My head hurts. I couldn't remember what I was doing just moments before. Was I sleeping? I think I probably was.
"Hoo..."
Worse than the headache was the pain in my chest. It felt like a heavy stone was placed on it, making it hard to breathe properly. My heart would beat half a beat faster, then two beats slower.
In a state where I couldn't even breathe correctly, my eyes were bound to be affected. My vision was blurry, but I could at least tell that the thing in front of me was a person. I could make that much of a judgment.
"Hello. Or perhaps, greetings? Hmm. I've never really thought about what greeting would be best."
A mischievous voice. The innocent yet powerful, beautiful tone came through clearly.
"Greetings, Father. Hmm. That's not quite right either, is it? We share no blood... Godfather? That's also ambiguous."
"...Who... are you."
I forced my eyes, contorted with pain, wide open and asked. Only then did the person look back at me. It seemed that even though they were looking at me before, they weren't truly seeing me.
"Hmm. There is little to explain about Us. Once your eyes are open, you will recognize Us immediately."
The way they spoke was warm, yet cold. It felt like they were putting up a wall. It was a feeling I was all too familiar with.
Slowly, the headache subsided.
"Are you... also trying to play with me?"
I fumbled for the Mystic Code that should have been hanging at my waist.
I have a Mystic Code. With this, with this, no one can treat me carelessly. No one can betray me.
But the Hypnosis Mystic Code I was so desperately searching for was in the other person's hand.
"Are you looking for this?"
"...Huh?"
"You seem to be asking 'why?'. Very well, I shall tell you. While you were sleeping, We swiped it."
I reached out my hand. But the person was farther away than I thought.
My hand, which had cut through the empty air, fell to the floor. My body tilted and fell with it.
I sprained the hand I had used to brace my fall. It hurt.
"This is magecraft that ruins people. It is quite an unpleasant thing, so We shall keep it for safekeeping."
"...Are you Gilgamesh?"
I asked, looking at her golden hair.
Of course, that was impossible. Though the manner of speaking was similar, the voice, physique, and atmosphere were all completely different.
But in this era, who else would refer to themselves with the royal "We"? The person's identity was...
At that moment, an unbearable headache washed over me.
"Get... get that away. Get it away!"
"Just as expected. Why would you carry such a poisonous substance so dearly? To be frank, it is pathetic!"
As the person pulled back the talisman they had held out, the headache subsided. The pain, which had split my brain into a thousand pieces as if struck by lightning, left its aftereffects.
"Sh... shit..."
"How pitiful."
The person slowly walked over. I held out my sprained hand to refuse.
But they just chuckled and slapped my arm away. Despite having thinner arms than me, their strength far surpassed my own.
"Aargh...!"
"But how lovely."
My arm was twisted just like that. It hurts. It hurt so much.
The person paid no mind and came right up to my face. An intoxicating scent of roses wafted from them.
"Hmm. Indeed. You have a face worthy of being called Our father!"
A compliment? Was it a compliment? I got a different impression from the person's words.
A coldness that treated a person not as a person, but as an inorganic object. Feeling this sense of pessimism, I forced my head up to look at their face directly.
Even with the stronger scent of roses, the beautiful green eyes set in a face of a golden-haired beauty that could be called the fairest under heaven,
I couldn't focus on such things.
"You... you're a Beast."
Unlike me, who was trembling in fear, the person smiled happily like a child who had scored a perfect 100.
"I knew you would recognize Us immediately."
She pressed her face into the crook of my neck. Resting her chin on my shoulder, she whispered in my ear.
"Now, tell me. How does it feel to see your own flesh and blood for the first time? Is it lovely? Or are you afraid, as if your own position is being threatened?"
She let her magical energy flow. Is she a Servant? No, this is a little different from a Servant. This is less like a spiritual body and more like...
"Answer my question."
"Ghk... hack...!"
"I will let go of your hand, but I do not wish to give you a second chance. I am a positive person, but I am rather negative when it comes to the relationship between a father and daughter."
My lungs struggled to draw in oxygen. I couldn't even properly hear what she was saying.
The only thing the ingrained fear told me was that I must not displease her.
In contrast to my serious state, she continuously changed her expression. She was like an artist with a thousand faces.
A dignified king, a woman who enjoys pleasure, a butcher exuding a menacing aura... and so on.
"Oh, now. Don't look at me like that. It's embarrassing. What reason is there to be frightened of the first daughter you've ever seen?"
She said I shouldn't be scared. She emphasized her words.
"So, love me. Is it not right that you should love me? For I am the one who received a part of your soul and the authority of the Beast... your one of two unique daughters, you know?"
One of two, not the only one. At those words, I instinctively felt something, but it was literally just that—something.
A story from a distant, faraway fairy tale that I could not approach now.
Something from a sad history, not permitted to me who had abandoned the Beast of Contradiction.
"Admit it. That I am your daughter."
"But you, you're somehow different."
"What do you mean, 'different'?"
She transformed her hand into that of a beast. The claws of a beast, exuding a dark red aura, gently caressed my cheek.
Bright red blood beaded on the skin where the claws had passed.
"You. You are..."
Beautiful. Frightening. Strange. Awkward. Countless words swam through my mind.
Among them, I uttered the one that resonated most in my heart.
"That is not the correct answer."
And she raised her beastly hand, and swung it.
[So, Johanna's stomach suddenly swelled up, and then the next day, it was fine again?]
"To be precise, when I connected to the ley line, my stomach suddenly flattened."
"There's nothing wrong with my Spirit Origin. My magical energy was drained in an instant, but thanks to everyone at Chaldea, I've recovered."
Romani scratched his head. A mission he thought would be easy was running into complications.
[What about Assassin?]
At Roman's question, Johanna's face instantly darkened. She turned away to hide her expression, but unfortunately, the monitors in Chaldea were too high-performance.
Ritsuka answered quickly. She wanted to steer the conversation away from Assassin.
"We're looking for Assassin. The path is still connected, so... he's still okay? I think. Probably, right?"
But her haste to answer backfired. The words, spoken without thought, felt like she had stepped on a landmine, even to herself.
Johanna turned back around with a determined expression. Ritsuka called her name apologetically, but Johanna waved her hand.
"No. Our duty is clear. I appreciate the consideration, but I will not let my personal feelings make us forget our most important objective."
In short, she was saying that retrieving the Holy Grail took precedence over rescuing Assassin.
Ritsuka, who had been standing awkwardly, grabbed Johanna.
"No. We'll find the old man, and we'll retrieve the Grail. As a Master, I'll do both. Will you trust me?"
[Ritsuka...]
Surprisingly, it was Roman who reacted to those words.
He always felt sorry for placing such a heavy burden on Ritsuka alone.
Whenever she complained, he would comfort himself by accepting it.
But now, seeing her handle herself so maturely even when a Servant had been abducted and the path ahead was dark, brought tears to his eyes.
[You've grown up...]
"Chaldea will do something about it."
Huh?
Roman's hologram and Ritsuka's eyes met.
[Ritsuka, Ritsuka? What do you mean by that?]
"Send something. Everyone at Chaldea is a brilliant magus, right? Isn't there a way to get the old man back, or summon a new Servant? Or a Mystic Code..."
[Haha. That's impossible, Ritsuka. We have nothing. If Tamamo-no-Mae were here, it might be a different story, but now that she's been forcibly removed, Chaldea is so powerless we can't even send a single box of instant coffee, let alone a Mystic Code.]
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
Unable to say I don't know, Roman just smiled. He forced the corners of his mouth up into a smile.
Ritsuka sensed something was wrong and let out a clumsy laugh of her own.
We're screwed. This is bad.
It was their mutual understanding.
Behind the two who had half-lost their minds, only Johanna stood firm in her resolve.
"...Just wait a little longer, Lupus."