57 Hōzōin Temple (4), A Potentially New Disciple?

A month had passed since Otto had completed Brynhildr's body.

"Father, look, I can create a small curtain now," an eight-year-old girl said proudly, her golden hair and striking appearance reminiscent of Otto's own. She beamed at him, hoping to impress, while Otto covered his face, already knowing the purpose of the small curtain.

"Yeah..." he sighed, shaking his head. The curtain, a mere square meter in size, was inadequate for a barrier to contain a fight.

"We can do it in secret in the future, heheheh." Brynhildr said with a smug smile.

"Good lord... What have I done?" Otto muttered to himself.

"Hey, when are you going to introduce me as your daughter?" she asked, thinking it would take a while for her body to mature into that of an adult. Hiding her existence might be impossible, as she wanted to always stay close to him.

Otto remained silent, knowing that people would inevitably ask who the mother was, which would be troublesome since there was none.

"No. You need to grow up first," he said firmly. There was no way he could explain her true origins to anyone.

It would only complicate matters if people found out how she was created.

"Mmmm. Alright..." Brynhildr snuggled against him. Unlike before, she could now physically interact with him, no longer limited to her apparition form.

She clung to Otto's upper body, climbing up to perch on his head as he prepared for a casual trip back to Houzouin Temple to visit Inshun.

...

"Hmmm... Why'd you use a concealing rune?" Brynhildr asked, her curiosity evident.

"Obviously to hide your uncontrolled energies," Otto replied, rolling his eyes at the little girl. If not for his interventions, the incarnated Brynhildr would be much stronger than him.

'You've got a massive amount of Curse Energy, Mana, and Holy powers. Your cursed energy output is even larger than mine...' Otto silently complained. Even though he was the Original, he hadn't expected that his pseudo-offspring would be stronger.

Of course, it was intentional. He had designed her body to be at the peak of human limits, testing every aspect to ensure she was as powerful as possible within the bounds of humanity.

"Are you jealous that other men would be looking at me~? Fufufu fu." She giggled, delighted that people could now see her with him.

"Maybe..." He muttered.

"You shouldn't worry about that. I've cast a rune on myself that prevents others from even feeling lustful towards me," she said smugly.

"How?" Otto asked, genuinely curious. He didn't know a rune like that existed and wished he could use it too.

"Nope. Not telling ya," She replied with a mischievous grin, wanting other women to be lustful towards him as she finds it hot when busty women flirt with him. And she hoped to one day trick him into using a rune that would make women madly thirst after him.

As they neared the Houzouin Temple, Otto lowered the effects of the concealing rune. Since it was too conspicuous in the territory of yokais, who could easily discern the illusions. Due to the touki, which he didn't have that much knowledge of it, as it couldn't be hidden effectively from those creatures.

While casually walking towards Houzouin Temple, Otto encountered a familiar face along the road.

"It's you," said Suzaku Himejima, a busty black-haired woman.

"Hello, Himejima-san," Otto greeted her respectfully. She was part of the four major clans of Kyoto, and he knew the importance of showing proper respect.

"It seems like Reni told you about me. And..." Suzaku's eyes landed on Brynhildr, who was doing her best to look cute in front of her.

"Is that your little sister?" Suzaku asked, noticing the evident similarities between the two.

"You could say that," Otto replied with a helpless nod.

"Yes! Father! Father!" Brynhildr shook her head enthusiastically.

"That's..." Suzaku was shocked. She remembered that Otto was just ten years old six years ago, and now here was a little girl who looked about six or seven.

"Please don't ask questions..." Otto said quickly, not wanting to delve into the complicated explanation.

Suzaku stared for a moment longer, then sighed.

"Alright, Otto. I won't pry," she replied with a confused tone.

"Thank you, Himejima-san. We're on our way to visit Inshun at the Houzouin Temple," Otto breathed a sigh of relief, hoping to steer the conversation toward safer ground.

"Give Inshun my regards, and take care of yourself, Trailblazer." Suzaku said guessing that Otto was going to challenge him. 

As they continued on their way, Brynhildr looked up at Otto with a mischievous grin.

"You handled that well, Father," she said, clearly impressed.

"It's not always that easy..." Otto replied, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"Are you going to turn that woman into one of your wives? Wait a minute... She looks similar to the black-haired woman who served the red-haired devil back then. Are they related?" Brynhildr asked, recalling that Akeno looked similar to Suzaku.

"They are. They should be cousins," Otto replied. He didn't have the full context of their relationship but had figured they shared the same last name, Himejima.

They finally reached the gates of Houzouin Temple, the familiar sight bringing a sense of calm to Otto as the shouts of training monks could be heard from outside.

"Sto—oh, it's you again. Well, come on in. Master said to always welcome you," said the monk guarding the gate. He recognized Otto as the one who had beaten Inshun in a duel before.

Upon entering, Otto found Inshun whacking the heads of some incompetent disciple monks with a wooden stick.

"HAAH!" Inshun shouted, hitting the backs of the lazy monks.

"You're as strict as ever," Otto remarked. Inshun heard him and turned with a smile on his face.

"And you're back!" Inshun's bald head shone with confidence.

"And who's that kid?" he asked, pointing at Brynhildr, who was curiously looking around the temple.

"My—" Otto began, but his words were cut off.

"Daughter!" Brynhildr answered before he could finish.

"Wow, you already have a daughter at that age!?" Inshun exclaimed, knowing how young Otto was as he participated in the Seven Sword Art Festival.

"Can we not talk about it?" Otto sighed helplessly, anticipating a repeat of his conversation with Suzaku.

"Hmmm, well, alright, since you look troubled," Inshun said, thinking Otto might have accidentally impregnated a woman after a one-night stand.

The three of them moved to a better spot, away from the sweaty bald monks.

"So, what do you want this time?" Inshun asked, his smile not reaching his eyes. He hadn't gotten over his loss to Otto and had trained harder since.

"Can't I visit a friend?" Otto replied casually. Despite their competitive history, he had to admit that Inshun was one of the few people he had a good relationship with, albeit in an odd way.

"Friend... Pfft, hahahaha, whatever," Inshun laughed, thinking Otto's visit had a deeper meaning behind it. He saw an opportunity and decided to use it.

"So, since you're visiting a friend, wouldn't it be boring to just sit and drink water?" Inshun asked.

"You need something?" Otto asked, trying to understand what Inshun wanted.

"Yeah, do you have a disciple? Or an inheritor of some kind?" Inshun looked at Brynhildr, who was watching someone outside.

"No," Otto replied. He couldn't count Brynhildr since they were partners, and she already had some of his powers, except a stand power as he hadn't pierced her with the stand arrow, afraid that something would go wrong since it affects the soul of the target.

"Good. Can I recommend an inheritor for you?" The bald man suggested.

"That depends if the person is strong, and I'll be the one to assess that," Otto replied. He didn't want a weak inheritor.

"I'm sure you'll like her! She even has a sacred gear!" Inshun immediately stood up and marched outside to get someone.

"Hey, I found a potential," Brynhildr said after Inshun left, climbing onto Otto's back and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Potential?" Otto asked, not understanding what she meant.

"Yeah, big breasts, with a petite body!" she smirked, with a look of perversion plastered on her face.

"Let's focus on what's important, okay?" Otto sighed, patting her head as she was acting up again.

"No, I meant it. I can feel something strange about the woman I'm talking about, similar to that kid from the Hero's Village and the Red Dragon Emperor kid," Brynhildr explained eagerly, hoping to persuade Otto to add the woman to his harem.

"What are you tal—" Otto began, but he immediately stopped as Inshun arrived back with a gloomy young girl. She had long, mixed black and dark pink hair, and her eyes were a dark shade of pink, resembling those of a goth girl.

"That's the kid?" Otto asked, looking at her without any lecherous intent as Inshun presented her.

"That's her!" Brynhildr exclaimed before Otto covered her mouth to stop her from saying more, as he now inspect her with interest. Finding a sacred gear inside her.

"Yes, her name is Zekka Miyamoto. She's the descendant of Musashi Miyamoto, who defeated my ancestor in the past," Inshun introduced happily, though the girl appeared gloomy and confused.

"What am I doing here, Uncle Inshun?" Zekka asked in a confused tone, wondering why he had abruptly brought her here when she thought the little girl beside Otto was watching her in a strange way.

"You said you wanted to become the strongest swordsman, didn't you?" Inshun replied, pointing at Otto. "Well, that's the strongest swordsman I know over there."

Otto felt flustered being called the strongest swordsman, as he had already abandoned the pursuit of strength and focused on living life to the fullest.

"Isn't he the one who won this year's festival?" Zekka asked, just now recognizing him upon closer inspection.

"Yup, but I'm not confident in my swordsmanship since the Houzouin Temple focuses on spears. So I can't really help you with that. I thought I'd introduce you to my friend who also defeated the master of Houzouin Temple, like your ancestor did," Inshun explained heavily glazing on him, hoping that Otto would accept Zekka as his disciple.

"To think you consider me the strongest. I haven't even fought against Edelweiss, who was known as the strongest swordsman," Otto humbly replied. He was confident that he could win against her if they ever did fight seriously, but he didn't boast about it.

...

-Chapter End-