I was with Sophia’s Dad at boot camp, I was sitting next to him listening to his frustrations vent like a shitty dad.
“When I first met Sophia her body was destroyed and covered in scars, she was barely able to walk on her own and had lost one of her eyes.” (I)
“…” (Ramon)
“In the last few weeks I’ve noticed that the Elves have great warriors and spies, so why didn’t anyone go after her?” (I)
“I thought there’s no way a nation can take care of every soldier or warrior it loses, but seeing their strength that is above Grade SSS, I just get even more confused.” (I) 𝒷𝓭ℴ𝓋𝓵.𝒸ℴ𝓶
“Someone with your strength must have a lot of influence in this village, maybe you’re even one of the leading members of the council that governs this place, so why didn’t anyone go after Sophia?” (I)
“Sophia was on a mission leading a group to rescue Elves who would be sold into slavery, I gave her this mission myself.” (Roman)
“Sophia has always been an excellent team leader and a great warrior, but in a battle, anything can happen, the strongest is not always the one who wins.” (Roman)
“Her group was ambushed while fleeing with the rescued Elves, from what I heard she protected one of the subordinates and a space element magic hit her, they said there was no way to survive that.” (Roman)
“And you didn’t even try to look for your own daughter’s body?” (I)
“I was consumed by anger, when I found out what happened, I for the first time in my life lost control.” (Roman)
“I was going to kill them all, I was going to destroy everything that stood in my way, not many people on this continent are strong enough to fight me, so destroying a city or a Kingdom would only be a matter of time.” (Roman)
“If you had done something like that, they would have turned her over to you just to stop this carnage, but it looks like you couldn’t bring yourself to do that.” (I)
“As you can imagine, for obvious reasons I was banned, I was locked up for five months.” (Roman)
But from what I understand they looked for my daughter when someone with her description was seen in a slave trader when we found out a group was sent to get her, but it was already too much trade.” (Roman)
“She no longer needed to be saved, she was freed from slavery, she was healed of her injuries and had become an adventurer, that was the information I received, so I sent everyone back.” (Roman)
“Someone like her wouldn’t forget what happened, she wouldn’t trust the village that left him alone in enemy hands for months.” (Roman)
Sigh
“You are an idiot, you are right to say that you are a failure as a father.” (I)
“You chose to give up your daughter instead of facing her head-on, you were a coward.” (I)
“…” (Roman)
“How can you leave your daughter with a suspicious person like me, to be honest, she’d be safer with you if you’d been brave enough to talk to her.” (I)
“The moment you found out she was okay and chose not to go talk to her, that’s when you abandoned her.” (I)
“I know…” (Roman)
Even though he keeps a serious face he closes his eyes and tears flow from his eyes silently, his face looks like a statue that never changes, I’ve never seen someone so serious in my life before.
“As you said, I was a coward, I was afraid to face my own daughter and say that I failed as a father.” (Roman)
“I was ashamed to look at her and know that I couldn’t save her for months.” (Roman)
“I was never a real father to her, all I know how to do is fight, so it was the only thing I could give her, so I trained her as rigorously as possible.” (Roman)
“I soon discovered her talent in Aura manipulation, so I increased the difficulty level of the training, even more, I wanted her to be as strong as possible so that she could be protected in any situation.” (Roman)
“But all her life, I never told her how I felt, I never told her how much I love her, I never told her why I was so hard on her in training and I never told her how important she was to me. ” (Roman)
“…” (I)
Sigh
“I don’t know how you raised her but Sophia is one of the most reliable people I know, she is also very responsible always teaching others.” (I)
“I don’t know why you opened your heart to me and not your daughter, she would have liked to hear such things from you.” (I)
“Sometimes it’s easier to open up to someone we don’t know, plus I wanted you to know how important they are to me so my next words will be easier for you to understand.” (Roman)
“…” (I)
“My daughter is in her care and I appreciate that, but if anything happens to her because of you, then I’ll get you from hell if I have to to make you pay.” (Roman)
“(Her Aura’s intensity seems to be very similar in strength to Aredhel’s, so I think this confirms that he’s at a very similar strength level to mine.)” (I)
After saying what he wanted he wiped his tears and left, I wanted to stay there for a while resting while I waited for Eleanor to come to get me, but I think I’ll go back to take a shower and change into better clothes.
———-
After I was ready and waiting I hear a knock on the door, Freya goes and looks for Eleanor to come in, I was already dressed in a non-combat outfit, I was wearing a white shirt, a jacket, black long pants and a shoe made of a monster’s leather.
“I thought you’d be here early.” (I)
“I’ll take you to High Priestess Aredhel if you can accompany me…” (Eleanor)
“Sure, let’s get this over with soon, right Guardian?” (I)
“Yes, I’ve been waiting months for this.” (Guardian)
I talk to the Guardian who is still attached to my arm, she has been using my Aura to hide, she doesn’t like to attract attention.
I start to follow Eleanor with Nix inside my shadow, Layla and Orion on each of my shoulders as we make our way behind the village towards the World Tree.