Father Doesn’t Understand His Daughter’s Heart(9)

“I’ll kill you────!!!!”

No sooner had my words ended than Yeonhwa rushed at me, raising her kitchen knife. At the same time, I felt an invisible presence from the floor.

Since it was Yeonhwa rushing at me, it was probably eight or nine out of ten chances that it was the chef’s combat preparation skill, Cutting Board Spread.

And as I felt the presence of the Cutting Board Spread, I finally realized that something had gone wrong.

‘Did I say something wrong?’

The words I had uttered to create an atmosphere of emotion had somehow greatly provoked Yeonhwa.

I couldn’t grasp the reason why, but I should be thankful that at least Aria, Yujia, Kama, and Meiyel weren’t provoked.

“I’ll cover you and kill him…!”

“Please do, big sister Kama!”

“This is driving me crazy.”

I stand corrected. It seems Kama was also provoked along with Yeonhwa.

The other three remained still, perhaps truly not intending to attack me, but just having to deal with these two immediately had already thrown me into a state of confusion.

I didn’t understand why my words just now had been taken as provocative by the two.

Weren’t they the children I had raised diligently?

I had invested money consistently, spending about 10 million won on the game, and even when tired, I ran dungeons with energy drinks every day to get them the best equipment, and even when tired after work, I faithfully collected attendance check rewards to invest in their growth.

Of course, according to Iriel, they might have been tired, but could the gap between game and reality be a problem even here?

However, even if that was the case, I had no time to devote to those thoughts due to Yeonhwa rushing at me from the front and the arrows flying towards me, so I reflexively drew two swords before thinking.

“‘Mammoth’!”

“Going all out from the start?”

As I drew my swords, Yeonhwa, who had reached me, leaped low and swung her kitchen knife down at me.

What she used was Mammoth, one of the highest-tier skills among the few attack skills that chefs have.

Clang───!!!

“Kuh…!”

As soon as I blocked the path of the kitchen knife with both swords, a shock with a heavy weight resonated through the swords and transmitted up my arms to my shoulders.

Perhaps befitting my character, I instinctively felt the sensation of facing an equal opponent that I had never felt except when facing the Demon King.

But even so, I didn’t have the luxury to be moved while not even having time to think about why I was being attacked.

“Stay still.”

“Ugh?!”

I grabbed Yeonhwa, whose posture had collapsed from swinging the kitchen knife violently, and pinned her to the ground as gently as possible, then swung my sword towards Kama’s incoming arrow.

“Moon Rise”

Arrows shot by an archer of Kama’s level naturally have a homing function that follows the target, so there’s no way to dodge.

Moreover, if each shot isn’t properly neutralized, they could lead to follow-up attacks, so I had to cut them down for sure.

That’s why I used such a powerful skill.

The sword that rose vertically as if to precisely bisect the moon in the sky accurately cut Kama’s incoming arrow.

Kama’s arrow, perfectly split in half from the tip of the arrowhead to the fletching, flew past behind me.

“Damn it, did he cut it?”

“My wrist is tingling.”

As I cut down her arrow, Kama uncharacteristically cursed and gritted her teeth, while I grabbed my aching wrist, which was throbbing like my shoulder, and turned my attention back to restraining Yeonhwa, which I had momentarily neglected.

To feel this much impact even after using a skill to cut it down. It seems Kama had also used one of the strongest attack skills she could use, like Yeonhwa.

I clicked my tongue inwardly at that act which directly showed how angry they were at me, but only for a moment, as Yeonhwa twisted her body and struggled under my knee.

“You son of a… Let go of this! I’ll gouge out your eyeballs and stuff them right into your mouth!!! How dare you do such things to us and then shamelessly appear calling yourself father?! Whether you’re the real father or not, you’re dead by my hands!!”

“Keep holding her down like that. I’ll pierce her head.”

Yeonhwa, who was writhing and spewing harsh curses I had never uttered even when I was in her form, and Kama, who was forcibly drawing her bowstring beyond its limit far away at Yeonhwa’s actions.

At this point, it seemed I had really done something wrong, even if I didn’t know the reason.

Just looking at Yeonhwa, who was panting with her face dyed in anger and grinding her teeth, and Kama, who was normally a well-mannered lady who didn’t curse much but was now cursing and extremely excited, made that clear.

‘What on earth did my past self do wrong.’

I really felt like making a non-existent time machine if I could and going back to ask my past self, but such fantasies were a luxury in the current situation, which was even more urgent than just before.

“‘Star Drop'”

Kama began to pack the arrow with the strongest skill in the archer class, which, true to its fearsome skill name, had enough power to destroy half a star even if it couldn’t actually drop one.

As Kama was about to release the bowstring, which would send the arrow flying at a speed exceeding 500 km/h, I hurriedly tucked Yeonhwa, whom I had been restraining with just one knee, under my side with her arm behind her back to prevent her from resisting.

“Such a dog of a father…!!”

Of course, Yeonhwa tried to escape from me somehow by grabbing the floor with her two relatively free legs, humiliated at being held in such a shameful position by me, but there was no way Yeonhwa, of the chef class, could overpower my strength in Aria’s form.

But even if I reacted immediately, there wasn’t enough time to get outside the range of Star Drop.

No, at this distance, even Kama’s side would be caught up in it, but Kama didn’t seem to care at all as she followed my movements with fierce eyes and began to gradually release the strength in her hand holding the drawn bowstring.

‘This is dangerous.’

A direct hit would be fatal. But there’s no way for Aria to block that skill.

If we were at the usual distance of about 100m when a swordsman and an archer fight, it might be different, but the distance between us was only about 10m.

I could counter it with a swordsman or dual-wielder skill, but if I did, the damage from the backlash would be even greater.

‘Then the remaining option is…’

Then the only remaining option was to change into Meiyel’s body, which has a complete invincibility skill, and deploy the Artifact Shield.

However, if it takes 1 second to change avatars and 1 second to deploy the shield, it might be too late.

Moreover, being in Meiyel’s body with low health, there was also a chance of coming close to death.

But still, changing to Meiyel would be more certain to protect Yeonhwa, whom I was holding, as well.

‘Before that, is it okay to show them the appearance of changing in front of these guys? But blocking is the urgent priority, damn it, I’ve already spent too much time thinking…!’

An endless amount of time was consumed thinking about the current situation, the secrets I hold, and the lack of information about the children in front of me.

It was already too late to change into Meiyel’s body, so the only option left was to block Kama’s attack in Aria’s body as is.

“Curl up!”

“What?! Kyaaak?!!”

I threw Yeonhwa, whom I had been holding at my side, behind me where the damage would spread the least, then crossed my two swords and spread my body to cover Yeonhwa’s small body as much as possible.

I felt a gaze from Yeonhwa, who had been thrown behind, as if asking why I was doing this, but for now, even if I took the attack, I wouldn’t die, so protecting Yeonhwa, who had low health like Meiyel, was the best I could do.

No matter how much she tried to kill me, shouldn’t I listen to her story after keeping her alive first?

“Then…!”

I forcibly cut off the thoughts that were trying to continue from there and recalled all the defensive skills available immediately and opened my mouth.

At the same time, Kama’s bowstring was about to be released, precisely aimed at me.

And.

“That’s enough, Kama. I do not allow any further rash actions.”

Aria, who had grabbed Kama’s arm as she was about to release the bowstring, glared at Kama with frightening eyes and murmured thus.

“Kugh, let go of this, sis…!”

“Looks like you need a whipping after a long time.”

Aria, who had suddenly intervened in the heated battle.

Kama frowned and shouted at Aria who had grabbed her arm, but before that, Aria’s hand moved first.

Slap───!

“?!”

Kama’s head turned as she lost her grip on the bow with a light sound.

Of course, the bow and arrow that fell from Kama’s hand tumbled to the floor, scattering all the skill they had been holding until just now.

Fortunately, the urgent crisis was averted as Kama’s skill that had been threatening us disappeared, but rather than feeling relieved, I first turned towards Kama and Aria in the suddenly chilled air.

And at the sight I saw, I gaped.

“Haah… Big sister Aria, really… Still letting her hand move before her words.”

“She says she likes to resolve things peacefully, but… She still hasn’t fixed her old habits…”

Yujia and Meiyel shaking their heads as if they had expected this.

“…Hic, hiccup…!”

Kama, holding her reddened cheek with tears welling up, her fierce spirit from just moments ago nowhere to be seen.

Lastly.

“Then… um, Father. Would you please sit at the table? First, I’d like to have a conversation about what you just said.”

Aria, who looked so awkward that I doubted if she was really the one who had just hit Kama, pointed to the table in the messed-up cabin and said that to me.

Aria, who kept swallowing and looking at me nervously, as if something was very awkward.

…It seems the children had grown up on their own more than I thought.