The Demon King's Paladin

Chapter 159. Dreams Of A Vacation

                                                                   John Ericsson's Point Of View

" Finally!"

I had just finished the paperwork needed to make Emily a Proxy Lord in my absence. With this, I didn't have much work left before I leave in 2 days. The day Sarah, Anna and I set off to the Dark Forest will make it a week since Warrick got the message from the Dark Elves. We've spent the past 5 days preparing everything we needed to make our way to the Dark Forest. When I explained the request to Sarah and Anna, they're reactions were interesting.

" A vacation!"

Sarah was smiling brightly.

" Sarah, there's going to be work to do when we make it to the Dark Forest, you know?"

Anna wanted to correct Sarah's thoughts, but instead, Sarah explained her thought process instead.

" But Anna, it's going to be 6 weeks to the Dark Forest and back! That means we'll have 12 weeks of relaxation traveling to and from there! It'll be like a 2nd honeymoon!"

" You know I'm going to be hard at work making the road we'll be traveling on, right? Also, Paula will be bringing us back once we're out of sight when we leave."

I couldn't help but point out that I would be working during this " 2nd honeymoon" she was talking about. Seems Sarah forgot about Paula. Anna began to comfort her. I guess I really need to get the economic plans off of the ground so we can go on vacation. After finishing some thoughts about the future, I looked away from my wives and noticed that Emily and Ruby seemed to be sad.

" Are you guys, okay?" 

I asked them and it seemed to surprise them. I continued to speak to them.

" I imagine I'll only be gone for a month or so max. I doubt recounting a fight that lasted a little over 15 minutes will take that long."

" That's good at least."

Emily smiled weakly at me.

" Relax, you had to help manage a city-wide business with multiple moving parts and multiple partners. A few weeks of paper pushing should be easy to do."

" Yes, it will be. But that's not the reason we're sad."

I looked at Ruby and Emily as they looked in my direction. What else would they be sad abo--... Oh yeah! Sarah and Anna.

" I know it's hard to say goodbye to friends, but don't worry, I won't let anything happen to Sarah and Anna, if anything bad happens, either on the road or in the Dark Forest, we'll warp right back here!"

I smiled to let them know not to worry. That seemed to help but they still seemed sad. Ruby seemingly couldn't take it and said what was on her mind.

" If you think something could go wrong, you should bring protection! Let me come with you 3!"

Ruby spoke with irritation in her voice. Contrary to what she wants, I know she needs to be here for Emily.

" Ruby, I've already assigned some people to come with us as a convoy. They're technically replaceable in that position, but you being here isn't. You need to be here to help Emily as an advisor. I'm grateful you want to come with us however."

" But! I mean!..."

Ruby seemed to be tripped up on her words. There was a sense of frustration on her face. If I'm being honest, it was kind of cute. I waited for her to find her words, but when she looked at me, she began to calm down. It was strange, almost like someone said something to calm her down, how strange. As I thought about what Ruby may have wanted to say, I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.