Tale of Discovery

Chapter 103: Daughter ; Peace

"Gabriel, let's have a little talk, shall we?" I suggest while running my fingers through her silky hair.

"Yes," she calmly replies.

Having gotten her confirmation, I hold her hand as I mutter,

"Arena."

My vision blips before I find myself in Dubai.

"This" Gabriel says, "Is Dubai?"

Sensing the confusion in her voice, I tell her about the Arena's existence and its applications.

"As expected from" Gabriel's words fade off as she looks into my eyes with deliberation.

"What's wrong?" I inquire.

"It's just" she says and pauses for a few seconds before continuing, "I don't know what I should call you."

Beaming her a smile, I approach her and embrace her soft body and whisper,

"You can just call me the way you always have, Gabby."

She hugs me back and responds,

"Understood, Father."

We stay like this for a few minutes before I break the hug and cup her cheeks.

"I missed you," I say.

Gabriel places her hands on mine before replying in a gentle voice,

"I missed you too, Father."

The two of us then walk inside the hotel that the other girls used to reside in and head over to the lounge.

There, we both take a seat on the sofa beside each other.

"I'm surprised that you remember me," Gabriel says after a few seconds.

Creating some two cups of smoothies, I hand one over to her and sip on mine before saying,

"And why is that?"

Gabriel sips her smoothie before replying,

"You said that you won't be able to remember much even after 'reconnecting' with yourself."

I see. My Proxy knew about this already, so 'he' warned them about it beforehand.

"What did 'I' exactly say?" I ask her curiously.

She immediately replies,

"Something along the lines of not remembering most of the things that aren't vital."

I reach out my arm, stroke her cheek gently before saying while grinning,

"It seems like you were much more important to me than you thought."

Upon hearing my words, Gabriel chuckles lightly before resting her head on my shoulder and saying,

"You've changed."

"Have I?"

"Yes. In the past, you were much more apathetic compared to how you are at the moment."

Is that so? Gabriel is right about the part of me not remembering a lot from the past. I mean, I don't remember what I even looked like back then.

Even so, was I apathetic? I don't think so. After all, as an individual that was hailed as benevolent and merciful, I must've had feelings.

Unless everything my Proxy did was according to 'my' wishes In that case, a lot of things would make sense.

"After deliberating on the subject, I concluded," I explain, "The God that you knew was something I had created to keep a tab on things while the real me was away with whatever I was doing during that period."

Well, that should be the gist of it. Hopefully, there isn't something else that I've yet to know of.

"We should get going now," I suggest.

Upon arriving back at the Rift, I hug Gabriel one last time before bidding her farewell.

As Gabriel leaves to get back to Heaven, I make my way to the kitchen.

Upon arriving, I see Akame sitting at the table eating some kind of dessert, while Siesta is cleaning the kitchen up.

"What is that?" I question as I take a seat beside Akame.

"Trifle," she responds after a few seconds.

Accessing my database, I create some for myself. Creating a spoon as well, I eat a spoonful before saying,

"So, how are you doing now?"

In response to my words, Akame keeps on eating her Trifle for a while before replying,

"I am confused."

After saying so, she pauses for a few seconds before continuing,

"Am I able to go back? Will I be able to?"

I can sense the anxiety within her voice, but I can't do much about it other than patting her head and saying,

"It's going to be fine. Don't let such thoughts fog your mind. All you have to do is think of the present, this world, and the ones here."

Frankly, I'm unsure what her words are trying to imply. Is she doubtful of my ability to take her back? Or is she puzzled over going back to that war-filled world after having lived in such a peaceful environment here?

It doesn't matter which one it is, as I will be helping her out. That's obviously not because I feel guilty or something, but rather because it would be beneficial for me either way.

Perhaps, conquering her world and getting rid of all pests will be helpful? Nothing is certain, so I can't just be making plans from now.

Shaking my head, I ruffle Akame's hair once more before getting up and heading over to Krul's room.

I knock on the door a couple of times before I get a response from her.

Opening the door, I walk inside and sit beside Krul who's on the bed with a complicated look on her face.

"They're becoming more frequent now" she says, "those dreams."

As I suspected, her Code is beginning to act up. I had a premonition that it would be like this ever since she told me about it before.

Irene, do you have any information regarding this?

{Negative.}

That's unfortunate. Nevertheless, I should do something. It would be useful to either stop what's portended to happen or hasten it.

Either way, it's much better than it unexpectedly affecting her performance mid-battle.

Now that I think about it, Krul is a vampire, so blood-sucking must have some kind of effect on her, right?

Back in Project Charlotte, Krul was able to use her Code after sucking my blood, so it wouldn't hurt to have her do it again.

"Say, Krul," I begin, "Would you like to suck my blood?"

In response to my words, Krul looks me in the eyes for a few seconds before swiftly moving and pushing me down.

"So eager?" I tease her.

Krul ignores my words as she moves my clothes away before biting in on my flesh.

Focusing on my abilities and regeneration I prevent her from being hurt as I deliberate on the difference between her and me.

Shouldn't it be hard for her canines to pierce my skin based on my parameters?

{It is as Father says. However, if Father wishes for it, the parameters can be decreased temporarily.}

I'm assuming this is what's going right now. Unconsciously making use of that as a way of giving consent to Krul to suck my blood.

{Affirmative.}

"Krul," I say to the petite girl who's taking her sweet time sucking my blood out.

While still sucking my blood, she lets out a "hm?".

"Make sure you never attempt to surprise me by biting into my neck unexpectedly, lest you want your canines to shatter," I say while chuckling.

Krul stops what she's doing and moves her head so that we are both facing each other before saying,

"Your new appearance suits you better than the other ones. That's not all, as even your blood tastes and feels different. It's better now."

I place my hand on the back of her head and push it closer to myself before kissing her lips for a few seconds.

It's sweet Does this mean that I am sweet-blooded? No wonder insects annoy me so much.

Anyway, I should find a good time to hang out with Yasaka and Kunou. A little picnic will have splendid results.

First, I'll get closer to the leader of the Youkai faction. This will probably be useful in the future.

Second, I get to clear my mind up before getting started with my plans.

And lastly, I get to see the cute little Kunou again.