From Mimic to World's strongest daughter

Chapter 27

Y/n's POV

After Papa and the others left, I started clearing the area while the rest of Papa's classmates headed back to the castle to rest after everything that had happened that night. The next day rolled around, and I continued clearing the area until I heard people coming. I turned to see some of Papa's classmates. They asked to use the arena for training since it was mostly cleared out. I let them train for the day, watching as each of them were clearly struggling with what was going on. Over the next four days, I watched everyone train. On the fifth day, I was watching Yaegashi and Kouki train before the knight refereeing their match ended it. "What is this?" I asked, stunned by the training they were doing.

"This is how we train. Is there something wrong with it?" Sonobe asked.

"Wrong? No... Just weird." I answered. Sonobe looked at me as I turned to look at her. "What exactly do you do to train?" Sonobe asked. I explained that most of my training was fighting monsters in labyrinths and copying skills from monsters and other people if I needed to. Sonobe looked worried about something before I shrugged and watched as Yaegashi looked towards the sky. "Seems that took it out of you. Feeling tired?" Someone said. I turned back towards Kouki, who was now talking with the princess. "Lily? No, I'm alright." Kouki said. I walked over to Yaegashi, standing in front of her. "You doing okay?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah. Just worried about Kaori." Yaegashi answered.

"Don't worry, Papa and the others will save her." I reminded. She smiled and patted my head before I heard Kouki talk about not trusting Papa. I kept it to myself since I knew he didn't like the fact that Papa would kill just because someone got in our way. As I was standing there, I felt Papa's presence appear above me before looking up. "Guess we might find out if Kaori is safe soon." I said. Yaegashi looked at me before looking into the sky as well. Eventually, Papa and the others came into view. "Heads up, everyone! Something's coming from above!" Kouki shouted. Papa and the others landed hard on the ground, causing dust to fly into the air. "Papa!" I cheered, rushing over to him. Papa turned and caught me as I jumped towards him. 

"Hey sweetie. You were good while I was away?" Papa asked.

"Of course. I helped clean out the city a little." I answered proudly. 

"It's Nagumo." Yaegashi said, rushing over to us.

"Oh hey, Yaegashi. Glad to see that you're alive." Papa said, looking at her. Yaegashi looked around for Kaori before asking where she was and why she wasn't with them. "Uh... She'll be here soon. But like brace yourself, cause she looks a little different then you remember. And look it's not my fault so don't blame me." Papa said. I looked at him confused before Yaegashi was starting to question him. As she asked about what papa did to Kaori someone started screaming from above us. I looked up seeing Noint's body falling towards us, but something about the voice made me realize that it was Kaori. "Hajime! Catch me!" Kaori screamed papa just turned and walked away with me still in his arms. She landed in the ground making another crater in the training area. "What is this? Who are you?" Kouki shouted. He raised his sword ready to attack. "Hi Kaori!" I said, waving at her. 

"Kaori? It's... it's you, isn't it?" Yaegashi asked.

"Yup. Good eye. Shizuku, it's me your best friend Kaori. I might look a little different than before, but I'm alive and well." Kaori said. Yaegashi started crying as Kaori smiled at her. They hugged while Yaegashi cried. "I'm so sorry if I worried you. But I'm okay, everything's alright now." Kaori said. 

"Papa, why does Kaori have Noint's body?" I asked.

"That was Kaori's idea." Papa answered. Papa's classmates gathered around as the knights cleared out of the training grounds. "Alright, what's going on here?" Yaegashi asked.

"Well, to put it simply, we used magic to protect Kaori's soul, then we repaired Noint's body and transplanted Kaori's soul into it." Papa said, setting me down. 

"Interesting... I don't get it," Yaegashi said. Kaori started explaining how they learned magic before explaining that we had access to the magic that came before what they currently used. Yaegashi quickly caught on to what Papa had done to Kaori's soul. "But why pick that body? Was Kaori's old body too far gone?" Yaegashi asked.

"Nah, we were able to restore Kaori's original one. We could've put her soul back in it, but..." Papa started.

"Why didn't you?" Yaegashi questioned.

"Because I asked them not to. It was my choice, and I wanted to be stronger." Kaori said.

"You know Kaori. Gets an idea and won't shut up." Papa complained. I giggled as my bangs changed to have Kaori's new hair color while I gained a few new skills. Mama explained that Kaori's original body was being suspended in magic and that she could go back to it whenever she wanted. "That all makes sense. Kaori always did get the most hair-brained ideas in that head of hers, but I got to say, this one takes the cake." Yaegashi said.

"Sorry again for worrying you." Kaori apologized.

"Don't be. You're still alive, aren't you? It's all good," Yaegashi said. She was quiet for a moment before bowing to Papa. "So, Nagumo, Yue, Shea, Tio. I thank you. I'm eternally grateful to you, you saved my best friend. I can never repay this debt. If there's anything I can do, you just have to ask. I'll do my best to make good." Yaegashi explained.

"You're as honorable as ever, aren't you? Don't make a big deal out of it. We didn't do anything crazy. We just saved our friend," Papa said. Yaegashi mentioned that papa consoled her when things went south and how he used some medicine on Kouki. Kouki wasn't happy to be reminded of that. "Ah, if you had a total breakdown, I never would've heard the end of it from Kaori," Papa said.

"Um, excuse me, sir. That's pretty rude, Hajime." Kaori said.

"Besides, according to a certain teacher. I should be shooting for a less solitary existence. I can do some things by myself, but not everything." Papa said. After that, Papa explained everything that's been going on and how the labyrinths worked. Kouki was getting upset about what Papa had just told him before asking why we hadn't told him sooner. "If I had told you sooner, do you think you would've believed me? That god is crazy, and everything you're doing is completely pointless. You would've gotten pissed at me, called me a liar, maybe something worse." Papa pointed out. Kouki was silent for a second before talking about fighting God and taking him down together. "Woah, slow your roll. I never said I was going to fight God or anything." Papa said. I nodded along with him. "Don't you care about what happens to the people of this world?" Kouki asked.

"This world is kill or be killed." I answered.

"Exactly what Y/n said. I'm flattered you think I have that kind of power, but I'm not going to risk my life or the lives of my lover and daughter for people I've never met." Papa said.

"But why not? You're both stronger than me, I know that much, and what's the point of having power if you're not going to use it to do the right thing?" Kouki asked.

"Use power for justice. This is your problem. It's precisely why you always end up shitting the bed when it matters the most." Papa said. Kouki was stunned to hear that from Papa before Papa continued. "It's not enough to do what's within your power. You've got to want to do something that you gain the power to do it, but you weren't built that way. You don't have that kind of resolve." Papa said. He turned away from Kouki before looking at me and smiling. He headed into the castle, where the remaining servants had prepared some food for us to eat. Papa was holding strong to his opinion while everyone else was worried about something. "Hajime?" Mama started.

"What is it, Yue?" Papa asked.

"If we stayed. Wouldn't that be better?" Mama asked, looking at him.

"They have their teacher with them. They'll be alright." Papa said.

"That's not what I mean. If you leave your friends, will you be okay?" Mama asked.

"Yeah. I'll have you and Y/n," Papa said, smiling at us. 

"Of course you will, always." Mama said, smiling back at Papa. Papa's classmates joined us before Taniguchi asked if she could call Mama big sister. I tuned them out as I continued to eat, not really caring about the plan for moving forward. When I did finally tune back in, Mama was covering my ears as I noticed Tio doing her normal dance for Papa. We spent the night in the castle before setting off on our next journey to Shea's home in the Sea of Trees.