After a long silence, seeing that Allen wasn't reacting, Paul carefully chose his words.
"Allen, listen... this letter arrived last year. I know this might be hard for you to accept, but actually, your father is—"
"I know James isn't my biological father."
Paul froze, looking at Allen. The boy's expression was indifferent.
"That's great then! I'll write to Philip immediately and tell him I've found you. You can return to Roa—"
"That won't work."
Paul looked at Allen in surprise. Allen returned a calm smile.
"Uncle, please sit down. Listen to me."
Allen pressed Paul back into his chair, then turned to grab the chair by the door for himself. Paul blinked, looking at him blankly.
"First, the information about my disappearance is correct. However, my 'biological father' left out the prequel."
Allen walked to the door and rested his hand on the back of the chair. The wood grain felt rough against his palm.
"When I passed through the Red Wyrm's Upper Jaw, I was assassinated."
Thump. Paul stood up abruptly.
Allen picked up the chair and turned to face Paul.
"The 'assassination' was arranged by me. I realized long ago that I wasn't James's biological son—counting back from my siblings' birthdays made the pregnancy timeline impossible. Someone like me shouldn't exist in the Boreas main house in the Capital. There was another brother in my situation, but he 'died of illness' at age five... So, late last year, I secretly commissioned a bandit group to stage a scene, intending to fake my death and escape to the Fittoa Region."
Paul let out a long breath and sat back down. Misled by Allen, he instinctively assumed this choice was made to reunite with his biological father.
Allen walked toward Paul, narrowing his eyes.
"But the 'assassination' had an accident. The actual assassins didn't match the number I agreed upon with the bandits. The plan was five Intermediate Swordsmen—a brief skirmish, everyone leaves unharmed, ending with me falling off a cliff and disappearing. But what actually appeared in front of me were eight highly skilled swordsmen. If I'm not mistaken, they included two Advanced Water God Style swordsmen and a magician..."
"...They intended to kill."
Thump. Paul stood up again.
Allen walked right up to Paul, looked him in the eye, and smiled indifferently.
"So, they died."
Paul exhaled heavily and sat down for the third time.
Allen sat down too, facing him.
"After that, I dived into the forest from the Red Wyrm's Upper Jaw. I forged tracks heading north, then spent over four months circling around to reach Buena Village. I had heard of Uncle Paul's 'heroic deeds' in the Capital and figured you wouldn't have a good attitude toward the noble establishment either. Plus, Buena Village is remote, perfect for hiding. So I came to seek refuge with you... However, I only learned about the 'disappearance' news today. It seems James believes I've successfully escaped Asura, hence releasing that news."
Paul blinked.
"Heroic deeds? Oh? I didn't know there were legends about me in the Capital..."
Allen spoke rapidly, spitting out a dozen words in a second.
"Graduated from noble school at ten with virginity intact, messed around with various women, got sued by a cuckolded husband, fought with father..."
"Stop!"
Paul jumped up and covered Allen's mouth. Allen smiled and pulled Paul's hand down.
"I deduced that the bandits sold me out to James. And since James has always been wary of Philip, he assumed I was sneaking back to help Philip. So he turned the fake play into a real assassination to eliminate a future threat."
Paul's awkward expression instantly turned serious. He realized Allen never referred to either James or Philip as "Father." Paul opened and closed his mouth, thinking of his own departure after fighting with his father, and sighed deeply.
The father on paper wants to assassinate him. The biological father has never met him... No wonder he feels no familial connection to either...
"Then... couldn't you sneak back to Roa? If you keep your name hidden and only reveal yourself to Philip..."
"No."
"First, Sauros has deep control over the Fittoa Region. He would definitely notice, and he wouldn't approve of my actions. There's a high probability he would follow Boreas tradition and send me back to James. My situation in the Capital would become even more dangerous."
"Second, James surely has spies in Roa to monitor Philip."
Allen lowered his head and spoke sincerely to Paul.
"So I implore you, Uncle Paul, please take me in. In return, I promise to protect Rudeus's future. Uncle can't stay with him forever, but since we are close in age, we can become good friends in the future."
Paul looked at the letter on the desk. After a moment, he nodded.
Allen added.
"Once the heat dies down in two years, my body and appearance will change as I grow. I'll shave my eyebrows to look friendlier, change to a gloomy hairstyle with bangs... even people who knew me might not dare to recognize me."
Unlike the information age of my past life, this world's slow information flow has its benefits. Very few magical items can preserve images... Someone like Ruijerd can enter a city just by dyeing his hair... And two years is plenty of time to learn from Paul. I can at least grind my sword skills to Advanced in all three styles.
"Of course, James and the family in the Capital who watched me grow up might recognize me. But as long as I avoid meeting them, I should be fine."
Paul looked at Allen and sighed internally. His intuition told him Philip would definitely recognize his son, but he didn't voice it.
"True. And by then, your strength will have improved. Apart from a few Sword Kings or Emperors, no one will pose a threat to your life. Since your official status is 'missing', even if they recognize you, they can only send assassins. They can't openly tear up the facade... That is the way of Asura nobles."
Allen nodded.
"Yes."
Just then, footsteps approached the door. Paul and Allen fell silent simultaneously. Knock, knock, knock.
Lilia opened the door and peeked in. She scrutinized Allen from head to toe before speaking.
"Master, dinner is ready. Please come eat."
Sure enough, Zenith's cooking skills were proportional to her SIZE.
Magnificent.
Allen looked at the steaming soup and rice on the table, along with a dish resembling pizza. In the center was a pot of stewed meat, so tender it was falling apart, emitting a rich aroma.
Rudeus sat directly opposite Allen, sizing him up through the rising steam.
Allen smiled instinctively.
Rudeus immediately shut his eyes and turned his head away.
Allen's mouth twitched.
Paul tapped the table with his finger and cleared his throat.
"Alright. Through our earlier discussion, I have confirmed that Allen possesses the ability to instruct Rudeus. So there is no need for a trial period. From now on, he is Rudeus's sword teacher. Everyone, please treat him as family. Do not look down on his role in the house just because of my own sword rank."
Lilia, standing by to serve, was the first to applaud. Although she thought hiring another sword teacher was unnecessary, as the daughter of a dojo master, she had no objections after seeing Allen's Water God Style performance. With his ability, he could easily serve as a royal guard—a high-ranking one at that.
Zenith clasped her hands in front of her face, smiling like a gentle spring breeze.
"Since the head of the house has decided, I naturally welcome Allen. I'm sure Lilia won't look down on this teacher because of his age either."
While speaking, her hands were busy serving rice and placing it in front of Allen.
Then Paul wrapped an arm around Allen's shoulder, grinning as he introduced Allen to the three of them, piling on the praise.
Zenith nodded at him frequently, wearing a kind smile.
Completely different from the cold daily life with my so-called relatives in the Capital...
Allen, who hadn't experienced much family warmth in either life, felt unaccustomed to their gazes. He lowered his head instinctively, the smell of food wafting into his face.
Steam, mixed with wisps of smoke, rose against his face.
[Current Phase: Infancy. Cumulative Participation Score: 40 Points. You have preliminarily integrated into the Paul family, but Rudeus himself holds a different view of you.]
[Pending Immediate Mission: Obtain Rudeus's Goodwill.]
[Rudeus: Countdown: 77:38:47]