A Father's Blind Love for His Daughter, Born of Ignorance

"Charm refers to the natural attraction humans possess, something that flows out without deliberate effort. The higher a person's charm, the more popular they are in society." Linton spoke unhurriedly. "If we quantify that concept, assuming the average person's charm is 5, then yours is 9."

"I'm only a 9?" Iris interrupted Linton.

"Fine, fine, you're a 10. A 10." Linton corrected himself helplessly. "Your charm is 10 points, while mine is negative 10."

"Didn't you say 0 was the lowest? Why are you negative?"

"That's right." Linton answered calmly. "But that's for normal people. I don't count."

"What do you mean?" Iris was a little confused.

"Let me give you an example. Suppose someone went to the same school as you, attended classes with you, went home with you, and joined extracurricular activities with you. Would you become close to her?"

Iris nodded. "If we're just interacting as ordinary classmates, then there wouldn't be a problem."

"But what if you learned that this classmate wasn't actually the same kind as us, but a monster or some other nonhuman creature in disguise? Would you still choose the same?"

"..." Iris hesitated slightly. "I wanted to say that if this person wasn't harmful, then interacting with her wouldn't necessarily be impossible. But deep down, I still think monsters aren't good things, so I would probably choose to stay away from her as much as possible."

"Exactly. Those not of our kind must have different hearts. That's a common thought shared by all living beings."

"You mean... you're not human?"

"How is that an insult?" Linton shot her a glance. "Of course I'm human. Every hair on my body carries pure human genes."

"Then why..."

"Because I'm a necromancer." Linton sighed. "Every mage who wants to achieve something is restless by nature. Unlike warriors, who conquer the world with martial skill alone, every mage learns vast amounts of knowledge on the path to becoming stronger. There's a saying: the more you know, the more you understand that you're merely a drop of water unable to stir even a ripple in the river of history. So some people choose to give up and stop chasing after things, while those greedy, never-satisfied mages try to become the brightest Life Star in the sky."

"Unfortunately, I'm one of the latter, and a necromancer who explores forbidden mysteries at that."

"After becoming a necromancer, I came into contact with the concept of 'death.' But ordinary people can neither bear nor accept that power. The dead shouldn't be alive. That is the order of this world, and I broke that order, so naturally I don't fit in with the world."

"To sum it up, I'm someone the world doesn't accept. Whenever normal people see me, their first impression is something like, 'This guy is handsome, but he doesn't seem like a good person. Better report him.'"

That was part of the explanation for the necromancer class. Only after Linton put it into simple, understandable terms did he fully explain it to the girl.

Listening to Linton's deliberately casual words, Iris felt a flicker of sympathy in her heart.

"Is there no way to solve it?"

"Actually, charm mostly affects first impressions. Once people have spent enough time with me, as long as they don't dislike me, the later effects aren't that significant. Still, to avoid being questioned for no reason and reduce trouble, it's better to wear these clothes."

"As for why your reaction after seeing me differs from everyone else's... I think it's probably because our souls are linked by chains under my control."

"Is that so?" Iris blinked. "Then when I thought you looked good earlier, was that also something you unconsciously controlled?"

"What are you thinking?" Linton said helplessly. "First of all, I'm not the type to care that much about my appearance. And if you were merely an empty shell with no consciousness of your own, I could control your movements. But changing a person's consciousness is something only classes like mind mages can do. You had a good first impression of me, perhaps because our powers share the same origin and weren't interfered with by the Rules. Or perhaps it's simply because I really am rather handsome?"

"Oh."

Iris turned her head away again.

So that was why I had suddenly felt close to him. It turned out I'd already been assimilated by him.

"Creak—"

Just as Iris's thoughts were running wild, the entire carriage suddenly stopped, and her body tilted uncontrollably to the side from the inertia.

"We're here."

Linton clapped his hands and got out first. Iris patted her cheeks and followed behind him.

It was still early. A curtain of stars still hung above the sky, while scattered lights lined the streets. It was hard to tell whether their owners had risen early to work or simply had not slept all night.

Following the route indicated by the quest system, Linton and Iris turned through several alleys before slowing down in front of a shop bearing a flag marked with a sword and hammer.

"By the way, why did my father give such a large sum of money to you?" Iris asked as she walked beside Linton, tilting her head slightly.

She was considered tall even among boys her age, probably around 1.7 meters barefoot, but beside Linton she was still a head shorter and had to raise her face slightly to look at him.

"Um..." Linton cautiously glanced at the girl's puzzled face, unsure how to explain it.

He couldn't exactly say that her father had been brainwashed by them and was practically ready to sell his house to pay them Offering Gold.

After hesitating for a moment, he saw that Iris had not withdrawn her gaze. He could only force himself to say, "The Truth Society worships the True Lord, and the True Lord is like the morning star in the darkness, guiding people along their paths. So I think perhaps he felt lost about his future and was converted by them. After all, it seems he hasn't been living very well."

"Is that so?"

Iris fell into thought.

The Flower Kingdom was a free nation and placed no restrictions on personal beliefs. It was simply that the Lord of Blossoms was the deity of this land, so more people believed in the Lord. That did not mean small sects like some Boar Cult did not exist.

Her father had felt lost about an uncertain future, but the Lord of Blossoms had not given him guidance, so he had turned to another small sect that had genuinely helped him. That seemed to make sense, didn't it?

After all, people of this era lacked spiritual entertainment and could only rely on faith to enrich themselves.

Iris nodded and asked no further questions.

Linton knocked on the blacksmith's door and quietly recited, "The road beneath our feet has yet to be forged."

"The radiance bestowed by the True Lord shall guide the way."

The door opened gently, and a ruggedly built man stepped out from within.

Linton took out the package. "This is what Mr. Lizer asked me to deliver to you."

"Thank you for your hard work, sir." The man accepted the package and said with some emotion, "If this Offering Gold hadn't been such a large sum, we wouldn't have troubled you to make a trip in the middle of the night. Though I didn't expect you to actually get it."

"It's nothing."

Hearing a ding ring out beside his ear, Linton's mood improved considerably.

"But I'm rather curious. Why was Mr. Lizer willing to offer such a large amount of money in gratitude to the True Lord?"

The man stroked the rough beard on his chin. "Mr. Lizer has a daughter who serves as a trainee knight in the Flower Knights. She's already sixteen and still hasn't become an official knight, so he thought she was probably going to be abandoned. He wanted the True Lord to guide his daughter onto a path of promotion."

Linton froze and looked toward Iris.

Iris merely gazed silently at the sky, seemingly unconcerned with their conversation.

"Then... did the True Lord's light descend?"

The man spread his hands helplessly. "For the True Lord, even making her a knight captain, a scouting captain, or some other minor position wouldn't be difficult, so agreeing to it wasn't much of a problem. But after we looked into the matter, we discovered that this gentleman's daughter seemed a little too outstanding. Within the Knights Order, they were even training her as the future commander. The reason she hadn't become official was even simpler—she dueled every day, and her temper was terrible."

"So even if the True Lord gave no instructions, his daughter's future path would still be endlessly bright?"

"That's right, but that father apparently doesn't know that." The man said, "Normally, the True Lord would not accept gratitude unrelated to the light the True Lord shines upon. But that gentleman thought he hadn't paid enough Offering Gold and insisted on adding more. Left with no choice, we offered a price of one million in an attempt to discourage him, but he actually brought it out."

"Perhaps that is a father's blind love for his daughter, born of ignorance."