* * *
The day I spent with the <Time-Slip Machine> slipped by in a kind of empty blur, and morning came.
So this is day two. Should I at least go see my father? But what would I even talk to her about if I did? I’d been handed over to Count Florette when I was so young that I didn’t have a single real memory of my biological father. So I just sat there, letting the morning sunlight pour in through the window, zoning out in comfort.
It was when I stepped out of my room, thinking I might go take another walk around the inn with Duke Kalinos.
“Huh.”
…Downstairs in the pub, I saw my father. Grabbing Duke Kalinos’s hand on impulse, I sat down at a table near the front of the pub. Even when the innkeeper handed us a menu and asked, “Do you drink every day?” I was so out of it, I barely knew whether I was ordering with my mouth or my nose.
Just one table. My father was sitting just past a single empty table. Without even realizing it, I stared at the living, breathing person with a kind of fascinated awe.
My father, Count Sehera, with a crooked smile tugging at his lips, was in the middle of a heated rant, surrounded by four mercenaries. “So, if you want to rip out the monster’s heart, you’ve gotta put together a mercenary band in a single day.” He set his beer mug down on the table with a careless thud. “Got it?”
…What the hell. That cocky punk is my father? But the shock only lasted a moment. Oh, right. I’ve heard all this before. Why am I acting surprised now? Thanks to Count Florette’s stories, I’d already guessed that my father’s personality was, let’s say, more than a little warped.
“Count Sehera was really something else.”
“What was so great about him?”
“He was strong against the strong, and just as strong against the weak. And he lived exactly as he pleased.”
“…I’m not sure which part of that I’m supposed to be impressed by.”
Remembering that conversation, I was staring over at my father when he tipped back his mug and poured his beer down his throat in one go, then shouted with gusto. “We’re gonna wipe out every last monster, you hear?”
“Aah.”
“But just killing them the normal way is boring, right?”
“…Oh, come on. Leader is about to pull some crazy stunt again.”
Up to this point, everyone remained mostly indifferent, which made sense. These were people who already knew Count Sehera was a complete lunatic. But the thing was, I knew exactly what was coming next.
“So here’s the plan. We’re gonna divide up the whole mountain and move it somewhere else. That way the monsters’ habitat itself gets destroyed, apparently.”
“…”
Silence fell over the whole table. Even I, who already knew what was coming, went quiet at how insane that idea was. Who the hell even thinks about moving an entire mountain? I sighed and rubbed the spot between my brows.
Yeah. It was this exact episode. Back then, when Count Florette had told me about this ‘moving a mountain episode,’ he had been as loud as a cultist about it.
“He moved a mountain that was just sitting there, you know? Said life is all about grit!”
And he’d been so loud and excited that everyone in the mansion had heard his crazy outburst.
Honestly, I’ve heard it so many times I’ve practically memorized it. I know exactly how it goes. Did Count Florette say he moved the mountain in a week? He said he fought countless monsters to move that damn mountain. Then after killing all the monsters, he straight-up lifted the mountain by himself and carried it off… It felt like listening to some kind of oral folktale.
“He didn’t even need mercenaries in the first place. But he went, ‘A man’s gotta have romance’, and, just for show, just because he was bored. He founded a mercenary band.”
“Oh…”
“So he moved the mountain together with the people who signed up for the mercenary band… Giselle, are you asleep? Wake up. We’re in the middle of discussing Count Sehera’s 100,389th achievement…!”
“After hearing that story about a hundred times, it’s starting to put me to sleep.”
That’s only because Count Sehera really loved talking about what happened back then. He said that was when he met… and…”
…After that, I fell asleep, so I didn’t hear the rest. It didn’t seem like it was anything important anyway. Thinking back on all that, I looked at Duke Kalinos sitting in front of me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“From now on, I’m going to call you Vientin while we’re here.”
“…Pardon? You mean you want me to hide my identity? If that’s the case, I understand.” He clearly hadn’t guessed my real intention.
“Duke… no, Vientin. They say the <Time-Slip Machine> grants wishes, right?”
“They did.”
“Maybe what that <Time-Slip Machine> wants from me is to go meet my parents.”
I didn’t have any memories of my parents. Maybe this whole time, I’d been longing for them without even realizing it.
It was a situation where he should’ve felt sorry for me, but Vientin just frowned in puzzlement and said, “Giselle, your expression is quite…”
“Yes?”
“So please, tell me what it is you want to do.”
My eyes flashed, and I grabbed his sleeve. “So I was thinking, what if we hide who we are and join the mercenary band?”
“What?”
“I heard something from Count Flortette. About my father’s mercenary band. Apparently they don’t really do proper identity checks.”
“Ah. There are a few mercenary bands that operate like that. But that makes them all the more dangerous.”
“But I’ve got my dad, don’t I? I mean, he has no idea I’m her daughter right now, but still.”
“That’s…”
“According to Count Florette, my father’s not some kind of strange person.”
“He might turn into a strange person when he’s subjugating monsters. It could be dangerous. If you’re still all right with that.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go.” He got to his feet.
Watching him, it suddenly hit me that I’d been so focused on wanting to meet my parents that I hadn’t stopped to consider how Duke Kalinos might feel about hiding his identity and infiltrating a mercenary band.
“But Duke… I mean, Vientin, are you really okay with this? Sneaking into a mercenary band under fake identities.”
“Yes. I’m fine with it.”
I wasn’t entirely convinced, so I gave him a doubtful look.
He spoke in a rush, barely pausing to breathe. “I have been curious about the combat strength of mercenary bands twenty years ago. I’d like to know how many mana hearts an average mercenary possesses. I’m also curious how those with talent for magic behave, and roughly what percentage of current mercenaries’ martial skills would be at compared to the past…”
“…Ah.”
“My apologies.”
“…No. It was interesting.”
At least now he’d developed enough social skills to get all excited talking about his research and then suddenly realize he should rein it in. Right, at this level, he should be able to blend into a mercenary band just fine, right? I studied his face seriously, then gave a firm nod.
He laid his hand on his sword hilt and murmured in a low, ominous voice, “Then let’s really go.”
Wait a second. No, you’re the one with a face like you’re about to wipe out every last monster in existence…!
* * *
“We don’t take anyone who doesn’t have an ID card.”
…All I’d said was that I wanted to join the mercenary band. Dumbfounded at his nonchalant reply, I pointed at the [Mercenary Recruitment Flyer] in his hand. “Why not? It says right here, [Regardless of gender or age, we accept any human with a <Passionate Heart> to hunt monsters].” Somehow I’d ended up as this fiery ‘dutiful daughter’ who talks back to her own father. Couldn’t be helped, though.
“Quit being a pain. Even if you proved your strength to me, even if you said you wanted to be my follower, I don’t just take anyone.” My father tilted his head and gave me a crooked grin.
…Calm down. He’s my dad. An incredibly infuriating face right now, but still my dad.
“I’m not just anyone.”
“…Aah, really? Still not taking you.”
He was so damn annoying that I couldn’t even come up with a retort.
Duke Kalinos, I mean, Vientin, seemed to be thinking of him as ‘father-in-law’ and didn’t dare jump in.
Screw it, forget all this. I’ll just go find my mother. Thinking that, I dipped my head slightly.
“Well, I’m off.”
I had just started to turn my head when it happened. A sudden, chilling sensation pricked at my back. I raised my hand and immediately swatted away whatever had launched the surprise attack. A flash of light flared in my palm and vanished in an instant. What ended up in my hand was a tiny slime.
“What the— A slime?”
“Oh, nice reflexes.” He clapped twice.
Turning my head with a look of confusion and disbelief, I saw that he was the one who’d thrown the monster. Ah, damn it. Is that really my dad? The fluttery, restless feeling I’d had about meeting my father went ice-cold. I just glared at him with a frosty expression.
He just shrugged like it was nothing. “Oh, you passed the test. Welcome to the mercenary band.”
That was the entrance test? Throwing a slime? I let out a hollow laugh, utterly dumbfounded. This is seriously unbelievable.
Why on earth did Count Florette like my father? Why did he go on a long voyage just to collect the keepsakes my father left behind?
I watched Count Sehera happily summon another mug of bear and drain it in one gulp.
Why? Why would anyone… possibly like someone that weird?
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