Chapter 21: The Monster Behind the Smile
A few hours later, inside the apartment's living room, Adam watched Elara, who had finally regained her smile and energetic behavior.
Adam, dressed in his usual white priest robe, rose from his seat and turned toward his daughter with a warm smile on his face.
"Elara, I'll have to go back to work. Your teacher will come continue your lessons this afternoon, so be good, alright?" Adam informed her gently while softly patting her head.
Feeling her father's hand on her head, Elara smiled with her eyes closed, but the moment she heard his words, her eyes opened immediately.
"You're leaving already?"
Adam simply nodded without saying anything else.
Elara lowered her eyes quietly, her violet bangs covering them.
Seeing her reaction, Adam immediately understood the situation. After thinking for a second or two, he stepped in front of her and crouched down with one knee on the floor.
He did not seem to care whether his white robe touched the ground. Perhaps because the floor was clean.
Hearing his footsteps, Elara slowly lifted her head.
As she looked at her father's face, she noticed once again his flawless pale skin and his eyes that resembled miniature suns, shining brighter than usual. His jet-black hair, mixed with golden roots, only made him appear even more majestic.
But as Elara stared directly into his eyes, after only a second or two, her pupils suddenly widened.
A frightened gasp escaped her lips.
Seeing his daughter's reaction, Adam moved closer and gently grabbed her right arm with his gloved hands.
"Elara, what's wrong? Are you alright?"
He asked calmly while carefully observing her reaction.
Strangely, she was trembling.
And her body was burning hot.
'This isn't a normal temperature,' Adam thought as he noticed how unnaturally high her body heat had become.
As he raised his hand to place it against her back, the heat slowly began to fade until it eventually seems returned to normal.
"Tell me what happened."
Adam's voice remained calm as he looked directly into her eyes.
But Elara avoided his gaze.
She stayed silent for several seconds. The only sounds inside the room were her uneven breathing and the noise of the television in the background.
Then, in a soft, barely audible voice filled with fear, she whispered,
"I… I saw… something… in your eyes…"
Silence returned to the room.
Adam gently patted her back before leaning closer and whispering softly into her ear,
"It's alright. It was only your imagination. You're probably just tired after what happened earlier with Stephanie."
Elara continued avoiding her father's eyes, as if afraid of seeing the same thing again.
Still, hearing his comforting words calmed her slightly.
'Maybe he's right… maybe I'm just tired… but… I'm sure I saw something… a monster staring at me…'
Doubt slowly filled her thoughts, torn between what she believed she had seen and what her father had told her.
Her trembling gradually stopped, and she leaned deeper into Adam's embrace, her eyes slowly closing.
Her breathing eventually became calm and steady again.
Seeing the five-year-old girl resting in his arms, Adam gently lifted her and calmly walked toward her room.
The strangest part was that from beginning to end, his expression had never changed.
The same warm smile remained on his face the entire time, as if warmth itself flowed naturally from his very existence.
Despite seeing his daughter in such a state, Adam had not reacted emotionally the way a normal father would have.
His silent footsteps echoed softly through the apartment hallway.
It was early afternoon now, around one o'clock. Sunlight passed through the windows and landed across his body.
After a minute of walking, he reached Elara's room and slowly opened the door.
Inside was a completely new bedroom filled with toys bought by either Adam and Kafka.
Adam carefully placed Elara onto the bed without covering her with a blanket. Instead, he simply turned on the air conditioning since her body was still slightly warmer than normal.
Though it was nothing dangerous.
Only the lingering remains of the strange heat from before.
A few minutes later, Adam sat inside his office.
Papers covered the desk before him alongside a computer screen.
Unable to help himself, he mocked himself inwardly.
"A god doing paperwork… if this ever got out, I'd become the laughingstock of the universe."
After that small joke, he rested both elbows on the desk and intertwined his gloved fingers together.
His thoughts drifted back to what had happened with Elara.
Then his gaze lowered toward the silver cross resting against his chest.
'She saw something in my eyes… could it have been my mythical form?'
The moment the thought appeared, he immediately rejected it.
'If she had truly seen my real form, she would already be dead.'
His eyes narrowed slightly.
'I noticed her body temperature rising abnormally… could it have been my authority instead?'
A brief silence followed.
'So… she didn't actually see something.'
'She felt it.'
Adam leaned back slightly in his chair.
'According to the information I've received, I'll have to start moving faster. The Interastral Peace Corporation won't remain passive much longer.'
'And the Aeons will soon begin taking interest in this planet as well.'
His gaze slowly shifted toward the drawer beneath his desk.
He opened it calmly and took out the object hidden inside.
A slate.
The Blasphemy Slate.
While he was touching the object, he continued his thoughts: 'There are about ten years left before the beginning of the story. I don't know if I can create an organization strong enough for the Church to take part in my future advancements.
I will need an army, and for that, having beyonders will be beneficial for both humanity and for me. Humanity will no longer need to depend on the aeons, and they will support me in my progress.'
Adam's thoughts kept flowing like a river; his plans contained sub-plans for every side, whether for believing humans or not, the pathstrider who walk on the path of the aeons, or even the aeons themselves.
'Elara will have ten years to develop; that is more than enough for her to play a role in this vast universe. It's a shame I never played the game despite having some limited knowledge.'
He placed the slate back in its spot and began dealing with the paperwork on his desk, his back to the bay window that illuminated the scene even more, as if the sun were sending its rays especially for him.
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Hello everyone, writing fanfiction while being a student is quite difficult. So I have a few questions for you. I saw someone complaining about how the story is going and saying that Elara seems to be the protagonist because we see her more than Adam and the story doesn't progress.
So my question is: do you find the story too slow-paced and would you like me to speed up its development, or not?
Regarding the pacing, I would like to clarify that if you are expecting a lot of fights, then you might be mistaken. Of course, there will be battles, but only from the middle of the story onward.
As for Elara, she is an important piece for the future, just like Kafka, who is currently a bit absent. She is therefore also a protagonist for the beginning and the middle of the story. I want to develop her and show her daily life to avoid making ten time skips and losing people on how she reached that stage.
Also, within the next 5–10 chapters, there will be a time skip. Of course, not a ten-year one, but still a significant one.
Regarding other fanfiction ideas, I have a lot of them. Would you like me to make a note where I give you the synopsis of each one? And once I finish this fanfic (if I do), I could start sharing them. For example, for a LOTM x Soul Land crossover, I plan for the MC to be a member of the royal family who gets reincarnated with the Book of Trunsoest, but without any spiritual power, and he will therefore be sidelined by his entire family.