From Mimic to World's strongest daughter

Chapter 22

Y/n's POV

Once we made it back to Erisen, we spent the next six days relaxing and enjoying a little time off. Myu was going to wake up papa and mama while the rest of us worked on making breakfast for everyone. As we were finishing up preparing breakfast, Shea, Kaori, and Remia went to go tell them that breakfast was ready. We all enjoyed breakfast together, but I could tell papa was thinking about something. He kept pausing as he ate before looking at Myu. "Papa? What are we going to do today?" Myu asked. 

"Oh, let's uh... We need to talk about that." Papa said. Myu was just staring at him with a giant smile, clearly expecting something fun to happen today. "Well... I mean... I think my plan may be to make some new equipment today, or maybe not." Papa said. I sighed before smiling as I saw him losing a fight for once. "That's great, and I can help you do that." Myu said.

"Oh... thanks..." Papa said, before nervously laughing. Remia was smiling as she watched the two of them interact with each other. As we finished breakfast, we headed down to the port near Remia's house. Everyone but papa was in a swimsuit, but mine was different from everyone else's. Mine was a single piece of swimsuit, while everyone else had two pieces to their swimsuits. "Hey, papa? Why's my swimsuit different from everyone else's?" I asked, sitting down next to him. 

"I just wanted to keep you mostly covered. No idea what you could mimic while we're out here, so this is to be safe. It should stabilize your magic enough to keep you looking like that. While you're over here, can you help?" Papa asked. I nodded as I took some rocks from the bag he had and used Transmute to turn them into bullets. As we worked, I noticed papa was staying quiet more than normal. "Something wrong?" I asked.

"No, but... we need to get going soon," Papa answered, setting a bullet into the box he had made. I did the same before we both picked up more rocks and continued working on them. "I don't know what to tell Myu," Papa admitted. I set the bullet down I had been working on before seeing that papa had made the rock he had into a little Myu face. "Isn't it the best to just tell her the truth?" I asked.

"What if she cries?" Papa asked. Myu and the others were giggling in the background, enjoying their game. "She'll definitely cry," Papa admitted.

"What about what your teacher said? Didn't she want you not to live an empty life? Whatever that means?" I said, still unsure about what she meant. 

"Yeah. This is on you teach." Papa answered. He seemed to have decided something as we continued working on the bullets. As we worked, the sound of something exploding from the water caught our attention. We looked over, seeing Shea covering her chest with her hands while Myu swam away with the piece of her swimsuit that was there before. Remia popped up in front of us as she looked at papa. "Remia." Papa said, looking at her.

"Thank you, Hajime. Truly." Remia thanked as she smiled at him. 

"Wait, what for? I don't feel like I've done anything to deserve your thanks." Papa questioned. I shook my head as I shrugged. "You're spending so much effort thinking about my daughter's happiness, even when you've got a little one of your own. Nothing could mean more to a mother, so thank you," Remia commented, motioning towards me. Papa smiled and chuckled. "You could tell? I was trying to hide it." Papa admitted.

"Papa's a terrible liar around Myu." I commented before papa hit me on the head gently. 

"I agree with Y/n. Everyone knows, and it appears the ladies are thinking the same way, too. I'm so glad Myu has met such wonderful people." Remia said, looking over at the other girls. We looked over at them seeing mama, Kaori, and Tio talking with each other while Shea was still trying to get her swimsuit back from Myu. "Hajime?" Remia asked. Papa hummed as he looked at her. "You've done so much for us here. I can never thank you enough. So please, don't concern yourself. Do nothing more or less than what you must," Remia explained.

"Remia..." Papa started.

"After meeting you, suddenly it was like she was growing up. She used to be such a baby, but now she can think about others beyond herself." Remia admitted. I saw papa smile again as he thought about how Myu has grown. "She already knows the truth. She knows you can't stay and you have to leave. However, she's still very young, so the baby ways do pop up, but she hasn't said don't go or anything, has she?" Remia asked. Papa sighed as I smiled, knowing that Remia was right. "Please don't worry. She understands she can't keep you here any longer. Though she doesn't like it, she's fine." Remia added.

"No, kid should have to concern themselves over me. That said, I'm going to tell her we're leaving tomorrow. I'll try to be as clear as I can," Papa said. I could see that he was going to stick to that. Remia swam closer, going between papa's legs before looking up at him. "In that case, we'll prepare a feast tonight. It'll be a farewell party before you go." Remia said.  

"Sounds like fun," Papa commented.

"Yes, I'll make sure it's a nice affair, sweet, darling boy," Remia said.

"Probably best not to call me that." Papa suggested. I felt mama's presence before me as she looked at Remia. "Bold move, Remia." Mama said.

"So it's like that, is it? I can't let my guard down." Kaori added.

"You know, depending on the angle..." Tio started. I felt something cover my ears before I looked up at mama seeing her holding her hands over my ears. Papa threw a rock at her, hitting her in the head. Tio landed in the water before Shea asked for her swimsuit piece back. Mama tapped my shoulder before I scooted over so she could be close to papa. We spent the rest of the day making bullets before heading to dinner. After dinner, papa explained we had to leave to Myu. Myu cried and asked if papa would keep being her papa. Papa agreed to it before saying she'd come get us one day. Papa instead made a promise to come back and get her and bring his friends with us. He even promised to take her to his hometown. The next day we headed out heading towards the Sea of Trees' dungeon.