"It seems... that might actually be the case..." Eriri murmured as if talking to herself.
This reaction only confused Utaha further:
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Now fully alert, Eriri spoke suspiciously:
"I mean... my dad might have actually been raising me to be a failure."
"This..." Utaha was startled and quickly asked, "How so?"
Frowning, Eriri began counting on her fingers while thinking:
"Well, despite being born into this family, my dad never forced me to study anything growing up."
"Though according to mum, they enrolled me in many extracurricular classes as a child, but I only stuck with drawing because I found it the most fun. They never really pressured me."
"Then in third grade, when I discovered adult doujinshi in my parents' room and wanted to draw my own, they didn't stop me. They even encouraged it. By sixth grade, they helped me form a circle and sell my works at conventions under Eri Kashiwagi..."
"Normal parents wouldn't do that, right?"
Eriri spoke uncertainly, adding:
"And my English is terrible. Whenever we visited dad's hometown, no one ever scolded me for it - they'd just speak Japanese with me instead. That doesn't seem right either, does it?"
"This... is the Sawamura family's elite education?"
A bead of sweat seemed to slide down Utaha's cheek.
Utaha had always been curious about what kind of outrageous family could produce someone like Eriri. Now she realised this family's absurdity far exceeded her imagination.
She remembered Eri Kashiwagi's debut work was an extreme R-rated doujinshi, right?
And that was drawn by elementary school Eriri?
'I always thought Eri Kashiwagi was a shared pseudonym between Mrs Sawamura and Eriri...'
"In that case, there's clearly a serious problem here."
Utaha touched her face, the warmth of her palm helping her calm down, though her tone remained slightly unnatural.
"See? My dad's clearly got issues!!" Eriri nodded repeatedly as if receiving validation.
"No, I think Mrs Sawamura shares equal blame. Though it's too late to change things now."
Utaha sighed, not bothering to critique Sayuri Sawamura's elite education further.
Truthfully, the fact that Enigma, as the father, didn't stop Sayuri's parenting approach was itself a major problem.
"With your family background, this education method does seem specifically designed to cultivate failure..."
"Of course, had your father not caused this current situation, we'd just consider it an unusually eccentric upbringing at worst."
Utaha Kasumigaoka could still tell good from bad. In a normal prominent family, education like Eriri's would at most be considered slightly unconventional—to some extent, it signified giving up on cultivating Eriri early and focusing instead on finding a son-in-law.
But in a family where the father was a top-tier Hero Rank powerhouse in the mystic side, this bordered on courting death.
From Utaha's understanding, in mystic-side families where the older generation possessed power while the children remained common, such a scenario was nearly impossible.
Setting aside the hereditary transmission of power, just the existence of various unscrupulous individuals who would inevitably covet such bloodline abilities forced the children of such families to grow stronger continuously.
'In that case, it's probably malicious from the very beginning...'
Utaha trailed off there, merely glancing at Eriri before falling silent.
Naturally, this reaction of hers caught Eriri's attention:
"Hey, Kasumigaoka, did you think of something? Another thing you can't tell me?"
At this point, Eriri couldn't help but complain: "Why do you and Luo Shu both treat me like a child... Are you my parents or something?"
"In a way, we really are..." Utaha Kasumigaoka muttered under her breath.
After all, weren't she and Luo Shu the ones who had dragged Eriri into the dangerous world of the mystic side without permission?
Just as Luo Shu tolerated Eriri's behaviour out of guilt, so did she.
Without their support, Eriri wouldn't have the freedom she enjoys now, still maintaining her carefree student lifestyle.
But now, with the bombshell about Eriri's family, things had become complicated.
'Wanting to raise Eriri like a daughter while also feeling she should grow up a bit...'
'This kind of mindset...'
'Now I understand what Shu-kun was struggling with...'
Utaha sighed and finally made a decision:
"I just thought of one possibility."
"What possibility?" Eriri asked curiously.
Utaha glanced at her and said coolly:
"If Enigma doesn't need you to engage with the mystic side, or even need you to achieve anything, then what could her purpose in raising you be?"
"What could a woman at the pinnacle of Hero Rank possibly want to accomplish, even if it takes twenty years?"
Eriri's expression froze. She stared blankly at Utaha for a moment before gasping sharply:
"Greater power? Like that Abe no Seimei guy, taking it a step further?"
"She's already a Hero Rank with a Demigod Rank ability. If she goes further, wouldn't that mean..."
Suddenly, Eriri paled as the realisation hit her:
"The Demigod ascension ritual?"
"That can't be... I'm so weak. There's no way I'm part of my father's advancement ritual, right?"
"It's possible, and..." Utaha sighed, hesitated, then added:
"You might be a live sacrifice... Though I'm not certain. I left too early and didn't get to read all the documents."
Eriri's face turned deathly pale. She flung the teddy bear aside, jumped off the bed barefoot and bolted for the door:
"No, I need to get answers."
Utaha watched the impulsive Eriri, lowering the hand she'd raised to stop her. Rubbing her temples, she muttered:
"...Honestly, how did her family situation get so complicated?"
With another sigh, Utaha stood up and hurried after Eriri.