I quickly explained Kayla’s situation to Arisu, Tamaki, and Rushia. Well, “explained” was a bit generous given that there was still so much I didn’t understand myself.
“Hey, hey! Where did Kayla-chan come from?” Tamaki asked, crouching down to Kayla’s eye level.
“From a faraway place!”
“Why did we end up coming to Earth?”
“It was time to dive in because we could make it! And then, I was told to be of use to Papa and the others!”
“Wait, hold on a moment, Kayla-chan,” Shiki interjected in a rush. “By ‘diving in,’ you mean you snuck from that world to this one through a portal, right?”
“Uh, yeah… maybe?”
“When we inadvertently opened a portal to Earth with the keystone’s power, you used that transfer to meet us… Is that right?”
Kayla looked puzzled and tilted her head, as if Shiki was speaking a language she didn’t quite understand.
Our leader sighed and changed her question. “What were you doing in the place you were before?”
“I was studying and training for this day!”
This day… Did Mia know we would return to Earth? Or did she just feel like she had to make sure Kayla was a force to be reckoned with?
I tried to delve a bit deeper with Kayla, but it seemed she didn’t fully understand herself. She only knew that there would come a day when her existence would be necessary for us. She had been looking forward to the day she could meet us for a very long time.
“So, Papa!” she exclaimed, hugging me. I hugged her back, and she snuggled up against me, happily sniffling. Her soft cheek rubbed against my chin, and I knew my heart had already fallen for her.
“Hey, hey, Kayla-chan, me next, me next!”
“Ah, no fair, Tamaki-chan. I want to hug Kayla-chan, too!”
“Okay! Mama Arisu, Mama Tamaki! Hug!”
She was immensely popular with both Arisu and Tamaki.
Well, at the very least, she isn’t disliked. I was worried, since, in a way, she’s like the child of a previous partner I brought along…
“Let me get this straight. This is Earth—Kazu and everyone’s world, correct?” Rushia asked.
Ah, right… for her, this place is completely unknown. Though she doesn’t seem too shocked, probably because we were trapped in a similar space just yesterday evening…
“Yeah, this is our real world. Not the fake one from yesterday, but the real Shibuya.”
“I was quite surprised by the number of people. And there were iron carriages… those are called ‘cars,’ right?”
Okay, aligning her common knowledge with ours is going to take some time.
Meanwhile, Rushia had asked about our surroundings to find out where we were, and responded, “I found Kazu and the others flying, so I’ll head there right away.”
“Ah, Arisu and I are together already. We saw Kazu-san and the others just now, so we’ll be there soon!” Tamaki said as she nuzzled Kayla’s cheek.
Kayla stayed still, clearly enjoying the physical affection. “I’m happy I have so many mamas!” she declared.
Ah, what a sweet kid. How could Mia and I have produced such a good kid…? And why would Mia send such a sweet child to buy an eroge?
“Wait a minute, does she even have money on her?”
“Huh? Mama said to ask Papa for it!”
Yeah, Mia’s definitely in for some punishment next time I see her.
✦ ✦ ✦
All of us crowded around Kayla’s PC screen. Her skills were exactly as she had claimed: Wind Magic Rank 9, Shooting Rank 9. Her derivative skills included Wind Shot Technique 2, with abilities in Enhanced Shooting Technique Rank 2 and Freeform Bullets Rank 2.
Enhanced Shooting Technique was a standard evolutionary ability common to weapon skills. Freeform Bullets, as mentioned earlier, allowed the shooter to bend the trajectory of arrows or bullets freely. At Rank 1, it could bend up to forty-five degrees, Rank 2 up to ninety degrees, and by Rank 3, it could even make them turn back one hundred and eighty degrees. However, accurate targeting was still essential, which explained why Kayla had focused her shots to hit the skeletons’ heads accurately amidst the chaos. That restraining magic also paired well with shooting. The weapon being a slingshot seemed a bit underwhelming in terms of firepower, though…
“Kayla, what’s with that weapon of yours?”
“This?” Kayla waved her hand, and a Y-shaped slingshot suddenly appeared. “This is my special weapon, made by Mama!”
“Ah, is it enchanted with magic by any chance?”
“You’re darn tootin’!”
Why does she know such old-fashioned phrases…?
“What’s the name of that weapon?”
“Slingshot!”
Right, straight to the point, Mia!
“How do you manage the bullets?”
“I just pick up stones from around here.”
“Just a regular pebble can explode like that…?”
“I can shoot beams, too.”
Well, that’s no ordinary slingshot…
“By the way, Kayla-chan. What exactly is this special ability?” Shiki’s question made everyone look at the screen in surprise.
Somehow, Shiki had taken control of the mouse and brought up a special ability window that had been hidden behind other windows. But all that was listed there were incomprehensible strings of characters… What is this? I can’t read it.
“It’s my special power!”
“What kind of power is it?”
“It defeats the Demon Lord!”
We all exchanged looks.
✦ ✦ ✦
We gathered all the details we could from Kayla. Her explanations were roundabout, but the gist of it was as follows:
Kayla, the child of me and Mia, was a bioweapon designed to eliminate a renegade demon lord of the same species that resided in that mysterious building.
She had the ability to erode the existence of the Demon Lord across space and time by making contact with its true form.
Likely, no one other than her was capable of definitively ending the Demon Lord.
“I see… Mia, what have you done to our child?”
“I’m useful, Papa!”
“Kayla, are you okay with this? You seem surprisingly happy about it.”
My dear daughter smiled shyly. “I’ve always looked forward to being with Papa and being able to stay together!”
“I can’t for the life of me understand how Mia managed to raise such a good child,” Shiki commented, and her words carried a sharp edge. Still, I’d thought the same thing earlier…
“Just to clarify, Kayla, wouldn’t you be in danger when you confront the Demon Lord?”
“Mama said Papa would protect me!”
“Ah, that… yes, I’ll absolutely protect you.”
“Yay!”
Still, the Demon Lord, huh? From what we’ve gathered so far, it seems likely it’s on Earth, but where exactly remains a question.
“By the way, I wonder if Yuuki-senpai and the others have come this way.”
“Uncle hasn’t come!”
“Ah, right, to you, Yuuki-senpai would be an uncle…”
I wondered if the ninja would be disheartened by being called “uncle,” or if he would take it as a compliment. To be honest, he would probably be delighted. For some reason, I couldn’t quite understand why, I felt hesitant to let Kayla get too close to him.
“If that’s the case, it really is just the six of us, totally isolated here and without support. So, we need to plan accordingly. First, we need to gather everyone together, deal with the rampaging skeletons, and then gather information…”
“About that,” Shiki interjected, raising her hand smoothly. “I have a suggestion. There’s a place near here where we can easily gather information.”
“And where might that be?”
“My family’s house is near Komaba-todaimae Station.”
Wow, that’s just two stops away from Shibuya on the Inokashira Line.
“Does that mean you’re actually a lady of high society, Shiki-san?”
“What’s with that tone?” She shot me a sharp glare, then added, “Well, yes.”
“You’re not going to deny it?!”
✦ ✦ ✦
We spent the time clarifying a few more points, but we also wondered whether we could return to the other world from here.
“I don’t know!” Kayla declared innocently. “But I’m sure we’ll figure something out!”
“Uh, well, if Mia told you so, then maybe it really will work out…” I said.
There’s also the question of whether we even want to go back. If we defeat the Demon Lord, this world will be safe, and we wouldn’t need to fight anymore… Ah, but still.
“I want to go back. I want to live in the other world,” I insisted.
Arisu, Tamaki, and Rushia all nodded in agreement.
It’s true; we don’t have much left holding us to this world. As for my family… well, if I’m being honest, we weren’t that close.
“Ah, but Shiki-san, you have a family on Earth, don’t you? If we stay here…”
Shiki laughed me off with a “You’re joking!” through her nose. “I have thirty kids to look after! For their sake, I need to go back to the other world!”
That’s just like her, I thought. No helping it.
We decided to save Shiki’s skill points from leveling up for later use.