SSS-Knight in a Hero World-Chapter 105: Double lives

An S rank hero like Prin wouldn't be stupid enough to let someone as important as him have his privacy. If he could converse with her in the living room, then that would mean she could hear everything he says.

"Sir Ferris, your behavior is unacceptable," Magpie followed closely behind.

"I've been considered unacceptable by all kinds of people," Ferris replied.

He grabbed the doorknob and turned, only to find that it was locked.

Ferris frowned as he slowly increased the force until the doorknob snapped open.

He calmly entered a modest hallway with many doors lined up, but just from the senses he had, he already knew which door to barge into.

Magpie continued to trail Ferris, but she didn't do anything to stop him.

It was only then, when Ferris was closing in on the door, that Prin finally spoke up suddenly from a hidden speaker. "W-wait! What are you doing!"

"Forgive me, Hero Prin.

But I'm in a hurry."

Remembering to be respectful, Ferris knocked on the door thrice before barging in.

The first impression he saw was total chaos, a messy room with a strange smell that reminded him of the smell when he first woke up in his apartment.

Then there was a disheveled figure that sat comfortably in front of a messy desk that was lined with multiple monitors and a dusty computer.

If he was a normal fan, Ferris would've immediately plucked his eyes out after figuring out that one of the few heroes that held the title of S rank was living in such a disappointing state.

But there was something that caught his eyes, Prin's eyes.

Before he could make eye contact with her, she screamed in a voice that even he himself was unprepared for, considering that he had been talking to Prodigy Prin in a synthetic human voice.

Prin grabbed a brown bag that held empty takeout containers and slammed it over her head, causing some things to fall out and make even more of a mess on the floor.

. . .

A moment of silence occurred between the two, so much so that Magpie knew that even she shouldn't say anything.

Ferris closed his eyes and walked over toward her before forcefully removing the bag that hid her face.

There was a resistance Ferris felt when he pulled it, but it was so small that he almost didn't notice it.

Under all the bits of food stuck on her hair and face, Ferris saw a resemblance that shook him inside.

Her hair carried the void itself.

Prin slowly opened her eyes to complete her horrified look as she stared up at Ferris.

Her eyes were as deep as the sea.

And a face that might crumble in the face of any danger.

Other than that one aspect he recognized, there was no doubt in his eyes that Prin Anvil bore an uncanny resemblance with his former teacher.

Ferris pursed his lips in a pensive expression.

He had just finished saying his last goodbyes with the real Yaromech from what felt like yesterday ago.

To accept that one important person in his life was now really gone took a lot from him.

A face he would never get to see again other than in his memories.

But to see it again just a day after felt like an insult to him.

Seeing Prin's face almost made him feel disgusted inside, a reminder of his own past that he wanted to keep as memories, but those memories were sitting right in front of him.

Ferris sighed.

Deep inside he knew that he was bound to meet people from his old world, but not in this way.

I shouldn't have thought like that, what's wrong with me...

Shove.

He placed the bag back down on her head and stepped backward. "Clean yourself up, and meet me in the living room."

***

. . .

It's quite cold in here... but surely she doesn't need that much?

At least two layers of winter jackets, thick pants, along with a pair of sunglasses and a facemask.

She sat on the other side in a different seat, across from Ferris where only a table separated the both of them.

Magpie was also behind her with her hands clasped together in an idle stance, quietly observing the two of them.

Ferris leaned back and crossed his arms and legs.

"Let's get back to the start.

What do you know about otherworlders like me?" he questioned in a heavy tone.

Prin shook from his voice, which Ferris found odd.

she sounded pretty sure of herself back when I was inside her mech.

But now that they were talking in person, and that Ferris wasn't in an uncomfortable position like before, he assumed that the lack of safety she had a big effect on her demeanor.

Considering the state of her room, and her ability to remotely control her mechs.

she's a shut in like me... well, back then I was.

Ferris patiently waited for her courage to answer him with her real voice.

"Muh... my father, because of my father."

Ferris collected his thoughts and remembered Evening's words about people like himself.

Ferris took a deep breath. "What happened to your father?"

Prin shuffled her thumbs in a clasp. "Umm... uh..."

Oh... this is going to be long isn't it, Ferris dreaded.

As for Magpie, her eyes brightened at the opportunity of hearing human sadness so that she may learn from it.

***

Steelblade Electronics.

One of the largest tech corporations in the supercontinent of Henosis.

Supplying all the daily needs of all kinds of sectors, with the company spreading itself with subsidiaries.

A conglomerate powerful enough that its child company that delved into the pharmaceutical industry was competitive enough with the likes of the Elizabeth Foundation.

But reach wasn't what made it powerful and influential.

Its main source of income was in the defense industry.

Power over weapons is power over all.

At that golden age of the defense industry, there were two governmental powers, the current president of all the city mayors and...

The CEO of Steelblade Electronics, Anvil.

With such wealth and power, he was quite busy all around the continent.

But out of all the encounters he had, Anvil sat down with one particular woman and their daughter who was named Prin.

The parents loved each other, but after years their daughter distanced herself away from them.

Prin was born extremely intelligent in all areas aside from social science, but even without that covered, she knew that her father was anything but a CEO.

He was in a sense, a lord of war.

Using her skill set, she set out on her own adventures with another identity called Juvenile Genius.

But with the establishment of the Hero Association with her father as one of the many founders, the thought of being associated with the Hero Association proved to be her downfall as she stopped doing her private hero work and led a more inactive life.

But one day there was a strange event.

. . .

Yawn.

Prin stretched her back as she walked on a dark hallway leading to the bathroom.

"Why's our house so darn big..." she grumbled along the way.

As she took the last turn, Prin quickly observed that the bathroom door was open, its light drenching over the dark hallway floor.

Not questioning anything, she walked to it and saw a morbid sight.

The doctors said that it was due to the stress of work that made the CEO collapse in the middle of the night, but Prin found that hard to believe as her experience was definitely more than a mere collapse.

Prin was too shocked to scream for help, but her silence led to her hearing something from her father's mouth.

Slowly stepping closer, she kneeled over his half-awoken face.

Anvil's voice was nearly inaudible, but her young hearing made it easy for her to make it out.

A single name was uttered amongst the jumbled mess she heard.

Felix.

Perhaps it was one of his employee's names, or a friend that Prin didn't know.

Prin dismissed those words that night and finally called in the professionals.

But of course that wasn't the end of it.

First it was once or twice a month. After two months those incidents became longer and transformed into major headaches.

But for Prin it wasn't just the headaches. To her horror or perhaps joy, her father became closer and more talkative to her.

After almost a year, it got to the point of having to step down as the CEO, and to no one's surprise an internal corporate civil war broke out that left the once powerful conglomerate stripped down into just one company that kept the original name.

Steelblade Electronics, specialty... toy and entertainment industry.

On the outside it looked like a normal free for all that tore down a conglomerate, but in actuality Anvil was the one who suggested the splitting, to his shareholders' complaints.

But it was the safest option for all of them, and it was better than potentially losing stocks because of the internal conflict.

The CEO who was as hard as an anvil became softer that day.

Unfortunately, though, due to that resolution, Prin's mother quickly left the scene, leaving Prin and her father alone.

***

Prin pointed at her fingers in doubt. "T-there's still more and i-it's getting late already..."

It was when Ferris heard Prin mention the name Felix that he rested his elbow on his knee and continued to rub his forehead as if he had an intense migraine.

He held that position for almost an hour during the story. Surprisingly, he felt like he could hold it for even more with all the thoughts he was having.

is that why Prin looks so much like Yaromech? Ferris tensed his eyebrows.

He looked at Prin with tired eyes and sighed. "Yes, please continue."