I adopted a child demon from the Gap, and I'm a special agent for the Bureau of Supernatural Ab

Thank you to readers Dingye, Sinful Demon King EX, Non-existent Eight, Sakura-chan over, Terrifying Rabbit, Big Rabbit, and Wrestling♂Police for their recommendation votes.

Chapter 17, Section 214: A Cold-Colored Dream

"Honey, have you decided on a name for the baby?"

"If it's a boy, we'll call him Chao (潮), and if it's a girl, we'll use the character tide (汐)."

"Is that so? It feels pretty good too."

……

If this beautiful dream could continue, it would truly be a blessing.

A gentle and beautiful wife, a warm and sweet little home—this life surrounded by happiness should, of course, include a petite and adorable child.

but……

"Is it confirmed, doctor?"

Sitting in the hospital's psychological counseling room, the man lowered his gaze and asked in a low voice.

Yes, that's for sure.

The middle-aged doctor spoke without hesitation, while the man's hands, which were resting on his lap, slowly clenched.

Inside the hospital bed, a two- or three-year-old girl sat quietly, counting her fingers one by one. The man's wife sat beside the girl, gently stroking her hair, her eyes a somber gray.

"Xiao tide..."

Three years ago, when the child was just born, the man thought he had finally found complete happiness.

As agreed with his wife at the beginning, he named the child, their daughter, "Li Xiaoxi," and decided to retire from the front line to focus on taking care of his daughter.

However, as the child grew older, some strange phenomena began to emerge.

At first, they only noticed that the child was a little clumsy and had great difficulty learning to speak. But as time went on, more and more abnormalities began to appear.

She didn't like to talk or communicate, always playing by herself, and would occasionally clap her hands or count repeatedly. She also showed signs of anxiety and even emotional outbursts from time to time. Soon, the man realized the abnormality in his daughter.

Today, after a professional doctor's diagnosis, he finally learned the answer to the question, an answer he wished he had never heard.

Xiaoxi has autism.

……

"how so……"

The wife frowned and sighed softly, while the little girl beside her calmly held her hand, staring at her left hand as if there was something very beautiful in it.

“It’s alright,” the man said earnestly, gently patting his wife’s shoulder as he reached out his hand. “We’ll take good care of her.”

From light to darkness, it's only a short distance.

The man's uncle, who had been in good health, developed a serious illness after retiring due to aging and the flare-up of old injuries. By the time the man rushed back, it was too late to reverse the damage.

Six months later, the uncle's funeral was held and he was buried in a cemetery in the suburbs.

The man covered most of his uncle's medical expenses and all aspects of his funeral arrangements. Unfortunately, despite his uncle's diligence, he hadn't been promoted due to his limited abilities and his own style of doing things. His uncle's family's wealth alone might not even be enough to cover basic medical care. Even so, the man was under considerable financial pressure, and his past earnings were almost entirely consumed by the bottomless pit of hospital expenses.

"I have to go back to the commando unit; that's the only way we can survive right now."

To care for their daughter, the wife had resigned from her job and stayed home, but maintaining the city's standard of living with an office job was difficult. Without much deliberation, the man returned to his old, dangerous but relatively higher-paying commando unit.

The wife stayed home to care for their quiet, withdrawn child, diligently trying various training methods to help the girl become more normal and actively contacting special education institutions. After the child turned five, she enrolled her in a special education school to ensure the child's safety and learning during the day. Only then did she find work. As a B-level magician, her skills were far more versatile than those of a mere martial artist, and she quickly secured a good job, easing the family's financial strain.

But soon, another disaster struck. One of the prisoners the man's uncle had previously arrested, now released, harbored resentment and organized a group to attack the home where his aunt and cousin lived. By the time the man learned of the attack and rushed back, he found only his aunt's corpse and news of his cousin's disappearance.

He investigated for a long time, from the people who committed the crime that day to the boss hiding overseas, all the way to a human organ trafficking dissection factory, but he couldn't find his sister anywhere. In the end, not a single trace was left.

Two new graves appeared in the cemetery on the outskirts of my hometown, but one of them contained only a few pieces of clothing and personal belongings representing the deceased.

Even after catching all the culprits, the man remained depressed for a long time. He often stayed alone in his room, staring blankly at the street outside the window, his mind filled with memories of the days when he would return home after exercising and his uncle's family of three would be waiting for him to eat together.

At least, the real culprit has been brought to justice, hasn't he?

...That's a really outrageous idea.

The implementation of justice does not mean complete happiness, because it always occurs after tragedy has happened, and by then the tragedy is irreversible.

Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, the man suppressed his grief and anger. Because of the excessive cruelty he used in apprehending the murderer, which caused a severe negative social impact, he was suspended from duty for six months. This was already a lenient punishment, but for the first time, it brought the man feelings of disappointment and pain.

Perhaps Emiya was right; I really am a fool...

"dad."

A clear, crisp voice called from the corner of the room, rousing the man from his daze.

He turned his head and saw that the girl with long, black hair had somehow gotten herself wrapped up in the blanket, struggling to get out, and was on the verge of tears.

"Honestly, is this the only time you call someone 'Dad'..."

I walked over to the girl and pulled her out of the tangled blankets. She struggled a little reluctantly, then quickly grabbed her jigsaw puzzle piece and ran to the other side of the room. She's always like this, ignoring everything else and just endlessly assembling toys, only calling for her parents when she's extremely anxious. It has to be said, this reactive personality is quite a headache.

I can't let myself sink into despair like this.

Watching the girl playing by herself, the man thought to himself.

I have a wife and a daughter; I need to support and care for them. No matter what, I cannot be the first to collapse.

His wife, thanks to her excellent foundation-building skills in earth magic, was in charge of a large-scale construction project and would be busy for a long time before returning home. It happened to be the weekend, a normal school holiday, so the man stayed home to take care of his quiet daughter; after all, he had nowhere else to go since he was suspended from his job.

Faced with this girl who could spend an entire day working on a jigsaw puzzle without getting tired of it, and who absolutely refused to call him "Dad" or look him in the eye unless she was nervous or scared, the man was actually quite helpless. His long years of work in his early career had left him with very little time to spend with his daughter, unlike his wife whom he already knew and relied on. Therefore, many times, he felt that his daughter treated him like a stranger, except when she needed his help. However, considering her special circumstances, the man couldn't really blame her.

I'll use these six months to get to know and become close to Xiaoxi.

The man looked at the girl who was playing by herself with her back to him and made a decision in his heart.

Life must go on, no matter what. For this man now, his wife and daughter are the most important things he has left. He's beginning to understand why Kiritsugu Emiya chose to retire and stop his masked vigilante-like actions after marrying Irisviel. This is a choice one faces only after having someone truly important in their life.

Of course, since Emiya is a homunculus, the alarming fact that although she looks youthful and beautiful, she is actually the age of an infant is something men don't want to comment on.

Look at me, keep looking at me, Mother, Uncle, I will work hard.

"Om-"

The cell phone in my waist pocket vibrated at that moment; it was the sound of an unknown number calling.

The man took out his phone with some doubt and found that it had been ringing for a long time without the other party hanging up. He then chose to answer and decided that if it was a sales advertisement, he would hang up and block it immediately.

Then, the man's expression hardened on his face.

An accident occurred in the construction area that his wife was in charge of.

…………

Thank you to reader Chaotic Evil Gudako for the monthly ticket.

Thank you to readers Sin Demon King EX, Non-existent Eight, Abnormality, Sakura-chan Over, Wrestling♂Police, Terrifying Rabbit, Night Festival Scale, Big Rabbit, Non-existent Eight, and Chaotic Evil Gudako for their recommendation votes.

This volume is finally nearing its end. It feels like the most difficult and unpleasant volume to write.

Section 215, Chapter 18: The Fallen Dream

"What kind of situation is this...?"

His body was ice-cold, and his consciousness seemed to be frozen as well. The man trembled and slumped down in front of a stretcher covered with a white sheet.

Sirens blared, crowds screamed and shouted, and the air thick with the smell of dust. Not far from the man, a building had collapsed and was buried in the dust.

"What kind of situation is this...?"

The man muttered to himself, seemingly oblivious to the firefighters and doctors passing by, staring blankly at the figure covered by a white sheet before him.

Even after someone came to his side and spoke loudly beside him, and even after the stretcher was carried away, the man remained sitting on the ground, seemingly oblivious to the commotion around him, sitting there like a wooden stake.

Ye Jia, a former member of the Special Abilities Division, was tragically killed at the age of 28 when he was struck by falling rocks while trying to rescue workers trapped inside a building during a construction site collapse.

Her ashes were buried in the cemetery in her hometown, very close to the man's uncle's family.

From a happy family of three to his daughter's diagnosis, to his wife's passing, the blows were more devastating and cruel than he had imagined. After the funeral, he locked himself in his room for three whole days, refusing to eat or drink, and not accepting any visits from friends. He simply curled up alone in the messy room, doing nothing.

He recalled their first meeting, when they were carefree children; he remembered their reunion, her graceful figure; and the gentle smile she gave him after they became husband and wife…

He began to recall more and more things, things he had taken for granted in the past and never truly cared about. Now, they were clear again in his mind, turning into excruciating pain that tormented the man's will.

Three days later, the disheveled man reappeared in the sunlight. Not because he had finally emerged from his grief, but because the root cause of the accident—the boss who had used substandard materials and then absconded with the money—had finally been caught.

With an intense, chilling murderous aura, the man stormed into the detention center holding the obese boss, intending to kill him outright. However, he hadn't anticipated that the Special Branch had already detected his unusual behavior and dispatched a considerable number of elite guards to watch over him. Weakened and outnumbered, the man was ultimately captured.

"Let me go! Let me go! I'm going to kill him! Kill him!!"

The man, who had been suppressed by several people, roared wildly and almost broke free from the suppression of these powerful individuals of the same level as him. The small detention center was already dilapidated and almost completely destroyed.

"Li Cheng, don't do anything rash! He's already been arrested and must be tried according to procedure!"

A former superior stood beside the man, shouting loudly, but the man ignored him, only thinking of killing the obese man huddled in the deepest cell. With his powerful physique and explosive strength, he forcefully broke free from the suppression of five or six martial artists of the same level and charged towards the obese man whose face was filled with fear.

"Li Cheng! Stop right now!!"

"go to hell--"

……

From a revered captain of a special forces unit to being dismissed and reduced to an ordinary citizen, the man showed no reaction to this outcome. He simply sat blankly in his seat, listening to the words of his superior, who had always cared about him, from the other side of the table.

"Li Cheng, do you know what you've done? You've completely disregarded discipline and the law. That person has already been caught; he would have received his due punishment through normal legal channels. Why did you have to go to such extremes!"

"You would normally be severely punished for making such a serious mistake. However, considering your past contributions to the Special Forces, we have decided not to impose a formal punishment on you. But you can no longer stay in the Special Department. Go find a new job. You are still young and have such great abilities. You have a long life ahead of you, so live it well."

To get through this?

Life is still long?

The man laughed silently, but there was no light in his eyes.

She is gone. The girl who once accompanied him has turned to ashes and now sleeps peacefully in a quiet mountain thousands of miles away, never to wake up again.

The vows of forever together, the promises of never separating, now appear as the deepest, most painful wounds in retrospect, suffocating the man. How can he possibly continue living?

Now, I have already fallen into an abyss.