The brief eye contact between them didn't seem to catch the girl's attention. While she was sowhat curious as to why an outsider like Steven was here, the newly arrived white-haired girl was far more concerned about sothing else.
Shifting her gaze away from Steven, she quickly scanned the room before her eyes landed on Gladiia, who was sitting dazedly while Gavial conducted her examination.
"Second Company Captain!"
With clear joy in her voice, the white-haired girl rushed straight to Gladiia's side, calling out to her excitedly.
However, to her surprise, the usually composed and calculating Abyssal Hunter Second Company Captain—who was always calm and in control—only tilted her head in response.
Pressing a finger to her lips, she made an unexpectedly cute and confused expression, sothing the girl had never imagined she would ever see.
—Had she mistaken her for soone else?
What exactly had happened to turn the captain Gladiia she knew into this?
"It's , Skadi, from the Third Company! We've fought together before! Even Specter is here—don't tell you don't recognize your own teammates?"
Pointing at herself, the girl—who had just introduced herself as Skadi—refused to give up.
She reached out to support the still-sleeping white-haired girl in front of Steven and, with a bitter expression, asked the confused Gladiia once more.
"Miss Skadi, I understand that you're anxious, but please listen to ."
Before Skadi could push further, Gavial interjected, rubbing her forehead in exasperation.
"The Gladiia you're speaking of suffered a severe head injury, which has greatly affected her awareness and mory. Right now, her intelligence is roughly that of a six-to-eight-year-old child."
She sighed before continuing.
"Also, Miss Specter just took her dicine and lay down to rest. If you shake her awake like that again, you'll be the one responsible for putting her back to sleep."
Seeing Skadi's reckless actions, Gavial felt the need to step in and stop her before she made things worse.
From her examination earlier, she was certain that aside from her cognitive and mory issues, Gladiia was completely healthy.
In fact, too healthy.
All the internal injuries that had built up over ti from years of battle—injuries she had detected in both Skadi and Specter—were entirely absent from Gladiia.
Or rather… they seed to have been healed recently.
With that thought in mind, Gavial couldn't help but glance at Steven, who was currently trying his best to pretend he didn't exist.
This whole thing… definitely had sothing to do with him.
After all, he was technically Gladiia's legal guardian in na.
"How could this happen…?"
Hearing Gavial's explanation, Skadi visibly deflated. It was as if the hope she had been reaching for had suddenly been shattered before her eyes.
"Was it the sa people who hurt Specter…?"
Her expression darkened.
"I will avenge them."
A murderous glint flashed in her eyes as she tightened her grip on the massive, strangely shaped greatsword strapped to her back.
The sheer rage she emitted was practically tangible, her killing intent thick enough to condense into reality.
If she ever found out who was responsible for Gladiia's current state…
She would make them pay.
Feeling the overwhelming bloodlust radiating from Skadi, Steven awkwardly inched closer to the wall.
—Yeah.
This whole situation of being confronted by the victim's family mber was really uncomfortable.
Especially because… he was totally at fault here.
After all, he was the reason everything had ended up like this.
But Gavial had no intention of letting him off the hook so easily.
The mont she heard Skadi's question, she imdiately pointed at Steven without hesitation.
"You should ask him about that," Gavial said, pointing at Steven without hesitation. "After all, he's the one who brought Miss Gladiia to Rhodes Island. In a way, he's her guardian now."
"Guardian?"
Skadi frowned slightly, shifting her gaze back to Steven.
At the sa ti, the dazed and groggy Gladiia—who had seed half-asleep this whole ti—suddenly snapped to full alertness the mont she saw Steven.
In a flash, she leaped up from the hospital bed, ran straight to his side, and grabbed onto his sleeve tightly.
"Dad!"
Her loud, clear voice rang out across the room.
Skadi's eyes widened in shock.
"She just called you… Dad?"
Steven was montarily speechless.
Not knowing how to explain the situation, he blurted out the first thing that ca to mind.
"Well, if you want, you can call that too."
The mont the words left his mouth, he imdiately regretted them.
Skadi's already pale complexion turned visibly red, her expression frozen in disbelief.
—Yeah.
This was what happened when you spent too much ti joking around—you accidentally said dumb things in serious situations.
Steven let out an awkward chuckle and quickly tried to correct himself.
"Wait, no. What I ant was—there's a reason for all this! Maybe you should hear out first?"
Feeling the heavy pressure of Skadi's growing anger, Steven had no choice but to lower his stance.
If he had been in the right, he wouldn't have backed down so easily.
But the problem was… he wasn't.
And as soone who prided himself on being a reasonable person, Steven found it difficult to argue when he was clearly at fault.
To his surprise, despite looking like she was on the verge of erupting into a full-blown volcanic explosion, Skadi actually managed to suppress her emotions and gave him a chance to explain.
"Alright. Go on."
'This girl's too gentle.'
—Of course, Steven didn't dare to tell her the real reason.
If he admitted that he had quite literally collided with Gladiia so hard that he gave her amnesia and ended up accidentally becoming her father figure, it would be a joke that the entirety of Rhodes Island would never let him live down.
Especially that green-haired crocodile girl—she'd spread the story everywhere.
Honestly, if the situation were reversed, Steven would totally do the sa.
"So, when I found her, she was being attacked by so creatures that erged from the ocean."
Steven put on his most sincere expression, making sure his tone was convincing.
"She was already seriously injured by the ti I got there. After I treated her wounds… maybe it was instinct or sothing, but she just started thinking of as her father."
Technically, this wasn't a lie.
He had only left out one tiny detail that wasn't all that important.
So it still counted as telling the truth, right?
"If I rember correctly, those monsters were called 'Seaborn' or sothing like that."
Casually throwing out the na of the creatures, Steven subtly reinforced the credibility of his story.
As soon as Skadi heard that na, her expression shifted.
Her anger visibly lessened, and her tense posture relaxed slightly.
If Seaborn were involved, then… it actually made sense.
Considering the Second Company Captain strength, there were very few things in this world capable of putting her in such a state.
But Seaborn?
Yeah.
Those monsters had the qualifications.
After all, Captain Gladiia was a Captain of the Abyssal Hunter Second Company—there was no way a re land-dweller could have beaten her into amnesia.
User Comments
0 comments from readers