Chapter 45
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Give Your Virginity to Me, Father
Fgare, the central city of Pigmon County. The city where Count Pigmon himself resided.
Beyond the road cutting straight through Fgare, a mansion came into view.
From the mansion's main gate to the city outskirts, a paved road stretched out in a straight line.
'...Depending on the route, Celine goes for a stroll down that street.'
Celine, poisoned by drugs, was no longer a knight.
She had abandoned all the pride she'd once held deep in her heart from her days dreaming of knighthood. Led by Count Pigmon's hands as he commanded, she wandered the streets naked...
"Tch."
Unpleasant memories flooded in. He clicked his tongue lightly and cleared his mind.
Dwelling on the past would only hurt him.
"How long until it's discovered?"
"...Time-wise, about a week left."
A week.
Long if it was long, short if it was short. In a situation like this, heading home and dropping off Number Two along the way, it could feel like an eternity.
"You remember it well. It was from when you were little."
"Olivia brings it up anytime, anywhere, so I can't help but remember even if I don't want to."
"Olivia does?"
"Yes. Olivia herself says she came before me... When the three of us, including Nine, divide up the pecking order, she keeps insisting she's the oldest. Isn't it cute?"
"......"
He pictured the scene, substituting the Olivia Number Two at the inn.
"And when Olivia says that? How do you two react?"
"We told her to go ahead and be first."
"Nine too?"
"Yes. Neither she nor I care about that kind of hierarchy..."
Charlotte Number Two and Nine Number Two looking bewildered as they concede to Olivia Number Two. Olivia Number Two beaming with pride.
"Sounds pretty cute."
Setting aside the antics Olivia Number One got up to. Thinking of just Olivia Number Two alone, she was plenty cute.
Truth be told, it was hard for a five-year-old not to be cute.
"...Do we really have to kill a week here?"
That didn't sound great. He had plenty of time as an idler, but he didn't want to waste it meaninglessly.
"Does this place make you uncomfortable, Father?"
"...Yeah, and..."
It was Count Pigmon's city. The familiar scenery grated on him fiercely.
He had no desire to stay long. Not even a week.
"Then there's a way."
"A way?"
"Hand over evidence that Count Pigmon collaborated with the rebels to the royal family. It's a situation that would be discovered eventually even if left alone, but if you step in, Father, what would take a week could wrap up in a single day."
"......"
Charlotte gazed at him steadily before continuing.
"Hesitating now that it's time to report it? Does it feel like you're killing your mother with your own hands?"
"...Aren't you okay with it? Celine's your mom. Now that we're back in the past, don't you want to see her?"
"I've already met her. Before coming to you, Father, I checked if my younger self was alive and well."
No emotion colored Charlotte's voice. Whether Celine lived or died, Charlotte didn't care.
"...My mother is Denis. I don't think of Celine as my mother. Even if she's branded a traitor and executed, it has nothing to do with me."
"......"
"Do you still have lingering attachments, Father?"
"Lingering attachments..."
He didn't harbor any grand feelings for Celine. It wasn't quite affection.
They'd never shared emotions as man and woman.
Regret, maybe? Still, she was one of the heroines. Was it right to let her die like this?
He felt doubt stir within himself.
They hadn't become lovers, but they'd shared time as friends on the hero's journey.
It was only natural for a human to feel some pity. Hating her forever just because she'd given him a sense of defeat...
Honestly, it wasn't easy. Memories that felt shitty during service often turned into nostalgia after discharge.
His current feelings were something like that.
"...I don't know."
"If you say you can't do it, Father, I have a way. The royal intelligence bureau has probably caught wind by now. We could just quietly tip them off."
"Celine dies. You really don't care?"
"Yes."
Charlotte was resolute. It seemed she truly didn't care if her biological mother died.
Even without any bond, was that possible? He wondered.
'Blood is thicker than water for a reason...'
He shot Charlotte a sidelong glance and shook his head.
"...I'll do it."
If someone had to, it was better for the discarded NTR protagonist from the future to do it than his own blood daughter.
He had justification, didn't he?
Revenge on the heroine who abandoned him. To a third party, it'd be quite the tantalizing story.
The party involved only tasted bitterness.
"...Let's check on Number Two's status first."
He concealed their presence. Even hiding right in the middle of the road, no one noticed them.
A former hero with level 99 stealth. No one could detect it.
'It's the Number Ones who are weird.'
He vaulted over the wall of Count Pigmon's mansion. Charlotte followed effortlessly.
This height was nothing to their skill.
Crossing the garden straight to the annex where the child stayed.
A gardener humming as he trimmed the ornamental trees came into view.
"Mm, looking good!"
He passed right by, but the gardener didn't notice them.
"Second floor."
Following Charlotte's guidance, he headed to Number Two's room.
Number Two sat alone in the bright room, staring blankly out the window.
"What're you looking at?"
"Mother sometimes goes for naked walks. That's the only time I can see her. That's why she's doing that."
Number Two was still young. And aside from her birth mother, she had nowhere to lean on.
There were probably maids or nannies to care for her, but a child needed her mother's attention.
"...Mommy?"
As he opened the door, Number Two whipped her head around to look behind her. Had she sensed their presence?
No. Charlotte had openly revealed herself.
"...W-Who are you?"
Charlotte Number One was the spitting image of Celine. To Number Two, she might look like Mom.
But Number Two didn't mistake her for her mother. She distinguished them clearly.
"Mother won't come, even if you wait."
"...How do you know."
"It'd be more accurate to say she can't come."
Soon, royal knights would ransack the Pigmon family. Count Pigmon and his kin wouldn't be able to return to the mansion even if they wanted to.
Originally, Charlotte Number Two would have shared their fate. If not for the former hero's intervention.
He scratched his head roughly and turned away.
There was no point in pretending to know her now. He'd confirmed she was fine and that was enough.
'...Charlotte wanted to talk to her younger self.'
He stepped aside.
He passed the relevant information to the royal intelligence bureau. Charlotte had the evidence.
"...Hero. When did you even get this..."
"You've returned the holy sword, but your efforts for the kingdom's peace never stop."
"We respect you, Hero!"
He withdrew, leaving the bureau members who seemed ready to worship him. Soon, they'd raid the Pigmon family.
In this world, no arrest warrant was needed.
Treason? The moment suspicion arose, it was summary execution.
Roughly handling nobles carried risk for the royals too. But apply rebellion charges, and it changed everything.
The evidence provided justification, silencing other nobles' gazes.
One day. Exactly one day.
For the knights to seize Count Pigmon's mansion.
"N-No! I never did such a thing!"
Count Pigmon was dragged out. The knights hauled him to the gallows.
His grown sons, numerous wives—including Celine.
"Haaah, give me the drugs!"
Celine was steeped in narcotics, her mind shattered. He remembered her being somewhat intact just five years ago, right before they parted.
Merely five years. The Celine he knew was gone. The Celine who proclaimed aiding the weak was true knighthood—she was already dead.
"Hwaaaang, nooo...! I hate it...!"
The children were dragged away too. They bore Pigmon blood.
If Pigmon blood flowed in their veins, man, woman, young, old—no mercy. The royals made an example of rebellion's cost to the world.
Executions proceeded. Charlotte Number Two was not among them.
Because he'd negotiated with the king.
— Hero, I know you've striven for continental peace. But no exceptions.
— If the hero earnestly requests... I'll spare one.
The king knew too. If he went all out rampaging, the kingdom was done for.
So he offered a compromise.
'...The king probably thought I'd save Celine.'
No. Dyke Number One took Charlotte. Celine's blood kin, oblivious to it all.
Why?
"I know, Father."
Charlotte, who had approached unnoticed, whispered in his ear.
A noose around Celine's neck. The executioner turned the handle linked to the trapdoor.
"You took in the me who looks just like Mother, eyeing me with lustful eyes."
"...Don't talk nonsense."
"Don't lie to yourself."
Celine's body dropped sharply. The rope gripped her neck tight, unrelenting.
Celine flailed, clutching at the noose.
"Father, how do I compare to Mother? Do I resemble her?"
"...At least your personality's nothing like hers."
Pre-addiction Celine had been an exemplary knight admired by all. Charlotte was not.
"Does my face match? That's a relief, then."
Charlotte grinned, seemingly very satisfied with his answer.
"Father, don't you want my virginity? Since I look just like Celine, you could feel like you're violating her. You could experience things from my real father's—Count Pigmon's—perspective."
"You..."
"But there's a condition. Give your virginity to me, Father."
Charlotte groped his butt. He slapped her hand away firmly.
"You're insane. Completely mad."
Celine was dead. And she spouts this madness?
Charlotte stared straight into his eyes with a sly smile.
"She didn't even breastfeed her newborn. She shoved aside the child she painfully birthed, lost in drugs and endless sex. It's weird to grieve."
"......"
"What about you, Father? Seeing your dead 'mother,' do you feel relieved?"
"...No."
Revenge was hollow. He wasn't even sure if this counted as revenge.
"Let's go."
They quickly escaped the chaos of Fgare. They'd entered as two. They left as three.
Trailing behind them was a child in a hooded robe, clutching Number One's hand tightly.