Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends - V 2.2 Chapter 7.2

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, and looked Father straight in the eyes.

“I’ve said it many times, but I have no intention of returning to the Kingdom of Aluda.”

At that, Father narrowed his eyes.

“Then… why did you summon me here?”

“I have something I want to ask you.”

I slipped my hand into my pocket. It was gently warm, seeping into my cold fingers and grounding me.

“If you truly love me… then answer my question without lying.”

“…I don’t know what it is you wish to ask, but of course I’ll answer. Because I love you, Kuna.”

Hearing that, I lowered my gaze and drew from my pocket a small object.

──The Scales of Truth.

In the center was Slime-chan’s magic crystal, and because of it, the scales glimmered faintly with magic. On the right pan lay a sword symbolizing truth; on the left, a sculpted serpent representing falsehood.

“…What is that?”

“These are the Scales of Truth. It is said that in front of these scales, no one can tell a lie.”

“……”

Father’s eyes flickered with caution, but he must have judged I wasn’t about to ask anything trivial. He shrugged lightly and studied me with mild curiosity.

“I swear it. Of course. I’ll answer any question you have, Kuna. I’ll explain it properly too.”

“…I see. But that won’t be necessary. The only answer I truly want from you is one.”

I wanted more than words—I wanted what lay beyond the revelation.

Yet, just before speaking, my mouth felt frozen with tension. If my hypothesis was right… could I endure a truth so cruel?

Even knowing there was no turning back, my body trembled. Then, Gier’s warm hand gently covered mine, the one holding the scales. When I looked at him, he gave me a small, reassuring nod.

──Because I’m here with you.

Hearing that whisper, I finally steeled myself.

“Father.”

Some part of me still hoped he would say it wasn’t true.

“What is it you wish to ask? Let’s get this pointless charade over with and go home.”

I gripped the scales tightly.

“Answer me, sworn on the Scales of Truth.”

A golden flower flashed in my mind. That beautiful light seemed to be watching over me, protecting me.

“Is my mother’s true name… Atlantia Lucia?”

Father’s eyes widened in shock.

──Why I had reached this conclusion had several reasons. Somehow, I had begun to see my mother’s features reflected in Ingrid-san. Not just hair color or eye color, but the very contours of her face, her height… she resembled Mother, who had passed ten years ago, in every detail.

And on that day when I was swallowed by the subterranean fish, I had dreamed of my mother. In that dream, she told me her real name was different. And she also said that Ingrid-san had been searching for a sister who disappeared sixteen years ago. I hadn’t heard the name, only that it was the name of a flower. That same golden flower had guided me inside the fish’s belly, blooming there to lead me.

The flower language Gier had taught me became the final trigger. Like dots connecting into a line, everything clicked into place.

──In the flower language, Atlantia means “I will watch over you.”

Only then did I remember—the name my mother had whispered in that dream inside the subterranean fish.

Back when I had almost been kidnapped by the human trafficking organization… the man who tried to take me had once, more than ten years ago, sold a young woman of the White Wolf tribe to the Kingdom of Aluda.

If that was true, it explained everything. My father and mother had never been bound by love.

Father… had bought Mother. From that human trafficking ring.

Everyone in the lecture hall turned their gaze toward the scales.

The Scales of Truth glimmered brilliantly, their pans trembling slowly. A high-pitched keeeeen reverberated across the hall.

“…No! That’s not it! I don’t know any such name!”

I raised the scales, which radiated a blinding light. The moment Father’s words reached the Scales, they began to tilt. Everyone held their breath, watching in tense silence.

And then… the scales tipped.

──Toward the serpent’s pan.

If the claim of “I don’t know” was a lie,
then the truth must be… “I do know.”