Chapter 44 – Father and Daughter, and a Guest

Deus and the Duke continued their drinking bout well into the late evening.

Not family, certainly not acquaintances, but bound by Nefertiti, that shared point.

“As you know, in the Empire, if a person manifests an Ability, they are meant to go to the Cradle. Of course, that doesn’t mean all of them become Awakened. If they aren’t suited, or if other issues arise, they can move on to other things.”

Though such cases were exceedingly rare, mind you.

Everyone took pride in their duty, after all.

The Duke added, emptying his glass once more.

“I’ve already lost one child. There must be parents who have suffered more than I, and I truly pity them. But I don’t wish to become like them. I pray my youngest son never walks that path.”

“The Student Council President I know is an exceptional upperclassman. If he continues as he is, he will certainly become one of the Empire’s most distinguished Awakened.”

“Thank you for your high praise, Cradle Hero. But that doesn’t guarantee he’ll avoid tragedy, does it?”

“…I won’t deny that.”

There was no denying the truth in the Duke’s words. Especially with the emergence of ‘the Devil,’ the possibility was all the more likely.

If Deus hadn’t been there that day, it wouldn’t have been the Devil who perished, but the dispatched unit.

To have already offered one child, and now to offer his precious youngest, was too great a tragedy for any parent.

“The funny thing is… I lack confidence in myself,”

The Duke muttered bitterly, refilling Deus’s glass.

“If Nefertiti insists on becoming a full-fledged Awakened of the Empire… I doubt I possess the strength to mobilize all that I have, drag her back to the family, and keep her from it. In the end, I’ll surely stand by and watch what she chooses to do.”

What if the youngest ended up like his second son? *That* was his deepest fear.

The Duke poured drink after drink, rambling on and on.

“Hahaha. I don’t know what’s gotten into me, spouting on like this to a young man I’ve only just met.”

“Not at all, Your Grace. On the contrary, knowing you share the same sentiments as any ordinary parent, it makes your concerns all the more understandable.”

“It eases my heart somewhat to hear you say that. I imagine your parents must have similar worries, Student Deus. Whether their child is a Cradle Hero or not. Don’t you think?”

Uh. Hmm. After a brief hesitation, Deus decided to just say it.

“Actually, I don’t have any parents.”

“…Hmm?”

“I am an orphan, Your Grace. I lost my family in a Gate incident some time ago.”

Just in case, he’d meticulously searched through his memories since the possession, but the section on family was entirely blank.

He was, in fact, an orphan. One who had lost everything in a most tragic fashion.

Which was a good thing, in a way. Having a family would have made maneuvering far more difficult.

“…Ah.”

A look of profound dismay spread across Duke Chester’s face.

He gasped, “Oh, oh,” and then, “Oh, oh, oh!” completely at a loss.

Like mother, like daughter. His reaction mirrored Nefertiti’s when she was flustered.

“Th-that. I’m sorry, Deus. I… I certainly didn’t mean it that way…”

“It’s alright, Your Grace. Really, it’s alright.”

The Duke kept apologizing. Deus kept saying it was alright.

A few minutes, perhaps, passed like that. Duke Chester, with a soft murmur, spoke again.

“The truth is, Nefertiti, when she occasionally contacted me, spoke of you every day.”

For a heartbeat, laughter threatened to erupt. Was he not, so obviously, trying to change the subject?

Yet this simplicity, in one of the Empire’s highest nobles, was strangely appealing.

“The Chairman spoke to your Grace about me?”

“Indeed. Said a tremendous junior had arrived. That you would be a new figure in the world of Imperial Adepts. She showered you with praise. Seeing you now, I realize it wasn’t an exaggeration.”

The Duke gave Deus, seated across from him, a sweeping glance before nodding.

“A man, you see, should be like *this*. The young lads these days are far too thin.”

“…Frankly, it troubles me greatly as well.”

“Does it? See? We understand each other.”

Though aged somewhat, and perhaps weaker than those Adept-blessed,

Duke Chester remained a warrior. His physique testified to it.

A body forged through relentless, pre-dawn training.

It was precisely for this reason that the Duke felt such a strong affinity for Deus.

*’They’re all so focused on their Abilities that they neglect their physical forms. If you consider raw physical prowess alone, they’re far weaker than those from decades ago.’*

And amidst this, he had encountered this colossal young man.

A man whose presence any warrior would admire.

Perhaps even the sudden offer of drinks stemmed from being of the ‘same ilk.’

“If you can, there is a favor I would ask of you.”

“If it is to persuade the Chairman, I shall decline.”

“…And why is that?”

“I am not cruel enough to shatter someone’s deeply held ambition. To assist them in pursuing that dream, however, is a different matter entirely.”

The man across from him was a Duke of the Empire. And Deus, no matter how you cut it, a mere commoner.

Yet he spoke with near-disrespectful directness, a firm refusal.

Had the Duke’s vassals been present, they would have recoiled in horror at such insolence.

“…You truly are a singular young man.”

But the Duke, to his surprise, seemed unfazed.

Instead, the corners of his lips lifted, as if the young man before him was now even more intriguing.

“Indeed. There is nothing more foolish than a parent who obstructs their child’s dreams. However, to do nothing, considering the child’s safety, is unacceptable.”

Duke Chester took up the bottle. Deus politely presented his glass.

As he poured the wine, the Duke, a father, put forth his request for his daughter.

“Just like in the cradle days. Now and again, would you assist our daughter? You cannot imagine the anxiety I felt when I heard that she and the Expedition clashed with that…Demon.”

“The Chairman is my senior. As a junior, I shall assist her as much as I am able.”

“A refreshing answer indeed. Now, one final glass.”

*Would I be the same as this Duke, should I ever have a daughter?*

Deus wondered, as he raised his glass for a final toast with the Duke.

*

—Thump!

Nefertiti collapsed onto her bed. It had been so long. Since she had last been in her own room.

She had spent last winter break at the Cradle, so it had been almost a year.

“….”

It was just as it had been before entering the Cradle. Nothing here had changed.

And neither had her father. Duke Chester remained as determined as ever to prevent his youngest daughter from proceeding.

‘…No. To be precise, he *has* changed, hasn’t he?’

He hadn’t always been like this. Once, he had been a wonderful father, supportive of his children’s dreams.

Even when her second older brother, the second son of the dukedom, declared he would become an Awakened, he’d merely said, “Be careful. I’ll be cross if you come back injured.”

Having lost his wife relatively early, the Duke poured even more love into his children.

A fine father, who raised two sons and three daughters correctly, and saw them all grown.

Therefore. When that son was killed in action, fighting monsters at a Gate…

Nefertiti still vividly remembered the look on her father’s face when he received the news, having waited to hear which new heroic tales her son would bring home.

His world had crumbled. It was from that moment onward, he had pleaded with her to do anything, *anything* but become an Awakened.

He’d said that entering the Cradle alone was enough to fulfil her duty, nothing more.

Hell was a place he had experienced once, and he begged her not to make him go through it again.

—*Clench*

Nefertiti clenched her fist.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand her father. Even she herself feared becoming like her brother.

How could anyone not fear death? Everyone wanted to live safely.

It was a survival instinct, something inherent to all living things.

But. Even so. She intended to walk this path. She had resolved to do so.

If everyone stopped, one by one, because of sorrow and fear, eventually everyone would.

Only by accepting everything and moving forward would this long darkness finally recede.

“…So.”

Yes. So. I will never back down from this path.

Father. I will not be afraid or fear this dream, this future.

This isn’t simply a requiem or revenge for her departed brother.

It was what she truly wanted to do. Something she couldn’t move forward from otherwise.

That was exactly why. Even with her Wind Affinity, she’d come to wield it as a weapon.

‘…?’

Suddenly, she realised the castle felt strangely chaotic.

Nefertiti rose from her seat and stopped a servant hurrying down the hallway.

“Excuse me.”

“Lady Nefertiti!”

“What is going on? The castle seems strangely agitated.”

The servant couldn’t hide their fluster at Nefertiti’s question.

“Ah, well… news arrived a short while ago. All the Imperial Awakened sent to subjugate the Gate that opened in the south have gone silent.”

“Gone silent? All of them?”

“Yes, my lady. And so the Awakening Authority has contacted the Duchy, requesting that we organize a search party!”

It was true that Awakened often died or were injured doing their duty.

However, the result of ‘annihilation’ hadn’t occurred even once in over twenty years.

Not even during the recent large-scale Gate manifestation!

“…”

Neferti, lost in thought, immediately headed somewhere.

Her steps swift, she arrived at…

“Father.”

It was Duke Chester’s office.

“…Have you been drinking?”

“Just a touch.”

A flush spread across his face. The scent of alcohol hung heavy.

After a moment of observing the Duke, Neferti decided to explain the reason for her visit.

“I heard you’re forming an exploration party. Allow me to join.”