Father-Daughter Conversation (Part 2)

Irin fell silent.

Indeed, perhaps after picking up her mother tonight, or at the latest by tomorrow morning, they would leave the Black Cave Settlement with the young man for an unknown new city. When she would return, or if she could ever return here at all, remained an unknown.

Clearly, Brian had already guessed this, which was why he insisted on pulling her aside to squeeze in this final conversation—a talk between two people who weren't father and daughter, but were closer than if they were.

"The reason I'm telling you all this is to warn you. Irin, I don't want you to follow in your father's footsteps. You saw what he eventually became, surely you don't want to—"

"No! I am nothing like that scumbag!"

Perhaps because it struck a nerve, Irin interrupted Brian, almost shouting.

Brian didn't get angry. He continued in a low, steady voice: "What gives you such confidence? That young man named Liao Ji?"

"I... he..." Irin couldn't explain everything to Brian, but she was certain of one thing: she was different from ordinary Corrupted. After the incident at the Haisha Bar, she was more convinced of this than ever.

During the previous battle against Grey Wolf, another reason Liao Ji had told Irin to stay put was that he didn't want her to see him using the Corrupted Crystal on Grey Wolf. But from her vantage point, the girl could more or less vaguely guess what he had done.

That scene had left a deep impression on Irin, making her wonder repeatedly: if she hadn't received the "Contract" from the young man, would she have ended up like Grey Wolf, a Corrupted Corpse monster completely mutated by the corruption?

Yet, with the help of the young man's "Contract," her body and mind felt perfectly fine. Even the Church's testing equipment couldn't detect the corruption within her.

But.

Irin was afraid.

No one could witness that scene and not be afraid.

The girl even began to wonder: would Liao Ji really release her from the contract? Would he treat her the same way he treated Grey Wolf once he felt she had no more value? Would he let the corruption in her body run wild and turn her into a Corrupted Corpse monster as well?

Just as the girl bit her lip, preparing to bury these fearful thoughts deep in her heart—things she would never say to Brian—his next words left her stunned.

"To be honest, if your confidence really comes from that young man named Liao Ji, then I actually feel quite relieved."

"W-what!?"

"It's true. I haven't even spoken more than a few sentences to him, but I can tell he's a good person—and a rather foolishly good one at that."

Brian understood the stunned expression on the girl's face. When he saw her expression shift from "shocked" to "are you kidding me," he sighed as if he had expected it all along.

The main reason Brian had insisted on pulling Irin aside for this talk wasn't to ask if she was a Corrupted; even if he found out, what would it change?

What followed was what Brian truly wanted to tell the girl.

He didn't explain to Irin why he thought Liao Ji was a good person, or a foolishly good one.

Instead, Brian threw out a new question.

"Tell me, Irin, if you were the gang leader of Kalleva, and you saw the Knights Order's investigation report on this incident, who would you focus your attention on?"

"O-on both of us."

"And what if you had listened to me back then and just left?" Brian asked again.

This time, the middle-aged man provided the answer himself.

"Kalleva wouldn't have let the Haisha Bar go, and they wouldn't have let me go. So, that young man used this method to draw their attention away and protect the Haisha Bar."

"This..."

Irin was speechless, unable to find the words. She hadn't thought that far ahead at the time, but now that Brian had pointed it out, she felt a sudden realization.

So... so the old fossil stayed behind to wait for the Knights Order just for the sake of the Haisha Bar? And that was why he made up that testimony, which was so full of holes and obviously suspicious?

But, that doesn't make sense!

Why would that guy do such a thing?

Didn't the old fossil go out of his way to change her clothes at the very beginning just to avoid Kalleva?

Seeing the girl lost in confusion, Brian shook his head inwardly.

He had watched Irin grow up and knew how heavy a blow her father's death had been for her. It had turned the girl who was once like a little angel into who she was now: a hedgehog of a girl with a terrible, abrasive personality who found it hard to trust anyone.

As someone who had been through it, Brian knew that people with this kind of personality, even if they were kind and longed for love deep down, would lose out on many beautiful opportunities they could have grasped because of the thorns they wore on the outside.

"I think you must have told that young man that this bar is very important to you, just like your home. That everyone here—us—is like your brother. That's why he took the heat, and that's why he insisted on doing that test."

"He used that method to put our minds at ease, to make us agree to let him take you away. And the facts are exactly as he planned; with the Church's test results placed in front of me, even though I know you're a Corrupted, I'm left speechless. I have no reason to stop you from leaving the Black Cave. I think your mother, Nolan, must feel the same."

Perhaps the young man hadn't thought that much through and was just acting on impulse, but Brian couldn't worry about that.

Since he couldn't stop Irin from being taken away from the Black Cave Settlement, he could only choose to believe that Liao Ji was that kind of person, take a gamble, and help Irin remove those thorns she held against the young man.

"This... the old fossil did... all this for me?"

Irin couldn't find her voice; a mixture of complex emotions churned in her heart like a pot of porridge.

Seeing the girl's reaction, Brian knew his goal had been achieved.

He gave Irin's shoulder a final pat.

"When you find something good, you shouldn't think about how to reject or distance yourself from it. You should think about how to make it your own, how to possess it, and make it belong to you. Otherwise, if you don't cherish it now and miss the precious opportunity, you'll only be able to watch as someone else snatches it away."

"That's the most basic common sense for us Scavengers. Have you forgotten?"

"Oh—ah!? You old thing! You stinky old man! You wait right there! You, what do you mean by that! You better --explain yourself clearly!"

Irin nodded in a daze at first, but after she realized what he meant, her face flushed with shame and anger as she demanded an explanation from Brian.

"Right, and one more thing: aside from a very small group of people, girls who have a mouth full of profanity aren't exactly popular. You really need to change that, Irin."

"I've already told you, he and I aren't in that kind of **-- relationship!!"

Brian let out a cold sneer at this.

"Is that so?"

"Then why, on such a significant occasion as my fiftieth birthday not long ago, did I not see our Miss Irin dressed as beautifully, elegantly, and appropriately as she is right now?"

As he finished speaking, Brian cast his gaze down at the high heels on the young girl's feet and clicked his tongue, shaking his head.

A grown daughter is like water spilled; she can no longer be kept at home.