After Cazerose and Polena safely arrived, the conversation with ‘Father’ continued just a little longer.
The topic shifted to how I’ve been earning a bit of money for ‘personal reasons’ while working as a Paladin.
Finally, Father said he would formally share this joyful news with the rest of the family, and asked me to take a short break with my friends in the meantime.
After concluding the meeting, where Father was overflowing with joy while looking at me, the three of us were guided to the room I used during my childhood.
It was incredibly tidy, likely because it had been cleaned continuously since I left.
As soon as we arrived in a place where we could feel less pressure from our surroundings, the three of us finally started to discuss the rapidly changing situation we had been through.
“Haha… this is really something… No matter how you look at it, to try to pull this off so perfectly, you’ve taken it a bit too far, Master.”
“I really can’t believe it. When Mr. Santana was being taken away, I was so anxious…”
“…Sigh…”
The two of them expressed a mixture of relief and slight resentment, almost as if saying “I knew it.” I could only let out a deep sigh.
From their perspective, the current situation was like worrying endlessly while putting on a show, only to eventually reveal that this was, in fact, my childhood home.
Of course, I personally was completely unaware of it, but there’s no way I could bring that up at this point.
Unrelated to what I knew, the identity of ‘me’ in this world had become undeniable: the son of Count Turun, all the while acting as a Paladin, hiding this fact for some reason.
Considering that, I began to explain to them with a voice tinged with bitterness.
“I’m sorry. It seems I unintentionally deceived you… But I really had no intention of meeting my father again here. As I’ve said before, my purpose for coming here was solely to reach the Dragona Empire.”
“But why? You have family by blood, why go to the Dragona Empire…?”
Cazerose asked with a mix of suspicion and concern.
In response, I began to share the reasonable excuse I had thought out beforehand.
“Though I can’t quite remember why, it’s been 11 years since I’ve severed ties with my father and family. No matter how difficult circumstances may be, how could I shamelessly face my father and ask for his help now?”
“…That’s… true.”
Unlike I expected, Cazerose surprisingly agreed without much pushback.
Given her personality, I thought she would want to discuss familial bonds further, but for some reason, she seemed to readily accept my words.
Instead, it was Polena, sitting next to her, who voiced this topic.
“Come on, it’s not fair to ignore the parent-child relationship like that, Master. Even if it were 110 years without contact, a parent would always be waiting for their child, wouldn’t they?”
Her expression was light, yet she offered a slightly stinging piece of advice.
It was as if she spoke from experience as she continued.
“In situations like this, instead of worrying about pride or face-saving, it’s better to just go and greet them and ask for help. Didn’t you just see Count’s joyful face with tears in his eyes at seeing you? The heart of a parent is always unchanged.”
Polena seemed to be lecturing me like a wayward child.
To that, I wasn’t exactly a wayward child, but I nodded in agreement with her.
“…Yes. Looking back now… that seems right… I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me, but to your father… and the other family members. They must have gone through a lot of hardship worrying about you being gone all this time.”
“Yes, I’ll remember that.”
Then, for a moment, I felt as if she was more of a teacher than a maid, and I responded with an emotionally organized voice.
“…Sigh…”
At that moment, Cazerose next to me let out a heavy sigh for some reason.
I felt a bit of curiosity about her demeanor, but I quickly brushed it off and began contemplating the matters ahead.
“My most significant issue right now is preparing for the upcoming war… If I’m right, we need to win the first war to ensure there’s a future for this place, Bohemia…”
Though it wasn’t an easy task, as someone who had read the original work closely, there was a decent chance it was possible.
Of course, considering the subsequent events, there was still a long way to go, but at least I could buy some time with this.
“…But… it’s quite funny when you think about it. Just a little while ago, I was trying to quickly and definitively destroy Bohemia, yet now I’m worrying about how to protect it…”
Moreover, if I hadn’t been expelled and followed all my plans neatly, it may have led to an unintentional ‘succession’ against my father.
In that sense, I felt a strange emotion towards this twisted fate, and a wry smile began to creep onto my face just then.
*Knock, knock, knock*
“Yes, come in.”
A sudden knock interrupted my thoughts.
I allowed entry, and shortly after, figures that seemed to be servants appeared.
“The preparations are complete. Mr. Santana, please come this way.”
At that, I told the other two to wait and cautiously rose from my seat, following the servant into the inner chamber.
*
“Is… is this real? Is all of this… everything?”
“Yes, my lord. This is all the wealth that Mr. Santana has brought back.”
Before me were massive sacks piled high, filled to the brim with gold coins.
The amount surpassed a thousand talants, rendering Count Turun speechless.
While it wasn’t an enormous sum for Turun, the lord of this rich and commercially strategic Bohemia region, it was still undeniably staggering when viewed from a personal standpoint.
What truly shocked Count Turun wasn’t just the sheer amount of money, but rather the fact that it had been earned by his own son.
“Just becoming a Paladin is surprising, but to think he’s earned this much money entirely from scratch after 11 years? How on Earth… did this naïve child manage that?”
The enormous amount of wealth, typically beyond what an ordinary person would even glimpse in a lifetime, was earned by his son while fulfilling the duties of a Paladin.
Feeling a rush of overwhelming emotion regarding his son’s astonishing growth, Count Turun couldn’t help but start picturing his son’s majestic figure once more.
“Indeed… he has changed completely from his childhood. His demeanor is no longer the same timid child who used to quietly follow the flow around him.”
In the past, Santana was extremely shy, practically a gaseous existence without any sense of presence.
Honestly, when I heard he ran away to become a Paladin, I spent a long time unable to believe it, missing the golden opportunity due to my son’s personality.
However, when he finally reappeared before me after 11 years, I could see none of that timidity in his eyes.
The eyes filled with burning passion and strong determination were precisely what Count Turun had always wished for his son.
“Though these are difficult times… having a son like him return during such a crisis is undoubtedly a tremendous blessing. God has surely not abandoned us in Bohemia!”
With those thoughts, as he recalled that strong, trustworthy look, a deep smile filled with paternal pride began to spread across Count Turun’s face.
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