Chapter 9: The Wonders of a "Father-Daughter" Relationship
"Alright, dinner's over—you do the dishes! I'll get ready, then we'll go uphold justice!" After finishing her meal, the Herrscher of Sentience immediately shirked responsibility.
"You seriously won't do the dishes?!" Roshin glared at her in outrage.
"The Herrscher of Sentience has altered your consciousness—the Herrscher of Sentience does not need to do dishes!" she declared shamelessly.
"..." Roshin knew that when she used her authority on him, he wouldn't actually be affected—though his head would ache briefly.
But this time, nothing happened.
Which meant she was just trying to weasel out of dish duty!
"You might as well just alter my consciousness for real!"
"That's impossible. I'm the Herrscher of Sentience—how could I possibly use my authority for something so trivial? That would make me no better than a child!" The Herrscher of Sentience snorted.
"Fair point, but I cooked, so you have to do the dishes!" Roshin hated washing dishes.
"...The Herrscher of Sentience has altered your consciousness. You now want to do the dishes."
Roshin's head throbbed for a moment.
"..." And you say you're not a child???
"Suddenly, I feel like doing the dishes." Roshin silently picked up the plates and utensils.
This Herrscher of Sentience… gave Roshin the distinct feeling that he was raising a child.
Serves her right for getting scammed by her own mom!
While the Herrscher of Sentience was watching TV, Roshin took the time to look up information about her.
And he discovered her true identity.
Well, no wonder she looked familiar—she was that eternal flat-chested one!
He had seen this character before but didn't know much about her. The reason he hadn't recognized her immediately was because the Herrscher of Sentience's clothing style and demeanor were completely different from that "Divine Land Flat Board."
No wonder the name Fu Hua sounded so familiar.
"Mhm, washing dishes is a fine tradition." The Herrscher of Sentience nodded in satisfaction.
...
"What? You're saying you're not going?"
"Yeah, I've got something to do tonight, so I can't go with you to play hero. Seriously, I'm not lying." Roshin said earnestly.
"Em… alright then."
Seemingly moved by Roshin's sincerity, the Herrscher of Sentience agreed to go together tomorrow instead, deciding to scout out the enemy situation alone today.
After successfully brushing her off, Roshin walked up to the balcony on the second floor of his house.
From here, he could see the Herrscher of Sentience cheerfully heading out.
Thinking Roshin was watching her leave, she happily waved back at him.
"Honestly, I never expected this 'father-daughter' relationship to be so useful. It's practically a miracle." Watching the Herrscher of Sentience disappear into the distance, Roshin glanced at his ability interface.
Perhaps because he had unilaterally defined their relationship—and because a father-daughter bond was particularly special—he could now track the Herrscher of Sentience's location through his guardian permissions.
For example, right now, he could tell that she had already left the heavily guarded residential area by some means.
Truth be told, the security and surveillance in Roshin's neighborhood were pretty tight. The only reason he could jump the fence after school without being stopped was because the guards all recognized him.
"Wait a minute… how did Yun Xia even get into the neighborhood? She didn't notify me, did she?" Roshin suddenly remembered this detail.
He vaguely recalled that entering the residential area required permission from one of the homeowners.
The guardian permissions granted by his ability only allowed him to track her location. Beyond that, he could also initiate remote communication, but Roshin didn't dare try.
What if he called her remotely and she asked how he did it? Was he supposed to say, "Because we're in a father-daughter relationship"?
He'd get beaten to a pulp!
Aside from observing the location and remote communication, becoming the other party's guardian also granted a certain degree of immunity to their mind-reading abilities.
Otherwise, when Roshin internally mocked them for falling victim to their own mother's scam, he would have been beaten black and blue by now.
Initially, Roshin thought that with guardian privileges, he might stand a chance against them in a fight. But now, it seemed like wishful thinking.
"Alright, let's see what this Midnight Bar is all about first." After confirming the other party had left, Roshin stood on his second-floor balcony and summoned the first plugin of his ability.
Honestly, Roshin was increasingly convinced his ability wasn't exactly... conventional.
What kind of legitimate ability would manifest things even he himself didn't know about?
Hmm, couldn't figure it out.
Well, if he couldn't figure it out, he'd stop trying. After all, it was his own ability—it wouldn't harm him.
As Roshin chose to deploy the Midnight Bar on the balcony, a tiny, phantom-like miniature bar appeared above it.
The illusion was so faint that it was nearly imperceptible unless observed closely. And it was so small that the balcony could comfortably accommodate it with plenty of space to spare.
"This is it? Just this tiny thing? What kind of bar can this even be?" Roshin was dumbfounded.
But the ability panel indicated this was already the bar's fully expanded form.
After a moment's thought, Roshin pushed open the illusory door.
A warm, dim light spilled out from inside. Crossing the threshold, he found himself in a cozy yet understatedly luxurious establishment.
The shop wasn't large, but it was bigger than the balcony outside, easily able to host dozens of people, with a second floor to boot.
What exactly this was, Roshin couldn't quite grasp.
Right past the entrance stood a counter, its shelves behind it completely bare.
All in all, it was a rather inviting little tavern, with a distinctly vintage aesthetic rather than a modern one.
"Isn't this Angel's Share? Think I haven't played Genshin Impact or something?" Roshin pointed at the bartender's counter and loudly complained to the ability panel.
"Actually, I really haven't played much," he admitted when the panel ignored him, answering his own question.
Genshin Impact was quite popular in Roshin's world, but unfortunately, he hadn't spent much time on it.
His recognition of the tavern as Angel's Share mostly came from watching a certain grudge-holding knight's promotional video.
Back in the day, Roshin had been a die-hard Honkai Impact 3rd player, but he eventually had to set it aside due to lack of time.
After starting high school and unlocking his ability panel, he managed to keep up with Honkai for the first year, but as things got busier, gaming took a backseat.
For instance, he knew Fu Hua but not the Herrscher of Sentience, since the latter hadn't been released yet.
When the Herrscher of Sentience introduced herself, Roshin had assumed it was just a coincidence and didn't pay it much mind.
"Never thought I'd see game characters in real life. Maybe it's time to pick those games back up—might come in handy later," Roshin muttered to himself.