Novel Full Chapter 187 - Together (1)
"You are still acting like you aren't the younger of us… well, I lived with adventurers for quite a while and I learned a lot," Alexander said boastfully. "I am a lot experienced now."
"Oh yeah? Let's see how well of a player you will be when you propose to Lily…" Billy said.
"Ah… my stomach is starting to hurt again," Alexander said.
In the end, it didn't seem like he grew up all that much… As for the gifts, Billy decided to hold back on them for the time being until he saw where Alexander's actions regarding Lily would lead him. Nikola and Drew also told him that he would need to give some gifts, but he didn't buy anything despite that. They said that flowers were getting popular these days, but even so…
The trip back home lasted for seven days, and during that time, Billy tried to learn Combo. While he had seen the skill in action so many times, he still couldn't understand the logic behind it. At the very least, it didn't use the same patterns of other skills. Since it used mana, it shouldn't be impossible to learn it, but Billy was starting to think that some sort of swordmaster came up with that technique. In any case, Billy knew the basics… he just needed to use mana to change the direction of his attacks when he decided. The problem was how…
In any case, once they crossed the gates of their town, the whole group felt relieved. Out of the thirty hammersmiths, ten of those died, and three of them lost an arm, but even so, they felt relieved. The war was finally over. Even though it only lasted for a week, it had been hell…
"Go, Alex," Nikola said. "Before going home, you have something to do."
"... Maybe I should go tomorrow… after taking a bath, and choosing some new clothes," Alexander said while his eyes were spinning.
"Yeah, that is right," Billy said. "You should take it easy because girls love cowardice and lack of confidence in guys."
Alexander grunted in despair. He couldn't delay that any further. In the end, Alexander left to look for Lily. The others looked at Billy, wondering why he didn't go to help his friend along the way, but Billy had helped him too much already. Besides, his presence would only make things more awkward. But now that he thought about it, Alexander would have to endure quite a lot of the girls were with her…
"Well, not my problem," Billy said and then shrugged.
When Billy and Drew returned home, they found the whole family waiting for them. It seemed that Edward predicted the day they would return and gave them the day off. They celebrated for the rest of the day with a lot of food and drinks until the twins fell asleep, and the adults began to talk about what had happened.
"We heard the rumors of the war… but we didn't hear that it ended like that," Camilla said while showing a complicated expression.
"It feels like one enemy is gone, but one even more troublesome appeared," Anna said. "They even can control beasts… they should be particularly good at night raids."
Billy hadn't considered that, but it made sense. Monsters and animals had good instincts, so they could move at night without making much noise or leaving any traces behind. It was weird that he had never heard of that kind of tactic.
"Rather than that, Billy… How many times are you planning to make those girls mad?" Camilla asked.
"Would it have been better if we had bought them with us?" Billy asked.
"No, but… you shouldn't have hidden things from them," Camilla said.
Women are beings that don't use logic… it was only obvious that they would come if they had known about it. Still, it wouldn't help Billy in any way to insist on that. So, he just nodded silently. Life was really weird… one week ago, he was worried about the number of lives being lost around him, and now he had to worry about some kids getting angry at him for his justified actions.
The next day, Billy decided to check his Edish trees and confirmed that no one found them or his hideout. There were many fruits ready to be harvested as well. So, he took those home and shared them with his family. After that, he went to see Edward, but he didn't find his friends practicing in his backyard. Edward was in his office, though, and he looked as pale and as lifeless as someone could look while working.
"Hey… Billy… it has been a while," Edward said.
"Yeah, it has… we have been out for three weeks, but you look like someone who aged ten years," Billy said.
"Well… life becomes a lot sadder when your only daughter ignores you for so long," Edward said.
"Now it is a fine time to regret it since things worked relatively well in the war," Billy said.
"I am not complaining, I am just replying to your question," Edward said and then took a deep sigh. "Still, Congratulations and thank you for helping Jean, he already sent a raven expressing his thanks. He even asked me if you are willing to marry one of his nieces and take his seat."
"No thank you," Billy said. "It seems your will to put me on a leash passed down to someone else. Speaking of leash, where is Kate?"
"She left with the others to the forests… Alexander challenged Lily and her father for a bow challenge," Edward said while frowning. "Why would a spearman challenge an archer to a challenge with bows?"
Kate was really being cold to her father since she didn't even tell him that. Nevertheless, Billy was surprised that those idiots still did that silly thing.. In any case, Alexander probably was confident since he didn't ask Billy to give him some with his presence.