Little Tyrant Doesn’t Want to Meet with a Bad End

Roel thought about what he had just seen and heard as the two of them walked down the street: the tattered united army armor on sale, the vendor’s words, as well as what he had heard from the owner of the apple store.

Now that I think about it, even if this street is pieced together from other fragments of my memories, I don’t think I have had direct interactions with the vendors before. I have also never encountered vendors selling loot from the battlefield. All of these are coming out of nowhere.

In the first place, isn’t it weird how conscious I am in a dream?

Wait a moment—a dream?

Am I… really in a dream?

“Daddy!”

“!”

As this thought occurred to Roel, the girl who had been holding his hand all this while suddenly halted her footsteps and let out a sigh.

“It’s all daddy’s fault for thinking so much. We can’t continue playing anymore.”

“You mean…”

“Yes, this is my dream. I would have used the Ascart Fiefdom since it’s the place I grew up in, but so many things have changed there that I couldn’t use it. I didn’t think there would be so many inconsistencies in the Holy Capital too. What a failure.”

“Failure? Could it be…”

“Yes, I am not just a figment of your imagination. I am your real daughter. You can tell through my eyes and hair, right?”

“!”

Roel widened his eyes in shock. He hurriedly squatted down to take a proper look at the black-haired, golden-eyed girl before him.

My real daughter? How can this be? Even through the use of temporal spells… Ah! Is that why the medium is a dreamscape?

Returning to the past was nigh impossible even with the use of temporal spells, but the difficulty would be greatly lowered if presented in the form of a prophetic dream.

“Yes, that’s the case,” the girl replied with a joyful nod, as if having heard Roel’s inner voice.

Roel became agitated. Staring at the girl before him, he asked an important question that he had been neglecting all this while: “What’s your name?”

“Ah, I can’t do that. I can’t tell my name to daddy even though I really want to do so. It’ll result in complications.”

“Complications? Are you referring to a paradox?”

“Yeaps! That’s why I have been holding myself in all this while to keep myself from telling you… Even so, you still accompanied me around the commercial district.”

“Somehow, I felt vaguely close to you.”

Roel hesitantly reached out to touch the girl’s face, but before his hand could reach, the latter took the initiative to nuzzle her cheeks against his hand like a kitten. That surprised him, and his eyes grew even warmer.

After a moment of thought, he raised the question that he was the most concerned about. “Then, your mother is…”

Roel instinctively believed that the girl was his daughter, but as she had inherited his hair and eye color, he was unable to figure out her mother’s identity through those traits. As for her appearance…

“I don’t look like my mother at all. As much as I wish to tell you, I’ll let mummy do it herself.”

“All right,” Roel replied with a nod. Another question naturally popped into his mind, and he asked with a grim expression, “You resorted to a dangerous temporal spell to visit me in my dream. Is there something important you wish to tell me?”

He mentally prepared himself for bad news.

Temporal spells were powerful spells that humankind was nowhere close to grasping thus far. Such a spell couldn’t have come from such a young girl, even if it was just a dream. There had to be something deeper behind it.

“Did you come here to warn me about an impending crisis? Or is someone in danger?”

“Ah, no. Well… There were other reasons, but I only wanted to be with daddy for a day,” the girl said with a strained smile.

“Ah?”

Roel was momentarily confused before a rush of apology surged through his heart.

“Did the future me neglect you a lot? I’m sorry. I…”

“No! It’s not daddy’s fault! I-it’s due to some matters, s-so…”

Kak!

“!”

The girl became agitated upon hearing Roel’s apology. Before she could finish her words, a shattering sound suddenly echoed in their ears. Cracks appeared in the sky above them, and they swiftly expanded across the entire world.

“That is…”

“Just as I expected. Not even the dreamscape can shoulder the burden if there are too many inconsistencies,” the girl remarked as she looked at the crumbling dreamscape.

“You mean…”

“Our time has come to an end, daddy,” the girl said with a sorrowful smile.

“…”

Roel felt an inexplicable dull ache in his heart. He didn’t know what was going on, but he sensed that he had failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a father to the girl before him. This realization left him with a heavy feeling in his chest.

Knowing that he couldn’t part ways with his daughter like that, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently told her, “I don’t know what happened in the future, but I want to let you know that whether it’s the current me or the future me, I’ll always love you. You’ll always have an important place in my heart.”

“Daddy?!”

The girl stared at Roel with eyes wide in shock, and Roel smiled lovingly at her.

“I know my words may lack credence, but there’s no way I wouldn’t be fond of such an adorable daughter. I apologize in advance for not being able to spend much time with you. I’ll make sure not to make the same mistakes as the future me did.”

“N-no, it’s not like that. It’s not like that at all! It’s not daddy’s fault… Wu…”

The girl’s expression distorted upon hearing those words, and she started to weep all of a sudden. That sent Roel into a fluster. However, as their surroundings became increasingly distorted, she forced herself to get a grip.

“Daddy, there isn’t much time left. Can you promise me something?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Please take me out to play again. Not in a dream but the real world.”

“Of course. It’s a promise.”

Roel grabbed the girl’s outstretched hand, and the latter revealed a tearful but satisfied smile. There was an abrupt flash of light, and his consciousness was dragged back to the real world.