MI125: Confrontation (Patreon)

Though it would potentially cause problems if he stayed too long, Paul wasn't in a hurry to separate from his kids. A part of him felt like he was intruding on their lives, but that didn't stop him from trying to spend most of the day with them.

As purported, Aiden was an exceptionally talented young boy with a calm, albeit perverted nature. He spent most of his day with his nose buried in a book, but that would change when beautiful women were around. In that regard, he was the textbook example of a young Asuran Noble.

A stark contrast to her brother, Aria was a quiet and reserved girl who appeared genuinely fascinated by the world around her. When she found a new animal or insect, she would often stare intently at it until her eyes began to dry out. When Paul asked why, she shyly revealed that she used to try and play with things but eventually stopped as they would always end up 'broken.'

Though Paul was initially worried about Aria's admission, it turned out he was behind the curve as Aiden had already been helping her try to control her excessive physical strength. He was also the one that got her to stop 'playing' with things, promising that their Grandpa would buy her all kinds of animals if she could learn to show restraint.

Since he was a little curious, Paul met with his Father only to learn that Aiden was making the entire thing up. The boy was barely two years old but already had a basic grasp of manipulating the people around them to get them to behave how he wanted. If that wasn't enough, he seemed to understand the importance of positive reinforcement, patting Aria's head, praising, and hugging her whenever she did well.

While it was possible Aiden was every bit the prodigy he appeared to be, Paul's personal experiences and insight made him increasingly suspicious of the bright-eyed youth. Aiden was simply 'too proactive,' almost like he was actively moving towards a future he had already mapped out. He also had a penchant for using his 'innocence' as an excuse to get away with all kinds of perverted behaviors, his hands, body, and head brushing against girls in the bath as he slowly and methodically tested the limits of what he could get away with.

After around two weeks of living in the Estate, Paul was pretty convinced of his suspicions. By then, everyone except for Eula had experienced some form of 'inadvertent' sexual harassment at the hands of Aiden. The only reason Eula hadn't was because she had noticed the look on Aiden's face when he 'accidentally' slipped his hands under Venti's skirt when she was hugging him.

Though he didn't want to think it was possible, Paul's personal situation more than proved the plausibility of his suspicions. Thus, after telling his son he had a surprise for him, Paul carried Aiden through one of the many vineyards surrounding the Estate, their destination a lone pear where he used to take naps and listen to Barbara sing.

"A pear tree...?"

Nodding his head in response to his son's question, Paul replied, "That's right. Though, in this world, people call them Boscs..."

As Aiden was riding on his shoulders, Paul could feel the youth's entire body tense before subsequently slacking as he asked, "Really? The book I read referred to them as pears. How strange."

Having reached the base of the pear tree, Paul removed Aiden from his shoulders and set the boy down. As he did, he noticed Aiden staring back at him with caution in his eyes, the smile on his face belying the fear that was beginning to exude from his entire being.

With his suspicions all but confirmed, a weary sigh escaped from Paul's throat as Aiden suddenly backstepped away from him and unleashed a chantless, Beginner-Ranked Water Ball. As it approached, Paul didn't even bother dodging as the softball-sized sphere impacted his body and broke like a cheap water balloon.

As Aiden spun around on his heels, seemingly with the intent to flee, Paul calmly stated, "I can break the sound barrier over short distances. Where do you intend to run...?"

Hearing Paul's words, Aiden slowed to a stop, the distance between them opening a mere 9m despite several seconds passing. Then, after standing still for several seconds, he turned around to reveal tears streaming down his face as he asked, "Are you going to kill me...?"

Furrowing his brows, Paul immediately replied, "For someone that likes to play the part of a prodigy, you can be pretty stupid. Even if you did come to this world from another, you're still my kid. Unless you do some fucked up shit like going around raping and murdering people, I see no reason to harm you. Now, come take a seat. We need to have a serious discussion."

Sitting with his back against the tree, Paul left Aiden feeling speechless as he slapped his right thigh. Now that the gig was up, Aiden didn't really see the reason for them to continue 'playing' parent and child.

"Really, man? You want me to sit in your lap...?"

Adopting a deadpan expression, Paul asked, "What did I finish saying? You may be a reincarnator, but you're still my son. Whoever you were in your past life, you need to set that aside. This isn't a game or a fantasy novel, Aiden. And I can pretty much assure you that neither of us is the Main Character..."

Though he suspected there was a real possibility that Aiden had inherited the same spirit as the original Rudeus, even the latter had never been the 'true' Main Character of Mushoku Tensei. Sure, he was the protagonist of his series, even going on to become the Magic God, but he always served others and ultimately died long before the threat of Laplace and Hitogami had been removed.

Exhaling a sigh that belied his age, Aiden dragged his feet over to Paul before plopping down on the latter's thigh. His expression looked like he had eaten a bug, but he didn't complain as he asked, "I take it you're also a Reincarnator? Just my luck..."

Smiling wryly, Paul asked, "How do you think I feel? I wasn't even ready to be a father, yet here I am finding out that my first-born son is probably some 30-40 year old Otaku that won the lottery by saving someone about to get hit by a truck. We both got fucked over on this one, kid..."

Furrowing his brows, Aiden retorted, "Don't call me kid. For all you know, I'm older-"

Plopping his hand on Aiden's head, Paul reiterated, "You shouldn't bring sentiments like that into this world. As far as I'm concerned, you're a two-year-old brat with exceptional intelligence. If you really want me to treat you like a grown man, how do you think I should react after catching you so wantonly groping my girls...?"

With Paul radiating a bit of bloodlust, Aiden's body tensed to the point of resembling a statue. A part of him wanted to argue that Paul shouldn't be allowed to monopolize so many beautiful women but ultimately chose not to as he would probably lynch someone for suggesting the same to him.

"Fine...I'm a two-year-old brat...now what? You must have had a reason to call me out here like this."

Nodding his head, Paul's expression softened ever so slightly as he said, "We need to talk about your's and Aria's futures. Given your 'intellect,' you should have realized our situation isn't exactly ideal. I'm doing my best to keep you safe, but, as it stands, even if you were to run away and become an Adventurer, Assassins serving the First Prince's interests would pursue you to the edge of the world. If they can't capture you to use as leverage, they will kill you and probably do much worse to your sister..."

Adopting an expression of genuine outrage on his face, Aiden asserted, "I won't let that happen."

Though he could appreciate Aiden's conviction, Paul poured cold water on the youth's head as he replied, "Good mentality. Unfortunately, the people of this world aren't NPC's or incompetents without any ability. Unless you possess some kind of Golden Finger you're trying to keep hidden, the only way you can protect yourself and Aria is with adequate power, status, and dependable allies. As you are, you would probably get your ass handed to you by a random street punk. How will you defend yourself against people who can attack at supersonic speeds or erase cities with a single spell...?"

"..."

Hearing Paul speak, Aiden realized he had severely underestimated the power scaling of the world he was in. The most powerful people he had met thus far were Saint-Ranked Mages and Swordsmen. While they were certainly very impressive, it wasn't difficult for him to imagine surpassing them. What Paul was describing was something far more terrifying...

Reinforcing Aiden's thoughts, Paul revealed, "People may refer to me as the youngest Sword Saint in history, but nearly every single one of those girls you so carelessly harassed could wreck me in a fight. I have trained nearly every day for eight years, apprenticed under numerous Gods, and even possess an artifact that grants me functionally endless stamina. I've pushed my body beyond its natural limits, managed to exceed the sound barrier, and will soon be contending against others for the future position of Water God. Despite all of that, there are still dozens, if not hundreds of people who could completely destroy me..."

Though he initially intended to complain about Paul boasting about his accomplishments, Aiden's expression became progressively somber when he realized where the conversation was headed.

"Is that why you allowed yourself to be expelled from House Notos? You got scared...?"

Shaking his head, Paul exhaled a sigh as he said, "It's more complicated than that. If I had attempted to oppose my exile, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I would be rotting in a shallow grave, and, if not, my parents, siblings, and tens of thousands of others would be. Our actions have consequences, Aiden. Some even have the power to shape the entire world..."

Turning to meet his son's gaze, Paul's expression softened as he said, "On that note, let's talk about the options available to you right now..."

Furrowing his brows, Aiden asked, "Don't you think it's a little messed up for one Reincarnator to try and dictate the life of another? We might not be the 'main characters' of this world, but you've clearly been able to do as you please. Why can't I...?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Paul replied, "Because I want you to live long enough to be able to. If you'd like, I can whisk you and your sister away to someplace far, far away. I could effectively you away from the world and give you all the time you need to grow stronger. However, take it from me when I say an 'unchanging' lifestyle leads to stagnation. The moment you surpass your peers, you will eventually hit a bottleneck that can only be overcome by venturing into the world abroad..."

Adopting a wry smile, Paul appended, "Simply put; you would eventually get bored out of your mind. So, unless you want to spend your entire life being protected by others until they eventually grow weary of you, you'll need to be willing to take a few risks..."

Maintaining his furrowed look, Aiden questioned, "So what, exactly, are you suggesting? After saying this much, you must have already thought of something, right...?"

Nodding his head, Paul surprised Aiden by revealing, "Indeed. And if you play your cards right, you may even be able to become the King Consort in the future. I wouldn't mind you becoming the actual King, but trust me when I say the person you'll be protecting is far more qualified for the position. You just need to protect her and Aria until she is strong and wise enough to rule. After that, you'll be able to enjoy a status equaled only by the Great Lords..."

"But still less than you...right...?"

Raising his brows, Paul gave Aiden a look as if he was staring at an idiot as he said, "Kid, if I cared about things like that, I might already be sitting on the throne. Only idiots covet things like the throne of a Kingdom when there is an entire world to explore beyond the horizon. In other words, so long as you don't become a little monster with a god complex, I'll do what I can to support you as your Father. Just don't go trying to manipulate the Princess or grooming your sister. I'm a pretty easygoing guy, but if I found out you did some shit like that, even God-Ranked Healing Magic might not be enough to fix what I do to you..."

Feeling Paul's bloodlust, a knot formed within Aiden's throat that he could not swallow. He was serious about keeping Aria safe, but he would lying if he said he hadn't considered the 'benefits' of growing up alongside a cute girl that was also his twin sister. They bathed, slept, and cuddled together on a daily basis, so he had been looking forward to Aria eventually gaining an interest in the opposite sex. He didn't plan to cross the line, but he had intended to use his position as her 'reliable older brother' to teach her lots of things...

Seeing through Aiden's thoughts, Paul narrowed his eyes like a predator as he said, "Don't make me force you to sign a magical contract, you little shit..."

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