I just couldn’t believe it. The man before me was Art’s father. He was here when I hadn’t even contacted him yet. That made no sense since this lazy man would never move if he wasn’t ordered to do so.

There just had to be something going on.

However, as much as I was confused, I was extremely happy to see him. If he was there with me, then there was no chance that I would lose against Zero, literally zero chance.

Hank wasn’t as powerful as me, but I wouldn’t be able to kill him on my own. He could stand his ground against me and flee if he truly wanted to. He was a really good asset in the fight against Zero.

“Why are you even here, you lazy bum?” I said with a bright smile.

It had been at least three years since I had last seen him. He had stopped fighting in the war because he had found it boring. At least, that’s what he had told me back then.

“Hm, that son of mine talked about you…he told me you were trying to go the Snowy Mountains to get rid of someone.”

“That’s the reason you came?” I asked, pure confusion written all over my face. The person I knew from back then would have never moved like so for no reason. However, the fact that he was here wasn’t even the most confusing. It was how the hell did Hank even find me in the first place.

The Snowy Mountains were basically one big maze; it wasn’t easy to find your way inside it. I had even experienced it firsthand.

“Wait, don’t answer that. How did you even find me?”

He shrugged as he lazily walked over to one of the empty chairs around the campfire. “Uh…I just walked around, figured I’d find you at one point if I did that.”

I facepalmed myself. He really hadn’t changed. Every time he spoke, he seemed like such an idiot, but he was one of the sharpest and strongest people I knew. However, it was rare that he would show that side of himself to others. Even though I hadn’t seen it often, the only times he would get serious was when someone truly angered him.

“So, what’s the real reason that you’re here?” I asked. “Maybe your son told you about me. But I know you. That’s not the real reason why you would come all the way here. There has to be more to this whole thing.”

I smirked. “So, who was it that truly convinced you to come all the way here, away from your cozy little life.”

Hank sighed. “The Emperor, he’s the one who convinced me to come all the way here.”

Did the Emperor manage to make Hank come out of his rat hole? I frowned. That made little to no sense to me. The Emperor was powerful and influential, but Hank wasn’t someone he could control. He was too much of an unhinged person to be controlled.

“What did he offer you?”

Hank sighed. “Don’t worry about it, anyways, I’m here, and I’m ready to help you in that fight against Zero. If you’re here, it must be quite important and dangerous. So, who’s that guy that you’re trying to capture?”

“The Emperor didn’t tell you?”

“He probably did, but I just stopped listening halfway through his explanation. It was boring. However, he did show me a video of you fighting against someone. It was definitely interesting. I didn’t know that there were so many powerful beings hiding in the shadows.”

I nodded at those words. However, I didn’t explain the whole thing to the ancient tribe as it didn’t make sense to do so. After all, it was their secret to reveal, and I wouldn’t go around spreading it around their place.

“Right, well. Zero is someone who is linked with the demons, probably one of the most high-ranked demons in their organization, and I want to either capture or kill him if necessary. That’s the reason that I’m here.”

“You’re still obsessed with them, huh? Oh well, I can’t say that I’m very surprised about it.” Hank couldn’t help but shake his head. “What about those two? Where did you meet them? Who even are they? As far as I recall, you didn’t like traveling with people. Did something change at that time?”

I pondered before answering, “She’s the queen of the Ice Elves, and this one is someone I met in the Snowy Mountains; she knew quite a bit about the place, so I took her with me. And, yes. Many things changed since the last time we met. After all, I’m even teaching your son. I didn’t even know you had one in the first place. It was quite a surprise when I discovered his identity. He definitely resembles you.”

“That slacker resembles me? Hmpf, don’t make me laugh. He’s even more lazy than I am!” Hank said that for the first time since he arrived, he put some strength in his voice.

It seemed that his son was a touchy subject with him.

Still, I found it quite funny for him to say that his son was lazier than him.

“Right…I’m sure that’s the case. Anyways, who’s the mother of your son? And how come you never talked about him to me?”

“The subject never came up, and I wasn’t bothered enough to tell you about it. As for the mother of the child, well…you don’t know her. She died a long time ago.”

I nodded slowly, surprised to hear such a thing.

Why was it that everyone I met with children had their partner die?

Olivia, now Hank.

Maybe it was a sign for me to stay alone forever…

Then, we continued talking for a few more moments. But it seemed we talked a bit too loudly as Amelia and Phoebe woke up at the same time, shocked to see that I was talking with someone they had never seen before in their life.

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