ODGD 07

Chapter 7

The fabric still carried the vivid warmth of my father’s scent.

I breathed it in deeply, as if it could take his place for now.

“…Dad, we will definitely meet again. I’ll make sure to save you.”

The male lead would be the one to solve the end of the world anyway.

As for me, I’d save the innocent people who would die because of the Demon King—and I’d save my father.

Since it had come to this…

I will become strong… So strong that I will definitely take my father back.

I swore it from the depths of my heart.

I would bring back Lloyd Delight—not the Demon King Baal, but the father who loved me most.

This was the beginning of my own “Delight Project.”

3. The Pluto Ducal Family’s Ward

With that resolve, I left my father’s room.

First, I gathered all the portraits of my father and me and stored them in my inventory. In my previous life, before I ran away from home, I burned all our family portraits.

After all, being known as the Demon King’s daughter was bad enough; if there were portraits of me, anyone could recognize me anywhere.

This time, I was lucky to have an inventory.

I also stored the magic potion bottles that I assumed my father had drunk from.

“Phew… Now, let’s check my status window again.”

After tidying up the frames, I bit into the bread Madam Marsha had baked earlier in the day and opened my status window.

I was already familiar with the flow—this was a game I had played countless times.

The first thing to do was a job change. That way, I could quickly gain professional abilities in some way or another.

Besides, thanks to the extra tutorial reward, I could gain ten levels the moment I changed jobs.

Perfect.

Sure enough, the job change quest had been activated.

There were over 500 jobs I could choose from.

From candy seller to flower shop owner, cotton candy expert to master perfume maker, and even all-purpose teddy bear crafter.

I skimmed through the list quickly.

But the job I had to choose had already been decided.

Found it!

The name of my chosen job gleamed.

“Yes!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I chose my job.

To reach the Demon Realm and see my father, I had to have this skill.

I couldn’t become a demon like my corrupted father. And to face him and bring him back to normal, there was no better job than this.

Yes!

At that moment, I felt an invisible, strange force envelop and fill me.

Divine power—holy energy.

It rose in stages, steadily growing stronger.

Whoa.

To be level 10 right after a job change…

Normally, reaching level 10 took at least six months of grinding—a short time, but still far from insignificant.

I had effectively gained half a year.

<‘Dragon Slayer Sylvester’ sends you a cheer of congratulations!>
<‘Lily Druid Gabriella’ raises one corner of her mouth in satisfaction.>
<‘From Maid to Saint—Astina’ grants you a job change reward item!>

“Hm?”

Could it be that?

So it really was the same as in the game. When you first became a Holy Knight, you received the ‘Standard Dual Sword of the Holy Knight.’

I made a deliberately cheerful bow.

“Thank you!”

Now that my job change was done…

Should I head to my next destination?

I was planning to use the “Teleport Ticket” I had received as a tutorial reward.

I probably won’t have any reason to come back here for a while.

Before leaving, I took one last look around the mansion. The people of Neverland would surely be puzzled by my father’s and my sudden disappearance.

At least, for now, they still loved both of us. At this point in time, there was no one throwing stones at me.

But in just two months, news of the Demon King Baal’s resurrection would spread, and demonic energy would begin to fill the empire.

Someone who saw a winged man flying through the sky would soon come knocking at our door.

And once again, my father would be suspected.

After a moment’s thought, I addressed the Patrons.

“I want to use the ‘Patron’s Wish Ticket.’”

<‘Dragon Slayer Sylvester’ expresses surprise that you’re using it already.>
<‘Lily Druid Gabriella’ tells you to ask for something reasonable this time.>

“…This time, it’s reasonable. Please make everyone who knows my father and me forget about us.”

<……>

“And spread a rumor that this house has been a ruin for a long time—haunted, even—so no one comes inside.”

If everyone forgot us, then I wouldn’t be chased just for being the Demon King’s daughter.

<‘Dragon Slayer Sylvester’ asks if you really want to use the wish for this.>

“Yes! Please use it!”

<‘Dragon Slayer Sylvester’ has accepted the Patron’s wish!>
<One ‘Patron’s Wish Ticket’—used!>
<Everyone who knows you and your father has forgotten all related memories!>

…Done.

Truly, there was no one left who remembered us.

“Thank you.”

Only then did I turn away completely.

I felt lighter, and yet heavier.

At least, in this life, the people of Neverland wouldn’t come to despise us.

They had been kind and warm to us, and we had loved them in return.

Even if my father became the Demon King, the affection he’d shown them had been genuine.

So it was enough for them not to hate us—and simply forget.

Ebony Orphanage.

That was the name of the orphanage where I had lived for nearly four years before my regression—during the tutorial.

Using the Teleport Ticket, I went straight there and opened the map of the Ciantry Empire I had received as a reward.

The orphanage was much farther from Neverland than I’d expected.

Just how far did I manage to run on my own in this small body during the tutorial?

Of course, I had also snuck onto a carriage and traveled for quite a while.

But I hadn’t come here now to live as an orphan again.

There’s someone I must meet here.

If I remembered correctly, this was about the right time.

During the tutorial, I’d only heard that she had come to visit the orphanage. I never met her face-to-face, since I had been in the orphanage’s storage room, studying herbalism and running experiments.

This time, I’ll meet her for sure.

Just then, I spotted the orphanage director, a young woman named Eva, out in the front yard. She was a kind person.

“Oh, hello.”

I approached her with the brightest smile I could manage—pitiful yet cheerful.

Eva’s eyes went round when she saw me.

“Oh my, I’ve never seen you before… Goodness! I’ve never seen such a beautiful child in my life!”

I gave an awkward smile at the dazed look in her eyes.

Everyone who met me for the first time reacted that way.

You’re like a doll. Where are your parents? Could there be another girl in the world as cute and pretty as you?

They were always captivated at first sight.

So surely she—Lady Rearwin Pluto, the Marchioness.

The mother of Meteor.

She would surely notice me too.

During the tutorial, Lady Rearwin had come to Ebony Orphanage because she desperately wanted a daughter. Adoption had been impossible due to the Duke’s opposition.

Instead, she had tried to take in a girl as her ward.

But apparently, no one caught her fancy, and she left with no one in the end.

If I could catch her eye this time and become a ward of the Pluto ducal family…

That would make me, even if just a minor member, part of the Pluto household!

It would be a chance to get close to Meteor—the one who would kill my father.

And besides, to become a Holy Knight, I had to go north anyway…!