Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 312: Arc 5, - 6: Father and Daughter

"Around two weeks after you left, I found some leads about the Deuctus Cult resuming operations."

"Where have I heard that name before?" Hotaru’s ears flickered.

"From me," Fumeko answered. "That’s the cult you stopped, isn’t it?" she squinted.

"The Deuctus Cult came to an end fourteen years ago after I caught the then leader. A lot of the cult went into hiding; that’s not the important detail right now.

At the time after you left, I got given a tipoff about some suspicious activity. My assumption was that it was just a few cult members who were not caught and were still lingering about.

So, I followed a few other leads and tracked down two targets to Cape Iris, east of Dolpool. I went to a small two-storey house by the seaside.

And at that point... I pretty much figured that the cult was recontinuing their operations by intuition, I just lacked sufficient evidence to back up the claim."

"What made you come to that conclusion?" Jotou knitted her brows.

"The entire house was set on fire."

"Okay, that’s pretty bad, but why’s that relevant to the cult?" Fumeko queried.

"I don’t blame you for not remembering kiddo, you were pretty young when I told you," he sighed. "The Deuctus Cult is the reason the Great Fire of Burnetrout started."

Fumeko went silent and stared to the floor in pondering... She closed her eyes and took a deep breath; Jotou right next to her on the two-seater sofa calmed her nerves a little, "Yeah, I kinda remember you saying something like that—barely."

"So is fire the cult’s modus operandi or something?" Jotou raised a brow.

"They were a big fan of theatrics, let me tell you. They’re very keen on the message of rebirth. Burnetrout is something they’re very patriotic about to an egregious extent. In short, they’re extremists who are big on tearing down the old and coming in with the new.

So, while fire does represent them and the phoenix of Burnetrout well, realistically it’s anything to do with an overhaul through total destruction. Fire is just their most notable method.

I know for a fact, that the flames on that house by the seaside was just the restoking the embers of the cult. It was just a hint—the start of it.

Old habits dying hard, I ran into the burning building with minimal fire safety. I was hoping to get some scrap of evidence before it all burned away.

Instead, I found the charred body of the two targets... and a child crying in the fire, not yet harmed. Assuming most of the evidence was most likely burned away, I took the kid and got out of there.

By morning, it was just a burnt house in the sand. I had to do more digging and I kept an eye on the kid for a bit, trying to find out more about her too.

The two targets, were in fact part of the cult. We figured out that the fire was the method to burn away any leads I could’ve got from the place. If only I got there- Never mind.

The girl on the other hand, wasn’t the child of the targets—not biologically. The kid was from Orchid Borough Orphanage; left at the doorstep at birth.

I, still don’t know why they had the kid there; the adoption records were only three or so months old. My best assumption, is a family that tried, but failed in the end."

"What if they were trying to get the kid in the cult?" Fumeko queried.

"I ran that theory—seems unlikely. It’s more likely that the cult was slowly reforming and planning to resurface. And that these poor souls were cultists in the past who, once the cult had been taken down, hid and tried to live a normal life.

I didn’t find the cult’s operations to come back; what I found was something already in motion. I was too late to figure it out and now we have to deal with the investigation under wraps.

The government knows, but the majority of the public doesn’t. And they want to keep it that way to avoid mass panic. The last thing any Burntish citizen needs is the thought of another great fire."

"How old were the targets?" Jotou asked.

"Thirty-six and forty—male and female respectively. Based on the positions of the body when I arrived and anything recoverable from the ash, the relation was most likely lovers."

"I guess it all adds up then... But why burn themselves?"

"Too distraught? Not wanting to be a part of the cult anymore, but their hands were forced?" Jotou tried to answer Fumeko’s question.

"Good question," was all Kazuo had in response. "Regardless, I kept the kid in my custody for a bit, but... I just didn’t have the heart to send her back to the orphanage after that," he said firm.

"So that’s everything that’s happened here?" Hotaru had stayed awake, but she was still fighting her waning eyelids.

"The Deuctus Cult was back on the move in the shadows so you were busy with that. You also adopted another kid in the process, which all explains why you didn’t come after me," Fumeko still glared.

"Kid, you need to understand, I didn’t try to replace you or anything like that."

"So what? You’re gonna keep another one locked up in this house for seventeen years? Is that the plan? You’re gonna teach her properly about time zones too? Or what the world’s like out there? Or what having friends is like!?" she crossed her arms, becoming more vexed by the second.

Utter silence responded... Each pair of eyes looked to another in contemplation. "Meko, don’t fight please," Asobi’s voice mellowed the air of tension and Kineko who stood on the dining chair turned to look.

The blonde glanced to Kazuo and glared a smidgen, "She brings up a valid point you know. Fumeko may make a mistake here and there. Sometimes they’re silly and stupid in hindsight, sure.

But she’s still an amazing detective and there’s nothing to deny that; not to me at least," her eyes sparked. "I wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t run away from home.

After all that effort to keep her here for so long, you don’t even send a letter till yesterday; not a single word beyond a statement on the paper. How do you think she feels detective?

Do you think it’s fair, asking her to be reasonable after making her feel like she was abandoned for more than half a year?"

"Jotou," Hotaru called her off.

Fumeko stared off to the floor, her entire body shrunken on the sofa with her hand holding the other. A light blush across her cheeks, but the frown she wore was too heavy to lift.

"No," Kazuo answered with a shake of his head. All three of them faced him. He looked to Fumeko, "Kid, can I talk to you in the kitchen?"

The brunette shifted her gaze to Jotou. The blonde looked to Fumeko and tilted her head towards her father. Fumeko gave her a soft smile and peered back to her father... "Fine."

_

"Aunty Pointy-Eays, why awre your eays so pointy?"

"I’m an elf, that’s why!"

"What’s an elf?"

Asobi who sat in the single sofa, tilted her head to Kineko’s question, "Uh... People?"

Kineko hopscotched around the table to Hotaru on the triple sofa. She jumped and landed leaning forward. She turned to Hotaru and pointed, "Aunty..."

"Hotaru," her fangs glistened.

Her gaze looked to the tail folded on her lap and the ears slightly moving atop her head, "Wred-wolf!"

The redhead’s ears ticked, but she simply sighed, "At least she got the wolf part right. It’s, r-ed," she leaned closer.

"That’s what I said aunty! Wred!"

"Rah," Hotaru pronounced slowly.

"Wrah."

"Close enough," the tired Hotaru gave her a head pat, only to feel the sensation of dozens of plastic clips against her palm.

Kineko hopped to the other down the line.

"Hell," the blonde said with a grin.

"Jotou!" Hotaru swivelled her head.

"Hell? Like Hello?" Kineko cocked her head.

"Don’t say that word Kineko," Hotaru advised. "It’s a bad word."

Kineko’s titled head went back into position, "Hell!"

Jotou’s smile widened and she giggled to the ceiling—her eyes sparked a tad. Hotaru rolled her eyes, accompanied by a groan.

Kineko watched the laughing blonde in awe, "Aunty Spauky-Eyes!"

Jotou’s smiled faded and she looked down to the girl. She looked Kineko straight in the eyes and starting from her eyes sparked her entire head as she jerked her head closer to scare the little girl.

The sparks faded with a wide-smiling blonde, but instead of scared, an elated Kineko stared at her with wide eyes and a grin, "Yay!" she clapped.

"Jotou, what if she says a bad word in front of him? We’d be in trouble, won’t we?" Asobi twisted her wand in between her fingers.

Jotou leaned in close to Kineko and hushed, "There’s a lot of other bad words, but you can’t tell your dad, understand? Or you’ll be in big, big trouble. It’s our secret," she gave a wink.

Kineko nodded, "It’s ouwr seequet."

"Pinky swear," Jotou knitted her brows doubtfully and put her pinky out.

Kineko looked at her own hand and counted her fingers; she closed them one by one with her other hand till she had her pinkie, "Pinkie swear." Jotou connected to it and made the unbreakable deal.

The redhead pouted with a smile... and decided to get off Jotou’s case.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen. One side were light brown cabinets, both up and down with a stove in the middle. The other side was mirrored, except with an oven, a sink and a fridge all built-in.

A narrow path remained in between to work in the kitchen, with a locked door at the back that had cobwebs at the hinges. Right at the entryway, to the left was a bathroom and to the right was a small storage room.

In between the cabinets, father and daughter stared at each other. "What do you wanna say so privately? There’s not much I really need or want to hide from them," Fumeko crossed her arms.

The more pensive and earnest-looking man replied, "Then you can tell themselves if you want," he crossed his arms and leaned the side of his hip against the kitchen counter. "Look kid," he let out a heavy breath, "I’m sorry."

Fumeko didn’t bat an eye, "Is this about what you didn’t want to say? Something about before getting that letter from the Krialin?" she raised a brow.

Kazuo slowly shut his eyes and exhaled through his nose, "I was starting my search. I knew where you were and I was already halfway on the road to Kria, but I turned back."

The brunette was taken aback for a second, "Why?"

"Because I realized something. That spat we had," he looked her in the eye. "How else were you supposed to know what was out there? I thought and thought as you leapt into an unknown world...

Did it stem from you coming to terms that I wasn’t your actual father? Or was it that I was just too scared to let you go? Or more likely, both.

In all truth, with that confusion, I wasn’t exactly prepared to bring you back kicking and screaming. You wanted to see what the world was like; something I didn’t let you have...

If I just bring you back to Burnetrout, what point am I proving to you? What example am I setting for your future..." he glanced away while Fumeko continued her glare. "You’re not the little girl too big for her father’s jacket anymore.

You’re a couple of weeks of away before becoming a legal adult; I have little to no authority on you after that. I can’t be making the choices for you anymore like I’ve been for seventeen plus years.

And look at you," he glanced to her with the faintest of smiles. "You’ve grown by leaps and bounds. Even drinking..."

"It’s legal above sixteen here, I’m not having it from you."

"With adult supervision... Regardless, would you’ve come home with me if I got to Kria?"

The brunette considered the question, "No. I met Jotou; and without her, I would’ve never grown as you put it. So really, my point still stands.

I’ve grown by leaps and bounds thanks to those three right there," she pointed her finger to the living room. "It has little to do with you getting to Kria or not.

But you should’ve been the damn one to help me," tears formed in her enraged gaze. "You, never, in a hundred years would’ve helped me grow if I didn’t have the balls to jump out that window.

I would’ve been stuck here, same as ever," she leered with a point to him as tears rolled down her cheeks. "You would’ve never come to that conclusion with all your damn intelligence, without me doing that.

What exactly did you protect me from all these years, hm? Some damn perspective? How amazing and hopeful the outside world is? The first time I even learned to ride a bike, was in Kria!" She panted and her breath hitched as she sobbed.

"And that’s why I’m sorry Fumeko," he replied with reddened eyes. "I figured this was how you’d feel. I’m willing to admit, I made a mistake."

"And instead of confronting it, you were so ready to get a replacement?" she scoffed.

"I told you, she’s not a replacement for you. I can’t replace you kid, I would never either. I’ve been keeping my eye on you the entire time," his voice cracked slightly for once. "I’m proud of what you’ve done kid."

"I figured as much, old habits do die hard, tch," she huffed. "But even with all that, you couldn’t even send one letter till yesterday?"

"I thought you wouldn’t want to see me after you left. I wanted to give you the freedom I was too scared to give."

"Well," she gave a chuckle in her cries, "It would’ve been nice to hear from you."

"Kid, I can’t just guess what you want and don’t."

"You’re the greatest detective in Burnetrout!"

"And yet the biggest mystery I can’t seem to solve is you kiddo."

...

Silence befell the room. They both stared at each other... Fumeko wiped her face with her hands, "I’m going to my room," her wobbly voice conveyed before she stomped out the kitchen. Kazuo Namora reached his hand out... but instead let her go.