Chapter 182: Papa

I am Joshua von Blue Ring.

I am the father of Aldo and Elphas, the two Apostles.

I am also the only son of the current head of House Blue Ring, Balza von Blue Ring.

Though it may sound conceited, I have always fulfilled my duties as the eldest son of a nobleman, and I’m highly regarded by those around me.

However, lately I feel like I’ve become nothing more than a link between Al and El… I feel like things would be the same whether I was there or not…

Well, I know I can’t compare to the “Apostles” who appear in the creation myth, but there have been rumors that, with me as an excellent successor, Blue Ring is in safe hands.

By the time I was old enough to remember, my mother had already passed away.

When I asked my father about my mother, he just looked sad and never spoke about her seriously.

I didn’t understand it when I was little, but now I see that it was my father’s utmost kindness.

My mother died from complications after giving birth to me.

If you think about it rationally, you can understand that I bear no responsibility, since I had only just been born.

But my father probably kept the truth from me so I would never think, even emotionally, that she might have lived if I had not been born.

Roland’s father, Lloyd, took care of the daily details, but my father always took time off from work to be with me on birthdays, anniversaries, and the anniversary of my mother’s death.

Although my mother was not there, I can say that my childhood memories are filled with happiness and free of loneliness.

As an adult, I met Rafina, we got married, and we were blessed with children. I thought I would continue to live a peaceful life, but it seems I was wrong.

I noticed that my son Al was growing at a strange rate when he was 3 or 4 years old…

Not even a single word he said was a word a 4-year-old would use.

I have fond memories of consulting with Raffi many times and deciding to watch over Al as he grew.

Then, his younger brother El and his childhood friend Ashera were also influenced by Al and grew up as if they were in sync with him.

This became more noticeable after his 10th birthday.

Magic. I can only use simple chanted magic, but my wife Rafina, the mother of Al and El, is an A-rank adventurer with the nickname “Ice Witch”.

They must have had talent from the beginning. After receiving direct guidance from Rafina, Al, El, and Ashera grew into unparalleled magic users.

After learning magic, Al was like a fish that had found water, and by the time he went on an expedition when he was 10 years old, he had even developed the ultimate magic on his own.

Even during the goblin riot a year ago, that magic was fully demonstrated, and here in Blue Ring, Al, El, and Ashera are called “Shura” and are treated like heroes.

Perhaps it was the same with the heroes of the past; the people and places connected to Al and the others have caught people’s attention, and the Tab Company seems to be very busy.

Since Aldo and his friends often visited the church, donations from the townspeople increased, and the orphans’ lives became more comfortable.

In fact, a sister came to me the other day and said that she had leftover donations from the Blue Ring territory, so she had come to return them.

When I received the report from the butler, I instructed him to give her double the money she had returned, and it’s no secret that I couldn’t help but smile as I imagined the look on the Sister’s face.

On a different note, it has only been about a year and a half since Al and El became Apostles.

However, after that point, I noticed that the yield of the entire Blue Ring territory had clearly increased.

At first, I simply thought that this year would be a good harvest, but regardless of the crop, every crop has increased by 1.2 to 1.3 times, and even 1.5 times in some cases.

It’s true that crop yields vary, so this phenomenon may be a coincidence, but for the yield of every type to increase without even one type decreasing… Is that possible?

I believe that the spirits have blessed this land.

I hope that everything continues as it is and that Blue Ring can become independent in the future without bloodshed.

Perhaps my role is not only to connect Al and El, but also to bear the blood and stigma that will flow during the founding of the country and then quickly step aside.

And after me, a new country will be born and its history will begin.

I’m sure my name won’t appear in the main pages of history. However, as the father of Al and El, it should at least remain in a corner.

At the very least, I have to do my best so that people don’t write that the founder’s father was a fool.

And if anything, I want to be spoken of kindly when I’m talked about in the future. Although he was not a hero, he was the hero’s father who supported the hero from the shadows.

I think about the distant future. I wonder how my descendants will talk about me…

I crawled into bed thinking that I was going to have a good dream tonight.

I wonder how long it had been since I fell asleep. A violent knock on the door woke me from my dream.

When I looked out the window, it was pitch black outside, and I realized that it was still the middle of the night.

Understandably, I was feeling a little irritated as I spoke to the person outside the door.

“Who is it? At this hour…”

It was probably Roland… but since it was happening at such an hour, it had to be an urgent matter.

“Father, this is Elphas. Mother collapsed from mana exhaustion.”

I jumped out of bed and hurriedly opened the door, the question in the back of my mind answered before it had even formed.

There, a pale-faced Ashera, who had to be suffering from the same mana depletion as Raffi, was carrying Raffi on her back.

“Ashera, take Raffi to bed. El, is it really just a lack of mana? Do you need a doctor?”

“While Sister Ashera was carrying her, I used sonar, but there was nothing unusual.”

“I see…”

While I was talking to El, Ashera was putting Raffi to bed.

I wanted to know what was going on, but Ashera was so exhausted that it looked hard for her to even stand still.

Before I could say anything, El told Ashera to take a break.

Ashera must have been at her limit. Unusually for her, she followed El’s instructions and headed to her room.

El and Ashera and Raffi, whose strength far exceeds my imagination… Two of them had been pushed until they ran out of mana…

I was sure El was tired, but I wanted to ask him to explain the latest report on the Sandra rescue, even if it was just an overview.

After nodding with a serious face, El began to say something surprising.

It seemed that 500 to 2,000 elves would arrive at dawn today.

Moreover, those elves were refugees, and in order to hide the matter of the Apostles, he was trying to prevent them from realizing where this place was…

I was about to say “impossible” right away, but Raffi, El, Ashera, and Al, even though he wasn’t here, were all fighting for their lives.

Since I was in a safe place, there was no way I could raise the white flag from the start.

Looking at El’s face again, his mana seemed fine, but he clearly showed signs of fatigue. First of all, I had to let El rest once he finished his report.

El was reluctant to take a break even after working so hard, so I spoke a bit harshly and forced him to rest.

Well, there were 7 hours left, or maybe 6… I didn’t know how much I could manage, but as the “father of the Apostles” I had to work so as not to shame that title…

First of all, there was food. I felt bad, but I’d ask Roland and Tab to help me.

I immediately woke up Roland and sent his subordinates to call for Tab.

“Roland, I’m sorry, but it’s as I explained. About 500 to 2,000 elven refugees will arrive at dawn today. We must make sure they never find out where this land is.”

“That’s difficult… a complete gag order…”

“That’s right. In practice, it’ll be a strict order that anyone who comes into contact with the elves is ‘forbidden from conversing with them due to the current relations between the kingdom and the elves.'”

“Is that reasonable?”

“Also, I don’t think there’ll be any, but anyone who gathers information from the elves should be thrown into prison.”

“I understand.”

“Although we’ll provide supplies such as food and clothing, we’ll ask them to do the cooking themselves. I can’t afford to take care of them to that extent.”

“Of course, that’s only natural.”

“Then, first of all, I’ll ask you to secure a place for them to stay. I’ll ask Tab, who’ll be coming later, about food.”

“I understand. I’ll do my best.”

About an hour later, Tab came into the office, out of breath.

“So that’s the situation. I’m sorry, but I’d like you to lend me your strength.”

“Understood. It’s an honor to be able to help the Apostles.”

“I see… then I’ll ask you to secure food. The estimate ranges widely, from 500 to 2,000 people. As an urgent measure, please arrange food for 500 people for one day. If you have trouble securing it, you can use the lord’s authority forcefully.”

“I understand. First of all, I’ll try to do as much as I can without making this a serious matter.”

“Please do.”

According to my calculations, the surplus crops of Blue Ring should be able to feed around 1,000 people.

At that moment, I was grateful from the bottom of my heart that Blue Ring’s yields had been increasing.

From then until morning, I prepared as much as possible with Roland and Tab.

First of all, there was the place to stay, and I decided to use the knights’ training ground for that.

Apart from the training ground, there was no other place that could accommodate 2,000 refugees.

And Tab provided all the food sold by the Tab Company.

Of course, I’ll pay the money, but Tab will have to go around apologizing to his business partners later.

It would have been fine to use the lord’s authority here, but Tab wouldn’t back down and insisted on going to apologize himself.

I thought again. I wondered why such an honest man had once turned to kidnapping…

I shook my head to get rid of the thought. That was over now. Tab as he is now is the father of El’s fiancee.

Even though he’s a commoner, if I don’t show him some respect, El will get mad at me.

By the time the three of us had managed to make the emergency preparations, the sky was turning white.

Having done what we could, the three of us men sat in chairs in the living room drinking tea.

None of the maids were awake, so of course we made it ourselves.

“We managed somehow. Thank you. Roland, Tab.”

“No. You’re too kind.”

“Such words are wasted on me.”

I wanted to ask the two of them what they really thought, even though they were trying to gloss over their answers.

“So, what do you really think?”

“…I’m a little tired.”

“Me too… but will events like this be turned into stories in the distant future?”

“Only if someone likes behind-the-scenes stories, or has peculiar tastes… or…”

I don’t know who it was, but someone let out a small laugh at my words.

We all burst into laughter, and by the end, all three of us were laughing our heads off.

“What? Three grown men…”

It was Raffi. Apparently, she had recovered from her mana depletion and came to check when she found I wasn’t in the bedroom.

“No, it’s nothing. The three of us were just talking about how people have peculiar tastes.”

Tab and Roland were looking down and laughing, but it was time to shift gears.

“Are you going right away?”

“Yeah, I’ll leave as soon as Ashera wakes up.”

“Okay. You can leave this to me. I can handle up to 2,000 people.”

“As expected of my husband. I’ve fallen in love with you all over again.”

“I’m very happy to hear that. My Raffi.”

There probably wasn’t much difference in how long they had slept. Ashera came right away, and Roland, seeing that, called for El.

El arrived in about 10 minutes.

“Please call El, Ao”

“Yes”

At the same time as El’s reply, a spirit appeared.

“Please tell Ao and Aldo to use the Miasma Stone immediately.”

“The Miasma Stone? Aldo’s in the elven village, right?”

“Ao, I’m in a hurry. I’m sorry, but please have Al use the Miasma Stone right away.”

I felt a mysterious pressure from Raffi. It was the same pressure as when I’d been suspected of cheating and was grilled in the bedroom.

“Y-yes. Sister.”

Raffi ordered the spirit-sama around like a maid, and the spirit-sama quickly disappeared and headed toward Al.

After just a few minutes, the spirit-sama returned, looking panicked.

“Sister, you can fly anytime.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Raffi turned to El and Ashera once again.

“Then let’s go, El, Ashera.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Yes, Master.”

At the moment the three of them were whisked away by the spirit, Raffi mouthed “I love you” so that only I could see.

By the time I tried to return it, Raffi was already nowhere to be seen…

I looked at the place where the three of them had disappeared and whispered, “I love you too,” in a voice that no one could hear.