Estimated reading time: 8–10 minutes
Chapter 45
Of course, I have no recollection of having a daughter. To begin with, while late marriages are progressing nowadays, this is strange on the other hand. First of all, considering the age of the girl in front of me, it would mean I had a child when I was a baby. There’s no way that’s possible. Urairo, who was standing behind us, opened her mouth timidly as if she had noticed something.
「…How old are you? Or rather, what generation are you?」
「I will be 28 years old this year. In terms of generation, there is no word to describe me. If I had to say, I would be a prototype of the third generation.」
「You’re older than me!?」
Urairo collapses for some reason I don’t understand. Incidentally, I’m also surprised, after all, her appearance and age are more discrepant than I thought. But then I realized, Reina in 2060 should have been approaching her 40s, but her skin and such remained almost the same. The scars gave her a dignified air, so I didn’t pay much attention, but the appearance of beastkin seems to change less than I thought.
Certainly, she is taller than me, and the youthfulness of her appearance is largely due to the thin layer of makeup and other decorations. Ah, I came to the realization on my own that Urairo, who has a flashy appearance, was in her early 20s, so I used that as a basis for my thinking. Indeed, if you look closely, there are many mature aspects. I won’t say where.
She looks at me with watery eyes. But of course, as expected, I don’t recognize her. Somehow she resembles Reina, but her odd-eyes of red and gold strongly assert the difference. However, one thing is certain: my blood is clearly not in her.
「I don’t remember, but I’m your father?」
「Yes. During the ‘Scorch War,’ my adoptive father and mother rescued me from the research lab where I was subjected to continuous experiments. Even though I’m such a landmine-like existence, they took me in as their child…」
「Adoptive, huh? That really surprised me. By the way, who is your mother?」
「Shiroinu Reina. I share many of my genes with my mother, so you could say she’s my biological mother. Grandma Anna has also been very kind to me.」
…An older daughter suddenly appears and calls me father. It’s a situation that rarely happens in life. I thought I might be playing too many games, but I’m actually playing a game right now. In that case, it’s a usual event, and I should accept it, so I nod. She breaks into a smile and squeezes my hand tightly. She seems to be very happy.
When I ask her name, she says it’s 『Mishima Kana.』 Kana-chan proudly puffs out her chest, saying it combines the 「Ka」 from Kanji and the 「Na」 from Reina. …Chan? She’s older than me. But considering her surname is Mishima, I wonder if I’m a single father or if I really married Reina. But I never thought I’d use the thought of who’s dating whom for myself. By the way, when I asked her how she knew where I was, she said she heard from a subordinate. That water-selling guy ratted me out, not that it matters since I won’t get caught.
「The ‘Scorch War,’ huh? I don’t know much about it.」
「You don’t know about it, Tsu-chan. You see, it was a war between forces with 『Prophets』 who knew the circumstances of each country, and anti-future alteration factions who wanted to eliminate them, or countries and organizations that simply saw the ideology as dangerous, all in a state of total collapse. After all, only those who didn’t know or believe in the future remained in the upper echelons, and civilians were also affected, so before we knew it, the cause became unclear and it transformed into a large-scale war. They scorched the earth and consumed resources and human resources until destruction came.」
「You sure know a lot.」
「Oh, well, you know.」
「You managed to extract that much information from the terminal. Impressive.」
「…Right?!」
Listening to the conversation happening behind me, I somewhat understand the situation. According to the setting, a war started with the 『Prophets』 as the trigger, and amid the chaos, Kana was rescued, but the world collapsed in 2050 without settling down. Indeed, such a story might have come up during the match, but I don’t remember what my opponents said at all because I wasn’t concentrating.
But then, what is this level of technology? It seems to have improved quite a bit compared to before. The food situation and the shitty system are problematic, but the number of surviving people is vastly different. In the Old Osaka City, the market was deserted, not bustling with people.
There’s a stupid couple showing off behind me, and there’s also someone who claims to be my daughter, but… the first thing to do is of course to modify the robot! If she’s my daughter, she must have inherited my love for robots!
「Well, I’m not that…」
I slump my shoulders at Kana’s wry smile and turn back to the terminal. Four-legged type, tank type, and also four-wheeled. But after all, bipedal is the best. Oh, there’s also an NMM-equipped blade. It’s expensive, but I’m interested. And what else… As I was looking, another terminal is held out from beside me. It shows a machine based on orange and black. The leg parts are 「Kōmitsu Solutions Manufactured Mobile Specialized F-Type Leg Unit 3,」 the arm parts are 「RE Corp Manufactured High-Performance Shooting Combat Arms RE-10101,」 and the NMM reactor is 「Kōmitsu Solutions Manufactured High-Output NMM Reactor for F-Type Models,」 all tuned for the F-Type, which is for flight. The only equipment is 「Kōmitsu Solutions Manufactured Fusion-Type Apollyon Incendiary Weapon UK-10,」 a manly machine.
「This is the machine Father used in his final moments. It’s specialized for quickly penetrating the infinite horizon without a blade. How about it? Why don’t you try using this machine?」
「Who’s going to prepare this machine?」
「We, the 『Order,』will prepare it.」
Kana moves her body closer to me. The fact that her clothes are a tight-fitting combat suit, and the scent of sweat mixed with a nice fragrance inevitably makes me aware of sex. If I had a daughter like this, I feel like I’d become a doting parent who wouldn’t let other men near her. But unfortunately, it seems we don’t share the same passion, so I shake my head.
「No, after all, it’s best to assemble the machine yourself. An original, even if imperfect, is better than the strongest complete form.」
「But if you stay here like this, the 『Reformists』 will…」
「First, the type. Hmm, I ended up liking the blade and the cannon after all. To have both, it would be the J-Type and N-Type, but the J-Type’s reactor is heavy and requires fuel. And if you try to shoot with the J-Type, the accuracy would be crazy.」
「Father’s switch has been flipped. What should we do…?」
「Aika is helping you out.」
「Right, Tsu-chan?!」
It seems chaos is piling up around me, but I continue to order parts regardless. In the midst of that, my eyes are drawn to an item called custom-made. When I investigate, it appears to be a service where they will make original parts exactly as specified if you submit a design. I try to write on a blank page, but my hand moves as if being pushed by something. The power of 『Apollyon Mechanic』 and 《Modification: Apollyon Machine》 allows me to draw what I imagine, but at the same time, a slight pain runs through my brain. This is not something in the game, but probably in reality.
As I continue to write on the terminal by hand, Kana, who seems to have reached her limit, grabs my waist and lifts me up in a princess carry. But the important thing is that I can continue designing. My head hurts and it won’t go away, but whatever. I want to try out the overwhelming divine element of being able to create original parts right now!
「Jeez, I understand you’re absorbed, so let’s continue this at Kōmitsu Solutions! Ah, if your two friends would like, please come this way as well. The ‘Reformists’ may come for a prophet hunt.」
「Hmm, if I do this here… ah, the parts will interfere.」
Pushing Urairo’s inexplicable flinch out of my mind, I continue designing the original parts in my daughter’s arms. …Our relationship is too complicated after all. Devs, why did you introduce such an NPC?
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