When the sound of Minamoto Raito's voice came from outside the door, accompanied by a series of loud knocks, the atmosphere inside the chapel instantly froze.
Standing next to Charlotte, Shirou suddenly tensed up. Erii could not be allowed to meet Minamoto Raito directly—if her brother recognized her face-to-face, her long-term "running away from home" plan would be ruined. And the Nono impersonating her inside the Minamoto Heavy Industries would be exposed on the spot.
It's her brother! Erii clearly realized the gravity of the situation.
She quickly scribbled a sentence in her notebook and showed it to Uesugi Etsu: "Is there somewhere I can hide for a while?"
"The small door behind the altar, the prayer room!"
Etsu pointed with his hand, and the girl reacted instantly, slipping away to the back of the chapel. She completely abandoned her graceful, airheaded miko demeanor, her scarlet hakama fluttering as she dashed like a gust of wind—like a startled crested ibis. Clearly, Erii had no intention of being dragged back by her brother.
As her red hair vanished from sight, a sharp glint flashed in Etsu's clouded eyes. He faintly guessed the truth: Erii should have been in the family, yet this kid Shirou might have hidden her away and run off together.
It gave him déjà vu—exactly the same as when his parents had eloped to Lyon, France, not a single detail different.
And as for the one knocking at the door, without a doubt, it must be someone sent by the family…
Knock! Knock! Knock! Minamoto Raito's knocking grew more urgent.
Seeing that Erii was now fully hidden, Etsu finally moved unhurriedly to open the door.
At the same time, the old man finally saw the current Shadow Emperor of the Orochi Eight, Minamoto Raito, in the flesh. Etsu had secretly gotten a photograph of this "Shadow Emperor's son" from Aga earlier. In person, the man looked exactly the same—delicately handsome, with pale, marble-like skin, eyes lowered softly. It was the kind of face girls would like.
Seeing the old man in a ramen apron stunned Raito for a moment. His lips moved for two seconds before he spoke:
"…You're my biological father?"
Etsu felt as if he were in a dream, joy surging through him. Perfect timing, son! You came at just the right time!
———
A few hours earlier, Minamoto Raito had been listening to his foster father, Tachibana Masamune, tell stories long buried in the past. He had been pacing in the room, turbulent thoughts surging, while Tachibana knelt solemnly in the center like a sinner awaiting judgment.
"So you're saying that my brother, Erii, and I are all children of that Uesugi Etsu," Raito said, voice low and calm, his gaze as sharp as a blade.
"But you once told me," he continued, "that Shirou's exceptional bloodline and his hair color matching Erii's suggested that he was also one of those experimental subjects created from Uesugi Etsu's genetic samples in that portside gene bank?"
Tachibana answered honestly, "No, aside from you three siblings, there were no others derived from the previous generation Etsu's embryos. As for Shirou's red hair, there may be another origin."
"Another origin?"
"The hair color is easy to explain. The most famous red hair in the world comes from the Chen family in Shenzhou—for example, the girl called Nono beside Shirou. Her real name is Chen Motong, also with red hair. Uesugi Etsu's mother, Charlotte Chen, was a Sino-French mix, so the red hair in Erii could be explained by genetic inheritance."
Raito frowned. "You mean Shirou's bloodline might also come from the Chen family? A Shenzhou family can produce a super mixed-blood?"
"No, that's just one possibility. Another is that Shirou is essentially a Bondarev experiment. Bondarev knew my full plan back then and might have stolen genetic samples and my research results to create a more perfect designer child!"
Raito's voice chilled. "Tell me about your plans back then!"
"It started after I met Bondarev," Tachibana began. "Though we reached an agreement, we didn't trust each other. He thought I hadn't revealed all my results, and I thought he was hiding his origins and plotting something."
"I thought of using the power of the Orochi Eight, knowing that the Third Reich had once worked with them and achieved results. If I gave them my entire research data and the super mixed-blood embryos as a gift, they would certainly support my work."
"So I proposed moving the whole research center from that unnamed port to the East, taking the key data and embryos. But Bondarev proposed something even more extreme—blow up the entire port!"
"To destroy the evidence?"
"Yes. The other researchers were our competition. Blinded by greed for the unreachable throne, we slaughtered hundreds, turning the port into ruins!"
Raito clenched his fists. "Monstrous…"
"We were both devoured by our inner demons, but Bondarev was worse. He tried to kill me to silence me, shooting me and leaving me to die in the Arctic. I suspect he stole my work then—but he never expected I'd survive!"
"I made my way to the East, changed my name, altered my face, and planned to reclaim my results—including you three siblings. I learned of his movements one day, followed him at sea, and riddled his boat with bullets."
"I found my black notebook there and thought he was dead. I took back you three and climbed the Orochi Eight ranks to learn of the 'god' the family guarded."
"So your goal, like the Ghost Horde, was to resurrect this 'god' for evolution?"
"No," Tachibana clutched his head in pain. "When I became head and learned the truth, it was all a lie! The god's remains were just bait to lure humans into becoming mindless monsters under the White King's control. There's no path to evolution!"
"The 'Kōmonki' records that Susanoo was corrupted by the god's remains into becoming Yamata no Orochi, forcing Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi to use Simulation Kotodama: Shiva's Karma Dance and Return to the Void to sink Takamagahara into the sea."
"In the end, I realized Bondarev never died—he had Shirou as the perfect super mixed-blood and was using me as his pawn!"
Raito's eyes widened. "The Ghost Horde's new leader, the 'King General'… is Bondarev?"
"Exactly. He's letting me test the path to godhood for him, waiting to swoop in."
"I see… no wonder you've been so aggressive against them," Raito said, hand on his sword.
"Yes, but I am guilty of many crimes and once coveted the family's secrets. My hands are stained with blood…" Tachibana raised his dagger to commit seppuku.
Raito, in a flash, struck the blade from his hands.
"Yes, wrongdoers must be punished. But as head of the family, you cannot die rashly. The heads trust me as Emperor, so I must think carefully."
Leaving him under guard, Raito walked into the moonlight, torn between justice and filial bond.
Then came two elders—the heads of the Fūma and Inuyama families.
"If you are uncertain, why not ask your real father?" Fūma said pointedly.
"You know where Etsu is?"
They did. They had always kept watch over the former Shadow Emperor.
Back to the present—Raito stared at the ramen-apron-wearing Etsu. "You're my real father? I mean… the father he said?"
Etsu beamed at first, but Raito's second sentence soured his mood. "What do you mean 'the father he said'? I am your father! Your real dad! Are you here to recognize me or insult me?"
"…Sorry, slip of the tongue," Raito said sheepishly.
"You kids will be the death of me. Forget it—come inside," Etsu grumbled, remembering his earlier bickering match with Charlotte.
Raito entered, spotting Shirou beside Charlotte's bright red hair. "Huh, Shirou, you're here too? What a coincidence."
"Yeah, yeah." Shirou's expression was slightly stiff, his eyes flicking toward the prayer room.
(End of Chapter)
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