Eating breakfast alone was great, but the implication of it was not. It could be nothing, but considering what happened in the last few days, he would be a fool to not realize that something had happened to Aria.
Was she dead or was she preoccupied with something?
Garron knew adventurers had come to the village, but he didn’t know how strong they were. Almost all of his subordinates were dead, and he didn’t want to risk the one that was left.
Making them scout the situation right now would be foolish; they would probably die without achieving anything. I should just make them all living bombs in case I need to escape.
The only thing stopping Garron from running away right then and there was the knowledge that Victor was his greatest masterpiece by far. Also, if Garron ran away, he didn’t know if he would live long. Victor knew too much about him, so tracking him wouldn't be difficult.
Is dying right now really that bad? If I run away, I have to kill Victor, and that would be such a huge waste.
To say Victor was a genius was an understatement. Garron didn’t know if he could create another child as perfect as Victor even if he tried millions of times.
There was only one problem. Even if Victor managed to kill the Demon King, it would all be useless if he, Garron, was not in the history books. There were only two options he could think of: reveal to the world that he was Victor’s father himself, or make Victor do it.
The first option would likely get him killed. Killing his old ‘friends’ had made him a wanted man. The only reason no one was after him was that people thought he was dead.
It would be acceptable to die if the world knew he was Victor’s father, but he wouldn’t achieve that by just telling someone. The adventurers' guild thought he was a demon, so information about him would likely be suppressed.
Those idiots. My goals are noble. There is no way I would turn into a demon.
If he spread the information as much as possible, then it would be impossible to suppress it, but that came with its set of problems. Every species had banded together to control the spread of information as much as possible.
There was a [Hero] who once invented something called a phone that everybody could use, and it almost wiped out every single person in the world. Information could be dangerous; that was why Garron didn’t know if he could spread the information that he was Victor’s father before getting killed. He didn’t even know all the contingencies in place in case dangerous information was to spread.
So the only way to make everyone know that he was Victor’s father was through Victor himself. It was his original plan, but current circumstances made him doubt that his plan would work.
Victor had killed his subordinate, and quite possibly Aria. Garron didn’t know why Victor was doing all of this, but it could not be good.
How did this happen? Does the ring have a side effect that I didn’t know of? It’s… possible.
Garron had made it so that Victor loved him as much as possible with the Ring of Emotion; that was why Garron was never worried about how to tell everybody he was Victor’s father. Even if Victor got out of the curse some time in the future, it would already be too late.
Besides, Garron was confident that Victor loved him even without the ring effect. He had given Victor everything. There was no way Victor wouldn’t love him. But if the ring side effect made Victor hate him, then there was nothing he could do. Garron wasn’t confident at all that the ring could fix the side effect, because that wasn’t how it worked. You couldn’t fix the side effect of a Skill using the same Skill.
The Ring of Emotion never showed any side effects before, but Garron did use it on Victor much more than anyone else. The ring was crucial to make Victor walk the right path, after all.
If it wasn’t for that halfling boy, all of this wouldn’t have happened.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the ring was used to separate Victor and that brat much more than anything else combined. So if there was anyone to blame, then it would be that halfling boy.
If Garron decided to run away, he would kill everybody in this backwater village to cover his tracks, but he would make that brat suffer before killing him.
Should I just run away?
If Aria was killed, then there was a good chance that Victor could do the same to him. It could be because the adventurers were helping Victor, but it could also be because Victor got a new Skill. None of the possibilities were good.
Before Garron could decide, one of his subordinates came in and told him something that he was not at all expecting. Victor was knocking at the gate, seemingly relaxed.
Garron got all of that by transferring the memories his subordinate had to him. After all, none of them could talk, nor could they even be called alive. They weren’t undead; they just couldn’t control their bodies anymore. They were still conscious, though.
It was one of Garron’s experiments. If he could completely control someone, then he could mass produce soldiers that didn’t feel fear, never complain, or laze around—basically golems that could level.
Should I meet him or should I just run away?
It could be a trap, but Garron couldn’t think of any way that Victor could kill him if Garron decided to run away. The Ring of Emotion wasn’t the only Cursed Artifact he had.
This could all be a misunderstanding. It wouldn’t hurt to meet him and find out exactly what was going on.
Before he went and met Victor, he checked the camera on the gate first. Garron didn’t see anything suspicious, and Victor wore the same bland expression as always. The only thing that stood out was how handsome Victor had become.
A new Skill? Or was it because he became a [Spirit Contractor]? Hmm, probably both, no way Victor could level up that fast, no matter how much of a genius he was.
Garron could open the gate remotely and let Victor come to the mansion himself, but he decided to greet Victor at the gate. If there was something suspicious, he could activate the wall defense to better protect himself.
When he arrived at the gate, Garron checked Victor’s surroundings one more time. After around a minute of not finding anything, Garron finally opened the gate.
“Father! It’s good to see you! I have good news that I want to share with you!”
Victor was smiling. He was literally smiling.
Garron had never seen it before, so it caught him off guard. He didn’t know what to say or how to react because, for the first time in his life, he felt parental love towards his own son.
“Is there something wrong, father?”
“I am fine. It’s just surprising how much you've changed since the last time I saw you.”
“Ah, that. I became a [Spirit Contractor], father. Sorry, I didn’t consult with you beforehand. I had a plan that would be ruined if Aria had found out.”
The smile on Victor’s face became even more beautiful, and Victor looked so earnest that it was hard to be mad at him.
If Victor had taken a Class without permission, the past him would have boiled Victor alive in hot oil, but right now, Garron wanted to congratulate him.
There was no way what he was feeling was the result of a Skill. He had protection against mental attacks from the ring, and he was sure Victor wouldn't have any Skill that could bypass it. Garron knew everything there was to know about his own son, especially his strength.
“What plan?”
“I know how much you hated Aria, so I made a plan to kill her. I succeeded, but I had to kill a lot of your subordinates to do it. I’m sorry.”
That was unexpected, but it probably shouldn’t have been. Garron did make sure that Victor loved him, and he didn’t exactly hide his distaste towards Aria.
Wait, I did say out loud a few times how I hoped that Aria was dead when Victor was around. Is that why he does this?
“You did all this for me?”
“Yeah, you’re my father, after all. You took care of me ever since I was a kid. I wanted to repay you for all the things you’ve done for me. I know killing Aria wouldn’t even the scales, but from now on, I will try my best to make you happy.”
Victor looked embarrassed, but he was still smiling. He looked… earnest.
Tears were threatening to come out of Garron’s eyes, but he didn’t let them. He wouldn’t show such a pathetic side to anyone.
That was when Garron realized something about himself. He wanted to feel loved and appreciated. All his life, no one ever did that to him, so when someone finally acknowledged his effort, it made him really happy.
I guess the reason why I’m doing all this is not for saving the world, but for someone to finally appreciate me.
“Come on in, son. Have you eaten yet?”
“I wanted to eat with you so I haven’t had breakfast.”
Garron never finished his meal because Victor showed up, so he ordered the servants to throw away all the food on the table and prepare a fresh meal. It was improper to start eating way ahead of everyone else when you’re eating together.
When they arrived at the dining room, they waited for the food to arrive in silence. Garron rarely did small talk, and he quite disliked it, but right now, he really wanted to talk with his son.
“Are you injured anywhere? I know it wouldn’t be easy to kill Aria.”
“Hm? No, I’m fine. It was hard, but I used the health potion that Aria had on her. She was still stronger than me, but I caught her off guard with my plan. You know how dumb she is.”
“Explain.”
“Since the last time I saw you, I gained a couple of new Skills, and it countered Aria pretty badly. One of them made it much easier to spot her. Of course, without your teaching, I wouldn’t be able to do it. Besides, my life was never on the line; I know Aria wouldn’t kill me, so don’t worry about it, father.”
Garron really wanted Victor to tell him the full story and what Skill Victor got without leaving a single detail. But he also forgot to worry about his own son's life.
If he pressed for detail right now, he would come off as uncaring for Victor's safety.
“I’m glad you’re okay, son. Next time, don’t do something so dangerous and just ask me for help.”
“Okay, dad.”
Victor was smiling again, and for some reason, it made Garron really happy, much more than when Victor leveled up.
When the food arrived, they didn't talk anymore. It was barbaric to talk while eating. Thankfully, Victor also knew that and didn’t strike up a conversation.
After finishing breakfast, without communicating a single word, both of them did a jog around the mansion a couple of times. Then, they did a bit of yoga before meditating.
It was their usual routine ever since Victor was a kid. However, when they were about to do the next part of the routine—doing sword drills—Victor didn’t pick up a sword.
“Dad, when I was fighting Aria, she had a Skill that destroyed my sword. I was forced to fight her barehanded from then on, so I was wondering if I could train with my fists in case something like that happened again.”
Garron was gritting his teeth, but he didn’t show his anger outwardly. He wore a calm expression that he was sure would fool anyone.
That bitch, she probably knew that I made a Geas to never attack anything except by using the sword.
“Hmm, I can’t teach you how to fight barehanded.”
“It’s fine. I can teach myself. I have [Gradual Perfection], after all.”
Garron nodded and started practicing his sword drill while letting Victor do his own thing. He didn’t have any issues with Victor following his own path. It would be foolish of him to force Victor to be exactly like him; Garron knew how weak he was compared to a Demon King. Why would he want Victor to be like him? He wanted Victor to become much better than him.
Thinking about it, I don’t think Victor knew anything about Geas. I mean, I did prevent him from learning about it.
Anyone good at what they were doing had to have at least one Geas. The reason why Garron didn’t let Victor learn anything about it was because it was never a good idea to make a Geas when you were young, especially since Victor had never been in a real fight before. Garron even went as far as to make sure none of the peasants told Victor anything relating to Geas.
No, he isn’t as inexperienced anymore. He managed to kill Aria, but I don’t think he’s ready yet.
Of course, Victor probably knew a thing or two that was related to Geas, but Garron was sure Victor didn’t know the full picture.
“Hey, dad. I was wondering if you could spar with me. I think fighting is a much better practice than punching and kicking a target dummy.”
Garron stopped swinging his sword and looked at Victor. They rarely sparred because Garron didn’t want Aria to know what he could do, but since she was dead…
“Okay.”
“Thanks, dad.”
The smile that appeared on his son’s face made him glad that he accepted the offer. It was a new feeling for him, but he didn’t dislike it one bit.
When they arrived at the dueling arena, they took positions opposite each other. They didn’t immediately fight, nor were they waiting for some kind of signal to start. It was just foolish to attack without thinking.
Should I get serious? Victor managed to kill Aria; I don’t think I could afford to hold back.
“[Severance Field].”
It was his level 50 Skill that created a ball-shaped zone around him that couldn’t be seen by anyone other than him. Whatever enters the zone will be cut almost instantly.
The zone was twice as big as the length of his sword, but that didn’t matter; he could still cut anything that entered the zone. His stamina and attack power also increased considerably when using the Skill; it was his best Skill by far. The only restriction the Skill had was that if he moved his legs, the Skill would break and be unusable for a day. But if he deactivated it himself, he could activate it over and over again as long as he had enough soul energy.
After around a minute of staring at each other, Victor ran towards him. But before Victor entered the range of the Skill, he stopped, and then pulled out the stone tile of the arena to throw at him.
Garron managed to cut the stone tile in half so it harmlessly flew past him. He also cut off three of Victor’s fingers when Victor tried to attack him from his ‘blind spot.’
“I win.”
Garron deactivated the Skill and threw Victor a healing potion. Victor immediately drank it, and his fingers grew back as good as new.
“One more time.”
“Okay.”
This time, Victor broke the stone tile with his fist, sending hundreds of stone fragments enhanced with his aura toward Garron before charging in himself.
Garron managed to cut every individual stone fragment, even the one that wouldn’t have hit him. Victor also lost four fingers for his trouble.
“I win.”
Victor drank the healing potion from before, and took on a fighting stance.
“Again.”
“Okay.”
Pointing his hand towards him, Victor cast a spell.
“Flashbang, Flashbang, Flashbang, Flashbang, Flashbang.”
Garron cut the sound and light. There was nothing that he couldn’t cut with the Skill.
“Damn it.”
“Giving up?”
“No. I’m going to get serious now.”
Suddenly, Victor did something that was quite strange. He threw a punch with his right, then his left; he then made a circle with his entire right arm before making a plus sign with both of his arms.
“[Milk Clothes].”
Victor was moving his limbs around one by one, and clothes appeared on the part of his body that he moved until, finally, he was covered from head to toe in a weird orange outfit.
His head was covered by a weird-looking helmet that had a black star-shaped glass in the center of it. On his shoulders, arms, chest, and the lower parts of his legs, there was something metallic that covered the outfit. It was not armor, and if it was, it was the most useless-looking armor that he had ever seen. It was so inefficient that he suspected that the only reason it was there was to make the outfit look cool.
Something about it bothered him though, and Garron felt like he had seen it somewhere before.
[Fast Thought].
After around a minute of thinking, Garron finally remembered where he had seen the outfit. It was all because of the strange move Victor had made before the outfit appeared.
A group of [Hero] once wore a similar outfit. It happened a long time ago, and the reason Garron knew about it was because that generation of [Hero] was one of the fastest groups of [Hero] to kill the Demon King and all the Demon Lords. From what he remembered, they called themselves—
“Orange ranger power. Hiyah!”
Victor then backflipped for some reason, and did a pose.
There was no doubt about it: Victor had become a Power Ranger, or was it Sentai? [Historian] and also [Hero] never seemed to agree on what their name was.