Chapter 86 - Atonement Epilogue
The reactions when I told them I'd defeated the High Priest were, exactly, three people, three ways.
Rio went "Hmm," and ran a hand through her hair, then asked, "Was that really okay?"
Angelica said, "Is that so," and offered a silent prayer, adding, "Even for someone like him, we should at least erect a grave."
Ayako-chan said, "Congratulations, I'm truly glad you managed to win safely," and was the most straightforwardly delighted by the victory.
No matter how you look at it, the High Priest was a villain, so Ayako-chan's reaction is probably the correct one.
We on our side accepted the resolution of the incident like this, but it feels like the public is just getting started.
TV and newspapers were abuzz with the goblin corpse discovered in the garbage house, making a fuss with special features day after day.
They debated its identity, calling it a mutant or an alien, freely clashing with off-the-mark opinions.
Some dubious monk even showed up, smugly expounding his theory: "That is a preta that crawled out of hell. Its form closely resembles those depicted in picture scrolls."
Things were heated up like that for about three days, but then one day, the reports about the goblin suddenly stopped.
The information the media handled abruptly became all about the Olympics.
I was dumbfounded at what a carefree country this is, but then a certain possibility occurred to me.
Wait, I thought, maybe a news blackout has been imposed.
If that's the case, I don't know if it's the government or the police, but it means people higher up are taking the situation seriously.
Before long, they might even set up a countermeasure headquarters behind the scenes.
That would mean it was worth the trouble of making sure the corpse was found, as a warning.
I don't know if threats will continue to appear from the other world, but if they do, society as a whole should probably fight them.
It's no longer a situation where we can leave everything to just one superhuman.
I'm getting tired of it too, after all.
Don't worry, I'll go to school properly.
While exchanging messages with Rio on social media, I head for a business hotel in the city.
My influenza leave (supposedly a mysterious illness) is still ongoing, so I have time on my hands.
I trudge along, typing out messages.
Operating a smartphone with shopping bags in both hands is quite a difficult task.
Even if I don't feel the weight, having my hands full inevitably disrupts my concentration.
How's Fujimoto? Does he seem okay?
Yeah. I was surprised he doesn't show any interest in me at all.
I see. Is he getting along well with the girls?
Well, so-so. More girls are starting to talk to me like before, too.
According to Rio, that handsome soccer club guy who had been replaced by the goblin apparently shows no interest in girls at all.
The real Fujimoto boy seems to be a stoic sportsman.
Because of Agil, an image of a lecherous guy was spread around, so he'll probably have his own hardships from now on.
Right, there was something I wanted to ask you.
What?
That High Priest guy, he modified his body so he wouldn't age. I've been wondering why he did something like that.
After a short pause, a reply came back.
That's obviously because he wanted to be a match for you, Nakamoto-san.
...Isn't that a bit too presumptuous, no matter how you think about it? I thought the same thing for a moment, but still.
But he met you first, Nakamoto-san, and then you were taken by a younger girl who showed up later, right? That's frustrating. Of course he'd obsess over making himself look young.
So it's my fault, after all.
Isn't that something you don't need to worry about too much? He's the one who fell for you on his own and pushed himself unreasonably on his own.
But still, I kinda feel responsible, I sigh.
I didn't think you would kill that person, Nakamoto-san.
Me neither, I type back.
Because you're such a softie at heart, I predicted you'd definitely resolve it in a way that kept him alive... Sorry. Class is starting, so I'll stop here. Talk to you later.
Imagining Rio hurriedly stuffing her smartphone into her pocket, I step into the hotel entrance.
I give a slight bow to the receptionists at the front desk and hurry over to the elevator.
It seems there are no other passengers besides me.
Well, even if there are no watching eyes, there are probably surveillance cameras, so it wouldn't be strange to be discovered at any time.
Or rather, I'm probably already on camera.
I can only cling to the rumor that they don't bother checking the recorded footage unless some special incident occurs.
Though, there's also a part of me that's resigned, thinking it wouldn't matter if it caused a stir, so in a way, it doesn't really matter.
While I was thinking about such things, the box carrying me arrived at the target floor.
I press the open button and quickly step out into the corridor.
With my head slightly bowed, I head for that room.
I hope it's not too messy today.
The room I'm renting has a "Do Not Clean" sign hung on it, due to circumstances where I don't want anyone entering.
So cleaning it is my job.
It's a pain, but it can't be helped.
This is something I chose myself.
Something I have to see through.
I grip the shopping bags tightly and quicken my pace.
After turning two corners, room 307 came into view.
Right. I have to do my best today too.
I took the room key from my pocket and quietly opened the door.
"Are you awake?"
I ask as I enter the room.
After locking the door, I head straight for the bed.
It's still before nine, so she might be asleep, I think as I pull back the blanket, and there she is, waiting for me with a radiant smile.
"Welcome back, Father. Something smells nice."
You've got a good nose, I laugh.
"I'm home, Philia. This is today's meal. And don't go eating it all at once again, okay?"
"Yes!"
Philia nods with a childish gesture that doesn't match her appearance.
Right now, she's a child who can't control her three basic desires, so if I don't tell her firmly, she'll devour a whole day's worth of food in one go.
"Father, Father."
"Hm?"
"I had a toilet accident."
"...Again?"
Can't be helped, I say, and take Philia to the bathroom.
She's completely a large-bodied infant.
I hold down an adult woman who complains that it tickles and take off her underwear.
It's a perverse scene, but both she and I are completely serious.
"I'll wash you right away."
Rio's premonition had been right on the mark.
I couldn't kill Philia.
Swayed by emotion at the very last moment, before I knew it, I had cast Recovery Magic on her as she was dying.
What the hell are you thinking? I was dumbfounded by my own stupidity, but for some reason, once her wounds healed, Philia had become docile.
I thought for sure she had a change of heart, but that wasn't it.
Depending on how you look at it, it was worse than before.
She looked at my face and called me "Father."
After all, this opponent is a rare villainess.
Suspicious that she had some kind of scheme, I instantly twisted Philia's arm and pinned her down.
Then she wet herself and started crying loudly, which was more than I could handle.
Realizing something was definitely wrong, I tried a Status Appraisal, and it turned out the explanation in the notes section had completely changed.
A priestess who blindly loves Keisuke Nakamoto. Driven mad by despair over death and the shock of defeat. Her mental age has regressed to approximately six years old.
What magic can heal is only physical wounds. Healing the heart is outside my specialty.
And in this case, it might be better not to heal it—
"Come on, open your legs."
"Nn—"
Due to those circumstances, I've stuffed Philia into a nearby business hotel and continue to take care of her.
...The closest feeling is that I'm "keeping" her.
I show up every day, stuff food into the provided refrigerator, and wash her body.
"Let's wash each other again, wash each other."
"No. You touch weird places."
I wipe Philia's body with a towel and put a change of underwear on her.
I don't know how long this life will continue, but for now, I have no complaints.
In a sense, the High Priest is dead, and in a sense, he's also alive.
He will no longer harm anyone, and will wander forever in a world of madness.
That might be a harsher punishment than dying peacefully.
For me...
I don't know.
It feels like I'm being punished too, but at the same time, I also feel somehow fulfilled.
Raising a young girl with the same face as a woman I once loved, as her father. It's terribly perverse, but surely this is fine.
Even if she looks like an adult woman, to me, she is my daughter.
I put a skirt on Philia and tidy her hair with my fingers.
It's a scene Angelica would probably scold me for, I think, feeling a little guilty.
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"..."
"Philia?"
Then.
Suddenly, Philia turned toward me and leaned against me.
She clings to me, wrapping her arms around me.
"...Father. Father. U, uu—"
"What, are you feeling sad again?"
"Yes. Yes!"
Philia nods her head vigorously.
Her eyes are dreamy and moist, her cheeks flushed.
Philia's mind has regressed to that of an infant, but her body is that of a twenty-nine-year-old.
She is definitely conscious of me as the opposite sex, but she doesn't seem to know how to release that.
So, like this, she tries to vent the physical urges she can't sort out within herself by clinging to me.
"...You're a hopeless case."
At times like that, I pat Philia's head.
I don't particularly intend to do anything more.
Because she is a six-year-old daughter, not the Philia I once liked.
"I'm your father, so I can't do anything weird."
Philia's eyes are tearful with what looks like pain.
There's nothing I can do for her.
Enduring that impulse is probably a punishment imposed on her too, I think.
This woman will continue to atone for her sins from now on, in the prison that is herself.
Until the day the world ends.
That's the end of Chapter Three. What should I do about Chapter Four... The content is completely undecided.