WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 89: I Became a Dad.
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I got a daughter.
“Dad!”
This wasn't some cheap joke.
I literally got a daughter.
“Dad! Hold me!”
Dad (Abba).
A word meaning someone's father.
Something I didn't have.
I didn't even have a dad of my own, yet I'd become someone else's dad.
I stood there blankly for a moment, then looked down at the small body clinging to me.
“...”
“Mhehe.”
She looked about ten years old.
Her long black hair was tied into pigtails, and her eyes held a faint bluish tint.
Her flawless, milky skin looked soft and smooth.
The girl clung to my shoulder, then smiled bashfully when our eyes met.
‘Hmm.’
I was overcome by complicated feelings.
It was indescribable, too tangled to put into words.
It had already been two days since I met my daughter, who wasn't actually my daughter.
I'd brought her to the dormitory for now, but none of this felt real.
‘A dad at this age...?’
I had been an adult in my previous life, sure.
Still, this body was only in its late teens.
It wasn't like I was speedrunning becoming a teen dad, yet I already had a daughter who looked around ten...
“Warm...”
Squirm, squirm.
The girl nestled into my arms regardless.
Feeling awkward, I hugged her back.
Maybe it was a habit from my previous life.
I naturally adjusted my posture so she wouldn't be uncomfortable.
Feeling as though I'd been defeated far too easily, I sprawled across the dormitory sofa.
“Viktor.”
“Ah... Princess.”
“What is that child?”
I'd brought an unfamiliar little girl home and declared she was my daughter.
The reactions of everyone who saw this were quite a spectacle.
“She seems to have been calling you Dad since earlier...”
“Princess.”
“Don't tell me you had a daughter hidden away from me...?!”
“As if.”
“Answer me. Did you set up house with another woman?”
“That makes nine times you've asked. Don't you get tired of it?”
“Hmph! A trusted retainer's duty includes graciously accepting their liege's jokes!”
The Princess had been teasing me like that since yesterday.
She seemed to enjoy my uncomfortable reactions.
I'd already told her several times that the child was Wriggler.
After always being the one I teased, she was clearly savoring this chance to turn the tables and roast me.
“If you think about it, isn't this karma?”
“I suppose it is...”
“Accept it with grace.”
Poke, poke.
A white finger jabbed my cheek.
Carmilla carefully examined the girl in my arms.
“Putting that aside... this is my first time seeing an Ego Weapon in person.”
“It isn't a common concept. There might not even be a hundred of them on the continent.”
“A weapon with an ego that grows alongside its user...”
“Unusual, isn't it?”
“What did you name her?”
“I named her Lua.”
Lua.
That was the new name I'd given Wriggler.
Even if she was an unintended daughter, I couldn't keep calling such a lively child Wriggler.
“It's a pretty name.”
“I gave it quite a bit of thought.”
Come to think of it, something occurred to me.
It was related to Lua calling me Dad.
Lua was a being born from the master of Purgatory's seventieth floor.
After defeating the master, I obtained its scales, raised them, and became Lua's father.
‘Then...’
I hadn't been alone when I defeated Purgatory's seventieth-floor master.
Carmilla had helped me, and she'd spent most of the time I was with Wriggler alongside us.
‘Does that make Carmilla her mom?’
A serious concern.
Was this some kind of virgin conception?
I made sure to share that thought with Carmilla.
“W-what...?”
Maybe she had no resistance to that kind of thing.
Her reaction was immensely satisfying.
Carmilla immediately froze, her face turning red.
All the momentum she'd had while teasing me vanished as she stiffened up.
Since it was rather satisfying to see her like that, I calmly added a few more words.
“Doesn't it make sense?”
“What are you talking about? I, I'm her mother...!”
“I'm joking, of course.”
“Th-that...”
“Princess?”
“V-Viktor and m-my child...”
Carmilla looked oddly dazed.
As if mulling over my words, her lips moved silently.
Just as I began to wonder if I'd gone too far, Lua suddenly poked her head out from over my shoulder.
“She isn't Mom!”
“What?”
Had she been listening to our conversation?
She abruptly cut in to correct the misunderstanding.
“The Princess is the Princess.”
“Y-yes...?”
It sounded as if she firmly rejected Carmilla becoming her mama.
As Carmilla was left flustered by that decisiveness, Lua's next words echoed through the room.
“And she's someone precious to Dad.”
“...What?”
Carmilla went completely blank.
Someone precious to Dad? Why was she suddenly saying that?
As I stood there just as flustered, my status window added a brief footnote.
Ding!
[An Ego Weapon shares a deep bond with its user.]
[It can receive some of its user's emotions and thoughts.]
No.
Excuse me?
“S-someone precious...?”
“Yes! Dad thinks so! The Princess is someone precious to Dad!”
“What do you mean, Dad thinks so?”
“Lua can understand Dad's heart!”
The two continued talking before I had a chance to stop them.
Carmilla stared blankly for a moment before coming to her senses and clearing her throat.
“Ahem! I see. Ego Weapons are bound to their masters by their souls, after all...”
The corners of her mouth twitched strangely.
The awkwardness in her expression softened considerably.
Carmilla strode over and stroked Lua's black hair as if it were silk.
“Is there... anything else?”
“Dad thinks you're a noble person!”
“Mm! Ahem...!”
“Dad also thinks serving you is worthwhile!”
“W-worthwhile? He thought that...?”
What on earth was she asking a child?
The Princess pinched Lua's cheek as though she found her admirable.
Perhaps the commotion drew their aggro, because the two girls lingering nearby joined the conversation too.
“Miss Lua! I'm curious too!”
“Um, if it's all right, I would like to know as well...”
Ranne and Alice.
They'd come to visit the dormitory.
Ever since I told them about Carmilla, they occasionally visited my room like this.
Today, when they heard I'd gotten a daughter, they rushed over to see her.
Lua's tiny face was reflected in the blinking violet and blue eyes.
“The big sisters are...”
Did my daughter have no sense of caution?
Even surrounded by three people, she didn't seem afraid. Instead, she burst into giggles.
“Ranne is a cool person!”
“Ooh!”
“Alice is a cute person!”
“C-cute? Me...?”
The declarations came without hesitation.
Ranne's eyes sparkled at the positive assessment.
Alice seemed caught between awkwardness and embarrassment at the unexpected compliment.
“Miss Lua.”
“Dad...?”
Lua's mouth showed no sign of stopping.
Feeling oddly embarrassed, I lifted her small body into the air.
Our eyes met at the same level.
“You shouldn't tell other people everything so easily just because they ask.”
“Why?”
“Because it puts me in a difficult position.”
“Dad is in trouble?”
“I get embarrassed too, you know.”
“...”
A simple exchange.
That alone made Lua's expression stiffen.
She hesitated for a moment before grabbing my sleeve.
“I did something wrong...”
“Miss Lua?”
“I didn't know Dad would hate it.”
“It wasn't that I hated it.”
“Dad, are you going to throw Lua away...?”
Her eyes looked up at me pitifully.
Her dark eyes brimmed with tears.
I might pretend otherwise, but I was helpless against eyes like that.
Maybe it was another habit inherited from my previous life, but children always disarmed me.
“Of course not.”
I answered gently.
I placed the girl I'd lifted into the air back in my arms.
Lua hesitated briefly, then threw her arms around me.
“I won't throw you away.”
“Really...?”
Yeah.
Her form had changed a lot, but she was still my weapon.
If I threw her away, I'd immediately lose my main armament.
I quietly held out my pinky.
“Let's make one promise instead. Don't casually talk about Dad's feelings in front of other people.”
“Okay...! Dad is the best!”
Her tiny finger hooked tightly around mine.
The tears had already disappeared from her face, and Lua smiled brightly again.
Even through that sunny smile, there were a few things I needed to check.
“Miss Lua.”
“Mmm?”
“There’s something I want to check. Can you cooperate?”
“If it's a request from Dad!”
She was an evolved item.
I had to see if anything had changed.
She had suddenly become my daughter, but she was still my main weapon.
“Activate. Scythe.”
Shwaaa!
As usual, when I spoke the activation command, a soft glow surrounded the girl.
Before long, her entire body turned black and transformed into a scythe.
It was a scythe no different from the one I had always wielded.
‘No, did it change a little...?’
The surface of the scythe seemed bluer than before.
It used to be completely black, but now it had a beautiful color like the night sky.
“Activate. Gloves.”
Shwaaa.
Not only the scythe, but her other forms worked without issue as well.
The difference from the old Wriggler was that the weapon itself had gained a Growth Option.
‘And I can use Unique Skill Number Three now.’
Ding!
[A Growth Option has been added to the exclusive weapon ‘Black Mist’!]
[You can now use Unique Skill Number Three of the exclusive weapon ‘Black Mist’!]
I casually dismissed the messages in front of me.
Then I lightly swung the scythe in my hand.
As expected, it had no weight to it at all, and its sharp blade cut through the air.
“Miss Lua, do you feel dizzy when I swing you around?”
<[No! I don't feel anything when I'm in this form!]>
“That means it doesn't hurt either, right?”
<[That's right!]>
“That's a relief.”
It seemed that swinging the weapon around or striking something with it didn't cause Lua any pain.
I'd finally obtained an S-rank weapon. It would be a problem if I felt uneasy using it.
Especially since Lua was a weapon with massive potential thanks to her Growth Option.
‘Her rank will go up as I raise her.’
This was a substantial gain.
I'd gotten more than my money's worth from that one reward selection ticket.
Her original performance had already been absurd, so I looked forward to seeing her after she finished growing.
“Activate. Lua.”
Shwaaa.
With a short command, Lua returned to the form of a little girl.
I lightly caught her as she fell away from my fingertips.
When our eyes met, she giggled.
‘For now, I guess this is a good thing...’
I adjusted my crooked mask.
Life continued peacefully.
Still,
I would need some time to adjust to suddenly having a daughter.
* * *
The midterms came to a noisy end.
Since the exams had just finished, the Academy was unusually quiet.
The professors remained busy calculating grades.
The students, on the other hand, enjoyed a week without classes.
Even so, most cadets continued to show up at the library.
Watching them prepare for finals that were still far off reminded me that this was an elite academy.
‘Doesn't concern me, though...’
For that week, I lazed around in the dormitory.
With one more member in the household, I wasn't bored.
Once grades had been finalized, the first day I returned to the classroom arrived.
“...”
“Dad!”
I arrived in the classroom with Lua.
A black-haired girl looked up at me and called me Dad in front of all the students.
Lua waved cheerfully.
“Dad! Lua found her!”
In her other hand, she tightly held someone's sleeve.
A neat uniform, rose-colored hair flowing down her back.
The woman known as the Academy's de facto second-in-command.
Chief Investigator Javert.
Lua held her hand tightly and looked at me.
Javert looked briefly shaken as Lua beamed at her.
“Mom!”
Mom (Umma).
A word meaning someone's mother.
Lua hopped up and down, declaring it before the students.
“This person is Lua's mom!”
Her bright voice filled the classroom.
Around us, the Class E students stared with their mouths hanging open.
They were all speechless as they looked between the three of us.
“...”
They looked like people watching a morning soap opera unfold in real life.
This situation had come out of nowhere.
I blankly rubbed my mask.
Ah.
Where had it all gone wrong?
Footnotes:
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