God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 211: Episode _Our Saintess (3)

5.

"Dad!"

"Uh... huh?"

As Squeaker ran toward him with a bright smile, Simin instinctively opened his arms. It just felt like the right thing to do. She was running to him with such joy. Her shimmering blonde hair, her face appearing before him in the blink of an eye—as expected of a dragon. A warmth filled his chest.

"Oof."

Then came the heavy impact. She had thrown herself into his arms at full speed, and he absorbed the full force of the collision. But Squeaker paid no mind to his pained grunt. She wrapped her legs around his waist like a cicada, her curves pressing against him through the single layer of her robe. If his stream had been on, Simin was genuinely convinced he would have been the target of a terrorist attack. That’s how close—and how blatant—their embrace was.

"Hi, Dad," she whispered in his ear with an alluring smile, her voice enough to make any man’s head spin.

What man could withstand being shaken both physically and mentally? Even Simin wavered.

"Hey. Hey, let go for a second."

"No. I want to stay hugging you, Dad."

The problem was that his survival instinct trumped his male instinct.

More than the sensation of her embrace, he was bothered by the fact that his health was steadily draining from the dragon’s strength as he stood awkwardly frozen in place. How utterly humiliating would it be to actually die while hugging a dragon? He could have roughly pushed her off, but seeing Squeaker in her human form made him go soft.

"Let’s get down first, okay?" he coaxed.

"Okay, Dad."

Thankfully, Squeaker obediently listened.

"...You’re not letting go, are you?"

"Nope!"

The only thing that changed was that she unwrapped her legs from his waist.

"Haaah."

He clutched his aching head. It was the kind of problem other men would say he deserved a punch for complaining about. But things had turned out exactly as he’d wanted. She had the right gender to be revered as a Saintess, and her looks were more than just excellent for marketing—they were overwhelming. As a man, the "Dad" title was a bit jarring, but having her cling to him wasn’t entirely unpleasant. It was just that one image kept superimposing itself.

"You really are Squeaker, huh?"

"Yep! Dad!"

The image of the little bird, Squeaker, kept overlapping with the woman before him, no matter how hard he tried to deny it. Even as a beautiful woman, Squeaker was still Squeaker. It would have been less awkward if she were still a little bird clinging to him.

"Squeaker... you’re going to help me, right?"

"Yes! Of course!"

Regaining his composure, he gently stroked her hair. Normally, he would have just barked orders, but seeing her in human form made it difficult to treat her so casually.

’I guess I’m still human after all.’

Right. Her soul might be a dragon’s, but when she was in human form, she deserved to be treated like one. It would be too heartless for a father to be cruel to his daughter when she was being so affectionate. Besides, wasn’t this the Squeaker who, following Kardian, would surely boost his viewer count? In modern society, looks were money. It was an era where you could live well with just a pretty face, even if you had no other skills. For some reason, Squeaker seemed especially admirable today. He stroked her hair with genuine feeling, and she seemed to like it.

"Hehe. I love you, Dad."

"...Yeah. I know, just try not to move around so much."

It seemed it would take some time to get used to her affection.

*

Saint had grown up in the Grand Temple since birth. He had always believed in and served God, never once letting his gaze wander to anything else. Naturally, that included women. Despite his handsome features and well-built physique—conditions that might have drawn countless women to the temple to pray if not for its sacred walls—he had remained chaste. Thanks to this devotion, he had risen to the rank of Grand Priest at a young age and secured one of the eight Elder seats in the temple. The youngest Grand Priest and Elder in history! He was proud of it. It felt as though his qualifications to serve God had been elevated. He even held onto the hope that if he maintained this pace, he could one day become the Pope. And he was certain this resolve would never waver. It was a certainty. In his entire life, nothing besides his faith had ever shaken him. Not the most beautiful women, not money, not fame, not power—none of it could move him when he was before God in prayer. This time was no different. He had come to find the Saintess, but his feelings for her were nothing more than reverence and adoration. It was the same level of emotion he held for the Pope, a respect for those chosen by God. The rumors about the Saintess written in the holy scriptures and passed down through history didn’t even matter to him.

But then...

He was speechless.

The moment he opened the door to the lord’s chamber, he froze.

"Dad! This is uncomfortable. Can’t I take it off?"

"Hey, hey, you punk. We have a guest. This robe wasn’t made for you to just fling off like that. Pull it back up. Tsk. No gold for you, you hear?"

"Hmph. Fine. I’ll only take it off when I’m with you, Dad. Okay?"

"...Do whatever you want. Ugh, you’re going to be the death of me."

A man and a woman, tangled together on a sofa. The woman, sitting on top of him, was pulling her robe off, only to be scolded and pull it back up. The man beneath her, with a look of annoyance and resignation, was trying to push her away. For someone who had spent his entire life in the Grand Temple, it was an incomprehensible scene. The words, in particular, made his heart clench.

"D-Dad?"

To call him ’Dad’ in a scene like that! It was a culture shock. The righteous Saint staggered. Squeaker, however, paid him no mind and quickly got up, linking her arm with Simin’s.

"Welcome. I apologize if we’ve shown a priest of the temple something unseemly. She’s not my real daughter, you see. More like a... stepdaughter? That’s how it ended up. As you know, Saintesses are chosen by God, right? I had no choice but to hide her and look after her in secret."

He was speechless.

Simin’s follow-up explanation was more than enough to fluster him further.

"T-to divert attention, you made her your... d-daughter?"

"Yes. Well, our... Hyegi might look like she’s grown up fast, but she’s actually quite young."

He was speechless.

’She looks late teens at best, and you look late twenties at most. Well, it’s not an entirely impossible combination. All sorts of strange things happen on this continent, and a boy in his early teens becoming a father is...’

’Why would something like that even happen?!’

He wanted to deny it, but on a continent blessed by God, such things could occasionally happen. Besides, it wasn’t the man who gave birth. Simin had said she was his stepdaughter, but Saint’s mind was already racing down a different path.

’If she’s his real daughter, then her mother’s age would be...’

’Right. This could just be a trick to confuse me, to unsettle my mind. The way she says Dad sounds far too natural for a stepdaughter; it sounds like a real daughter.’ His suspicious gaze swept over the pair. ’There might be a mother. If so, the mother would be in her late thirties at least.’ He didn’t know why he was digging so deep into their relationship. It must have started the moment he opened the door and saw her robe falling to the floor, revealing the Saintess in all her God-given glory. The image was seared into his mind. The robe that now covered her was frustrating, yet the way it was pulled down to her collarbones, hinting at what lay beneath, kept painting a picture in his head. Thoughts unbecoming of a Grand Priest! But they wouldn’t go away. He wanted to deny it.

’They must be a real father and daughter.’

Until he was outside that door, he never would have dreamed a day would come when he’d have such thoughts. He, who had served God his entire life, who firmly believed a priest should never think such things.

He had fallen in love. At first sight.

As the saying goes, a late-learned thief is the most dangerous.

’So what if I’m a priest? I’m still a man.’

It wasn’t like he was going to do anything. He just wanted to satisfy his curiosity. Were they really father and daughter?

"Shall we go?" Simin said. "Our Hyegi insists on coming with us, so I ask for your understanding."

"Yes, of course. Don’t worry, Father-in... I mean, my lord."

It seemed he would have to sort out his titles if they really were father and daughter.

*

The Grand Temple was as wealthy as the Emperor, if not more so.

"This is why everyone wants to be a cult leader," Simin muttered, lounging on a carriage seat that felt like a moving hotel bed, indulging in the luxury.

He didn’t need to ask where the money came from. He could have sent Squeaker alone, but her behavior after polymorphing was consistently unsettling. She refused to be separated from him in the first place.

"When she was a dragon, she’d at least go where I told her to."

For the first few hours of the first day, he had treated her gently. But after a couple of hours, when she tried to stick to him all day, his patience finally snapped. He pushed her away, pried her off. A normal woman would have been hurt, but Squeaker was relentless. It was because of Simin’s behavior, which she had been conditioned to since birth. In any case, they repeated this cycle and eventually found a compromise.

"Get off me."

"Nuh-uh. No. I wanna stay here, Dad. It’s okay right now, isn’t it?"

He was speechless.

It was her designated clingy time. He turned his back, freeing his hands to surf on a hologram, when the carriage door opened and Kardian and Saint entered.

"Mom!"

He was speechless.

Kardian averted her gaze while Saint shot him a suspicious look. He then sat in a corner, observing them intently, never forgetting to glance at Squeaker every three seconds. After a while, a priest called for Saint, and he moved to another carriage. Now there were only three of them left.

"Hey," Simin said without looking away from the hologram.

"Yes! Dad!"

He was speechless.

"No, not you. Dian."

"Why do you call?"

"You’re her mother. Take her with you."

"It is merely a contract. I have no obligation to provide parental affection."

"Don’t you think that’s a bit cold? You know how much our Hyegi follows you. Right?"

"Yeah, Dad. I like Mom, too," Squeaker added with a bright smile.

The two women lit up the carriage. Watching them, Simin suddenly turned to meet Kardian’s eyes.

"Hey, Dian. That guy, the Grand Priest. Don’t you think he’s fallen for Squeaker?"

"For a human, and a male at that, it is only natural. Squeaker, in particular, possesses all the elements that would make males fall for her."

"...That’s kind of offensive to the male listening."

"Nevertheless, it is so."

The wording was a bit off, but it was enough to confirm his suspicions. Convinced, he met Squeaker’ gaze and smiled. A capitalist smile. His voice became gentle.

"Hyegi, from now on, you listen carefully to what Dad says. Got it?"

To a good mark, Han Simin was always kind.

*