I Can Make Everything Level UP

"Don't act like that, Natalie, it is just a stupid match," Billy said. "It doesn't matter if we win or you win. Besides, I am thinking of forfeiting the match. I wouldn't truly gain anything by fighting you. I love you too much to end up hurting you."

"Well, it is up to you," Natalie said while they were returning to the inn. "You can forfeit and disrespect me completely or fight for real and show that you respect my strength."

"At least try to see my position here…" Billy said and then sighed.

"I know that fighting won't be easy, but even if we get hurt, it will be fine because the attacks won't have any hate," Natalie said. "This will probably be the only time we will fight seriously against each other, so it would be a waste to let such a chance go."

Natalie had a point, she was right in all aspects, but that didn't make things that much easier for him. Still, he could only accept her words since he couldn't say anything back. People thought that Billy and Alexander would have a hard time punching each other seriously. Still, only now Billy would have such a hard time. Things were too complicated in his life... However, maybe he was just thinking too much.

Once they got to the inn, everyone congratulated Billy and Alexander for the good fight, and while Billy smiled at them back, he didn't feel that happy about it. He didn't even feel like playing with his kids that day. He needed some time alone to collect his thoughts and make up his mind. Fortunately, he had something better.

"Don't feel sad, papa," Kate said after putting Chrisna on Billy's head while he was facing the sheets of his bed.

Billy sighed. While it was cute that Kate was trying to mimic her daughter's voice, it didn't help him much. Billy already knew, but it was hard to be a considerate man in that world… but he also could only blame himself for entering the tournament since he didn't expect that such a problem would arrive. He acted without thinking and he had to pay the price for it. Still, soon he forgot about that small problem.

"Pa… Pa," Christina said.

"Eh?" Billy and said in confusion.

It was a rather unexpected time for Christina to say her first word. Still, that alone improved Billy's mood beyond expected. He quickly hugged his daughter and began to spin around while holding her and feeling her soft cheeks on his face. It was time to brag to the rest of the family, but then Billy realized that it might hurt Kate a bit. Usually, kids call for their mother's names, after all. Considering how Billy worked outside the home, it was only natural that calling Kate first would be most expected.

"Don't look at me like that, I am not that unreasonable," Kate said. "Christina, say: ma-ma. Come on, let your daddy realize how silly he is."

"Ma… Ma…" Christina said.

Billy and Kate frowned since that went too easy, but then they laughed. Natalie was out, probably preparing her strategy against Billy, and Hector was with his grandma, so they only left for a while.

"Christina, say: onomatopeia," Billy said.

"Are you stupid?" Kate asked. "Of course, she can't say something that complicated now."

Billy decided to ignore Kate's words and then continued playing with Christina and tried to make her call him papa more times, but she didn't do it. It was a pity, but it couldn't be helped. After a while, Billy went to brag to his parents about how smart Christina was to be able to talk at that age, but it was just him being stupidly doting. He tried to show off to Natalie as well, but she only returned late at night when everyone was already asleep. Billy pinched her cheeks to punish her. Whatever happens, he will make sure that nothing too dangerous may befall them. Besides, he had the means and the skills to prevent most disasters. He just had to be a bit more careful.

"All right, you win," Billy said. "Let's have a good fight tomorrow."

"I wonder if you will be able to fight for real," Natalie said. "To be honest, your fight today was pretty amazing. I wish that you had lost, though, because I knew I would have more chances of fighting Alexander seriously."

"I think Alexander would have a much harder time fighting you girls seriously," Billy said. "He would have thought that he would make me angry by fighting you for real."

"I guess that makes sense," Natalie said. "In any case, I still want to test my strength against you, since you are the one who defeated the strongest people around. The fact that we are husband and wife complicated things a bit, but I am still a warrior. I do want to fight strong people."

"And you will, but in compensation, I will bully you at night when we return home," Billy said.

"If you only didn't say that kind of thing out loud… You would look so much more cool in my eyes," Natalie said and then sighed.

The kids and Kate were already sleeping, and since it was late, those two went to sleep as well. Although Billy strengthened his resolve, he didn't know things would play out in the end once the fight started. Hopefully, he won't feel too miserable about it… but also, in the end, doing his best was the only thing that he could do to avoid problems later.

Regardless, the next day will only have two fights, so Billy made a mental note to watch the other fight well. If either loses or wins, he will be able to come up with a decent plan to face the last guy in the final. Until now, Billy ignored everyone else aside from his friends, but that was no longer a good idea…