Toxic Parent Reincarnation ~ When I Doted on My Daughter Destined to Become the Final Boss, She Ended Up Liking Me an Abnormal Amount ~
Initially, Aldo and Iris are keeping watch outside the tent. The two of them are huddled together around a campfire. This area gets a little chilly at night. Iris holds her hands over the fire to warm herself up a bit.
“Dad, it ended up getting dark, huh?”
“Yeah, well, we left late, so it couldn’t be helped. Tomorrow we can explore starting in the morning, and I think we’ll find some medicinal herbs then.”
“Yeah, I hope we find them.”
The sound of the campfire crackles softly. Undead evil spirits tend to prefer darkness over light. Because of this, having a campfire ensures a certain degree of safety, though it’s not absolute. There are also evil spirits that prefer light, and there’s no guarantee that such spirits aren’t nearby. Plus, if you’re going to keep a fire going, someone naturally needs to tend to it, so a lookout is still essential.
“Iris, don’t you ever feel lonely?”
“Huh? What are you saying, Dad?”
Iris tilts her head with a puzzled expression. She couldn’t understand why Aldo would ask such a thing.
“Just having you here with me is enough, Dad. Sure, I feel lonely when you’re away for work, but Clara and Mira play with me, and they help me practice magic too… I have no complaints about my life right now.”
Iris looks at him with clear, unwavering eyes. But a certain doubt lingered in Aldo’s mind.
“Don’t you want to see your mom…?”
“Stop.”
Iris interrupted Aldo’s words sharply. There’s no way a 10-year-old girl wouldn’t feel lonely being separated from her mother. That was how Aldo saw it.
“Mom… I’m fine without her now. I have you, Dad…”
“Sorry…”
Aldo looked down and fell silent. He had always thought that one day he’d have to ask about Iris’s mother. But in just these brief ten-odd seconds of conversation, he realized that for Iris, her mother was a presence that triggered some kind of trauma.
“Mom… why did she abandon me…?”
“Iris!”
Aldo moved closer and gently hugged her. Iris let out a sob against his chest.
“Hey, Dad… you won’t abandon me, right?”
“Of course not. That’s a given.”
Iris feared being abandoned by her parents more than anything else. The trauma of being abandoned by her mother was immense. Her mother had left her behind to be with a lover. To remarry that lover, having a stepchild like Iris around was inconvenient.
But Aldo had kept Iris by his side. He couldn’t claim to have been a good father by any means, but even so, he never left Iris “alone.” No matter how poorly she was treated, the reason Iris could never fully come to hate Aldo was because she believed that one day he’d return to being the kind father he once was—and because, unlike her mother, he never left her to go somewhere else.
“Iris, we’ll always be together.”
“Yeah.”
Aldo stayed by her side until she felt reassured.
“Sorry, Iris. I won’t bring up that topic again.”
“No, it’s fine, Dad. I can’t keep clinging to the past forever either… Having you here is enough for me.”
As they talked, it became time to switch shifts.
“Alright, Iris, go wake up Clara and Mira in the girls’ tent.”
“Okay.”
Aldo returned to the men’s tent, and Iris went to wake Clara and Mira to take over the watch.
“Clara, sorry about this.”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Mira?”
“I dragged you all the way out here for my little brother.”
“What are you saying, Mira? Helping a friend is only natural.”
Mira fell silent for a moment at Clara’s words. After a few seconds, she continued.
“Horn… he’s not the kind of kid who makes selfish demands. He’s not even the type to say he wants this or that. But he told me he wanted to hear an orchestra play.”
“I see…”
“That’s why I want to make his wish come true no matter what. I won’t let some outdated disease beat us.”
Mira gripped her staff tightly, her resolve firm.
“Mira, for your sake, I’d take on tasks like this as many times as needed.”
“Thanks, Clara. I’ve got a good friend in you.”
“That’s my line, Mira. I still remember how much you helped me when I left the village and came to the city. You’re the one who introduced me to Master Jeff, right?”
“It’s not a big deal… Helping someone in trouble is just what people do, isn’t it?”
“Being able to do that ‘normal’ thing makes you amazing, Mira. If the world were full of that kind of normal, I think it’d be a much better place.”
Mira scratched the back of her head to hide her embarrassment. But Clara went on.
“When I said I wanted to become a digger aiming to clear dungeons, you didn’t laugh at me, Mira. Master Jeff said aiming to clear them isn’t efficient for rewards, though.”
“Wanting to free spirits—anyone who’d laugh at that is the weird one. I can’t understand people who’d keep spirits trapped in dungeons forever just for money.”
“Yeah, exactly. Even if there’s a clear reward, it’s obviously more efficient to let evil spirits roam and harvest materials. It’s only when the material supply runs low that clearing it becomes the better option.”
If the goal is earning money, there’s no need to rush to clear a dungeon. In fact, leaving it uncleared can be more profitable later. The exception is cases like Nagi Valley, where failing to clear it causes significant harm, leading to huge clear rewards—but otherwise, clear rewards aren’t that lucrative.
“Honestly, I’m aware that some of my peers resent me or think I’m a fool. ‘That idiot ruined the dungeon. There was still plenty to excavate, that stupid woman,’ they’d whisper behind my back. But every time, you’d say, ‘Don’t worry about that nonsense, Mira,’ and that’s why I could keep moving forward without hesitation. That’s how I got to where I am now.”
“No, that’s… it’s because you had a noble goal, Clara. I just gave you a little push.”
“No, Mira. My goal isn’t noble. It’s just ‘normal,’ right?”
Mira froze at Clara’s words, then burst out laughing.
“Haha, true. But being able to do what’s normal is pretty impressive, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, haha.”
The two chatted warmly.
“Well, it’s about time to switch shifts. Clara, head back to the tent. I’ll go wake up Master and Mohawk.”
“Got it.”
The next morning, the six of them woke up, packed up the tents, and prepared to set out.
“Dad, good morning!”
“Morning, Iris. Let’s do our best today too.”
“Yawn… so sleepy…”
Jeff yawned, rubbing his head as if hungover. Seeing this, Clara sniffed the air.
“Master, you were drinking, weren’t you?”
“Just a little. Don’t worry about it. The alcohol will wear off by the time we’re fighting.”
Sigh…
“Sorry, Clara. I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t go against Big Bro Jeff.”
Mohawk apologized sheepishly while Jeff slung an arm around his shoulder.
“What’re you saying, bro? You had a drink too, didn’t you?”
“Whoa, Aniki! A whole glass is an exaggeration! It was just a sip!”
Sigh… “Why were you both drinking during watch duty? Unbelievable.”
Clara respected Jeff, but she couldn’t help thinking she didn’t want to turn into an adult like this.