Is Our Haru S-Rank?
Is Our Haru S-Rank?
I'd given Sia a serious demonstration of my workout, pushing until every ounce of strength had left my body.
Moved by that, Sia had carried me back to my quarters without caring that my sweat was soaking her clothes.
And finally...
Haru, who greeted the two of us while practically half-naked.
"Daddy~?"
"———Yujin?"
At Sia's ice-cold voice, my vision went black in an instant.
...No, setting aside the question of why she was here.
What did this look like from Sia's perspective?
She'd stopped by her male friend's quarters, only for some strange woman to appear dressed like that. And the woman was calling him 'Daddy'?
At best, it looked like compensated dating. At worst, I looked like a sex offender who had deceived a mentally young woman into doing something vile.
My heart felt like it would stop just imagining what Sia might think of me.
But.
'How could I possibly explain this so that she'd believe me...?'
"...Good grief. She came here on her own without telling you, didn't she?"
"Huh, huh?"
"If you'd known she was waiting here dressed like this, you never would've brought me back to your room."
Instead, Sia laid out a perfectly logical case for my innocence.
On top of that,
"In the first place, you're not the kind of guy to make a girl dress like this."
"......!!!"
She even showed unwavering trust in me.
Her reaction was completely different from the Alice incident, and a tidal wave of emotion swept over me.
"Y-yeah!!"
'My wife was the best! She was so smart! I loved her!!'
"So, you came here to have lunch with Yujin?"
While I stood there with tears of gratitude in my eyes, Sia began assessing the situation.
"Yeah. Eating with Daddy is yummy."
"What if he hadn't come back...? No, never mind that. Why are you dressed like this?"
"I brought it with me to show Daddy, then changed into it. It's cute."
-Flutter, flutter.
Haru innocently flipped the hem of her clothes.
I quickly shut my eyes when her underwear nearly showed.
"...!!!? Yujin, if you look, I'll kill—oh. Your eyes are already closed."
"Daddy. Isn't Haru cute...?"
"You are cute, but your chest and underwear are showing. A girl shouldn't go around flashing things like that~."
"But Daddy's my daddy, so isn't it okay?"
"That's exactly why it's even less okay~."
You old hag of a Chairwoman—you told me I could leave this kid's education to you.
My already exhausted body felt even heavier.
"Good grief. Yujin, just go wash up for now. I'll help you to the bathroom."
"Ah, yeah. Thanks."
I'd wash up first, then give Haru a firm talking-to.
* * *
After practically tossing Yujin into the bathroom.
Sia quickly sprang into action.
'Yujin was exhausted, so I'd have to take care of him in his wife's place.'
"Okay, okay. Let's put some clothes on, Haru."
First, she sealed away the biological weapon in front of her.
While Haru hesitated, Sia quickly took the clothes Haru had tossed into the corner and dressed her in them.
She coaxed and soothed Haru as though handling an actual baby.
"Ue... pajamas are comfier and cuter...."
"Yujin likes girls who dress well. Like me."
"Then I'll wear them."
'She really was a child. A total child.'
Unlike yesterday, Sia's attitude toward Haru was extremely affectionate.
Sia knew full well that Haru's mental age was around that of a kindergartner.
'There was no way I'd let that vixen Alice get called Mommy. Absolutely not.'
After all, Haru was looking for Yujin's mother.
The day before, Haru had even made the outrageous suggestion that the vixen Alice might be her mother.
Even if the relationship amounted to little more than playing house, Sia couldn't stand Alice claiming to be Yujin's wife.
If it had to come to that, she'd much rather be the wife herself.
'Not that I truly wanted to become Yujin's wife or anything. I was only playing along with Haru's little game of house. That was all.'
"What do you want to eat for lunch? Our Yujin will be having chicken."
"What Daddy eats."
"Okay, okay. Then I'll buy yours too, Haru."
"Wow~ You're just like a mom. Even though your chest is small."
"It's not small."
...She did go stone-faced for a moment at the habitual jab that came out of nowhere. In any case.
After bribing Haru with food, things went smoothly.
"Hey. Sorry to call during lunch, but withdraw some elixirs and medicinal tonics and bring them to the academy right away. Pick up about four orders of the most expensive chicken too."
"Drinks? Obviously co... I mean, bring Pine-Needle Snow. And some clothes for me to change into."
Like the chaebol heiress she was, she sent her personal assistant on errands.
"Now, clothes for Yujin to change into...."
'Ah. Come to think of it, underwear... W-well, it couldn't be helped. I absolutely hated men's underwear, of course, but I had no choice except to find some and bring it to him myself.'
-Rummage, rummage.
'H-heh. So this was what a man's underwear looked like... Yujin wore things like this...'
She also rummaged through his wardrobe with breathtaking creepiness.
"Then, Sia, I'll take my leave. I'll have the clothes you entrusted to me cleaned thoroughly..."
"......Ahem. No, just leave them in my quarters as they are. They're expensive artifacts, so I'll wash them myself."
"Pardon? No, since when did you care about things like that?"
"Just leave them as they are. Wash them without my permission and you're dead."
She even arranged to keep Yujin's sweat-soaked clothes.
Reversing the genders would have made it outright criminal, and even without doing so, it was deeply creepy behavior to commit so casually.
But Sia felt no sense of guilt whatsoever.
She was busy rationalizing that everything she had done was for Yujin and the clan.
'He was a talent who would carry our clan in the future, so I could do at least this much for him. Right.'
Sia was already counting her chickens before they hatched.
* * *
When I emerged after barely managing to wash with my trembling arms, the table had already been set.
It was Sia's doing.
"Daddy got all fragrant~."
"All done washing? Sit down. Let's eat."
"......Yeah!"
'This really did make her seem like my wife. It had felt exactly like this before the regression too.'
Sia probably had no intention of acting like my wife and was simply treating me well as a recruitment target.
But to me, it was a sight so nostalgic it brought tears to my eyes.
I couldn't help smiling like a proud father.
-Beaming.
"Pfft. Do you like chicken that much? Even after all that this morning?"
"I like it the most in the world."
'You, I mean.'
"Okay. Then... here, have a drumstick. Haru, you have one too. I only eat breast meat."
"Heh, breast."
"...Hey, look away while I'm still asking nicely. Before I take your chicken."
"Okay."
Thanks to Haru, the touching mood didn't last long. In any case.
After that, we enjoyed a cozy lunch together.
-Munch, munch.
"But Daddy, you got a little stronger just now."
Then Haru suddenly made an observation.
My shoulders shot straight up.
"Oh, you can tell? I guess that makes sense. I raised Strength and Agility by almost a full point each. Even Haru could tell—"
"Is raising it by one a big deal?"
"Of course it's a big deal! Do you know how significant a one-point difference in stats is between awakeners?!"
"———Haru can raise two if she feels like it, though?"
"......!!!?"
My shoulders dropped right back down.
Haru, what had that meant?
Daddy was so shocked he was about to choke on his food.
No, I already had.
"Cough, cough!! Wh-what do you mean...?!"
"Yujin!? H-here, drink this!!"
-Snatch. Gulp, gulp.
'......Wow, pine needles.'
Amidst all that, the drink Sia hurriedly handed me was Pine-Needle Snow.
It was a moment I briefly resented my wife's consideration.
But soon, even a combination that a pine caterpillar would refuse no longer bothered me.
"One is about... like this."
-Whoosh!!
"......!!?"
Haru's power surged dramatically as a red aura flared around her.
An ordinary person might not have understood what had happened...
But I had experience from the First Round, and Sia had seen more awakeners than she could count.
We both recognized it instantly.
That Haru's power had explosively increased in that moment.
She now possessed power at the very top of A-rank.
-Fsssh...
"...Phew. It hurts if I use it too long, so I'll stop here."
"Y-you, what is that... Ah, don't tell me that's your ability?"
"Yeah. It was... A-rank? Something like that. That's what she said."
But Haru was nonchalant.
Unlike me, who still had a long way to go as an awakener, Haru had no idea what it meant for her stats to increase when her growth was already almost complete.
'A stat-amplification Innate Talent...? And one that could instantly boost her to the very top of A-rank?'
"...Haru. I know I shouldn't ask, but will you tell your dad and no one else? What does your ability do?"
"Mm. There are too many difficult characters, so I can't read it."
"Yujin, I'll get paper!!"
An ability of a type I'd never once seen, even in the game or the First Round.
With both Sia and me watching intently, Haru slowly began to write.
The handwriting was squiggly but not hard to make out.
=====
Name: Seo Haru (28 years old, Female)
Title: None
Stats: Strength [8.19] Agility [8.85] Intelligence [0.83] Luck [0.61] Mana [7.28]
Acquired Skills: Awakening (Lv. 8/10),
Current Status: Hypnosis, Childhood Regression, Brainwashing (Currently Deactivated)
『Awakening (A-rank) — Awakens the body to temporarily gain an additional 0.1–2.0 stat points. When deactivated, inflicts the status effect 'Exhaustion' in proportion to the duration and additional stat points.』
=====
'...Insane. Her stats could rise by another two points from here?'
We both gasped in shock at the same time.
Her primary stats crucial for close-quarters combat were already averaging above 8 points, and she could increase them even further.
By the numbers alone, she was on par with my pre-regression self, my master, and the very strongest S-ranks.
Of course, there was a penalty.
Considering the rank, if she maxed out the increase, she'd probably have to rest and recuperate for days.
But...
"Her stats alone put her on Aika's level."
"Yeah. She could carry even an S-rank Gate—better than the Chairwoman could."
Where was the main stage for awakeners?
Dimensional portals that appeared suddenly, regardless of location. Places teeming with all sorts of monsters. Weren't they the 'Gates'?
For Gate subjugation alone, Haru's ability deserved an S-rank rating.
The biggest danger in a Gate was fighting the Gate's master, the 'Boss Monster,' anyway.
Haru could carry that battle with stats at the limits of human potential.
Being bedridden for a few days afterward? That barely counted as a penalty.
S-rank Gates were rare occurrences anyway, weren't they?
She could carry the raid first and rest afterward. Simple.
'I'd wondered why the Chairwoman seemed strangely obsessed with Haru...'
"This is incredible. Really."
Having recognized her value, neither of us could do anything but marvel.
There sat Haru right in front of us, innocently tearing into her chicken.
She was practically an S-rank awakener.
And then...
'Wait. If Winterer had someone like this with her... how had she failed at something as simple as raiding the academy?'
———Suddenly, a question flashed through my mind.
Winterer. A Grade 1 Villain who appeared briefly in the early stages and was defeated, both in the game and the First Round.
Why had she failed to raid the academy, and furthermore, why had the academy side been able to take Haru away from her?
If she'd made Haru use her ability and attacked together, even the Chairwoman's survival wouldn't have been guaranteed.
'Had Haru resisted? No. The brainwashing should have made her obey whatever she was told...'
* * *
Meanwhile, somewhere in Seoul. A back alley where not even light reached.
A blue-haired girl placed her hand on a wall.
And then,
-Whooosh!!
"Fuhuh, fuhuhuhu."
Mana—an energy some people also called magical power—flowed along the wall.
It traced a beautiful blue pattern as it went.
As if a parasite were burrowing into its host's body.
"Winterer~ How many sites are left now~?"
"I can set up about four more besides this one. It'll probably take around two weeks?"
The women arrayed behind her called the blue-haired girl 'Winterer.'
...It would have shocked anyone who learned the truth.
The leader of the group that had raided Pentagon Academy—the Grade 1 Villain Winterer—was such a scrawny girl.
But anyone who saw her eyes would have understood.
The madness gleaming in her pupils was unmistakably that of a lunatic.
She was a picture-perfect, archetypal villain.
"Then... we're really attacking again in two weeks, right? This time we'll kill that arrogant bitch of a Chairwoman and build a country where we can kill as much as we want, right?!"
The conversation her followers were having was also extremely villain-like.
They were openly declaring that they would kill Seol Hayeon—the fourth-ranked S-rank awakener who had single-handedly made Korea the world's strongest awakener nation.
A smile spread across Winterer's lips too.
"Fuhuh, yes. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll get her. Definitely."
"Ooh...!!!"
"As expected of Winterer!! You're on a completely different level from that damned pet doll who got captured by those bastards!!"
-Flinch.
At the word 'doll,' the corner of Winterer's mouth twitched ever so slightly.
But neither Winterer herself nor anyone else noticed, so it hardly mattered.
And so Winterer made a confident boast.
She delivered it boldly before the fellow Villains who dreamed of overthrowing the nation.
"As long as no other S-rank shows up, I can handle them all myself."
'If an S-rank showed up, that would be a different story, but there was no way one would. Right.'