Hitogami.
But something is different. I couldn't move my body. Like being frozen in place. All I could do was move my eyes.
The mist in the white room started to clear and show a weird scene.
There was a little girl, crying over a headless corpse of a man. This went on for another minute as she stopped for a second and looked at me.
I couldn't see her face. It was all blank. No eyes, nose or mouth. Just one blank face.
Ripples like a water surface started to form between us, and the scene before me changed.
There were two men. One laying on the floor and the other standing before him.
The man on the floor was missing his lower half and was bleeding all over the place. But his face looked familiar. It's hard to tell because of all the blood.
When I started to recognize the man, I was shocked. It was Paul. Paul was dying.
"Dad?" A voice rang out in an echo.
Looking at the other man, I could tell many odd features on him.
His hair was white from the rots with a small portion of the tips being silver. Most of his hair was short, but hair on the back of his head was long and tied into a ponytail.
His eyes are colored different. The right eye emerald green and the left eye sapphire blue with a mole beneath it.
Who is that? Why did he call Paul 'dad'? Could that be me? Is that a future vision? If so, what happened?
Suddenly, my vision started to blur, and my consciousness went away.
***
I snapped open my eyes and was looking up to what looked like a ceiling.
My breathing was ragged, and I was covered in a cold sweat.
It took me a minute to finally calm myself. I was still trying to comprehend what I just saw.
Was that a dream or a future vision? When will that vision come to be? From the looks of the future me, it might take a few years.
Can I even do something against it? My Healing Magic is only intermediate as of now.
And without the ability of chantless Healing Magic, learning higher tier spells is useless in that scenario. He would bleed out to death before I would be done saying the incantation.
"Rudeus?" A voice called out my name. I looked to my side and I saw Ruijerd looking at me.
When our eyes met, however, he looked surprised.
"Ruijerd? Where am I?"
I tried to stand up, but then-
"Argh."
"Don't move."
My entire body hurts. It feels like I am constantly snapping, only to reattach back together.
To avoid any more pain, I let myself fall down. But the pain still lingered a bit.
"You are still recovering, so take it easy."
Recovering from what exactly? Why am I in this condition? I tried to remember what I did.
"Rudeus?" Then I heard a different voice, this time it was Eris. But then I felt even more pain on top of me.
"What were you doing? You were bleeding all over your body."
Eris was probably on top of me, hugging me in what seemed like relieved worry.
Nevertheless, her hug hurts like hell. I think I'm having trouble breathing.
"Stupid. Never go fight alone again, dummy."
What fight? Do you mean the one I had with Paul? Did something happen that I don't remember? Has he beaten me to near death?
Then I remember what happened. I was actually venting out my rage on the field after my fight with him. The last spell must have damaged me.
Wasn't there someone else before I blacked out? Oh, yeah. The past me. A reflection of my old self.
"Eris, you should-" Her grip on me tightened, and I blacked out. Again.
***
{One day later}
I woke up, though more calmly than before. Feeling much better than before, I sat up and looked around.
Yup, I was still in the same spot as before. Which I realized was the room at the inn we were staying at.
"You seem to be feeling better."
Looking to my left, I saw Ruijerd, keeping a hand on Eris's shoulder.
"Good morning, stupid." Eris rudely greets me, while standing in her Boreas stance.
"Good morning... I guess?" I was a bit confused, but then remembered what she did before.
Ruijerd was preventing her from hugging me again. But since I could sit up now, my body must be good now.
"Are you feeling better now?" Ruijerd asked me. Possibly out of concern.
"I am feeling much better now, thank you." I said as I tried sitting on the edge of my bed.
"Hm?" Something felt odd.
I looked down and noticed something. I'm wearing nothing but my underpants.
Then I looked back up to meet Eris's eyes, which were staring intently at my bare body. She was blushing red while trying to keep a poker face (which just looked twisted).
Covering my body with the blanked, I then looked at Ruijerd, who understood what I wanted to ask based on my expression.
"You were sweating a lot the other day, so we took off your clothes."
"A-ah. I see."
I fell like I'm back at the Beast-folk prison.
Only this time, my private parts are covered, and I wasn't soaked in cold water but my own sweat.
"Are you gonna tell us what happened to you or not?" Eris, who wasn't blushing anymore, was starting my interrogation now.
I do remember what I did, but would they understand it, since it was just a tantrum of mine?
But there was something that I had to ask first. Looking at them, I started asking.
"How long was I asleep?" Eris was a bit irritated that I avoided her question, but Ruijerd cut in and answered.
"You were asleep for six days."
Six whole days? I can only see this as a miracle. Was my goddess watching over me? I certainly have to pray in gratitude for her divine protection.
*Growl*
Oh. My stomach actually feels kind of empty. That is understandable considering the time I was out of commission.
"Are you hungry? We can get something to eat once you are dressed and if you can stand yet."
Actually, I was a little thirsty as well. So, I decided to cast a ball of water to ease my thirst first.
But when I controlled my mana, something felt off.
""Huh?"" Eris and I were shocked, while Ruijerd just opened his eyes wide.
Before my hand was a sphere of water, big enough to fill an entire bathtub.
That's odd. I am sure I casted it just as always, but it came out this big. It was actually coming out too easily than normal.
"Rudeus, what are you doing?"
"What's the meaning of this? Are you dumb?"
"H-hold on. I can fix this." The spell actually came so easily that it's about to shoot.
With my best efforts, I dispelled it before anything else could happen.
The result was just one loud, booming noise, as the water dispersed into the air.
"What the heck was that about?" Eris was looking at me angry.
"I was just trying to cast a small [Waterball]." That was all I could say.
Then I could hear someone running towards our room and the door swung open.
"Rudy. Are you awake?"
Everyone in the room looked towards the now opened door. It was Paul, and he was holding a startled Norn in his arms.
Then the image from my dream came up as I saw Paul's face. However, without a beard and what seems sober.
Before we could get eye contact, I looked away, but soon enough realized that I was still only covered by my blanket.
He then came over to me while still holding Norn and kneeled.
"Rudy, are you okay? Does anything hurt?" he sounded considerably worried, and it gave me a weird feeling.
"I'm fine." I murmured, still not looking at his face.
"T-that's good, I guess." his voice sounded a bit relieved. He then put Norn down, stood up and turned to Ruijerd.
"So what happened here? I heard a loud noise just now."
"You see-" I cut off Ruijerd, answering Paul instead.
"I was trying to cast [Waterball], but it came out larger than I intended, so I dispersed it."
Paul then turned back to me.
"What?"
"I suppose that is just an aftereffect of my outburst of rage after our squabble."
That constant spell casting must have done it, I'm certain. It was the first time I let out so much mana at such a long period.
I'm not even sure how long I was at it, just destroying the surrounding landscape.
"Outburst of rage? So, you weren't attacked?" Paul sounded surprised, which made me irritated.
"Oh~? So, it's that WEIRD that I have one of those for the first time?" I furrowed my brows as I proceeded.
"My patience is not unlimited, you know? Even I act like a child from time to time, so don't act like you know me."
My mental age may be 45 years now, but I know exactly that I never truly grew up. Not ever since I became a shut-in.
But he had the impression of me being a mature child. Therefore, it's no wonder that he is surprised of me letting out my anger.
"Rudy, I-" out of the corner of my eye, I could tell that he tried to reach his hand to me.
I simply smacked it away from me while still having the blanket on me.
He seemed surprised by this, but that didn't matter to me.
"I'm not calm enough to talk to you right now. So please...LEAVE!"
My voice came out sterner than I had intended. For a while, he stayed silent and the air in the room got colder.
"I-I see." he sounded dejected, but still complied.
"Come on, Norn. Let's go back."
"Okay." Norn seemed to comply as well.
But I guess she wanted to leave in the first place. Whatever. I ruined my chances to be there for her as an older brother anyway.
As they left the room, I could hear the door closing behind them.
""...""
Why was I so rude to him? He didn't do anything wrong. In fact, he did better than me.
I want to apologize to him, but can't. Heck, I couldn't even look at him in the face.
"Hmph, he deserves it." Eris made a remark about me rejecting Paul, but I can't let her do as she pleases anymore.
I stood up and went over to her, glaring at her.
"Eris?" at her name, she looked over to me.
"Were you told about the situation at the Fittoa region, as well as what actually happened to the others?"
She startled at my question, but ultimately bit her lower and nodded while looking down.
"So you understand that we can't keep playing adventurer anymore. We need to take this serious."
She started to clench her fists and, after a second, nodded her head again.
"Good. Now...can someone tell me where my clothes are? So that I could get something to eat."
"Your old clothes got damaged, so we got you new ones."
Ruijerd pointed me towards a chair on which a set of clothes was put on. I put down the bedsheets and started dressing up.
However.
"Hm?"
My hair. It's white. I didn't bother with it. I would take care of that later.
After I was finished dressing up, we went down and ate breakfast together.
But throughout the whole meal, my mind was fixed on one thing.
'What was that dream? Was it Hitogami who showed me that? When will it happen? Can I...prevent it?'
///