BXBX NOVEL Chapter 83: Opaque reality [ 3 ]
His tales were impressive, and even Dragun couldn\'t help but gasp while listening to his son\'s achievements—it was just too much for someone who wasn\'t even nineteen yet.
\'When I was his age, my only goal was leaving the village as soon as I could to explore the world outside, but here he is conquering kingdoms and gathering followers. If his mother were alive, she would be very proud,\' he thought with a smile.
\'But this peace—how long will it last? How long will he be able to keep the village unaware of the horrors and magnificent discoveries? Should I tell him now?\' he asked himself as he fell into deep thought, recalling several dark scenes that he shook his head to forget.
\'I will wait for a perfect time to tell him,\' he concluded inwardly, folding his hands and leaning on the fence to hear his son\'s emotional speech.
Rowan, still unaware of his father\'s arrival, continued speaking as usual. After sharing the story of his war, he brought the women onto the stage, and the crowd was ecstatic.
Bruce\'s wife ran out of the crowd to embrace Liara, her little sister, while weeping.
The families of the other ladies, except Elara, came to welcome them. Elara stood in a corner and observed the scene with a faint smile as she had no family to welcome her—but she didn\'t harbor a single bit of jealousy against her friends.
As she gazed upon the jubilating crowds, two elderly women and a few middle-aged women went to hug her.
"Elara, my heart goes out to you! Your father and grandfather died protecting us from those evil night creatures, but they never gave up on you. They knew you would return one day," one of the elderly ladies consoled her amidst the hug.
Hearing their stories, Elara burst into tears and hugged them tightly. She had been holding it all back since the beginning, but now she couldn\'t anymore.
The women did their best to console her, even inviting her to their home to eat after tonight\'s event.
After the ladies were introduced, the captains came up as well, and the crowd erupted as usual—happy that none of the captains had died. The news about Oliver\'s betrayal had already spread like wildfire across the territory, so no one actually considered his absence.
Rowan gave everyone a chance to receive proper welcomes from the people, including the soldiers.
After all this was done, he began announcing his plans.
"After my victory over Glenwood, I was able to obtain a lot of interesting resources that will aid our village—we will commence the reconstruction of the houses tomorrow, open the rivers that those bastards locked from us, grow more crops, make more clothes, and construct wonderful machinery. Our village will experience a lot of supernatural growth!" he announced.
"Yeah! Long live Lord Rowan of Winterseed!"
"Long live the blessed and the conqueror!"
They chanted.
Rowan gazed upon the crowds, and his eyes landed on Riela standing in the midst, looking up at him with affection.
"Also today, I will fulfill my promise to my wonderful friend and fiancé." Rowan smiled.
His voice caused the crowd to turn silent for a few seconds and then erupt into whispers.
Riela looked at Rowan with a flushed face.
Dragun\'s face froze immediately. "What the—how is he getting married so soon? I didn\'t even think about marriage until I was 25!"
But Rowan continued, "She will be my first companion on my path to becoming the greatest lord to grace this world with his magnificent presence and the strongest there will ever be. Please, everyone, give a round of applause for Riela!"
His voice was like a bomb that exploded through the crowd, even though they already expected both of them to become a couple!
Brandon, who was standing not too far away from Riela, was all smiles to see Rowan growing faster than expected—already taking a wife at such an age was amazing, especially with a woman he cherished and wasn\'t forced to marry like most of the previous lords of Winterseed.
As for Dragun, who had missed a lot of time from his son\'s life, his face remained frozen, finding it difficult to understand how his son had become so mature.
"Probably because I forced him to grow up too soon by being a scumbag dad," he sighed.
Some of the young ladies in the crowd, especially those learning tailoring under her, approached her and assisted her to the raised platform, while others gave a thunderous round of applause.
Elara and the other women were all smiles, clearly happy for Riela—to them, she had become the luckiest of all the women in the village to be married to Rowan.
Riela finally climbed up and stared at Rowan with affection in her eyes. Rowan walked to her, grabbed her hands, and walked to the middle of the platform facing the people.
Brandon watched with a smile. He looked across the crowd, saw some soldiers around them, and sent them to get Dragun, who was at the back of the crowd.
"Dragun?" the soldier asked, as he wasn\'t aware of his arrival.
"Oh, you guys haven\'t been informed yet, my bad. He is back and waiting at the back of the crowd. Even though I detest him with all the fiber in me, I do not want him to miss such an exciting and life-changing day in his son\'s life," Brandon sighed.
The soldier stated to Brandon, totally shocked, before rushing to get Dragun.
The crowd was still cheering while Rowan and his wife-to-be stood and watched with smiles.
Nevertheless, as they stood there, suddenly, a familiar face began strolling towards them. They were able to notice it thanks to the crowd moving away.
All the captains froze in shock and anger.
Riela wore a quick frown on her face, and even Elara and the others wore the same expression.
When Rowan saw the figure, a quick memory fragment was triggered, and he quickly recognized Dragun—the father of the original \'Rowan Winterseed\' in this world.
"What the—!" Rowan\'s eyes quickly formed into a frown.
As his interrogation skill quickly activated,
[ Name: Dragun Winterseed ]
[ Occupation: Wanderer ]
[ Power - D-rank ]
[ Special Skill(S): Special Scout Grandmaster (B), Magic Researcher (D) ]
[ Status: Proud and excited ]
Rowan observed Dragun\'s stats and his expression, while his eyes squinted in anger. He couldn\'t help but recall scumbag dads on earth who leave to buy milk and only return when their kids get successful.
Rowan had just made a successful name for himself and defeated a powerful village, which could be considered a great achievement.
The crowd observed Dragun from the back with sincere hatred and disgust in their eyes. Rowan could even feel the cold gaze from Riela.
Just as everyone had discovered, Dragun\'s smile never ceased.
He stretched his hands out as he got closer and proudly said, "You have grown so much, Rowan. You achieved everything I couldn\'t even think of accomplishing. I am very proud of you, son."
His words fell on the crowd. Rowan\'s face remained with a frown. "What are you doing back in Winterseed after leaving everyone to die and your 12-year-old son to take care of your responsibilities!"
Rowan thundered furiously—he hated scumbag dads from a young age. He hated men who would leave their sons to suffer the harsh world without fathers the most. Why? Because he had one back on earth.
Rowan\'s earthly father left the day he was born.
His earthly mother ran away after two years and left him in a run-down orphanage to grow.
But why hasn\'t this sad backstory been addressed yet? Many might wonder.
But Rowan has long buried this sad backstory deep within him—he never let the carnal mistakes of his parents ruin his life, and when he became rich, he totally forgot about his parents.
Nevertheless, seeing Dragun, who reminded him a lot of his earthly father, immediately pissed him off.
The villagers backed him up and stormed Dragun with a lot of angry questions, but the man wasn\'t fazed. Even when some angry youths threw rocks at him, he took it as if it were nothing and went up to Rowan.
"This is not how I taught you to welcome a family member, Rowan," he replied.
His words pissed Rowan even more. "Leave the village right now!"
He thundered, dragging out his swords from his inventory and pointing them at Dragun\'s face.
But this simple action made Dragun eyes widen at once, "Dimensional magic!!"