33 Chapter 33 - The Peace before the Storm.

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Don't forget to check the auxiliary chapter about Adam. It's like an info chapter.

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[Adam POV]

For the next following weeks, I remained close to Magnolia Town.

As each day after training, or coming from a job nearby, I would make my way to Cordelia's house to check on her condition in order to see if there wasn't anything wrong with her.

The reason for these visits was to make sure the entire process would settle without any side effects.

And so far, I was thankful to say that Cordelia was now perfectly healthy, something Porlyusica herself had observed in her own visits to the woman.

Meaning that as far as we could tell for now, the procedure had been a resounding success.

The only possible downside to her artificial body was; that she had lost the ability to bear any more children, but other than that, she had basically changed a disease-ridden body for a perfectly healthy one, that was considerably more resilient than any other body against things like disease and such.

That being said, despite of how happy I was for Cordelia, Cana, and Gildarts, I couldn't help but feel that given enough time, we could've given her a body without losing anything.

'You did more than enough,' I heard the gentle lilt of Zanryuzuki's voice in my mind as her words washed over me like warm water. 'You did what no one else could've, you saved her.'

Pushing those thoughts aside for the time being, I stepped into the guild hall, the smell of ale and sweat heavy in the air, as well as the sounds of people breaking shit with their fights.

Ducking under a chair and a couple of knives someone had thrown at someone else, I noticed Cana looking at me with a beaming smile on her face, her dark hair pulled back in a messy bun before she jumped from her chair and raced towards me.

I smiled at her, watching as she giggled with sheer excitement, her hair bouncing up and down as she raced along the polished wooden floor of the guild before she leaped into the air with a delighted squeal and wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. "Big bro!"

"Hey there princess," I said, my eyes crinkling in a fond smile. I reached forward and tousled her hair, feeling the silky strands between my fingers.

What can I say? I couldn't help myself; she was just too cute.

Not letting go of my legs from her almighty hug, Cana tugged on the corner of my shirt and peered up at me with her almond shaped eyes, her face a mixture of innocence and eagerness. "Can we play something today?"

I chuckled, offering the tiny human a good-natured smile. "Maybe."

"Hey brat," Gildarts said, coming up behind me, his arms crossed on his chest, frowning at the sight of Cana holding on to me so tightly.

I glanced over my shoulder at him, meeting his glowering expression with a raised brow. "Yes?"

Gildarts cleared his throat and shifted his weight, eyes flicking away from me. "I need your help with something," he said, his voice catching slightly on the last word, almost as if struggling to find the courage to continue.

Hmm, I wonder what he wants?

I nodded in agreement and shifted my gaze to Cana, who was still hugging my legs tight. Patting her head gently, I pried her away and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I will talk with the old man for a moment, alright?"

At this, Cana crossed her arms and shot Gildarts an angry glare, giving her old man the old stink eye, her lips pursed in a pout, as she reluctantly nodded her head in agreement, before going back to where she had been sitting.

"So?" I asked, turning back to Gildarts.

Gildarts, who had been standing with a stern expression on his face, suddenly stumbled forward and landed on his knees with a loud thud. Tears spilled from his eyes and his lip quivered, his face now contorted with comical anguish. "How could I make Cana-chan love me?!" he moaned in desperation.

I...

What?

"Huh?" I muttered, taking a step back from the crying man.

Gildarts let out a loud, exaggerated sob, his shoulders heaving with each breath. His eyes were red and puffy, and tears streamed down his face in a way that you would only expect from a cartoon character. "She loves you! How do you do it?"

I blinked multiple times in confusion, as Gildarts wept in front of me, rivers of tears streaming down his face. Beyond that, I could also hear some of the guild members whisper amongst themselves in silence about the situation.

"Gildarts is crying?!"

"Are you dumb?! Pretend you don't notice!"

"Why?!"

"You want Gildarts to kill us?!"

"Alright, fair enough, I haven't heard nothing."

"Indeed, not only I haven't heard nothing, I haven't seen nothing. As a matter of fact, I am blind sir."

I don't know who had that conversation, but they win the IQ prize in the guild for doing that.

"Gildarts, what do you mean?" I asked, taking a step back. "She loves you, she's your daughter."

At this, Gildarts' eyes seemed to shoot daggers at me as he clutched his chest tightly and exclaimed, "Did you not see the look she gave me?!" Tears streamed down his face, making his countenance look comically tragic.

Hm, well he does have a point there, Cana did glare at him.

I shifted my weight from foot to foot, scratching the back of my neck. "Look," I began taking a deep breath, "I don't do anything special with her to make her love me. But if you want my advice, I would suggest you visit her every day. She just needs more real time with you, it'll help her open up."

Gildarts wiped away his tears, as he looked at me with a searching, hopeful gaze and asked quietly, "You really think that's all I have to do?"

"Yes, what every kid wants is some quality time with their parents, even if they say no," I replied, rolling my eyes. "Look, you haven't been in her life until now, so you have to make an effort to connect with her, learn what she likes, do stuff with her, play with her, be her dad, you know?"

At this, Gildarts' expression brightened up and he leaped up from the ground and slammed a fist on his chest. "You're right!" he bellowed, causing several guild members to jump in their seats and cover their ears for good measure.

Well, that's a 180 from the crying mess he was a few seconds ago. "Was that all?"

Without replying, Gildarts turned around and sprinted away from me, his arms swinging wildly as he made tons of noise by knocking over tables and chairs on his way that still had people sitting on them, his objective, bond with his daughter, Cana.

"Dad?"

"TIME TO BOND!"

"But I don't wanna!"

"YES!"

"Big brotherrrr!"

Huh, he took my words quite literally when I said even when they say no.

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Having nothing better to do, I decided to take an S-Class job from the guild board, choosing one that would not only give me a big sum of money but one that would help me in my outgoing investigation about the whereabouts of the Tower of Heaven.

Having the job ready and approved by the master, I started to make my way out of Magnolia Town only to be stopped by Lilia, who plunged from the sky toward the ground in a dramatic fashion with a loud boom that echoed throughout the town as she landed in a kneeling position, her fists driving hard into the ground.

"Adam-sama, here to be of service," Lilia said, still kneeling.

Outside her crazy devotion to me, I could tell she had been training hard, that landing alone was not something the old Lilia would've been able to do at all.

I raised my eyebrows, my mouth curling up into a half-smile as I tilted my head to the side. "I suppose you want to tag along?" I asked, with a light chuckle.

Lilia nodded enthusiastically, bobbing her head up and down so quickly that her soft green hair began to blur around her face.

"Very well, but there's one rule you have to follow no matter what," I replied, getting her attention. "And that rule is rather simple, do whatever I say without questioning me. Am I clear?"

Lilia nodded again, this time with a serious look in her eyes that I hadn't seen before. "Yes, Adam-sama," she said, her voice steady and unwavering.

I smiled and nodded, satisfied with her answer. "Very good," I said. "Let's get going."

Lilia scurried to keep up with my long strides, her gaze trained on the ground. "If I may be so bold, what kind of job have you taken on, Adam-sama?"

I stopped and looked over my shoulder, offering her a smile. "This one." At this, I handed her the job request for her to read.

[//Unknown Catastrophe.

/Job Location: Rubera Town - Ishgar / Land of Isvan.

Job Tier: S-Class.

Job Description: Recently there have been reports that there has been a large creature roaming around the continent destroying the northern towns, the creature is said to have impenetrable skin and sharp teeth. Beyond that, according to the few survivors, the monster appears and disappears leaving no trace other than the destruction left behind in its wake.

This is an extermination job.

The guilds of Ishgar are so far refusing to accept this request so we are extending this to any of the nearby kingdoms.

Reward: 8,500,000. ]

Lilia's eyes widened. "Holy... That's a lot of Jewels!"

Indeed, it was.

I reached out and took the job posting from her hands. "That's part of the reason I took the job," I said with a half-hearted smile. The main reason I had taken the job beyond the big pay, was that I heard some rumors about some sort of cut cult kidnapping people in the smallest towns and such, leaving no survivors behind.

And I had my reasons to believe that this cult was the same one that had kidnapped me all those years ago.