A year and a half has passed.
These days, the amount I'm drinking has increased.
It has become a fact that I am unable to do anything unless I resort to alcohol.
I'm drinking from morning till night.
There's no time when I'm sober.
Even while I think I should not be like this when I wake up in the middle of the night, whatever I do becomes completely useless.
I would have thoughts that my family has died.
What was their death like, what became of their corpses?
All I would end up thinking of were such things.
After all, even with that excellent son of mine, I still had not heard of even one thing of him ever since the disaster.
I do not want to think.
I do not want to think, and even possibly consider their deaths.
Surely everyone during this one and a half years was waiting for my help and then ended up dying in tears.
When I think about that, I almost become mad.
Why am I in such a place?
Out of all the possible choices, it would have been best if I had started looking in the most dangerous places.
Even at worst, I alone could have somehow worked it out.
Any mistake in my decisions contributes directly to those who had died, those that could have been saved but weren't.
Those that we hold dear to us, those who were the most important to us, were mercilessly taken away.
Rather than wanting to believe it, I drink away my sorrows.
Only when I was drunk was I happy.
I was unable to do any work at all.
Six months later, the plan to return all of those found in the Milis Continent back to the Fedoa region begins.
I just can't move those who were ill, the women, the children, and the elderly recklessly like that.
There are people that cannot withstand the long trip even if there was a gold coin each for their travel expenses.
But we have hope with us as well as the will to return home.
Those of us within the Fedoa Region's Search Group escorted them back to Fedoa.
While the plan was progressing, even though I was responsible for them, I did not participate at all in the meetings, and instead I just drank all day.
All of the key members, including me, remained in Milis.
But in the end, the searching activities were reduced.
Two years.
The search movement will stop after two years.
While I think that it is still too early, there were others who thought that this was it.
Even if we were to search more, we would just be wasting money in vain.
In the end, I wasn't able to find even one family member.
Such a useless man.
Why in the world was I so useless?
Always a mere kid, not fit to be an adult even to the ends of time.
The teams members all started to take a step's distance away from me who was now always drunk and filled with the smell of booze.
This was natural.
No one would want to be acquainted with such a fool of a man who only drinks all day.
However there were some exceptions, one of which was Norn.
"Dad! Just a moment ago, a huge man was there."
Even when I was this drunk, Norn would still talk to me so joyfully.
Norn.
For me, Norn is my only family now.
She's my most important person in the entire world.
To me, there is only Norn.
Right.
I didn't even go to the Begaritto Continent or Magic Continent.
This was because of the presence of Norn.
My daughter who's only four years old right now, how could I abandon her?
Why should I leave her behind and go to such a dangerous place where I might die?
"Oh? What is it Norn? Did you encountered anything fun?"
"Yeah! When I almost fell into the ditch awhile ago, a bald person helped me! So, this! I got this!"
While saying that, Norn held up what was in her hands happily.
It was an apple. A red apple. A most appetizing color indeed.
"I see, that's good. Did you thank him properly?"
"Yes, I said 'Thank you'. The bald uncle then stroked my head!"
"I see, I see. A good person. But, you shouldn't go calling him bald since it might bother him."
Conversations with my daughter were always fun.
Norn's my treasure.
If there was anyone who would dare lay a hand on her, I would be ready to go against the entire Milis Kingdom.
It was at that time when I was about thinking that...
"Leader, it's very bad!"
One of my team members jumped into my room.
Interrupting a conversation with my precious daughter, I was feeling a little cranky.
If it was like always, I would just reply back at him while yelling my lungs off.
However, with my daughter besides me, my pride held me back.
"What's the matter?"
"I was doing the worked you assigned to me when we were attacked!"
"Attacked?"
They were attacked.
By whom?
It must be those damn nobles.
We told to them that those under the Asura Kingdom's dominion were wrongfully forced into slavery after the disaster.
Even so, they did not budge nor hand them over, those greedy bastards.
That was the story today, they sent people over to take their slaves back.
"All right, everyone, quickly get equipped. Let's go!"
For now, we called out for everyone to gather together.
They weren't a bunch of powerful fighters but it wasn't like their opponents were strong adventurers that have fought through labyrinths.
They should be able to at least fight neck to neck with them.
While they gather, I headed off to where the problem had occurred.
The place should be close by, where I can immediately jump in.
The Search Team's secret headquarters were a bunch of old warehouses where clothing and other sorts of items were stored.
It was a place someone was bound to discover.
This is bad. It may be necessary to change the base.
"Mr. Paul, the enemy is only one but he is strong, be careful."
"...he uses a sword?"
"No, it's a magician. Probably a kid, but he has his face covered."
A magician brat...
Possibly an amateur, though with that said, how would he defeat us with so many adults as his opponents?
It would probably be someone from the Dwarf race.
With a small stature like a child, he can easily fool us into thinking he's a mere kid.
An opponent of the dwarf race.
Even drunk, I should still be able to win.
I am confident that I wouldn't be defeated by these mere thugs, but...
Nope, there's no problem.
I have more than enough options in terms of fighting abilities.
Thinking so, I continued on to the warehouse.