Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

[Eon's POV: ]

In the small passage connecting our kitchen and the dining room, there was a small window on the right side that showed the back side of the front garden, a random area behind that statue and the left side flower field.

The two of us were staring out of that window right now, and it was perhaps the most ordinary place in this house.

There was nothing there, just some grass and pretty much nothing to pay attention to.

This window was here only for the ventilation purposes so in this area that no one paid any attention to, there was no great significance to this window.

We were just looking out, and he wasn't saying anything.

It has been six minutes and he hasn't said anything…

Which is no good.

"Dad…?"

I have to go and cook dinner for everyone and, since I want to make some special things for everyone, even considering I won't make something special for every single individual, I would still have to make around forty to fifty things.

And even with a few hours on hand and everything already prepared, I would still need quite a bit of time to get everything together.

So, as he also knew, we did not have a lot of time to waste.

He had to start talking at the very least so that we can use what time we have right now.

"Would it be wrong of me if I do accept Taika?" He spoke up for the first time and what he asked, this question of his, represented just how much chaos was going on in his mind.

'I had expected this much already."

The two of them, specifically, had gone to investigate a dungeon that was filled with creatures that he should have been able to defeat easily.

He had to clear the dungeon and as everyone knows, to clear the dungeon, one has to defeat the strongest creature in that dungeon, the Boss monster as we call it, and only by doing that can one actually clear the dungeon for certain and stop it from growing or returning.

It was a special structure of nature and just like a mausoleum or a graveyard that is filled with many creatures and beings that are special only to that special structure, the dungeon they had gone to was also a special place.

He was only there for the investigation but he did them a favour and cleared the monsters that he could and since Taika was having fun all on her own, he did not have any need to do anything himself and, they could have returned after the basic investigation if things went normally, but… nope.

'They faced a creature called (Shadow Lurker) in that dungeon, a dungeon anomaly that should not have been part of that dungeon's environment.'

They were creatures closest to the ghost and spirit beings that could not be damaged by any kind of magic attack as their magic absorption ability made them immune to most kinds of basic Mana magic.

'That creature was not the boss of the dungeon, but still, it was the strongest creature that was even stronger than the boss of the dungeon, someone that was naturally the ruler of that dungeon territory.'

He would have been in big trouble had Taika not been there. He would have had to use the last remaining resort and teleport away from that place if Taika had not driven away the creature.

'But, since this was a Lurker we were talking about, a darkness attribute (Indigo) ranked creature, the fight with that creature was not something simple.'

Shadow Lurkers, one of the few creatures that could play with people's minds and show them unique illusions, dreams in some cases, use sweet dreams that make the target forget about all the tension and induce so much happiness and joy that they drop their guards even without knowing.

And after the targets are lost in the great sea of happiness, the creature devours them from the inside the same way a snake devours its prey—slowly.

These creatures are rare and also called nightmares by many in this world, and they certainly are nightmares.

'If not for Taika freeing herself from the illusion that creature had cast on them, and injuring the creature after evolving into her new self, dad would have been in trouble as according to him, the mental attack was strong enough to have affected even his mind.'

He wouldn't have died since he had 'that' thing with him but he was good thanks to Taika and the fact that she saved her remained true here.

'Now, she wanted him to accept her willingly. It wasn't just about him marrying her but, she wanted him to love her as well. And allow her a place in his heart not just as his familiar, but as something more.'

And according to grandma and Aunt Aug, just a contract marriage wasn't a bad thing in this case.

'The cases of people marrying their own evolved familiars, especially beings like Tigers or Dragonoids was nothing new to the world. On the contrary, it was considered an inevitable tradition among many cultures of the world to marry the familiars if they have evolved into higher cognitive individuals.'

Not marrying them, on the other hand, was a foolish thing since a familiar is quite literally the perfect being one could wish for. Someone that is bound to stay with them for the rest of their lives.

So if they were going to live together anyway, it was usually considered better for the two to live as a married couple rather than just individuals that were connected to each other by the master-familiar bond.

These relationships matter a lot from the societal dynamics and, dad knew it as well.

'Marrying her would mean he is accepting her, which will mean he is giving her a chance, and even if he is not marrying her, things would still be the same.'

She was his familiar and a member of this family.

Yes there were many positive outcomes of their marriage, the addition of a night partner would make things fun for mom as well, but he wasn't sure about all this still.

"What's stopping you, dad?"

His past has not been the best thing.

It isn't easy for him to give his heart to someone else, not even if it is his own familiar.

He loved one person and that too took more than what he had at that time, and he wanted to keep it that way till the end of his life.

However, the recent events made him think back on his thoughts.

She saved him without caring about her own life. She took care of him when that wretched creature put a curse on him and he couldn't walk for an entire day, she even controlled her primal urges and just took care of him instead of taking advantage of his situation.

She said she would wait until he accepted her. She had no problem spending every other moment of her life fighting her own instincts and suffering while spending her days around us elements that received his love.

She was giving away a lot of things for this, her animal side was at the core of it.

Dad knew better than anyone else just how difficult it was to live as a 'human'. But she was going to do that just so he could see her as something more than a beast.

"Eon…"

He looked at me with an uncertain look for a moment, and after gathering his thoughts, he asked me a silly question.

"What would you do if you were in a similar situation as me? What if Celes-"

"Hahaha, dad. It's not about me, you know? I have the option of never accepting her. I can be that selfish. I can draw the line between my love, and my affection.

Even if I face a similar situation as you, I can just be the bad person and reject their request to be my partner since I am simply not capable of sharing what we have.

I am an anomaly that simply doesn't have anything to share anymore. While you, on the other hand, dad… are different.

If you believe you can share whatever is left of you, then do as your heart tells you. Or, just wait until some ice around your heart melts down and try after that.

She will just have to live as human until then, but if she is trying, I personally believe she deserves a proper answer.

If not not, then at least one day.

Can you do that? Can you give her that answer one day?"

I looked straight up at him with a serious look, and he… he looked away from me, and started staring back out of the window.

"I don't know, Eon… I do not know."

The internal conflict eating away at him, the guilt, and the clash of his current character with his past memories must be difficult to handle for him.

I understand what it must be like to talk with his own self on three different fronts, but this was a battle that he will have to fight no matter what.

Her wish to be with him was hers alone, but dad's decision will all the difference now.

No one was against the marriage, Anna would especially liked the idea of making the new Taika her second mom, so his decision will decide the fate of an attractive creature, and her position in this family of ours.

"Not knowing is normal, dad."

He was thinking.

And I would advise that he thinks even more about this.

"It's far better than knowing something for certain."

Tapping his back, and bidding my farewell, started my journey to our kitchen.

He came to his place since he wanted some time to think, some time for himself. Meeting me and this brief but meaningful chat that we had was certainly something he might not be looking forward to, but it has happened.

And what to do with the words I have left with him, would all be up to him from this point forward…