“So, just for mere curiosity, what’s this?” I asked while pointing down at the child that’s strongly hugging me.
“Well… Congratulations….!?” Hajin answered with an awkward smile.
“*chuckle* I don’t think I’m getting this right.” I said, glancing down. “So, can you tell me why I suddenly have a child hugging me like this?”
“Daddy!” Evandel shouted while looking at me with her big wide eyes.
“…” I frowned.
Ok, now, while I did expect this to happen since the start, it still feels weird for me to actually hear a child that resembles me, so obviously, calling me daddy.
{I underestimated the impact this thing would have on me.} I frowned. {But what I didn’t expect was for Hajin to actually present her to me so fast! In the novel, he hid her from Rachel, and from everyone else for that matter for years. Except maybe Yun Seung-Ah, who knew her because of a really weird coincidence.}
“Un?” Evandel tilted her head, before locking her gaze with mine. “Are you… Angry at me…?” She asked.
“…” Hajin subtly glared at me.
“*sigh…* Listen, child, I’m not angry at you.”
“Then?” She asked while hugging me stronger. “Why are you frowning at me?”
“Well, let’s just say I’m quite surprised, that’s all.”
“…” She looked at me, her small eyes slightly trembling.
“Ok…” I crouched down. “Look, I’m not angry at you, okay? It’s just… This is really sudden. That’s all.”
“Un…” She nodded, while looking down, slightly sad.
It was at that moment that I looked at her hair.
{Now that I think about it… This is the first time that I have a daughter, or well… Something close to that, the closest thing I’ve had to one at least.} I said while looking at her hair.
It was quite surprising. Looking at something like this in front of you, even when you already knew it would happen, is quite strange.
{I guess I can’t deny she does look like me.} I thought while moving my hand through her hair, which to be honest was quite soft to the touch and straight, going all the way down to her waist from a darker blond on the roots to a platinum white at the end.
“…” She turned to look at me, with a slight hope in her eyes.
“*sigh…* Well… What’s your name?” I asked the little child with a smile.
“M-My… My name is Evandel…?” She tilted her head, looking back at Hajin, who nodded at her. “Yes. Evandel.”
“Mm… It’s a cute name. *chuckle* I guess you probably won't remember, but last time I saw you, you were the size of a little almond-shaped seed.” I smirked, making her smile.
“You have to be kidding me…” Hajin just facepalmed.
“What? It’s true, isn’t it, Evandel?” I smiled at the little girl while rubbing her head. {Somehow, I kind of took that line out of the list of stupid lines to say someday. Absent-parent line number one, check.} I thought with a small chuckle
“Yes!” And she answered with a smile.
{Now, let’s see…} I activated my eyes to the fullest, having a good look at Evandel.
“Why did your eyes turn like that!?” She asked with her mouth slightly open.
“Um? Oh, don’t worry. It’s just that I’m a little bit different from other persons, but it’s okay.” I smiled at her, before looking at her information.
[Evandel [???]
[Once a Witch, Evandel was fed and hatched by mixing the blood of one human close to nature and one unknown being. What was once a Witch, was now reborn to be something else.]
[Potential ???/10]
▷Basic Stats
[Strength 1.350] [Stamina 2.345] [Speed 2.45] [Perception 4.005] [Vitality 3.6] [Magic Power 4.05]
▷Invariable Stats
[Intelligence – 7.35/10] [Perseverance – 5/10] [Luck – ???/10] [Charm – 7.45/10]
▷Special Stats
[Spirit Power 4.05] [Draconic Power 4.05] [Nature Energy 4.05]
▷Special Skills
[Witchcraft: Evandel The Witch can create and mold special beings out of spiritual power, called ghosts.]
[Servant Creation: Even among the ghosts, servants have a special role, being the strongest of a Witch’s creation, being able to command other ghosts and grow alongside their creator.]
[Nature’s Blessing: Being born from one human close to the elements and someone who could be called to be the closest creature to nature itself, Evandel’s got Nature’s Blessing, a special skill that enhances her elemental abilities and allows her to perceive and use Natural Energy and the elements surrounding her. On her own special way.]
[???: Skill still unavailable.]
▷Authorities
*Blessing of the Dragon God: Being born from the blood of the Dragon of Origins, she got his blessing, the Blessing of the Dragon God, slightly increasing her growth rate and enhancing her abilities.
*Daughter of the Dragon of Origins (Incomplete): Born from the Dragon of Origins, she’s now his daughter, carrying the original blood of the dragon race. As her body can’t withstand the original blood, her Dragon Blood shall mutate and transform into the blood of one of the Dragons that better adapts to her during her maturity.
*???
*???]
{Well… Fuck…} I thought while reading the information I got through Observation and Reading (Modified).
“Haha… There’s no way to say you’re not my daughter…” I unconsciously muttered with an awkward face. {Right now, with my limited abilities, she might become even stronger than me with enough training. Well, that depends on her awaken blood, but she has a lot of potential.}
“Haha! Daddy!” Somewhat making her quite happy for it.
“…” While Hajin just nodded with a dazed face.
“Did you look at her?” I ask him.
“Well…” He scratched the back of his head. “I-I may have used my Gift on her…” He turned his eyes away.
“*chuckles* Relax, it’s not like I’m going to find any fault at you, you know? Having your Gift, and not using it, that’s quite stupid.” I just shook my head, before turning back to Evandel. “Well, child… How do I say this…? *sigh…* I’m sorry…” I smiled apologetically to her.
“Huh? Why? Why are you apologizing daddy? You didn’t do anything wrong!” She shook her head as if trying to say that everything was fine.
{Oh, sweet innocence, ignorance is such a bliss…} I thought to myself with a chuckle. {Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to be here for her whenever she matures and awakes her stigma…}
With a smile, I just rubbed her head.
{Though, thinking about it… I’m not precisely a good father figure…} I smiled awkwardly.
“Everything’s fine! I’m fine, daddy!” She smiled.
“I have to say… This keeps being quite the surprise…” I chuckled, before turning to Hajin. “So? She’ll stay with you?”
“Huh?” Evandel suddenly opened her eyes. “What do you mean…? Are we not… Staying together…?”
“Um… Well, look. I wasn’t the one to raise you, Evandel. It was Hajin.”
“But uncle said that I could stay with you!”
“Uncle?”
“Un… Hajin told me… That I should call him Uncle because you were my real father.”
“Oh, so that’s the thing, huh.” I smiled deeply. “Quite the interesting theory we have there, don’t you think Hajin?”
“…” He averted his eyes. “Um… Look, man. I just thought… After seeing her… You know. That maybe it would be right for you to be the one-”
“We had an agreement.” I spoke. “I remember it quite clearly, so tell me if you need me to refresh your memory.”
“But! I mean… Evandel’s…” He smiled awkwardly.
“She won’t give you any problem.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Right, Evandel?”
“Um? Problems? Do I give uncle problems…?” She asked while looking at Hajin, making him flinch.
“No, no! Of course not!” He shook his head and hands. “You don’t give me any problem at all, Evandel! Say, why don’t you watch some TV while your dad and I go outside to talk for a bit?”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“watch TV?”
“Yes, remember? You always watched TV when you were a little seed.” Hajin smiled.
“Yes! I love watching TV!” She suddenly shouted, before turning to me and hugging me out of a sudden. “I’ll go watch TV, dad!” She then ran away towards the couch that was in front of the TV.
“So… Maybe we can talk?” Hajin asked while scratching the back of his head.
“Sure.” With a shrug. I stood up and walked with him outside. Towards one of the seats that were outside the dorms.
“Look…” He spoke. “I know that we had an agreement… That I would be the one to raise Evandel.”
“Yes. I remember it quite clearly.”
“But… *sigh…*” He stopped for a moment. “You saw her status too… You know that she is different… Different from whatever I thought she would be.”
“I don’t get you.” I frown.
“She’s too strong, and she’s just born. I’m not sure I’ll be able to raise her properly… I don’t even know where to start.”
“Come on. She’s just a child. Raise her the same way you thought you would when you got the seed and asked me to give you my blood.”
“Dude! Even her Potential is marked with interrogation signs! She may as well be a figurative god in the future!”
“*sigh…* I told you from the start. That giving my blood to her would have an unknown impact. I warned you about it, and your words were that you were okay with it. That with all these changes, humans would need any help they could get. And now you want to back off?” I glared at him this time.
“…” He flinched. “Look. I just thought, that maybe you were more suitable to raise her… She has your blood. And you have the experience, growing, and training. Wouldn’t it be better for you to raise her? It would even be a waste if I try to teach her.”
“*chuckle* Idiot. You’re not going to create a weapon. You’re raising a child, did you forget that?”
“But… Even then. Her strength. I’m afraid, man. What if I can’t teach her right? What if I mess up somewhere?”
“And your best next choice is giving her to me? Really? ME? What do you want her to be? Some crazy asshole? One that likes to mess with people just because? Are you making her grow close to some bastard whose only good point is his strength? Are you seriously considering leaving such a powerful child, with such a promising future, in the hands of someone like me?” I said, my Magic Power slowly seeping out of my body, making him flinch.
“How do you know if you-”
“Don’t be stupid. I’m not going back on this, Kim Hajin. I agreed with the condition that you would be the one to raise her because I can’t. Suitable my ass. I’m nothing close to a good parent, heck, not even close to what you could call a parent. Maybe a semen donor at best, or blood in this case.”
“…” Hajin looked down.
“*sigh…* I’m not saying I’ll just let all the work to you.” I stopped my Magic Power from running wild “I’ll help. I have to help her, whether it will be with her basic training, or going through her maturity or growth-phase. That’s obvious. But don’t ask me to raise a child, when I’m basically a child myself.”
“*sigh…* Fine…” He said after a little while. “I’ll raise her. But you better help me whenever I know shit of her power.”
“That I can promise.” I smirked at him.
“Also…” He suddenly smirked himself. “It’s quite great, you know? To listen you accept that you’re basically a child.”
“…” I looked at him, with a smirk. “You know. How has been your training recently? Don’t you feel like it’s time to put a little bit more effort?”
“Oh no…” He went pale. “Look! I’m fine! I swear I’m fine! I’m doing great right now!” He stood up, stepping back slowly.
“Oh? Really? But you know? I have the feeling that maybe you should start working out with me and Olivia in the gravity room. Trust me. I have this perfect training schedule for you!” I smiled at him, making him go even paler than before.
***
Saturday’s evening came, and after Kim Suho ended his evening training, he went towards the cafeteria, a place where most cadets without a wealthy background ate their meals, except for those who knew how to cook, even when all around the place there were different cafes and restaurants.
“Mm? What are you guys doing here?” Kim Suho said while approaching both Yoo Yeonha and Chae Nayun, who weren’t the type to come to this kind of cheap place.
Both of them were whispering between themselves, while also making some weird gestures. Until they heard Kim Suho.
“O-Oh! Hey! You’re here…” Chae Nayun spoke after giving a weird hand gesture to Yoo Yeonha, who immediately went silent, before evading each other’s eyes.
“What were you two talking about?” He asked while sitting down at the table.
“Nothing.” Chae Nayun answered, before sniffing him. “Did you come from the fitness center?” She frowned.
“What’s the point in sitting around, right?” He smiled.
“You’re obsessed. Can’t you take a break for a day?”
“No, well… It seems I’ll have to get better grades soon, haha.” Kim Suho awkwardly smiled. “But, rather than that, what are you two doing here? I never expected you to like the cafeteria’s food.”
“Well…” Chae Nayun smiled awkwardly. “After the exam, I noticed that my pickiness can be detrimental.”
“You stopped eating after three spoonsful.” Yeonha frowned at her.
“…” Chae Nayun averted her eyes. “I wasn’t hungry…”
With a smile at Chae Nayun’s answer, Kim Suho started eating his own food, while both Chae Nayun and Yoo Yeonha glanced at him, before exchanging glances themselves.
Before he came, they were talking about a certain topic that would be expected of girls their age, boys. Especially, about the mysterious type.
With a mischievous face, Yoo Yeonha tapped Kim Suho’s shoulder.
“Kim Suho.”
“Mm?” He turned upped to look at her.
“Are you close to Kim Hajin?” She suddenly asked, earning a strong reaction from Chae Nayun, who also turned to look at her glaringly.
“Huh?” Kim Suho tilted his head. “No, I’m not that close to him.” He said with an awkward smile.
“Well, among the male cadets, you’re the closest one after Cristopher, aren’t you?” Yoo Yeonha asked, still with a mischievous smile.
“Um… Well, maybe?” He answered with an awkward face.
“Isn’t it weird?” She smiled deeper. “Out of everyone in our class, only a few have talked with Kim Hajin. Be it a guy or girl, he usually keeps everyone away and never approaches them, except with a few exceptions.”
“…” Kim Suho nodded with a slight frown.
“But…” Yeonha’s smile grew. “Did you know? There’s one cadet who he approached on his own, more than once, in some strange circumstances, and who he looks quite interested in.”
“Oh…” As if understanding something, Kim Suho suddenly smiled and turned to look at Chae Nayun.
“*sigh…*” Who immediately sighed and clutched her head while dropping her head on the table.
“*chuckle* Of course, I know. I’m not that dense.” He smiled mischievously
“Really…?” Something that Yeonha somewhat doubted, but didn’t speak more than that. “Do you know who is it?” She smiled again.
“…” Instead of answering, Kim Suho’s eyes glued to the slumped cadet that was on the table.
“…” Feeling his gaze, Chae Nayun turned to look up and meet his eyes. “Arg…” Before slumping back on her chair, looking up at the ceiling.
She stood there for a few seconds before suddenly sitting straight as if something just occurred to her.
“Hey! But wasn’t he interested in you first, Yeonha? He was close to you first, right?” She smirked at her.
But before her hopes could become something else, Yeonha easily cut her off.
“He approached me because he wanted something from me.” She smiled back with calmness.
“*sigh…*” Losing an argument that didn’t even start, made Chae Nayun slump again.
“What are you going to do?” Yoo Yeonha asked, adding fuel to the fire.
“…” She didn’t answer on purpose, being somewhat worried about Kim Suho. But after a glance, she thought of something. “Hey… What do you think?” She asked Kim Suho to try and make him jealous.
“About what?” But he just asked back, totally innocent of her intentions.
“*sigh…* I forgot…” She just regretted asking in the first place. “You’ve been single all your life.”
“So have you…” He retorted back.
“What? No. I haven’t. I’ll have you know that when I was 7-” She tried to defend herself, but was interrupted by another cadet.
“Oh~ You guys are here too?” Yi Yeonghan came with a smile and sat down on the table, besides Yoo Yeonha, who started to move slightly aside with a displeased face.
“Yi Yeonghan… You didn’t leave yet?” She asked him.
“Yeah, and it looks like I came just in time for the interesting part.” He smirked.
“You should’ve left…” She retorted.
“Aren’t you being too mean…?” He asked with an awkward smile.
But before she could answer him, the doors to the cafeteria suddenly opened, and another cadet entered the place. It was Kim Hajin, who was slowly walking with a meal ticket in his hand, his arms were limping and his steps denoted tiredness, with his back hunched.
From the way the sweat came down from his pale face, it was obvious that he just came from the Fitness Center, probably training.
“*chuckles* He’s here too, at least he’s working hard. I saw him working out with Cristopher.” Yi Yeonghan said.
“You should work hard too.” Yoo Yeonha frowned at him.
“Huh? I’m working hard! My end of semester’s grades was higher than his!” He retorted back with a frown. “Though I still don’t know how he got first place in the final exam…”
“*sigh…* Sure…” Yoo Yeonha shook her head. “Just focus on your grades for the rest of your life.”
“Though, that’s quite the surprise…” Chae Nayun suddenly intervened. “How did he end up with first place? I mean… Not even Kim Suho or Shin Jonghak were close to him.”
“Yeah!” Yi Yeonghan said. “Not to say, that even the Princess got third place.” He frowned.
“You should have seen her…” Kim Suho suddenly said.
“Mm?” Making Yoo Yeonha interested. “What do you mean?”
“During the last battle we had with that elemental monster, Rachel used some weird crimson flame with her sword, but it somehow felt different, not as some gift.” Kim Suho frowned.
“Oh, right! I forgot about that!” Chae Nayun shouted. “I couldn’t cut through the roots, but she did so with such an ease that I was quite awed. I mean, you could too, but that was kind of expected of you, right? But how do you have such a cutting power with a rapier at that!”
“That’s true… I didn’t know she had such a power.” Kim Suho nodded.
“Um? Really…?” Yeonha looked interested. “But I haven’t heard anything of her having some fire-related Gift or something.” She started rubbing her chin, before looking up and meeting Hajin’s gaze, flinching.
“…” He had two bags, with two boxes of lunch in each one, while looking at them for a moment, before walking towards the exit.
“…” After noticing what happened, they all looked towards him walking away.
“Do you think he heard us…?” Chae Nayun asked quietly.
“Come on… It’s too far…” Yi Yeonghan answered before flinching.
“…” Hajin turned to look back at them again, before finally going out.
“*sigh…*” Chae Nayun sighed. “That was close…”
“Mm? It’s not like we were talking about you two anymore, right?” Yeonha suddenly said with a mischievous smile.
“*groan*” Chae Nayun slumped once again on the table with a groan.
“Mm? What do you mean?” Yi Yeonghan asked curiously.
“Shut up, Yi Yeonghan.” Chae Nayun growled at him with a glare.
“W-What!?”
“Yeah, shut up.” And Yoo Yeonha followed with a frown.
“Oh, come on!”
“Pfft…” Kim Suho just chuckled, before eating his food, quietly thinking about what’s been happening recently.
“Is something the matter, man?” Yi Yeonghan asked him after a little while, making Kim Suho look up, to see the three of them looking at him with a curious glance.
“No, everything’s alright.” He smiled awkwardly.
“Are you sure?” Yi Yeonghan asked further.
“Yeah.”
“Come on! You’re worried about your grades.” Chae Nayun suddenly intervened.
“Huh?” Making him flinch.
“See! I knew it.”
“Huh, right… Is it him?” Yoo Yeonha suddenly asked with a knowing face.
“Well, yeah…” He smiled awkwardly.
“Him?”
“Yeah, Cristopher.” Yoo Yeonha rolled her eyes at Yi Yeonghan’s question. “From all of us, he had the best scores overall… He even beat Shin Jonghak in a fight. Twice.”
“Oh, right…”
“Yeah…” Kim Suho nodded with an awkward smile. “He’ll probably get better grades, I guess me getting first place is no longer possible.” He scratched the back of his head.
While for Kim Suho, his grades were something unimportant, he at least wanted to make his parents proud, and he thought that getting first place and having a scholarship would be the best way for him to show them his gratitude, even if he wasn’t originally from this world, and somehow came to be born here when his last world perished.
“Don’t worry. You’re not losing your scholarship.” Yoo Yeonha smiled reassuringly. “I know that for sure. Even if you go down to second-place, while you’re among the first three male cadets, you’ll still have your scholarship.”
“Thanks.” He smiled awkwardly.
“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “Though, I’m quite interested in something. Does anyone here know more about Cristopher?” Yeonha suddenly asked.
“Huh? Why? Don’t tell me Yeonha…” Chae Nayun smirked. “Are you perhaps interested in him?”
“Who isn’t?” Yi Yeonghan intervened. “The guy literally defeated Shin Jonghak with his bare hands. And even further defeated him once again in less than five seconds. That guy’s a monster!”
“You…” With a glare, Chae Nayun growled at Yi Yeonghan again, making Yeonha smirk at her cute tries.
“See, Nayun? I just thought that it was quite weird that no one knows much about him, he’s quite difficult to talk to.”
“Yeah…” Chae Nayun sighed. “I guess you would have to be either Princess, Kim Hajin, or that girl that’s always with them, Oliva, or something.”
“That’s true…” Kim Suho nodded with an awkward smile.
“Oh, that’s right. He was training… Rachel…” As if something suddenly clicked inside her head, Yoo Yeonha opened her eyes wide. “Say, Nayun, where did you say you saw them last time?”
“Um? Who?” Nayun tilted her head.
“Rachel and Cristopher. Where did you saw them last time?” She asked.
“Oh, in the forest close to the arenas, why?”
“Nothing, I’m just curious.” Yeonha nodded before starting to rub her chin.
“There you go with your weird antics…” Chae Nayun looked at her with a weirded-out face, but Yeonha didn’t pay her any attention and just keep thinking deeply, murmuring things from time to time.