For a while, it seemed my consciousness had drifted away.
“Papa, what’s wrong?” The blue-haired, green-eyed girl looked up at me.
Ah… Papa, huh… Papa… So, meaning there’s a Mama and a Papa, and two kids, a happy family, a joyful marriage…
But wait, this could also all just be a misunderstanding on her part. And yet, how many moms out there would send their daughter to buy an eroge? What’s more, she’s using magic a lot like ours, the visitors from another world, and that was probably White Cannon, the Rank 9 Wind spell…
All right, let’s face reality.
“Well, good to meet you, I guess. My name is Kazuhisa Kaya. Are you my kid, then? What’s your mom’s name?”
“Mama is, well, Mama.”
“Uh, right… didn’t your mama tell you her name?”
The girl smiled brightly, and the gesture was as refreshing as a blooming flower. “Mama said it’s better to stay anonymous when you’re doing something bad!”
“I see, raised in a culture of dubious anonymity…” I muttered. What kind of education is that woman providing?
“So, you’re Mia’s child…”
“Yes!”
“My child… with Mia…”
“Yes! I’m Kayla!”
Kayla, huh. And with my last name being Kaya… Mia, why would you pick that as a name for her? Now it sounds like “Kayla Kaya.”
Then again, the only time Mia and I could have… was yesterday evening. Although, time in that space was all twisted.
“How old are you now, Kayla?”
“I’m an adult!”
Your dad wasn’t asking about that, I thought with a sigh.
“Uh… have you learned any math?”
“I’m good at differentiation and integration!”
“What kind of gifted education is that?”
Kayla flashed a shy smile. “Papa praised me,” she said happily.
Oh no, she’s adorable. Thinking she’s my child makes it even more… uh, well, I’m feeling incredibly conflicted here.
“What should we do, Shiki-san?”
“For now, as weird as it may be, let’s just accept that she exists,” Shiki said with a sigh, then bent down to meet the girl’s gaze.
“Hello. I’m Yukariko Shiki. You can call me Shiki, Kayla-chan.”
“Got it, Auntie Shiki!”
“Um…” Kayla quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
“Sister Shiki!”
“My child is quite the diplomat,” I remarked.
“Really, now… So, Kayla-chan, straight to the point, what level are you? Can you join our party?”
Emanating confidence, Kayla puffed out her chest, spread her hands wide, and extended all ten fingers.
“Fifty-one!”
Why that number with both hands outstretched? And that’s a high level! Higher than Arisu and all of the girls, right?
“What skills do you have?”
“Wind Magic and Shooting!”
The derivative skills of Wind Magic and Shooting would be Wind Shot Technique, abilities like freely bending bullets to hit targets…
“Mama said this combo would be powerful!”
“Ah, classic Mia-style education.”
“Papa, I’m here to help! Because Mama can’t anymore,” Kayla said.
Shiki and I exchanged glances. If she can’t help us anymore, does that mean we won’t be able to see her again? What could be happening to Mia right now? Where could she be?
“Um… where exactly is your mama now?” I asked Kayla.
“She’s in a faraway place!” she answered vaguely.
Is she dodging the question, or does she really not understand? What was Mia thinking, sending her to us like this?
“So, for now, can you join our party?” I proposed.
“Yes, Papa!” Kayla eagerly agreed.
By this time, another crowd had gathered around us, murmuring among themselves but maintaining their distance, likely out of fear. Considering Heavenly Turtle Nahan looked like he had popped straight off the screen of a monster movie, and the other two familiars were almost as strange, I couldn’t blame them.
“Shall we move on? So, your goal is just to help me, right?” I inquired.
“Yes, Papa! Use me as you wish!” Kayla responded with enthusiasm.
“Officer, over here, please!” I joked, though the timing was admittedly poor given our current predicament.
The three of us took to the skies, searching for other areas affected by explosions. We quickly saw that something was happening further down Meiji Street toward Ebisu, so we made that our next destination.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kayla must have been around ten years old, but she clearly hadn’t had what one would call a normal upbringing. From our brief conversation, it seemed she hadn’t interacted with anyone other than her mother. Yet, she also mentioned being with dolls, which added another layer of mystery to her background.
I had so many questions, but now wasn’t the time to delve deeper. Near Shibuya Station’s New South Exit, we soon found a handful of skeletons that were creating mayhem.
As the police officers fired their guns, the skeletons swung their swords, effortlessly slicing through the bullets. With a return stroke from about ten meters away, they unleashed a slashing attack. Blades of light flew out, decapitating several officers simultaneously. The screams of the fleeing crowd filled the air.
This is bad, I thought. The panicked crowd had gathered in the narrow streets, becoming virtually immobile. Into this chaos, the skeletons charged, creating a scene straight out of hell.
“This isn’t a good scene for a child’s education,” Shiki remarked.
“As a father, I find it regrettable,” I agreed.
“Massacre!” Flying beside us, Kayla glanced at the scene with her eyes shining, seemingly captivated by the carnage. Ah, right, she’s Mia’s daughter.
“Papa, can I go help?” she asked.
“Uh, sure. But, Kayla, you can’t do close combat, can you? This looks like it’s gonna be a melee…”
“It’s okay, leave it to me!”
Kayla sped up, probably using magic to propel herself forward with the wind at her back, moving ahead of us all. Her robe fluttered, revealing that she was wearing nothing underneath.
Why aren’t you wearing underwear…?
“Officers, over here!” I called out again, futilely.
“Those officers were just slaughtered,” Shiki noted dryly.
Wielding a slingshot pulled from seemingly nowhere, Kayla took aim at the skeletons rampaging through the crowd from above. However, the skeletons were moving too erratically to easily target.
“Storm Bind!”
A whirl of air ensnared one of the skeletons. Immediately after, my daughter gave a shout as she released a silver ball, hitting the immobilized skeleton squarely in the head. The projectile pierced through the skull, destroying the monster with a single shot.
“Gotcha! Next one, here we go!”
The petite girl employed the same strategy to take down a second skeleton with a single blow. When a third skeleton noticed Kayla and retaliated with a beam similar to sword pressure, it scattered the instant it hit Kayla’s robe.
“Ouch, that kind of hurt,” she complained, though the attack seemed to have caused only minor discomfort and her robe was just a bit dirtied. A direct hit on a regular person in regular clothes could have resulted in serious internal injuries.
“I mean, if she’s really Level 51, this makes sense…” Shiki noted, but her voice still carried a tone of awe.
✦ ✦ ✦
Fortunately, everyone was gathered in the White Room. And by everyone, I mean me, Arisu, Tamaki, Rushia, Shiki, and Kayla—six of us in total. We were all overjoyed to be reunited.
“Kazu-san, Shiki-san, Rushia-san, I’m so glad you’re all safe,” said Arisu.
“Kazu-san! I just don’t know what to think anymore!” Tamaki blurted. Both she and Arisu looked like they were about to cry as they rushed to hug me. Even Rushia appeared relieved.
It was comforting to know everyone was safe. Whether returning to Earth was a good thing for Arisu and Tamaki remained uncertain. For Rushia, this was an entirely foreign land; I could only imagine what kind of anxiety that would cause her.
“Hey, who’s this girl?” Tamaki asked, looking in puzzlement at Kayla. My beloved daughter flashed a bright smile.
“I’m Kayla! Mama told me to curry favor with everyone here!”
“Wait, ‘Mama’? ‘Curry favor’? Huh?”
“Um… the blonde, silly mama is… Mama Tamaki!” Kayla continued.
“What?”
All right, Mia, you’re in for it next time we meet.
“The one with the big boobs is Mama Arisu! The one with long ears is Mama Rushia!”
I mean, it’s all accurate, but I’m surprised she remembers them by such distinctive features!
Mia… you’re definitely in for a punishment when we meet again…