85 . Maria (8)
After returning home in a mixed mood, she drank a little more by herself. You won’t know.
As a typical example, children did not react at all to the act of groping the body of a person or touching the genitals. The children who had been looking at Ain’s face all the time had joyful expressions on their faces.
“Daddy is cute even when he’s drunk.”
Coming out of her shower, Stella dried her hair and asked Elia, who was leaving traces of her kisses on her son’s chest.
“By the way, what do you think of that woman? Did she find out anything?”
Elia finally got away from Ain’s body and sat down with her back on her bed.
“Of course not. Who do you think i am? He pretends to be nice, considerate, and sincere on the outside, but I can see it all in my eyes.”
Stella sat down on Ain’s bed and asked Elia again with her gaze fixed on her child.
“I was expecting that much. Aren’t all my dad’s co-workers really behind? Except for our puppies. What is the most important thing?”
Elia gave a short sigh as if in trouble.
“I’m sure he’s lying and hiding something. But I feel something vague, and I can’t grasp it properly.”
Stella then made a surprised expression as she shifted her gaze from her child to Elia.
She was very cold-hearted when it came to evaluating her others and appreciating the power she possessed. She said that, even if she was a sister who grew up with her.
That’s why she’s putting on the expression that Elia can’t understand what she just said.
“You can barely see through a human?”
Elia shrugged her shoulders and said in a rather regretful tone.
“It seems that she has been blessed by God, perhaps because she is a saint.”
“Really? That’s a bit difficult.”
Stella was more confident than anyone else at breaking or subduing others, but she had no knowledge of tampering with others’ brains to extract information. When she said that Elia would be having a hard time with her mouth, she said it was something no one else in this room could do.
If Elia’s powers and her memories were completely restored, she would be able to banish at once a low-level god who bites and sucks a vulgar saint like that, but there was no sign of that yet.
Taking a short sigh, Stella turned her gaze again and asked Olivia, who was staring at her child’s face.
“Olivia? What are you thinking?”
“Aren’t you curious about your father in daycare?”
All eyes of the other three focused on Ain as soon as Olivia finished her words.
As a childhood child, this must be a valuable and valuable experience.
Besides, now that Ain collapsed drunk was a golden opportunity.
Judging from Ain’s reaction so far, it’s unlikely that he’ll talk himself out.
I don’t know Maria, but I think we can all share the memory of Ain, an ordinary human. Stella winked at her Elia, and Elia, who knew right away what the signal meant, approached her child’s bedside.
Elia, who gently caressed her son’s forehead, opened her mouth with a faint smile.
“Yes, as it is now, I won’t even wake up until it’s over.”
Noah, who had been silent until now, asked everyone in a worried tone.
“Wouldn’t Dad hate it if he found out?”
She didn’t think she didn’t think of Ain’s sense of betrayal when she saw her hidden secrets at will, and when she found out about them. However, because they had the confidence not to be found out by Ain, they put this into action right away.
Besides, if it was going to end with just such a trivial worry, I wouldn’t have started it in the first place.
Elia kissed her child lightly on the forehead, then she said, listening to his breathing.
“That doesn’t matter anymore. Who loves you the most? We definitely have a right to know. And Noah, aren’t you pissed off that your dad only shares memories with the crazy bitches who abandoned him?”
“That’s right.”
After Noah’s words, which seemed to be her permission, Elia put her hand on her child’s forehead and infused her mana into her without giving her time to stop.
The blue magical energy extending from her slender fingers started from Ain’s forehead and soon covered her entire head, recalling his memory vividly.
At first, the expressions of the children, who were just happy to see Ain’s childhood and the past unknown to them, began to harden at a certain point, and gradually darkened as time passed.
This was the first time they had reacted so violently, who are usually unsurprised by what humans do. Even Stella, who always kept her cool, was making a shocked expression with trembling eyes.
“What the hell is this?”
“No, wait… He’s obviously….”
“Your dad didn’t know this, didn’t he? What happened to your memory?”
Elia cut off the supply of her magic power, as if she couldn’t see it anymore, and she exhaled heavily.
All the children were thinking the same thing.
I will never ask Ain about this past, and I will solve it somehow.
And I will punish the humans who did this.
That was the only way to save Ain.
●
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For the first time, the sun shining through the windows was annoying.
Is it because of the hangover?
My eyes were frowning against my will, and my head was strangely pounding and dizzy. He even seemed to have muscle pain all over his body. Was I this weak? Thinking it was more like drinking alcohol in a depressed mood, I closed my eyes again.
Just as I was about to fall back to sleep because I couldn’t wake up, Stella’s voice rang in my ears.
“Dad, are you awake?”
I wanted to spread out and sleep well today, but I couldn’t show my daughter an ugly side. I somehow came back to my senses, struggled to open my eyes, and looked at the source of the sound. Stella was looking down at me with her worried eyes.
I feel apologetic because I got drunk last night and seemed to unintentionally cause concern.
That wasn’t the problem.
The appearance of Stella reflected in her barely opened eyes was different from usual. Under Stella’s eyes, who always looked at me with her clear eyes, there were thick dark circles that I had never seen before.
It was the first time I had ever seen anything like this. I was startled and forgot about her hangover.
“What? What happened?”
Stella didn’t answer easily.
She wasn’t the only one. The children who came out of the bathroom afterwards also had eyes similar to Stella’s. Did you spend the night as a group? I approached the restless children and checked their condition.
“What’s wrong with your eyes, all of you?”
Olivia replied in a low voice, smiling slightly, as if telling her not to worry.
“Ugh… I couldn’t sleep well yesterday because we were playing together.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, why would we lie to Daddy?”
She felt a little relieved when she heard that.
She went into the bathroom, washed her face briefly, and when she came out and put on her clothes, Elia spoke to her from behind.
“Dad, are you going to meet her today?”
I was stabbed to the point and my body was shaking. Elia landed the final blow on me who kept her silence.
“Can you play with us today? I mean, I’m bored.”
There was nothing that couldn’t be done. No, rather, Elia’s words made me reflect on my actions. Wasn’t this a place where I came to see Maria, but to find a place where the children could have a good experience? Besides, today was the first time since I came to the capital that the children directly asked me to do something. Until now, I let them get caught up in my greed, so it wouldn’t be bad for them to play with them as they wished for today.
I turned around, looked at Elia, and answered, stroking her hair.
“Okay, then.”
“Really?”
The children who would have liked to jump up and down normally were strangely calm today.
“Then I’ll prepare and leave. Oh, Dad is waiting outside.”
I was a little reluctant to send me first, but I decided not to worry too much. After knowing the identity of the children, this feeling was familiar.
Are the four of you planning something strange again? It was a matter that would go beyond that.
As the children said, we waited outside first, and soon after, the children showed up wearing fresh dresses.
I felt like I was the enemy of many men because I had such beautiful children that I could feel the eyes of the people around me.
Olivia Langelia smiled brightly, took my hands one by one, and led her to the city center.
“Let’s go!”
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For the first time in a while, I was happy to spend the time being dragged around by the children.
We laughed to the point of tears while shopping together, eating meals, and watching street performances. I can’t even remember the last time I laughed so innocently.
Recently, because of Leon, Cassandra, and Helga’s work, I’ve been dizzy, so I’ve never really enjoyed such a trivial daily life.
I didn’t want to miss a moment because each and every small daily life that I feel now is so meaningful.
The day started with children’s madness, but at the end I was laughing the most.
The dusk begins to set before we know it, signaling the end of the day, and on our way back to our lodgings.
Stella, who was holding my hand tightly, spoke insinuatingly.
“How is it? It was fun?”
That voice sounded more mature than ever.
I felt like I was being taken away from what I was supposed to say to my children. I replied, scratching the back of my head shyly.
“Of course not. Come again next time.”
Noah clung to my back and asked again.
“Is this a promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
Stella saw me like that and she smiled faintly, but she erased her laughter the next moment and said in a small voice as if muttering.
It was so fleeting that I couldn’t even hear it properly. Stella rarely said anything nonsense, and the expression on her face looked pretty sad when she said it, so I immediately asked her back.
“Huh? What did you just say….”
But I couldn’t hear the answer.
There was no time to feel the pain. Before I could finish my words, I felt my vision darken and my consciousness fade away.
I didn’t fall to the floor because someone supported me, but I had no control over my body.
What I heard clearly in my ears was Elia’s voice saying that everything would be over when I woke up.
●
People’s screams never stop. Each of them can be heard calling out the name of the goddess and reciting prayers.
The fishy smell tickles my nose. After that, acrid air enters the bronchial tubes, causing me to sneeze involuntarily.
Is it a nightmare?
There is no distinction between where the dream begins and where the reality begins. My head was confused enough to think that the time I had fun with the children was a dream.
But the real chaos was just beginning.
I lost consciousness and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the flames soaring high in the sky.
It was a mountain of charred corpses and an abbey that collapsed into ashes.