Father-Daughter Conversation (Part Two)

Irin fell silent.

It was true. They might leave Black Cave Settlement with the young man as soon as they picked up her mother tonight, or, at the latest, tomorrow morning. They were heading to an unfamiliar new city, and when she would return—or whether she could return at all—was anyone's guess.

Brian had clearly guessed as much. That was why he had insisted on pulling her aside and making time for one last talk between them—not father and daughter, but closer than that.

"I'm telling you all this because I want you to hear me, Irin. I don't want you to follow in your father's footsteps. You saw what he turned into in the end. Do you really want to—"

"No! I'm nothing like that bastard!"

The words must have hit a sore spot. Irin practically shouted as she cut Brian off.

Brian didn't get angry. He continued in a low voice, "What makes you so sure? That young man, Liao Ji?"

"I... him..." Irin couldn't explain any of this to Brian. But one thing she knew for certain was that she wasn't like other Corrupted. After what had happened at Haisha Bar, she was more sure of it than ever.

During the earlier fight with Grey Wolf, there had been another reason Liao Ji had told Irin to stay behind: he didn't want her to see him use a Corrupted Crystal on Grey Wolf. But with her own eyes, she had still been able to make a rough guess at what Liao Ji had done.

That scene had left a deep impression on Irin. She kept wondering: if she hadn't received the young man's "Contract" back then, would she have become like Grey Wolf—a monster, a Corrupted Corpse, utterly contaminated and mutated by the Corrupt Calamity?

But now, with the help of the young man's "Contract," she felt no discomfort in either body or mind. Even the Church's detection equipment couldn't pick up the Corrupt Calamity inside her.

But...

Irin was afraid.

Anyone who had seen that scene would have been afraid.

She had even begun to wonder: would Liao Ji really release her from the Contract? Would he treat her the way he had treated Grey Wolf once he decided she was no longer useful? Would he make the Corrupt Calamity inside her run wild and turn her into a Corrupted Corpse monster, too?

Irin pressed her lips together. She would never say these fearful thoughts to Brian. Just as she was preparing to bury them deep inside, Brian's next words left her stunned.

"To be honest, if your confidence really does come from that young man, Liao Ji, then I'm actually relieved."

"What—what?!"

"Sure, I've barely spoken to him, but I can tell he's a good person. And a pretty foolish one, too."

Brian understood why the girl across from him was so shocked. When her expression shifted from "stunned" to "are you kidding me," he sighed as if he'd expected it.

The main reason Brian had insisted on talking to Irin wasn't to ask if she was Corrupted. What would it even mean if he found out?

What came next was what Brian had truly wanted to tell her.

He didn't explain why he thought Liao Ji was a good person, and a pretty foolish one at that.

Instead, Brian posed another question.

"Let me ask you, Irin. If you were the gang leader of Kalleva, and you saw the Knights Order's report on this incident, who would you focus on?"

"F-focus on us two."

"And what if you'd both listened to me afterward and just left?" Brian asked again.

This time, he answered his own question.

"Kalleva wouldn't let Haisha Bar go. They wouldn't let me off, either. So that young man drew their attention to himself this way and protected the bar."

"I..."

Irin was speechless. She hadn't thought that far at the time. Now that Brian had pointed it out, she was beginning to understand.

So... the old fossil had stayed behind to wait for the Knights Order because of Haisha Bar? And he'd made up that testimony full of obvious holes because of the bar, too?

But... no, that didn't make sense!

Why would he do that?

At first, hadn't the old fossil gone out of his way to change clothes with her so they could avoid Kalleva?

Watching the girl sink into confusion, Brian shook his head inwardly.

He had watched Irin grow up and knew how devastating her father's death had been for her. It had turned the girl who was once like a little angel into the prickly, unpleasant girl she was now, someone who could hardly bring herself to trust anyone.

As someone who'd been through it himself, Brian knew that people like her could still be kind inside and long to be loved. But the thorns they wore on the outside made them lose so much—beautiful things they might otherwise have had the chance to hold on to.

"I bet you told that young man how much this bar means to you. That it's like your home, and everyone here—us—is like family. That's why he took the attention onto himself. It's why he insisted on taking that test, too."

"He did it this way to put us at ease, so we'd agree to let him take you with him. And that's exactly what happened. The Church's test results were right there in front of me. Even though I knew you were already Corrupted, I had nothing to say. I had no reason to stop you from leaving Black Cave Settlement. I'm sure your mother, Nolan, feels the same way."

Maybe that young man hadn't thought it through at all. Maybe he'd just acted on impulse. But Brian couldn't afford to care about that.

Since he couldn't stop Irin from being taken away from Black Cave Settlement—and had no way to stop it—he could only choose to believe Liao Ji was that kind of person and take a gamble. Then he could help Irin lower the thorns she'd pointed at the young man.

"The old fossil... he did all that for me?"

Irin didn't know what to say. A jumble of conflicting emotions simmered in her heart.

Seeing the girl's expression, Brian knew he'd gotten through to her.

He gave Irin one last pat on the shoulder.

"When you find something good, you shouldn't think about how to reject it or keep your distance. You should think about how to make it yours, how to claim it and make it belong to you. If you don't treasure it now and let this precious chance slip away, then all you'll be able to do is watch someone else take him."

"That's basic common sense for us scavengers. Have you forgotten?"

"Huh? What?! You old fossil! You stinky old man! Hold on! What—what are you getting at? Explain what you mean!"

Irin nodded in a daze at first, but when she caught on, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger as she questioned Brian.

"Oh, and apart from a few exceptions, girls who swear every other word aren't very popular. You really ought to work on that, Irin."

"I told you, he and I don't have that kind of relationship!"

Brian only sneered.

"Is that so?"

"Then why didn't our Miss Irin show up dressed this beautifully, elegantly, and appropriately for such an important occasion as my fiftieth birthday a little while ago?"

As he spoke, Brian looked down at the high heels on the girl's feet and shook his head with a tsk.

Girls grew up and left their old folks behind.