Father and Daughter (2)
The Blood Flow Catalyst wasn't a miracle cure. It had to be administered monthly to stave off the pain, but it couldn't fundamentally treat the Blood Death Disease.
As far as I knew... the Blood Death Disease wasn't something that could be resolved with mere medication. Death or becoming a cripple. Either way, it was an incurable illness that offered patients nothing but despair. That was the core of its setting—to highlight Beatrice's uniqueness in overcoming it and rising as a disaster.
In fact, among the three disasters destined to lead the world to ruin, Beatrice stood unparalleled. There were at least attempts to stop the other two, but the Blood Witch Beatrice surpassed any level that could be contained by physical force. From the continent's perspective, it was fortunate that the resentment she built over a decade targeted only the Empire. In the end, she destroyed the Empire but didn't extend her harm to the rest of the world.
Well, in the aftermath, the Empire's fall accelerated the world's end, but still.
Awakening is inevitable.
The power of blood. It wouldn't be wrong to call it half her fate for Beatrice to awaken to that strength. No matter that I'd taken her in as my adopted daughter, I couldn't prevent that future.
The key was how she would ultimately wield the power she was bound to awaken. That was what I aimed to achieve by claiming the role of father at this young age. If there was any part I could control, it had to be that.
I needed to tame the mania that formed the foundation of the Blood Witch. Eradicating it entirely would be ideal. That was the purpose of the adoption. If I could keep her under my wing, I could block most of the misfortunes headed her way in the future.
Whoosh—!
Early in the morning, I swung my sword in the small yard attached to the mansion for the first time in a while, lost in thought.
The misfortunes awaiting Beatrice weren't limited to the Blood Death Disease. Being abandoned by her family due to the illness and wandering the back alleys was already despair incarnate. Yet this world seemed determined to mold her into a disaster, laying out all sorts of contingencies.
The Black Lotus Society...
Among them, the one demanding the most attention was, naturally, that organization. A collective of terrorists with the grand ambition to topple this vast Empire.
If the Blood Death Disease was the root cause birthing the Blood Witch, then the culprits who set her on the path to disaster were unmistakably them.
Black Lotus Society. The group that kidnapped Beatrice, who wandered Edenberg's back alleys, within a year. Fools who thought to use the Beatrice who overcame the Blood Death Disease as their spearhead against the Empire. Of course, they couldn't control her and ended up massacred by her once she awakened her power.
The core issue was that, thanks to them, Beatrice would suffer immense agony over the next five years. Worse than starving in the alleys.
Not just human experiments, but brainwashing and hypnosis via mental magic, and abuses too numerous to list one by one.
By then, it would be irreversible. Beatrice would inevitably become the Blood Witch, consumed by pessimism, and destroy the Empire.
That was why I'd set the deadline for bringing Beatrice with me to next year. I had to strike first and whisk her away before the Black Lotus Society could abduct her.
Primarily, it was a success. Beatrice was now my daughter, living within my reach. Even if the Black Lotus Society tracked down the orphan girl who'd left Edenberg, I had plenty of means to protect her.
Not that they'd catch up to a single orphan girl who'd left Edenberg that quickly.
If worst came to worst, I'd repel them by force. Far simpler than rescuing her from their stronghold later.
"Planning to just watch?"
"...!"
I paused my sword swings and wiped the sweat from my brow, glancing back at the mansion. A blue-haired girl, who seemed to have just woken up, was peeking at me from hiding.
My daughter, of course. Did she think I wouldn't notice her lurking like that?
Beatrice, who had poked her head out from the balcony connected to the yard, flinched and pulled back. But only for a moment—under my steady gaze and faint smile, she crept out slowly.
"My dear daughter seems to be an early riser. It's still too early for a child to be up."
The sun was barely peeking over the horizon; dawn had only just broken. Around 7 a.m., probably. Far too early for a kid to wake.
At this rate, she wouldn't grow tall. Worried about her growth, I tossed out the comment, and Beatrice replied curtly.
"...You're up way earlier than me, training with your sword..."
"Well, I'm an adult. You're still a growing child with open growth plates."
"Are you a swordsman? Before you came for me... what did you do?"
"Not listening to a word I say?"
I chuckled and slid my sword back into its sheath with a clear metallic ring. The blade scraped softly against the scabbard as it settled in.
Beatrice's eyes sparkled with interest in the sword as she watched. I pondered briefly but decided to answer her question honestly.
"Until I went to Edenberg to fetch you, I was a mercenary. As you can guess, adopting you required a lot of money."
I formed a circle with my thumb and forefinger, and Beatrice's expression darkened slightly. Recalling the truth about the Blood Flow Catalyst while her doubts about me resurfaced.
Sorry, but that's a secret. For now.
As I'd told her last night, I had no intention of revealing everything just yet. The matter of my transmigration was my personal secret, unknown to anyone in this world.
Explaining coherently why I went this far for her was impossible. Even a fabricated story would be hard for her to swallow.
So it remained a secret. For now.
Who knew? Someday, I might open up about my past and the truth to her.
I deftly met her gaze and added,
"Don't worry. I've got plenty of money set aside for your medicine."
"...Money from mere mercenary work wouldn't even buy one dose of the catalyst, would it?"
"Then your father must not be an ordinary mercenary. If you're that concerned, want to check the safe in my room later?"
I answered her suspicious question calmly and approached where she stood. Beatrice instinctively shrank back out of habit, but I merely picked up the towel on the balcony to wipe my sweat.
She pursed her lips awkwardly, and I chuckled softly, changing the subject.
"By the way, you seem interested in the sword. Coming out this early just to watch."
She chewed her lip for a moment before responding.
"Not exactly... I woke up, and the yard was noisy. I just... looked."
"You were staring at my sword pretty intently for that."
"..."
"Want to learn?"
"...Huh?"
Beatrice's eyes widened in surprise at my words, and I strolled leisurely to the shed in the corner of the yard.
"Let me see... There should be something usable if I look... Ah, here's a perfect one."
"Wh-what... are you doing?"
Beatrice, now wearing slippers too big for her feet, followed behind me. To her cautious question, I grinned and pulled out what I'd found in the shed.
"Here, take it."
"...?!"
It was a sword. Among the many iron training swords I'd stockpiled when furnishing this mansion with supplies, this one was unusually small. Closer to a shortsword than a longsword, if anything. Even so, it looked huge in Beatrice's hands.
"Ah, ugh..."
Clang!
Beatrice reflexively caught the sword I offered but couldn't handle the weight, losing her balance. Gripping the hilt with both hands and letting the tip rest on the ground was the best she could manage. Given its heft, it was probably too much for her. She'd barely eaten growing up, so she lacked muscle anyway.
"Looks like you can't manage it like that."
"...Y-you call this... normal..."
"Try using mana, Beatrice."
"What...?"
She glared at me with fiery eyes for a moment, then went blank, as if she couldn't process what I'd said. I tilted my head and repeated myself.
"Mana. With pure strength alone, it's impossible for you right now to lift that sword."
"Y-you shoved it at me...!"
"You seemed interested. Weren't you?"
"No, I..."
"Mana. You know how to use it."
"..."
Beatrice huffed, about to retort, but clamped her mouth shut at my follow-up. Still letting the sword drag on the ground, she averted her eyes downward, avoiding my gaze.
Silence often meant affirmation. I knew she'd already grasped the basics of mana usage to some extent.
When I first met her in Edenberg, a faint barrier of mana surrounded her—like a feral dog's bite warning. It wouldn't work on a proper mana user, but that wasn't the point.
A young girl cast out by her family, scraping for food, even suffering from illness—yet able to wield mana. That was impressive. It proved her potential.
After all, the Blood Witch's infamy wasn't just from the power of blood. Beatrice's talent was terrifying enough to potentially destroy the world.
...And paradoxically, to control that danger, she needed to master her own power above all.
"If you're not used to mana yet, I'll teach you. Helping bloom my daughter's talent is part of a father's role."
"...You..."
I planned to turn Beatrice into a true mana user. Not some half-baked amateur, but an exceptional one. Knight or mage—it didn't matter. The point was building control.
She'd awaken to the power of blood soon enough anyway. At least give her a foundation to manage that perilous force.
Mana was ideal for it—proven stable energy.
"Since you're an early riser, perfect. From now on, train with me every dawn."
"Uh... suddenly?"
I patted her shoulder with a mischievous smile, and for some reason, she broke out in sweat, gulping dryly.
……My dear daughter.