Earlier when Lishua took us to the city lord’s mansion, there were still some residents passing by. But when night came, people chose to stay at home.
[Of course there are no food stalls anywhere…]
『The best one should be along the city’s main road. But now you understand what I mean, right？』
[Ye~ah, I just miss the cuisine of this desert city.]
『How about consulting Lishua about it？』
[Nah, she already has her hands full. Not only does she have the ancient monster problem to deal with, I also asked her to watch over Roxy. There is no way I could come to her just to say that I want to eat this city’s special cuisine]
『Should be just fine, you are about to fight an ancient monster after all. Now THAT is a feast.』
[I’m not as greedy as you are.]
『What is wrong, Fate？』
[No… maybe just my imagination]
It’s as if there was something very attractive there. I had no solid reason why. I simply felt the need to go there. Like there is an invisible force pushing me forward.
『If you feel that way, then you should not go.』
[But… but I feel that I have to.]
Greed’s advice had kept me alive for so long. And yet, I still trot onward to that shadowy alley anyway.
『Fate, use your Night Vision skill.』
[I know. On it already.]
『You simply can’t keep your hand away once you’re attracted to something. Good grief, what a troublesome fellow』
[That’s indeed troublesome, hahaha.]
『Do not laugh as if we are talking about someone else！』
Those people were not normal. That part was very clear to me.
One stayed to intercept me, while the other one ran to another direction.
[Oi, stop!]
They ignored my warning and disappeared into the darkness. It’s hard to chase when one of them blocking me so that the other one could escape.
[Wa, wait. Fate.]
[Dad…]
[Oi oi, what is this? Why are you moving away?]
[Why of course. Where is Raine? What did you do with the Philosopher’s stone? And what did you do earlier?]
I bombarded him with questions as I drew Greed out.
[Don’t be so impatient. It’s still late at night.]
[Dad!]
He didn’t even take his spear out of empty air like before this time, opting to use his one hand to try to keep my black sword away. He’s so calm, probably because he still sees me as a child.
[Well, calm down. Firstly, rest assured, Raine is protected well.]
[What protection!? You practically kidnapped her!]
[I’m sorry for taking her away like that. But now it’s different. She has agreed to act together with us.]
[What was that even mean…]
[Our interests simply matched.]
[That’s all I can say. As for the philosopher’s stone, even I don’t know what has become of it now]
[Dad!]
He didn’t seem to even bother hearing me. Despite my brandishing Greed, he approached calmly, until we passed each other.
[Fate, I have given you ample warning, but you still came here anyway…]
[I have to do something. I can’t just stay in the capital.]
[I see… it’s been five years… no, almost six years since then…]
Dad who was facing away from me chuckled lightly.
[That desert monster, don’t touch it]
[Why?]
[That fellow, is actually closely related to me. It’s a burden way too heavy for Fate to carry.]
[That is not the case. I too am.]
[Area E? Then you should understand this. From this point onward, stacking more stats is meaningless, it’s about the skill quality and how well the person is handling it.]
[Even that is…]
[Fine then. However, your gluttony skill eats the soul of those it defeated, and takes away everything from them. From now on, it’ll be battles between Area Es. You will suffer beyond imagination. Uncontrollable stats will also eventually interfere with your skills.]
I turned around this time, trying to approach him. But Dad, knowing this, also took a step forward to maintain our distance.
[Fate, let me tell you this if you still insist on fighting it. What you are going to fight is a special creature called the Sacred Beast. And due to its holy blessing, even… even your mortal sin weapon won’t even be able to scratch it. How about that? Still insisting to fight?]
[I’ll still fight. Because it’s what I’ve decided.]
[I see… alright then. I also heard from Raine. You defeated the Tenryu at that cursed land Gallia. With such a feat under you belt, whatever I say will not budge you… But don’t overdo it. Your body has started changing, hasn’t it?]
[…did you also hear that from Raine?]
[She’s worried about Fate. And so do I.]
[I just want my kid to act like how a kid should be.]
[Dad!]
[If we fight seriously in this city, what do you think will happen…? You know that full well, right?]
[…..]
[Even so you’ll still go on?]
[…..kuh.]
[Good boy.]
But perhaps, the real reason why I gave in, was the glowing tattoo on Dad’s face…It gave me so much pressure that my thought process seemed to slow down.
[Well then, we are running out of time. Later, Fate.]
『No way…..that was your father. Makes me wonder if your intuition is good, or bad』
[Yeah, that surprised me too. But it’s good that we met. Now I know that we’re up against a sacred beast.]
『Sacred Beast, eh…..? That would be one hell of a catch…..』
[Dad said, even Greed won’t be able to hurt that sacred beast. Are you okay with that?]
『Haa！？ This me！？ …..well, I am nothing but a weapon, so it will depend on who wields me. In other words…..』
[It’s up to me?]
『That is how. Mastery requires hard work. Well, it is true that my special performance alone will not be enough to get you around. Fighting this sacred beast will surely give Fate something to learn regardless if we fail to defeat it.』
[About that. I don’t want to lose. Cause if we lose, then this territory is as good as gone already.]
『I know. I am just telling you to think things through. If you took a misstep, you might end up losing someone important to you. Do not forget, that you are not fighting alone now.』
[Yeah…..]
『Lots of things happened. Want to grab some liquor to drink？』
[No can do. We’re going to fight a sacred beast after this. That’s not something I can handle while being tipsy. You know I’ll get in trouble if I do.]
『Well、Eris will be angry, and Roxy will probably beat you up. And Mimir will suck your blood. Hahaha.』
[Don’t laugh like that!]
