Shirou and Eris went into the refugee camp in the Fittoa region.
After just a quick look around, Shirou saw that the town lacked energy and felt dead overall.
Most of the people there were tired, hopeless, and lifeless. Whether they were walking or working quietly, they all felt lifeless.
Because of the Displacement Incident, there were very few people living in the Fittoa region. All together, there were fewer than in a normal town.
Also, the refugee camp felt very empty. There were only broken-down houses and no good place to stay out of the weather.
The camp was in bad shape, and it didn't seem like anyone was in charge.
If Shirou hadn't seen some things from the central continent that he recognized, he would have thought he was back on the Demon Continent.
He had only seen this kind of messy place on the Demon Continent, even after traveling around the world.
"..."
Shirou and Eris looked at the area and didn't say a word. They went straight to the area in town that was in charge of the camp.
The entrance said "Refugee Camp Headquarters."
The Refugee Camp Headquarters was the only building in town that was in good shape. Some soldiers from the Asura Kingdom were standing at the door, but they were strangers and not members of the Boreas family.
This made Shirou cautious.
He didn't tell Eris to say who they were. Instead, he acted like a tourist and went inside the headquarters. He quickly noticed a big sign.
The sign was covered with the names of missing people.
At the bottom of the sign was a letter from the lord.
However, the lord's name wasn't Eris' grandfather, Sauros Boreas Greyrat. It was a man named James Boreas Greyrat.
"James?"
Shirou remembered that name a little.
He remembered that he was Philip's older brother and the first in line to take over the Boreas family.
If he had taken over the Boreas family, that meant Sauros must have stepped down as lord. So what he saw in his Clairvoyance about Sauros being put in jail was true.
Shirou didn't know James, the current head of the Boreas family, very well and didn't know what he was like.
But seeing how bad the Fittoa region was now, he couldn't imagine that someone who would let things get this bad could be honest and responsible.
If a guy like that was in charge of the Boreas family, Eris' future would be badly affected...
While Shirou was feeling worried, Eris suddenly looked excited.
After many years, the girl was showing excitement again. She ran to the front desk and called out to a woman's voice, "Ghislaine, is that you?!"
"??!"
Hearing Eris' voice, a woman with long silver hair, brown skin, and a sword at her waist turned around right away. "Lady Eris?! You're back?!"
Ghislaine was also very excited to see Eris.
They hugged each other like sisters being reunited.
"Eris... I mean, Lady Eris, I'm so glad you're safe..."
"...Don't be silly, just call me Eris."
Eris was about to say hello to Ghislaine, but Ghislaine's happy look disappeared and was replaced with a shadow.
After seeing Shirou, Ghislaine relaxed, let go of Eris, and said to Shirou, "Come inside."
"??"
Eris was confused by Ghislaine's reaction.
Shirou had expected it.
What he had seen with his Clairvoyance and the news he had heard about the Boreas family over the years made him realize what kind of situation the Boreas family was in now.
It probably wasn't good.
After Ghislaine took Shirou and Eris into the room, she carefully closed the door and looked around to make sure no one was there. Then she sighed.
"Welcome back, Lady Eris. We already heard that you were coming back, and everyone has been waiting anxiously..."
"Ghislaine, you know I'm not interested in that kind of polite talk."
"No, this polite talk is important now."
Ghislaine refused to listen to Eris and said seriously, "Because it has to do with your situation and the current state of the Boreas family."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're still the young lady of the Boreas family, but your father is no longer Lord Philip. The person in charge of the Fittoa region and the Boreas family is no longer Lord Sauros, but Lord James. He now has all the power that used to belong to the Boreas family."
"James..."
Eris seemed to have expected this uncle's name.
If it had been two years ago, she would have yelled and thrown a fit when she heard all this. But after so much training, Eris was much more mature. Even though she heard such terrible news, she didn't get too emotional and just nodded quietly.
"Is there anything else?"
"Because Lord James has become the head of the Boreas family, Lord Philip and Lady Hilda are now being forced to stay in the capital city in a kind of isolated prison. No one is allowed to contact them without Lord James' permission. Lord James also said that if they find Lady Eris, they must take you to the capital to join him."
"..."
Even though Ghislaine's words were gentle, anyone could tell that James was doing all this to take complete control of the Boreas family's power. He was forcing all the people who might threaten his position to be controlled.
Eris was shaking a little, but she controlled her emotions and asked, "What about grandfather? What did grandfather say?"
"Because the Boreas family didn't handle the Displacement Incident well, the Fittoa region suffered severe damage. Lord Sauros was forced to take the blame for the Fittoa region's Displacement Incident and is now in prison. He could be executed at any time."
"That's not fair!"
Eris finally exploded. "Why does grandfather have to take the blame for this? It wasn't grandfather's fault that the Displacement Incident happened!"
"Eris..."
Shirou put his hand on her shoulder.
He had expected this to happen, so he had prepared for it.
He was going to comfort Eris and try to explain things to her so she could understand. But Eris recovered her emotions faster than he thought. She had become much more mature after the Displacement Incident and quickly got rid of her negative feelings.
"I understand, I understand... This world is always unfair."
Eris sighed.
Her mature appearance made Shirou feel bitter because he knew that Eris hadn't really become mature, but had been forced to accept reality.
Harsh reality always teaches people to grow up, even if it's not the right way...
It was all because he, as her brother, wasn't strong enough.
"...So, what should we do now?"
Eris asked after she calmed down.
Ghislaine was silent for a moment and then said, "I secretly went to see Lord Philip once. He told me that if you come back, the best thing to do is to marry into the Notos family. Whether it's Pilemon, his oldest son, or someone else, as long as you can get the protection of the Notos family, you won't be harmed by James."
"Are you serious, Ghislaine?"
Before Eris could answer, Shirou couldn't help but say, "Philip is only thinking about political power. Has he influenced you too?"
"I'm just repeating Lord Philip's words. He said this is the best choice."
"That guy is trying to provoke me on purpose..."
Shirou took a deep breath. He could almost see Philip's sly face. He said firmly, "I won't let Eris be forced to marry someone. And we don't need the Notos family. I can protect her by myself!!"
Shirou understood that Philip meant he wanted Shirou to fight his way back to the capital and use his identity as Paul's son to take back the inheritance of the Notos family in order to protect Eris.
But Shirou didn't accept this suggestion. He didn't think he needed to compromise to that extent in order to protect the people around him.
Even without status and power, he could protect the people around him with just the sword in his hand.
"You're right, Shirou."
Ghislaine seemed to agree with Shirou's words. In a way, she was just speaking for Philip. "But this still needs to be decided by Lady Eris herself."
Ghislaine looked at Eris, who said without hesitation, "I won't marry anyone from the Notos family. I'll use my own strength to rescue my father, mother, and grandfather!"
"Okay."
Ghislaine finally relaxed and looked relieved.
Then she smiled at Shirou and praised him, "Thank you for everything over the years, Shirou. Thanks to you, Lady Eris seems to have grown into a good person."
"It's Eris' own effort."
"No, it's all thanks to you. I'm sure of it."
Ghislaine said calmly and then became serious. "I've explained everything about the Boreas family to you. If Lady Eris doesn't want to marry into the Notos family, there's only one other way."
"What way?"
"Leave the Asura Kingdom, become stronger, and come back one day to settle everything when you're strong enough."
"No problem."
"I agree."
Shirou and Eris nodded, agreeing with Ghislaine's idea.
Ghislaine didn't keep them waiting and quickly said, "Good. Then let's leave right away before James' people can react."
"Leave? Go where?"
Eris asked in confusion.
Ghislaine looked nostalgic and said quietly, "To the place where I was trained, the place that all swordsmen dream of, the place people call the Holy Land of Swords!"
---
Read 55+ advanced chapters on patreon.com/yeyeqiu