Chapter 811
Chapter 811
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 811
Chapter Title: Fireworks Confession
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A small village with no real entertainment to speak of was hosting its one big festival of the year.
Thanks to that, the road from the village to the shrine was teeming with people.
Families, couples, and friends, all decked out in their finest clothes.
Beneath the long stretch of purple evening sunset slowly fading into dusk, everyone hurried toward the shrine with eager steps.
"......"
A quick glance.
Linne snuck a sideways look at Papa walking beside her.
A splendid hakama perfectly suited for Matsuri.
A manly scar running across his face and an eyepatch covering his bad eye.
A neatly trimmed beard peeking out from under his slanted black sedge hat.
He was the picture of a worldly wandering ronin.
And in truth, he was a spear master whose title of World's Greatest Spearman was anything but undeserved.
"Linne, don't get distracted, or it'll be dangerous. Keep an eye on your feet."
"Yes."
Siu pressed down firmly on Linne's head as she peeked at him, giving her a gentle scolding.
The affection in that small gesture made Linne bow her head deeply.
Without a doubt, Papa was the only one permitted to handle her this way.
She relied on him now like this, but their first meeting was hardly what anyone could call a good connection—not even as a joke.
Five years ago.
After her master passed on the stigma and died on a whim.
Linne, lost and wandering both body and soul, encountered the wandering ronin Siu.
The moment she met him—the man who had become a witch in a male body—she picked a fight with him, hell-bent on killing him.
At the time, she didn't care what happened.
She could no longer find any reason to keep living.
If there was any purpose left, it lay in the sword she had honed her entire life—or perhaps in nothingness.
Killing him would propel her to greater heights, and dying at the hands of a superior foe would be ideal.
With that resolve, she simply threw down the challenge to this man who looked plenty strong.
To her astonishment, he subdued her with overwhelming ease.
Even as a young witch, Linne had been hardened by the Sword Witch's brutal training and was no stranger to battle, yet he handled her like a child.
His spear shaft was straight as bamboo, while its tip shifted with the free changes of a willow leaf.
Linne couldn't keep up with those endlessly varied movements and dropped her sword in less than three minutes, her face slamming into the mud.
'Kill me.'
She was prepared for that price of defeat.
Mud flowed into her open mouth, but there was no rage or resentment—only a strange sense of relief, as if she'd been waiting for this.
'Go home, wash your feet, and grow up. Don't cause trouble.'
But Siu spared her life.
He tossed out those words casually and walked away into the rain.
'......'
Everything had been stripped away, including what she thought remained: her 'strength.' It had been utterly denied.
That mental shock flipped her suicidal urges into pure rage.
It was a sudden, unforeseen shift in direction.
Perhaps it was a cognitive pattern born from the need to explode the emotions bottled up in her chest.
After that, Linne chased him down and ambushed him relentlessly.
Day and night, clear days and cloudy ones, back roads and village outskirts.
She attacked without regard for time or place for three straight weeks, never claiming a single victory and always ending up on the ground.
Each time, he handled her with leisure.
The results were always the same.
'Come back after more training.'
She chased his indifferent retreating back for a full month, those infuriating words trailing behind.
Her frustration and sorrow at not even being a proper opponent gradually shifted into admiration.
'Not hungry?'
An onigiri handed to her as she clutched her kicked stomach and groaned.
That marked the beginning of their long bond.
Over time, like a kitten burrowing into a wolf's embrace after losing its mother, Linne came to see Siu as her father.
And he cared for her like family—like a father—without any conditions.
"What are you thinking about?"
"The day I first met Papa."
It was embarrassing, but she couldn't hide her true feelings from him.
Linne answered in a mumbling tone uncharacteristic of her, and Siu stroked her head again, finding her adorable.
Before long, the sun had fully set.
The long staircase leading to the shrine's torii gate glowed, surrounded by colorful lantern lights.
Siu and Linne climbed it hand in hand, like a loving father and daughter.
Papa is kind.
Papa is gentle.
Without that one onigiri he'd offered, how awful would her time have been?
Just being with him filled her chest with so much joy it felt like it might burst, her toes practically floating.
Even the vicious Curse of Deprivation faded away.
Yet these feelings made Linne anxious at the same time.
"Wow, they've really decked this place out."
Surrounded by lively music and laughter, she realized they'd arrived at the shrine.
Villagers had gathered in small groups to set up stalls, putting on quite the little festival.
"Shall we look around a bit first?"
"Yes."
That said, it was a small village festival that outsiders rarely visited.
Even taking their time, they finished seeing everything in about fifteen minutes.
As they wandered the shrine grounds, lit not by stone lanterns but by crimson incandescent bulbs in a daze.
Linne mulled over a worry she'd harbored for a long time.
Siu had given her so much.
He'd filled the longing she felt for family affection, for paternal or maternal love.
And that was it.
Their relationship was that of a bloodless father and daughter—nothing more.
"Linne."
"Yes."
"Don't just stand there blankly. Take it."
To Linne, hesitating in place, he handed an apple skewered on a stick.
Not just any apple—it was ringo ame, coated in melted sugar.
A Matsuri staple snack.
"......"
"We're here for once. We should enjoy it more, right?"
Papa was the same as always.
But today, his actions—seemingly oblivious to her worries—only annoyed her.
"Oh, this looks fun."
Siu led Linne, who was nibbling tentatively at the ringo ame, to a scooping game.
Scooping goldfish with paper nets from a shallow tank was another Matsuri must-do.
"Ayu scooping, just 500 yen a try! Bring your catch to the stall next door, and we'll grill it for you!"
"Hm, not quite like the goldfish scooping I know."
"......"
Ayu swam in the tank instead of goldfish.
A glance to the side revealed a stall grilling ayu at an angle over charcoal flames.
"Want to give it a try, Linne?"
"How many should I catch?"
"Just enough to eat."
"How many does Papa want?"
"Hmm? Two should do with some beer."
Linne rolled up her yukata sleeves and gripped the paper net.
Like a skilled cormorant, she scooped up five ayu in a flash.
Siu, thrilled with the side dish secured, lavished her with intense praise.
And Linne's cheeks turning bright red from the hearty compliments was a given.
2.
As mentioned earlier, this small village Matsuri lacked even a parade, so after ayu scooping, the only entertainment left was the shooting gallery.
But they had the main event down pat: fireworks launched into the summer night sky.
Toh Shrine was a prime spot for viewing them from high ground.
Even those resting or uninterested in stalls would flock here, no doubt.
Linne had scouted ahead three days prior.
"Where are you headed?"
"Papa, the view's better this way."
Pushing through trees and bushes, they reached the edge of a gentle cliff overlooking the river.
She'd chosen a spot that was quiet, hidden from prying eyes, yet offered excellent visibility.
The shrine lights behind them winked out one by one.
The laughing, chattering crowd fell silent, awaiting the spectacle ahead.
Her heart pounded like it was broken.
Linne's long-standing worry.
It was that Siu truly saw her only as a daughter.
If something could serve as the catalyst to change their relationship now, it would have to be Linne's own courage.
She was grateful that he cherished her like family despite not sharing a drop of blood.
It was true that his attitude had saved her.
But at some point, she'd begun to crave taking one step further.
That impulse always came with anxiety.
She loved the Papa who cared for her.
She loved the Papa she could always spoil with and depend on freely.
But if crossing that line alone led to awkward distance, it would hurt.
If her hard-won confession was dismissed as childish impulse, she wasn't sure she could hold back tears.
She feared how he'd view her greed to have both Siu and Papa.
"Papa."
Linne forced her shrinking breath and opened her mouth.
"Yeah?"
She'd sworn to herself she'd say it today, but hesitation crept in as always.
More hesitation.
She could be happy without doing anything.
Maybe it was fine to savor this a bit longer?
"It's nothing..."
As Linne quietly bowed her head, postponing it for later.
-Boom! Bang bang boom!
Cheers erupted as fireworks lit up the dark surroundings in brilliant light.
The stunning display severed the threads of her hesitation.
"Oh, so pretty."
"Papa."
Linne stretched both arms toward Siu.
Thinking it her usual hug request, he knelt and opened his arms—
But she grabbed his cheeks firmly instead.
No escape possible.
"I love you from the bottom of my heart."
Their lips met softly.
Not the familial peck on cheek or forehead before bed, but a lover's kiss, tongues intertwining to mix sweet saliva.
Fireworks boomed in her ears, colorful bursts flickering across their pressed cheeks.
An eternity and an instant all at once.
Relief, regret, lingering attachment, joy, sweetness, bitterness, excitement, fear.
A complex, muddled aftertaste lingered on her tongue, like paints wildly blended.
"You..."
Papa stared at her in shock right before her eyes.
She really shouldn't have done it.
"...I'm sorry..."
She should have been content with what she had.
Even as she tried to act nonchalant, her legs gave out amid sobs, and she began to collapse—
"Mmph...?!"
This time, a kiss came from Papa.
Deeper and hotter with passion than hers.
Linne's body, rigid at first, naturally surrendered to his touch.
In the dim forest where cricket chirps had quieted under the fireworks.
Amid their father-daughter secret play, Linne shed tears of happiness.