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There was a white temple in the center. We had a meeting there where the head of Latis, Atlas, was living.

“Hahaha! It’s been a while since I’ve seen your face, Egostic. And this must be Katana?”

“Yes, hello.”

“All right, all right, speak comfortably! Oh, and this is our daughter, Ariel. You and Katana haven’t met before, right? Let’s exchange greetings. Katana, this is Ariel. Ariel, this is Katana.”

“Hello!”

“Yes, hello…”

Katana reached out her hand to Ariel in a formal and static tone, and in response, Ariel also offered her hand to shake her hands with slightly blushing cheeks.

Atlas chuckled again and spoke after their greetings.

“All right, now that we’ve exchanged greetings, follow me. There’s still plenty of time until the Cathedral starts.”

As Atlas was about to lead us to the guest reception room, Ariel, his daughter who had been quietly standing behind him, called him in a slightly anxious voice.

“Oh, Dad…!”

Atlas finally turned his head to look in her direction.

“Yes, my dear?”

Only then did he turn his head and notice her. Ariel gestured toward her father with urgency, then glanced in my direction.

Finally, he chuckled and said as if remembering something.

“Oh, right.”

Then, Atlas spoke to me.

“Ahem. Egostic, since there’s still some time, I’ll give Katana a tour around the temple. How about you take a stroll around this area with my daughter while we do that?”

He turned to me and said so. When I looked in Ariel’s direction upon hearing his words, she blushed a bit more.

I have a rough idea of how things are going to turn out…

I smiled and nodded in agreement to Atlas, somehow understanding the situation

“Yeah, sure. Let’s do that.”

“Hahaha, very well.”

He nodded in response to my words and added.

“Thank you for hearing my request. Haa, my daughter has been whining to spend time with you even before you came. If you didn’t go with it, I can’t imagine how much she would have complained…”

“Ah… Dad!!!”

“Oops, I better get going. Katana, come this way.”

He avoided Ariel’s eyes, who called out to her father with a red face and clenched fists, then gave me a mischievous smile and swiftly disappeared with Katana.

So, Ariel and I were the only ones left in the empty center.

“Uh…”

It seemed she was embarrassed to show herself in such a state as she held her face and bowed her head with a face that seemed about to burst with redness. I gave her a gentle smile and spoke in the softest voice I could manage.

“Ariel, would you show me around?”

“S-Sure…”

She blushed and nodded her head.

And so, Ariel and I began to walk together after a long while.

***

Ariel.

She had clear, sea-blue hair and sparkling, jewel-like sky-blue eyes. She was Atlas’s beloved illegitimate daughter, someone who had never been publicly revealed before. In the original story, her character left this world due to a curse. I brought her back to life by twisting the original story.

‘That was already several years ago…’

I had made a promise to save Atlas’s daughter after so many difficulties to meet him, in order to get him on my side. It was possible because I knew the type of curse from the original story and even had a rough idea of how to lift it. Of course, it wasn’t easy because I only had a general understanding of it.

At that time, Ariel’s condition was serious. She could barely breathe due to the curse and spent her days unconscious, lying in bed. Atlas became increasingly violent as he desperately tried to save his daughter.

Fortunately, thanks to my intervention, Ariel miraculously survived.

“Did you… save me?”

The memory of the first time Ariel opened her eyes and looked into mine came back to me. After Ariel woke up, I frequently visited Atlas’s city for a while to lift the curse completely. Of course, I couldn’t go there for some time after that due to my own busy schedule.

In any case, that’s a story for another time…

While I was thinking, I watched Ariel, who was still walking silently by my side with slightly blushing cheeks.

“Ariel?”

“Y-Yes! Ah, uh…”

She bit her tongue as she was startled for a moment by my words. Seeing Ariel on the verge of tears due to embarrassment, I quickly changed the subject.

“It’s nice to see you after such a long time.”

“Yeah…yeah. I’m also glad to see you…”

“What have you been up to all this time?”

She was still quite shy, just like when we first met and stumbled over her words while answering.

“I-I’ve been doing the same old things. Taking walks in the city or swimming outside… Father said because my body is weak, so I can’t really go out much…”

She spoke with a slightly gloomy expression, blurring the end of her words. But as if to say when did that happen, she spoke again with a slight smile.

“Nevertheless, I’ve been living a great life. Thanks to the abilities my father passed down, I can even breathe underwater…”

As she explained what she had been doing up until now, she seemed to be less embarrassed than before while talking with a smile, unlike her earlier self.

Come to think of it, according to what Atlas had said, she was like a wild and lively character who enjoyed physical activities at home. Strangely, she became so suddenly shy in front of me.

While I was thinking about this, I responded to Ariel’s words and walked along the outskirts of the city together. She smiled, and her eyes sparkled as she spoke about the time she had played with the turtle-human in the water.

And every time I saw her like this, I couldn’t help but wonder where Atlas’s genes had disappeared… He had a rugged and rough appearance, like a bandit, but his daughter Ariel was simply a beauty. To some extent, her face had a sculpted feeling.

She also wore delicate and thin white garments, like clothing from ancient Greece, which made her appear even more delicate. This was in stark contrast to the burly, muscular Atlas. The only commonality between them was that they both had a lot of exposed skin, possibly due to their sea clothes…? Oh, and despite her previous illness, Ariel had an active personality and enjoyed playing in the water.

Honestly, I had to force these similarities, they almost had no other commonalities besides the eye color. I even had my doubts about whether she was really his biological child, as she didn’t have the ability to breathe underwater or control water like her father… You could easily guess the reason when you considered the appearance of Atlas’s late wife.

Anyway, as I was lost in these thoughts, Ariel seemed to realize that she had been talking to herself for quite some time. She stopped talking and, with a slightly blushing face, said:

“Oh… I’m sorry. I talked too much on my own, didn’t I?”

“Haha, no, not at all. I enjoyed listening.”

“Ehehe… What have you been up to, Egostic?”

“Oh? Me?”

…Terrorizing, killing other villains, planning to grow Stardus…?

I was pondering what to say when Ariel nodded as if she already knew and said.

“I actually watched your broadcasts. Ego Stream, right? You’re active there, causing terror, just like our father.”

“Um, yeah.”

I answered, scratching my cheek and momentarily flustered. Right, Atlas had told me that his daughter had been searching for information about me. That makes sense.

‘Hmm…’

I felt a bit embarrassed and self-conscious about my somewhat questionable private life. It seemed that Ariel, who had been a patient for a long time after waking up, had spent a considerable time in bed. During that period, I had visited her and tried my best to care for her as kindly as possible. I was almost like impersonating a doctor.

But a doctor with a gun, acting like a maniac and laughing while terrorizing patients on live broadcasts? If that were the case, I’d probably lose my medical license…

As I continued my thoughts, railing against how the internet could possibly work from the deep abyss and blaming the advanced technology of Latis for my predicament, Ariel, who had been walking by my side, spoke up with a very serious expression.

“Watching that… I really envied you.”

“…Huh?”

She envied me? What was there to envy?

Before I could even finish my thoughts, she continued.

“I also want to play outside like you, Egostic. I don’t want to be confined like a bird in a cage deep in the ocean…”

She murmured, looking up at the sky through the transparent dome, the blue sea radiating light from above.

While I was wondering what to say to her, she took a deep breath, turned to me, and said resolutely.

“So, Egostic, I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it…?”

“I-I want to be a member of your party too. The Ego Stream.”

She made her request while clutching her fists with both hands and slightly trembling. Perhaps, she had been wanting to have this conversation today. She took a lot of courage to ask me.

And I had no choice but to respond with an apologetic tone.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t…”

“…”

‘…’

In response to my words, Ariel’s body seemed to freeze as if in great shock. Still, it couldn’t be helped. Taking a young girl who was not fully recovered and asking her to engage in acts of terror? It was an absurd idea. Not to mention, Atlas might kill me if I did. Moreover, there were doubts about whether her abilities could stand up to Stardus. I had never witnessed her powers in action, so I had no idea how strong she was. Regardless, given that she had been bedridden for a long time, it didn’t seem likely that she could take on Stardus.

So, I carefully and thoroughly explained to Ariel why it wouldn’t work, hoping she could understand.

Upon hearing my words, she lowered her head deeply, murmuring almost inaudibly as if she had been deeply affected.

“Ahaha. I see. It’s because I’m weak… I look weak…”

But then she suddenly lifted her head and smiled.

“I understand. If you say so, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“No problem. Hehe.”

Despite her cheerful tone, her eyes seemed somewhat vacant.

It felt a little awkward, but hopefully, everything would be resolved in time…

I breathed a sigh of relief.