radicalducati Page 159
Page 159
Although Shirou didn't establish a channel to find his family on the Demon Continent like Paul did, it was indeed too difficult to do so given the extreme danger of that land.
Paul won't force him too much.
"Thanks a lot."
After listening to Shirou's story, Paul took a deep breath. He couldn't even imagine whether he could do better than Shirou if he were to fall into the clutches of the Demon Continent.
He increasingly realized that his son was even more outstanding than he had imagined.
Therefore, Paul spoke in an almost pleading tone: "Shirou, if it's you, you'll definitely be able to find Senis and the others. Please join my investigation team!"
"what?"
"With a swordsman like you joining us, our investigation team can go even further and search for more dangerous places, whether it's the Demon Continent or the Becarit Continent. Hmm, maybe we really can find Senis and the others!"
"This……"
Shiron hesitated upon hearing Paul's self-serving words.
He didn't know how to respond to the other person's expectations.
After all, joining the investigation team meant he couldn't take Alice home.
He will be unable to fulfill his promise to Alice.
Chapter 219 Father and Son's Breakup (Part Two)
Shirou fell silent, surprised that Paul would want him to join the investigation team.
If he were to abandon everything now and go with Paul to find his family, it would mean breaking his promise to Alice and being unable to send her back to her hometown.
Although Ridge Rudd was certain he could protect Alice and fulfill his duty in his place, the feeling of having to give up halfway made him extremely dissatisfied.
Of course, Shirou knew that this wasn't what he cared about most.
When faced with a choice but unable to make an immediate decision, he already clearly recognized a fact.
That is, in Shirou's heart, Alice already holds the same, or even higher, status as the Grellard family.
He felt that he was wavering at this moment because he valued Alice more, and he preferred to continue protecting Alice rather than join the investigation team.
"..."
While Shirou was caught in a dilemma, never expecting to find himself in this choice-or-choice situation once again, Paul was completely unaware of Shirou's thoughts.
He was engrossed in his fantasies about the future.
Yes, Paul was very excited about Shiron's arrival.
Paul, who has always been unreliable, has had very few successful things in his life.
Therefore, he basically lacks self-confidence and doesn't believe he can do anything.
In the matter of finding his family, he had a full understanding of his own abilities before he even began the search. He knew his limits, what he could and could not do.
When he couldn't find his family on the continents of Milis and Central, he didn't have the courage to go to the continents of Demon and Bekalite to look for them.
Although his reason was to keep his daughter Norren out of danger, he knew that he was essentially afraid of such dangerous places himself.
Paul was acutely aware of his own cowardice.
That's why he had unimaginable expectations for Shirou.
Since Shirou was a child, Paul had noticed that his adopted son was different from others. Over a long period of time, he confirmed that the other was not an ordinary person, and this idea reached its peak during the battle of the Red Dragon.
He even felt that there was nothing Shirou couldn't do.
That's why, when his family members all disappeared, Paul instinctively went to the Boreas family to look for Shirou. On the surface, he was looking for his family, but in reality, he was just instinctively relying on Shirou's strength.
However, he did not find it.
What to say.
Upon learning that Shirou had also disappeared due to the Great Transfer, Paul experienced an even more severe despair than before, a feeling of utter annihilation of hope.
Shirou's existence carries this level of weight for the Grellard family.
Therefore, when Shirow reappeared and became significantly stronger than before, Paul naturally and instinctively began to rely on his son.
He felt that as long as he relied on Shirou's strength, he could establish a search team in the Demon Continent, and even in the Becarito Continent, to search for clues about his family in dangerous places.
Shirou is someone who possesses the power to earn his trust.
"Shirou, hurry up and come with me to find Senis and the others, as well as Lillia and Aisha, and Rudy... I haven't been able to find any trace of them for so many years because I'm just too useless, but if you help me, we can do things that we could never have done before!"
Paul spoke with an expectant look in his eyes, staring intently at Shirou.
Shirou did not respond.
His attitude could even be described as silence.
Choosing between his family and Alice was too difficult for him...
Therefore, in order to escape reality, Shirou changed the subject and said, "Paul, I actually have some clues about Senis and the others' current situation."
"Eh?"
Paul was stunned when Shirou said something like that.
Shirou then quickly described to Paul the many scenes he had seen using the clairvoyance bestowed upon him by the Demon Emperor.
"A clairvoyant eye? The highest level of demonic eye? You actually possess something like that?"
Paul listened to Shiron's words with skepticism.
He certainly wouldn't believe it if anyone else said such a thing, but if it was Shirou, he wasn't surprised at all.
"This is really great!"
Paul immediately became excited. "According to your description, Lilith and Aisha must have ended up in some remote border country. Indeed, I've been mostly traveling between the Holy Kingdom of Milis and the Kingdom of Asra, and haven't really checked on the smaller countries. That was my oversight. And according to you, Rudeus is at the Magic University right now, so why hasn't he replied to me?"
"The most important thing is Senis. If what you saw, Shirou, is real, she's probably been transported to a dungeon and triggered its traps. Although she doesn't seem dangerous in the short term, we don't know how long the dungeon's energy can last. What if the dungeon's energy completely disappears..."
Paul didn't continue speaking; his face had turned ashen, and he desperately didn't want that tragic event to happen.
Therefore, he became even more anxious than before and couldn't wait to pick up a weapon.
"Shirou, let's set off right away! With just the two of us, we can handle most of the opponents and go find Senis and the others!!"
"Wait, Paul..."
Completely surprised by the other party's urgency, Shirou immediately showed a hesitant attitude.
Seeing his expression, even the slow-witted Paul noticed something was wrong with Shirou's expression and realized that the other person might have different ideas from him.
After a brief silence.
Paul adopted a serious expression and slowly began, "Hey, Shirou, can I ask you something?"
"go ahead."
"Don't you want to come with me to find Senis and the others? Don't you want to find our families?"
"..."
Paul's probing question left Shiron completely speechless; he could only remain silent, standing there without responding.
no doubt.
He did waver on this matter.
However, Shirou didn't forget to defend himself: "I don't think we need to rush this. Now that we've confirmed the possible location, we can just take it slow..."
"Take it slow? You mean you're just going to watch Senis be in danger, possibly dying at any moment?! Lilia and her daughter Aisha being bullied? And we're just going to sit idly by!!!"
Paul erupted in utter fury.
This reaction reminded Shirou of a long time ago, when he told his father, Kiritsugu Emiya, that he wanted Miyu to live a normal life, and Kiritsugu Emiya had also roared at him in the same way.
When faced with a difficult choice and you've made a clearly wrong one, there will always be someone who angrily berates you like this.
Shirou is already used to it.
But there was nothing he could do.
He's always like this; he always gets the priorities wrong at crucial moments.
The Justice Partners are just half-baked.
Protecting his family was only half-baked.
It's just a half-baked life.
A half-baked counterfeit...
Shirow was unable to respond to Paul for a moment.
On the other side, Paul's anger surged even higher when he saw his appearance. He shouted, "You bastard, you haven't fallen for that lovely young lady who's traveling with you, so you've abandoned your family for a woman, have you? Come to think of it, it's true. You and that lovely young lady have been living the life of adventurers with a carefree attitude, and you even have a powerful bodyguard with you. After all these years, not to mention me, I'm afraid you've completely forgotten about Senis!"
You're wrong, Paul!
"Where did I go wrong?!"
Paul, as if in a hurry, reached for the wine bottle on the table next to him.
He drank half the bottle in one go.
Then he spat, revealing a contemptuous attitude.
Shirou couldn't refute this, but he didn't think he was as bad as Paul described; the other party was clearly drunk and confused.
Paul quickly resumed his criticism of Shilling.
"That girl named Alice is Philip's daughter, right? I've never met her, but she must be a lovely little girl. How wonderful, spending all your time flirting with girls your own age, without ever thinking about the suffering your family is going through. I shouldn't have gone with Senis to save you, you heartless wretch!"
"Paul, shut up!!"
Shirou finally lost his temper and became furious.
He wouldn't be affected by what the other person said, but he absolutely cannot tolerate the other person denying his concern for his family.
He certainly has many shortcomings, and now he's even putting Alice's safety above his family's.
But he never gave up searching for his family along the way, and he continued to make efforts.
"You think you can shut me up, you brat? You think you're all grown up now? Just because you're a sword saint doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!"
Paul was furious and even tried to draw his sword from his waist.
"Commander, is that enough about it?"
The female knight standing nearby couldn't stand it anymore and tried to stop Paul from losing control.
Shirou, however, took a deep breath, stopped the female knight's movements, and slowly stood up from his seat, drawing his katana from his waist.
"There's nothing more to say now, Paul. You should remember how we resolved our arguments in the past, right?"
"Hmph, you think you can still beat me, kid? You've been working hard all these years, and you're not the only one!"
Paul was completely intoxicated by the alcohol, and without hesitation he drew the longsword from his waist, the same demonic sword that exuded an astonishing pressure.
Shiro didn't say anything more, and simply followed Paul outside the tavern.
They didn't get so angry that they started fighting inside the tavern.
That would cause countless problems.
The members of the investigation team looked at each other in disbelief, never expecting things to turn out this way. What should have been a joyous reunion between father and son had turned into such a chaotic scene, which was truly regrettable.
Chapter 220 Shirou VS Paul! A father-son showdown after many years!
Shirow and Paul are reunited after several years.
However, the first thing the two did upon meeting was to draw their swords against each other, which was undoubtedly something that surprised everyone.
Shirou didn't seem to care too much about this; in fact, he had already secretly prepared for it.
After all, he knew all too well how vulnerable Paul was.
But he's not much better than Paul.
Both of them were the type to firmly believe in what they thought and were unwilling to easily change their convictions, so it was only natural that they would eventually clash with each other.
Of course, Shirou didn't really want to defeat Paul.
Everything he did was to prove to the other party that he had never forgotten what he had stood for all these years, and that he had never betrayed anyone.
This is absolutely not something that can be changed by anyone's will.