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● The Moment A “Father” Was Born

Powdered snow danced in the beautiful spring sunlight.

A tilted skyscraper. A man clad in a skeletal armored suit stands at the edge of the rubble. The out-of-place snow falling from the piercingly blue sky above was the crystallized form of pollutants in the air. If you touch it, it melts with your body heat, and if you breathe it in, it affects your respiratory tract and brings about results even more miserable than death. Angel’s Fleece is breathtakingly beautiful if you forget its harmful effects and simply take a gander.

“—…Beautiful.”

White snow under a blue sky. A glittering powder illusion. The source of it is the lump of a huge monster lying very close to the man in the airtight armor. It resembles a spider. Its eight legs, extending from its flesh-colored, hump-like body, have a metallic texture that doesn’t seem to come from living flesh, and they clawed into the pavement beneath. Length, about 220 meters. Mass, incalculable—

“Command Center, 202nd Combat Corps reporting in. Stage 5 Cancer Spider eliminated. Designate one kilometer around the perimeter as a highly contaminated area.”

“Copy, this is Command Center. Thank you for your hard work.”

He whispered into the intercom inside his mask and received a reply that quivered his ear bone directly. The cause of death of the twitching monster was a laceration on the flesh-colored torso of its mass. Like a deflated balloon, its blood and guts spilled out under the pressure, and when they came into contact with the fresh spring breeze, they immediately disintegrated and fell from the sky as Angel Fleece, like sparkling snowflakes.

Humanity’s enemy—Venoms Derm—are more trouble than they’re worth. It is said that even if they die as living beings, the toxic substances that make up their bodies will decompose and spread like snow, becoming a source of pollution to the surrounding soil and air, forever, but—

“Initiating erasure…—And yet another gap in the military’s official records.”

The spider monster, which had just been finished, was disintegrating at this very moment with a swooshing sound, spewing out spores that looked like powdered snow, raining toxic snowflakes onto the surrounding area. A collapsed city engulfed by nature. A veil of pollutants piled up on the ruins. Oddly shaped flora emerged from the valley of rubble. The scene indicated the fact that the planet’s master had changed from humanity to another species.

“—Good.”

The outer shell of the armored suit, the parts from the right arm to the shoulder, groaned for a moment—

The moment that the flesh-and-blood arm peeking out of it, a nondescript fist, touched the carcass of the large spider, the mass that must’ve weighed hundreds of tons literally vanished. It was a miracle, like a magic trick. But the man who performed it was completely unfazed, and whispered into the intercom again in a calm, natural manner.

“Mission complete. Now returning to—hmm?”

He left a one-sided message and was about to leave.

“…A voice? An animal? …No, a voice that isn’t in any database of life on Earth…?”

With his hand on the hilt of the sword attached to his waist, he proceeded on guard. The high-sensitivity sensor in his armor suit accurately detected the location of the source and projected it in his field of vision as AR.

“Is this…?”

There it was, in a ruin where one wall had completely collapsed. Brushing away the knee-deep fluff of contaminants revealed a smooth metal pod. The slick, polished outer shell was without a scratch, and the slight mechanical sound told him that it was still alive and functional.

“A relic from before the Great War, a protection pod… No way, a survivor?”

Wiping away some of the polluted snow with his palm, there were no engravings or marks present to indicate its age or specifications. Part of the faintly war outer shell turns transparent, revealing a baby wrapped in a fluffy, soft blanket material.

“…A human baby…?

“Fuyaa~ …daa, kya♪”

The baby smiles innocently as it taps its small frail fingers against the transparent shell. The man remained silent for a moment, unsure of its identity. There is no doubt that this pod is a relic from the old days, the height of humanity’s prosperity. But the question is, is this oddly healthy baby still alive from that time, or was it somehow stuffed into the pod and dumped here recently—

There’s too little information. I can’t make a decision without looking into the details.

The pod may be rather dated, but this child was way too energetic. She didn’t seem to be hungry, and was in a good mood, laughing and reaching out to him behind the transparent barrier.

“…You’re alive. You are.”

“Fuya?”

“F-Fuya…? …Hah. Hahahahahaha…!”

The man couldn’t help but smile at the strange sense of fun and affection he felt. He picked up the fluttering protection pod. He hears the baby cry in protest, probably because of the slant of the contents, and rushes to call out to him.

“Sorry, you’re going to have to be a little patient.”

“Ya.”

“…Is, is that okay?”

Inside the transparent shell, the baby was looking up at him innocently. He didn’t know what they were at all. However, he felt at ease when he casted his eyes on them. It was as if a blood flowing heart was suddenly born inside his mechanical self, throbbing with excitement. And then—

“…Touma, are you alright? Finish surveying the results of the elimination and come home!”

Suddenly, a transmission arrived.

“Katua. No problem here. I picked up a few things. I’ll be home soon.”

“Yes, that’s fine. …But I’m not satisfied at all. I can’t believe I’m going to have to give the credit to 202 after all.”

“In order to show off the military’s achievements, we need Stage 5 defeats and official documentation. I know you’re not happy with Katua weakening you to almost nothing, but give her a break.”

“I know, I know…I can’t say anything if you’re the one with the heaviest burden of us all.”

His colleague’s voice, which sounded very childish, suddenly turned gentle.

“…I’ll have a hot shower ready and waiting for you. Thanks for your help.”

As he accepted the words of appreciation, Touma Shirogane suddenly had an idea.

“A shower would be nice, but first—let me touch your boobs, please.”

“…Huh!?”

On that day, at that moment. Fourteen years had passed since the man met his daughter without warning, without awareness, without anything—Touma Shirogane was reborn as a father.

The story of a father and his daughter begins on an ordinary morning.

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