There's always a time when you screw something up and want to turn back time to fix it. Apparently, it can happen sometimes in Marzenthura. And I mean the latter.

***

The girl hugged my head and buried my face into her soft chest. She's jumping up and down and is making my face dig down her chest even more. It's good and all, but because she said something really weird earlier, it doesn’t feel good at all.

I forcibly push her away and tried to stop her from jumping again.

“It's been a while since the first time we met, sorry for getting too excited, dad!”

“Second time? We just met! Leaving that aside, why are you calling me ‘dad'?”

We're of the same age, why is she calling me dad? No matter how I look at it, this setup is too impossible!

When I ask her that, she lightly hits her head while giggling.

“I'm so stupid! We're supposed to meet in the future first. This may be the first time you met me, but it's my second time meeting you. Also, I'm you're daughter from the future. My name is, Viola Theslia Chardelier, your second eldest daughter.”

What in the….

“Is there something wrong, dad? You look like you're in shock.”

Everything that she just said is making no sense to me. She's my daughter? From the future? What the fuck? I don't get it!

“Are you telling the truth?”

“Always and never shall! Grandma hates lies after all.”

While saying that, she hops and straightens her posture while saluting. This blob of energy reminds me of a certain person.

“And when you said future, does that mean you time traveled?”

“Yes! We time traveled using [Hyperion]. We used your ship since it's the best ship to use when time traveling to the past. The rest of your ships are for traveling to the future after all. Ah! If you're thinking that it's going to change space time continuum, don't worry, the Hyperion's Quantum Dimension Spacial Anti-Interference System is already deployed the moment we opened the gate. You call it Q.D.SAS, but it sounds terrible so I prefer the whole name.”

So much energy….

But did she say this is my ship? What the hell am I in the future?

But before I could open my mouth, she puts one finger on my lips while swing the other hand with a no-no gesture.

“Asking questions from some from the future can create strains in the Interference System. Though it may prevent changes to the future, it can only do that to a certain degree. You can't ask questions, but I can give you hints. Ok, dad?”

I flick away her hand and looked at the ship.

“Still, Hyperion huh… Future me got some good naming sense.”

While we were talking, all of a sudden, I could hear a menacing roar.

Right, every one of my magic got nullified, that includes the one that's restraining the dragon.

I immediately reequip my armor in preparation for the second fight. However, Viola did nothing, nothing but raise her left hand and flick her fingers.

In an instant, the dragon froze. No, everything around the dragon including itself froze. Like time itself stopped for the dragon.

“I got too excited in meeting dad again, I almost forgot what I actually came here for.”

She flicks her finger once again. This time, a gigantic magic circle appears below the dragon. Then after that, it goes up and makes the dragon disappear like erasing it's existence. What magic was that?!

I was about to ask her, but I remembered that she won't answer.

“That's about it. I have all the time in all worlds, but you don't.”

While saying that, she makes a sad expression while looking at me.

“I have so many questions right now, I don't know where to start.”

Literally! My head hurts from this sudden turn of events that I can't even think straight.

Viola puts her finger on her chin while her head tilts. Is she making a thinking gesture?

“Well, I could answer a few questions, but only minor ones. If you ask something that's super important, I obviously won't answer. Okay, dad?”

“Then, my first question is, who is your mother?”

When I ask her that, her crosses her arms while shaking her head. THAT'S major question?!

“Then… how many siblings do you have?”

“I could answer that… First is obviously Marie Veilan—”

“Why is Marie's last name Veilant?”

“Oops, I can't answer that. Continuing, second is me, third are Dramiel and Reolart who are twins, fourth is Cherry, fifth—sixth is Blake, seventh is Elrich, and eight is Cryas. Aside from our eldest, the rest of us are unmarried. You also adopted 5 people into your household, but that's just something trivial.”

I have 7 other children?! Wait, if I follow the way she mentioned their names, then that means I married 6 women?! WHO?

“Maybe I shouldn't have said that, your look like you're going to pass out any moment.”

I was about to fall, but when I head of a sound of a flick, in an instant, my vision changed from the wet forest ground, to sky high level transparent ground. Not only that, I'm sitting on a nice comfy chair.

“What in the name of—”

“Calm down, dad. I just teleported us both inside Hyperion. This room is called the Observatory, that's why the floor is transparent from this side.”

I can feel my head heating up. My mind is going into overload.

The series of magic she has been using so far are so powerful and complex that even without saying anything, she can make things happen in an instant. It's like she's some sort of a God.

This is crazy and absurd! Maybe I hit my head while going down a while ago and all of this is just a dream?

“Dad, I really don't like to interrupt your meltdown but… someone's here that wants to meet you.”

While saying so, she points out to her left.

There, I could see a girl peeking from the doorway. Judging by the color of her golden hair, her name is,

“Cherry?”

When I spoke her name, she became so flustered that she hid herself from the other side.

Still, it's really surprising that she's almost identical with her mother. Leaving her double-braided hair, the rest is the same.

“Uhm… Actually, she's not really good at socializing. She's super shy and timid. Also, this is actually her first time meeting you. Even from the other side.”

Now I feel like wanting to hit my future self in the face. How could he raise our daughter this way?!

“Uhm, Cherry? I don't know if I can call you my daughter yet but… it's me, your dad.”

I stand up from my seat and approach the door slowly. When I got there, I took a peek at the door way. However, she's not there anymore!

“Uh, dad? She teleported behind me.”

Seriously? Are my children this powerful!

“Cherry, why did you do that?”

Leaving aside the teleportation magic, I didn't detect any disturbance in the ether when she used it. How did she do it?

I slowly approach her again. Since she hid even more behind Viola, I stopped.

“Your big sister said that you want to meet me. If you're hiding like that, I feel like she lied.”

“NO!”

Though her voice was cute, it was loud. Not only that, it literally shook the whole room like an earthquake. The hell?!

“Actually, dad. Cherry can't control her power like me. That's why she was isolated from the children of her age.”

So that's explains it. I thought I was a bad parent, I was just trying to protect her.

“And that's why I had to use all my power just to sneak her out when she said she wanted to meet you.”

Oi!

“But Cherry, you said it yourself right? Stop hiding and go to dad. This is your first time meeting him, you don't want to make a bad impression to him, right?”

When Viola said so in a gentle tone, I heard a gulping sound from their side while I could see her head slowly coming out of Viola's back.

But what did she mean about ‘First Time'? Is it about the current me or the future me?

When she finally came out standing beside Viola, she didn't look at me immediately. Instead, she looks at her hands that’s gripping the hem of her shirt.

“You can look at me you know? I won't bite.”

“I know. But mom said that you have eyes that could allure any women. I don't want to be romantically attracted to my own father!”

What the hell is Cherry telling our daughter?! Rather than a compliment, it’s like she's making me sound like a playboy!

“If that’s about the current me, that's a lie. Your mother is the one that's head over heels one me.”

I like Viola's sense of humor, she's laughing at my joke. I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

After hearing that, Cherry loosens up her body and slowly raises head. When her eyes finally met mine, her eyes starts glistening with tears.

She walks towards me with her one hand on her chest.

I didn't do anything but wait.

When she stood in front of me, she slowly touches my cheek and body.

“Dad…”

She looked really lonely. Because of that, I inadvertently put my hand on her head and gave her a head pat.

She got surprised at first, but she gradually got used to it and makes a loosened expression.

“I don't know what I had done to you in the future, but let me, the past, apologize for that. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Don't worry, dad. You didn't do anything wrong. I just want to see my father that I never saw since I opened my eyes.”

While saying so, she wraps her hands around my body and buries her face on my stomach. I feel like a teddy bear from her tight hug. Judging by her height, I think she's around 13 in earth years.

Still, both of my daughters have grown beautiful. It makes me feel proud.

I can see that both of them have some features that's similar to mine. Viola has Violet-ish hair, and Cherry has Violet eyes. This makes me wonder what the rest of my kids look like.

“Dad's scent…. Is nice….”

…

…

…

Did she just…. Sniff me?

I just came from a fight with a dragon. I'm sweaty under my trench coat! I don't even remember using cologne.

“Okay, Cherry, you can let go now.”

“Just for a few more minutes.”

I would let her, but the way she's sniffing and hugging me is weird. To begin with, sniffing a person is already weird! How did they raise her?!

Since it's like this, I let her do what she wants.

I look at Viola while caressing Cherry's head. Wait, is her name really just Cherry?

“Viola, I just remembered. You said something about your real business here right? Can you tell me what it is?”

Before giving me a reply, she gives it a thought. So everything needs to be calculated huh.

“Well, I guess I could give you hints about it. It's not a major thing, but the blips it can make in the future has quite some size.”

I have no idea what she just said.

“But if I put it in one sentence, it's called ‘Dragon Sanctuary Program'. If I say every part of it, it might change some things in the future, but if you say or just think about it, nothing will happen because of the System Restrictions of the Hyperion.”

“I see, then that means you didn't kill the dragon. You just teleported it somewhere else. Am I correct?”

“Yes, but… it might be too conspicuous if you go back to Drukade without anything with you.”

While saying so, she flicks her fingers. After that, a pair of weird looking stone-like objects appear on her hand.

“This is a pair of horns from a Great Silvia Dragon. It might not be from the one you fought earlier, but they can't tell the difference.”

“Is it useful?”

“Well, it's very useful. You can create weapons if you combine it with True Silver using Alchemy. Just don't experiment it on a place with a lot of women. I am serious.”

I receive the dragon horns she offered and look at Cherry again.

“I understand that I can't stay with you for a long time, you understand that too, right, Cherry?”

I bet she knows it already, she's hugging me tighter than before.

“Can't you stay a bit longer? I want to know more about you, dad.”

“Believe me, I want to too. However, future me probably can't allow present me to keep staying here. We live on different timelines after all.”

Cherry buries her face on my chest even more to the point where I can't see even her forehead. I guess she wants to be spoiled. But I can't yield here!

“Then, how about this. If you meet your mom, tell her this: She was cute the first time I saw her. If you did, tell me her reaction when you meet me from your timeline, ok?”

I know myself. There's no way I could say that to Cherry directly. And this way, she'll also have a reason to remember me as a funny dad.

However, Cherry looks at me from below with an angry expression. It's cute though.

“That's impossible.”

“What? Why?”

“It's because you're n—”

“OKAY, OKAY! That's enough Chi-chi, there are things dad mustn't know.”

All of a sudden, Viola interrupts Cherry midway. What she just said made me curious even more.

“Okay…”

While saying so, Cherry loosens her grip reluctantly with a dejected expression.

“Don't be like that. Just so you know, meeting my future daughters makes me feel happy. Though I'm confused who Viola's mother is, I'm really glad I met you both. Still, none of you looks like me at all.”

“That's not entirely true at all! Big brother Dramiel looks like the current you.”

“Dramiel? Wait, just Dramiel? Isn't he supposed to be the twin brother of Reolart?”

“Yes, they are twins, but they don't look like each other at all. Big brother Reolart has took up from Aunt Mareilette.”

Mareilette?

“Ah! Please forget that! It's not something you should know yet!”

“Now that just made me even more curious.”

So Viola is quite the clumsy type huh. She made a verbal slip.

Still, who is this Mareilette? The name is weird, but it sounds kind of cute. How come I married so many women though? Aren’t I just a Baron in the future?

For some reason, Viola looks at a certain direction with a serious expression. After that, she loosens up and lets out a disappointed sigh.

“I really hate to say this but… we're already near Drukade.”

How was she able to tell in just a short amount of time?

Viola pulls away Cherry from me and puts her arms on her shoulder like she's hugging her.

“I guess this is goodbye then. It was short, but meeting you both is great. I wish we can spend more time with each other.”

“Dad…”

“I feel the same way too, dad. But before we part ways, I just want you to know that I did not mean what I said when we first met in the near future. It may sound really odd apologizing to you, but it means a lot to me.”

“Well, if you said something harsh to me in the future, I'll accept it wholeheartedly so there's nothing for you to apologize about.”

Our conversation is so weird I can't help but giggle. Seems that Viola was able to understand it so she also starts giggling too. However, it's only Cherry who doesn't so she has question marks over her head.

With a single flick of Viola's fingers, our vision changes and I could suddenly feel the strong wind hitting my face.

That's weird, the day's really good now like there wasn't a storm a while ago.

Maybe the dragon was controlling the weather after all.

“I can't teleport you directly into Drukade, so you have to fly there by yourself.”

“So even you have some limitations huh. Do all of you siblings inherited my power?”

“Leaving Sis Marie aside, Elrich didn't show any signs. We don't know if it's dormant or it's not really there yet. But since he inherited your blood, we're still watching over him. The rest of us, well… we have it. Only Cherry is the one who can't control it properly yet though.”

I wonder what kind of technology does the future have in their timeline? They all sound so high-tech.

I thought I was imagining it, but when I looked down, I'm standing on air. I feel that I'm standing unto something, but there's nothing here.

“Weird… I'm standing normally on air.”

“Ah! I forgot to tell you that the ship is currently cloaked. We can't allow anymore people seeing the Hyperion or the space time continuum will break.”

Glad she cleared that one up.

I walk towards them and gave them a tight hug. After that, I gave each of them a kiss on the forehead like a father would do.

Cherry liked it, but for some reason, Viola's blushing.

“Geez, dad! Don't do something like that out of the blue. You're my father, but we're of the same age. It feels weird.”

“Well, I'm sorry.”

“B-but it's not like I hate it though…”

“Do it again, dad!”

I don't really understand Viola, but it seems Cherry wants to be spoiled. Well, there's no harm in it.

After I kissed Cherry's forehead again, I look at the Drukade that's just a kilometer ahead.

“Well, I gotta go.”

Just when I was about to equip my armor, Viola grabs my right hand.

“Before you leave, I want to give you something.”

She puts her index finger on my Ring, and for some reason, it responded to her magic.

“I put something in there that can help you when the right time comes. And by the way, the very first battleship you will make will turn you to a man with great political power. Please be careful with it.”

“That's a lot of spoiler.”

After giggling a bit, she gives me a light kiss on the cheek and then hugs me for the last time.

“Thank you for changing me, dad.”

“I don't really get it, but you're welcome.”

When she lets go off me, I distance myself from them and invoke >.

Slowly, I lift myself with the levitating function in my armor. Seeing me going away, both of them waves me goodbye.

It didn't take long for me to put some distance between us. But when I reach about 300 meters away from them, something odd suddenly happens.

Like rainbows showing up in the sky, the battleship Hyperion shows its glorious self.

Since I'm flying from it's left side, I could see its full shape.

It's bow has the concept of a rhinoceros beetle horn, the main hull looks like a revolver magazine, the back has three huge thrusters, and overall, it looks pretty awesome.

Even with it's majestic view, it can't beat the moment I met my future daughters. I felt really proud just seeing them looking like they have everything they need. As a father, there's nothing more I ask for.

“Goodbye, and see you soon, my future.”

When I waved my hand goodbye, a huge wormhole opens up in the sky and the ship immediately enters it and disappears along with the sky becoming normal.

While flying towards the Drukade, I tightly clench my fist while smiling under my helmet. My heart is so full of excitement that I can't stop and blast my thrusters to the max!

After seeing them, there's no way I can slack on my work any more! I have to end this problem with the gods quickly!

“I've got a lot of work to do!”

-End of Chapter-