Ch.227227. Variable (4)

The day after a shocking encounter.

“Yaaawn…”

“…zzzZzZZZ.”

“…Ah.”

As I opened my eyes in the king-size bed of my room in Tarask, I tensed up feeling the presence of something small burrowed against me, sleeping soundly. Only after recognizing what it was did I feel my body relax.

Right, that’s what happened.

Yesterday, twins who claimed to be our children from the future suddenly appeared, presumably due to some paranormal ability going haywire. After accepting this as truth through blood test magic and other means, these children were scheduled to stay at our home until today.

“Yaaawn…”

‘Maybe I should get up now…’

As I continued this train of thought and felt the drowsiness gradually receding, I recognized through the dwarven clock on the wall that it was morning. Just as I was about to get up from bed…

“Mmm… nngh, mmm.”

“…Maybe I’ll lie down a bit longer?”

Feeling the warmth of the small creature, Lupin Aleinos, who was clinging to me in bed, I couldn’t resist the temptation and lay back down, stroking Lupin’s hair.

A color somewhere between blonde and light brown. If I remember correctly, my second older brother was blonde when he was young (it changed to brown as he aged), so it must be the power of genetics.

And that’s when it happened.

“Mmm… Daddy?”

“Are you awake?”

“Mmm…yeah. Going back to sleep…”

Perhaps feeling my hand stroking his head, Lupin half-awakened from sweet slumber, but unable to resist the temptation of sleep, he burrowed back under the blanket with those words…

‘…Sigh, do I really have to do this?’

As a slight sense of self-contempt gradually seeped into my mind, I conducted an ‘investigation’ on Lupin, who had instantly fallen back asleep in my arms.

Objectively speaking, doubting your future child like this is an ugly and dirty act, but nevertheless, I must do this dirty deed.

Being suspicious of everything to the point of paranoia has saved me from crisis many times, and although I’ve accepted the situation based on circumstances, it’s still full of details that warrant suspicion.

And not long after, I was able to reach a conclusion.

‘Are they like bubbles formed from the foam of reality?’

This small child sleeping soundly beside me isn’t someone whose soul has truly traveled to the past, but rather a temporary projection of consciousness and soul.

Come to think of it, there were a few things that felt off.

For example, the security magic linked to the alarm spell didn’t work properly against the children.

These spells deployed around Tarask and my estate are based on druidic barrier techniques, and the way I designed them is that when an unregistered person approaches, an alarm triggers along with security magic.

Thanks to this, without pre-registering biometric information, the security magic “Wandering Forest” should activate, trapping intruders in a twisted space. The fact that they reached Tarask on their own is, when you think about it, somewhat strange.

It was just buried under the shock of the previous event, but when you really think about it, it doesn’t make sense.

From the beginning, since you can only bypass the security magic by registering separately, it’s virtually impossible to use any loophole through bloodline.

In other words, the current Lupin and Talisa, who should be in Sophie’s bedroom, are like projections manifested in reality.

Their original bodies and souls exist in the future, and it’s presumed that the power of the hourglass necklace possessed by that fox spirit Arisa temporarily sent only their consciousness to the past.

As a result, these two children are maintained in the contradictory state of being alive yet not existing in this world, so the life signatures that infiltrated were probably detected by the alarm magic, but the security magic couldn’t recognize “something that doesn’t exist”…

“Mmm… Daddy?”

“Yes, Lupin. Did you sleep well?”

“…Yeah. Slept well. …Yaaawn.”

At that moment, startled inwardly by Lupin waking up, I soon felt guilt flowing into my heart for some reason and looked at the child…

‘…Wait a minute.’

Guilt “flowing into” my heart?

※ ※ ※

And so, a few hours later.

“…Robo got married?”

“Yeah! To Blanca! The white wolf! They have lots of little ones!”

Having cut off my sensory sharing with Robo, who was suddenly in a position to have his life spoiled, I received news from the two children during lunch that Robo had gotten married.

I couldn’t deny it was an interesting piece of gossip, but my decision reflected my belief that receiving such news in advance could interfere with personal choices.

Anyway, while chatting excitedly, we were eating lunch that I had personally prepared.

Using leftover meat from hunting the Swamp Dragon last time, I served the children a special dish made with dragon meat that I had been keeping smoked and preserved.

The dragon meat, which had been smoked to maximize flavor and then dried for a long time in a dry environment, had already reached an artistic level. Because of this, I mixed it with fresh meat from the primitive beast Bloodsaurus to make hamburger steaks that any child would love.

The main dish was a large hamburger steak topped with a fried egg, drizzled with a meat juice-based sauce and sprinkled with parsley powder.

Several warm pieces of bread fermented with yeast and baked. Potato salad made with mayonnaise and mashed potatoes. A salad pasta with vinegar-based dressing, and an additional dish for each based on ingredients they said they liked.

For Lupin, who liked mushrooms, a special stir-fried mushroom dish cooked with meat juices, and for our Talisa, who loved mozzarella cheese, special cheese sticks on her plate.

“Thank you, Daddy!”

“It’s delicious! So delicious!”

As I watched them happily devouring their food with bright smiles… No, the me inside felt an emotion, an external feeling coming from somewhere, and I hardened my inner expression, trying to calmly assess the situation.

Because I could feel that something was wrong with my current mental state.

Finding those adorable children familiar or endearing could certainly make sense.

After all, it’s hard for anyone who isn’t thoroughly twisted to dislike pure and kind children, and objectively, they’ve been proven to be my children.

But could one truly, sincerely accept a child they’ve just met as their own?

I think not. At least from my perspective as someone whose sense of self doesn’t greatly deviate from that of a modern person, to feel genuine paternal love for children I’ve met less than a day ago?

To put it bluntly, this suggests that someone else can manipulate my emotions or memories, which is a concerning issue for someone like me who values the preservation of my mental identity.

And as I was deeply pondering this…

“Oh, Daddy! But why isn’t ■■■ here?”

“…What did you just say?”

“■■■, I mean ■■■. Daddy’s animal friend. Wasn’t he living with you and Mommy?”

‘…I can’t perceive it?’

[Gregory. This isn’t just me, right?]

‘…No. I find it strange too.’

From the context, Talisa seems to be talking about the creature that filled the position of my last animal friend, but despite Talisa speaking, I can’t recognize what she’s saying, which is clearly abnormal.

‘…But I could hear the wolf story about Robo’s wife just fine earlier?’

What’s even stranger is that I could hear perfectly well when the children were talking about Robo’s future wife earlier, but the moment the conversation turned to my last animal friend, I couldn’t perceive it?

‘…What’s really going on?’

This bizarre feeling, as if someone had edited out just that part of a video, was distorting and warping my very sense of self…

[…Hey, why are you being so petty?]

“…?!”

The moment a voice, a will, perhaps what should be called a monologue, resonated through my inner soul. Through my mind, self, memory, ideology, and heart were transmitted and resonated with me.

‘Soul resonance?!’

This was, to put it simply, soul resonance. The power we used as a finishing move between me and my animal friends.

The only difference is that this soul resonance occurs between two completely identical beings.

Regardless of my thoughts, the soul resonance proceeded quickly, and through this process, I was able to understand what was happening by sharing some memories and experiences from the ‘me’ on the other side.

‘…I really worried for nothing.’

Even the fact that all the suspicion and anguish I’ve harbored until now was completely meaningless.