"Father, you have no right to lecture me on this matter concerning women!"
Yes, in this situation, how can someone like that have the right to criticize me? He's just a guy who has absolutely no resistance to beautiful women.
As for me, although I do often find myself staring at a woman's most prominent feature, I never actually intend to make a move on her; I'm just enjoying the view.
In other words
Faced with such desires, they would sometimes engage in lewd behavior. Lilith was no exception, as was Katya. The only thing they went a little too far was trying to pull down Isabel's panties, but they never actually did it.
"ha……"
Upon hearing my words, Seglade's expression suddenly turned sour, as if she had heard something unbelievable. She stood up, bracing herself on the table with both hands, and looked down at me.
"Father, please tell me what this woman is all about!"
However, I didn't notice at all that Seglade's eyes had become very dangerous, and the atmosphere was no longer the hard-won and warm feeling of a family reunion, but rather mixed with a strong sense of tension.
"You mean Luna? What happened to her?"
"Does your mother know that you have such a beautiful woman by your side?"
"...What are you talking about? How could Felicia possibly know?"
When I mentioned my mother, Seglade's expression turned sour again. Regret, resentment, or some other emotion... I don't know, I didn't notice any of these details at all.
Bang……
Following his example, I slammed my hands on the table and stared at Seglade. Clearly, in this verbal argument, I was caught up in the illusion that I was about to win.
"So! Is this your excuse for betraying Mother so easily? And letting her dress so provocatively? Does that mean if I arrived at Port Luca a day later, I'd suddenly have a younger sister or brother?"
Like father, like son. We are both the kind of people who can't control our negative emotions, and when we encounter situations like this, we really just say whatever comes to mind.
Bang!
A sharp crack suddenly filled the noisy tavern. When I came to my senses, I realized that I had been punched hard and was lying on the ground.
"Damn it! They actually attacked!"
"Leon! Look at what you're saying!"
Seglade still looked down at me with that same condescending gaze, but this time it was filled with disgust, as if he were looking at some kind of scum. But he was the one who did something wrong, so why was I the one getting beaten up?
"I'm telling you, you bastard... Leon! Do you even have any sense of responsibility as the eldest son of the Cabinet family?!"
"So what if we don't have it!"
In the end, all she did was spout nice words, but she didn't actually do anything. The beautiful women around her were the same; frankly, they didn't care about her mother's affairs at all.
Now they're taking all the blame on me; they really are just an incompetent half-baked guy.
"Leon! Look at the state you've become!"
"You should take a look at yourself!"
I don't like this guy always spouting high-sounding, fancy words. All I see is a drunken, bastard father. Compared to myself, what is his颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of decadence, listlessness, and apathy) state?
Yes, after yelling that sentence, I threw a punch at Seglade.
"Hey! Leon!"
Although he looked drunk, he was quite agile and easily dodged my attacks. Since hand-to-hand combat wouldn't work, I'd have to use magic.
Thinking of this, he quickly gathered magic power in his right hand, and then a gust of wind appeared, striking Seglade fiercely.
"Wow..."
Indeed, due to his intoxication, Seglade was unable to synchronize his thoughts and actions, and was blasted away by wind magic, falling not far from the front desk, even breaking some wine bottles in the process.
"Hey! Leon... are you serious?"
You started it! Even a father shouldn't lay a hand on his son. And during this rare family reunion, everyone is berating me. What did I do wrong?
"Commander! Are you alright?!"
At this moment, the other woman who appeared in the warehouse earlier, a mage in a robe, will run towards Seglade.
"He's surrounded by women, yet he still has the nerve to criticize me for this or that."
"Get out of my way! Don't touch me!"
Of course, it might have been done on purpose for me. Seglade shoved the magician aside and then staggered over to me.
"Looking at him now, in this wretched state, where is his sense of responsibility as a father?"
"Segrede! How many people did you have affairs with while Mother was away?"
"Leon! Shut up!"
After saying that, Seglade charged straight at me with a punch. Normally, I probably wouldn't have been able to dodge this punch from my father, but now I was full of openings.
Using his already swaying body, I easily dodged the punch, and then tripped him with my leg.
"I've already tried my best... and I've put in the effort!"
I never imagined that the fighting techniques I learned from Lilith would be used on my father. But I did have his best for him. When I saw that he was unhappy, I deliberately told him the perfect side of the story so that he wouldn't worry about me.
But... what exactly is presented before me?
Blaming me all at once? And portraying myself as perfect? Putting all the blame on me?
In short, after tripping Seglade, I straddled him and used my fighting skills to press my knee against his arm, rendering him immobile.
He swung his fist down again, landing squarely on Seglade's face.
"..."
He, however, was gritting his teeth and looking at me with hatred in his eyes.
"Damn it! What does that look mean?"
Why do I have to face that look in his eyes? It's a rare family reunion!
I don't know exactly how much I was looking forward to this day, but I know very well that this shouldn't have happened!
"I had no choice! In a foreign country, in a foreign town, facing strangers, I had already tried so hard and gone through so much trouble to get to Dororo, and finally met my family, but why did I have to face such rebuke!"
"...If it were you, you would have done even better!"
"I can't do it! I can't do it!"
After that, I silently punched Seglade several more times. Unlike at the beginning, this time he didn't dodge or say anything.
"Clearly... I've been looking forward to this day so much!"
Even with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, Seglade kept staring at me with a very displeased look.
"Damn it! You're not the type to make that kind of face!"
What did Seglade look like in my memory? It certainly wasn't like this guy now!
"Enough! Leon, is that right? Stop it! He's your father!"
At this moment, the scantily clad female swordsman will suddenly rush over and shove me aside. Because my attention was completely focused on Seglade, I was knocked straight to the ground.
"..."
Fearing being chased, they immediately covered their faces and assumed a fighting stance.
"kindness……?"
However, Seglade did not seem to launch an attack. By the time I came to my senses, there were already quite a few people surrounding him, between the two of us.
"I didn't want to interfere in your family matters, but Leon! You've really gone too far! How could you beat your father like that!"
"Hmm... a beating?"
"That's not true! I..."
"Enough! The regimental commander has already done enough, as have his family and the other villagers who were relocated here. As his son, do you really understand him?"
"..."
I didn't know what was going on, but they were all looking at me with a blaming look, as if I were the one who had done something wrong.
But clearly...
My inner temperature plummeted, and in the next moment I felt as if I had returned to that previous world, standing on the Spirit Gathering Platform, after being declared to have no soul power. My parents, the royal family, and even those who could be considered my playmates all seemed to have similar looks in their eyes...
Ah... that's enough...
They're right. I'm the one who made the mistake. It's always been like this. I'm just a half-baked person who can't grasp anything. It was the same in my past life, and it's the same now. It's never changed.
"That's enough... Let's go back."
Back at the inn, then leaving "Dororo," I traveled to other places again. Anyway... I've seen my family.
Ah...no, I didn't see anything. Father is well. I just received this news. I didn't see anything...and I didn't do anything...
“Leon…do you know exactly how many people were relocated? The entire area of ‘Clins Town,’ everything and everyone vanished without a trace. Not even a single tree can be seen; only barren wasteland remains.”
I listened to Seglade's words slowly and blankly.
"..."
Huh? Oh!
What? What did he just say?
"I leave messages wherever I go, in Buryani, Melokas, La Noscia, and so on. I put them all on the Adventurers' Guild's bulletin board. If I remember correctly, you're a D-rank adventurer, right? Why didn't I see them?"
That's true, but you wouldn't find something like that on a bulletin board...
etc!
Did I really look at the notice board? Apart from accepting a subjugation quest in "La Noscia", I had never looked at the notice board. Moreover, that time it was because of the suggestion of "Human God", so I didn't pay attention to anything other than the suggestion.
“Leon…do you know how many people have died? Almost two-thirds…”
"Two-thirds of the deaths?"
Does that mean a lot of people died?
The "human god" clearly told me about that teleportation magic... wait, apart from my family being safe and sound, it seems that no one else was included.
I can't believe I'm only realizing this now... No, no, no... I knew from the beginning that "Klins Town" was at the center of the disaster, but after learning that my family was safe, I subconsciously thought it was just a simple teleportation spell.
Besides, he hadn't actually returned to "Clins Town" to find out what happened there, so why would he assume that everyone else was also safe and sound?
"That's why we formed this rescue team in order to find the villagers who were relocated."
Rescue team?
So that's how it is. It seems that the people surrounding him are all team members, which is why they call him Captain.
"But why do I see a kidnapping scene?"
"Because many people were sold as slaves after being transferred to unfamiliar places, we had no choice but to do so in order to avoid direct conflict with those nobles."
slave?
Thinking about it carefully, it is indeed the case. Being suddenly transferred to an unfamiliar place, without any acquaintances or money, makes one the perfect target for human traffickers.
“I originally thought that after seeing the message, you would immediately go to other countries to look for information about the relocated people, but now... you tell me with a relaxed look... there is not a single piece of news about them. You could have done better.”
Father is right. Perhaps it was because of my indifference that I indirectly missed a lot of important information, which led to the deaths of the villagers who were transferred to foreign lands. I could have gotten information about the other transferees by asking a few more questions while inquiring about my family, but I did not do that at all.
In other words, during my six months of adventurous life, I really did nothing; the word "leisurely" would be the most fitting description. Meanwhile, in Seglade, while I was leisurely searching for my family...
No wonder he made such an ugly face after hearing my story.
"..."
However, I cannot apologize now, because everything is beyond my control. Even so, I do not think my decision was wrong. Although I failed to save more of the relocated people, I did save the entire orc tribe as an apology.
"Leon, I really believed in you, but you have really disappointed me."
Disappointed?
That's only natural, after all, I'm just a half-baked expert. Whether it's finding my family or causing Lilith to lose an arm, even if I had to do it all over again, I might make a similar choice.
Because I'm just a disappointing brat, nothing more.
"..."
At this point, with the help of the rescue team members, Seglade sat back down on the stool, then picked up the bottle and took a big gulp, as if only in this way could he avoid thinking about some unpleasant images.
At this moment, the mage will step forward to treat Seglade's injuries. Although he stops in time, he still leaves a clear mark on Seglade's cheek.
Seglade didn't say anything either, instead taking sips of her drink, and I remained silent as well.
In short, there seemed to be a boundary between my father and me. On his side were himself and the rescue team, while on my side I was all alone. No one cared about me, and no one asked if I was injured or needed treatment.
Compared to the originally bustling tavern, I seemed out of place. Moreover, as a fellow member of the rescue team, everyone looked at me with a hint of reproach, without exception. Yet, unexpectedly, they were all united in this situation.
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