Chirem Act 6-5.1
Act 6-5: The Culprit Is, After All, That Witch
TL: Cnine
ED/PF:
R1[1–3], R2[4–5]
Part 1
「S-Silvia. Let’s… step back a little, okay?」
While gently stroking Silvia’s head beneath me, I spoke to her in as calm a tone as I could manage. Perhaps because she was so happy to see me again after such a long time, Silvia clung to me with all her might, pressing her ample bosom tightly against me. Such an act posed quite the challenge to my mental well-being.
Yet Silvia replied while shaking her head, rubbing her cheek affectionately against me.
「No. At long last, at long last, Papa has come to me… I don’t want to let you go. I want to stay like this... For the rest of the day.」
「T-The rest of the day? T-That’s a bit over the top… Well, since it’s been such a long time, Papa would really like to see Silvia’s face, you know…」
I coaxed Silvia in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice — the kind that even made me squirm with embarrassment — as though soothing a child. Watching from the side, Bell’s face twisted into a look that clearly said, “Yuck…” Honestly, I didn’t want to do this either. This humiliating little act was precisely why I hadn’t wanted to come here in the first place.
「Uhm… It can’t be helped then.」
Thanks to my painstaking efforts to persuade her, Silvia finally let go of me. Then, straightening her back in one smooth motion, she let her usually cool features bloom into a brightness as warm and cheerful as a sunflower.
「Allow me to greet you again then… Long time no see, Papa. Silvia has been waiting for your arrival all this time.」
「Yeah… Sorry, I couldn’t come for a while. I’ve been caught up with all sorts of things…」
Well, that was a big fat lie though.
Unable to meet that radiant smile head-on out of guilt and awkwardness, I answered while averting my gaze. Seeing that, Silvia frowned in mild displeasure.
「Geez. I know Papa has his duties, but this place isn’t all that far away… You could at least come every now and then.」
「M-My bad. I do think that way, but it’s just so hard to find the time.」
「But Arcana-sama can still find time to visit me every now and then, doesn’t she? … Since you hadn’t come to see me for so long, I began to think that maybe Papa didn’t need Silvia anymore…」
「T-That can’t be true! How could you even think I wouldn’t need you?! S-Silvia is Papa’s precious… D–Daughter after all!」
「R-really…? Is it true? Do you care about Silvia? Do you… really like Silvia?」
「Y-YEAH! OF COURSE I LOVE YOU!」
「YEAH! SILVIA LOVE YOU TOO, PAPA!」
「BFUUUU?!」
When I, caught up in the moment, blurted out that cheesy line, Silvia, on the verge of tears, suddenly spread her arms and leapt at me. As a result, she ended up clinging to my upper body—my face buried between her large che—eeeeeest?!
「H-Hilbia! Beth bhaway… A bhit! (Translate: S-Silvia! P-Please let go of me for a moment!)」
「Fufufufufu… I love you, Papa…」
「Bfuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu」
No matter how desperately I pounded on her back, Silvia didn’t realise my predicament. Even when I tried to pry her off by force, it only made her hug me tighter than before. This is bad! I can’t breathe! At this rate, I’m going to die! Choked to death in Silvia’s embrace! Somebody help meeee!!
「KYAAAA!」
「Geh.」
While struggling for air, I lost my balance and fell backwards, taking Silvia down with me onto the floor.
「P-PAPA! Are you okay?!」
Naturally, having ended up on top of me, Silvia panicked and quickly pushed herself up to lift me.
「Huff–Ha~… Y-Yeah, I’m fine… I was just about to ascend to heaven, in various ways.」
「Eh?」
「No, it’s nothing. More importantly, are you okay, Silvia? Are you hurt?」
「Yes… I-I’m sorry. I got carried away, which isn’t like me, and caused trouble for Papa…」
Leaning against me, Silvia’s mood had completely shifted from before, and she hung her head in dejection. Her eyes, drifting beneath lowered lashes, looked just like a puppy scolded by its master… Even knowing it would only pour fuel on the fire, I couldn’t help but step in.
I gently placed my hand on Silvia’s head. She flinched, trembling, and lifted her face just a little — I smiled at her.
「It’s not a big deal at all… I’m sorry, it’s my fault for making you feel lonely, isn’t it?」
「Papa…」
「It’s not your fault. I was wrong to ignore your feelings even while knowing them. So please, don’t be sad — I can’t bear to see your face like that.」
As I continued to stroke her head, Silvia’s grim expression gradually softened. When she finally reclaimed a smile as radiant as a flower, I nodded in return, letting out a sigh of relief along with a gentle smile of my own.
===
Silvia, the devoted maid of Arcana, and the gardener who tended both the academy’s secret garden, 『Elysion』, and the surrounding forest that enveloped it.
The first time we met, she had been brusque and rigid — a living doll who executed only Arcana’s orders with unerring precision. But now, not a trace of that remained; she revealed only the innocent purity of a girl longing for a father’s affection. Well… perhaps, it must be noted, only toward me.
Now then, how did that exemplar of cool beauty transform into this papa girl? To explain the course of events, one must first wind the tale back to the very beginning of Silvia’s life.
To sum it up, Silvia was not a pure human being. Arcana used her own genetic material as a base to forge Silvia’s body, with her magic as the core to shape a soul—or at least an emotional framework akin to one—and imbued her with a universal information-processing algorithm of her own design. In short, Silvia was an artificial human, or commonly known as a homunculus.
The reason Silvia could wield Arcana’s exclusive magic, thanks to her 『Divine Brain』 skill, lies in this origin. Her magic springs from Arcana herself, allowing her to replicate the same spells. Yet for that very reason, she could never hope to surpass Arcana—only mirror her power.
Given both the nature of their magic and the circumstances of her creation, Arcana and Silvia could truly be called parent and child. When Bell once remarked that “their relationship is a little unusual,” this was what she meant. Indeed, now that one looks, Silvia’s features still carry traces of Arcana.
Yes, parent and child. Though highly irregular, their bond falls within that broad category — and it was precisely this relationship that had brought about the current state of affairs.
That day — the day when Arcana discovered my clandestine meeting with Sera.
As my bond with Arcana steadily deepened, the distance between Silvia and me scarcely lessened. Not that I had sought closeness with her, mind you, yet no matter how often we met, our interactions remained strictly formal. And somehow, I couldn’t help but feel a faint loneliness at that.