Chapter 134 - Fatherly Interrogation

"Can't this wait till later, Father? Seriously, my girlfriend has been through the absolute ringer on this trip, and we really were hoping for some relaxation before things got too much more insane." Eira protested.

Something about it struck me as oddly funny. I realized, vaguely, that my thinking felt weird and a little swimmy right now.

"No. It can't wait. For several reasons. You two found something, I can tell. And since I've already got you right where I want you, I have to take this opportunity to do my fatherly duty." He said firmly. "And the side effect of the anti-venom is that it is going to make it harder for her to lie for the next hour or two, so I might as well use the opportunity."

"You gave her truth drugs?! What the absolute hells are you thinking?!" Eira stood up angrily, before sitting back down as I began to tip over.

"No. I saved her life. The truth drug element is a happy bonus for my purposes." Gerno said plainly. "Secondly, it's not a truth drug. It just makes certain inhibitions lower. Nothing untoward. It should wear off pretty quickly."

"That is besides the point! You are taking advantage of her!" Eira shouted, and I winced. It felt really loud.

"I'm using an opportunity, Eira. I need the truth from her. And I know these dungeon explorers. They hide secrets to keep their edge against rivals so they can get more treasure." He tutted.

"Ok, yes, a few of them do that, but this is my girlfriend, Papa! Not just some dungeon explorer I decided to shag on a whim!" Eira was mad. Very mad.

"It's kind of hot that you're mad on my behalf, you know. I kind of like it." I giggled and blushed immediately, realizing I said that out loud.

"Sweetie, you don't have to tell him anything. We can do this later. You don't have to put up with this." Eira wrapped her arms around me protectively.

"No, no, no, he's got a point. I tend to be a bit...fuck what's the word? Guarded? Yeah, good enough. Might as well get this shit out of the way, right? I'm going to get interrogated one way or the other." I mumbled. I really did just want to get all this done.

"See, Eira. It's fine." Gerno said, his expression lightening.

"Fine. But you and I are going to have a long talk. With mother present." She glowered at him.

If that intimidated him at all, I couldn't tell. He really reminded me of someone I knew in my childhood.

"You're not very pirate-y, you know that? You remind me of this guy my family knew when I was a kid. Real killjoy that guy. Don't remember anything else though." I said, feeling really relaxed. I semi-consciously knew what was going on, and while I didn't much care for being interrogated in such a state, I suppose I got it.

They really truly loved Eira. As parents should. They didn't see her as a political tool, or some proxy for their own abandoned hopes and dreams or anything like that. They loved her as parents should love a daughter. I wished my own parents had been so protective. I was jealous, really and truly.

I managed to hold back a wave of emotions, just barely. This was no time to start blubbering in front of Eira's father. One of her fathers. Yeah, that whole thing was going to take more time to get used to.

Eira began retelling the story of our journey into the depths, and the Temple dungeon, and the strange tunnel we found outside the map. She went on about the fact that the tunnel dug straight into a massive cavern, and they were building something, and there was a giant kraken, but it was all wrong somehow. I didn't really need to add anything. But something occurred to me as she was describing the Kraken.

"False dungeon core," I said, interrupting. Eira looked at me, concerned.

"Are you sure?" She said.

"Just like the dryad queen. It's not as unstable. It's that weird third eye thingy. Could feel the wrongness of it." I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

"Hmm. She's bouncing back faster than expected. Interesting." He took out a small notebook and wrote something down. "What does 'feel the wrongness mean' exactly?"

"Oh yeah, so I accidentally got bonded to a wee baby dungeon core during a class one day, completely accidentally. Wait, I said accidental twice, didn't I? Anyway, yeah, so it ate all my mana, but I found it a nice little cozy nest in a mountain full of dogs, and now dungeon mana doesn't make me sick except when those false cores are around. It feels like it makes my soul greasy, you know? No, I don't think you would know. You have nice eyes for a guy, you know that?" Oh, for the love of all the gods above, below, and sideways, shut up, me! I guess I wasn't fighting the effects as well as I thought I was.

"That is a lot to take in, but I'll take your word for it. Can you confirm that, Eira?" He said, writing some things down in a little notebook he had pulled from somewhere. I hadn't been paying attention.

"Yeah, that seems like the gist of it. Winter break got weird." Eira sighed, resting my head on her shoulder and petting my head. Ah yeah, that's the stuff right there.

"So we have Sahagin, both Abyssal and Tidal subtypes, heretics from the surf cults, a kraken that has been modified with some kind of bizarre arcane fabrication, and they're building something in a cavern that is deep under the island, that might kill us all? That sums it up?" He said, as he wrote more things down in his little book.

"Oh yeah, they're making, like, really big boom balls. Bombs! That's the word!" The part of my mind that was still aware sighed at the part that was controlling my mouth.

"Wait, bombs?" Eira said, looking me in the eye.

"Yeah, they looked just like Cori's little grenade bomb things, but big! And they're just the right size for the little tunnels they were carving out." I nodded, feeling my head clearing even more. "Ugh, oh thank the gods, the room isn't swimming anymore."

"Well, that's concerning. Eira, I need you to take this notebook to your mother, and she'll get things going on our end." He said, handing her the little book.

"Ok, I'll get Alta to bed or something." She said, standing, and started helping me up.

What is the proper source? The author publishes this chapter on NovelPhoenix, while this copy was made without permission.

"No, Eira. I insist on having a conversation with her. I will not relent on this." Gerno said, glaring at his daughter.

"She is in no state to be interrogated by you, father! Why do you have to be like this! Just-" She started to say, but I held up my hand. "I know she said she was fine, but still-"

"No. I want to have this discussion too, Eira. I think I understand his reasons, and I will honor them." I said, the last bit of slurring leaving my voice. My mind felt properly clear finally, and my mana had started to calm down.

"Fascinating. Less than 30 minutes to shrug off the side effects." He mumbled to himself, scratching his chin, pulling out yet another notebook and writing something down. How many notebooks did this man have?

Eira looked at us both, her trepidation clear, but I just gave her a nod, and a little thumbs up, and what was doubtless a goofy smile.

She sighed. "If you make her cry, father, I will personally come and kick your arse till you can't sit without a prescription."

"Yes, yes. Now go!" He pointed out the door. Eira huffed, glared, and left.

The hut was quiet for a moment, and Gerno stood and started putting things away. It was a tense silence that still felt terribly familiar. I watched him work, and it started to dawn on me. I did know him. From Burgotova.

He turned and smiled at my expression.

"I haven't seen you for a long time, Miss Marchesi. I assume Elio and Lucio are well. Cassandra too, no doubt." He said, matter-of-factly.

Despite the last dregs of confusion, my mind absorbed his words, and then several things clicked into place in a brilliant flash of insight. I smiled smugly to myself.

"Ah. I thought you were familiar. You were the family physician when I was growing up. Cornelius Giovanni." I sat up straighter, out of long-forgotten instinct more than anything. "Family said you died handling the plague outbreak. Which is why I couldn't leave the family grounds for much of my childhood. Another falsehood to add to their list of sins, I suppose."

"The plague outbreak was handled quickly. Your parents, damn them thrice over, didn't like that I was giving the cure away for free. They insisted that since I was a servant of your household, my work was their property, and that they should be able to profit from it. I faked my own death to escape their little servile contracts that bound me." He said through clenched teeth. I had lost track of how many years it had been, but I could tell that rage was still fresh.

I wondered if I was going to be like that towards Cassandra. Decades later and still hating her as if it was a new hurt. Probably. I didn't forgive easily.

That sounded like them. It wasn't that unusual to claim your servants' achievements as your own in Burgotova. The noble class was a parasite as far as I was concerned. Especially in Burgotova.

So his attitude was more than justified.

"And your daughter comes traipsing home with a scion of said family in tow, and you want to make sure it wasn't a trick, yes?" I took a guess, hoping for the best.

"Somewhat, yes. You always were different from your parents and your sister. You and your brothers were much better patients, but even then I didn't know if I could trust you. After all, it's been years since I last saw you; you might have finally been swayed by them. How true is it that you were exiled?" He looked me in the eye, watching me intently.

"Completely. Exiled, disowned, disinherited. Cassandra wants me to come back, but I'd rather eat glass, drink poison, and bathe in ptarm piss before I go back to the Marchesi lands." I shrugged. It was true. It might not entirely be fair, as Cassandra really wanted to reconcile, but I wasn't ready to begin that process.

"Yet you hold the name." He raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Couldn't think of anything else, and people tend to think less of you if they find you've hidden your name. Or at least that's what I thought. I think, if I'm honest with myself, I'm not a very good liar, and I'd slip up with an alias constantly." I shifted nervously. That was hard to admit to myself, much less him.

"I can see you're not lying. I've gotten very good at telling when my patients are hiding something. Useful in my line of work. I'll get to the crux of the matter then. What are your intentions with my daughter? She may wish to leave the family business, for which I do not begrudge her, but I want her to have happiness. If I for a second think you will not provide it, then I will not approve this relationship of yours." He continued his hard stare, never blinking. He rarely blinked. It was one of the things I remembered most about him from my youth.

I met his gaze and held it for a long moment. I thought about it. Could I promise to provide her happiness? I wanted to. I really truly did. The idea of not spending forever with her wasn't an appealing one at all.

I made a decision right then and there, in my mind and heart. I had been considering it for a while, but now I was absolutely sure.

"I love her, Cornelius. I love her with all my heart. I want to protect her, just as she protects me. I want to grow old with her, start a little business in the hinterlands, live a relatively easy life, maybe raise goats or something as a side hustle to our dungeoneering business. I want to spend all of my days at her side until I turn to dust along with her." I said, with all the conviction in my heart.

"Is that all?" He said, a little twitch in his eye at my use of his real name.

"I also find your daughter highly attractive, and I wish to give her the sex on a daily basis for the rest of our natural lives." I declared, without breaking eye contact.

"Well, that was far too much information, but I suppose I asked for it. Thank you for that trauma, Miss Marchesi." He sighed and laughed, rubbing his forehead.

I leaned back, fighting the urge to break into a satisfied smug grin at being the one to win the stare-down.

"I mean every word of it," I added, as a final note to the conversation. "All of it. All the words."

"I sense no falsehood from you, even with that last part, as much as it pains me to say it. Artemisia approves, so I suppose my thoughts don't matter for much comparatively. She dotes on Eira, probably because of all of her children; she's the only one she is sure is hers." He shrugged.

"That kind of surprises me, but I'll confess your whole family situation amongst the Medwins confuses all of the hells out of me. Please, don't try to explain it; I likely still wouldn't understand." I pleaded with him as I saw him spinning up into lecture mode.

"Fair enough. In any case, I recommend rest, plenty of fluids, and rest. Get some soup from the dining hall, and don't touch any alcohol for the next day or so. And sleep. Get lots of sleep. Actual sleep." He pointed an accusing finger at me. I subtly winced as I felt incredibly called out.

"I got it, I got it." I stood and started to leave before a thought occurred to me. "So do you approve of me or not?"

"Sure, why not? You've shown me that you're a Marchesi in name only, and that's the best endorsement I can think to give you. Also, never call me Cornelius again. Dr. Giovanni is dead and buried, a hero of the plague days. I'm Gerno Medwin now, and it's who I'm happy to be."

"Noted. Good day, Dr. Medwin. And thank you for the painful saving of my life." I bowed slightly to him.

"Don't mention it. I certainly won't until I need you for something. I'm more than happy to guilt trip my daughter's paramour if need be." He cracked a proper smile at me. "Now get out of here. Eira is doubtless sitting outside eavesdropping, likely as mortified as I am."

He waved me out of the hut, and I stepped out into the warm sand and sunshine, the sounds of battle long over, as boats and their crews came back ashore, along with the harpies that had swooped in to our rescue.

As much as I wanted to thank them for bailing us out, I was also starving and exhausted, and I wanted to hold Eira some more. Reliving the past, even briefly, made me feel a little clingy.

"So did you have a good talk?"

And speak of the goddess, and gifts she will provide. I saw Eira standing to the side of the doorway, trying her best to keep from looking flustered. It was adorable.

"Hello, my beloved one! It was... productive." I said diplomatically. "I would love food and a nap, though."

"Oh? No 'giving me the sex,' I believe was the term you used?" She smirked at me with a gentle blush as she pulled me into an embrace. I looked up at her from my favorite spot, and grinned.

"Not now, but check again tonight, and I might just oblige." I winked at her.

"You are incorrigible, and I love it. C'mon, today has been stupid, and it's not even properly lunchtime." She released me from her tight grasp after a squeeze.

We held each other's hands as we walked down the beach towards the dining hall; the smell of battle, slain squid beast, and other food-like smells was making me crave lunch something fierce. I was starving!