[Adventurer's Guild – Axel]

"Really now, did you seriously expect that you can get away from me like that?"

Judging by the embarrassed flush on her cheeks, my daughter probably just realized what it meant.

"...No."

"Is that Chris' father?"

"More like her mother, actually."

"Do you know if they're a boy or a girl?"

I let it go. Getting angry at the whispers isn't going to help, especially since my daughter is just standing there, frozen in place.

Safety precautions, of course. If her first reaction was to use [Lurk, then it meant that she expected to play the part of an amazing parent.

Pffft. Just who did my daughter think I was?

"Your mother's also arriving by the day of the festival, so keep an eye out for her, will you?"

"[Counterspell]!"

"[Counterspell, [Illusory Bind]."

Once again, I couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Eris, you know that running away from this is just delaying the problem."

"Do you really have to use my name in front of Kazuma-san, though...?"

"Ho...?" I turn towards my side, finding the young man that I came with trying to escape using [Lurk]. A quick [Illusory Bind] froze him in place.

"I'm innocent, believe me!"

Was that a reference? "What's your relation to my cute and adorable little girl?"

"Daaad..."

I turn towards my daughter, finding her giving me a blank stare. It was weird, being on the opposite side of the stare, but it made me cave just a little bit and avoided killing the young man on the spot.

"Guess I'll have to ask you, then."

"He's an assistant! You know, from my other line of work..."

"Oh." I turn my gaze towards the young man, giving him a thin smile as I pulled him back using [Telekinesis]. "Sorry about that. I thought you were in an illegal relationship with my cute and adorable little daughter or something. I'm sure she'd introduce any potential suitors to me first, right?"

"..."

"Right."

"Gladly!"

"Mm, see?" I turn back towards the young man with a smile on my face, noting that his skin was paler than usual.

"Anyways, Kazuma-san right?" At the young man's nod, I continued, "If you know about my daughter's other line of work, then you know who she is, yes?"

"Y-Yes!"

Really, I'm not that intimidating.

"I've been trying to convince her to get another line of work, really, but I know that she's just not going to like it. So, I let her be, and what do I get? Bam! 'The Chivalrous Thief Strikes Again' on the newspapers by the capital."

"Ugh..."

"Dear, stop slamming your head on the table. You're going to look insane to other people."

"You don't say..."

I ignore my daughter's crass remarks. "In any case, thank you for taking care of her. With the amount of luck that she has, who knows what kind of situation she gets herself in."

"It would be my pleasure!"

My eyes twinkled as I gave him a smile. "It better not be. Think of it as more of an obligation of sorts. I'll send some eris your way every week."

"Y-Yes!"

"Dad!" I turn towards my daughter, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as I couldn't help but giggle at how cute she looked. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much! I don't need someone to babysit me!"

"Oh, I see. And Vanir's report is nothing but conjecture, then?"

"...You're associating yourself with devils?"

"Please remember that I'm the former Demon King, dear, and tell me that I wouldn't get along with my former colleagues."

"Everyone gets along with you."

"Indeed." I cross my arms and nod to emphasize my daughter's point, before turning towards the young man. "Kazuma-san, I'm counting on you. If my intelligence is correct, then there is an armor-type relic frolicking around here somewhere. I recommend you check out the mansions of the nobles first."

"A-Ah...yes sir."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave", I replied with a smile, rising up from my seat and leaving the two to discuss amongst themselves.

I trust my daughter to herself. I really do. She just has the tendency to rush into things like her mother, so I needed a few insurance options. Like this one for example.

"A-Ah, to think that the Artificer himself is going to be the Guildmaster of Axel's branch..."

And my former colleagues say that I'm as slippery as a snake.

Pfft. Now they're just trying to slander my good name.

[Axel's Streets]

"There's something that I don't really get."

"What is it, Assistant-kun?"

Urk. Now that I think about it, that look in Chris' eyes is the same as her father.

"You're an honest-to-goodness goddess, right?"

"Ah, that." Chris laughed, all the while kicking a can on the side of the road. Given that it punched a hole in a tree, I could only gulp and fall silent.

"Well, isn't it obvious if you think about it? I'm a goddess, not some demigod."

I blinked. "So...does that mean that you're dad is a god himself?"

"Duh."

"Why become the Demon King, though?"

It really isn't something that I can just understand. Given from what I saw earlier, Chris' dad is actually a pretty decent guy, save for the overprotectiveness. Which would actually make sense – if I had a daughter like Eris-sama, I'd do anything to keep her safe as well.

Judging by the frown on Chris' face however, it seemed that she also didn't think of it up until now.

"My mother probably knows the reason why. Dad doesn't really like to talk about it, and I could understand where he's coming from, but I...I just want to know? I mean, it was pretty embarrassing to know that I had a dad when I asked my mother a while back. She seemed fine with it as well, which was pretty weird, so I tried to snoop around."

"And...?"

"I don't know!" That's pretty weird, Chris throwing a fit like that. "I don't know what's going on in his head! I mean, he's an amazing guy and I'm proud to be his daughter, but he's an enigma! I just...I just want to understand why, you know? Leaving my mother and I behind to lead the Demon King's Army..."

Chris fell silent, and I couldn't help but think about the former Demon King as well. To be honest, the man was one of – if not the – most decent people that I have ever met.

Of course, it all went away since he's a daughter-con, but seeing that his daughter is Eris-sama out of all people, then it's pretty understandable.

"Maybe just ask him later, I guess." I replied with a shrug. "He's not going anywhere for the time being, right?"

"...I guess." Chris nodded, before stopping in her tracks as we finally arrived at the noble's mansion, putting on her handkerchief as I put on the Vanir-styled mask.

"Well Assistant-kun...after this, would you be willing to help me talk to my dad?"

At this rate, I'm going to see if I can get some money out of this.