Paul's affair with Lilia, in his own mind, was purely an accident. Because his son's performance was too outstanding, he, as a father, felt less and less important, and even gradually lost his say in the family. In his confusion, he fell into a state of self-degradation.
Of course, these were just excuses. Paul himself knew very well that he was just making excuses.
Essentially, the reason he had an affair with Lilia was because he was not completely mature inside, and he had not made up his mind to take on the responsibility of a whole family.
Even after being married with children for so many years, his heart was still in the state of when he was an adventurer. He just lived his life in a muddle-headed way every day, without thinking about the responsibilities he should bear, or the consequences he should be responsible for.
For him, starting a family and building a career was just talk. In practice, he was always a bit slow to act.
He never thought about what he could do or couldn't do as a husband and a father. He didn't think that a small mistake he made inadvertently could lead to the disintegration of his entire family.
It wasn't until Lilia's pregnancy was revealed, Zenith completely broke down, and even wanted to go back to her parents' home, that Paul finally realized how stupid he had been.
After starting a family and building a career, he was no longer the carefree adventurer he used to be. Everything he did, every decision he made, would deeply affect everyone in the family. Although his body was still free, his responsibilities had taken away his freedom, at least he couldn't be unconditionally free.
Paul once placed freedom in the highest position. He left the royal capital for freedom, chose to become an adventurer for freedom, and came together with Zenith for freedom...
Because everything went too smoothly, and he hardly encountered any setbacks, Paul couldn't help but have the illusion that he was still free, that he was the young man who could do anything he wanted.
But Zenith's slap still suddenly woke him up, making him realize that he was no longer as free as he used to be. For him, the reality of starting a family and building a career meant that he had to restrict himself for the sake of this family, and he couldn't do anything without rules like he used to.
Otherwise, the destruction of the family would inevitably happen in an instant...
From the affair with Lilia, Paul finally understood his responsibility, and finally realized that he couldn't escape and had to grow up.
So, after the battle with Shirou ended, when he was asked to accept punishment, he took the initiative to propose to leave the Greyrat family and spend a whole year hunting monsters in the forest.
This was both Paul's punishment for himself and his determination.
He couldn't be as self-willed as he used to be. Whether it was for Zenith or for everyone in the Greyrat family, he couldn't do such stupid things again, making his family feel sad, painful, or even causing the entire family to fall apart.
Since he had made up his mind to escape that cold family, he must not make any mistakes again. Otherwise, what difference would he be from his father in the royal capital?
At that moment, Paul finally understood completely.
Freedom is limited.
If you want to protect important people, if you want to gain happiness, you must give up part of your freedom in exchange for harmony with more people.
The so-called protection is not just about force, but also requires a heart willing to give for others, even at the cost of sacrificing a part of oneself.
After realizing all this, Paul truly calmed down. He stayed in the forest of Buena Village for a whole year, living a hard life, spending every day with beasts and monsters.
This long-lost life reminded him of his former adventurer career.
But at the same time, he suddenly realized the difference between himself and the former self.
In the past, he lacked direction and had no goals. He chose to become an adventurer purely to while away his meaningless life, engaging in endless battles. All he got from the daily battles was emptiness and a false life of numbing himself with alcohol.
But now he was completely different. His battle was no longer for himself, his sword was no longer a hollow one without purpose or soul.
Compared to the past, he was now fighting to protect important people, fighting to carry out his determination to protect his family.
As soon as he thought of this, his sword was immediately filled with power, and his will was no longer affected by the emptiness and loneliness of not being accompanied by anyone every day.
From this moment on, Paul truly became a husband and a father.
He felt that when everything was over, he would be able to do better than before when he returned to the Greyrat family, and he would be able to become a role model for Shirou and Rudeus, as well as Norn and Aisha.
He thought so and looked forward to it, even gradually counting down the days until the promised return, looking forward to reuniting with his family when he returned to the Greyrat family.
However, fate played a big joke on him at this time.
One day, when Paul woke up in the wooden house in the forest, he suddenly felt that the aura of the monsters in the forest had become unusually chaotic. The originally calm magic power turbulence suddenly became extremely twisted and abnormal.
As a veteran adventurer, Paul quickly judged that something extraordinary must have appeared in the forest of Buena Village.
And the magic power released by such a terrifying monster would greatly cause the magic power of the forest to settle, and even cause the forest to produce more monsters than in the past.
For a time, Paul didn't have time to react at all. He immediately found Sylphy's father, Laws, and agreed with him that if he didn't get a response within three days, he should go to the Greyrat family to find Shirou and Rudeus and ask them to organize the village to establish a defense line.
At the same time, he himself ventured into the forest of Buena alone with tension and unease.
Such a terrifying magic power turbulence, the main individual that caused all this must be some unimaginable existence. If that thing continued to wreak havoc in the forest and even cause a monster surge, then Buena Village, located around the forest, would definitely not be able to survive in that situation.
As the lord of Buena Village, whether it was for the people of the territory or for his family in the village, Paul would not allow this to happen, and would try his best to eliminate the source of all this.
So after breaking into the forest, Paul began to search for the existence of the enemy based on his experience as an adventurer.
He eliminated the monsters born from the magic power settling, while looking for the area where the magic power settling was the most serious, and found the source of the magic power reaction by searching for this type of area.
After searching for about a day and a night, Paul finally found the culprit.
What made him unbelievable, and even impossible to believe, was that what appeared in front of him was not a monster, or rather not an ordinary monster, but a huge, pale red behemoth with huge wings and claws gripping the ground, a creature known as a dragon.
Why would there be a dragon in the forest of Buena Village?
Paul's brain suddenly went into shutdown.
In his confusion, he instinctively looked at the Red Dragon Mountains not far away, guessing that the red dragon in front of him might have strayed from the Red Dragon Mountains to this place.
Although the name of the Red Dragon Mountains contains the word "dragon," the probability of spotting a red dragon is actually quite low, let alone a lone red dragon, which is even more unbelievable.
But no matter how reluctant and doubtful he was, the existence of that behemoth-like figure made Paul recognize the reality.
Of course, Paul would never recklessly fight a red dragon. This kind of difficult task is usually carried out jointly by many S-class adventurer teams.
If Paul was still the captain of Black Wolf's Fang, he would probably have gone to the adventurers' guild to call for people at this time.
But now he has retired from the identity of adventurer. Given the condition of the red dragon in front of him, he doesn't even have time to seek support from a higher-level territory.
If he can't stop it here, prevent it from further causing chaos in the forest and causing a monster surge, Buena Village will definitely not be able to withstand the impact of so many monsters.
Not to mention that the red dragon itself has the possibility of attacking the village...
All kinds of thoughts were superimposed together, and Paul's mind made an unbelievable but real decision, he was going to kill this red dragon.
Of course, as an adventurer, no matter how stubborn Paul was, it was impossible for him to fight the red dragon head-on.
He decided to set up traps and launch sneak attacks in the dark, trying his best to use the advantages of the forest to fight the red dragon.
Of course, the best case would be that this red dragon would not have any ideas about Buena Village, and would honestly eat some monsters in the forest and leave.
However, the situation eventually developed in the worst direction.
While Paul spent a whole day preparing, making as many arrangements as possible with his own strength to prevent the red dragon from advancing towards Buena Village, the red dragon, which had completely distorted the forest, began to instinctively move towards the direction where living things were gathered.
Paul also discovered in this process that this red dragon seemed to be injured. After leaving the dragon group's settlement, it had also experienced a lot of battles, but it still moved firmly towards a certain goal.
Paul no longer hesitated. Although there was an unsuppressible fear in his heart, as an adventurer, he knew that hesitation would lead to defeat --
"Bang!"
The sword tore through the wind and snow, and Paul, with almost insane courage, attacked a hunting red dragon.
The result was naturally bitter.
Even with Paul's strength, it was impossible to fight a monster at the top of the food chain.
But Paul didn't have any regrets or sadness, because he had expected his defeat. But after attracting the red dragon's attention, he tried his best to attract the other party's attention and lured it away from Buena Village.
In this way, as long as Shirou and Rudeus noticed the movement in the forest, they would be able to make arrangements in advance. With the time he gained, whether it was transferring the village or seeking help from other territories, it would be something that could be done.
His sacrifice was not meaningless.
However...
"I really don't want to die."
The closer he got to danger, the more Paul's mind instinctively recalled the figures of those important people, Zenith, Lilia, Rudeus, Shirou, and his newborn daughters Norn and Aisha.
If he died, he would never be able to see them again, and he would never be able to talk heart-to-heart, laugh and play with his family in a warm room.
He would also be unable to watch his children grow up smoothly and become more outstanding people than him.
However, he didn't regret it.
In the past, when he was at a disadvantage in battle and encountered a life-and-death crisis, he would instinctively feel fear to some extent. However, it was incredible that he had no feelings in this regard, and his heart was as still as water without any waves.
The only thing lingering in his heart was regret...
He hadn't seen his family for an entire year in the last year of his life, and had greeted death alone without anyone to accompany him.
If possible, he really hoped that someone could witness his last tragic battle, so that he wouldn't have to die so uncomfortably.
Of course, it was actually right not to be seen. He had already dragged this red dragon to such a far place. Even if the other party turned back to attack the village, it would be enough for Shirou and the others to move the villagers away.
Paul's heart was filled with satisfaction for this.
It was also because of this that he would never have thought that when he was in a desperate situation, and the giant beast's claws were about to tear his skin and crush his body, a familiar voice would suddenly sound from not far away --
"Paul!"
Shirou's voice clearly resounded through the scene.
The red-haired boy seemed to be using all his strength, his steps were so fast that even the wind was left behind, and he came to the tragic battlefield at an extremely exaggerated speed.
At this moment, he didn't have the slightest hesitation, drew the long sword behind him, and swung a slash towards the huge figure --
"Snap!"
A crisp sound rang out.
That was the sound of the sword blade being directly broken. The sword Shirou used was just an ordinary long sword forged by a blacksmith. It was impossible to hurt the red dragon in the slightest, and it would be broken by itself.
But his actions more or less affected the attention of the huge monster in front of him. The dragon's eyes slowly left Paul and focused on Shirou.
Suddenly, an indescribable terrifying pressure, comparable to that snowy night when he lost the Servant Emiya card, and the oppressive feeling when he faced Angelica alone reappeared.
And the former Shirou, facing that enemy that could not be fought with the naked eye, did not have the slightest fear and fought firmly to the end.
Now, he naturally wouldn't have any fear.
Even if he sacrificed everything, he would not give in here in the slightest!
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