Sizzle. The aroma of waffles and pancakes drifted into the air.

“Haah…”

Perun sighed, as he flipped the pancake over.

The breakfast menu had changed after some mishaps in the dining room. The man peered over his back, and sighed again.

(What a waste of food…)

Perun recalled what had happened earlier. Two of her daughters, Eva and Leilan seemed to have argued over something when it was time to eat.

(...At least Pixie stopped them from going too far… Still, what did she whisper to them… they fell silent immediately after that…)

Scout-type abilities that increased hearing or sight were common amongst the new humans. And so naturally for Perun, using Enhanced Hearing was easy. Still he followed by his ironclad rule of keeping his abilities in check when around his family, and would remain the normal father that he was. There was, of course a mountain of contradictions which came from his conviction (such as maintaining a dark guild that worked to kill rogue ability users, equating to putting her daughters at risk). But Perun swore on the day he adopted his first daughter Soma, that he would become family properly for them. That means that he would try to make them feel as little discomfort as possible when interacting with them. For the very volatile girls who had their abilities ‘sealed’ by him, it truly was a therapeutic connection.

While the others had drifted a little away from him in various degrees, Perun was still determined to keep this rule of his intact unless he really needed to do so. Eavesdropping on his family was not his hobby; the usually paranoid man had placed this much faith in them.

The pancakes were done. Perun slid the last one into the third plate and carried them all over to the dining room.

Nearing the end of eating, there was a rare chance where he could talk to his daughters. Pixie, who had an unusually fierce animosity towards them had went ahead to wash the finished plates.

Noticing that Eva was the only one still eating, Perun looked a little more closely at his daughter.

Eva, the latest in his familia. Grey hair down to her shoulders, and eyes concealed by two slightly tilted strips of black cloth. The color of her skin was a healthy indication, Perun was satisfied after looking for a bit.

“I...Is anything the matter, Master?”

(Ah, I’ve stared at her for too long… I don’t seem weird… right?)

Perun quickly spoke out.

“Eva, you had a job yesterday? You look really tired.”

At her master’s words, the 16-year old girl jolted up from her seat in shock.

Had his Master noticed something?!

“N-no, Master. Everything is fine, thank you for your concern.”

There it was, the usual deadpan voice which did not fit well with her actions. But clearly, she was flustered. Noticing that her sister was put in a bad spot for some reason, Leilan who was at the next seat raised the corners of her lips a little.

“E...err… that’s… okay then. You can take a seat now…”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Following that suggestion like a drill, Eva sat back down with a smile. Leilan who was at the side did not show any emotions on her face, but Perun felt a faint amount of mana being used under the table. Leilan was staring intently at his face.

(…? Is there something on my face?)

...Anyway.

Perun placed her elbows on the table and rested his hands on his chin. The previous interaction was a complete failure, Perun had to redo it. He was unsatisfied with how it turned out… Family members should be more… natural.

“So… what did you do today?” A simple question to make his daughter feel a little less tense.

Perun knew that Eva was an inventor at heart. While most of her inventions were rather off, she still liked to present new ideas to her father frequently. It was to the point where the girl would only come home when she had something to show. As a result of that inventive spirit, Eva had managed to experiment enough to create the black-colored Earth Metal, an 'Earthen Alloy' made out of graphene metal and obsidian. After breaking it down to an atomic level, Eva could then inject her own mana into the mix, creating a material harder than diamond. So strong was the metal that Eva who had padded it around her, had single-handedly became the one with the highest defense among Kuromori.

This new metal formed the crucial framework for the earthen ‘Mech Suit’ and other devices which aided her in combat. It was absurdly sturdy, a metal that Eva who had wasted no time in its implementation. With just the Earth Metal alone, Eva single-handedly became the only one with defense that could dampen all the attacks of her sisters during their spars. Eva was the weakest among them, but she never lost a bout because of this.

Her geomancy abilities were cohesively enhanced by her upgrades. And Perun knew that his daughter had also prepared something this time.

As expected, the girl smiled almost instantly. And as if remembering something, Eva snapped her fingers.

An Earth Golem with the appearance of herself entered the open dining room with hastened steps. Perun was not surprised by the clone, as Eva had created a few of them to assist him with his paperwork. These earth golems were largely incapable of combat due to its small stature. Perun had seen them around the house for a few months already, and since the solidified dirt was covered in a mana that prevented it from dirtying anything it comes in contact with, the family was also okay with it around (especially if it was meant to help Perun, ...and nothing else… hopefully).

Was it made in the likeliness of its creator on purpose because Eva felt that it was a little weird to have them look like inhuman puppets? Perun had always thought fondly about his daughter’s considerate thinking.

These Earth Golem clones also had a blindfold over their eyes, and were only distinctified by its number on its forehead: “01”, “02”, “03” and so on. Perun noticed that the number on the one walking in this time was “18”.

“Oh, you’ve made a new one?”

While admiring his daughter’s consistent craftsmanship with her geomancy, Perun remarked.

“Yes Master. This is the eighteenth Earth Mimic, does Master want to name it?”

“...Eighteen, we’ve already been calling them by their numbers. (Don’t get full of yourself, bitch.)” Leilan, who had been silent all this time, snorted coldly. She had seemingly picked up something, and was dead bent on stopping it. Mostly because it sounded like Eva was trying to practice doing the "What shall we name our baby" play.

Eva clicked her tongue, realizing that her plan had been exposed.

“...I believe it is Master’s decision to make the names in this household... sister Leilan.”

(...It keeps going towards this direction every time these two talk to each other...)

“W-well… isn’t it fine? Simple is good… simple is good… haha… hahaha…” Perun quickly settled the naming portion for now, although it seemed like Eva was still a little unhappy about how it ended,

“...Well, if Master says so…”

Her eyes which were hidden by the black cloth seemed to be staring daggers at her elder sister.

“So, why did you bring Eighteen in here?”

“Ah, that’s right… this is the more important thing.” Eva muttered with a grin.

She got out from her seat and walked over to Eighteen, who had its palms open. It was holding something in its hands.

“Look at this, Master.”

“...This looks like…”

A black capsule? It had an appearance like the mana batteries that were sold in the country.

Eighteen lowered its palms and handed it over to Eva respectfully. She then gestured it to leave the room, and genuflected before her father, presenting the cylindrical-shaped capsule before him to hold.

At this point, it was already impossible to correct his daughter’s unusually servile actions. Perun simply sighed, and grabbed the capsule. It had a different color as compared to the standard mana battery. Those had a dark blue metal exterior and was lighter than the one he was holding right now. This black exterior was clearly a casing made of Earth Metal. Were the contents different? What was inside beside just weightless mana? As expected, this was a different kind of item? Perun's curiosity was piqued.

Feeling satisfied at Perun’s genuine interest in the capsule, Eva finally answered.

“This, Master, is a recycled mana battery.”

Perun widened his eyes.

“A recycled… mana battery? ...How did you do it?”

“It’s-”

“It’s a filthy thing. Dad, you’d better not touch that.” Before Eva could explain herself, Leilan cut her off with narrowing eyes. It seemed that she had responded to the ‘dead matter’ inside. Eva could only turn her head over and grit her teeth in annoyance.

“...Filthy? This is a completely normal, usable mana battery. There is nothing filthy about it since I made it.” Her emotionless voice seemed to be colder than usual. Leilan returned a glare, and seemed to lose all interest a few seconds later.

“...Whatever. I’m leaving.”

“W-wait… Leilan, I-”

Slamming the door behind him, only Perun and Eva was left. ...There goes his chance to talk to Leilan today. It seemed that she was in a really bad mood today, Perun thought helplessly.

Why were they like cats and dogs every time they talked?

It could be said that Leila and Eva were similar kinds of people who did not express themselves more than the average person. These two had some parts of themselves which maintained emotionless; Eva being her 'antipathic' voice and Leila, her 'untouchable' mood.

As, Perun pressed his fingers along his nose, he sincerely wished for the two of them to understand each other someday.

“Indeed, I can sense mana from it.”

Eva’s spirits were lifted. She continued carefully.

“Yes Master. I took Master’s advice and decided to salvage things around. You were right, there were materials if I just looked around with more effort!”

“Oh? That’s good, Eva! Looks like you’ve put it into practice rather quickly, as expected of my daughter!”

“H-Hauuuu… Th-thank you, Master.”

Eva was ecstatic from her Master’s answer, a sloven smile dripped on her face.

“But…”

Perun tilted his head. His eyes turned blue as he tried to read the mana strings in the capsule. It was a little strange. The normal mana batteries had very straight lines, like a stack of hay. But Eva’s salvaged creation had tangled mana strings… as if… it was merely just squashed together by a hydraulic metal press.

Perun looked up, and saw Eva’s innocent smile.

(Hm… am I overthinking this…)

“In any case… it looks usable… We were just about to fall below fifty percent upstairs, so it really helps that this saves the trip to the city for one. But the mana efficiency won’t be as good as the one on the shelves right now.” Perun remarked, eyes still fixed on the mana inside.

“Yes Master, it is a prototype still, but I will work harder to improve it in the future!”

“Haha, alright. You work hard then.”

Perun patted the girls’ head twice, causing Eva to twitch a little in happiness.

“Can I leave it to Eighteen to install it on the third floor?”

“Yes, leave it to me, Master!”

Eva voice was a little higher pitched than usual.

Pixie returned a few moments after Eva had left the room joyfully.

“Did something happen to that girl?”

“Well, she made something good today. Hear this...”

“Hey dear.”

At the doorstep of the house, Pixie turned around and smiled, putting her hands behind her back.

An expectant look.

Perun bent his waist and kissed her.

Pixie’s face blushed like when they were newlyweds. This relationship never became stale for her. Being wed to Perun was something she had continued to cherish every day. Pixie sunk down and held her knees together weakly, grinning sheepishly and eyes intoxicated by Perun’s dashing appearance (in her mind).

“You’re running late, go on.”

“...Un.”

...

Pixie stopped after a few steps, and turned back again.

“...What’s wrong?”

“No, nothing. I just feel like… is it really okay for me to receive this much happiness…”

She laughed.

“At this point. I think I’ve used up my lifetime’s luck… probably.”

“Don’t be silly.”

Perun responded back, breaking his stone-faced expression. This was his second time smiling today.

“I feel happy when you’re with me too.”

He wrapped his wife in a gentle embrace.

“It’s okay to feel this happy. I love you, Pixie.”

“...Un, I love you too...”

A moment passed, and Pixie crept over to his ear and whispered with her lips curled.

“Dont feel too lonely when I'm not around okay~ When I get back, ...you're mine for the night~”

"..."

"...Dear?"

Noticing that Perun was not responding towards her night invitation, Pixie was about to act up and complain… but she noticed his face lowered. He was feeling sorry for himself.

“...As expected, you’re this worried?”

He had seen through Pixie’s actual intentions.

Pixie moved away from him, and smiled wryly.

“...Yeah. It’s that nightmare again, right? The doctor had already said that it was a post-war trauma, the symptoms should have been alleviated by the medicine a long time ago. If you’re having it again recently, then-”

“-Don’t say it.”

Perun placed a finger over her lips. His face was unusually serious this time.

“...Don’t say it.”

A face which Pixie did not know whether she liked or disliked it. It was a face which he would only show when it concerned his daughters.

“...”

Maybe it was a bit of both, Pixie felt frustrated from the mix of emotions in her chest. She could do nothing to help her husband even though she was a ‘healer’.

“I understand, but… let me try again tonight... if, you don’t want them to...”

Perun nodded, and saw her out.

“Have a safe trip.”

“Haahh…” Another long sigh. Perun was mentally exhausted. It was a lie that he had overcome his nightmare. Its effects would only show as the day passed, he would feel his concentration wavering.

It was kept a secret from his daughters but...Perun would eventually be pulled to one side of that abhorrent state: Berserk Mana.

He had first noticed it when he was in front of a mirror while brushing his teeth one morning after waking up from that same dream. His eyes were bright red, a deep darkness hidden within which threatened to consume those who saw it.

...That was enough proof to show that he did not have much time left.

The man shivered at the thought that he might become unstable one day in the presence of his daughters.

(...Pixie is right… I need to do something about this…”

Pulling out a drawer below his desk, Perun pulled out a phonebook.

He flipped through the pages and found the number he was looking for.

That name made him hesitate a little. But he decided it was for the best.

“...It’s not like he’s going to ask for anything absurd in exchange… right.”

This was a conversation that he would not allow his daughters to overhear. Leilan and Eva were still at home after breakfast, and he knew that they had no more assignments from the guild for the remainder of today. Perun manipulated mana strings from within his body and closed the double leaved door a distance from him.

The doors closed silently as he weaved and pushed the mana strings.

He was now enclosed in the room, and just for precaution, Perun walled the room off with an additional layer of mana.

Now the room was also soundproof.

“Okay.”

Now then... he was about to call someone troublesome.

Prepping himself up, he dialed the number.