Tale of Discovery

Chapter 105: Family Picnic

"This is quite the nice place," Yasaka remarks while looking around.

Of course, I've picked somewhere far away from civilization. Somewhere near Mt. Chorogatake.

A place filled covered in lush greenery and various flowers.

It took me a while to find this location, but it seems like it was worth it.

I proceed to create two blankets and a medium-sized tent.

Yasaka sits on a blanket that I placed on the ground while Kunou begins to explore the place and surroundings.

There is a river a fair distance away from here which I'm planning to check out later.

For now, I sit near Yasaka and enjoy the sound of nature all around us.

"It seems like you needed this more than us," Yasaka all of a sudden says.

"What do you mean?" I curiously ask her.

"You looked like you were under pressure a while ago," she responds.

Pressure? Me? Why would she so?

"Don't deny it. I can tell that you're trying to hide it from everyone, including yourself," Yasaka continues to say.

Shaking my head, I say confidently,

"You must be mistaken. I'm in no way under any pressure."

"Is that what you truly believe?" she asks me in a manner that makes it seem like she isn't expecting me to answer.

Forget it, she's surely just mistaken my personality for a facade of sorts.

"Uhm"

Suddenly, I hear a voice from my left.

Looking over, I'm met with a slightly nervous Kunou who's staring at me.

"What's wrong?"

"Mr. God," she nervously voices.

"You don't need to call me that," I say while beaming a smile, "Just call me 'Victor'."

Might as well tell them my 'real' name, as it doesn't matter much at this point. Unless there is the ridiculous concept of 'true names' giving others authority over someone, I don't think there is a demerit to sharing it.

"Victor?" she mutters a few times before beaming me a smile.

Finding her to be cute, I subconsciously pat her head and fox-ears.

"What, your name has changed too?" Yasaka questions, not minding my interaction with her daughter.

"That's not exactly right. Apparently, 'Victor' has been my name for the past nine-thousand years."

Upon hearing the latter part of my sentence, Kunou's eyes widen while Yasaka, who's unfazed inquires,

"You're not God, are you?"

Shaking my head, I shrug my shoulders and reply,

"Nope. However, I did create him and absorb part of his memories, so there's that."

Yasaka chuckles, yet it doesn't seem to affect her demeanor as she does it gracefully. Then, she comments,

"The more I talk to you, the more absurd your existence seems to get."

Well, she does have a point. I mean, a while ago I was just an ordinary human with enhanced strength and speed.

During the period between then and now, I traversed to another world, took down an organization, got back to this world, and 'became' God, or more accurately, 'his' creator.

The 'me' from a month ago would never have expected something like this to happen.

"Victor," Kunou's voice interrupts my thoughts, "Is there water nearby?"

Patting her head, I turn to face Yasaka before saying,

"There is a river nearby. How about the three of us go over there?"

Yasaka agrees as she gets up and fixes her clothes before walking over to Kunou.

Taking Kunou's hand into her own, Yasaka looks at me as if waiting for me to do the same.

Might as well do it.

Getting up from the ground, I take Kunou's other hand into mine before looking over to Yasaka and saying,

"I'll lead the way."

The three of us then begin to stroll to where the river is hand-in-hand. On the way there, I move thorny plants out of the way using telekinesis and continuously checking for a good path using Clairvoyance.

Midway there, something interesting grabs our attention.

A man wearing blue pants and a green shirt is sitting on a rock and gazing into the sky with a peaceful look on his face. Around the man are several wild animals.

After a few seconds, we start walking again.

Shortly, we reach a riverbank. Kunou excitedly shakes our hands off and runs to the river.

"There are fish!", she turns to face us and exclaims.

Yasaka and I both lightly laugh at her antics.

This reminds me of Ayumi back then when we went camping. However, at that time, we didn't have a mother figure accompanying us.

I turn my head to look at Yasaka. Coincidentally, she does the same.

The two of us look at each other's eyes, and it almost feels like we are sharing our senses through them.

After a few seconds, Yasaka turns back to face Kunou who's lowering her foot into the river and says,

"It's unfortunate that I couldn't grant her much of a happy childhood."

"Why do you say that?" I curiously inquire.

"The way it's been up until now is me keeping her company at home whenever I wasn't busy with work."

That's unfortunate indeed. Nevertheless, it's unusual for a job to not come with a resting period, even if it's being the leader of a faction.

When I asked her about it, she responded,

"That's true. There have been opportunities to do more than just accompany her at home, but it doesn't amount to much."

Well, it's better for children to spend most of their time both productively and happily.

In a sense, I understand what Yasaka is getting at.

"Say, where's her father?" I inquire.

In response to my inquiry, Yasaka looks in the distance before saying,

"He's not here anymore."

"I see," I mutter.

So, she's a widow. No wonder I hadn't seen her husband and it was so easy to take her out today.

"Why are you asking?" she suddenly turns her head and says with a grin on her face.

"Just curious," I reply nonchalantly.

"Or could it be that you wanted to become Kunou's father?" she teases.

Deciding to play along with her, I turn to face her and say with a look of deliberation,

"That wouldn't be bad. I get a beautiful wife and an adorable daughter. Definitely a win for me."

Laughing in response, Yasaka says,

"It seems like whatever happened to you also changed your personality."

"Is that so?" I curiously ask.

Has it really? I don't think I've changed much.

"I believe you wouldn't have made such remarks back then."

Is she trying to say that I'm more easygoing now? If that's the case, then that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It's not like I will just stop chopping my foes' heads off.

Now that I think about it, I've yet to investigate the new changes related to my status window.

Irene, give me a quick explanation of everything that has changed as well as the reason the change happened.

{Understood.}

{Father's System seems to be in a sealed state. The fact that I was unable to sense it means that it was none other than Father that sealed it.}

{The seal was partially lifted once Father made contact with the Fragment. This resulted in an overall change in appearance as well as more functions.}

{Most of the abilities now have their level of mastery displayed. Upon reaching complete mastery, the ability should evolve to a higher form.}

Now that's just ridiculous.

{Naturally, to raise the mastery of an ability, constant usage is a must. In the end, it all depends on Father's understanding of the ability and its uses.}

Fine, I get the part about abilities. What I want to know is the percentage, next to my Code.

{That's the current state of Father's Code. Once Father reaches a certain point, additional functionalities will be available.}

That's going to be a little tough. From the looks of it, it's quite hard to raise it.

I mean, currently, it's at 2% despite being so ridiculously powerful. The fact that I've been using it further supports my belief. Hopefully, something like the progress getting slower after a while isn't the case.

{Unfortunately, it's as Father says.}

Damn it!

Whatever. At least, I got to find out about it early.

Leaving that aside, there is one rather important thing. My race Why has my humanity increased?

{Insufficient information to provide an answer.}

Forget it, I should just focus back on the matter at hand.

As I do so, I notice Kunou suddenly stopping whatever she was doing and running over to where I am.

She slows down once she's near us and looks at me, then at her mother. After repeating this a few times, she comes over and holds my arm before saying,

"Let's go."

Letting Kunou drag me along, I look over at Yasaka and smile wryly.

In response to this, Yasaka chuckles a little before following us.

---

After having enjoyed playing around in the river, we return to where I had set the tent and blankets.

"Am I delaying your work?" I question Yasaka who's sitting beside me.

In response, she giggles before saying,

"It's fine. I'm sure that if any problems arise, you will be helping us."

Finding her response amusing, I laugh a little before saying,

"That's for sure. You can count on me anytime."

Yasaka then proceeds to lean on me. Of course, I don't mind such actions, so I let her be.

However, that doesn't seem to be the case for a certain someone.

Kunou who was lying on the blanket and gazing at the sky gets up swiftly before coming over and sitting on my lap.

She then places her head on my chest and closes her eyes.

So cute

I kiss the top of Kunou's head once before gently patting it.

Compared to Koneko, her ears twitch a lot more when my hand makes contact with them.

Suddenly, I feel a moist sensation on my cheek.

Surprised, I turn my head to look Yasaka who has a cheeky grin on her face while looking at me.

"That's your reward for granting us a time to enjoy like this."

Beaming her a smile, I say,

"I liked the reward. Makes me wonder what would happen if I granted you a longer rest."

"What do you think?" she voices before chuckling.

Kunou who's within my arms suddenly moves her head closer to my arm.

Having a bad premonition, I subconsciously lower my stats.

As I suspected, Kunou bites my arm.

Why, though? Is she angry at me for something?

Suddenly, Yasaka begins laughing.

I turn to face her with confusion most likely visible on my face.

Understanding that I'm seeking an explanation, she shakes her head and says,

"Don't worry. This just means that it's fun to be with you."

I'm sure there is more to it than what she's letting on. However, I won't be asking her about it yet, as I have a feeling that if I did, things will take a weird turn.

Not that I care if it happens.