18
Chapter 18
"Wake up."
What's this?
"Daddy, wake up."
Ah, right. I have a daughter now.
I was flustered by the sudden change at first, but after a while, I felt like it wasn't really a problem.
"Okay, I'm up."
I got up and checked the time.
It was 6:00 AM.
She woke me up an hour before the alarm again, I thought, as I looked at Luna.
Looking at her now, she had just taken something from my closet, so the clothes were far too big for her.
Come to think of it, no one questioned her dressing like that.
Seeing as no one complained about a kid wearing a grown man's dress shirt, those guys aren't exactly the most sensible people either.
They didn't find this outfit strange?
"We're meeting at 2 PM, so I should buy some clothes this morning."
I'll be taking the bus to meet Estella, but I still need to stock up on arrows. I figured I could pick up some kids' clothes while I was at it.
I tried to look for some useful items online.
"The price is so... expensive."
I almost swore out of habit, but I corrected myself, remembering the pure, white being standing behind me.
"Daddy, are you going somewhere today too?"
"Yeah. There's something I need to take care of as quickly as possible."
I really didn't know how to explain it.
"Can I come too?"
"No. It's not a place for a child."
I wondered if I had sounded too harsh, but since I didn't think it was right to take a child to the Demonic Realm, I didn't take it back.
"Okay..."
She looked so pouty and cute that I felt bad for her, but a no is a no.
"Let's go somewhere fun later."
"Yay!"
Children's moods change faster than I expected. They swing from joy to sadness with every word.
"I've already made lunch and dinner, so just heat them up in the microwave."
"Okay."
"Do you know how to use the microwave?"
Since she looked like an eleven-year-old, I assumed she'd know, but then I remembered Luna was a Spirit, so I asked if she knew how.
"Yep, I saw you use it before."
I wonder who she takes after, learning things so quickly.
I stepped outside, but I had no choice but to return shortly after.
With a set of children's clothes in my hand.
"Ah, my bow's trashed."
It was a cheap price to pay for my life, but a loss is still a loss.
Given my current financial situation, buying another bow is out of the question.
"Well, I'm going with her, so maybe it'll be fine."
I'm not quite at my target specs yet, but just by unlocking Star Radiance, I'm already far stronger than Estella was at this point. Instant Teleportation. What a broken skill.
All I have to do is sit back and take the bus.
Please be my Stella-mon.
Putting my worries aside, I watched Luna happily try on her new clothes.
***
"Hmm~ so you've come empty-handed~?"
"My apologies. Since this humble beggar is here to plead, would you mind giving me a ride?"
"I had a feeling you'd be like this, so I already picked up a bow and some arrows."
"Did I ever tell you? I love you."
"Yikes! What is this lunatic talking about?"
She made a face of utter disgust at my words.
"For the sake of everyone, I am more than willing to surrender to the power of capital."
Estella looked at me with an incredulous expression.
"I wasn't trying to make you surrender in the first place. Also, have you already become a doting father?"
"Is that so? I'll pay you back once I make some money."
"Well, if you're really desperate, I could help you find a job."
What a great friend.
"Oh, and here."
She naturally pulled out a dagger and handed it to me.
"What's this?"
"If your bow ever breaks again, you should carry a dagger. So you can handle close-quarters combat at any time."
"You have more than one sword, then?"
"My family motto is to always keep at least five swords ready for use. Though I carry things other than swords, too."
I gave her outfit a quick scan.
Just ordinary casual clothes and a single sword at her waist.
I have no idea where this dagger came from, and I have even less of a clue where the other three are.
"Huh? Then if you give me one, wouldn't you only have four left?"
"Hmm? Why do you think it'd be four? I said five 'or more'."
I looked at her outfit again and decided to stop thinking about it.
"I... I'll gratefully accept it."
I took the items she handed me and examined them.
It was a bow similar to the one I used before, and a dagger that was short, balanced, and meant for simple stabbing and slashing rather than complex techniques.
She likely gave me a mass-produced item rather than a high-grade one, knowing my habit of refusing gifts or recording them as debts.
"Let's talk more while we're on the way."
"Sure."
"Remember when I mentioned that Lumiere dropped all his stars to lose his immortality?"
"Yeah, and then you said he's cooperating with the Order of Star Carving because he still couldn't get rid of it."
"Then, here's a question! What happens to those fallen stars?"
She seemed a bit taken aback as my explanatory tone suddenly shifted into that of a game show host.
"Huh? You said they go to collect them, so... do they just fall to the ground?"
"Close. It's not that none fall to the ground, but most stars are snatched up by the remnants of civilizations from the previous era—the Ruins of the Heroic Age."
"Snatched up?"
Seeing her confused expression, I elaborated.
"The Ruins once held stars, so they contain a small amount of starlight that attracts other stars. Just as stars gather to form constellations, they're drawn to the Ruins. Once a star settles in and perfectly resonates with the existing starlight... presto, a natural Artifact is born."
"Oh, so that's how the Artifacts found in Ruins are created."
She seemed intrigued, likely imagining a few Artifacts she knew of.
It was understandable that she didn't know, since stars don't fall that often.
"Well, being a natural Artifact doesn't guarantee it'll be better than one made by a workshop or a dwarf, but for items with the same effect, the mana efficiency is much higher, so the minimum performance is guaranteed."
"True. There are plenty of Artifacts with great power that are hard to use because they consume too much mana."
"And yesterday was the day the resonance ended. Now, the Ruins that were hidden underground must have risen to the surface after successfully completing the process."
Estella spoke up, as if she had put the pieces together.
"Most people in the Demonic Realm returned home because of the Academy attack yesterday. In the meantime, the Ruins finished their resonance and emerged. And if I add a bit of imagination... our enemies likely found them first and took the Artifact inside. Right?"
I clapped my hands.
"Correct."
She had pieced together the plot with only a handful of clues, proving she hadn't just won the role of the original protagonist by sheer luck.
"Normally, they'd fall into the hands of the Majin, so this time, we're going to hurry and grab it first. The Ruins themselves aren't too dangerous—though going there alone would be risky for me."
I pointed toward her.
"But I have you. The only variable is if the Majin have already arrived; if so, we might have to fight them."
"Majin, huh? Are they strong?"
She asked in a serious tone.
"If we fought every single Majin there in an all-out war, you might be overwhelmed, but we don't need to do that."
I gestured to Estella.
"Exactly, we don't need an all-out war, and we certainly don't need to fight them all at once."
"Though, to be honest, the real problem is that we'll have to kill people."
Even so, the idea of killing someone carries a heavy psychological burden.
I don't know how Estella feels, but even knowing what's coming, I'm not sure I can bring myself to kill someone with my own hands.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Majin aren't people."
"What?"
This wasn't what I had in mind.
In the original story, by the time the Majin appeared, she didn't seem to have much hesitation about taking a life, so I'd just overlooked it. But now, I felt something was off.
It didn't feel like a lack of hesitation, but rather a preference.
Her amethyst-purple eyes were cold, and her voice had lost its usual high pitch.
It was lower, more subdued.
I instinctively suspected that her past, which was rarely mentioned in the original, might be closely linked to the Majin.
Once I reached that conclusion, I realized one thing.
I had seen the world through her eyes, but I knew almost nothing about her.
"Why did you suddenly stop talking?"
I wondered if the playful smile I usually associated with her was actually a mask.
Did I really know her?
"Just running some simulations about the plan."
That wasn't a lie. This was reality, and reality was full of variables. The Majin from the original were only the second wave; there were vanguards already in place, meaning we might encounter enemies far stronger than expected.
Having experienced only a partial success, I knew I had to be much more thorough in my preparations.
As we spoke, we arrived at the entry control office of the Demonic Realm.
Because the Demonic Realm is so dangerous, they don't let just anyone in. I could survive the outskirts if there were no surprises, but if they let anyone in, an unlucky encounter with a Knight-class Magic Beast or a wrong turn could lead to death.
Generally, entry is only granted to those proven capable of defeating multiple Knight-class enemies alone without sustaining major injuries.
"Welcome to the entry office. If you wish to enter..."
Before the employee could finish, Estella pulled a Token from her clothes and signaled me.
I remembered that Token from the original story.
It was a mark given only to the most talented children of the Pendragon family, whether they were direct or collateral descendants.
And her look meant that since House Pendragon vouched for me, there was no need for a check.
"Entry granted for the child of House Pendragon and one companion."
The employee bowed slightly and unlocked the gates.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Following her lead, I bowed slightly and stepped inside.
"Ah, the taste of power is truly the best."
I said this while giving her a thumbs-up.
"Hey, you're making it sound like I used my influence to get us in for something I shouldn't be doing."
Once through the gates, the land was more than just desolate; it smelled putrid, as if the very earth were rotting.
"Judging by your reaction, is this your first time in the Demonic Realm?"
"Yeah. The smell... I guess this is what it means to have a visceral aversion."
It was a different feeling from what I had imagined while reading.
"You'd better get used to it. We might be coming here quite often."
"My hope is that we don't."
But I knew that wouldn't be the case.