Shota is surrounded by monsters!

"It's a good thing." Shota pulled the sword out of his stomach, first calculating how much it could sell for, but then, considering he wouldn't be short of money in the future, he decided to save it for Rea. After all, Rea had been learning fencing since she was little, and it would be a bit tacky for such a gentle girl to throw punches every time she fought.

Just as Shota was thinking this, he suddenly heard what sounded like fighting outside the door. He glanced at his friend in surprise, and a few seconds later...

"Ah-"

The door was smashed down by a huge wooden plank, and before they could catch their breath, the person who rushed in shocked everyone in the room.

"I've finally found you, Shota-kun."

Rei patted her chest, though her heart had long since stopped beating.

"Reiya?"

Shota and Sanka Danichiro both asked the same question at the same time, finding the appearance of this person unacceptable. Senjougahara, however, turned her head away strangely when she saw Rea. As for Isayama Yomi and Tsuchimiya Kagura, they were both looking at her with a slightly repentant gaze.

"Father?" Rei saw the redness and swelling on her father's face, and then noticed a strangely familiar scent in the air—the scent of Shota's blood.

"Shouta-kun?"

Upon noticing the bloodstains on Shota's stomach, Rea panicked. She rushed to him, tore open his T-shirt to expose the gradually healing wound, and was about to bandage it with a strip of cloth when Shota stopped her.

"It's okay, it'll be done in less than half a minute."

Shota smiled and comforted Rea, but Rea didn't seem relieved at all. Instead, she murmured, "What a waste, Shota-kun is such a waste..." As she spoke, she put a drop of blood that she had accidentally rubbed off her finger into her mouth before continuing to bandage it.

Okay, Shota admits he was wrong.

"Why……"

Seeing that Shota was unharmed, Sankadan Ichiro's anger flared even more. He pointed at Shota and shouted at Yomi and Kagura, who were watching the scene unfold, "Quick, quick, get this monster out of me..."

"Enough! Father!"

Rea interrupted her father firmly, turned around, and looked at Sanka Danichiro with a serious expression, saying, "That's enough. Please stop attacking Shota-kun. Father!"

"If you're going to attack Shota-kun, then attack me first."

Rea used her body to block Shota, while Yomi and Kagura both chose to take a step back.

"What are you saying, Rea..." Upon seeing Rea's attitude, Sanka Danichiro collapsed weakly to the ground, looked up at his daughter with a sorrowful tone, and said, "I just wanted to save you, to keep you away from that monster..."

"Father!"

Rea interrupted him. For some reason, hearing him speak ill of Shota, Rea, who had never dared to contradict her father before, now had the courage.

"I'm a monster too! Does that mean I should also be killed by the exorcists?"

"How could that be... Rea, you're human, you'll turn back into a human."

Rea was silent for a moment, then took a breath and looked at her father, saying, "I will no longer be human, Father!"

Chapter 50. Father and Daughter (Part 2)

"I don't want to be human anymore, Father!"

Rea's words struck Sanka Danichiro's heart like a boulder. He opened his mouth, looking at his daughter with an expression of unwavering resolve he had never seen before, and after a long while, he spoke in a pleading tone:

“It’s alright, Rei, you can definitely be cured. I can take you to America, where there are the best doctors and researchers, as well as many extraordinary people.”

Sanka Danichiro quickly tried to persuade Rea.

“No, Father.” Rea shook her head gently, a smile appearing on her face as if she were thinking of something happy. She said, “I’m fine as I am. As long as I can live here with Shota-kun, Mashiro-chan, and the others, I don’t particularly want to change anything, even if I were no longer human.”

"But, but... then you won't be able to walk in the sunlight. Are you really willing to spend your whole life only going out at night, unable to enjoy the warmth of the sun?"

Sanka Danichiro tried to persuade Rea by exploiting the vampire's weakness, but Rea didn't care and said, "That is indeed a problem. But it's not that you can't sunbathe at all, it's just that it's a little troublesome to prepare each time."

"Moreover, I prefer basking in the moonlight to basking in the sun..."

Rea touched her pale, almost aristocratic, face with her finger, thought for a moment, and then said, "The sun is a real nuisance. I've decided that from now on, I'll make the sun my lifelong nemesis and destroy it. That way, I'll be free 24/7."

"This……"

Ignoring Rea's father's shock, Shota laughed instead. Only an innocent young vampire like Rea would dare utter such a thought as wanting to destroy the sun. Wait…

That sounds familiar. Did I hear Taotie's father mention the sun, or something like that, intentionally or unintentionally? But Taotie devours the essence of the sun and moon, so he would never have such a hostile attitude towards the sun.

However, if Rea is willing, Shota would prefer that she accept him as a human again. Yokai, after all, are different species. Perhaps now, perhaps in the future, once humanity's strength increases, yokai like themselves will inevitably be sacrificed. Given humanity's nature, creatures above them in the food chain are either extinct or controlled and imprisoned.

Perhaps one day, no, perhaps it already is, those crazy scientists are already using monsters to conduct all sorts of research?

Shota didn't want Rea to end up like that. If possible, the young lady's life would surely be happier than that of a yokai, right?

"Rei, could it be that you would willingly choose to do such a thing, even to the point of death, for this little bit of freedom...?"

Sanka Danichiro realized he could no longer understand his daughter. He lowered his head and asked, "Is this price worth it just for the freedom you have now?"

Faced with his daughter's assertiveness, Sanka Danichiro was somewhat at a loss. Perhaps in the past he would have tried to forcefully educate Rea, but now the expression on Rea's face was exactly the same as her mother's back then—no, even more determined than her mother's.

His mind went blank for a moment. He was just like his immature self who had lost his temper during a competition years ago, stunned by the girl's words. But as the head of the family, he forced himself to say, "You are a special person..."

"All she wanted was to become an ordinary girl."

Shota walked over to Rea, squatted down, looked at the old man whose eyes revealed memories and even a hint of regret, and shook his head, saying, "You still don't understand her heart. As a father, you have failed."

As Shota finished speaking, Rea's smile widened even further. The others, including Senjougahara, silently watched the unfolding events, observing Shota, who no longer resembled a barbarian but instead wore a look of reminiscence. Yomi and Kagura, meanwhile, had already sheathed their weapons.

At this point, there's no need to fight anymore, right?

In the end, even exorcists can't handle other people's private affairs.

"I see..."

Sanka Danichiro looked up at Rea, whose face was beaming with happiness—an expression he hadn't seen in decades. Unlike the beautiful photographs on the surrounding walls, Rea, despite being a creature of the night, possessed a smile that radiated a pure and heartwarming power.

"I lost..."

The smile that was exactly the same as his ex-wife's made Sanka Dan Ichiro's anger subside in an instant. He realized that although his daughter looked a lot like her, Rea seemed to be more elegant and beautiful now than she was back then.

This is the daughter I raised... Although she looks a lot like my wife, she also resembles me in some ways.

But what exactly did I do to push her to this point?

A father and daughter are still a father and daughter. As long as they haven't fallen so low morally, there's still a chance to repair their relationship. Shota looked at the defeated Sanka Danichiro in front of him, shook his head, and said, "I lost too."

Sanka Danichiro and Rea both looked at Shota.

"In the end, I also transformed Rea into a special being."

Rea only sought ordinariness, but Shota, by a twist of fate, transformed her into an existence completely different from the world.

"So, if possible, I implore you to continue your efforts and find a way to turn Rea back to normal." This kind of constitution—unable to be exposed to sunlight and unable to digest food—is definitely not something an ordinary person possesses. Thinking about it carefully, aren't these things too cruel for a young girl?

"you……"

Sanka Danichiro never expected that Shota, who had always played the villain in his mind, would say such a thing. Even Rea's expression changed instantly to one of bewilderment.

“Well, given your current state, there are many things that ordinary people can do that you can no longer do.” Shota stood up, turned to Rea with a smile, and said, “You’re different from us; you don’t need to endure other people’s strange looks. If possible, I still hope you can…”

"Fool!"

Rei interrupted Shota somewhat impatiently.

"I do not want!"

Rea looked at Shota with a pitiful expression, as if she were being stared at by a stray cat. When Shota saw Rea's expression, his heart softened for some reason, but he knew that backing down now would be unmanly!

"Don't be unreasonable, Rei."

Shota, with a stern face, was about to reprimand her when he noticed Rea grabbing his arm and using her sharp little teeth to pierce his skin...

"Waaah!"

"Let go first..."

The serious expression on Shota's face, which was being bitten by Rea, suddenly turned into a look of panic. He said, "If you don't let go, you'll get stuck."

Hearing Shota's words, Rea reluctantly released her lips, licked her slightly reddened lips, and pouted, saying, "Shota-kun, how is your taking matters into your own hands like this any different from my father... my former father..."

"……Why."

Rei's words left Shota somewhat bewildered. After hesitating for a long time, he sighed helplessly and said, "It's up to you to decide."

"Hmm~"

Rei nodded happily, then helped her father, who was still sitting on the ground, to his feet, bowed earnestly, and requested, "Father, I would like to move out for a while!"

"..."

Shota originally thought she was going to go back to her own home, but even if the father-daughter relationship could be repaired, that devilish father, no, Rea's father, probably wouldn't agree to such a thing, right?

"I see."

Sanka Danichiro actually nodded.

"I'm entrusting my daughter to you, Kousaka-kun."

She even bowed politely to Shota...

This change happened so fast that Shota couldn't accept it.

"But!" Hearing the word "but," Shota finally accepted it a little better, and continued, "This is only temporary. Whether Rea likes it or not, I will prepare a way for her to recover. So, during my time abroad, I'm entrusting Rea to you."

"Huh?"

Before Shota could answer, Sanka Danichiro pulled Shota close to his ear and said the second "but".

“But… premarital sex is absolutely forbidden.” Sanka Danichiro’s tone was filled with a strong sense of fanaticism: “No, it’s not allowed after marriage either. The only genetic material Rea can accept is her own!”

"Uh, what are you talking about, getting married?" Shota froze on the spot, not even having time to process the even more horrifying words that followed. Rea, with her keen ears, stomped her foot, nearly breaking the floorboards in her anger and embarrassment.

"Father!"

Fortunately, the other three girls were a bit far away and didn't hear what happened.

"Heh, hehe."

At this moment, Shota could only laugh awkwardly. Even if he knew it was a misunderstanding, now was not the time to clear things up.

"Alright, I'll leave today's matters to your countermeasures office. Please go back now. I will keep my promise regarding the funding."

"Ok."

Now that things had come to this, Yomi Isayama prepared to return. Ignoring Shota, she walked straight to Rea with Kagura, bowed deeply, and apologized, saying, "I am partly to blame for making you like this. I will take responsibility and find a way to turn you back to normal."

"No, no need. I didn't take it to heart." Rea waved her hand, glancing cautiously at Shota, and said, "Besides, I didn't really want to be a human being..."

"Yellow Spring!"