A Father's Duty

Dimaria on their journey was silent. She was mulling the unforgettable fight in front of her earlier. She realized that when her master fought Kian, he never budged or got pushed from his starting position.

But what Dimaria was focusing on remembering, was the breathing technique. She was able to see Noctis using the same basic breathing technique as hers but his result is far from what she could do. She also noticed that when Noctis was about to receive the full powered punch of Kian, her master inhaled such a huge amount of oxygen and held his breath until the exchange was over.

She wanted to try it so bad but they are still on the carriage and Dimaria didn't want to bother her master or anyone in the carriage.

Andrew was telling stories of how they first started business. Originally, Andrew was a labor merchant. He would give jobs to guys who fit the request, for example, the client needs builders, Andrew would then pass the job to his members while taking a small fee in return.

But due to the tough competition, they were on the verge of being bankrupt because no one is commissioning them anymore. Then the kidnapping happened. After the incident, Kian asked his father to teach him to become a warrior or a mercenary. There's no united army in the Capital that's why no one can join the army of the nobles, only selected by their captain. All of their soldiers are personally trained or veteran hired mercenaries.

That's when Andrew thought of changing his core trade. If he could train his laborers into mercenaries and offered their services to anyone, he would have no competition. All of those wanting to join the army for scraps of money but don't have a platform to show their skills, he would take them in and train them because they would have more value in the battlefield rather than just working odd jobs in a private army. That way he could also hire experienced mercenaries to teach some of the beginner mercenaries as well as his son.

Years passed by... the hardwork and investment that Andrew poured into his business finally paid off. His son, grew to a man he's proud of. He was also in joy when his son married a woman who's a powerhouse of another kingdom. His joy reached the peak when her granddaughter is not only an adorable kid, she's also a genius like his parents. Now Andrew can finally be rest assured that his family would thrive for a long time even if he die early.

Noctis was listening to Andrew's story of success and he was surprised. He was in awe of Andrew's courage to start anew and take a risk and wholeheartedly jumped in a pit that he doesn't even know where it would lead him to.

"How about you, Mr. Noctis. The last news we heard of you is that when you defeated the dragon, you suddenly vanished. No news of where you are, where you go, and what happened after your fight with the dragon." Andrew asked him. Kian is also curious as to what happened after fighting with the dragon.

"Well, you see. After the fight, I met my wife and we lived in seclusion while taking care of my daughters. When she was old enough, I took them to the outside world and decided to come out of seclusion, as you can see, we are currently travelling wherever the wind takes us." Noctis said and Andrew had a frown on his face.

" I suggest that you stop travelling for a while and stay in our country until the war is finished." Andrew said making Noctis frown slightly.

"War?" Noctis asked.

"Yes. Bosco, Stella, and Joya is in a three-way war for territory. And I don't think it would end in a short time." Andre said.

"How do you know about this?" Noctis asked.

"Because Bosco hired a lot of personnel from us personally. They have also closed off the eastern border, not allowing anyone to pass through their border." Andrew explained.

"As for why they started the war, Stella waged war on Joya because they recently dug an ancient ruins near Stella's border. Knowing the value of the ancient ruin near their borders, Stella wanted to claim full rights on the ruin for themselves. Bosco also smelled an opportunity to expand their border silently by letting Joya and Stella fight with each other while Bosco swallows Stella's borders. Unfortunately, Stella have prepared for any intervention and immediately built a fortress first at the western border before formally waging war against Joya." Andrew explained even further.

"Bunch of greedy people." Noctis commented.

"Can't blame them. Greed is the force that pushes people to strive and reach heights they have never touched before." Andrew said.

As a merchant himself, they are second only to Kings who are more greedier than merchants. Merchants only wants to earn coins and power while Kings want the world to kneel to them and make their name be engraved into the annals of history.

"Hate to say it, but its true. In your estimation, how long would the war last?" Noctis asked.

"I don't know, but a year is the shortest... 2 years tops." Andrew said making Noctis enter a deep thinking state.

'Looks like our tour in this world is going to be halted... hmmmm.' Noctis is thinking of staying here for maybe a week to enjoy the sceneries and things that could be experienced in the Merchant Capital.

Then maybe bring his family, mother, father, and Somnus with him on a journey to other world. Maybe the modern world mostly for Somnus. He needs his brother to study all the sh*t that a modern world have and apply it back to Lucis. Like the education system, Agriculture breakthroughs, laws, and many more. He also needs it to be interesting for his mother and father to go to.

He doesn't have an exact place to go at the moment but he is thinking of going to Toriko world, Irregular at Magic High School world, BNHA world, or maybe Assassination classroom world.

Noctis was brought back to reality when Kian asked him a question.

"Mr. Noctis, I heard from our informants that you are travelling in a huge green boar, is it true?" Kian asked.

"Yes. We are indeed travelling with my pet." Noctis said making Kian confused.

"But we haven't seen your pet when we arrived at your house?" Kian asked in confusion. Andrew had a gist of what is happening and where it is but he didn't blurt it out. Although his son is a genius in the battlefield, he isn't the brightest kid at heart, that's why he can't help Andrew with administrative works. Thankfully Kian's wife is helping him out whenever he was swarmed by paperworks.

"That just simply means you're not observant enough. You are lacking a lot of skills essential in winning a duel, or a fight. Observation is one of them. By observing your opponent carefully, you would know if he has a quirk/habit you can use to your advantage. You would be able to tell if he is a defensive fighter, an offensive fighter, or balanced, if you look at their stance, are they leaning back? Leaning forward? or waiting for you?" Noctis explained how observing one's opponent could help in winning which Kian etched in his heart. It was a lesson that the man who he looked up to gave to him.

Dimaria also kept Noctis' words to her mind. 30 minutes have passed as Noctis and Andrew were sharing their insights they learned in their life as well as their insights in raising children.

"Master, young master, we have arrived." The coach driver said interrupting the talks between them.

They went out and saw the wall protecting the city and saw the runes and ethernano gathering at the wall.

'A barrier and strengthening rune huh.' Noctis thought but compared to the wall that Lucis have built, it was nothing. But overall, the wall that the city has built is good against invaders.

"Little girl, Mr. Noctis, welcome to ------" Andrew said with a gentleman bow as he introduced them to the place they have strived and worked hard for.