Chapter 15: Missing.
Paul’s POV
…
Laurel was smiling. Despite just having been slapped in the face, he was smiling while touching his lips as if wiping off blood. How did it come to this?
It started that afternoon, when Mrs. Eto came by their house, furious. She brought along her son, Somar, considered one of the neighborhood brats. There was a blue bruise around one of his eyes. As a swordsman who’d seen his fair share of battle, Paul could tell right away that the boy had taken a punch.
His mother’s story was long and rambling, but the gist was that Laurel had punched Somar. When Paul heard that, he was inwardly relieved.
Ordinarily, Paul might have assumed Laurel had been playing outside, caught sight of Somar and his buddies playing, and tried to join them. But his boy wasn’t like other kids; he was already a Water Saint magician and an intermediate swordsman of three schools at his age.
The kids probably had different opinions, started to argue with one another, and then all got into a fight. Laurel was calm and smart most of the time, but he was also somewhat petty. He hadn’t bothered playing with Rudeus after that squabble they had two years ago, so anyone could pretty much tell he holds grudges.
Mrs. Eto continued to get red in the face and then went pale as she tried to make this out to be a major bust-up when it was just a quarrel among children in the end. And just by looking, Paul could tell that her son’s injury wasn’t even going to leave a mark. He’d scold his boy, and that would be the end of it.
Children were bound to get into scuffles one way or another, but Laurel was far more powerful than other children, even more than Rudeus. Not to mention he was well taught when it came to fighting; Laurel’s natural instincts for combat were overwhelming compared to an average person's. Any fight he got into was sure to be one-sided.
Things had gone okay this time, but if Laurel ever got too hot-headed, he might wind up overdoing it. And Laurel would definitely go overboard without question every single time. That kid seemed to bottle up grudges like loans, after all.
A smart kid like Laurel ought to be able to deal with someone like Somar without throwing a punch, at least not to the point of black and blue. Paul needed to teach him that punching someone was a rash thing to do, and he needed to give it more thought before resorting to it.
Paul needed to give him a bit of a harsh scolding. That had been the plan, anyway. How did it go so wrong?
Laurel had no intention of apologizing. At first he tried to deny being there, then made an excuse, but when Paul cut him off, he went silent.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“If you don’t intend on hearing what I have to say, what’s the point of saying anything?”
“What?”
“Figures. You have always been this kind of guy.”
Laurel chuckled eerily. Something about that smile was giving Paul bad vibes.
“Arrogant, self-centered, always impulsive and inconsiderate… Seriously, how did I end up as your child?”
Whap! Laurel’s words galled Paul, and in the heat of the moment, Paul struck Laurel. But he couldn’t say that he was wrong while lecturing Laurel. And while he struggled with his rattled composure, Laurel wiped his lips with his right thumb, and a smile formed on his lips.
It was as if he had expected this to happen. And because every word he said about Laurel was true, it got Paul even angrier. And in the end, Laurel said with a smile.
“I did what I did. And I won’t apologize to Somar. If you have a problem with it, kick me out.”
"Pft hahaha! Do you think you could live without me?”
“Watch me.”
“Wait. Wait, Laurel!”
At that moment, Paul knew he fucked up.
Paul’s father’s blood ran in his veins—the blood of a stubborn, unyielding curmudgeon. And it ran in Laurel’s veins as well. Just look at how stubborn he is. He was definitely Paul’s kid.
Which is why Paul was sure that this was going to end up bad. And his intuition stands corrected. The moment Laurel turned his back on Paul, sudden rain and wind hit Paul, disorienting him for a moment. And when Paul looked at Laurel’s direction… He was gone.
Fuck. Paul messed up bad time. Really bad. Paul should have been patient. Hadn’t he learned from experience, after all? Besides, on the day his children were born, he decided that he would never be a father like his own.
And yet, he still fucked up. Paul ran with all his might, intending to find Laurel. No matter how strong his kid was, Paul was still a highly experienced adventurer. If Paul searches for him, it should be possible to catch up with him in time.
What did Paul have to do? Apologize? No. That wasn’t exactly an option either. But not apologizing was also wrong. Damn it! Never in his life did Paul experience this kind of crisis. Karma truly is one hell of a bitch.
Paul turned his head from left to right, but he couldn’t find any tracks. All was washed by the drizzled rain, and the wind silenced all sounds of footsteps. Even seeing through the layer of fog was difficult. Damn it. It was as if the rain were man-made—
“Shit.”
Laurel really was dead set on leaving this time, wasn’t he? Where would Laurel run to? He didn’t have any friends, so there’s no way he went to someone else’s house. No way, did he go to Somar’s house to beat him up one more time?
Paul didn’t know if it was true or not, but considering Laurel’s personality, it wasn’t impossible. So Paul chose to run straight towards Eto’s house and banged on the door furiously.
“What the heck, Paul?”
“Eto! Have you seen my kid?”
“What? No! Why would I—"
"Shit!”
Paul ran off the moment he heard the answer. If he wasn’t here, then where else could he be? Paul went around all night, banging from door to door in search of help. Eventually, parties in search of Laurel were formed, and hunters of the village even entered the forest, but to no avail.
Zenith was crying, Roxy was in distress, and Lilia wasn’t smiling. Rudeus was trying to calm everyone down, but obviously he wasn’t looking so good either. This time, Paul had messed up horribly.
Laurel was missing.