Chương 367: Chapter 349. Missing The Obvious

" This is always the hardest part for me." /Sniff! /" Mother, we can visit whenever we want to now. You don't need to cry."" But, Sarah... I haven't seen you for a year and now, after only a week, I need to leave you again. It's a lot, you know? I miss you and Cynthia so much. Oh, Sarah Beth, I hope you never have to say goodbye to your Children on such a consistent basis like I have to."" Mom... You're making it seem like it's John's fault we're not near each other!"" Oh, don't get angry!

He knows I didn't mean him!" Both of the Dreadnaught women looked at me now." I-I promise to bring Sarah and Anna by as much as possible, Aqua." Aqua smiled and Sarah had a difficult expression on her face. I can see why. She and Anna don't like seeing me be ostracized by the Demons in the Palace, but I can grit and bear it if it means that Sarah and Anna can enjoy some time with Family and Friends." Don't feel too pressured, John. I know how important your work is here.

Take care to think about when you want to visit, since Aqua will want you to stay for a while."" I know, Warrick. But still, being able to keep in contact with everyone is important to me too."" Well.... Like I said, you should take care of yourself and your Family first. We'll always be there waiting for you 3 after all."" Okay." Grip. Shake. Warrick stuck out his hand for me to shake it, I met his hand and shook it as firmly as I could. This was how we said goodbye the first time I left for Paradise.

It was somewhat nostalgic. We were even in Warrick's office where our handshake had happened. I had already brought Warrick, Aqua and Cynthia back to Blackstone. I brought Sarah and Anna along with me, currently, while Sarah had been saying goodbye to a nearly crying Aqua, Anna had struck up a conversation with Trish. It was like 2 old work colleagues getting together after a long time. Anna and Trish both looked like they were enjoying the conversation." When do you think you'll come back to Blackstone, John?"

Just as I was observing both Sarah and Anna, Cynthia had walked up to my side and began to speak to me. It was about returning to Blackstone. I guess Warrick hadn't told her about our plans moving forward yet?" I'll probably be arriving back in Blackstone in about 8 months, I think?"" 8 months!? Why so long?" Cynthia was almost outraged, it was kind of cute if I was being honest with myself. I should probably explain why I'll be coming back in 8 months' time."

Yes, 8 months, the reason being that for 2 months, I'll be setting up quite a few orders for the Count Families around the Rose Swamps."" "Roselands" now, John, the paperwork should be delivered to you in a few weeks, I think?"" Oh, great! Then yes, around the Roselands."" Wait, I thought the Rose Swa... Roselands, cover the entire area past the Eastern Border?" Cynthia asked an interesting question.

Warrick was under the same impression when we first started looking into the area when I started learning to govern." Actually, the greater area past the Eastern Border is just known as "The Eastern Expansion Zone". The Roselands were the area that Paradise was built in and the immediate area around it, think of it like a circle that stretches out to 500 miles of land in every direction with Paradise being the center of the circle of land."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation." Wow, are you thinking about building smaller towns and villages around Paradise? Since you have all of that space?" Cynthia thought up a very surprising idea to me. I never really thought about something like that before. I answered as much as well." I never really thought of doing something like that. I mean, the population is still too sparse to even think about not having enough living space for everyone...

I suppose if it ever got to that point, I'd have to start doing something like that, but I doubt I'll ever have to deal with something like that during my time as the Lord Of Paradise."" Why do you say that? You know that even the Dark Elves were impressed with Paradise in its current state, right?"" Well, I plan on Paradise being a place of commerce for people to quickly move goods in and out of and going back to wherever they came from. Though, I suppose describing that now...

A place like that would be somewhere a Merchant would want to settle down and start a family, wouldn't it?" Now I was thinking about the logistics of doing something like that... How many homes would need to be made? How many clean sources of water? Farms? Domestic animals? Building materials? Too much of an investment to enact anything currently... But in the future?... Maybe?" John!" Cynthia shouted at me to get my attention, I just did something really rude, didn't I?"

Sorry, I was thinking about the cost to build a village or a smaller town."" You really need to stop doing that, you know? How do you think it makes someone feel as a conversation partner when you just go off into your own world like that?"" Sorry, Cynthia. It's just that you made me see something so simple that I completely missed." Now that I think about it..." Say, Cynthia, what made you think about something like people moving into my lands in the first place?"" Well, I plan on moving there at some point.""

Huh?"" Cyn..." Why did Aqua just call for Cynthia in a defeated voice? I decided to worry more about Cynthia's declaration for the moment." Why do you want to move to Paradise?"

"!" Cynthia began to blush at my question. What is going on here? I waited for Cynthia to answer my question. As I did, I couldn't help but notice everyone was silent and looking at us currently." Well... You see... I've been separated from Big Sis for a long time now, we just got her back from her sickness and then she was swept off of her feet by you and taken to Paradise and I was stuck in the Academy. I want to spend some time with her, uninterrupted. Also, I want to talk to Anna a lot more as well.

And I got along surprisingly well with Charlotte and Emily."" Oh... I see.... Sorry?"" You don't need to apologize to me, John. You won't ever need to do that. But the situation is as I've stated... So, would it be okay for me to live in Paradise for a few years after I Graduate next year?" Cynthia looked up at me with big round eyes and I couldn't deny her when my Sister-In-Law had such a look." Okay, I'll have a home prepared for you when you Graduate in a year."" Thank you!" Cynthia had a wide grin on her face.

I guess this visit was successful for that alone, she's seemed kind of sad since yesterday after all. Just as I was thinking about packing everything up for the day, Trish's voice rang out to me." Say, John, what's the other reason after the 2 months spent in Paradise?" Trish must've been curious about my reasoning... I guess the explanation did get lost because of all of the other talk. I responded to her with the honest truth." Because I'm going to create a long road from Paradise to Blackstone."" Ah... I see.

You'll be using King Gilbert I presume?"" Yes. That's right." For some reason... Trish's eyes seemed to be glittering at the mention of Gil? Maybe it's just my imagination? After speaking to Trish, the rest of the goodbyes went quite quickly as Aqua had seemed to have a look of relief on her face for some reason? Maybe it had to do with Cynthia? I decided not to ask since it might've been something personal to her. Eventually, the time of departure had arrived.

I quickly Summoned Paula to help me with opening the Portal. While it was possible to open the Portal by myself, it still helped me save a small portion of mana by having Paula open the Portal instead. Sometimes I even forget the use of the Summoner Job. /Whoosh! /" Thank you, Paula."" No worries! Now then, I have to get back, Mom is making my favorite chestnut pie!"" Okay, be safe! Enjoy the pie." Paula was in a rush today. You should never get in the way of a woman and her dessert after all.

So, I didn't keep her for any extra time. The Portal was open and just as Sarah, Anna and I were about to step through it, I heard Warrick call to me." Wait, John! I almost forgot! Here, your response letters from Asha and Sharon... Also, Cynthia. But she finished them before you both ran into each other again." Warrick handed me a stack of letters. Along with that, Sarah and Anna also received a stack of letters.

I guess we wouldn't be returning empty handed after arriving here with some vegetables for Zack and Gabby, his pregnant wife. I thought it was a fair trade... Even though I'm shivering at the complaints I'm most likely going to be receiving from them. With the letters handed to us, Sarah, Anna and I walked through the Portal while saying goodbye and like that, we were back in my office... It felt a little colder and quieter compared to before.