"Who's there?" The man asked, clearly unable to see in the dark cellar.
"Daddy, why?" I sniffled. "We thought you were dead!"
I recognized him. Those rugged hands of a farmer. The wrinkles of a life toiling under the sun.
"Who are you? Are you one of my daughters?" The man asked.
On a primal level, deep in the mess of cages that were Apricot's core, I couldn't believe. These cages now were all open and a flood of emotions flashed, too strong to be contained, too fast to be understood by my handicapped brain. I was being overwhelmed. Apricot would either break or shut down.
"Tell me the name of your daughters," I asked.
A sliver of hope. Maybe he would get it wrong.
"Mirabelle, Olive, and Cerise," He said and stopped talking.
He didn't say my name. It infuriated me. Didn't he recognize me as his daughter? Even though I was calling him "daddy" not a minute ago?
"The wife you abandoned, what's her name?" My voice felt as cold as a hundred blizzards. As if my life fled with each exhalation.
"Juniper. The adulterous woman I abandoned was called Juniper."
"Why? Truth-Seeking! I used a Skill. If you lie to me, I'll know," I bluffed.
People didn't have to shout the name of their Skills. I didn't. But it is a widespread habit, to better coordinate teams and to show up.
"That wretched woman birthed an abomination. I couldn't look at that retarded child she brought unto the world. It was obvious she had slept with some other man and that was a punishment from the gods! I tried to get rid of the little monster but it showed up! Fortunately, the Gods brought me money and that night I had a dream! That I should take the money and go out to seek a new life!"
"So you did."
"Yes! But people ratted me out to the tax collector! I had to fake my death to skip town without anyone on my heels!"
Mother wept for this scumbag of a man. I shook my head. My whole being was brimming with killing intent. The were-jaguar wanted to bit his neck off, {Vorpal Bite} or not. I kept myself still. Trembling.
"What about Apricot? What about your youngest daughter, daddy?" I shouted at him. "What about me?"
"Apricot is not my daughter!" He spat. "My children are strong and perfect! That defect is the product of adultery!"
"Did you live a good life these five years, daddy?" I asked. There was a knife in my chest, acid eating my belly, a rock lodged in my throat. There was murder in my voice.
"Please don't kill me," He begged.
I walked with lumbering steps to the door. There I picked up the bronze dagger. I walked back and threw it so the dagger would slide across the ground and hit his feet.
"There's a dagger at your feet, daddy. Take it and defend yourself."
He crouched and tapped around, almost nicking his finger on the sharp dagger. He took it and stood up, waving the weapon in the dark.
"My name is Apricot. My Class is [Assassin]. My mother is Juniper and my father, my father... is dead. My father died five years ago, mugged when he went to buy medicine for my brother Almond's severed wound. My father loved us. All of us. He never abandoned us."
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My delusion went on. I rambled and spoke and I knew that if I didn't keep in mind that I was making that up, Apricot's mind would make me believe it to be true.
"Daddy wept when he sold me to the merchant. He was overjoyed when I returned. Our family missed our father all these five years. Without him, we suffered."
"I see before me the man that murdered my father. I see before me the man that forced mom and Mira to whore themselves. The man that made Olive a sex slave to disgusting men. I'm glad Cerise never had to suffer any indignity beyond the disgusting hands of the slave trader.
"Mirabelle had a daughter. My father, if he was alive, would be a granddaddy. Her name is Anjou. She's a happy girl. Innocent. She will have every opportunity this world has to offer. She will soar through the skies."
He dropped the dagger. "I have a granddaughter?"
"NO!" I shouted. "You have nothing, wretched scum. Not even your life!"
I jumped and hit his stomach with my knee. The System cared about numbers, not physics. My father bucked in the middle and fell on his butt. He punched me. I flew back. Even though he was a farmer, all of his Attributes went to Strength and Endurance only.
> Farmer punched you. You lost 45 HP.
"Say my name, bastard," I spat. "Say the name of your fourth daughter!"
"Begone, monster!" He reached for the dagger and swung wildly.
I stood up.
I felt my hand wet and then cold. The ice spike in my hand felt cold but it didn't bother me. It wasn't uncomfortable. I lunged and stabbed his thigh, rolling on the ground to evade his retaliatory swing. I didn't have to. {Stunning Bleed} activated.
the fairy wavered.
After a pause, the fairy concluded,
Our mental communication took very little time. It happened at the soul, without interference from Apricot's brain physiology. I looked around and my father was still fighting the bleed. Fortunately, he had a large pool of HP because of his high Endurance stat.
"Fuck you," He cursed. "You are no daughter of mine! You are a murdering monster."
I steeled myself. "That's correct. My mother's former husband. Your death is five years too late."
I crept from behind and asked Nenandil to do the water choking trick when I touched his back. He gasped and drowned, losing consciousness in less than a minute. His death followed soon.
> Death Contract fulfilled.
>
> You killed level 23 Farmer. You gained 65,183 Exp (5,290 base x 10,000 perk x 0,0001 curse x 3.05 perk x 5,05 contract x 0.8 class rank).
Class rarity affects the rank bonus. Good to know. The Master appeared out of nowhere. I knelt.
"I thank the master for granting my wish."
"Stand, Apricot," He said. "Nobody should be forced to kill their own father. What he said about your mother is slander. She'd never touched another man before she was sold to the brothel."
I cried a bit. After I gathered my wits, I spoke. "Master, can I ask for a boon?"
"Ask away, child."
"Don't call me by my given name when I'm working. I want a title, a codename."
"I'll call you 'Death Princess'. Because that is what you shall be. The Princess of Death. A name that will strike fear in any heart that hears of it."
"The Master is too kind," I groveled.
"Stop the act, Your Highness," he snickered. "It is time to take Apricot and Anjou back to their family. I will put my men to look for your brothers, as promised."
"Yes, thank you. And Master," I looked him in the eyes.
"Yes, Princess?"
"My rank in {Death Contract} is higher than yours," I snorted.
He frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I know. That's what got a dozen of my men Assassinated. Dangling a multiplier high like that was too much of an incentive. Let me deal with the contracts for others. You can always use your own Perk on your targets."
"As you wish, Master."