Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Mod7
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Chapter 11 - Night Visitors
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After walking until sunset, we prepared for the night. I set up the tent, and Nefer circled it, performing her usual ritual…
“Daddy, want some?”
Jenny, in the meantime, was happily chewing on a piece of jerky.
“No thanks. You have it.”
I gently pushed away the jerky and pulled out my diary.
When my mind was troubled, writing helped.
What had happened, why I had been separated from Amy…
What I had felt.
I wrote it all down.
“Elder, it is time to sleep. Even that succubus will not be able to penetrate this barrier.”
Nefer, having finished her ritual, entered the tent, and the already small space became even more cramped.
The tent was definitely larger than before. Nefer must have brought a bigger one from Aaptukemen.
But we still couldn't lie side by side. Or rather, Nefer was constantly being pushed to the side.
“Jenny, just go to sleep…”
“Hmm. Jenny is sleeping.”
Perhaps because of our long separation, Jenny was incredibly clingy, her movements making the entire tent shake.
Even when Nefer cleared her throat, trying to signal her displeasure, Jenny ignored her. If anything, she seemed to be deliberately provoking her, holding me tighter.
“Ugh! It’s too crowded! Daddy, tell her to sleep outside!”
“Sigh.”
Nefer looked at me, her expression a mixture of worry and concern. She likely found my relationship with Jenny strange, even dangerous.
But she couldn't say anything. While Jenny understood human language, she was also fluent in the various languages of this planet.
“Jenny, please, just go to sleep.”
I reluctantly pulled Jenny into my arms. She smiled, satisfied, and began purring, her cheek rubbing against mine.
She was so clever, yet she acted like a young girl, or a small cat, whenever I held her.
But her hands, her palms, were gripping my back, and her eyes, peeking over my shoulder, were fixed on Nefer.
“Hmm.”
“I told you, go to sleep.”
It was a daughter's instinct, to monopolize her father's attention. Crying, throwing tantrums… children often did such things to get what they wanted.
But children grew up. Through trial and error, they matured, becoming adults.
But what worried me about Jenny,
Was her rapid, unpredictable growth.
Her kin didn't grow this quickly. They had kept my crewmates alive for a reason.
They had slowly consumed their prey, their development a slow and methodical process.
But Jenny, perhaps because of her premature birth, or because she had been born from Dan, grew at an accelerated rate, her predatory instincts honed.
I wished she would grow a little slower. So that I, an inexperienced father, could teach her, guide her.
“Goodnight, Daddy.”
But Jenny’s face, so close to mine, was no longer that of a child. She was becoming a woman, and that worried me.
Her swollen breasts,
Her smoldering gaze, frightened me.
“Jenny is here now.”
And,
She was beautiful.
It would take three days to reach the temple. We still had a long way to go.
My body ached from sleeping with Jenny in my arms, but I walked on my own. While Nefer and Jenny could carry me, I didn't want to ask.
The hot sand, my feet sinking with each step,
The shimmering heat haze, a vast, open plain…
“Itchy.”
“Jenny, stop scratching!”
Jenny, as we walked, scratched her back and thighs with her tail. She scratched so hard, I thought she might draw blood, but she didn't seem to care.
I grabbed her tail, stopping her, but she couldn't resist the urge to scratch. Her sharp claws and talons tore at her skin.
Of course, Jenny’s regenerative abilities were faster than the rate at which she injured herself, so I wasn't too worried. But her constant whimpering and whining was unsettling.
“I told you to wear something. Do you want to put it on now?”
“No. It smells.”
Jenny was stubborn. The sun was causing a skin irritation, and the rapid healing process was causing an itching sensation, but she wouldn't listen.
“Then wear this.”
After much pleading, Jenny finally agreed to wear my desert clothes, the ones that carried my scent. And then, the scratching stopped.
“Smells like Daddy.”
She actually seemed to enjoy wearing them. Her sensitive sense of smell had made her irritable, but now, with my scent surrounding her, she was calm.
“The Elder is very kind.”
Nefer, who had been watching us, smiled shyly. Her smile, of course, was only for me.
Her instinctive revulsion towards Jenny was undeniable. I couldn't blame her. I would have felt the same way.
“You treat her like your own daughter. Even though she is a cursed child of the moon…”
“What is that old hag talking about? Kyagh-”
As she said,
I couldn't help but see Jenny as my own child. I didn't know why.
I had never thought about marriage, but perhaps I would have made a good father.
I had never known I was so fond of children. Perhaps it was because of my own difficult childhood.
“…”
I didn't respond. I simply stroked Jenny’s head.
She looked like Dan,
Like a human…
Weaker than her sisters,
But her ambition, her cunning, surpassed them all.
“Nyaa-”
Jenny slept in my arms again tonight. She was so deeply asleep, I could have carried her off without her noticing.
I shifted, lying on my back. Jenny, even in her sleep, clung to me, but at least I could look up at the sky.
“Elder, are you still awake?”
Nefer spoke, her voice a soft whisper from my right. I turned my head and saw her, her eyes open, watching me.
“I cannot sleep.”
The night was dark, but I could see her delicate features. She looked at me, her gaze filled with concern, and placed her hand on my cheek.
“Elder, I will not ask what you have endured. But that child… she is dangerous.”
Her whisper was so soft, it didn't wake Jenny. But her words filled me with a sense of unease.
“She thinks of you as a male. She does not see you as a father. You know this, don't you? When she is fully grown, she will treat you differently.”
I knew, vaguely. While Jenny still saw me as her father, she hadn't completely suppressed her primal instincts.
“No, perhaps she sees you as prey. Elder, you must not trust those associated with the moon.”
But I couldn't fully trust Nefer either. If I took her words to heart, I would have to abandon Aria and Arachne as well.
So, my thoughts were different. I didn't have to reject someone just because of their connection to the moon.
There were enemies everywhere. Homunculus, a sun worshipper, had attacked me.
It wasn't about the sun or the moon. It was about individuals.
“…But I’ll trust Jenny. Or rather, I’ll trust myself. I believe I can change her.”
I told Nefer my decision.
She didn't respond. She simply stroked my hair, her deep eyes drawing closer.
“You choose a difficult path.”
I thought she was disappointed in me,
But her eyes were filled with a mixture of admiration and pity.
“That is why I believe in you, Elder.”
I felt her soft lips against mine. Her kiss was gentle, tender.
We kissed for a long time, Jenny’s soft snores a gentle background noise. The complexities of our situation seemed to dissolve in her kiss.
We both knew this couldn't go any further,
But Nefer’s hand moved lower, her fingers gently cupping me through my pants.
I still didn't understand women, or love,
But in this brief moment, my anxieties and fears were replaced by a growing desire.
Unlike the violent, desperate encounters I had experienced before,
This gentle, warm touch,
Wasn't just sexually stimulating,
But also comforting.
“Mmm-…”
We kissed again, stifling our moans. Slowly, so slowly.
“…Kyagh!”
“Mmph!?”
Jenny suddenly woke up. We quickly pulled away, trying to calm her.
“J-Jenny! Calm down. It’s not what you think…!”
But Jenny wasn't looking at us. Her gaze was fixed on something outside the tent.
“They stink.”
And then,
Her tail raised, she prepared for battle.