Chapter 45

Rene silently watched the girl sleeping soundly on the sofa.

“She truly has perfect memory abilities.”

Professor Kandor broke the silence.

“……Indeed.”

Rene’s expression darkened.

Although she had expected it, hearing the results made her heart heavy. The girl was already unfortunate, having grown up in a different environment from other children.

“Is daily life… possible? I mean, she remembers everything. Even the trivial things.”

Rene asked cautiously.

“Is she Nergal Galinne’s daughter?”

“……Yes.”

“Her empathy is good. There are no other mental disorders. Usually, children with such special memory abilities have other functions impaired.”

Professor Kandor continued calmly.

“The problem, as you worry, is her memory… Fortunately, her perfect memory ability isn’t entirely complete.”

“What do you mean by not complete?”

“Her memory is specialized in text. For example, with documents like these.”

The professor pointed to the books on the desk.

“Then does that mean her sensory memory is like that of an ordinary person?”

“Of course, it would be higher than an average person. But she would forget trivial things like others.”

“There’s no possibility of it developing further over time, right?”

“Hardly.”

Rene felt relieved at the professor’s words.

“You seem to care for that child, Rene.”

“……It might be sympathy. I can’t forget the face she had when I first brought her here. She looked like she had given up on everything. How could I leave a child like that alone when she looked at me with such a face?”

Nergal Galinne seemed a bit different, though.

After bringing the girl to the laboratory, Rene saw Nergal, who was the same as always. Nergal, who never played the role of a father.

Perhaps because of that, the girl always seemed empty, even when she was ‘belonging’ somewhere after living ‘alone’. The girl knew well that she was an outsider there.

“Umm.”

The girl, who had been sleeping soundly, stirred.

“Benny.”

Rene approached the girl. The girl opened her eyes.

“You can sleep more if you’re still sleepy.”

“Did the results… come out?”

The girl looked at Professor Kandor sitting at the desk. Her lips trembled slightly, signaling her anxiety. Rene patted her back, assuring her it was okay.

“Hello, Benny. We met earlier, didn’t we?”

Professor Kandor put down the magnifying glasses he was wearing and looked at the girl.

As a competent psychology professor, he eased the girl’s tension with a smile. Professor Kandor took out various chocolates from the drawer.

“Would you like one?”

The girl nodded at the professor’s offer.

The girl approached the desk and stared at the red-wrapped chocolate. Professor Kandor smiled, grabbing a handful of chocolates and offering them to the girl. Hesitantly, she reached out and carefully took the chocolates.

“There’s chocolate inside the red wrapper. It’s milk chocolate, very smooth and tasty. I heard it has a lot of milk in it. But it’s not too sweet, just right for an old man like me. Do you like milk chocolate, Benny?”

“…I do.”

“Then have a seat first.”

Professor Kandor pointed to the seat opposite him. Then he gestured to Rene to step aside. Understanding the signal, Rene nodded.

“How is it? Delicious?”

“Yes…”

Before leaving, Rene glanced at the two conversing.

Hopefully, the girl wouldn’t fall into despair… But Professor Kandor was knowledgeable and kind. After gently closing the door, Rene waited for the girl.

* * *

Rene watched the girl looking out the window. They were on their way back to the laboratory. After finishing her conversation with Professor Kandor, the girl showed no particular reaction.

The car arrived at the laboratory.

As soon as it did, Tiago and Alres, who had been worried about the girl, spotted the car and ran up to it. The girl and Rene also got out of the car.

“You came back quickly, Little Miss.”

Tiago spoke as usual, observing Rene’s expression. Alres did the same. Both couldn’t focus on work, worried about the girl.

“Where’s Olive?”

The girl asked then.

“Uh…? Ah, maybe playing in your room.”

“I want to see Olive.”

Without saying much, the girl went straight into the laboratory. Tiago and Alres stared at her retreating figure with puzzled faces. 

Was the girl okay?

Instead of asking, Tiago turned his gaze to Rene. With a face asking what had happened, Rene let out a small sigh.

* * *

The girl’s eyes widened when she stopped in front of the door. Inside the room sat an unexpected person calmly.

“Hello.”

Nergal Galinne. He was petting Olive.

“Meow.”

Olive, having grown close, climbed onto Nergal’s lap, raising her front paws. With a stoic face, Nergal picked up the meowing cat.

“Where did you go?”

Nergal asked, examining the girl’s attire. The girl’s stiff lips showed no sign of parting. After a brief silence, she spoke with a pale face.

“…To Professor Kandor’s residence.”

“Professor Kandor. Ah, the psychology professor.”

Nergal spoke as if he knew the professor. But that was all. Nergal wasn’t interested in what the girl heard there.

He focused more on Olive in his arms, occasionally tapping Olive’s nose or face.

The girl blinked. 

Was this reality?

It was the first conversation with her father. The girl found her father’s voice, lower than she expected, very unfamiliar.

“……”

The girl didn’t know how she felt now.

Before, she wanted to talk to her father, but now that they were alone… her thoughts changed. As time passed, she felt suffocated. Even the slight silence while facing her father was unbearable for the girl.

“He is a smart person.”

Nergal took a step closer to the girl.

“…He gave me chocolates as a gift.”

“That must have been to make a good impression on you.”

Nergal had no pretense. He had no intention of making a good impression on his daughter in their first conversation.

“Here.”

Nergal handed Olive to the girl. The limp Olive settled into her arms.

“See you again.”

Was this the end of the conversation? 

The girl watched her father’s back as he headed for the door.

“Uh, um…”

Unconsciously, the girl stopped her father.

The girl found this situation, being alone with her father, distressing but also knew it was rare. Perhaps this was the last chance to talk to her father.

The girl shifted her gaze.

“Why?”

“Um, do you know where Mom is?”

The girl suddenly brought up her missing mother. Nergal shook his head plainly.

“No.”

“Didn’t she contact you?”

“No, she’s a diligent woman, so she’ll live well on her own.”

Nergal spoke as if talking about someone else. The girl couldn’t understand her father. Her mom and dad were married.

And usually, people marry for love. They have children out of love. They give the hard-earned money to their family and buy a house out of love…

That’s normal, but her father loved neither her mother nor her. Then how did they marry and have her? Why did he give money and a house to them?

Above all, the girl was scared of her father, who acted unaffected even when her mother disappeared overnight. The girl wondered if he would react the same if she vanished too.

To Nergal, the girl was just a guest or a stranger.

“…The professor said I have a special ability. Like you, Dad.”

The girl no longer stammered. Nergal’s transparent eyes, looking at the girl, shook slightly.

“Like me?”

“I’m your daughter. I have perfect memory ability. …I can remember a book just by looking at it once.”

“……”

“They said I could become a great scientist like you. Although I don’t like science. I hate chemistry. But… they said I have a similar brain to yours.”

The girl looked straight at Nergal as she spoke.

Strangely, Nergal, who had been silent for a while, fell into thought and then looked at his daughter again. He quietly scanned her from head to toe.

“I see.”

The one word Nergal uttered was monotonous. The girl’s eyes drooped in disappointment.

Nergal grabbed the doorknob.

“Are you having lunch at the cafeteria?”

“…Huh? Yes.”

“So am I.”

Nergal’s words bewildered the girl.

“If the timing is right, let’s eat together.”

Nergal said what he wanted unilaterally and disappeared. The girl belatedly doubted her ears.

What did father just say?