While the group tried to pick themselves up, Roman and Mr. Finny were off to the side by themselves. Mr. Finny had just cleaned Roman off with a cleansing spell.
"Romeo, why did you do that? What happened?"
Roman was annoyed that he used him to shield his daughter. He's only met her twice and one of those time she had attacked him. He just couldn't understand Mr. Finny's logic.
"Mr. Finny. Ned attacked me, injuries me and try to humiliate me in front of all of these people. Why wouldn't I fight back?"
Mr. Finny stayed quiet and let Roman finish. When he did, Mr. Finny began to lecture him.
"So what? He's a noble. You're not! You're inviting trouble for yourself! His father is the mayor he…"
Roman started to tune him out. He didn't want to hear a lecture. He wanted an explanation. Roman snapped out of his daze when he felt a smack.
"Are you listening to me?!"
Roman looked up at him in shock. This bastard actually smacked him. He grabbed his shirt and proceeded to throw a punch at his face.
"Who the hell are you?! Who the hell are you to lecture me and smack me as if your my dad? I already have a dad! You want to know why he attacked me and why I attacked back? He brought you and I here to die so that he could take Rose for himself! Because apparently! I am getting married to her!!"
He pushed Mr. Finny away as he walked away. Mr. Finny just stood there, realizing what he had done.
-
Mr. Finny POV
The night of the festival, after we had returned home, my dear daughter Rose seemed to be in a constant daze. She moved slowly, without much vigor or purpose. When I talked with her she made a confession.
For weeks she had been dreaming about a man saving her. A man that protected her from a horde of demons. He stood in front of her, his wide back seemed unstoppable to her. His jet black hair looked majestic as it was free flowing in the wind. He seemed like a towering wall that could never be destroyed.
When he turned to look at her, she said his luminous purple eyes captured her heart. She said his smile made her heart skip a beat. When he reached out and cleaned the blood off of her, his touch sent shivers down her spine.
She went on to describe everything that she remembered about him. From his voice to his facial features. The only thing that she never got was his name.
As she described it, it had dawned on me. From the description, the man looked like a older and more mature version of Romeo. As the realization came to me, my daughter's face had turned scarlet red as well.
'So that's why she had been acting like that since coming back from the festival.'
I accidentally let out my thoughts while we sat there. I said that I wouldn't mind her getting married to him since he seemed like a good person. Even if he wasn't a noble, it wouldn't matter. As long as my baby girl was happy then I wouldn't stop her.
She was happy to hear that. Of course, she was still my shy little girl. She was all like, "Uh, let me at least get to know him first!" and "You should talk to him first, we shouldn't force him either!".
Even though she said all of this, I could see the tiny smirk on her face as she covered her face. I promised her that I would speak to him about it. She excitedly thanked me and went to bed after.
The following week, I searched for Romeo but couldn't find him. After searching around, it would seem that he was an adventurer so I figured that he was on a quest outside the town. I didn't think much of it and waited for his return.
-
Two Days Before the World Event
"I'm sorry mayor, my daughter is already getting married. I will have to refuse your request."
*sigh*
"It's okay Mr. Finny. I won't trouble you anymore, come on Ned!"
I watch as the mayor and his son Ned leaves. The two suddenly appeared and asked for Rose's hand in marriage. I, of course refused. She wasn't in love with the boy. I would usually at least consider it but she had already made it clear that she loved someone else. I had just hope my refusal wouldn't come back to bite me later.
I was now beginning to worry about Romeo. At this rate, I already saw him as my son. My wife also learned of Rose's wishes and she also approved and also considered him to be her son already. We haven't heard from him in nearly a week. Even if he appeared now, we would have to hold off on marriage talks until after the monster extermination.
I hope that all goes well.
-
(Present)
Mr. Finny lets out a sigh. He didn't have time to speak to Roman before the event started and now he felt that he may have put some distance between the two of them after the smack.
Mr. Finny looks up to see Roman's wide frame walk away from him.
'He's already gotten so much bigger. It would seem that he spent that last week training for the monster extermination.'
He slowly followed behind, trying to figure out how he could get Roman to forgive him. He figured that the best way to do this was to just tell him the truth. How his daughter had a dream about him and how he wished to give her hand in marriage to him.
As he rushed to catch up with him, he came to an abrupt stop. Roman also stopped. The two felt a cold chill tickle them. In the distance, the group of adventurers and mercenaries were frozen too. A monstrous roar had echoed throughout the forest. They didn't know where it was currently at but they knew that a monster cluster should be closing in on their current location soon.
-
I ran as fast as I could to the group. Behind me, I could here Mr. Finny close by.
"What are we going to do?"
As soon as I reached the others, I asked for their plan. All of these people should have experience fighting these monsters. As long as I follow their plan, everything should go well. An older man, Adam Berry, was the first to answer me.
"Based off of the roar, the monster shouldn't be far from here. We've already split into five separate groups, four of the groups will surround the carriage and protect Ned. The fifth group will head towards the monster cluster and slowly take their numbers down. You and Mr. Finny will be with that group."
He couldn't look at me in the eyes. I look around and the others couldn't look at me either. The fifth group had the most dangerous job, so it wasn't hard to guess why I was put into the group. I stare at the carriage to just catch Ned smirk at me and enter it.
"I will lead the group then. I will not follow the orders of anyone else."
I had to make it clear. I would lead the group. I had some experience leading a group when the world ended. I lead a group on a rescue mission to save dad back when I only had him left. It involved a lot of sacrificing but we eventually saved him.
Besides, I'm sure one of these NPC would take this opportunity to kill me so that they could get on Ned's good side. If I'm the leader, I could have a small layer of protection from these people.
Adam hesitated for a moment but then shook his head in agreement. He turned to a group of people and said, "You will follow Sir Romeo's orders. Now it's time to attack!"
I take out the golden dagger and approach the group Adam spoke to.
"Let's go, I will tell you the plan as we head out."
-