Ryn looked at the photo in his hand, and the more he looked, the more something felt off.
"Cortana, come and restore this photo. Fix it back to how she would look as a normal person. I can't recognize who this is from a corpse…"
"Restore my foot, I suggest you just show it to Kiana directly!" Stigmata Kiana's voice piped up, angrily staring at the photo in Ryn's hand.
"Uh… why are you so angry? The way you're acting, I'm starting to wonder which Kiana you're talking about…"
"Who knows? It's restored. The restored photo is much clearer now." Cortana handed the restored photo to Ryn.
Ryn looked at it and nodded in satisfaction.
"She really does look like Hare… Looks like she really could be Hare's mom."
"Uh… you should still probably take it to Kiana." Cortana spread her hands helplessly.
Although she looked a lot like Hare, when you added the keyword "Kiana" to the photo and compared it against Schicksal's database, the result you got was far more interesting than just 'Hare's mom'…
"Just spit it out if you have something to say, why make it so complicated…" Ryn grumbled, taking the photo and climbing out the window, preparing to find Kiana.
But after jumping down, he found a ball of white fluff squatting in the bushes.
Ryn reached out and grabbed this fellow who was trying to hide by covering herself with grass.
"Misteln, why are you still here?"
"Ehehe… I've been found." Hare stuck out her tongue, a little embarrassed but retorted with righteous indignation, "Why can't I be here?!"
"You're a member of World Serpent, openly hanging around St. Freya High School. What are you trying to do? Declare war?!"
"Huh? Don't talk nonsense. I just have a deal with World Serpent and am temporarily staying there. I don't represent World Serpent. Besides, other than you and the other executives like Raven, no one knows who I am~
"That's not necessarily true. The last time you appeared before me, I told Durandal and Otto about you."
"Is that so! Then there's even less need to hide, right? Everyone knows who I am now~
"Fine, just wait for Schicksal's army to come and get you." Ryn summoned his interface and tapped on Theresa's communication link, threateningly telling Hare to leave.
Hare lightly sucked on her thumb and showed her pure, innocent smile to Ryn, saying, "Although I'd rather not point it out, besides you and the Herrscher of Finality, there's no one else in this world who can subdue me right now. Ryn, are you planning to call out the forces of Schicksal to fight a boss?"
Ryn: "You said it yourself, I can subdue you, so can you please get lost."
"But you haven't subdued me, have you?"
"I just haven't made a move yet."
"Then let me stick around until you do~
Getting impatient, Ryn rubbed the space between his eyebrows. Hare's childlike appearance was so cute that he had no desire to attack her. In the end, all he could do was sigh.
Ryn picked up little Hare, who instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. Looking like a father carrying his child, they headed towards Himeko's house.
"Fine, do whatever you want. If you get discovered, it's not my problem."
"Don't worry, if I don't want to be observed, no one can see me. That guy was right next to Welt, observing him for so many years, but Welt never even noticed. Doesn't that prove my ability?"
"Oh? Tell me more. The first time we met, you seemed to have mentioned something about Welt."
"Not telling. That's Misteln's business, it has nothing to do with me."
"Aren't you Misteln?"
"No, I'm Hare. But you can call me Misteln, it's fine. Although they represent different things, they are both my names."
"Whatever, I don't care. Don't cause any trouble later. No shouting, no screaming, no messing around, and don't you dare lay a hand on Kiana and the others, or I'll cut you down."
"You say such hurtful things. We're embracing right now, heart to heart, yet you still don't trust me."
Ryn looked at Hare, who was hugging him with her chest pressed against his, and reached out to pinch her nose, making her wince in pain.
"What are you pressing against me for, you little brat? Wait until you're back to your original form before we get cuddly. Right now, your bones are digging into my chest."
"?"
Hare froze for a moment, then angrily stretched Ryn's face with both hands, pulling it into a wide pancake.
"And whose fault is it that I'm like this now, you jerk!"
"It's what you get for eating something you shouldn't have. Who's to blame for you shrinking?"
"You're the one who force-fed me!"
"It was so long ago, I don't remember~
"Fine, fine, fine… Eat this uppercut!"
Hare threw a punch at Ryn's chin, shutting him up just as he was about to speak.
Ryn clutched his mouth and lowered his head to give Hare a headbutt. Hare's sudden punch had made him bite his tongue.
Then, Hare clutched her head with teary eyes, and Ryn clutched his mouth in pain. The two of them walked towards Himeko's house in silence.
——————————————
Ding-dong—
"Who is it? Coming, coming."
Mei, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, heard the doorbell, answered, and then shouted at Kika, who was lazing on the sofa, "Stop watching TV and get the door. It's probably Himeko, drunk and being carried home again."
"Don't bother me with such trivial things!"
Kika reluctantly left the warm sofa and slowly shuffled to the door in her slippers.
After opening the door, Kika looked at the people outside.
Seeing the door open, Ryn and Hare both smiled and greeted Kika, preparing to enter.
SLAM—
Ryn and Hare both clutched their noses and squatted down outside the door.
Kika leaned against the door, patting her own face in disbelief. "Am I dreaming? I actually dreamt that Ryn came to find me, holding his and Durandal's daughter."
That little girl outside, apart from her hair color, looked exactly like a young Durandal in every other way!
"No, no, it must be the way I opened the door that's wrong."
Kika took a deep breath, summoned her external armor Sabayon, and opened the door again.
When the door opened again, just as Ryn was about to ask Kika why she had closed it, he saw Sabayon's pristine white cannon barrel pressed against his forehead.
"And here I was, wondering why Durandal said she wasn't nervous or in a hurry! So you two even have a kid! And she's already so big!"
"Huh? No, Kika, you've misunderstood. Her name is Misteln, she has nothing to do with Durandal."
Ryn pulled Hare in front of him so Kika could get a good look at her.
Hare squinted her eyes, then put on an innocent, pitiful expression, looking at Ryn with teary eyes.
"Daddy, I'm scared…"
"Daddy your sister! You little brat, you stayed behind just to cause trouble, didn't you!" Ryn's blood pressure shot up instantly. He never should have trusted Hare to be a good little girl. This one was seriously manipulative!
"What's wrong, what's wrong? Kika, what happened?" Mei heard what sounded like Kika getting into a conflict with someone and rushed over with a kitchen knife to see what was happening.
Kika took two deep breaths and then said to Mei, "This bastard has been seeing other women! Look, the kid is already so big!"
"Ah!" Mei gasped, covering her mouth, then looked at Ryn in disbelief.
Ryn was trembling with rage and was just about to explain when Hare, in his arms, turned and buried her head in his chest: "Daddy, I miss Mommy… when are we leaving?"
BOOM—
That day, a massive thunderstorm broke out over St. Freya High School. Lightning flashed and thunder roared, and from time to time, terrifying crimson flashes would tear across the sky.