Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Let's Do XX with Daddy.
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“Irina!!”
Eleina burst into the room the moment she heard something drop from beyond the door.
What I saw as I followed her inside was Irina collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath.
“Irina, come on, snap out of it!”
No matter how much Eleina shook her shoulders, Irina showed no sign of coming to.
[Irina? Are you okay? Irina!]
Hearing Clint's frantic voice, I approached the desk and flipped the switch in the center of the communication orb.
The mana forming the screen dispersed, and Clint's face vanished.
“Sir Yaruo, Irina, she—!”
I grabbed the cellphone next to the orb and turned around to find Eleina looking up at me with tear-streaked cheeks.
Her husband's voice from moments ago seemed utterly forgotten.
That meant my presence in her heart had grown larger than Clint's.
“Calm down, Eleina.”
But Eleina, lost in panic, wasn't in a state to regain her composure with just a few words.
How many parents wouldn't react this way if their child suddenly fainted out of nowhere?
It was especially sensitive for Irina.
“This isn't mana hypersensitivity.”
“...Huh?”
Eleina blinked repeatedly at my words, as if her soul had fled her body.
Tears clinging to her chin had dripped onto her ample bosom.
“Not mana hypersensitivity? But Sir Yaruo, how do you know about that illness...”
“I'll explain later. For now, cast a healing spell on Irina first.”
“Y-Yes, okay.”
Though dazed, Eleina obediently followed my instructions.
Irina's complexion improved rapidly under the healing magic.
“Good. Now let's lay Irina down on the bed.”
“Um, Sir Yaruo... do you know why Irina collapsed?”
Of course I did.
It was because of me.
The fainting was unexpected, though.
“Irina's just exhausted from overexertion. Like a cold—you get it?”
“A c-cold?”
Yeah. A cold.
I'd merely implanted a suggestion to make Irina feel extreme fatigue.
First, to make it seem like symptoms of mana hypersensitivity.
Second, to weaken her mentally.
In fact, the conversation with Clint had gone exactly as planned up to that point.
Her longing, yearning, and resentment toward her father.
She'd revealed emotions she usually kept tightly bottled up.
I just hadn't expected her feelings to overwhelm her to the point of passing out.
‘I need to be more careful with suggestions that manipulate condition from now on.’
Once Eleina and I had tucked Irina into bed, her blanket rose and fell gently with her even breathing.
“Phew.”
Only then did Eleina sigh in relief, patting her chest.
“Let Irina rest. We'll head out, and I'll explain what we need to do next.”
“What we need to do... from now on?”
“Yeah. Something for our new family to do together.”
Eleina didn't grasp my meaning at first, but once I explained, she eagerly joined the plan.
That said, I got an earful for hours about making Irina like this in the process.
Even a usually gentle person is terrifying when they get mad.
I nearly died once as a child.
Back when my family still lived in our hometown, Greenwood.
I was 20 then, walking with Mom when I lost consciousness and collapsed.
It was so long ago and so brief that I don't remember much.
But Mom's scream and her ashen face are still vivid.
To her, it was like a toddler who'd just learned to walk collapsing right in front of her eyes.
I'd have reacted the same if I were her.
‘Mana hypersensitivity.’
Or ‘ether imbalance disorder.’
That was the name of the rare disease I'd been born with.
It caused the body's mana regulation organs to malfunction, triggering all sorts of rejection responses.
Mild cases: nausea, headaches, low fever.
Severe: difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat.
Worst case: mana surge leading to death. A horrific illness.
Funny thing is, ‘mana hypersensitivity’ didn't mean rejection of mana itself.
If it did, there'd be nowhere in this world I could live.
The rejection only happened with mana of specific wavelengths.
For me, that was the mana of my hometown, Greenwood.
In other words, I was born with a body incompatible with my homeland.
What kind of ridiculous disease is this? But that's how I was born.
After that, life in my hometown turned into hell.
Rare disease? No one knew a cure.
All we could do was palliative care to ease symptoms.
I had to wear some cumbersome filtering device nonstop.
Take mana suppressants periodically.
I naturally drifted apart from my friends.
My own kind looked at me with pity and unease whenever I passed by.
My body didn't worsen like before, but my mind started to crumble instead.
In the end, my parents, unable to bear it, took me away from our hometown to the forest we live in now.
Sylvan. The forest elves call ‘the quiet one,’ isolated from any territories, preserving nature untouched.
Best of all, its overall mana density was low, minimizing rejection risks.
Living in the forest improved my health, and my broken spirit healed on its own.
I developed a trauma toward magic itself and couldn't use it anymore, but it wasn't much of an issue.
I figured living quietly in the forest with my parents forever would be fine.
So what if days were idle and boring?
Having my parents nearby was joy enough.
But Dad and Mom thought differently.
After a decade or so in the forest, Dad decided to return to our hometown to find a way to cure my condition.
Something about analyzing the hometown's mana wavelengths?
Whatever. I had no lingering attachment to my homeland or kin anyway.
Just living peacefully with family was enough.
But as a child back then, I couldn't bring myself to stop Dad, who vowed to find a cure.
Dad, who promised to visit occasionally before leaving...
Never showed his face again for 150 years, not to Mom or me.
“Mm...”
An itchy sensation in my ears woke me.
My blurry vision cleared to reveal the familiar ceiling.
‘What happened...?’
As consciousness sharpened, memories resurfaced one by one.
I was definitely talking with Dad in the room when emotions surged...
Right, I collapsed on the floor.
And blacked out right after.
How much time passed?
Where's Mom? That guy?
‘Right, the cellphone...!’
“Awake?”
“Uh...?”
A voice from the bed's edge halted my attempt to sit up abruptly, flooding my mind.
Soon, a gentle hand softly stroked my forehead.
Bigger than Mom's, rough yet reassuring.
“D-Dad?”
“Yeah, my girl.”
Dad sat perched on the bed's edge, smiling at me.
The lantern light behind him made it hard to see clearly, but it was unmistakably Dad's face.
No mistaking it, even after 150 years.
“For real...?”
“Of course. Can't my daughter recognize her own dad's face?”
His teasing words brought an inexplicable surge of emotion.
Tears welled up against my will.
“How...?”
“When I heard my daughter collapsed, how could I stay put? The sun's already set, but I'm glad I made it in time.”
I see.
I knew I shouldn't think it, but I couldn't help feeling glad I'd collapsed.
“Sorry for getting mad earlier. I didn't understand my daughter's feelings.”
Warmth layered over the back of my hand.
This really is Dad.
“...Hmph. Better late than never.”
My mouth moved on its own, contrary to my heart.
But Dad just chuckled it off good-naturedly.
“Irina. From today, Dad's going to live here too.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah. Nothing matters more than what my daughter wants.”
Joy filled me at his words, but a forgotten anxiety stirred in a corner of my heart.
“But that Yaruo guy...”
“Hm? Yaruo?”
“Come to think of it, Dad, where's Mom?”
I propped myself up and glanced at the desk while asking.
The cellphone I'd placed there before passing out was gone.
“Mom's resting in the living room right now. Why?”
“Didn't you see? That otherworlder named Yaruo—face like a sneaky goblin. Because of him, Mom's been...!”
“Calm down, Irina.”
“How can I? Who knows what he'll do if we leave him be.”
“Hmm. Yaruo, huh. At least I didn't see anyone like that when I arrived.”
“What?”
No way.
“Besides, an otherworlder? Irina, you sure you weren't dreaming?”
No.
That guy definitely existed.
I spent a week with him, like it or not.
Did he run away?
No way he'd give up that easily...
“Irina.”
Then Dad's arms gently wrapped around my back.
A cozy warmth enveloped my face.
“You've been so anxious all this time. It's okay now—Dad's here.”
“...Yeah.”
I get it now.
It's finally over.
Just as I'd thought.
Everything works out when Dad comes back.
I don't know what happened to Yaruo.
Who cares.
Dad's here now.
That's enough.
It felt like waking from a long nightmare.
“...Goblin, huh. You saw me that way.”
“Huh? What'd you say, Dad?”
“Nothing. Anyway, how's your condition?”
“...Come to think of it, I don't feel bad at all.”
My body, heavy as waterlogged cotton earlier, now felt light as a feather.
Did Dad do something?
“Good, then. No time to waste—let's get started.”
With that, Dad pulled away from me and began undressing.
Not just the white coat, but everything underneath.
“Wh-What are you doing?!”
His sudden action made me reflexively cover my eyes.
Stripping in front of his daughter right after reuniting—what the hell!?
“I'm going to cure your mana hypersensitivity now.”
Unlike my shock, Dad's voice was calm.
“C-Cure? This is too sudden! Why undress!?”
Despite my protests, the sounds of him disrobing continued.
“And you said clinical trials or whatever would take more time!”
“Not anymore. I found a way to cure you without all that hassle.”
The bed creaked.
The blanket lifted as Dad drew near.
What the hell is going on?
Soon, Dad pried away my hands covering my eyes.
His naked body—memory fuzzy after so long—filled my vision.
Down to the starkly visible thing between his legs.
‘Why's it so huge in this situation?!’
“Irina.”
“Eek!?”
Too flustered to speak properly, Dad suddenly gripped my shoulders.
With a grave expression and tone,
“From now on, let's have sex, you and me.”
It shattered all the emotion from moments ago.
[Peculiarities]
- Suffering from the rare disease: mana hypersensitivity.
[Status]
- Overjoyed that Dad is back.
- Confused by Dad's unexplained actions.
-Irina-
[Recognizes Yaruo as Dad.]