Around the time Miku was confirming Seiya’s charm.
As for Shia, his twin sister, she was busy having a girls’ talk with her classmates.
“—And so, I’ll make things clear today.”
“Y-yes…”
Shia gave an vague response, backing away slightly from Remine, who said it with great spirit.
For some reason, Remine took this positively and puffed out her chest, continuing.
“Didn’t you just turn down a confession the other day?”
“Ah, that happened too. So what?”
Shia replied with an indifferent expression, causing the other girls around them to flinch slightly.
However, Remine, while noticing this, deliberately continued without addressing it.
“I think it’s about time we knew your preferred type. If it’s known, there shouldn’t be any more unnecessary victims. …Both men and women.”
The words she added in a whisper at the end didn’t reach Shia’s ears.
If you ask the spirits around, you’ll know that Shia has no intention of doing anything like that here.
To Remine, who was looking proud and demanding a confession, Shia had a look of genuine puzzlement.
“…Didn’t I tell you?”
“No, you didn’t!”
Remine inwardly screamed that if she had, there wouldn’t have been any unnecessary victims, male or female.
Of course, Remine had no intention of saying that out loud.
From their past interactions, she knew well that Shia was completely an amateur(?) when it came to romantic matters.
Shia’s current conversation was completely natural (or rather, naturalness itself), without any hidden meaning whatsoever.
Unaware of Remine’s inner turmoil, Shia said with a matter-of-fact expression.
“My preferred type is Father?”
“…What?”
Shia said it clearly and decisively, leaving Remine with a blank stare.
This reaction was shared not only by Remine but also by the other girls.
It was understandable.
For a girl of single-digit age, saying “When I grow up, I’ll marry Dad!” might be considered normal.
However, they were beyond the age to enter the academy and were already in their third year.
For those who were progressing well in relationships with males other than their fathers (or fiancés), Shia’s words were, in a sense, to be expected.
Unfazed by the reactions of the women around her, or rather, completely oblivious to them, Shia continued calmly.
“My number one is Father, and my number two is Brother.”
“B-beyond Seiya… Does that mean Father is also skilled in handling spirits?”
It was known that Shia’s biological father was an avatar, but the specifics of what Kousuke God could actually do had not been conveyed in detail.
One concrete thing that was known was that he attained godhood due to his skill in crafting magic tools.
Therefore, it wasn’t strange for Remine to make an off-the-mark assessment.
Shia, who had spoken about Kousuke several times before, was aware of the discrepancy with general public perception and shook her head.
“No? Father isn’t very good at Spirit Magic, I think?”
She tilted her head slightly as she said the latter part, recalling the fairies Kousuke could summon.
However, Shia’s perception was that a Spirit user and a Fairy user, while similar, were strictly different.
“Th-then, is he handsome?”
“Father? Hmm, I wonder… At least compared to the elves I know, I don’t think so?”
It was a harsh assessment, but from Shia’s perspective, it wasn’t wrong.
Kousuke himself didn’t think he was superior to other male elves, so it could be considered a fair evaluation.
However, only Shia, being Kousuke’s biological daughter, could speak so plainly.
Normally, in the Central Continent, if someone were to disparage an avatar, they would be looked down upon internally, if not outwardly. Like, “Has this person never heard the spokesperson’s stories?”
In such a situation, the women around were internally aghast that Shia spoke so casually about the avatar’s evaluation.
“I-is that so…?”
However, Remine couldn’t deny the assessment of her biological daughter and could only respond with a very subtle wording.
“Yeah. Ah, but he’s not unattractive, you know? Just not as much as elves.”
Shia’s words, which would have made Kousuke himself smile wryly if he were present, had already planted a single word in the minds of the others.
That word was “natural.”
Remine, who considered herself Shia’s best friend and was unfazed by Shia’s unconscious dropping of bombs, decided to ask further.
“Then, Shia, what exactly do you like about your father?”
“What exactly…? Hmm…”
Prodded by Remine, Shia pondered for a moment, tilting her head.
“…Everything?”
She replied with a serious expression.
Looking at Shia’s face, it was clear she wasn’t lying.
However, no one was convinced by her previous explanation.
“Th-that’s because he’s superior to the people you’ve turned down so far, isn’t it?”
Remine managed to ask, implicitly including the fact that he was an avatar.
But Shia’s answer went completely over Remine’s head.
“Hmm. But I think comparing things in terms of winning or losing is wrong in the first place?”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
Remine tilted her head, not understanding the meaning of Shia’s words.
“Is he handsome, stronger than so-and-so, or intelligent—if you compare things like that all the time, I think it would be impossible to be in a relationship with anyone?”
“Th-that’s not true!”
Shia’s words made Remine protest with a slightly louder voice.
But Shia, showing no concern, continued.
“Oh? Because if you worried about such things, you’d have to marry historical great figures, wouldn’t you?”
“……”
Although an extreme opinion, what Shia was saying wasn’t wrong.
Preference might be one factor that attracts people to others, but it’s not everything.
The others, perhaps understanding what Shia was trying to say, fell silent.
“In the end, it’s just that I like him, so I like him. I don’t think it’s something that can be explained to others—”
After all, it was the opinion of a young girl who had lived for just over ten years.
Shia added the last words hesitantly, bringing the conversation to a close.
…How did it turn out like this…?
For some reason, compared to her brother, her sister seemed to exude a sense of disappointment. No, it’s only concerning her views on romance, mind you? (That’s not a good follow-up.)
And like the other girls, she’s growing up perfectly devoted to her father.
