Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Pitiful Children
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“Prepare some simple tea and snacks as well.”
His kind words to the servants inside the mansion and the familiar smile as he greeted his guests revealed his true character.
But why join hands with those fighting dogs for that kind of nonsense?
And besides, you already have a daughter named Michelle.
There's no need to build a murder hotel just to kill people and supply them to the fighting dogs.
Watching Michelle tightly gripping her dad's hand made me want to rush over and confront him right then and there, but I clenched my fist and held back.
Michael Portren guided us to an elegant drawing room.
Hepburn Ren wore an expression that said he couldn't understand why he had to receive the same treatment as us kids—or worse, be treated with disdain.
“......”
“It's okay.”
Feeling Hayun slightly tugging at my clothes and leaning in from the side, I whispered softly to her.
Seeing that, Rin grabbed the hem of my clothes from the opposite side and flashed a satisfied smile.
“Tone down the flirting?”
Sen poked my back with her finger from behind. It was a warning that we were deep in enemy territory right now, and we were being too lax.
“Please, have a seat.”
Just as Hepburn Ren was annoyed by our presence, I was curious too.
It seemed like he had some secretive business with Hepburn Ren, so why bring us strangers along?
I'd followed without showing any awkwardness, at least.
Michael took the seat of honor and had Hepburn Ren sit right beside him, gesturing for us to sit opposite.
Michelle sat on Michael's lap, giggling happily. She definitely seemed in a much better mood now that she was with her dad, compared to when she was with us.
“So, you're from Aios Academy, here in Bethel for vacation?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“Hmm, what year are you in?”
“We're all third-years.”
“I see. Hepburn, if you have any questions, go ahead.”
Hepburn Ren looked flustered at Michael's sudden suggestion to him, but whether he saw it as some kind of test or not, he broke out in a sweat and spoke up.
“Your families allowed you kids to travel alone?”
A utterly pointless question.
I had no idea what Michael was aiming for, but that one line from Hepburn Ren surely didn't earn him any good marks.
“They encouraged us to see the wide world with our own eyes.”
“Splendid. Kids need to be let out to grow, but it's hard to let go when you're afraid of losing them.”
“I'm staying in Daddy's arms forever!”
“Heh heh, yeah, Daddy won't let go either.”
Michael tightly hugged Michelle as she burrowed into his chest. The loving family scene brought a smile to my face just watching it.
But then...
“Hepburn, you and that young lady over there have rather similar eyes.”
With Michelle still in his arms, Michael alternated glances between Hayun and Hepburn Ren, probing deeper.
The confident look on his face made me dizzy.
He knows everything?
I was confused, wondering if Michael Portren already knew all about us, but calming down, I judged it a bit too far-fetched.
“N-No way.”
“......”
He probably just knew about the connection between Hepburn and Hayun. Investigating Hepburn would naturally uncover info on Hayun too.
He thinks Hayun came chasing after her uncle.
That's why this guy was so relaxed.
He believed we were targeting Hepburn Ren, not him.
In a way, this is...
Lucky for us.
Meeting Hepburn Ren had been pure coincidence, after all.
Coincidence?
To shake off the nagging feeling, I took a sip of the tea the maid brought.
I only wet my lips briefly, suspecting it might be spiked, but it seemed fine.
After a series of questions that felt like tests for Hepburn Ren, Michelle yawned from boredom, and we slowly rose to leave.
“Sorry about that. Adult talk must have been boring for students. Hopefully, we won't have to discuss such topics next time.”
He said it with a smile, but it was a clear threat: don't get involved any further.
Protecting Hepburn Ren?
From the conversation vibe, it felt like Hepburn was bowing to Michael, yet in the end, Michael was shielding him.
It meant Hepburn was useful to him too.
“Yes, don't worry.”
We smiled and exited the mansion.
“That was subtly threatening us, right? Telling us not to dig any deeper.”
Rin sidled up to me for confirmation, and I nodded slightly.
“Yeah, but he doesn't seem to realize he's the target. He thinks we're after Hepburn because of Hayun.”
And he used us to test the man named Hepburn.
We'd been played right into their hands, but at least we confirmed their relationship.
They were collaborators, but Hepburn was the one bending.
Michael was probably part of the fighting dogs, so Hepburn wanted that connection.
“Sigh.”
“Couldn't we have just killed them all back there?”
Sen said bluntly.
Rin and Hayun gave her looks like, Was she always like this? but I couldn't answer.
Michelle's the problem.
Of all things, that girl being that man's daughter.
Having glimpsed what her life might become without a father, her innocent smile kept flashing in my mind.
“Let's head back to the hotel for now.”
In the end, with no clear answers, we had no choice but to return to the hotel.
The Intensity Four were out on their assignment, and with Rin's army control, they wouldn't even think of running.
“Plenty of rooms, so pick any.”
The sky had already darkened.
After a simple dinner, we decided to rest separately.
They could attack anytime.
This hotel was a double-edged sword for us right now.
Staying here long as their main base would make them suspicious when bodies stopped coming in—Michael or the fighting dogs would come sniffing.
But it also meant they'd definitely attack.
So, I was loosening up in the hotel's spacious lobby, swinging my sword lightly to sharpen my senses, when Hayun came down the second-floor stairs.
Seeing her grip her sword with a troubled expression, she looked like she was planning to train too.
“You wanna move around a bit too?”
“Yeah, too many stray thoughts.”
“Hmm, how about a quick spar?”
“......Sure.”
After warming up, Hayun drew her sword in front of me. It was always a beautiful blade.
Made to suit her Eastern swordsmanship, I'd heard it was the only gift from her uncle, Hepburn Ren.
I drew the sword my sister gave me, took my stance, and we clashed blades.
With controlled power, the spar dragged on quite long before ending.
As Hayun wiped her sweat with a towel, I offered advice.
“Your sword gets unstable depending on your mental state, you know that?”
“......Yeah.”
Like when she and Ares rushed me in king's game, or now.
When her heart wavers, her blade swings wildly too.
I'd heard her Eastern swordsmanship valued not just physical strength, but mental fortitude.
Heart Sword.
The purity of a swordsman's heart manifests in the blade, they say.
She mentioned that at higher realms, will and heart infuse the sword itself.
Either way, a swordsman's inner state mattered beyond just swinging steel, and Hayun's fluctuations were especially severe.
“Meeting your uncle hit you hard?”
“......Yeah, way harder than I thought.”
“......”
With an expression like she was vomiting bile, Hayun spat out her vulnerability.
“It was fine rebelling through the communication orb—I thought I'd won. But facing him today, my mind went blank.”
“......”
“I believe my parents were killed by my uncle. He must've schemed something, and there's no guarantee that hand won't reach me next. Especially now that I've been disowned.”
Hayun subtly undid her top button.
Having seen something similar on another woman in Yggdrasil, I didn't panic this time.
A long pattern drawn from her shoulder down to her chest.
Hidden by clothes, but it seemed to cover her whole body.
“You explained this mark discerns lies from truth before, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I'm free from his grasp now, so it's just a tattoo. But every time I see it, I feel like I'm still dancing in his palm.”
“......”
“Sorry for whining like this.”
As she grabbed her sword to head back to her room, I continued what I'd meant to say earlier.
“When fear or confusion grips you, you can't even bring out half your skill. That's a big problem for a swordsman.”
“......”
She stopped, glaring at me like it was provocation, so I gave a small smile.
“But on the flip side, if you learn to steady your heart, you could be the strongest swordsman among the academy students.”
“......!”
“Of course, excluding me.”
“Annoying.”
Saying that, she still smiled faintly and returned to her room.
“Sigh.”
Everywhere you looked, pitiful kids.
Hayun, convinced her uncle killed her parents, branded on her body, and ultimately disowned.
Sen, involved in assassinations and espionage since childhood, injected with drugs to enhance her body—hair turned white, emotions deadened.
Rin, an ordinary country girl chosen by some weird god, prone to rampages, destined to wipe out humanity in the end.
“And Michelle, whose loving dad runs a murder hotel supplying corpses.”
It was baffling how all these kids ended up together, but what I could do for them was limited.
Still, I'll try my best to take care of them.
Listing it out like this, it was tragedy on top of tragedy. I washed up, pondered next steps, and lay in bed.
Knock knock.
Ah, just lay down.
The thought of being nice vanished; I considered pretending to sleep, but the knocking was insistent.
“Coming.”
Curious who it was, I opened the door to find Rin in pajamas, hugging a pillow tightly.
“No.”
I could guess what she'd say and tried shutting the door, but she'd already wedged a foot in.
“......”
“I wanna sleep together.”
Don't beg with teary eyes like that.