Chapter 202 - Your True Identity
There's a notice in the afterword.
By the time we arrived at the port, it was 6:54 PM.The promised time was seven, so we had arrived a little early.
Even for a one-on-one duel, arrive five minutes early.
I guess this is in my Japanese blood, I thought self-deprecatingly as I gazed out at the sea.The ocean surface at night just looks like a black mass. It'll take a little longer for my eyes to adjust.
I shoved my hands in my pockets and stared intently into the darkness.Gradually, my eyes adjusted, and I began to see things that had been invisible moments before.See, just like this.I can even spot a girl sitting alone on the tetrapods about ten meters away.
So that's where she was. Chloe.
"You're early."
I called out in a tone as if making small talk. I raised my right hand with the casualness of passing someone on a walk.Chloe nodded, "Yeah," and rose to her feet.
"I have Japanese blood flowing in me too, you know. I hate being late."
That's why I stood out in that other world, the mixed-blood girl laughed.
"Hey, tell me. No matter how much I think about it, I can't figure out your true identity. ...I just have a feeling, somehow, that you might be a relative of mine.""...""Do you have Teacher Lili's blood in you?""No, I don't."
Chloe hopped lightly onto the seawall. She must have secured her footing.
"Then what? Are you a child born from mixing my lower half with a woman other than Teacher Lili?""There's no way I was born from something so barbaric."
A low hum, vwoom, resonated. Chloe had generated a Light Sword.
"...I thought you'd realize at a glance, though."
The young assassin wore a lonely smile.
"If Nakamoto-san had seen through my identity right away, I was planning to switch sides. Too bad.""...I've always had a reputation for being dense.""Seems like it. How disappointing. ...I was always looking forward to meeting you, and yet—"
Before she could finish, Chloe launched a slashing attack.A low sweeping slash, aimed at my legs.
...It's far too low.
When a small opponent targets a position like this, it's a bit troublesome to deal with. She understands the advantages and disadvantages her own physique brings very well.
"Seems you've been trained well."
I jumped far back to avoid the slash, then immediately fired off light magic. A bullet of light shot from my palm grazed Chloe's cheek.I reflexively closed my eyes, protecting them at the cost of an opening.
"...To think you'd aim for a girl's face! I've misjudged you!"
Chloe stood there unharmed.A few of those should have been on a direct hit course, but it seems she batted them down with her Light Sword.If she can shoot those down, she has considerable talent. With training, she'd likely grow into a remarkable swordswoman.She might have far more talent than someone like me.
However—
"You lack experience."
Those light bullets from earlier were a bluff. If dazzling light passes right by your face, your eyes will be affected for a while. And since she foolishly honest and blocked them with a glowing blade, an intense amount of light must have been generated.
In fact, Chloe's movements are starting to dull. She's holding her eyes with her left hand, so her vision seems to have been severely impaired.
"Sorry about this."
I'm not one to miss this opportunity. I kicked off the ground and closed the distance in an instant.A sluggish target. Within range. Finish it in one blow.
—Got her.
With a large, arcing upward slash, I severed both of Chloe's arms.
"Aauugh!"
I thrust my fingers deep into her screaming mouth. To prevent her from chanting Recovery Magic.We grappled just like that, ending up with me pinning her down. It almost felt like I was committing some grotesquely bizarre assault.
"—! —!"
Chloe desperately thrashed her legs, trying to escape.But our physical strength is different. Our sizes are different. Once it's come to this, there's no reversing the situation.
I questioned her face, now a mess of tears and drool.
"You don't want to die, right? I'd rather not kill you either, if possible."
Chloe stared up at the sky with vacant eyes.
"Answer my questions by blinking. One slow blink means yes. Two blinks means no. How about it?"
Chloe's eyes remained wide open.
"Are you my daughter?"
Chloe's eyes didn't move.
"Was Teacher Lili the one who raised you?"
Her pale eyelids still didn't move.
"...Are you okay with being killed like this?"
A single tear traced down Chloe's cheek.Despite clearly feeling terror, she seems to have no intention of responding to the interrogation.I can't tell if she has guts or not.
Should I just drive her into a state of panic?Then start by peeling off her nails, cutting open her stomach, slicing off her ears.To protect my world, I'll do anything. To extract information from this girl, I'll even become a demon.
While I was formulating this utterly brutal plan, my eyes suddenly fell on Chloe's jaw....On the right side of her jaw, just under the chin. The spot where a man often misses a bit when shaving. There's a large mole there.
I have a mole there too.When I shave looking in the mirror, I can't help but notice it.
"..."
No way.With my fingers still in Chloe's mouth, I used my free hand to flip up her jacket.Her white stomach was exposed, the lines of a girl's body emerging in the darkness of night.
I kept staring intently until my eyes adjusted.Perhaps thinking she was about to be violated, Chloe sniffled and cried.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
Killing my emotions, I observed the girl's body.Above and to the left of her navel... on her right side. When I shifted her bra slightly, I found two more under her armpit.
Chloe's mole placements matched mine.Almost all of them were exactly the same.This wouldn't happen even with an ordinary parent and child. It seems she's inherited my blood very strongly.
Her slender yet toned physique also seems similar to mine. ...In a few more years, she'd surely grow into a very womanly figure.
"Yeah, that figures... I do get compliments on everything from the neck down... If she takes after me, of course she'd have a good figure..."
Cursing my own fate, I put Chloe's clothes back in order.
As I thought.
This girl is my daughter. That much is certain.
"You... did you come here knowing I'm your father?"
Chloe quietly closed her eyes, took her time, then opened them again.One slow blink meant yes. To think she'd obey her father's instructions only at a time like this.
"...Were you planning to kill your own parent?"
Yes, again. I felt the strength drain from my entire body.
"Do you hate me?"
The answer was no. ...No?
"What does that mean? So, you adore me as your father, but you're trying to kill me?"
Chloe closed her eyes once. Apparently, yes.
"...Do you love me? As your father?"
Chloe affirmed it emphatically.
It's impossible.I can't kill this girl.
Thanks to everyone, we have safely been able to publish the second volume.I am currently hard at work on revisions. I plan to share detailed updates through activity reports and such.