A Hero Becomes an Obsessed Villain - Episode 238
ep.241
Latis City, a city located deep under the sea.
A white temple located in the middle of there. We had a meeting at the place where Atlas, the leader of Latis, stayed..
"ha ha ha! Ego Stick, it’s nice to see your face after a long time. Okay, and is this a katana??"
"yes. hello."
"Yes, yes. Speak comfortably! Oh, and this is our daughter Ariel. Katana, this is your first time with me, right? Let’s say hello to each other. Katana, this is Ariel. Ariel, this is the katana.."
"hello."
"yes. hello..."
Katana offered Ariel's hand in a formal and static tone, and Ariel shook hands with him, her own slightly red cheeks matching his hand..
After the two had finished greeting each other, Atlas laughed again and said:.
"Yes, yes. Now that we've exchanged greetings, please follow me. There is still a lot of time left until the cathedral opens.."
That was when Atlas turned his back to take us to the guest room..
"Ah, dad...!"
His daughter Ariel, who had been quietly standing behind Atlas the whole time, called out to him in a slightly urgent voice..
"Hmm? Why, daughter?."
Only then did Atlas turn his head and look that way..
Then she gave an urgent glance at her father and then glanced at me..
He seemed to have remembered something only then, and he chuckled with a voice that said, “Ah.”.
Then Atlas said to me.
"Huh. You ego stick. There's still some time, so in the meantime, I'll be showing Katana about the temple. In the meantime, how about taking a walk around here with my daughter??
He says that to me.
When I heard that and turned to face Ariel, I saw her blushing a little more..
...I think I know roughly how it works..
After understanding the situation to some extent, I smiled and nodded to Atlas before answering..
"yes. All right. Let's do that.."
"LOL, I get it.."
He nods his head at what I say and adds.
"Thanks for listening. Oh my, my daughter has been whining to me so much before you came, asking for some alone time with you, and if I didn't listen, she would have been begging me after...."
"Ah... Dad!!!"
"Oh my, I have to go quickly. Katana, follow me this way.."
He held both hands towards himself, closed his eyes, avoided the eyes of Ariel, who shouted with a red face, and gave a mischievous smile before disappearing like the wind with his katana..
Only me and Ariel are left in the empty center..
"Ugh..."
For a moment, Ariel was holding her face and lowering her head with a bright red face, as if she was embarrassed to see me like that..
I gave her a kind smile and spoke in as gentle a voice as possible..
"So Ariel, can you guide me??"
"Yes, yes..."
Even with a red face, she nodded and said.
...So, for the first time in a long time, I started walking alone with Ariel..
***
Ariel.
With hair as clear and blue as the color of the sea, and clear crystal eyes that shine like jewels..
She is the only daughter whom Atlas cherishes more than anyone else, and has never been revealed to the public..
Also, in the original work, he was a character who left this world due to a curse and never existed..
I brought her to life by twisting the original work..
'...That was already a few years ago.'
In order to join hands with Atlas, I promised to rescue his daughter after a difficult encounter with him..
This was possible because I knew to some extent what type of curse it was and how to solve it through the original work. Of course, it wasn't easy to do because I only knew roughly..
Ariel's condition was serious at that time..
Because of the curse, I could only breathe, but I had lost consciousness and was lying in bed all day. And as he struggled to save his daughter, Atlas became increasingly violent..
But fortunately, thanks to my intrusion, Ariel miraculously survived..
'Did you... save me??'
...I remember the day Ariel opened her eyes for the first time and made eye contact with me..
Even after Ariel woke up, I often visited the city of Atlas for a while to completely remove the curse..
Of course, I got busy after that and couldn't go for a while..
Anyway, by the way...
With that thought in mind, I looked at Ariel, who was still walking silently next to me with slightly red cheeks..
"Ariel?"
"...! Yes, four! ugh, ugh..."
She must have been momentarily surprised by my words, so she bit her tongue..
When I saw Ariel's eyes welling with shame, I quickly changed my mind..
"It's nice to see you after a long time.."
"yes yes. Nice to meet you, too..."
"What have you been doing so far??"
When I say that to her, who is still as shy as when we first met, she answers even though she stutters..
"Me, I'm always the same. Just taking a walk in this city, or going swimming outside... things like that. His father wouldn't let him go out because he was weak...."
As she said that, she trailed off with a slightly dark expression..
However, as if he had never done that before, he opened his mouth again with a slightly smiling expression..
"Still, whatever. She was having a fun life. Maybe it's because of the ability his father passed down to him, but he can breathe even in the sea...."
She explains what she has been doing so far..
As expected, when she started talking, she seemed to have become less shy, and unlike her previous shy appearance, she smiled and spoke well..
Well, according to what Atlas said before, at home he feels like an outcast who has a bright personality and likes to work hard. Strangely enough, he always gets very shy in front of me..
With that in mind, I followed Ariel's words and walked along the outskirts of the city together..
With a smile and sparkling eyes, she tells me about the time she played with a turtle and a human in the water over there..
...And every time I see her like that, I feel like I wonder where Atlas' genes have gone. Clearly, Mr. Atlas has a rugged look with a beard like a bandit, but his daughter, Ariel, is just a pure beauty. To some extent, I just feel like her face is sculpted?
Also, the clothes are delicate, like Greek era clothing, because they are wearing white, thin cloth, which makes them look even thinner. This is also completely opposite to the rugged and muscular Atlas. The only thing they have in common is that they both wear sea clothes, so they expose a lot of their skin..? Oh, and Ariel is also an active person who enjoys playing in the water despite being in pain..
...In fact, this is also a forced fit. In fact, other than the blue eye color, there is almost no similarity. She would have doubted whether Ariel was her biological child if she hadn't had the ability to breathe underwater and manipulate water like her father. ... It is easy to guess the appearance of her deceased wife..
Anyway, while I was thinking about that, Ariel must have realized that she was talking only to herself, so she stopped talking and spoke again with a slightly red face..
"Oh... I'm sorry. I just said it to myself?"
"haha. no. I had fun listening to it too."
"Ugh... What have you been doing, Mr. Egostick??"
"yes? What is me."
...Terrorizing, killing other villains, and planning Stardust’s growth...?
At a time when I was wondering what to say, Ariel nodded and said to me as if she knew everything..
"Actually, I also watched the broadcast. Is it Ego Stream? You're active there, right? While terrorizing. like my father."
"Um, yes. that's right."
I was momentarily embarrassed, scratched my cheek, and answered like that..
...right. Atlas told me the other day that his daughter was looking into me. Then you'll understand everything.
'Seup...'
I feel a little ashamed that something embarrassing about my private life has been exposed. Apparently, Ariel had been a patient for a long time and had been bedridden for a long time even after she woke up, so I would visit her from time to time and take care of her as kindly as possible. A little bit like a doctor.
But doesn’t that mean that the patient saw the doctor carrying out a terrorist act while holding a gun and laughing like a crazy person live? At this level, if I were a real doctor, I would have my medical license revoked....
As I continued to think like that, I was blaming the cutting-edge scientific and technological capabilities of Team Latis, wondering how on earth the Internet could explode in the deep sea..
Ariel, who was walking next to me, spoke with a serious face..
"Watching that... I was really jealous.."
"...yes?"
I envy you? What do you mean by envy?.
Before I could even finish my thoughts, she continued speaking..
"I also want to run around outside like Mr. Egostick. I'm not trapped here in the middle of the ocean like a bird in a cage...."
She looked up, where the blue sea was shining outside the transparent dome, and muttered that..
When I was thinking about what to reply to her.
She took a deep breath, then turned to me and said, as if she had made up her mind..
"So Mr. Egostick. I have a favor to ask my brother.."
"....What is it?"
"Can you please include me as a member of your party? It's ego stream.."
She then said that while clenching her fists with both hands and trembling slightly..
...Probably, he called me because he wanted to talk about this today. For her to say this to me, she must have mustered up her courage.
And I looked at her looking up at me with earnest eyes..
I had no choice but to reply in an apologetic tone..
"...Unfortunately. No."
"...."
'....'
Her body stiffened as if she had been greatly shocked by my words..
...Still, it couldn't be done. no. Are you telling me to take my child and commit terrorism when her body is not fully healed yet? This is nonsense. Atlas could kill me.
Additionally, it is questionable whether her abilities can compete with Stardust. I don't know how strong she is as I've never seen her with the naked eye, but she's been lying around all day anyway. When she wakes up, I don't think she can take on her stardust..
So I explained it well and explained it well enough for Ariel to understand..
Then, she lowered her head and listened to me, but then muttered something inaudible to herself in a vain voice..
"...Ahaha. I see Because I'm weak... because I look weak..."
Then she raised her head, smiled and said.
"all right. If your ego-stick oppa is like that, there’s nothing you can do about it.."
"Thank you for understanding."
"no. lol."
And her eyes speak brightly.
Somewhere, it looked a little empty..
...It feels a bit spooky, but I guess it worked out well anyway.?
I was relieved.
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