Father Doesn’t Understand His Daughter’s Heart(5)

A guillotine falls from the barrier, slicing off the arm that Idea grabbed as it passes by.

-It’s unlikely to happen, but Mu, if you ever encounter the Demon King, never engage him. That guy has the ability of immortality.

As Mu watched her severed arm floating in the air, she recalled a conversation she had with her mother in the past.

-Immortality, you say?

-Yes, I became certain when I saw that he didn’t die even after my sword pierced his heart twice. At that time, we had an escape route with teleportation magic because you and I were together, but if you ever encounter the Demon King alone, don’t try to fight him. Of course, it’s unlikely to happen, but still.

The story that the Demon King possessed the power of immortality.

On a day not long after coming down from the Sky Island, mother had told this story and said so.

Mother tried to end the conversation then, saying it was unlikely they’d ever meet him anyway, but Mu had asked her mother one more thing.

-But do you happen to know how he obtained the power of immortality?

Mu herself, a homunculus created using a phoenix’s tail as a material, only had strong regenerative abilities but hadn’t reached the level of immortality.

No, probably no one in this world had ever obtained such an ability as immortality throughout history.

Immortality is something that those with limited lifespans can’t help but desire.

For this, many people tried to obtain the power of immortality by eating all kinds of herbs or even sacrificing humans, but until now, not a single person had succeeded in obtaining the power of immortality.

But how on earth did the Demon King manage to obtain the immortality ability that no one else had achieved even after investing immense time?

Thinking that her mother, who had directly fought the Demon King, might know, Mu had asked her, and recalling the answer she heard that day, Mu used teleportation magic to distance herself from Idea.

“My arm…”

“What’s this clay? Don’t tell me you were a homunculus? This isn’t fun at all~!”

Mu, having created distance, looked at the area where her arm had fallen off, while Idea frowned and shouted as she tossed and caught what had been Mu’s arm until just now.

Then Idea complained, saying she wanted to hear the sound of flesh being cut, but her voice didn’t reach Mu’s ears.

Rather than listening to what she was saying, Mu was watching Idea, who had been limp like a corpse… no, who had been a corpse until just now, moving around perfectly fine.

‘It’s not an illusion.’

It wasn’t a fake created by illusion magic or some kind of act. In the first place, Idea clearly couldn’t use magic until just now due to the sealing tool.

So, excluding the assumption that Idea used magic, the method of escaping from the sealing tool could only be seen as suicide no matter how you looked at it.

‘There are traces of blood flowing from her mouth too.’

The traces of blood that had flowed from around her mouth and the fresh blood scent that had been detected at the tip of her nose earlier.

Seeing her speaking so normally now, it seemed more reasonable to think that she had chewed and swallowed some kind of poison she had prepared in advance rather than biting her tongue.

And because of that, Idea had definitely died. Mu could be certain of this because she had confirmed it herself.

‘But even though she died, she came back to life.’

However, by some means, Idea had undoubtedly died but came back to life again from death.

For Idea, who was a curse user, the possible method was to revive herself with magic, but using magic to revive oneself after death was impossible even with Mother Meiyel’s body.

Before that, Idea, being a demon, wouldn’t even know high-level holy magic that could revive life.

Therefore, Mu voiced the answer to the story she had heard from her mother that day towards Idea, who was still talking about Mu’s identity as a homunculus.

-The method by which the Demon King obtained the ability of immortality… I’m not certain, but there’s probably something in the connection with the Demon God. After all, in this world, only gods possess the ability of immortality.

“You, you’ve made contact with the Demon God.”

Contact with the Demon God. At those words from Mu, Idea’s expression suddenly changed, returning to a blank face.

She painted her face with an expressionless look so frightening that it was as if she had hidden the irritation and anger she had been showing until just now somewhere.

But that was only for a moment; soon, expression returned to Idea’s face that had been expressionless.

Snicker──

Idea broke into a laugh that could be called maniacal.

Idea, with a smile that seemed to split her mouth, burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“Kyahahahat! What? How did you know? Don’t tell me you know too? Or did you just guess? Well, it doesn’t matter either way~!”

“So it’s true…”

“Because now that you know that fact, you’re going to die here anyway!”

As if she wasn’t even listening to Mu’s words anymore, Idea cut off Mu’s words with a burst of laughter and raised her staff.

Then, a large number of attacks began to fall from the barrier spread out in the sky.

Unlike before when they were divided, these attacks were now aimed solely at her. Facing these attacks falling towards her, Mu quickly regenerated her fallen arm.

“Mother would probably tell me not to fight, but…”

If Aria were here, she would probably have told Mu to run away instead of fighting Idea, who had the ability of immortality like the Demon King.

She would have tried to make Mu escape somehow, citing the reason of danger, and tried to fight alone herself.

But right now, Aria wasn’t here, and only Mu was standing here with Idea.

And the order given to Mu was to watch over Idea. As long as Aria hadn’t directly withdrawn the order, Mu needed to keep that order.

Therefore, the battle with Idea that was about to begin now was a judgment made by Mu’s discretion, going one step further from Aria’s order.

It was an action created by the emotion of desire to preserve her own life at the minimum and to be with her mother more.

“If it’s just Idea, an executive, rather than the Demon King, I should be able to hold out until mother comes out.”

It was like putting her own life on the blade to fight inside a barrier created by an undying curse user, but she had no choice.

“I want to live, but if it’s for the sake of keeping mother’s order, even more than that.”

She was a homunculus. A tool to carry out orders.

As a doll and tool of the master for whom her own survival instinct and emotions were not allowed.

“I’ll hold out as far as I can, dedicating my life.”

Mu put strength into her hand holding the staff as she looked at Idea’s attacks falling on her.

And as she gloriously burned what might be the last flame inside her.

She began the battle.

---

Inside the cabin in the blue space.

Five women were sitting in a circle around the table inside.

Aria with light red hair, Yujia with light green hair, Kama with white hair, Meiyel with navy hair, and lastly Yeonhwa with bright red hair.

Unlike the previous point in time when Aria had not yet matured, seeing this scene where everyone who could be seen at the academy was gathered, Shati’s question burst out.

“How much time has passed from the previous time period? All five of you are gathered here. And in the same appearance as seen at the academy.”

“That’s right… It seems at least a few years have passed.”

“To be precise, 3 years and 8 months have passed from the previous point in time.”

How much time could have passed for these five to all be gathered?

To this question that couldn’t help but be curious, as Riana made a rough guess, a more precise answer was heard from the librarian.

The answer that it was a point 3 years and 8 months after the previous point in time.

At the fact that quite a lot of time had passed, the five were each surprised and whispered, but such whispering was cut off by Yeonhwa suddenly striking the table.

Bang───!!!

<How long do we have to live like this!! Big sister Aria, aren’t you resentful? If you were created before us, shouldn’t you rather have the same thoughts as me!!!>

As if she had really struck with all her might, after the thunderous sound of the table, Yeonhwa shouted with a flushed face.

Perhaps because it was a sudden outcry heard after more than 3 years had passed, although it was words from Yeonhwa whose meaning they didn’t understand, even before interpreting the meaning of those words, Aria, who had been sitting quietly just listening, retorted to Yeonhwa with a cold face.

<I’ve given you the answer to that many times before. No matter how much he makes us suffer, Father is Father. You’re not in a position to judge him as you please, Yeonhwa.>

This is not the Aria who had been showing a gentle and puppy-like appearance until just now.

The current Aria was speaking with a cold and charismatic face like her usual self.

A resolute appearance that might feel even colder than her usual self. At this, Yeonhwa, who had been denied by Aria, grabbed her own hair with a face that seemed to be going crazy.

<Aaaagh!!! This is so fucking annoying!!! The eldest sister is like that! You sisters feel wronged too, right? Huh? Huh?>

<…>

<…>

<Yeonhwa… it’s noisy and my head is ringing, so be quiet…>

<It’s so frustrating I could really die!!!>

To Yeonhwa’s question seeking agreement, Yujia, who was sitting with her arms folded quietly, and Kama, who was sitting with her back straight in a proper posture, remained silent, and only Meiyel, with a face half-asleep, answered in a drawling voice.

However, even that answer wasn’t agreeing with Yeonhwa’s words, so Yeonhwa trembled, stomping her feet like someone with fire on their feet.

The five tilted their heads at Yeonhwa’s loud cries, unable to understand what she was seeking agreement for.

They had no idea what she was hoping for and asking those around her so desperately.

In the first place, Arin and Kana, knowing Yeonhwa’s strength, were full of questions about what she wanted from those around her with such a desperate expression.

And this question was resolved thanks to the very person who created the question, Yeonhwa, who in the next moment pulled out a kitchen knife from her waist and stabbed it into the table.

<That’s it! Then I’ll kill Father myself, so you sisters just stay stuck there being indecisive!!!>

“…Huh?”

“Wait a moment.”

“…Oh?”

“What did she just say?”

“Is she serious?”

However, it seemed that answer was extremely dangerous content.