It's been a week since we entered the border city.
Several things happened during that time.
First, just as we arrived at our room in the inn after the date with Maria, I took out the guy I had locked in my inventory.
I had no use for him, and since he made so much noise, I turned him into an experimental subject for the countless potions I had made.
But he ended up begging for mercy in just one day.
It was probably when I gave him one of my aphrodisiac potions.
And no, it is not for the reason you think.
I had him restrained with his hands behind his back and forced to remain stiff for more than 24 hours.
After that, he started crying and screaming, spitting out things I had never asked him about.
The room was enchanted with a soundproof barrier, so nobody outside could hear it, but we could, so it was still annoying.
It got to the point where Maria, so irritated, ended up crushing his penis.
Thanks to that, he finally shut up, or rather, it seems he died from the impact, so he could not make any more noise. I had to get rid of him.
It may be cruel, but I have no sympathy left as a man because I had already lost my brother.
Leaving the castrated guy aside, the days passed normally, and I enjoyed this city as much as I could.
Occasionally making requests or just wasting time around.
During that short time, Maria and I earned a couple of strange titles among the population.
Iron Maiden and the Black Death.
I am not going to lie. I like nicknames.
It was probably the result of carrying giant bags of heads to the guards almost every day.
We had also been advised to join the adventurers' guild, but I rejected that offer. Being tied down by rules is not for me.
By the way, I have not been able to meet up with Celes again during all this time.
Which is not surprising after all. Even being so young, she works very diligently. It reminds me of myself when I had lost my parents.
I always spied on her from time to time with clairvoyance, and she always seemed to be doing her best.
She is a good girl.
The days passed and nothing new happened.
Until today.
"Didn't Maria get any bigger?"
"What? Her breasts? Don't worry, Lucia-sama, it is normal."
"I wasn't talking about my breasts. I am talking about the egg."
Although they did grow a little.
Until a week ago, the egg I had found during our first search was the size of an ostrich egg.
But now it seems to have grown about five times that size, almost the size of a human baby.
"Well, it is probably because Lucia-sama has been periodically supplying it with energy."
"I know that, but it was not supposed to be that big, you know."
Normally the egg would grow to the size of a head, but this obviously was not the case.
"Besides, it seems it will not be long before it hatches, too."
"Are you sure you do not want to destroy it before a potential world eater is born?"
"Something like that will not be born, I think."
I do not have much confidence.
Crack.
In the middle of our discussion, a noise could be heard coming from the egg lying in the makeshift nest on the bookshelf.
The markings surrounding the egg began to glow brightly as they moved in various directions.
Cracks were also forming in multiple parts of the egg.
"Shit."
I quickly deployed a defensive barrier in case anything potentially dangerous came out.
The light grew increasingly intense, and the cracks in the shell expanded.
Great pulses of mana emanated from the egg.
I thought it would explode at any moment until.
Crak.
It broke.
And the being that came out of the egg was.
"A baby?"
What was in the nest was a girl. She could be a baby, but she looked a bit older, probably around two or three years old.
She had lustrous, long black hair along with a pair of black horns on the sides of her head.
Her sleeping face was incredibly adorable, and the sounds she made while lying down melted my heart.
But what stood out most were the pair of black wings protruding from her back.
Is this a monster?
"Maria, is this normal?"
"Of course it is not normal. A humanoid creature should not be born from an assimilation egg."
"So what is this?"
I approached slowly to avoid waking her. Once I was close enough, I began to examine her carefully.
She did not look like a monster or any other hostile creature. Apart from the features I already mentioned, she looked like a normal child.
But her status said otherwise.
Level: 1
Name: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Gender: Female
Race: Fallen Angel
Titles: First Daughter of the Goddess of Death and Vengeance
HP 1000000000/1000000000
MP 90000000000/90000000000
Vitality: Cannot be measured
Vigor: 102
Skills: 105
Strength: 230
Agility: 120
Intelligence: 300
Luck: 3200
Karma: Balanced
Active Abilities: Fast flight, magical manipulation, elemental magic, dark magic, holy magic, space time magic
Passive Abilities: Immunity to curses, immunity to poison, immunity to holy, magic immunity
Racial Abilities: Charm, intangibility, airwalk, divine grace
Unique Abilities: Eyes of the Soul
I was confused.
First, why did a fallen angel hatch from an egg? And second, what did Maria mean by "my daughter"? I had only nourished her with my energy.
"Maria," I said.
"Don't say anything else, Lucia-sama," she replied.
There was an awkward silence between us. Neither of us knew what to say. For now, we decided to wait until the girl woke up.
After a while, the girl finally began to stir. We couldn't help but feel tense about the situation.
She rubbed her eyelids with her tiny hands and looked around the room until her eyes met mine.
Her eyes were crystalline blue and shone with an expression of innocent longing.
We stared at each other for a while. There was no noise, just a tense, awkward silence.
Until she suddenly shouted.
"Mama!"
The child shot straight into my chest while continuously screaming "Mama!"
She was like a lost child in the market finally seeing her mother after a long day.
But seriously, what was I supposed to do now?
She glanced at Maria for help, but for some reason, Maria had her personal notebook in hand.
Before I knew it, she was drawing the little girl perched on my chest.
Maria! What are you doing? A naked child on top of an adult is not something you should draw! That's only allowed in manga! In real life, it would be a good reason for an investigation into potential child abuse.
I sighed. Nothing could be done. For now, we had to let the two of them calm down.
A few minutes later, everything had settled.
I sat on the bed holding the baby girl in my arms. She was playing with a small light up ball I had given her. The ball was a magic tool I made on the spot to distract her.
"How did this happen?" I asked.
"I already had an idea of what would come out of the egg," I said. "It wouldn't be anything normal, but the result is what it is now."
And of all things, she was a fallen angel.
Angels and fallen angels exist in this world but are treated differently from other species. Neither normal nor fallen angels possess a defined form. Sometimes they take humanoid shapes; other times they resemble unrecognizable creatures with wings and many eyes.
Angels are messengers of the gods and do not make mistakes.
Fallen angels are purgers, tasked with eliminating any problem that bothers their creator god. They also have a reputation for being impulsive and obsessive.
This worried me.
"Somehow, she should hide her wings," I said.
"Yes. Otherwise, she is quite similar to you and could easily be mistaken for another Majin," Maria replied.
"Still, how do I explain that I now have a daughter? I don't want to answer awkward questions, and I can't say she hatched from an egg."
"Succubi have self insemination techniques that can be used on any demon," Maria suggested. "That works as a good excuse. Or she could be adopted, but given how similar you two are, it might not be convincing."
"Can I just say she's my younger sister?"
"Given her apparent age and white horns, that would be hard to believe."
I sighed.
"Let's use the succubi excuse. There are no Majin orphans in this city, and it also explains why the girl hadn't appeared before."
Despite creating a backstory with Maria to avoid unnecessary commotion, I never expected this to happen so soon.
I had wanted children someday, but I wasn't ready. If I hadn't been ready to be a father before, I certainly wasn't ready to be a mother now.
I had already accepted that she was my daughter in a way, because I was responsible for raising her. I just hoped things wouldn't get too complicated.
I looked down at the adorable creature playing in my lap.
"By the way, Lucia-sama, aren't you planning on giving her a name?" Maria asked.
"Oh, right."
I gently lifted the girl from my lap and held her in front of me. This little girl would grow up by my side from now on. I wanted to give her a good name.
"Well, I've decided. Your name from now on will be Gabriela. Do you like it?"
She clapped and happily repeated, "Gabriela! Gabriela!"
I couldn't help but smile. It was a simple name, but she seemed to like it, so I kept it. I was still unsure about giving her a last name; that could wait.
"Okay, let's go downstairs. The faster we explain the situation, the faster it will be resolved."
"Understood, Lucia-sama."
For some reason, Maria was giving me an overwhelmingly warm smile I hadn't seen before.
With Gabriela cheering us on, we went down to the bar floor of the inn.
There was a commotion when we appeared. Gabriela, for some reason, kept laughing at everyone's faces until I finished explaining the situation.
I was hiding her wings with illusion magic until I could make a magical concealment item.
..........
At the same time, Lucia was dealing with her new family situation.
On a mission in the wealthiest area of the border city, a pink haired girl was speaking to someone through a crystal ball in an empty room.
"No connection has yet been found between the attack and my father's arrival."
"That's worrying. If this continues unresolved, it will be dangerous to return to the royal capital, my daughter."
The girl speaking was none other than the eighteenth princess, Celestina Andozola Galark.
And the one she was speaking with at this moment was the tenth king of the kingdom of Galark, Francis Renaldo Vonnieda Galark.
At first glance, he seemed like a normal man in his 40s.
But don't let appearances deceive you.
Before being crowned king, he was a world war hero, renowned for his great feats despite lacking natural talent in the military arts.
He had overcome every challenge he faced with effort and ingenuity, which made him a worthy successor to lead the country.
As a result, the kingdom of Galark prospered in stability for over twenty years.
And although he looked 40, he was actually in his 60s; it really didn't seem like that much time had passed.
"For my part, we haven't found a culprit yet. The only thing we're sure of is that he's connected to the Black Snakes group, but those rats are everywhere. We can't interrogate them all, and their leader is a problem."
"The Black Snakes…"
Celes repeated the name thoughtfully.
She had already suspected that the armored bear attack was a planned trap, but she hadn't mentioned it during her stay with Lucia and the others; she didn't want to worry them.
Lost in her memories, she was struck by the image of the two women who had accompanied her on the trip.
A cold but caring girl with amazing artistic skills, although she sometimes displayed clumsy sides in contrast to her always mature demeanor. She exuded such elegance that it was almost impossible to imagine she was a mercenary.
There was also Ms. Lucia, a Majin woman. Despite having seen many strong Majin, Ms. Lucia was by far the most impressive.
She possessed several skills, not only in combat but also on the productive side.
My professors at the Royal Academy had always told me that the oldest of the long lived species were the ones who held the most mysteries.
I wished I had asked more at that time.
She didn't behave any differently from the other Majin I had seen, but she also demonstrated the common wisdom of those who have lived the longest.
She always had an answer to the questions I asked her, and her stories were interesting.
She was like a grandmother, although she would probably get angry if I told her that.
I had recently received reports that Ms. Lucia had been raiding and destroying several hideouts connected to the Black Snakes… I hoped she was all right.
I knew they were strong, but I couldn't help worrying. There was another matter to deal with right now.
"Father, has there been any movement within the Fourth Prince's faction?"
The fourth prince, my brother, was quite a greedy person. He was the only one of my brothers born with exceptional talent for swordsmanship and military arts.
The day a peace treaty with the Iron Empire was suggested, he strongly opposed it.
This was mainly because his political base relied on military power, and without constant conflict, it would be difficult for him to exert influence.
It wouldn't be surprising if he had set the trap with the purpose of starting a war under the pretext of my death.
"So far, the militarist faction has been silent for quite some time. I would like to investigate further, but I don't have a good excuse for it."
"Is that so."
"With the tense situation between the kingdom and the empire, I can't afford to unnecessarily divert my attention, but I'm still worried that something might happen again."
"Thank you very much, Father."
"I would like to send a more heavily armed escort, but at the moment that's impossible, as there are no particularly strong individuals near the border to serve as your protection."
"Protection?"
When those words left the king's mouth, the image of two familiar people flashed into her mind.
"Excuse me. With my father's permission, I would like to hire some people who might be suitable to serve as escorts."
"Haha. Then I'd like to know who they will be."
Before they knew it, Lucia and company would meet the princess again much sooner than they expected.