CHAPTER 311: TALKING TO MYSELF.

"Nothing can hear us here," Suzuka said, crossing her arms. "So? What do you want?"

Though he wasn’t a big fan of that attitude, Dante held back his irritation, aware that he had earned the hostility. Scratching the back of his head, he looked around, then settled his eyes on the bed, opened the storage screen, and took out a certain item, making it appear on the bed.

Suzuka almost jumped when the black bag appeared right beside her, and Dante caught on to her attempt to remain calm. As she stared at the black back, her eyes snapped wide open.

"That’s..."

"Yah, sorry for stealing it," Dante said, practically forcing the words out. "And for hurting your friend... and for hurting you..."

He wanted to explain himself, say why he did what he did, but it all felt like excuses. After spending the previous night thinking about his action, he arrived at a conclusion he had reached many times before—actions are what matter, not the intent. Even if he had the right reasons, even if he made mistakes, none of that excused what he did, so the only way to make up for it was to apologize.

Suzuka opened the bag and the box inside it, checking the blue bionic arm before heaving a sigh of relief. She kept her silence for a while, likely considering something, then shifted her gaze to Dante.

"You... have spatial powers?"

"Something like that..."

"And the power suits?" She said. "You had that big green one."

"I’m... not really comfortable talking about them... for now..."

The girl’s eyes narrowed, her gaze growing colder than it already was. Dante didn’t take that well.

"Hey, give me a goddamn break. This isn’t something for other people to know. I already told you way too much."

Suzuka didn’t seem to accept his complaint and went for another question.

"What organization do you belong to?"

"Organization?" Dante raised an eyebrow.

"Who’s backing you?"

Only once he asked that did he get what she was alluding to.

"Yeah, I got no backers." He said.

"Then... why did you attack us?"

"I said sorry, okay?"

"I’m talking about the Pit." She said. "Why did you attack us there?"

"I... didn’t attack you... really..." Dante replied, feeling his irritation growing. He was determined not to give any excuses, but it didn’t seem like that would fly. "Listen, just wanted those white androids, okay? I was going to leave you alone once I was done with them, but your robot friend attached me."

"... I see..." Pausing for a moment, she followed with another question right after. "And why were you after the... white androids?"

Dante almost rebuked her for the continuous questions, but he managed to hold back last minute. Closing his open mouth, he gritted his teeth then let out a sigh.

"They... looked like they would sell well..."

"... that’s it?"

"What do you mean, that’s it?" He frowned. "Do I need another reason?"

"Yeah, obviously." Suzuka deadpanned. "Who in their right mind would attack a legion of androids just for that?"

"Well, I thought they were cyborgs at first." Dante clicked his tongue. "Alright, enough questions from you. It’s my turn now."

The door snapped open at that moment.

"... oh..."

Standing at the entrance was none other than Nobara, and for some reason, she looked rather disappointed. Her eyes turned to Suzuka, then moved to Dante, before she scoffed.

"Guess this can be counted as progress." She said.

"Old hag," Dante suppressed a smile. "Were you listening in on us this whole time?"

"Of course I was. You think I would leave you alone with my precious granddaughter? After what happened yesterday?"

"Yeah, yeah, how many times do you want me to say sorry?" Dante ruffled his bright red hair, looking quite annoyed.

"As if I would let you off the hook with just that." Nobara scoffed again. "If you want my forgiveness, start giving me some great-grandsons already!"

"Again with that?" Suzuka let out an exasperated sigh. "And why does it have to involve me? It’s his problem, right?"

"You are the main problem! You can’t afford to proceed like this! You need heirs! A lot of them!"

"Old hag..." Dante frowned. "I know you have one foot in the grave, but aren’t you pushing your luck a bit too much?"

"Huuuuh?"

"You already saw your grandkids. Isn’t that enough?"

"It will never be enough!"

"Well, I have no interest in having kids." Saying that, Dante walked to the door. "Seriously, do you think this is some kind of joke?"

For some reason, Dante believed that the old cook was being serious about her demand, despite how ridiculous it sounded. Still, he didn’t understand what made her think it was a good idea. He wasn’t about to start making babies just because she asked him to. He wasn’t going to have any kids at all.

[For many species, the propagation of their genetic lineage is always a priority.] Volcan said. [Dante, are you not interested in having offspring?]

’Nope.’ Dante replied instantly. ’None at all.’

As he walked back into the noodle shop, Dante found himself reconsidering the matter. He had never given it any serious thought, which was normal, considering his age. That said, it didn’t take him much to reaffirm his decision.

Women are a distraction, and so are kids. He couldn’t allow himself to get attacked, and children were more of an anchor than anything.

Finn was at the counter, still playing with the green-haired android. He was showing her how to hold a knife and cut some vegetables. Looking at him, the yellow pistol flashed in his mind, followed by several familiar faces, including his sister’s. A dark thought surfaced in his mind, and his face scrunched up in a pained grimace.

’Am I... am I wasting too much time?’

[Indeed,] Volcan said.

’I was talking to myself just now.’

[My apologies. It seems I have interpreted what you said as a question directed at me.]

’Right...’

Four years with no progress, then a single step. Though he had promised himself that he would pick up the pace, it didn’t feel like he was doing anything to achieve that. Somehow, even though not a lot of time had passed, Dante started to feel like he was falling back on his old habits. He couldn’t think of any way to accelerate his progress, and that fact alone troubled him to no end.