Chapter 245 - Keisuke Han
The next morning.
Waking up sandwiched between Rio and Ayako-chan on either side, I got dressed with a straight face and headed off to wake up Chloe.
Leaving the room with sleepy eyes, I moved to the adjacent bedroom. Since I have no interest in sharing a bed with a blood relative, I always have her sleep in a separate room.
"Good morning, Chloe. Hey. Wake up, Chloe. It's your beloved Lord Father."
I called her name repeatedly while gently patting her cheeks.
On the third pat, her white eyelids lifted, and my face reflected in her gray eyes.
"...Huh? I smelled a young girl, but I see Father's face. Could it be you slept so close to girls that their body odor rubbed off on you?"
"Just get up already. I have something to do today, and I'm going out with you."
"...A date?"
"Well, something like that."
"A date!"
Muttering "date, date, a date with Father" in a pitiful voice, Chloe started changing clothes right in front of me without a hint of shame.
She stripped off her pajamas, and in no time at all, she was down to just her bra and panties.
Does this girl not have a sense of modesty?
"Should I step out?"
"You can stay. I'll be done soon."
Despite saying that, Chloe spent nearly five minutes rummaging through her wardrobe.
With her backside, wrapped in a single thin layer of cloth, turned towards me, and her on all fours rummaging around, it looked like a crime scene no matter how you saw it.
Why does choosing women's clothes take so long?
It's getting awkward for me watching, so sorry, but I'm going to intervene.
"That's enough, I'll pick."
"Eh?"
I pulled Chloe's body close and forcibly started dressing her.
First, I made her raise her arms and forced a shirt over her head... and man, this girl is sweating like crazy.
She's all clammy.
It's probably night sweat, but I can see countless beads of sweat floating in her armpits.
Geez. This'll leave sweat stains on her clothes, won't it?
I can't let my daughter embarrass herself, so I carefully wiped the sweat from her armpits with a handkerchief.
At that moment, a system message appeared: [Chloe's Affection Level has increased by 5000].
I pretended not to see it, then took out some shorts from the drawer and helped her put them on.
I noticed her lower body was also fairly sweaty, so I made sure to wipe that down carefully too.
"There, all dressed. Whew. An ordinary father would be too embarrassed and his hands would be shaking, you know?"
"As expected, Father is amazing! When it comes to handling a teenage girl's body, no one can match you!"
What is this. It's a compliment, but it doesn't make me happy at all.
Rather, it feels like I'm being vividly shown my own sinfulness, and I'm starting to feel uncomfortable.
It wasn't supposed to be like this... I lamented while combing Chloe's hair and tying it into a ponytail for her.
"Hmm, a real beauty. Alright, let's eat and get going quickly."
"Where are we going? A love hotel? A gynecologist?"
"...You've been talking to Angelica lately, haven't you."
"How did you know?"
After finishing breakfast with a bewildered-looking Chloe, I called a taxi company.
Walking around with a girl is a huge pain, so lately I've been exclusively using cars.
"Hey hey, where are we going?"
"University. There's someone I want to introduce you to."
"University is that educational institution in this world, right?"
"That's right. Anyway, just shut up and follow me."
Even after getting into the taxi, Chloe didn't stop her barrage of questions.
What do we do on a date? Is it something you can only do at a university? Is it something lewd? I'd let Father do anything...
Chloe kept making dangerous remarks, and I was sweating nervously beside her. The driver's glare was harsh, seeing such an obviously illegal combination.
I paid him extra to keep his mouth shut and had him stop in front of the university entrance.
All that's left is to meet with the professors, but...
"Come on, get out already. ...Huh? You want to hold hands?"
Well, she is a blood relative.
And it seems like she won't live very long.
Considering those circumstances, I can't help but spoil her.
So, I ended up having the thrilling experience of strolling through the university campus holding hands with a fifteen-year-old girl like lovers.
I can pull this off because I'm counting on Sugitani-san to cover it up if we're seen anyway.
I opened the door and headed for the desk where Professor Otsuki was waiting.
"Good morning."
"Good morning, Nakamoto-kun... Is this the daughter you mentioned the other day?"
"Yes."
Sugitani-san seemed to have arrived first, sitting gracefully on what looked like a guest chair and sipping coffee.
"...That young lady? I was under the impression she was one of your co-stars on the show."
"A lot happened. A lot. Come on, Chloe, say hello to them. These people are my work colleagues."
"Really? Then you do insider trading with these old men, right?"
"Chloe!"
I frantically covered her mouth, saying she just doesn't understand Japan yet, but it was already too late.
Professor Otsuki and Sugitani-san looked at each other and chuckled, "Nakamoto-san is quite the rogue too..."
"Entertainers making pocket money through shady means is common. I don't mind at all, so shall we get to the main topic?"
"Yes, it really is common."
The two gentlemen smoothly glossed over the problematic statement.
Their own words and actions are a bit off too, so maybe they've had their share of dealings with the dark side of society.
"Alright, let's start over. Umm... pay attention to this girl here."
I grabbed Chloe by the shoulders and cleared my throat.
Now, this is where the bluff really counts.
"--To be honest, this Chloe is my child. She's inherited my combat abilities perfectly!"
From experience, the speaker's attitude is important in these situations. Putting a smug smile on my lips is probably important too.
I curled up the corners of my mouth and puffed out my chest, almost exaggeratedly.
"...She doesn't look Japanese, though."
"She's a child I had with a local woman when I was in another world."
"So she's half Japanese, half otherworlder...? By the way, how old is she? She looks quite grown."
"Fifteen."
"Then that means you became a father in your teens."
"That's right."
The room fell silent instantly.
...What? Did I mess something up?
"With all due respect, Professor, the other world I was summoned to had a medieval European-style civilization. Having children in your teens was perfectly normal."
"S-so, you, with a fifteen-year-old daughter, laid your hands on Ayako. A girl the same age as your own daughter..."
"That's right!"
"...If Ayako were normal, I would have killed you... But that girl has those tastes... so I can only entrust her to you. ...Please, don't treat her badly..."
Just as Chloe was about to make another slip of the tongue, saying "It's fine, Father even slept next to Ayako Otsuki last night," Sugitani-san spoke up.
"Would it be possible to see if Miss Chloe here truly possesses physical abilities on par with Nakamoto-san's?"
"Of course. Chloe, try jumping."
"A vertical jump?"
"Yeah. Try touching the ceiling."
"Like this?"
Saying "Like this?" as if it were nothing, Chloe jumped about three meters straight up.
She pressed her palm flat against the ceiling, then landed with a cat-like grace.
"How's that?"
"...May I examine her in more detail?"
"Sure. Right, Chloe? Let this old man check your body."
"What, no way. I don't want to do anything lewd with anyone but Father."
Stop saying it like that, it sounds like I do lewd things with you.
What if Professor Otsuki gets the wrong idea?
"It's not anything sexual. Just a physical examination."
"I still don't want to. ...You're going to give me a shot or something, right?"
I stroked the sulking Chloe's hair and started soothing her, saying, "You're the cutest. The cutest in the whole world."
"Really? Cuter than Angelica?"
"Yeah, uh, cuter than Angelica."
"Cuter than Rio?"
"Of course!"
"Cuter than the High Priest?"
"Obviously!"
"Cuter than Erin-san?"
"...Are you going to ask me about everyone's names? Yeah, Chloe is cuter than Erin!"
After an exchange that sounded like a newly dating couple, I finally managed to get her to agree to the physical examination.
For a while after that, Chloe was poked and prodded—doing strange exercises in front of Professor Otsuki, firing magic out the window, having cells taken from the inside of her cheek...
The last one was probably to check if she really was my blood relative.
I sat in the corner of the room, chatting with Sugitani-san while waiting for the examination to finish.
"No need to rely on science. That physical technique is definitely Nakamoto-san's daughter."
"You can tell?"
"Her face doesn't look like you at all, but her movements are identical. And the expressions she makes sometimes are very similar."
"Hmm. I can't tell myself."
"It's normal not to know what kind of expression you usually make. ...By the way, Nakamoto-san. This is just my intuition, but I don't think you have just one child."
"Seems that way. Apparently, quite a few are still left in that world."
"About how many, specifically?"
"According to Chloe, tens of thousands."
"Tens of thousands!?"
Just how many women did you get pregnant!? Sugitani-san's legs gave out, and he dropped the coffee cup he was holding.
"A-a living Genghis Khan... So how are your children living in that world?"
"It seems they serve the King there as soldiers."
Suddenly, Sugitani-san's expression turned grim.
"...Then the military power on the other world's side is on a completely different scale. If they have tens of thousands of copies of Nakamoto-san, I wonder if even gathering all the armies on Earth could defeat them..."
"Well, you see, all my kids seem to have severe daddy issues, so I think they'd easily switch sides if I persuaded them. Chloe was originally an assassin from the other world too."
When I casually bluffed that they all get docile if you wash their bodies in the bath, Sugitani-san looked at me like I was something terrifying.
"...Could it be, Nakamoto-san... Was your hard work making children in that world all part of your plan from the start?"
"Huh?"
"Infiltrate a large number of blood relatives into the other world's army, and have them betray it when the time comes. That way, you could easily turn the tide of battle... no, you could even take over the country. Did you foresee this...? To protect your homeland when the other world's King eventually attacks Earth with his entire nation... did you set this up?"
Sugitani-san seemed to be letting his imagination run wild, thinking I was some kind of master strategist.
The reality is the pathetic truth that Homunculi were being mass-produced without my knowledge, but there's no need to tell him that now.
I nodded meaningfully and said,
"It seems Sugitani-san has seen right through everything."
I let out a knowing chuckle.
"...W-well, I'll be...! You really are the man I thought you were...!"
"Just in case, I worked hard to spread my seed around. It was quite a laborious task."
"It seems I underestimated you. I thought you were just a strong womanizer, but you calculated everything before laying your hands on women!"
"Obviously!"
It seems my stock has only gone up in Sugitani-san's eyes.
Professor Otsuki also seemed to acknowledge Chloe's physical abilities, so I think all concerns have been resolved.
I wondered what would happen when I was arrested, but all's well that ends well... I guess that's the gist of it.