Yumemi's mother, having finished her examination, was sleeping in the hospital room.
Yumemi and her father sat on folding chairs placed right next to the bed, silently staring at her mother's face.
Just then, the hallway suddenly became noisy.
A nearby nurse also let out a scream-like voice, "Murder? Inside the hospital? Two cases?!" and ran off somewhere.
The voices faded into the distance, and eventually, the area around the hospital room was enveloped in silence.
Yumemi figured something must have happened to Erika—thinking that, she steeled her resolve, raised her head, and spoke to her father.
"Even though you knew."
Yumemi insisted that that single blow was justified.
However, her father, as if reprimanding her for hitting her mother, did not break his stern expression.
He retorted with that same expression.
"Shouldn't you apologize first?"
"Me, to you, Father?"
"Don't screw around."
Her father glared at his daughter as if looking at his parents' murderer.
Did he think that if he intimidated her, Yumemi would be frightened?
Towards him, who was currently stripping off his mask of a "kind father," she stepped forward without flinching.
"The one screwing around is you, Father."
"Yumemi, do you not understand what you were born for?"
"That is not for you to decide, Father."
"Those who created a life have a responsibility. And rights commensurate with the magnitude of that responsibility."
"So you're saying it's okay to kill your daughter?"
Her father sneered, as if to say, 'What nonsense are you talking about?'
"Being a sacrifice for Giraiguu sama is not equivalent to death. It is a far greater honor than that."
"Do you know how much I suffered?"
"If you think of it as a rite of passage to become a sacrifice, it should be a pleasure."
Yumemi's cheeks involuntarily twitched.
It felt as if her parents had been replaced by entirely different people since the incident at Hikarinomoya Academy.
After all, until she came here, she hadn't actually seen her parents' foolish actions directly.
After Yumemi disappeared, they had shifted the blame onto Erika, saying "It's your fault"—yes, she had only heard that through Erika.
Although she had obtained various pieces of information indicating they were Kaisei kyou believers, today was the first time she had faced them directly.
She was confronted with reality.
She thought she had become able to endure most things due to the pain she experienced at the academy, but she still couldn't hide her agitation.
"You think of me as a tool or something, don't you."
"That is not true. Do you know how hard we worked when we had you, Yumemi? Actually, when you were in your mother's womb, we administered fragments of Giraiguu sama. Praying that you would grow up to be an exceptional child. Those are extremely precious items that originally only a few executives could obtain. We spent money, we spent time, we took risks. And the fragments we obtained by doing so, we used them on you, Yumemi, before you were even born, you know?"
"I don't get it."
"What you don't get?"
"What part of that is there to be grateful for?"
Her father suddenly stood up and grabbed Yumemi's shoulders with both hands.
"Yumemi..."
Her father called her name sadly, as if disappointed.
Yumemi couldn't understand that shift in emotion.
"Ah, that's right, it couldn't be helped. We couldn't let the Kaisei kyou know that fragments of Giraiguu sama were embedded in you, Yumemi. That's why we made the decision to raise you without teaching you about the Kaisei kyou. To live without knowing of Giraiguu sama's existence, I think it's very unfortunate... and painful. Ah, I see, it's certainly as you say, Yumemi. It was painful, wasn't it, it was hard, wasn't it, the loneliness of not being embraced by God—to think we inflicted such freezing pain upon our child...!"
Lamenting, her father tried to embrace Yumemi.
But he was shoved away and rejected.
He stumbled, saying "Whoops...", and then tilted his head in puzzlement.
"Why do you reject me? I should have understood you, Yumemi."
"I'm asking if you have any remorse or feelings of apology for trying to kill me."
"I'm sorry. If we had properly preached the magnificence of Giraiguu sama to you, you wouldn't have had to go through painful experiences—"
"That's not what I want to hear!"
Yumemi involuntarily raised her voice.
She thought to herself that it was a wonder she had endured this long.
But if asked why she had endured—it was because she felt that even if she yelled, it would be meaningless.
Is this what they call 'pushing against a curtain'? All her words were not reaching her father—she had that sensation.
"I was in pain, I suffered. The Kaisei kyou has nothing to do with it, I'm asking if you have anything to say as a parent—no, as a 'perpetrator', about the fact that I, myself, felt that way!"
"Perpetrators? Us?"
"Yes! You let Ooki and the others kidnap me!"
"To become a sacrifice."
"You let them tear my body apart while I was alive, and subjected me to torture for months!"
"It couldn't be helped."
"And on top of that, you pushed the responsibility for that onto Erika chan!"
"She must have been happy too. She was able to become a soul worthy of being a sacrifice to Giraiguu sama."
"Don't screw with meeeee!"
She threw the belongings placed on the table at him.
It was meaningless.
Even if she did this, it had no meaning to them.
Even knowing that, if she didn't direct violence at them, she couldn't erase this murky feeling that arose in her chest.
No—even if she did it, nothing would change.
Even being yelled at this much by his daughter, her father remained unfazed.
There was only that result.
"Hah... hah..."
"Your heart is disturbed. If you are always with Giraiguu sama, there will be no problem."
Then, her mother, who had been lying down, groaned "U-Uun".
She opened her eyes and called out to her father.
"Dear...?"
"I'm sorry, Mother, I must have been too loud and woke you up. But I'm glad you woke up safely."
"...Yumemi, don't tell me."
Upon seeing Yumemi's figure, her mother glared at her with a sharp gaze.
"You even used violence against your father, you ingrate!"
"Now, now, let's calm down."
"How can I be calm about this? Just discarding Giraiguu sama's favor and returning to this world is bad enough?! It is unforgivable!"
"You're wrong, Dear. I realized something."
"Realized what?!"
"To hide the fact that we embedded fragments of Giraiguu sama in her, we raised Yumemi away from the Kaisei kyou. But as a result, Yumemi grew up without knowing the magnificence of Giraiguu sama."
"...Are you saying we raised her that way?"
"Yumemi is a victim. A pitiful victim who does not know of Giraiguu sama's existence."
"Ah... how pitiful. Indeed, a world without Giraiguu sama is overflowing with pain. And yet, I—"
"Let's apologize."
"I'm sorry, Yumemi, for suddenly hitting you."
"And from now on, let us share it among the three of us, parents and child. Every day filled with faith!"
Listening to their conversation, Yumemi—was naturally shedding tears.
"Look, Yumemi is also crying with emotion."
"You're right, dear. Because she's our child, after all, she understood."
Yumemi loved her parents.
She thought her parents loved her too.
But, those feelings had never meshed from the very beginning.
Surely, even the casual conversations they had in their daily lives, the scenery Yumemi saw and the scenery they saw were different things.
Why did Erika call her "family" before coming here?
She understood the reliability of those words very well now.
Precisely because she had fought against fanatics, she realized that Yumemi's parents were of the same kind.
The 15 years before meeting Erika.
It's difficult to fill those years with the less than one year since they met.
But, if she has the warmth currently in her chest, and hope for the future—her heart won't break.
"I, I understand now."
That's why she can face them.
"Father and Mother, you didn't love me."
The entrails of the monsters in the shape of parents, which she would have been too scared to expose if she were alone.
With that blade handed to her by you, she would open them and expose them.
"You loved Giraiguu inside of me, didn't you?"
The cause of their mutual affection not meshing.
It was simply and clearly—just a matter of the arrows pointing in different directions.
Would her mother get angry?
Would her father lament?
She had anticipated such things, but the two looked at each other, and of all things, smiled and said this:
"Ah, so that was it."
Yumemi's—mind went completely blank.
Had they not realized it until now?
No, they probably hadn't even thought about it.
"Now that you mention it, yes."
"Yes, that's true. Neither you nor I have any interest in Yumemi's body."
"Yumemi's achievements are thanks to Giraiguu sama."
"Yumemi's good health is also thanks to Giraiguu sama."
"Thinking about it that way, it's true, we—"
"It might be said that we have never loved you even once."
Their eyes were sparkling.
I'm glad I realized it.
Thank you.
Directing such emotions, meant for a "stranger," towards Yumemi.
They too recognized it.
That Yumemi was not their family.
She silently and slowly stood up, and lifted the folding chair she had been sitting on.
"...You're really, beyond saving."
With eyes red from crying, she glared at her parents huddling together.
Clenching her teeth, she tried to smash it down with all her might.
From this angle, it would hit her parents' heads.
With her current full strength, she could probably crush their heads and kill them.
That was her intention.
She thought that was fine.
But—just before she swung it down, someone restrained her from behind.
"Stop it, let me go!"
"SAD."
"Eh...?"
Yumemi turned around.
What entered her eyes was something like a human head made of a red lump of meat—a Blood Sheep parasitizing a nurse.
"I-Iyaaaaaah!"
She involuntarily screamed.
Then, yet another Blood Sheep entered the room and grabbed onto her body.
"T-This thing! Let me go! I-It's gross, why is something like this inside the hospital?!"
"To spread the faith."
Her father took a small bottle out of his pocket.
Inside were red, earthworm-like tentacles, the origin of the Blood Sheep.
"It's more effective than using drugs. How about it, nurses? They look happy, don't they?"
"Why, why does Father have something like that!"
"It's thanks to you, Yumemi."
"Yes, thanks to you becoming a sacrifice, we were also able to become executives."
"So let us share that blessing with you too, Yumemi."
Her father stood up, took the Blood Sheep out of the bottle, and approached Yumemi while pinching it between his fingertips.
"Stop..."
"With this, Yumemi will also be able to understand the magnificence of Giraiguu sama. That means, liberation from pain—you can become happy."
"Stop itttt! Are you planning to kill me?!"
"It is a father's love. It's true that until now, we could only see Giraiguu sama. That's why now, for the first time, I am acting while thinking of you as my daughter, Yumemi."
"You... really... from the very beginning...!"
She looked down as if giving up, and bit her lip.
Her father judged that she had "accepted" it, and brought the Blood Sheep close to her ear—
"Hopeless fools, do not approach me."
Yumemi's hair color, eye color, and way of speaking changed.
And the suddenly generated wind shredded her father's arm holding the Blood Sheep.
"U-Uwaaaaaah! My arm, my aaaarm!"
Her father panicked while scattering blood from the cross-section of his "vanished" arm.
At the same time, the wind magic also blew away the nurses clinging to Nemusia.
And with the blades she sent flying along with it, she destroyed the parasites.
"Dear!"
Yumemi's mother crawled off the bed and snuggled up to her father.
"The fact that you possess normal marital affection makes it all the more disgusting. Yet despite that, you refuse to direct any affection towards your daughter... Hmph, faith is irrelevant here. They merely sacrificed their daughter out of pure selfishness, for their own pleasure."
Those words were also meant to comfort Yumemi inside her.
She had absolutely no responsibility.
All the responsibility for her sadness and loneliness lay with these two adults.
"What will you do, kill them here? Or do you wish to corner them until they admit their own mistakes?"
"Who are you...? Don't tell me, a demon that possessed Yumemi?!"
"Yes, that must be it. That thing is making her reject Giraiguu sama!"
"I see... then it's fine to kill her, isn't it? As long as we don't leave a corpse."
"We must exorcise it. That's what we received this for—the new power of Giraiguu sama!"
What her father pulled out of his pocket with his remaining arm was a piece of green meat.
Twitching on his palm, it didn't seem like it would parasitize a body like the Blood Sheep.
"I won't let you, be blown away by my magic—"
At that moment, Nemusia felt a dull pain in her abdomen.
And the smell of iron rapidly rose from the back of her throat.
"Guh, gu..."
A massive amount of blood overflowed from her mouth.
Seeing that red staining her palm, Nemusia understood intuitively.
(My internal organs were destroyed...? I couldn't see it, and more importantly, these guys attacked their daughter's body without hesitation—!)
She didn't understand the mechanism.
But it seemed that the piece of meat Yumemi's father held had directly attacked her insides.
Perhaps she had lost a rather vital organ, because her body suddenly felt heavy and her thoughts dulled.
"Dear, at this rate Yumemi will go with it!"
"If she can't be saved, then so be it. This time I'll definitely finish it off!"
"I won't let you, Wind Sphere!"
A sphere of wind approached Yumemi's parents.
It was magic brimming with murderous intent, shredding anyone caught in it into tiny pieces, leaving no trace behind.
Of course, it was not something humans living in the normal world could defend against.
"Wh-What is this. A curse, is it a demon's curse?!"
"Dear, stop it! With Giraiguu sama's power!"
"Oooooooh! Please protect usssss!"
The father screamed—then the magic that had closed in right before their eyes vanished without a trace.
"It disappeared."
"Ha, hahaha... hahahah! As expected of Giraiguu sama! You are indeed correct! The world exists for your sake!"
"What is going on. What on earth was that... guh."
Holding her abdomen, Nemusia suffered.
While placing her hand there, she healed the wound with Healing.
Meanwhile, aiming at her this time, Yumemi's father was about to use his power.
"I won't miss this time. Head and heart. I will definitely kill you!"
Drowning in power, he was completely high.
They had always been like that, but there was no longer a single shred of affection for their daughter left in them.
He gripped the green meat tightly in his hand and pointed it at Nemusia.
"Eat th—"
And just before the power activated,
"Awaken."
With a slash, his arm was cut off.
That slash was unblockable, regardless of what defensive barrier was used.
It didn't matter if he was holding a piece of meat.
Furthermore, even distance was irrelevant.
The hospital was divided into several wings, and Erika, who was being questioned by the police regarding her parents, was in a building across from the window.
From there, she sensed an unpleasant presence similar to Giraiguu and "tracked it down."
Beside her was Gii, who had apparently joined her at some point.
Erika, who had severed Yumemi's father's arm with Awaken.
She further opened the window, leaped out from there—and activated high-speed movement using Sword Dancer in mid-air.
Approaching in an instant, she shattered the window and dove into the room.
And she stood between the two parties, as if shielding Nemusia.
"Ha... hah... what is this. What on earth are youuuuu!"
It couldn't be helped that he screamed like that.
They were the kind of people who got excited just seeing Giraiguu's power. If a human who was supposed to be a sacrifice possessed a power greater than that—the "worldview" they had believed in would collapse.
In addition, Erika was not someone they could reason with like Yumemi.
She was different from a daughter who held 15 years worth of affection.
Because she harbored 100% pure hatred toward the Ikuna couple.
"Die."
They weren't within knife's reach.
But even an amateur could understand that when that blade was swung down, they would die.
So her mother instinctively reached out for the piece of meat that had fallen on the floor.
The moment she saw that action and that expression, Erika understood.
These guys weren't going to counterattack—they intended to "run away."
Therefore, she switched her method of attack.
Power guaranteed to kill was not necessary.
(The important thing is to hit them—I'll go with that direction, Gii)
A momentary eye contact.
Immediately after, a Throwing Dagger was thrown, aiming for Yumemi's father.
And the bodies of the Ikuna couple sank into the floor.
First the mother holding the piece of meat, then the father who had lost both arms, both disappeared downwards.
The dagger Erika threw slightly grazed the father's shoulder, and then the two vanished to somewhere.
"Well, I guess I achieved the minimum objective."
She sighed, turned around, and placed her hand over Nemusia's hand, which was holding her abdomen.
"Nemusia, are you okay? You look to be in quite a bit of pain."
"The wound itself is already healed, there's no problem. But you saved me, I offer my thanks."
"Likewise, thank you for protecting Yumemi chan. But don't push yourself, I'm worried about you too, Nemusia."
Erika placed her hand on Nemusia's cheek, concerned for her well-being.
"Hehe, blatantly cheating right in front of your legal wife?"
"That sounds terrible. More importantly, is Yumemi chan okay? Her parents ended up like that, though."
"Thanks to you, the wound was shallower than I imagined. However, she is still wounded, so she probably needs your words, Erika. I'll switch."
Nemusia closed her eyes.
Then her hair color changed, and her personality switched to Yumemi.
As soon as she saw Erika's figure, tears welled up in her eyes and she dove into her chest.
"Erika chan... I..."
"I told you, didn't I? I'm your family too. You can lean on me as much as you want."
"Yeah... yeah..."
Yumemi hugged her tighter.
Erika stroked her back, trying to fill the void of loss with her own existence.
"Much more than I thought... I wasn't loved."
"Let's forget about it. Just think about the person you love."
"Yeah, I'll do that. I'll only think about you, Erika chan. If I don't... ahh, it's harder than I thought..."
Ultimately, it was a different kind of pain than torture.
Just because you're used to one doesn't mean you build up a tolerance to the other.
Unlike Erika, who had been beaten down since childhood to the point where there was no room for hope—the contrast shown to Yumemi was far too cruel.
"If I had held it together, they might not have... had to run away..."
"That's not something you need to think about, Yumemi chan."
"But... if I had held it together, there wouldn't have been any more victims..."
At the end of Yumemi's gaze was the figure of a nurse collapsed on the floor.
Erika held her hand over her and repaired her hole-riddled brain.
"She's alive, so there's no problem. She'll wake up soon as if nothing happened. Besides, we're properly tailing those two."
"Is that so?"
"Gishishi, my and Erika's combination is perfect!"
Gii's voice came from out of nowhere.
When Yumemi looked up at the ceiling, there was her figure, with most of her body turned into black slime.
"Hya?!"
"You came in through the door, didn't you? Wouldn't your normal form have been fine?"
"This is faster than running."
"E-Erm, you just got here, right? So what did you mean by combination?"
"When I flew over from the other building, Gii made a small clone of herself and stuck it to me."
"I wanted to go together, but I thought my main body would be heavy and get in the way."
"And when I threw the knife, I had the clone ride on it."
"I clung on desperately!"
"And now she's stuck to your father, Yumemi chan."
Gii dropped down to the floor and puffed out her chest proudly with a "Hehem".
Erika patted her head as if to praise her.
"Then that means you know where my father is? But he sank into the floor earlier... and he erased Nemusia's magic, too."
"It's probably a power that cuts out space and connects it to another space."
"In other words, warp! By the way, right now, they're outside the hospital and running together."
"So that's what attacking our stomachs earlier was all about. But what is that? Giraiguu should have been destroyed, so where did a new power come from?"
"They're probably borrowing some kind of power, but... for now, let's meet up with everyone later and discuss it. If the place Yumemi chan's father headed to is a Kaisei kyou stronghold, we might find out the true nature of that power and the Blood Sheep."
Erika, taking Yumemi and Gii with her, returned to the building they were originally in.
The police interrogation was still ongoing; if they suddenly disappeared, it might raise suspicion.
Ruka was also talking to the police about her mother being shot to death, and the other families probably had a lot to catch up on.
It was about two hours later, after things had settled down, that everyone was finally able to gather and talk.
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