Chapter 31: Sylvie's Exploration
~~ Author Note ~~
https://discord.gg/6PBf4ccNCT
Hello, readers.
I no longer have Grammarly premium, only the free version. That means there might be a few mistakes missed here and there. Hopefully, it's not too bad.
Also, I'm back to writing again. I don't know how consistent I'll be, but the book isn't dropped.
As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
~~ End Author Note ~~
***
"Wow," Sylvie's eyes sparkled as she looked at the surrounding buildings. The city Dianthus brought her to was much nicer than any village the little girl had ever seen before. There wasn't any unpleasant stench, nor beggars and miscreants wandering around.
Dianthus smiled at his daughter's amazement. The city wasn't extraordinary by any means. Sure it was a pleasant city for the girl who hadn't experienced many worlds, but he had seen many places greater than this. Dianthus couldn't wait to show her even more beautiful things. What kind of smile would he see then?
'Hopefully, by that point, she wouldn't mind showing her face to me,' he thought.
"There are so many people." She looked around at the various individuals. Sylvie nervously grabbed Dianthus' robes and asked, "But why are they looking over here?"
Dianthus placed his hand on the girl's now silky and shiny hair. "We stand out—both our clothes and appearance scream foreigner."
"Then shouldn't we wear similar clothes?"
Dianthus ruffled Sylvie's hair. "That would only solve half the problem. The masks stand out more than the clothes. Also, your father happens to be quite good-looking. Ladies would stare regardless."
"That's true," Sylvie sweetly giggled.
She looked up at her father's face, only to see him staring at her in surprise. At first, Sylvie thought he was shocked that she agreed with him even if he meant his words to be a joke. However, after thinking back, she realized his astonishment was due to her laughing. She mentally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he couldn't see her crimson cheeks.
In hopes of driving his attention away, she asked a question that's been on her mind for some time. "Why are you wearing a mask too?"
"Does it not suit me?"
Sylvie shook her head. "I think it looks good. I was just wondering why you wore one."
"I thought it would be fun to match with my daughter. Plus, this way, your mask will draw less attention to solely yourself."
Although she didn't express it outwardly, his thoughtfulness made her happy. Neither of them realized it yet, but this small gesture was the first real crack Dianthus had left on the lock that sealed her heart.
"Did you get that mask when you got mine?" Sylvie curiously asked.
"No," Dianthus shook his head. "This mask belonged to my first wife."
"Semiramis?"
"Semiramis is my third wife. My first wife passed away a long time ago."
Sylvie noticed Dianthus' mood drop upon mentioning his wife. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."
"There's no need for you to apologize," Dianthus sighed ruefully. "I just have some issues I haven't worked through yet."
Sylvie stopped walking, causing Dianthus to stop and look at her. To his surprise, she wrapped her short arms around his waist. She didn't say anything at the moment. Instead, she hoped that her hug could help to console the man. Just maybe, she could pay him back, if only slightly.
Dianthus shook his head, clearing the negative thoughts from his mind. He couldn't allow the poor girl who had suffered throughout her life to console him. As her new father, the roles should be reversed. He appreciated the sentiment, but he embarked on this trip with her to brighten her mood and grow closer.
Steeling his resolve, Dianthus picked the girl up before she could break away from the hug. She blushed behind her mask due to the stares they were receiving. The looks weren't antagonistic, as many people viewed the interaction as a lovely father-daughter moment. Rather, Sylvie was simply uncomfortable with the attention.
"Alright! Let's enjoy our time together," Dianthus declared with a wide smile. He began to walk forward and pumped his fist in the air. "Look out, world; this father-daughter duo is out to conquer every exciting thing you have to offer."
Sylvie giggled. Swept up in the momentum, the young girl raised her hand as well. "Here we come!"
Dianthus and Sylvie set off amidst the warm gazes of the nearby strangers. All the while, he ignored the foreign energy that wrapped itself around his body. It wasn't worth caring for as it wasn't powerful, nor contained any ill intent. Instead of worrying, he focused on the imminent adventure with his daughter.
***
[System Alert: A new capture target has been added to the scenario.]
"What!" a cute blonde girl exclaimed with surprise. "I don't remember any other targets being available in the game. Did a DLC release after I died?"
The transparent blue window updated in front of the girl.
[Would you like to view information about the capture target?]
The blonde pressed her finger against the 'yes' option on the hovering screen. The screen slowly changed in front of her eyes, showing the profile of a handsome man. Besides the picture, there were lines of text bulleted throughout the virtual document.
"Wow," the girl muttered. "He's way better looking than the other male leads. Worthy to be the main husband of my harem."
She scanned through the information provided by the system and frowned.
"What kind of scam is this? There's hardly any information about him. His likes and dislikes are empty, and what do you mean by unknown god? Do you mean he's the one who created this world?"
The blue screen in front of her didn't reveal any more information despite the girl's frustrated questioning.
***
"My child," a soft, ethereal voice cooed, "this is the last chance I can provide to you."
At the sound of the voice tickling her ears, a girl with snow-white hair slowly opened her trembling eyelids. Her pale blue eyes vacantly stared at the wall across from her bed.
"What is the use of struggling?" The girl briefly paused her words due to a coughing fit that left blood dripping down the corner of her beautiful lips. "No matter the approach, I always meet the same fate."
The voice didn't respond to her immediately and a heavy silence filled the air. The girl closed her eyes believing this guiding voice had also seen the futility of their efforts.
"My child... I understand how you feel, but this time the invader does not possess the advantage. I have used my remaining power to connect with a being that does not belong. His power is outside the scope of the laws binding this world."
The girl opened her eyes, intrigued by what the voice was telling her. She began to pay closer attention as it continued to speak.
"So long as you develop a connection to him before the invader, you can be saved from your fate. This is your only chance. After this, I will no longer possess the strength to regress the flow of time."
"How can you be assured that the so-called heroine will not be able to establish a connection immediately?" the girl questioned. "Her system, as she calls it, allows her to negate all of my attempts and establish a romantic, or even friendly, relationship with anybody."
"The invader's system will not provide any information about the man other than his location. As he is not from this world, the system is unable to discern anything other than his appearance."
"Will that change anything though?"
"That invader relies on the system and its advice to befriend and eventually capture the male leads. As she lacks its assistance, she won't have the advantage. I, however, have been observing the man since the moment he arrived in this world."
The girl smiled slyly at the voice's words. "That means I will have the advantage in terms of knowledge."
"Yes, you will."
The girl slowly raised her frail frame from the bed while wiping the blood with her sleeve. "I suppose it is worth an attempt. Where is he at?"
***
Over the next few days, the two explored the large city without reserve. If Sylvie showed even the slightest interest in something, Dianthus would bring her into the shop or restaurant and buy it for her. If a particular location piqued her curiosity, then Dianthus would immediately head in that direction.
Although she thoroughly enjoyed the experience, it would often leave her flustered. Sylvie was consistently worried about the amount of money her father was spending and the number of items he was buying. Of course, Dianthus would always insist that it didn't matter how much he spent nor how much he bought.
What she was unaware of was that the money he spent wasn't acquired, but created. He used pure mana to create the material of the coins and shaped it accordingly. What he did was akin to what alchemists strive to do, creating gold from natural energy present in the world.
The money he spent was not minted by any specific country in this world, so it was a sudden influx of currency every time he bought something. This would create problems for this country's economy, but that didn't matter to Dianthus. After all, is this small country on some random planet more important than his daughter? He would answer that question with a stern no.
Sylvie was uncertain where Dianthus stored everything he bought for her. From clothes and jewelry to trinkets and weapons, everything she looked at favorably was stored away by him. It was such a large amount that Sylvie couldn't help but hesitate in looking at new items. Though even if she attempted to feign disinterest, her father would still find out the truth and buy something else.
Even if she was interested in everything he had bought, she was unsure what to do with it all. Yet as all humans adapt, Sylvie eventually grew accustomed to his antics and simply told him what she wanted. This allowed her to avoid him buying everything she looked at and drastically cut down on the absurd quantity of items.
This change in her attitude made Dianthus happy. Not only was she expressing her opinion more openly, but she even began to outwardly show her emotions.
From joy to anger, Dianthus enjoyed watching his new daughter express herself. Overall, the short time they had spent together so far had been fruitful and enjoyable. Though, if there was one thing Dianthus was unhappy about, it was the girl constantly stalking the two of them. In actuality, there were two girls following him and his daughter around, but only one consistently approached them.
"Oh, what a surprise seeing the two of you again." A blonde girl walked up to the table where the two of them were seated. "Do you mind if I share a table with you? Eating alone is boring."
Due to his mask, the girl couldn't see the frown that formed on Dianthus' face. The atmosphere around the table became awkward as the girl invited herself to sit beside him. Of course, the blonde ignored everything and continued to pester the father-daughter duo.
"What did you order?" the girl asked Dianthus. "Maybe I'll have the same. Though if it has tomatoes, I'll pass. I can't tolerate the flavor."
While the girl continued making small talk with the increasingly annoyed Dianthus, the snowy-haired beauty watched the scene with a smirk. She couldn't help but enjoy the moments when the so-called 'heroine' crashed and burned. The ethereal voice was actively talking in her ear causing her mood to rise even higher.
"My child, I have used some of my remaining power to gaze upon the invader's system. As we speak, her favorability is dropping steadily into the negatives."
The girl chuckled under her breath. "I am surprised that she is doing this poorly. Especially so since she has a clear indicator showing how unhappy he is with the way she is acting."
"I believe she is not actively monitoring the system's numbers. Also, his favorability towards you is rising as well. I am unsure why this is, but you are currently at fourteen percent. As for the invader she is at negative twenty-three percent."
The girl's eyebrows raised in response to the new information. Even she was unsure why her favorability rose with the man. It's not an impressive number, but it at least meant that he held her in a somewhat favorable light. As for the heroine, she was already a fifth of the way to absolute animosity.
At negative one hundred, the target would desire to kill you. Every regression, she was killed whenever one of the targets reached that point. Never once did the heroine drop into the negatives, yet this time it happened so easily. The snowy-haired beauty couldn't help but be amused.
"Though I can not say with certainty that the numbers are accurate," the voice began, "what I can say is the invader will be unable to establish a positive relationship with him. So long as you can forge a friendship with him, he can protect you from any harm."
"Why would the numbers be inaccurate?" the girl asked.
"As I have said before, he is outside the scope of this world. The slight connection only exists because he allowed it. He could break the link whenever he wants. I am unaware of why he has not done so yet.
Since the connection is so fragile and basic, it can only guess the numbers based on his reactions and expressions. I believe it should closely reflect his current feelings, give or take a few percent. Of course, I do not know if he will kill at negative one hundred. Neither do I know if he will love at one hundred."
"What do you know?" the girl huffed.
"I know that the larger the value, the better he thinks of you," the disembodied voice responded.
As the white-haired girl was chatting with the voice in her head, the blonde was slowly irritating Dianthus more and more. First off, the girl interrupted him and his daughter. Second, the girl insulted the mask he was wearing that belonged to his first wife. She insisted that it was dull and lacking compared to his looks, saying that he should remove it and she'll provide something better.
If it hadn't been for the potential of scaring his daughter and ruining their fun together, he would have already killed the girl in front of him. Instead of risking such a situation, he opted to stand up silently and leave with Sylvie. The blonde, distraught by his abrupt attempt at leaving, attempted to stand and follow after him. She tried to put strength in her legs, yet couldn't muster any strength.
"Wait! Where are you going?" the blonde called out.
To her dismay, she was simply ignored as Dianthus walked out with his daughter while ignoring her outcry. The blonde grew irritated, internally cursing at her system. She believed that if not for the lack of information from the system, she would have already tamed the unruly god yesterday.
The snowy-haired girl watched with pure joy as the source of her torment became red with anger. While watching the heroine's torment, she heard an unfamiliar voice ring within her head.
[I don't know why you and that annoying brat are following me around, but I can at least see you possess more tact than she does. If there is something you desire from me then come see me at the Crystal Inn tonight. That'll be your only chance to talk to me without earning my ire like that brat.]
The girl shivered when she heard the man's voice in her head. The disembodied voice always appears beside her ear rather than directly in her mind. The feeling of thoughts being transmitted directly into her head was new and strange.
"My child, what is wrong?" the ethereal voice asked.
"That man just spoke in my head. He said to meet with him tonight."
The white-haired girl got up from her seat, leaving the money for her food on the table. "I guess I should kill some time until the appointment."
"You should change into a more pleasing attire. It will give a better impression."
She shook her head. "There is no need. I will resemble the heroine chasing after him."
As she walked out of the store, she received a weird look from the waitress. The worker had noticed that girl talking to herself for a while. She was happy that the strange girl left but even happier with the tip that was left behind for the meal.
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