"Snap!"
In the dim forest, Shirou's long sword was like a ray of moonlight, drawing an arc in the air.
When the sword was back in its sheath, a monster changed by magic had already fallen in front of him.
After hunting all afternoon and evening, he led Laws and others to kill dozens of monsters that appeared in the forest.
The number was far more than the monsters that used to be in the Buena village forest.
This made Shirou feel a little uneasy. He felt that the emergence of so many monsters was obviously not normal, and it was impossible to ignore the source of these changes.
"There shouldn't be any monsters ahead."
Shirou used his Eagle Eye to confirm the environment of the forest. After discovering that there was no magic accumulation, he slowly ended the hunt.
"Thank you for your hard work, Shirou."
Laws and several villagers from Buena village came forward, showing approval.
Shirou was not only highly skilled in swordsmanship, with the strength of an upper-level Sword God Style, but also calm in character and meticulous in his observation skills, never letting go of any clues.
So when Shirou led the team, they were hardly attacked by any monsters, and could predict the monsters' actions in advance and respond accordingly.
Although they wouldn't say it, they already approved of Shirou more than the careless Paul, even though he was just a child, they regarded him as a more reliable knight.
On the other side, Shirou looked at the monster corpses on the ground and couldn't help asking, "Are there so many monsters in the forest? Isn't this gathering a bit too much?"
"This..."
Laws was also confused by Shirou's words. "In theory, the Asura Kingdom shouldn't have so many monsters. The amount of magic here is far less than that of the Demon Continent. Even in areas with serious magic accumulation, at most only a few monsters would be produced."
"So the current situation is not normal, is it?"
"That's right."
Laws nodded.
Shirou frowned slightly because of this, feeling that this matter was too strange.
He felt that he had to discuss it with Paul, and if necessary, even seek support from upper-class nobles.
After all, Buena village is just a small place, and Paul is the only knight guarding this area.
If there were a serious monster attack, it would be impossible to respond in any way.
Even though Shirou and Rudeus have good fighting power, they are just kids, and their physical strength can't support such high-intensity battles.
...
After finishing the hunt, Shirou returned to the Greyrat house the next day.
As soon as he got home, he immediately found Paul and brought up the fact that the number of monsters in the forest had increased, and that unusual changes seemed to be happening.
He thought Paul would care about this, at least he would immediately think about solving the problem.
Who would have thought that Paul didn't listen to him at all, and said impatiently, "Isn't it just a few more monsters in the forest? Since you have easily eliminated them, what problem could there be?"
"..."
Shirou was speechless at Paul's reply.
With his ability to react, he had naturally noticed that Paul's tone revealed his dissatisfaction with him.
And Paul probably felt that because his son was too capable, he, as a father, had lost his proper position, and was unhappy about it.
This is human nature.
Parents always hope that they can always lead their children, be a role model for their children to move forward, instead of being quickly surpassed by their children, or even being lectured by them.
Paul is now in a state of almost giving up because Shirou's growth is too fast, and his self-esteem has been hit.
Although he knows this, Shirou can't think of a good way to solve the problem.
Because Paul's idea is too natural, unless Shirou suddenly becomes useless and can no longer perform upper-level swordsmanship, otherwise he is unlikely to cheer up...
If it was normal, it would be fine if the other party just gave up like this.
But Shirou is now very worried about the situation in the Buena forest. If the monsters further spread and cause unknown effects, no one knows what kind of disaster this village will face.
"Sigh..."
Shirou took a deep breath. He made up his mind that even if his words would cause Paul's dissatisfaction and make him angry, he had to let him know the seriousness of the problem.
"Paul, you..."
Before Shirou could finish speaking, the blonde woman Zenith walked down from the second floor. She was in a good mood, even very excited, and said, "Honey, I had morning sickness today, I might be pregnant!"
"Re, really?"
Zenith's sudden news surprised everyone in the Greyrat family, followed by a constant stream of joy.
After all, Zenith's pregnancy means that the Greyrat family will have a new child, and the number of family members will further increase.
"Re, really pregnant?"
In contrast, Paul, as a husband, was strangely hesitant. He seemed to be afraid of something, and his expression was a little erratic.
"Of course."
Zenith didn't notice Paul's strange unease, and said with a smile, "We haven't had a second child since Rudy was born, and now our wish has finally come true."
"Yes, that's right."
"Rudy, Shirou, you might have a younger brother or sister!"
Zenith looked at the two children with a smile.
Rudeus was very excited about this, and Shirou was naturally very happy that the number of family members could increase.
The family didn't have time to do anything else, and immediately started celebrating.
For this reason, Shirou's original plan to discuss the monsters with Paul was also forced to be put on hold.
Even if he went to talk to Paul about it after the banquet, he was rejected by the other party on the grounds that Zenith was pregnant, I want to take good care of her, and I don't have time to deal with this kind of thing.
Shirou was very helpless about this, but he really couldn't force the other party to take action at this time.
After all, pregnancy is not a small matter. Not only do you have to consider the name of the child after birth, but you also have to prepare the room in advance, as well as various things for taking care of the baby...
There's just an endless amount of things to do.
Gradually, Shirou himself forgot about the strange phenomenon of monsters in the forest, because since a large number of monsters appeared that time, Laws hadn't received any monster sighting reports for a long time, as if everything had settled down.
Shirou and Laws felt that it might just be a strange phenomenon in winter, and everything would be over when the weather recovered.
The Greyrat family returned to their peaceful daily life.
Shirou patrolled every morning, practiced swordsmanship in the afternoon, taught Sylphy how to cook in the evening, and looked forward to the birth of his younger brother or sister, and the reply from Sword King Ghislaine, life returned to normal.
However, just as problems always brew under the surface and erupt in a sudden process.
A month later, the problem erupted.
...
One day, at the Greyrat family's dining table.
"I'm very sorry, I'm pregnant."
A month after Zenith announced her pregnancy, the maid Lilia's pregnancy was exposed.
She seemed to have originally wanted to hide it, but as her belly grew bigger and her physical reactions became more severe, she realized that she had to stand up and admit it.
Suddenly, the whole family, who were eating happily, froze.
Paul's face suddenly changed, confusion, worry, suspicion, disbelief... etc. expressions appeared on his face, and finally his face turned pale.
"You... pregnant?"
The smile disappeared from Zenith's face. She felt something at the moment she heard the news, but she still didn't ask the second half of the sentence.
Who is the father?
The atmosphere was not right for asking this question.
After all, there were only a few people in the Greyrat family, and Lilia was a physically disabled person with injured legs. She was different from Paul, who often went out to solve village problems, and Celes, who regularly helped out at the village clinic. Except for going out on business, she hardly left the house.
She was unlikely to contact other outsiders except for the people in the Greyrat family.
And if someone in the family had done this kind of thing, the only possibility was someone who had been forced to live a life of abstinence after Celes's pregnancy, but had always been unable to suppress his lust...
In fact, Paul's face was already as green as it could be.
Zenith didn't say a word, but she was essentially waiting for Paul, the culprit, to stand up and admit his mistake.
As for what kind of judgment she would make as a result, it can only be said that just imagining it is enough to make this family completely fall apart.
Shirou didn't intend to show up for all of this.
He certainly cares about his family, but he is not someone who can't tell right from wrong. Paul's affair with the maid was obviously a disaster he caused himself. If he ran to help him clear things up at this time, then Zenith would be too pitiful.
On the contrary, if Zenith thinks that Paul's mistake is so great that it is enough to break up this family, then Shirou can only silently accept this result.
Those who make mistakes must bear the consequences, that's Shirou's justice.
"..."
In a silent environment, the Greyrat house was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone's breathing had their own different rhythms.
Among them, Zenith's breathing became more and more rapid with the passage of time, symbolizing that her patience was gradually lost and she began to lose control of herself.
"What..."
Rudeus tried to speak, he seemed to want to say something nice for Paul.
"Rudy, shut up!"
However, Zenith silenced him with one sentence, realizing that the mother's status was still the highest in this family.
In the silence, Paul silently raised his head, but his face did not show any awareness, but instead, he hesitated and laughed, "Wh, whose child is this? Come to think of it, maybe it's Shirou's child, hahaha..."
Paul's words made the atmosphere of the entire Greyrat family drop to freezing point.
Because Zenith's face was so ugly that she almost wanted to kill someone.
Just as Zenith was angry, looked ugly, and was about to be angered by Paul's irresponsible attitude to return to her parents' home, Shirou stepped out first.
"Paul."
His voice was extremely calm, even as calm as usual.
"Shirou?"
Paul looked over blankly, never expecting his eldest son to call him.
However, as soon as his eyes looked over, Shirou's fist had already hit him in the face, and like Paul hitting him before, Shirou directly punched Paul away!
"Bang!"
The tall man fell to the ground like an overturned iron ball.
Paul was confused at this moment, even unable to believe what had happened, and sluggishly stroked his cheek that had been punched by Shirou.
And Shirou said in a low, even cold voice: "You still don't admit your mistake at this time, you idiot old man, if you still don't understand what to do now, then let me teach you what to do now! If you have even a sliver of backbone, come out and have a real duel with me, and if you win, then I will take it as if I didn't say anything, but if you lose, I will directly take Zenith away from this house, because a guy like you is not worthy of being her husband!"
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