Drip, drip.
The sound of flowing blood dripping into the lake.
In this vast lake, a single drop was so insignificant that it couldn’t be noticed, but the ripples from the diluted blood drop were gently reaching where I stood.
Contrary to the emotional state I saw before losing consciousness, it is now eerily quiet and cold.
“You seem deep in thought, Daddy.”
As I was silently observing, Pheloi, with her cloudy eyes fixed on , began to speak.
The girl, still with her bloodied sword thrust into the surface of the lake, continued in a blunt tone, not changing the title she used for .
“After all, in Daddy’s mory, I was just a naive little girl. This dirty appearance must be unpleasant to you.”
Dirty? Honestly, that thought never crossed my mind.
Just monts ago, the girl crying in the midst of a battlefield deserved sympathy, not disgust.
“But what does that matter now? Daddy, you didn’t co here to have such trivial conversations, did you?”
Pheloi continued, as if my thoughts on the matter were irrelevant.
Then, with her lifeless eyes fixed on , she asked,
“What you want, Daddy, is for not to have killed Mom, right?”
Drip, drip.
The silence was so profound that the sound of blood droplets falling into the lake was clear.
In such stillness, I found myself unable to give any response to Pheloi.
I knew for sure that her actions were not born of a curse, but of her own will, and even the reason seed justifiable now.
“Fortunately, Daddy isn’t soone intoxicated with moral superiority.”
Pheloi took my silence as an affirmation, seemingly relieved.
Such palpable malevolence was commonly seen among adventurers used to grim tasks.
Yes, as if teaching , she could no longer return to being the child who once acted coyly towards .
“Right, just as Daddy guessed… That woman once left her daughter and went away without a word. In an era where wars exist everywhere, she abandoned her own daughter, barely even 10, without a sense of responsibility.”
With a sneer, she lifted the corners of her mouth in a bitter smile.
In her eyes, which fiercely glead, there was only emptiness.
“It’s only natural to want to kill her. That damned mother.”
“…Pheloi.”
“Of course, Daddy might not have any bad feelings towards Mom, but once sothing has started, it’s impossible to end it with just our wills.”
As if mocking for thinking there might still be a way.
Pheloi maintained her stance, intent on firmly continuing her argunt.
“Daddy.”
Still addressing with the sa title.
“Knowing full well that I harbored a grudge against her, did Mom really extract a soul from a dead body and create a replica of her daughter for no reason?”
I flinched involuntarily.
It was a reaction before I even comprehended it with my mind, as my subconscious accepted Pheloi’s words.
“Yes, just as you’re thinking now, Daddy.”
To purify the soul of a being with revenge in mind and turn it into a weapon…
Wasn’t the reason all too obvious?
“From the beginning, Mom created , hoping that I would be the one to kill her. She chose you, Daddy, to help with that, to grow to this extent.”
Yet she seed to dismiss the notion of any doubt as trivial.
Pheloi, without giving any respite, wanted to drive her point ho.
“You also have a guess, don’t you, Daddy? About what Mom really is. And that a person of her stature wouldn’t give away sothing as precious as a mithril-made Ego Weapon without expecting sothing in return.”
“……”
“…Right, there’s no need for further explanation after this.”
Swoosh.
Then, as the sword pulled out of the water and its tip pointed at …
Despite draining enough blood to form a pool beneath it, the tip pointed at was still stained a crimson hue.
As if to show that her desire for revenge wasn’t so light as to disappear with a few words.
“Daddy, you now understand why I am like this, don’t you?”
Yes, everything I had been through had been pushing towards this.
This child was an entity based on the soul of a hero with a vengeance against her mother.
Tacchia, who made her into a weapon despite knowing this, must have also considered that she would inevitably be killed.
“You clearly know what you need to do to survive, right, Daddy?”
And for that reason, she handed this child over to for free.
To , who needed power more than anyone.
Because without a weapon, I was nothing, and knowing my obsession, I wouldn’t part with this weapon.
“…Yes, as you say.”
And that thought was spot on.
After all the dependence, I couldn’t think of parting with this child now.
“If that’s what you want, and Tacchia also wants it… Having received help from both of you, I must comply.”
If a price was indeed needed for the achievents I had made so far…
I must not refuse this offer.
“You finally understand. Then…”
“But not yet.”
Despite this, my inability to accept the current conclusion abruptly cut off Pheloi’s words.
For a brief mont, the smile on her lips began to distort noticeably quickly.
“Not yet, you say?”
“…Yes, not yet.”
A feeling of betrayal.
Guessing that my next words would be far from the answer she desired, I couldn’t face her expression and bowed my head.
“I think it’s not yet ti to give a definite answer to that.”
I knew it was cowardly, but it was too sudden for .
I couldn’t easily accept that I had to kill soone who had shown kindness overnight, and that the child I considered my companion was leading this mission.
“…So that’s what you were going to say.”
Despite hanging my head in sha, Pheloi’s emotions were clearly reflected in my eyes.
Even without looking directly at her, I could see her face reflected in the blood-stained water.
Bang!
The mont I realized her expression carried anger, a loud noise erupted.
As my face contorted with the fierce splash, Pheloi had already struck down onto the water’s surface.
“Daddy, do you think you have any choice now?”
I felt a cold chill from the water soaking my body.
And then a colder, sharper blade was pointed at my face.
“The reason you’ve survived all the dangers so far is because of . If I don’t cooperate with you here, you won’t live much longer.”
I knew that.
No matter how much I had grown, without this child, I would inevitably return to my previous state.
“For you to continue surviving, you must swear here and now to kill Mom with !”
“I know. I understand that much.”
“Then why…?!”
“Because I still don’t know anything!”
Facing Pheloi’s cries, I also raised my voice in frustration.
There was no hesitation.
Even though a blade was pointed at , I still had to say what needed to be said.
“Pheloi, I don’t know anything right now. I only just understood why you want to kill Ms. Tacchia, but beyond that, I’m clueless.”
“Is that so important? All you need to know right now is that if I don’t cooperate, you’ll die…”
“Do you know how painful it is to be manipulated without understanding anything?”
Flinch. The sword pointed at wavered.
This must be a reaction because my words hit the mark.
The pain of being helplessly swept away by circumstances was sothing this child, who rembered wailing alone on the battlefield, knew all too well.
“Pheloi, you also want to be sincere in your quest for revenge, right?”
Was she not soone I had co to care for?
Even if she had committed sins in the past, there was a disconnect between that and the woman I knew.
How could I thoughtlessly pursue the goal of killing her just based on that one sin?
“Then give ti, at least to understand why Ms. Tacchia abandoned you…”
“Do you think knowing the reason will change the outco? Whatever the reason, it doesn’t change the fact that she’s trash for abandoning her daughter on the battlefield and running away!”
“Why would such a person be using your na as an alias?!”
A shout born of frustration.
Pheloi, seemingly unable to digest my words, glared at with wide eyes, her mouth shut tight.
“…That’s sothing you’re more curious about than I am, Pheloi.”
I appealed to Pheloi in that state.
Hoping that the sense of unease I had always felt towards this child, driven by murderous intent and hatred towards her, wasn’t false.
“I’m not curious.”
“If you’re not curious, then why do you keep calling Ms. Tacchia ‘Mom’?”
If her hatred was truly clear, there was no need to call her by a term as endearing as ‘Mom’.
The title itself suggested she hadn’t yet severed her affection and bond with her, so how could I simply follow this child’s coercion?
“……”
“Pheloi, give ti.”
Pheloi bit her lip in silence.
In that mont, realizing there was hope in this argunt, I reached out my hand to Pheloi.
“If revenge is truly necessary, let’s start by understanding Ms. Tacchia first…”
Even if, in the near future, revenge seed to be the only answer.
We should delay our decision, allowing ti for both of us to make a proper judgnt and mindset.
Crack!!!
But before our hands could touch, a slash of the sword cut through the air in front of .
“…I’m disappointed.”
My fingertips were blown away by the wind pressure, and with that, cracks began to form in the trajectory of the swung sword.
And then, the collapse of space began.
As everything around the cracks was being sucked in, Pheloi, with her back to , said quietly,
“I thought that if I had a father, he would always be there for , but if you react like this…”
“Pheloi, wait.”
“I don’t want to talk.”
A sense of betrayal mixed with disappointnt and anger.
As if closing the door to her heart, Pheloi began to drift away from .
“I refuse to have a weak, foolish father who doesn’t know his place.”
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