Chapter 79

EP.79 Revelation-2

The Temple Training Ground

Ordinarily, holy knights train here with sparring and swordsmanship, while priests heal their fatigue with prayer and assist in linking swordsmanship with divine arts.

However, a magician stood in this sacred training ground, a man who had never prayed to the gods, let alone shown any reverence.

“Do you think you will be forgiven?!”

No, he had said it over ten times, but the priest wouldn’t listen to a word.

“A familiar with human form and intelligence...! Such blasphemy...!”

Those words should only apply to the old evil spirit that deserved to fall into hell.

And though he felt sorry for them, he listened...

“...Don’t people usually say such things after they win?”

The priests and holy knights had already been defeated and fallen in the sparring with Leonardo. They decided to have a sparring match because they couldn’t accept the situation.

“Shut up...!! This isn’t that kind of issue...!”

“Then why didn’t you try to resolve it more peacefully?”

The pointed question made the devout losers, who were also priests, fall silent. It should be noted that it was the temple side that had decided to have a sparring match and then attacked in numbers.

‘...It’s not surprising, is it.’

Frankly, he could understand their position. A familiar with human form and intelligence was a being that teetered on the edge of ethical amendments.

‘...But in front of the person, such words should be restrained.’

Even if it was a familiar,

it was still a child whose intelligence had only been born for less than a year. Although Aine said she found it interesting and wanted to keep hearing it, it was clearly not good for education and was a harsh remark, so he told her to go elsewhere.

He was considerate enough to say that he would resolve the matter in five minutes and that if anyone asked about Aine, she should just say she was his child.

“Aine, where are you?”

In response to the call, a girl in a gray robe walked down the external corridor of the temple.

“I’m here, Father.”

“Now, that title...”

At that moment, his entire body bristled. Filled with primal malice and killing intent, the gaze made Leonardo rush over and push Aine back.

“...Father?”

“Are you okay!? Are you hurt?”

Although he didn’t expect it, he never thought a priest would genuinely emit killing intent towards Aine. Or perhaps Aine had said something strange that further fueled the malice.

“...Already a daddy, huh?”

“...Ah...”

The source of that killing intent was someone he really wanted to see. The person he had always wanted to see, his beloved lady, whom he had suppressed the urge to visit.

“Congratulations. While some people are training hard at the temple to become heroes because of a certain knight, Leonardo has been busy spreading his seed. Really impressive.”

It was Ariasphyl Reinhardt.

There was no sense of reunion, only fear overwhelming him.

The tone and content of her words were completely different, and the expression on her face and the killing intent were acting independently. Leonardo genuinely thought he was about to die.

“That’s not...! Cough...!”

Eventually, his collar and neck were grabbed. In the time they hadn’t seen each other, Ariasphyl’s strength had increased several times over from four years ago.

“Who is she?”

Leonardo couldn’t answer. Not because he wanted to hide it, but because his vocal cords were being crushed, making it impossible to speak.

“Who is she...! Whose child is it...! I’m asking you...?!”

“It’s you.”

At this, Ariasphyl turned around in confusion. Aine took off her hood, perhaps to help explain. The ash-colored hair beneath the hood swayed, revealing that Aine was a girl.

“Precisely, Ariasphyl Reinhardt, formed by absorbing the genetic material from your two feet, with Father’s blood as the catalyst.”

“...Wait... two feet...?”

Ariasphyl seemed to understand something and loosened her grip. The wind stirred Aine’s tied hair, evoking memories of their past.

“...Cough... It’s a long story... Simply put, Aine is a familiar stored as the Sage’s legacy.”

Finally free from Ariasphyl’s grip, Leonardo summarized the situation, which he had been explaining too late. Perhaps because his throat had been squeezed, he kept coughing with a hoarse voice.

***

In the quiet guest room of the temple, the silence was not due to the solemn atmosphere but to the complicated situation.

“Can I explain, Father?”

When the silence stretched on, Aine took the initiative to start.

“...No. I’ll do it. But can you please refrain from calling me Father?”

“But you said you didn’t like the usual terms like Master or Sir for a familiar.”

Of course, it would be strange to hear such terms from a child who looked so young.

“...I’ll explain why I went to the Magic Tower first.”

Right after Ariasphyl left for the temple, Leonardo went to the Magic Tower for new training and growth.

In fact, Leonardo was already at the pinnacle in terms of martial arts, both physically and in mana core, so he didn’t feel the need to continue investing in it.

While studying and training in magic at the Magic Tower,

“Ameri and Rios suggested we look for more of the Sage’s legacy.”

Leonardo had discovered and obtained the Sage’s legacy twice before. Since finding another legacy would be easy for him, there was no reason to refuse.

“After successfully finding various legacies...”

He successfully obtained a staff and a magical tool, and the last item was a familiar created and stored by the Sage.

“That’s how I found Aine.”

Perhaps sensing the brevity of the explanation, Lumine raised her hand.

“But then why does Aine call Leonardo Sir as Father...? Wouldn’t it be more logical to consider the Sage as the parent?”

That was a valid question, but the more puzzling aspect was the Sage himself. Normally, the Sage’s spirit would whisper in the background, but it was nowhere to be seen.

“...That’s...”

At the time, the familiar

was hidden in the Magic Tower’s ancient library, a place not easily accessible. However, the head of the Magic Tower, considering Leonardo’s achievements and Rios’ family, allowed him temporary access for a certain period.

-‘Then how was it hidden?’

-[The structure hasn’t changed? Then it’s easy.]

Leonardo used the Sage’s words like a cheat sheet to find the secret room in the ancient library. There was a secret mechanism where the back door of the bookshelf would open if the magical books were placed in a certain order.

When he walked into the back of the bookshelf, he saw a large, sturdy metal barrel, which looked like a cylindrical coffin.

“...Opening it was fine...”

The problem arose immediately after. Instead of a familiar in human form, a liquid-like organism, resembling a slime, emerged from the barrel.

“Then it suddenly attached to my body and started absorbing my blood and flesh...”

-‘Get out!! While I buy time, I’ll call for support!!’

-‘Will you be okay?! Oh?! If this continues...!’

-‘First, do as Leonardo says! If you draw a map, you can move quickly!’

At this, Ameri and Rios left to call for support. If one of them stayed behind and was also attached by the liquid creature, the damage could spread.

-‘Damn...! Get off...!!’

-[Hmm... It seems the physical data has been lost?]

While Leonardo was being drained in real-time, the Sage calmly analyzed the situation.

-‘What do I do?!’

-‘You need to provide cells and mana components to form data. If this continues, both of us will collapse.’

Just as he thought it was getting dangerous, the liquid familiar entered Leonardo’s clothes and ate Ariasphyl’s hair from a leather pouch.

“At that time, I reacted to the strong life force. The hair contained a strong mana and life force.”

After completely consuming the hair, the liquid familiar gradually took on a human form.

-[...Genetic absorption complete, intelligence restoration and physical storage initiated.]

Gradually, from head to toe, the once-liquid girl formed a shape, and she opened her mouth.

-‘May I ask, are you the one who awakened me?’

When the support arrived, only the naked girl and Leonardo looking at her were there.

“...So, Leonardo is the father, and Ariasphyl is the mother.”

This was possible because the familiar’s body was formed from the combination of both of their physical information.

“Thus, I was formed from the combination of both of you.”

“So, things got complicated.”

Even when he questioned and confronted the Sage, the Sage, who didn’t expect things to turn out this way, completely broke human patience with a ‘I don’t know’ attitude.

Unlike the Sage’s time, current regulations on familiars, especially intelligent artificial life forms, were strict.

“So... you came to the temple for permission.”

“That’s right. I also needed a full body check.”

The Magic Tower was undoubtedly the highest magical organization capable of examining the body academically. However, in matters of life and ethics, the temple had the upper hand.

“...And I also needed to report to Ariasphyl.”

He had already made Rios and Ameri keep quiet. Since Aine was a continuation of the Reinhardt lineage, her existence couldn’t be considered individually.

“...I’m sorry...”

“...Cute. So, she’s our child?”

Just as he was about to apologize, Ariasphyl began to enjoy the situation with a mischievous smile.

After all, Aine was truly their child, a daughter with their blood.

This would make her plans for a happy marriage easier.

“Do you want to call me mom once, Aine?”

Ariasphyl asked playfully. Seeing Leonardo’s embarrassed, blushing face made her feel that her knight was still the same, and she felt relieved.

“No, I refuse.”

Aine’s answer was immediate and decisive, like a machine cutting through metal.

“...What... You refuse?”

The cold atmosphere, even Ariasphyl, who had made a joke, seemed taken aback.

“Yes, I refuse.”

“...But you called me mom just now...”

“Biologically, you are in the position of my mother. I don’t deny that. However, in terms of a relationship, I cannot consider you my mother.”

In summary, you only gave birth to me, but you don’t have the right to call yourself my parent. Ariasphyl seemed a bit angry, forcing a smile as she asked.

“Why... can you explain...”

“Yes, I will.”

Aine answered, cutting her off. It seemed as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“First, let me explain why I consider Leonardo as my father and contrast it with your case.”

Leonardo looked extremely bewildered and confused.

“I am not fundamentally Leonardo’s child. If family relationships are formed and maintained solely by the mixing of blood and genes, the concept of orphans wouldn’t exist.”

It sounded like something Leonardo would say. Lumine, who was in a similar situation, couldn’t help but agree.

“But Leonardo took responsibility for my existence.”

“Responsibility... That’s not...”

“From a father’s perspective, he faced the head of the Magic Tower, discussed my fate for days, and when the vote resulted in a tie, he fought and defeated the head of the Blue Tower to ensure my safety. Even if it seems minor, in my understanding, it was a significant effort and dedication, regardless