My daughters went back in time to find me.

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Step— Step—We moved inside the lavish building.

The hallways.The balcony.Even the fountain was beautifully arranged with detailed sculptures.It all felt like we were gazing at the opulent palace of a wealthy person.

"It looks like a palace a king would live in...!"

Naru had the same thought as me.

"Dad, how much does that painting of the cloud cost? Naru is curious....!"

Was she capable of assessing the value of objects?To think that she instantly came to the realization that the painting of the clouds was the most valuable thing in the room.She truly was my daughter.

After walking for about ten minutes.A large door on the far end of the building's first floor greeted us.

It was massive, with sculptures of both, an angel and a demon placed on either side of the door, gazing upon us.Its grand appearance made me think of the Demon King's Castle.

Well, the Demon King's castle was obviously a lot more vile-looking.But it didn't look as expensively made.

The door appeared to be crafted from top-quality ebony wood, giving off a pitch-black color.Even the locking mechanism was clearly sophisticated.

The emblem engraved onto the lock spelled out 'VVV'.

It was an emblem that symbolized the Victor & Vanquier & Van conglomerate.Commonly known as a 'V3' lock.

Even for me, picking through this lock would take me well over an hour, but that was only if I wasn't caught picking it.If you so much as touched it incorrectly, the magical alarm installed inside would scream loudly.

"The headmaster resides in this room."

The old professor cleared his throat before knocking.Afterward, a faint noise emerged from beyond the door.

—Please come in.

It was a beautiful voice.However, she was far skinnier than I had expected.

Screech—As the door opened, I saw a spacious area with walls made entirely of transparent glass.Like a library, it was filled with bookshelves, desks, and chairs.

A woman with long, ash-colored hair was seated at a desk piled high with documents.She was exceedingly beautiful. There was no better way to describe her elegant appearance.She was wearing a black suit, and her slim lower body lacked the appearance of someone who trained.

She truly embodied a 'mage'.I couldn't discern her age.

Perhaps she was in her early thirties?If I was being generous, I would say she was in her late twenties, but attempting to discern the age of a magician based on their physical appearance was foolish.I still vividly remember the shock I felt when I found out that a witch looking to be in her early thirties was actually eighty.

Anyway.

"Sir Judas, it is an honor to meet one of the heroes who saved this world. Normally, I should have been the one to greet you first, so I apologize."

The woman opened her mouth and spoke.

Her ashen pupils gently lowered.

My first impressions were that she was a good person.Talented, attractive.And with good manners.

Should I say she's the complete opposite of me?

This woman was Elle Cladeco.The one closest to reaching 'transcendence' in this world.

She, the Morningstar, had been originally dispatched to take part in the expedition to the Demon King's Castle instead of Brigitte.Seeing her in person, I thought I knew why.

This person.Was the real deal, honmono.1It was the first someone gave me such a feeling after the war, aside from Cariote.

Elle Cladeco got up from her seat as she spoke.

"I've heard the general details from Professor Diogenes. Your daughter, Naru, suffered an unpleasant and humiliating incident—."

"That's right."

I replied succinctly.As I spoke, Elle approached Tywin, who was the main suspect behind the incident, and began questioning her.

"Tywin, be honest with me. Did you do it?"

"I didn't—."

SLAP—!!!

An immense sound resonated.To the point where my own cheek began tingling.

"...!"

The girl named Tywin appeared to be in shock from being slapped, overshadowing the pain she felt.She seemed to be too surprised to even cry.

"... H-Headmaster Elle.""Professor Diogenes, this much is fine."

....It's fine?

Was it fine to hit a small child like that?This was the moment when I began to worry if it was okay to send Naru to this school.

"Tywin, I'll ask you again as your mother."

Ah.I had noticed their shared ashen hair.But I didn't make the connection that they were mother and daughter initially.

Even then.Was it fine to hit a six-year-old child's cheek that hard?

When I was six, I had stolen a piece of gum from a convenience store and had been beaten so hard by my father afterward that the branch he had used to hit me with broke.Blood had even oozed from my calves afterward.

My father had scolded me furiously, saying things like "If you keep stealing little things like this, you'll grow up to be someone who does much worse things! By then, it'll be too late to regret!"

But...

Now that I think about it... He was right!Because I hadn't been beaten enough back then, I had become the King of Thieves!

.... Anyway.Watching a child get beaten had triggered an unnecessary flashback.As Tywin touched her swollen red cheek, Elle Cladeco resumed her interrogation.

"Tywin, I'll ask you for the last time. Did you or did you not throw paper at Naru's head?"

"..."

Shake—Tywin began to shiver. Whether it was due to fear or a different emotion, I didn't know.Clenching her fist around the hem of her skirt, she spoke.

"...I-I threw it...."

The A+ grade princess began to sob.

"Hooo-. How could Tywin do something like this...?"

Watching Tywin confess, the elderly Professor Diogenes looked as though someone had stabbed him in the back.Those who were betrayed often made a similar noise.

Elle Cladeco, Tywin's mother, calmly continued her interrogation.

"Why did you do such a thing?"

"...T-This Graham Academy is a place mother has worked so hard to establish.... I thought itwould be disrespectful to let the daughter of a thief study here...."

"I see. Tywin, you already knew this, but that's not right."

Turn—Elle Cladeco turned her back on her crying daughter.And then gazed at me.

"My daughter isn't ill-behaved, but because she loves me too much, she sometimes causes incidents like this. It's because I'm lacking as a parent. I'll watch her closely in the future, so could you please be lenient about this incident?"

Be lenient, huh?What would happen if I were to say no?I kind of wanted to say it.

However.Now wasn't the right time.

"I understand. Naru also tends to fight in situations involving me. That was also the reason behind their fight today. Since nobody got hurt, let's move on."

"I see. However, Tywin still caused trouble for Sir Judas and your daughter Naru. Originally, you would be taking the practical examination right now, but due to my rude daughter, things have gone awry ...."

Slip—Cladeco grabbed onto a piece of paper on her desk and pulled it towards her.She then began scribbling something onto it.

The handwriting was so messy I couldn't discern its contents.Was it a password?

Just when I was feeling suspicious, she spoke again.

"This is a certificate to show you've passed the practical exam. I just wrote something hastily for now, but a proper one will be sent to your residence soon."

"Oh."

"Even if I hadn't given you something like this, Naru would have certainly passed the practical exam and been admitted to Graham Academy. I'm quite good at evaluating children because of my profession."

Was that really the case?To be honest, I didn't even know if Naru was going to pass or not.

Anyway, we were fucking lucky.

It seems Naru has good luck.It was something all the thieves needed.

Those thieves without luck would already have been caught by the security guards and sent to prison or hung on the gallows.

***

"Y-You met Elle Cladeco???!??"

It was evening.Brigitte was in shock.

"To think you've met her already. This wasn't part of the plan!"

"That's how life goes sometimes."

"That's true but...! Phew, how was she? That's the first time you've met her, right? What did you think of her?"

Was she asking me about my first impressions of Elle?I attempted to recall the face of the kind person I had met earlier at the headmaster's office.

"She was a good person."

"That's just how she looks. At first glance, you wouldn't even dream that she's contracted to a demon. You can't be fooled because she's evil."

Brigitte gave me a stern warning.However, I felt a slight sense of skepticism — could someone like her really be working with a demon?

Normally, those people exuded a wicked aura that was closely associated with the demonic race.It was almost like an evil spirit.

Elle Cladeco didn't possess that.Like her title 'The Morningstar', she was a bright and kind person.

To be honest, my instincts were quite good.Without them, I would have fallen into a trap and died ten times over.

At this point, I couldn't help but feel something was off.

"Brigitte, about your informant. The one who told you about the imps and demons in the Freesia continent."

"What about them?"

"Can you really trust them? Someone like Elle Cladeco being involved with demons? She might be a little strict with her child, but she didn't seem like a bad person to me."

"My informant can be trusted, but I can't tell you who they are. Since my source mentioned that Elle Cladeco has contracted with a demon, I'm sure of it."

It didn't seem possible no matter how much I thought about it.So I asked another question.

"Brigitte, could you really not tell me who your informant is? When we're this close?"

"Huh? How close do you think we are? I don't want to complicate things by telling you, so I can't."

Ugh.Well, finding out her informant's identity wasn't my goal.

However, there was definitely a good reason why Brigitte was hiding their identity from me.It would be helpful in many ways if I didn't try to pry too deeply.

Write—Brigitte drew various circles on a sheet of paper before speaking.

"I graded Naru's answer sheet and she got a fifty-five! Was our Naru this good at studying? Well, fifty-five isn't really that great of a score, but Naru passed the practical exam too, so she's in!"

"Naru passed! Naru is amazing!"

"To be honest, the practical exam is usually the most difficult. Still, I thought Naru would be able to manage, but to think you received an automatic pass. I don't know if you're lucky or unlucky...."

Brigitte pat Naru's forehead.I spoke to her.

"Brigitte, have you forgotten the first rule of our party?"

"If the outcome is good, then whatever happened before is fine—? Sigh. Yeah, you're right Judas."

Nice.Despite the struggle, Naru had passed the entrance exam.

To celebrate her accomplishment, Brigitte had bought a large chicken and roasted it.

"Oh, holy shh! It's chicken! Naru loves chickens! The chicks are cute, and the chicken is tasty!"

Is there anything that you dislike?Thinking that to myself, I patted Naru gently on the head.

"Naru, you had it hard because I asked you to do something strange right? That rude kid even threw paper at your head during the middle of the exam. I'll apologize on behalf of Judas."

"It's fine! The paper actually helped! Tywin is a kind person! She gave me all the answers!"

The paper helped?Tywin, a kind person?She gave Naru all the answers?

What on earth was she saying?

Was it because we were from different generations?Naru sometimes said things I couldn't understand.

"Naru was just mad because Tywin lied. Since we shook hands and made up earlier, everything's fine!"

Because they had shaken hands and made up, everything was fine—.It was a fitting statement for a child.Now that I think about it, I remember the times when I had fought with my friends but made up quickly.

Now, I was a bit jealous of those children.If everyone fought and reconciled quickly, something like wars would never occur.

Why did everyone have to grow up?Just when I was thinking that Brigitte spoke once more.

"Naru, now that you've passed...is there anything you want?"

"Naru wants... a baby dragon!"

A baby dragon.It seems she had seen other children begging for a pet squirrel, igniting her desire for a pet of her own. But to think she'd ask for a baby dragon.

"Why a baby dragon? Is a dog squirrel no good?"

"If I'm going to raise something, I want it to be big and strong! I want it to live for a long long time!"

Well, I couldn't argue with that.But how was I supposed to get my hands on a baby dragon?

Not even the Demon King would be able to raise such a thing.

I felt I was at a crossroads.

Was it time to teach my daughter that some things were 'impossible'?Just as I was thinking that, Naru cried out again.

"...If I can't get that, Naru wants crayons! Naru loves crayons!"

"Oh, really?"

Surprise—!I made a box of wrapped crayons appear in my empty hand.I had bought them in advance while Naru was taking the written portion of the exam.

Taking the box, Naru exclaimed, "Wow! Crayons appeared out of nowhere!" and began enthusiastically drawing on a sheet of paper.

Starting from a small dragon, a large island was drawn, followed by a beautiful princess, chocolates, and candy. Her drawing skills were quite impressive.

"Naru can draw whatever she wants with her crayons! Thank you, Dad!"

Hug—Naru threw her arms around my legs.Watching her, Brigitte's thin eyes widened.

"Is Naru really your daughter? There's no way you could give birth to an angel like her."

"I think so too. When I look at her, sometimes I really don't think I gave birth to her. Of course, it's not me who gave birth to her, but whoever her mother is, it really doesn't seem like she resembles me at all..."

"Hiiiiiik...! Naru really is dad's daughter...!"

To read about 200 fully translated episodes, patreon.com/Nora02