Chapter 161
Valar’s eyes narrowed.
“Why do you look so intently, daughter, are you so curious about your father’s likability?”
“No.”
She cut him off, but he squinted, his eyes sparkling with mischief, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
“I’ll recite it for you, 100 boundless love. Unbreakable family bonds.”
“Is that real?”
Why does everything he says sound like a scam?
She gives him a suspicious glance, and he chuckles, then pulls her into a hug.
“Of course it’s real, because unlike my bitter daughter, you’re full of love.”
“What’s the catch? That’s why you don’t get my love.”
“Wow, that really hurt.”
He poked her cheek, then wrapped his arms around her chest and feigned pain.
He looked amused.
“But why is my likability rating only 45, if you’re so bad?”
“Hmm.”
She thought, comparing it to Mehen’s 99.
Given her -50 stranger favorability, she wondered if it was high considering how long she knew him.
She has known Mehen and the nursery since she was a baby, but she has known her father since…
“What is it, that disrespectful look?”
She made a stern face, pretending to be offended, but sighed at his playful voice.
“Be nice to me.”
“How much longer here.”
“Anyway, be nice.”
“Does being nice make me like you more?”
“I’m not sure about that.”
Dad chuckled.
Mehen looks over at them and shakes his head as we’ve been rubbing their foreheads together for a while.
“Why do you look at me like that? Are you curious about my crush?”
“No.”
“100% absolute trust/absolute friendship.”
“…”
His smirk was as good as ever, and it looked like it could mesmerize anyone today.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the only two people in the room were immune to Valar’s smirk.
“You know, the one I trust.”
“…”
Mehen frowned, his expression impatient.
Dad had a knack for making his listeners feel uneasy by saying things that sounded like they were said lightly, but when examined, were actually meant to be true.
“Very well, My Lord, then I’ll let you know how I feel in return.”
Mehen smiled.
“77. Distrust/Friendship.”
“What? That’s too much!”
“Think of what you’ve done to me all these years.”
Between the two of them, she was the only one left questioning.
“Still, isn’t that pretty high?”
She thought 70 was love…
Yes, friendship is love, too.
“Oh, daughter, did he do this?”
There was only one “he” her dad was referring to. Regent Ludwig.
“No, he said he didn’t want to, so I didn’t.”
Dad’s eyes twinkled strangely.
“Really? Wait a minute.”
“…?”
‘What the hell are you going to do?
Dad disappeared for a moment and reappeared, dragging the Regent with him.
The suddenly captured Ludwig frowned and muttered a few curse words, then relaxed when he saw her.
“Scan him.”
“Uh…”
“What is going on?”
“Ugh, that ugly bastard.”
The way Mehen ruffled his hair, she had a pretty good idea.
I mean, my dad. You’re trying to make a move, aren’t you?”
“What do you think it’s going to be, daughter? -50 again?”
“Funny, but it’s still going to be over zero.”
“You?”
The Regent blushed as her father laughed out loud.
“Yeah, sure. Let’s check it out here.”
“…”
Dad looked at me with a twinkle in his eye.
Zingg-
The likability scanner activated, and a number popped up as she looked at the Regent Ludwig, who was nervous for some reason.
[Me → Other]
[♡ -72 firm distrust/pity]
“…?”
She blinked in confusion.
“?”
“?”
An silence descended on the room.
“Puh-ha-ha-ha.”
Her dad broke the silence, unable to contain his laughter. Even Mehen couldn’t hide his sympathy for the Regent in the face of her ironclad crush.
“-72…”
Ludwig stared at the numbers on the scanner with a lost expression.
A lower favorability rating than the first person she met.
But what is this feeling of not feeling sorry for yourself at all?
“Hahaha. -72. Steadfast! Disbelief!”
“Stop it.”
“Stop what? -72?”
Dad teased the Regent excitedly.
“Stop saying nice things.”
“Nice things? What’s a nice thing?”
“Stop being a prick.”
“What are you saying? I can’t hear what -72 is saying.”
“You son of a bitch.”
She sighed heavily at the sight of the adults arguing childishly as soon as their eyes met, and Mehen patted her on the back.
“My favorability rating for you is -72.”
“What do you mean, I’m below -100, absolute distrust, absolute dislike. Do you know?”
“Ha. My feelings are absolute distrust, absolute dislike. It’s unpleasant just to be in the same room with you.”
“Me too.”
She sighed again as she watched the two growling adults.
“When will they grow up.”
“That’s right.”
She looked back at Mehen.
“Mom, I want to read a book.”
“Sure. Shall we go to my office?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
***
The vast expanse of land came into view.
“Why can’t I see the horizon?”
This was her birthday present.
This was the land where her city would soon be built.
“It’s going to be your city, you should see it at least once, right?”
-Dad, who invited me to come to the wasteland.
“It’s weird. It looked so small on the map…”
“Wow.”
“It’s so big!”
The twins who came with her gasped.
“There’s going to be a city in all this empty land?”
Not forgetting Pession.
“…”
Aaron was a bonus, of course.
Ciel’s golden eyes twinkled.
“I’ve never seen anyone get a city for their birthday!”
Yeah, she never saw anything like it either.
“I got an island.”
“I got a mansion.”
“I got a castle.”
“I got a sword.”
Ciel, Noel, Pession, and Aaron muttered, in that order. What they got was not bad.
She kept her mouth shut as she took the city. It’s not much of a city yet…
“But Sion, aren’t you getting a manor soon? Isn’t that the same as getting a city?”
“That’s not a city made for me.”
“That’s… Yes.”
She wanted to argue that it wasn’t her city either, but the story of how she got her city for her birthday was splashed across the front page of the Albrecht Times.
It’s a city that’s been built with everything controlled, from the zoning to the shape of the buildings, to make sure it’s strictly for Arellin of Halbern.
“Arellin, it’s easy to give you the city you already have.”
“No, it’s not.”
“It’s easier than building a whole new city!”
Ciel and Noel have a long discussion about how ridiculous this is.
It would cost more than twice as much money as giving them what they already had.
“Of course it would!”
Building a city, even in modern terms, was a state-sponsored undertaking.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
As she anxiously looked at some of the buildings that had begun construction, Mehen approached her with a smiling face.
“Do you like it?”
Is there anything I don’t like about it?”
“But, Mom.”
“Yes.”
“What are those wizards? I recognize their faces.”
“Ah.”
Everywhere the building was being raised, wizards were doing the work that modern heavy machinery should be doing with magic.
“That’s how you know the construction will go fast.”
Mehen smiled vaguely.
“It’s voluntary.”
“Really?”
“Voluntary.”
“…”
Shs glared at him, and he looked off into the distance.
Judging by the look of disbelief on his face, Dad must have done something else.
“Does it have anything to do with the wizards being so darned good at lunch these days?”
She couldn’t say anything to him, but she felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of all the wizards who wandered by, were moved to tears by the lunchtime music, and then went home.
She purposely avoided them more because she felt overwhelmed, but what is there really.
“Anyway, doesn’t care, it’s all voluntary,” he said.
“I see.”
She heard they were researching her disease, developing cars, and now they’re building cities, and it’s all voluntary. Aha.
“How did my dad get on that?”
Mehen laughed like it wasn’t true, but there was no way she could have known the truth.
When they got back to the mansion after touring the huge plain where the city was being built, the twins called out to her.
“Arel, the likability scanner!”
“That’s right, the likability scanner!”
Ah, here it comes.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes!”
She shakily pulled out the likability scanner at the twins’ insistence.
She honestly wasn’t confident
that she’d get a high likability rating.
