Chapter 20

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 20

Chapter Title: Daughterlings Normalized

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I received the Tower clear notification while stroking Arin's head, my mouth half-open in awe. But it was only for a moment.

"Ah, so it figured it out after all, huh?"

Arin muttered some incomprehensible soliloquy.

And soon enough, a notification window I'd never seen before appeared before my eyes.

"...Penalty...?"

And right after.

"Ugh...!"

Bzzt... Bzzt-!!!

Suddenly, something like electricity burst from Arin's body.

Arin grimaced in pain and collapsed to the ground.

"Ah, Arin!?"

Startled, I rushed to support the fallen Arin.

But the electricity pouring from her body soon subsided, and Arin stood up on her own.

She approached me, looking somehow refreshed, and said,

"...How do I feel?"

"Huh? Feel about what?"

"...Is Daddy still scared of me...?"

"What're you talking about all of a sudden...... Uh...?"

...What is this?

Something about Arin felt completely different.

How to put it...

Her appearance hadn't changed dramatically.

But that eerie aura of hers was gone, right?

The absolute ruler's presence she'd subtly directed at me had vanished entirely.

And in reality.

"Hee hee. You look pretty shocked...?"

Normally, that innocent smile would have sent chills down my spine.

But now, it just made me think of her as my cute second daughter. Arin wasn't scary anymore.

"Arin, you seem different somehow... What was that just now...?"

Stunned by this sudden change, I asked Arin what was going on.

Arin smiled brightly, though with a hint of bitterness, and said,

"It's because the main body fell asleep."

"Main body?"

"The existence of '■■' that just got penalized."

"You mean... that scale's existence?"

"Yes. I'm a homunculus born from the scale and Daddy's alchemy. Basically a clone of the main body. But when Daddy gave me a name, I gained a sense of self. Until now, with the main body awake, I wasn't fully myself. But now that the main body is asleep, I'm fully me."

Uh... so.

To sum up Arin's words in one phrase...

"Like... split personality or something...?"

"It's a bit different since they merge when the main body wakes up, but yeah, you could say that."

...As someone who's not the one experiencing it, I can't grasp the exact difference.

But one thing was clear.

"So... when will the main body wake up again?"

"Hmm... I don't know exactly, but it'll probably sleep for about 10 years? The main body is a heavy sleeper once it dozes off."

The current Arin was no longer that terrifying predator.

She was just my cute shark girl daughterling.

Right after realizing Arin had gone from predator to cute ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠second daughterling.

My quality of life skyrocketed.

For starters, my left arm had my cute first daughter Lulu snuggled against it, rubbing her soft fur on me.

"Daddy-nyang! Arin-nyang's power was amazing-nyang just now!"

"Yeah, it really was impressive."

On my opposite right arm sat my second daughter Arin, wagging her plump shark tail and giggling.

"Hee hee. Is Arin amazing?"

"Of course. You were really impressive."

If someone saw me from afar,

They might think I was a human cat tower with cute creatures perched on both arms.

But I loved this situation.

"But... Arin isn't as strong as before anymore, Lulu sis... When the main body fell asleep, all my power and memories vanished..."

"It's okay, Arin-nyang! Lulu's the big sis, so I'll get strong quick and protect Arin-nyang-nyang!"

"...Really?"

"For real-nyang! Trust only Lulu-nyang! Lulu's a hunting genius-nyang!"

"Hee hee...! Thanks, Lulu sis!"

Front-row seats to the adorable chemistry between my two daughterlings...!

How could anyone give this up!

If there were two angels in the world, I could confidently say,

They're right here on my arms.

"Nyanyanyang! Daddy-nyang's face looks hilariously weird-nyang!"

"Hee hee! You're grinning all goofy!"

"Ahem."

Whoops, their cuteness made me lose control of my expression.

Anyway.

Watching their lethal chemistry was great,

But since we'd entered the Tower, it was time to finish our business.

"Girls. Daddy's gonna check his notifications, so play together for a bit? Tell me if you find anything."

"Got it-nyang!"

"Okay!"

I warmly watched my two daughters scamper off from my arms.

Once they were out of sight, I finally checked the notifications I'd missed.

"A trait this time, huh?"

Checking the ranking reward, I'd gotten the trait version of the skill gacha from last time.

It didn't look much different.

The silver vinyl packaging had turned gold, that was about it.

"Wonder if I'll get something useful again this time?"

A high-grade trait would be great.

But after the [Auto Harvest (C)] skill last time, I knew grade wasn't everything.

So, hoping for something useful even if low-grade, I peeled open the vinyl.

"...Composure?"

Uh... it was a bit out of left field, but not incomprehensible.

For a production job, staying calm leads to better results, so having this trait is definitely better than not.

Hmm... but still...

This is a good trait and all...

Honestly, it feels less like an Alchemist-exclusive trait and more...

"...Isn't this just a general trait for all jobs?"

It was like pulling a permanent banner character instead of the featured one in a gacha ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠game.

"Well... it's not useless, at least."

The silver lining was that it wasn't completely worthless.

I didn't know how effective it'd be.

But if it could curb my mental breakdowns even a little in front of my daughters, that's better than nothing, right?

"Can't have a mental meltdown in front of the girls."

Yeah. Let's think positive.

If I had a meltdown in front of Lulu and Arin...

-Nyang? Daddy-nyang's a total loser psycho mentie-nyang?!

-You're not Daddy... You're some stranger uncle...

...If I heard that, I might actually make an extreme choice.

Ugh... Just imagining it deals mental damage...!!!

"......It's not coming?"

Huh? What?

Normally, my head would throb with a headache by now.

It hurt my heart a bit, sure, but no headache.

...Ah! Could this be the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trait's effect?

"This Composure trait is amazing!"

I never expected it to be this effective.

That's when I was rejoicing over getting a surprisingly important trait from this ranking reward.

Just then, the daughterlings came toddling back from afar.

"Daddy-nyang! Found something weird deep in the forest-nyang!"

"Daddy! There's a su~per huge red mushroom!"

"A super huge red mushroom?"

They shared some intriguing news.

Becoming my daughterlings' human cat tower, we headed deeper into the forest.

Sure enough, we found a massive red mushroom just like they said.

"The size is ridiculous."

It reached up to my waist, and after the growth potion, I was over 190cm tall.

So yeah, this mushroom was huge.

If I stood Arin next to it, they'd be a good match, but.

It might be poisonous, so I decided not to get too close.

"Usually, you don't go near mushrooms like that. It's a cliché to get poisoned by toxic spores and end up in some weird status."

"Like that-nyang?"

"Really?"

"Yep. Daddy read it in books."

Of course, those 'books' were a bit ecchi manga.

But it was a white lie to instill some caution for my daughters' safety.

From a safe distance, we used the harvesting skill.

"[Auto Harvest]"

I knew it!

With 'demon' in the name, it had to be an insanely toxic mushroom!

"It's a Thousand-Year Aged Red Demon Mushroom. Whaddya think? The name alone screams ultra-poisonous, right?"

"Demon-nyang! Sounds super scary-nyang! No wonder my nose was itchy-nyang!"

"Yeah... Red Demon Mushrooms melt your tongue and dissolve your insides if you eat them... That was really dangerous...!"

"Yeah, yeah. So don't get close to such a dangerous mushroom...... Huh? Arin? How do you know that?"

"Huh? Uh... I don't know exactly, but... the moment I heard the name, a chunk of the main body's memory just popped-! into my head!"

"You remembered from the main body's memories...?"

Didn't she say all power and memories were gone since the main body was asleep?

But 'popped into my head' means...

Maybe the power wasn't completely gone...?

"Arin. Try saying 'Status Window'?"

"Huh? [Status Window]?"

"Ah."

This was it.

Her original power was so overwhelming that she'd mistaken the weakened version for gone.

Arin was still a plenty powerful spirit.