Everyone, including Itsuka-kun, the commander, and the residents of the spirit mansion, had gathered in the living room.
The reason they’d all come together, of course, was Rio, who had wanted to meet her mama and papa.
Right now, Rio was sitting between Rinne and Itsuka-kun, holding both of their hands.
"So... who is this kid...?"
"Ah, this child’s name is Sonogami Rio. She says she’s Itsuka-kun and Rinne’s daughter. Rio was also the one who unfolded Eden."
"Then doesn’t that seem a little strange?"
The commander, who had been calmly piecing the situation together, looked at Rinne and Rio with a puzzled expression.
"Rinne may seem like a childhood friend on the surface, but in reality she’s a spirit who was only born not long ago. There’s just not enough time for the two of them to have had a child. It doesn’t add up."
The commander was right.
Rinne looked like a high school girl on the outside, but in reality she was at most a baby spirit who hadn’t even been born for seven months yet.
There simply wasn’t enough physical time for a child to come from her and Itsuka-kun.
How could a child possibly be born between those two?
"Then is it a lie?"
"...No. Surprisingly, Rio really is my child."
When Rinne spoke softly, everyone’s eyes turned to her.
Her voice had been quiet, but the room was silent, so no one had missed it.
And so, with the same thought in mind, everyone waited in heavy silence for Rinne to continue.
Rinne looked at Rio beside her, patted her head, and carefully opened her mouth.
"Let me say it again. Rio really is my daughter."
"..."
At Rinne’s words, everyone blinked in silence, unable to say a thing.
Especially Itsuka-kun, who had been called papa, so the shock must have hit him twice as hard.
"Uh, uh, uh...?"
Oh no, he’s already broken.
Itsuka-kun had completely malfunctioned, his eyes darting around as he failed to get the words out.
He just kept repeating the same thing like a broken cassette tape.
No one found Itsuka-kun’s reaction strange, because everyone else felt exactly the same way.
"No, what are you even saying...?"
Even the commander, who I’d expected to be the calmest of all, stared at Rinne in shock.
Her pupils were shaking violently, so she was clearly pretty rattled too.
Rinne nodded as if she understood everyone’s reactions, then answered the commander’s question.
"How should I put it... First of all, like Kotori said earlier, she isn’t a child I gave birth to myself. But..."
"But...?"
"She was born from my spiritual power, or rather... from my power as a ruler."
"Born from a ruler’s power?"
The repaired Itsuka-kun made a face that said he truly could not understand.
I also had a hard time understanding Rinne’s explanation, because her power as a ruler had been sealed, so how had something been born from it?
So when I looked at Rinne with a questioning expression, Rinne looked back at me too.
"Hieta. When I made my body, do you remember?"
"Huh? Of course I remember."
There was no way I could forget.
That was the first time I’d tried making a body using souls, and the first time I’d met the Fire Keeper.
If I didn’t remember that, then something was seriously wrong.
"During the process of Hieta creating my body, Eden collapsed, right?"
"Th...that’s right."
To be precise, Eden had lost its shape and collapsed when the body was almost completely finished.
Rinne’s spiritual power had gone into Itsuka-kun, so Rinne’s heaven, Eden, had automatically lost its strength.
But what did that have to do with anything now?
Not understanding what Rinne was trying to say, I furrowed my brow.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"The residual spiritual power left behind when Eden collapsed, the spiritual power that leaked out during the process of creating my body, and even the will I had at the time to meet Shido again before I disappeared. Those things gathered and gathered, and the child born from them was Rio."
Rinne finished her explanation as she slipped her arms under Rio’s and lifted her up.
And the others who had heard the explanation remained silent.
From their expressions, it looked like each of them was sorting through their thoughts.
Of course, Tohka was just tilting her head as usual, not understanding what any of it meant.
"Ah. So that’s how it was."
In the silence that followed, the first person to speak again was the commander.
She looked exhausted, as if she’d finally finished making sense of everything.
"...I think I get the gist of it."
Next was me.
After hearing Rinne’s explanation, I finally understood why Rio called Rinne mama.
If Rio was born from Rinne’s spiritual power, that meant Rinne was Rio’s source.
That’s why Rio called Rinne mama.
Then another question came up.
Why was Itsuka-kun papa?
"Why does she call Shido dad?"
At Kaguya’s question, which matched my own, Rinne offered one possible explanation.
"At the end of the day, my spiritual power is inside Shido, so maybe that’s why?"
Rinne’s guess sounded plausible.
After all, her spiritual power did exist inside Itsuka-kun.
On top of that, maybe Rio called Itsuka-kun papa because Rinne liked him.
But then, a different thought suddenly crossed my mind.
"Then wouldn’t Itsuka-kun be mama and Rinne be papa?"
"What...?"
At my words, everyone stared at me in shock.
Especially Rinne and Itsuka-kun, whose eyes were shaking violently, clearly showing how flustered they were.
Seeing their reactions, I realized I’d just said something stupid.
So I opened my mouth to somehow fix it.
"No, I mean, if you want to be strict about it, you could say she was born inside Itsuka-kun..."
But the more I talked, the more their expressions turned to utter shock.
And then Rio dropped a line that hit them both square in the face.
"Then... is papa mama and mama papa?"
I had just learned that a child’s innocent honesty can sometimes work against people in the worst possible way.
After hearing Rio’s question, Itsuka-kun and Rinne both tried to convince her that absolutely not, and I got surrounded by the others and scolded.
"Hieta. Even so, that was a bit much."
"Agreed. Just what made you think of something like that...?"
"I’m sorry. Please don’t look at me like I’m trash."
I bowed so low my forehead practically hit the floor and apologized from the bottom of my heart.
This was my fault, no question.
To say something like that right in front of the people involved... I’d ended up treating them the way I would Gyeongsik without even realizing it.
That was a real insult to Itsuka-kun and Rinne.
How could I treat them like that, like they were Gyeongsik?
I need to reflect on this.
After I’d spent a long while with my head pressed down, Itsuka-kun’s voice came to me.
"Haa... Hieta, we’re fine, so lift your head."
"Yes, sir."
Moved by Itsuka-kun’s character for accepting my sincere reflection and apology, I lifted my head at once.
I resolved to be more careful with my mouth from now on.
"But, you know. If Rio-chan is Shido-kun and Rinne-chan’s child, then why is Hieta-kun the uncle? Isn’t that kind of strange?"
At what sounded like Yoshinon’s voice, which I hadn’t heard in a long time, everyone turned toward Yoshino.
"Y-Yoshinon...!"
"Honestly, don’t you all think it’s weird?"
Yoshino tried her best to cover Yoshinon’s mouth, but the doll didn’t stop talking.
"Well, I guess I’m not related to Itsuka-kun or Rinne by blood..."
After hearing Yoshinon, I got curious too.
Why Rio called me uncle.
The one who answered that question was Yuzuru.
"Speculation. I think it’s probably because Hii made Rinne’s body. In a way, that’s almost like a blood relation."
Her guess was perfectly reasonable.
That was the only connection between me and Rinne, and as Yuzuru said, in a way it was similar to a blood relation.
Seeing the others nod in agreement with Yuzuru’s speculation, I could tell I wasn’t the only one who thought so.
"So to sum it up, Rio really is Shido and Rinne’s daughter, and Hiki made Rinne’s body, so she calls him uncle?"
"That’s probably right."
"Haa..."
At the commander’s perfect summary, Itsuka-kun let out a sigh loaded with meaning.
I could understand that reaction completely.
He was still a high school student, and then in the blink of an eye he’d become a father. If it were me, I’d react the same way.
Rinne must have been feeling something just as complicated as Itsuka-kun.
In her case, it was even worse, since she’d somehow ended up with a child when she’d only been born less than a year ago...
From their point of view, there was no way they wouldn’t be confused.
But there was still one unresolved question.
The final question: why had Rio unfolded Eden?
Realizing that, Itsuka-kun carefully asked Rio.
"Um, Rio...?"
"Yes! Papa! What is it?"
"Why did you unfold Eden...?"
"That’s..."
Rio fidgeted with her mouth and couldn’t answer Itsuka-kun’s question right away.
Seeing that, Marina made a move as if she was going to answer for her, but I stopped her.
For something like this, it was better for the person involved to say it themselves.
"It’s okay, Rio. Remember what your uncle said earlier?"
"...Mm-hm!"
I cheered Rio on and watched from behind.
With my support, Rio told Itsuka-kun and Rinne everything.
The role she realized she had after being born, and the helplessness she felt because she couldn’t carry it out.
And even the negative thoughts that sprang from that.
Then Itsuka-kun and Rinne hugged Rio tightly.
"There’s no way we’d reject you for something like that!"
"Shido’s right. Mama and papa don’t hate Rio."
At their words, Rio’s eyes welled up too, and she hugged Itsuka-kun and Rinne with her tiny arms.
Even if they weren’t connected by blood, everyone looking at the three of them bound together by spiritual power must have had the same thought.
How touching.
...Wait a second, weren’t the commander and the others still trapped in Eden?
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