A Father's Warning by the River Styx

"Shall we change locations for a moment?"

The moment Zeke, Airi's father, spoke those words, the scenery around us shifted. The narrow alleyway was instantly replaced by the view from the highest tower in the city of Bechem. A cool breeze at the top of the tower brushed past my hair.

"Here, we won't have to worry about prying eyes," Zeke said, turning to face me. The handsome face from the first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠game was gone, replaced by a fully grown man with a beard. No wonder the female fans who liked Zeke treated Dragnity Fantasy 2 like a landmine. Though some people did like this look.

"What's your business, brother? As you can see, I'm quite busy with childcare myself..."

"Airi..." Zeke hesitated for a moment. In Dragnity Fantasy 1, he had been cheerful, but after aging and going through various hardships, even his personality had turned into that of a middle-aged man. Appearance and personality both middle-aged—he had undergone the classic "uncle corruption."

"I was relieved to see that Airi seems to be doing well. It was the right decision to entrust her to you, Werner."

Instead of asking how Airi was doing, I heard Zeke's own assessment.

"Huh? Did you meet Airi, brother?"

If he had met her while I was briefly away from home, I would definitely have been chopped to pieces.

"No. When I came to this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠city, I happened to see the two of you, so I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠followed you for a bit."

Ah, so that prickling gaze I felt in the slums had been Zeke. No wonder that guy at the entrance had been staring so hard—I ended up beating him up on my way out. Well, he probably had done plenty of bad things himself, so it was just karma.

"It seems Airi relies on you quite a lot."

Why did it feel like he was smiling warmly while saying, "Aren't you bothered that my daughter is clinging to you?" Was this just my guilt playing tricks on me?

"It must be thanks to how devotedly you've been taking care of her all this time. You've had a hard time filling in for the parenting I couldn't do."

His voice was incredibly warm, yet the demon of guilt twisted his words into "Just do the parenting. If you act like lovers, I'll kill you, you brat."

"That child takes after my old self—she's quite the tomboy... You must have your hands full. I always feel sorry toward you, Werner."

Why did it keep sounding like "You have nothing to feel sorry about to me, you bastard"?

I clearly needed some healing. To get out of this situation, I had to change the subject.

"I'm fine, brother. By the way, you mentioned you had business nearby. What exactly brought you here?"

Zeke must have plenty of other matters to attend to, so why come all the way to this remote place? Especially when he should be busy fighting elsewhere right now.

"I heard there was information about the item I've been looking for."

Zeke wore a somewhat bitter expression. If it was that story, I could guess what information it was.

"...Has Sister—no, Sister-in-law still not woken up?"

"Yeah... Before she collapsed, she really wanted to see your engagement ceremony."

"Just so you know, even back then I had no interest in holding an engagement ceremony with a nine-year-old kid."

Of course, I still didn't. Logically speaking, who in their right mind would hold an engagement ceremony with a nine-year-old?

"Well, I didn't particularly support or oppose it either... I think she was just trying to find you a good match in her own way."

Of course she was. Even as a hero's companion, I was ultimately just a lowly orphan. An engagement between such a lowly orphan and the daughter of a grand duke was something that shouldn't exist by common sense.

"But you know it too, brother. I'm sick and tired of noble affairs and that sort of thing..."

"She said she never wanted to see you crying alone and lonely again. So she wanted to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠create a substitute for herself for you, no matter what."

That was clearly a story from when Werner was still an orphan. Airi's mother had cherished Werner greatly. She praised him when he did well and scolded him strictly when he didn't.

"She made such a fuss about wanting to see you settle down before she collapsed... In the end, she never got to see the engagement ceremony."

I wasn't the one who ran away, yet for some reason my chest felt prickly.

"...Of course, Sister-in-law has been in a coma for the past twelve years."

"Yeah. We couldn't show Airi that kind of sight either... She hated the thought of you being alone."

Airi's mother had worried about both Airi and Werner until the moment she collapsed. Even though she was suffering from an incurable disease and could barely take care of herself, she had bestowed all sorts of blessings on Airi and even found a fiancée for Werner.

"Brother... If it's about Sister-in-law, I'll do anything. Just tell me. I'll help."

"Werner... Just take care of Airi. We'll handle that matter ourselves."

Those words meant that even without Werner, the members of Dragnity Fantasy 1 would take care of it themselves. They really did treat Werner like the youngest to the very end. No wonder Werner had wanted their recognition so badly.

"Even if I can't go with you because of Airi, if there's anything I can help with..."

"Just staying with Airi, just the two of you, is enough, Werner."

But Werner had a reason to help. Even though there was an age difference, Airi's mother had been like a mother to Werner as well.

"But brother!"

Then came a dizzying impact that rang through my forehead.

Damn it, did everyone have a grudge against Werner's head?

"Cool your head, kid."

"Got it, brother..."

"Leave the difficult things to your brothers and sisters. You just take good care of Airi. Honestly, the task you've been given looks like the hardest one."

That was really true. Raising someone else's child for twelve years wasn't an easy task. Every work had mentioned how much Werner had suffered over those twelve years.

"Ah, and someone asked me to deliver this note to you."

I took the note and asked, "Who? Did one of the other brothers or sisters send it?"

Zeke shook his head.

"No. Your fiancée. She seemed quite angry."

A chill ran down my spine at those words.

Zeke eventually melted transparently into the surrounding scenery and bid me farewell.

"Anyway, I'm glad you look healthy. Now I can rest easy."

"Wait, brother! You should at least meet Airi before you go..."

"It's not time to meet yet, Werner. I want our family's reunion to happen in perfect form."

In other words, he couldn't meet his daughter until Airi's mother's illness was cured. He was like that in the original work too—truly stubborn to the core.

Zeke disappeared without a trace, leaving me alone at the top of the tower.

"At least take me down before you go, you bastard!"

I would probably be able to cast one of the spells I had prepared for this turn now.

When I opened the door and entered, I saw Airi with her face buried in the dining table.

"Master is here, Airi."

The moment those words left my mouth, Airi came running toward me like an arrow.

"Master, I was wrong during the day! I even went to Lady Camellia and apologized! So please forgive me!"

"Alright, as long as you've reflected on it."

"I'll never do it again..."

"Good. Let's have dinner."

"Yes!"

I had planned to make pork schnitzel for dinner. In other words, tonkatsu. All I had to do was pound the meat and fry it... Wait, where the hell did the meat go?

"Ah... This damn..."

I had left the meat at that cursed tower. I wondered if I could retrieve it using the power of Vision—that is, Archmage Vargos's power—but there was no Vision attribute in this world. Damn it.

"I bought ingredients for dinner, but it seems I lost them, Airi... Damn it."

Then Airi smiled and put on an apron.

"See, Master? Without me, you'd be so clumsy you couldn't even make a proper meal! Just wait a moment!"

After waiting for about fifteen minutes, I was greeted by a screaming yellow slime with a red rat's corpse laid beneath it.

"This is... What kind of dish is this, Airi?"

"Can't you tell by looking? It's omurice."

"Uh, I don't see it."

I tried a spoonful as a test, and surprisingly, the taste was decent. The soft egg, sweet ketchup rice, and the vegetables and chicken mixed in between were all cooked just right.

Her cooking tasted pretty good, but the visual presentation was always garbage. What was this strategy—deliberately tanking expectations to rock bottom and then scoring high points?

"How is the food made by your cute disciple? Delicious, right?"

"Yeah, it's edible. The appearance is just scary, that's all."

After finishing the meal, while Airi was doing the dishes, I stretched because my shoulders were stiff. As I let out a groan, a note fell from my pocket.

"Oh, this is..."

Right, it was the note Zeke had delivered. The one supposedly from Werner's fiancée.

Was she declaring a broken engagement? If so, that would make things easier.

With that thought, I unfolded the note. The first line read...

A sigh escaped me.

"Haa... Damn it."

"Master, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, Airi. Your master is just tired, that's all."