When Shirou and Paul went to Buena Village, they were ready to be questioned by the angry villagers.
This was a natural thing to expect.
After all, even if Shirou had good reasons, and was only teaching the kids a lesson to protect Sylphy, he still went too far.
He beat so many children so badly that they couldn't get out of bed for months, and some might even have lifelong mental scars.
As the children's parents, the villagers would probably not let the person who beat their children go easily. They would most likely join together to accuse him.
Shirou had already prepared to be questioned before he even acted. He knew that he would probably lose the trust of the villagers and be rejected by them, but he still chose to beat those children.
Because for Shirou, nothing was more important than the people he wanted to protect. If anyone crossed his line, even if they were an enemy he couldn't defeat, he would do everything he could and pay any price to make them pay!
Of course, he couldn't avoid the consequences of doing so.
When Shirou and Paul arrived at Buena Village, the villagers had already gathered in the village square. All the villagers, familiar and unfamiliar, were there. Some of the children who had been beaten by Shirou, but whose injuries were minor and who could still move, stood beside their parents as witnesses.
One of them was the boy named Somar. He hid behind Mrs. Somar, his face full of fear and horror. Especially when Shirou walked over, he instinctively trembled with fear.
"Everyone..."
Seeing the villagers gathered there with serious faces, Shirou took a deep breath, knowing that it was time for him to take responsibility.
He would take responsibility for beating the children, but he wouldn't apologize for it.
Because he didn't think he had done anything wrong, and he didn't think there was anything to apologize for in protecting Sylphy.
But before he could speak, Mrs. Somar pulled Somar out from behind her and said angrily, "You idiot, hurry up and apologize to him!"
"Huh???"
Shirou and Paul were both stunned by Mrs. Somar's words.
Their faces were full of surprise, clearly not expecting this woman to say such a thing.
Following Mrs. Somar, the other children's parents also scolded their children for not being good enough and forced them to apologize to Shirou.
This scene left even Shirou himself speechless, not to mention Paul.
The father and son stared at each other, not realizing that things would turn out this way in the end.
"Mrs. Somar, what, what are you doing?"
Seeing the young woman in linen clothes walking over with her child to apologize with a serious face, Shirou was completely confused.
He had thought that since he had beaten the children in the village so badly, it was only natural for the villagers to hate and resent him.
Paul felt the same way. He had even prepared to resign from his position as a knight lord and go back to being an adventurer.
Neither father nor son expected things to turn out so unexpectedly.
While Shirou and Paul were confused, Mrs. Somar said seriously, with a look of wanting to hit her child, "Miss Lilia has already explained everything to us, and after we questioned these children, we know the truth. I never thought these stupid kids would do such a thing. Just because of her green hair, they treated the Laws' daughter as a demon and bullied her in all sorts of ways, bringing shame on that child named Sylphy. I'm so angry. It's all my fault for not teaching them well enough that my child would do such outrageous things!"
"Yes, yes, Laws has been so good to our village, always guarding the tower in the forest without condition to prevent monsters from appearing. These brats actually bullied his only daughter. It makes me so angry!"
"Shirou, you did a good job. Even if you didn't teach these brats a lesson, I would have whipped their butts with a belt when I got home!"
"When their injuries heal, I'll beat that little rascal to death! Bullying a little girl!"
"If only my child was half as reliable as Shirou..."
The villagers spoke one after another. They didn't resent Shirou for beating the children at all. Instead, they all looked eager and supported Shirou's actions.
This result surprised Shirou and Paul. The father and son didn't know what to say for a moment.
But Paul soon realized that in a way, this was also a natural result.
After all, he had heard about Shirou's reputation in Buena Village these days.
Shirou not only patrolled the village every day to protect its safety, but he also often helped the villagers with all kinds of troublesome things without condition. For example, he used reinforcement magic to help repair the village's carts and waterwheels, or used earth magic that he had learned later to fertilize the village's fields...
He showed a friendly attitude to everyone in Buena Village and unconditionally helped everyone in need, practicing the ideal of being a partner of justice.
Even though he was just a child, Shirou's attitude was like that of a true knight.
The people of Buena Village saw all of this. Their recognition and gratitude for Shirou deepened over time, and now it was time to repay everything.
It could be said that even if Shirou didn't have a good reason to beat the children, the villagers wouldn't care too much.
Give a peach, receive a plum.
You give your heart, I repay with spring wind.
The relationship between people is not complicated most of the time. Everyone has their own sense of what is right, and that sense is probably good.
Shirou treated the villagers of Buena Village with kindness, and the villagers would naturally not give him cold looks, but would repay him with the same kindness.
"..."
Facing the villagers' attitude, Shirou didn't know what to say for a moment.
His heart was filled with complexity and emotion. The part of his soul that belonged to Servant Emiya was even moved by this idea that was close to justice.
After apologizing to Shirou, the villagers said that they would bring their children to apologize in person as soon as their injuries healed.
Shirou said that they didn't need to apologize to him, but should apologize to Sylphy herself.
The villagers agreed with this.
"Shirou, I'm really sorry this time."
Mrs. Somar said apologetically, "Somar's father died early, and I don't have time to take care of him on weekdays. I didn't expect him to cause you so much trouble. If you don't mind, Shirou, come to my house and I will treat you personally and apologize to you."
"Uh... no, it's not necessary..."
Although normally, it was only right to be treated as an apology, Shirou felt that Mrs. Somar's eyes were very strange.
She was clearly looking at him, but her gaze seemed to be focused on his body, which was gradually developing.
Shirou was only in his early teens, but his body had already entered the early stages of development, which might be related to his usual exercise.
Mrs. Somar's eyes were like a hunter eyeing its prey, making Shirou feel instinctively terrified and hurried to refuse.
After dealing with the affairs of the village, Shirou and Paul returned to the Greyrat house.
This incident still had many effects. As a knight lord, Paul would probably be busy for a long time to deal with the whole thing.
At the same time, Zenith had also returned home and heard everything.
When she heard that Shirou had beaten the children of the entire village to protect Sylphy, she didn't even question it for a moment. She just smiled and hugged Shirou.
"Good, good, my little Shirou is worthy, just like a majestic knight!"
"...It's not that much."
Shirou replied awkwardly, not only because Zenith's praise embarrassed him, but also because Paul's gaze at him had become as strict as the cold winter wind.
So you, as the father, shouldn't be jealous of your own son!
However, Shirou was now in puberty, and such close physical contact with Zenith was really a bit too much for him to handle.
He tried to push Zenith away as much as possible to prevent her from being too intimate.
After that, the family gathered at the dinner table in a lively and warm atmosphere.
Shirou sincerely felt that the Greyrat family was a group of good people, and he was lucky to be a child in this family.
...
Laws, upon learning that Shirou had beaten the children of the entire village for Sylphy's sake, immediately brought his family to thank him properly.
The half-elf had never imagined that Shirou would do something so outrageous for his daughter. He didn't know what to say for a moment and could only repeat words of gratitude.
At the same time, now that the bullying had been resolved, Sylphy had emerged from the shadows, and she no longer had to live in the Greyrat house.
However, Sylphy looked very lost and felt very sad about leaving this warm home.
Seeing this, Shirou went up and patted the girl's head: "Sylphy, the other children in the village won't bully you anymore. You can come to our house to play anytime you want."
"Re, really, Brother?"
"Of course."
Shirou said with a smile, making Sylphy's face light up with a happy smile.
Seeing the interaction between the two, Rudeus's expression was very unpleasant. He couldn't help but step in between Shirou and Sylphy, as if to say, "Don't steal my big brother."
Shirou couldn't help but show a headache, but he smiled from the bottom of his heart.
When everything was over, time began to fly by, and the new year soon arrived.
---
Read 55+ advanced chapters on patreon.com/yeyeqiu
Free member can read up to 4 advanced chapters