OP娘 ~My Daughter, the Future Hero, is Too OP For Me to Keep Up!~

If asked what the greatest measure of success in my life is, my natural response would be undoubtedly: My daughter, of course.

As a trained warrior of the Kingdom of Restilia, I, Ferdinand Custodio, gained renown for having survived numerous battles against the dark forces, using both a mixture of might and magecraft, but that had just caused more people to bother me.

I gained a title through my efforts, straight from the King himself, but that had merely given me a plot of land and a stable environment to rest upon.

The ladies fancied me as well, so things wouldn’t quiet down before I struck up the courage to choose one of them. But unexpectedly, the wife that I had chosen caught disease and passed away several years later, but not before I was left with one blessing.

A girl, seven years old, danced in the front courtyard of the home we lived in, wooden practice sword in hand. Her sundress twirled as she spun around in glee, chasing after an imaginary opponent. Though her swipes in the air were haphazard and unfocused, they contained a heart and passion much like my own. With a bob of her waist and a turn of the heel, she spun around, facing me with a smile that could light up the dark recesses of Hell.

“Look Father! Aren’t I just so cool, just like you?”

I stood up from the rock I was sitting upon and walked over, peering at the resulting pose that she placed herself in. With a wide smile, I jabbed her in the side, triggering an instant fit of giggles from the young warrior.

“You leave yourself too open with your flowery movement, Lydia. Compact swings, I said. You’re not trying out for the royal theatre, you know.”

Lydia, my daughter, rejected my suggestions, of course. She puffed her face in the most adorable fashion. It took me everything to resist the temptation of smushing those cheeks comically.

Personally, I was thrilled that she had taken an interest in what I was best at, but on the other hand, I was conflicted. It seemed like all the glory, all the conflict and struggle – they had been accomplished for the sole reason of providing a peaceful life for Lydia to thrive upon.

For that reason, I chose a small, laidback region far from the dangers of the Demon Lord to settle down. The whispers of nature buzzing about and the sounds of farmers tilling the soil were blessings to awaken to each morning. This was a far cry from the drums of war and shouts of anguish that lingered in my mind. The whispers of danger lying beyond the next hill were all but absent here. At worst, the most fearsome enemy around was the occasional boar that hunters loaded onto carts, hoping to trade skins for food.

And having grown up in such a peaceful environment, Lydia was turning out to be every bit the charming and beautiful lady her mother was, if you turn a blind eye to the occasional fits of curiosity that possessed every child her age.

Because of that, the sudden clamor of a horse-drawn carriage coasting through the rural village was something that sparked my attention. Having heard quite a few in the past, they were easily distinguishable from the wagons the locals used.

“How odd,” I mumbled as the sound became clearer.

Although carriages were common in the more civilized regions, what business did one have all the way out here?

As I thought this, a fancy carriage, which looked remarkably out of place, rounded the corner. Its gleaming craftsmanship, purposefully designed to give off an impression of regality, set off immediate warning signs in my mind. If that wasn’t clear enough, the royal emblem – a sword piercing the darkness around it – blatantly hung upon one side.

While I was stunned by the sight of it skidding to a stop in front of our residence, Lydia, on the other hand, jumped up in joy, a bit of drool hanging on the corner of her mouth.

“A carriage! In real life! A carriage!”

She had been particularly enchanted by the sketches of carriages in fantasy novels that I managed to acquire on occasional trips to the capital. In contrast to her unrestrained exuberance, I simply swallowed a gulp of air and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Manners, Lydia. That is no simple carriage. It seems like a royal messenger of sorts.”

“Royal? Like from the castle?! What for, I wonder?”

Of course, her guess was as good as mine. I had given up my role with the kingdom ages ago. No longer was I a battle-hardened warrior that led battalions against the Demon Lord’s minions. I was simply the Lord of a small region at the edge of obscurity. The bit of flab on my belly was evidence of that.

The door to the carriage popped open, and out came a priest in a silky robe. One surprise after another seemed to greet us this morning. Sending a priest on a royal errand was even stranger, unless-

“Lord of Custodio, I presume.”

I nodded in response.

“I have come here with a declaration. Lady Geneva, the Oracle of the Kingdom of Restilia, has proclaimed of the birth of a new Hero, one who will lead us down the path of victory against the Demon Lord and rid the lands of the scourges of evil!”

I stiffened up at his words. The choosing of a Hero by the Oracle was a momentous event. Few could be granted the gift of the Gods that would empower them to wage war against the countless minions that resided in the regions of darkness. As a simple warrior myself, I had merely trodden upon a small fraction of their lands before the numbers became too great to handle. Seemingly, only Heroes and their companions could manage to gain any significant ground.

However, a sense of guilt swept over me as the warmth of my daughter radiated from the palm I placed on her shoulder. Not even the temptations of boundless power were strong enough to tear me away from the precious child who had no other parent to love. I didn’t want Lydia to grow up missing her father, and there was always the chance of dying; not even Heroes were invincible.

I would deal with the consequences of the rejection later. My lips parted, about to refuse, but the priest beat me to it.

“Lady Lydia Custodio has been deemed as one to be blessed by the Gods! It is with great honor that I congratulate you, oh young one!”

My breath sucked back in surprise, causing me to gag shamefully.

Had I heard correctly? My Lydia was being called as a Hero?

My daughter answered that right away, running circles around me, cheering without a care in the world. I couldn’t muster the will to stop her from causing an unladylike scene.

Taking her excitement as an approval, the priest quickly prompted us to gather our things and attend the ceremony that officially bestowed her the blessing of the Hero.

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That was barely more than a year ago. The moment that changed our lives still played fondly in my memories, even now. Though Lydia accepted the blessing from the Oracle, she was still far too young and inexperienced to be a proper Hero. She needed to build her strength and gain skills. She needed understanding of the world. Above all, proper guidance was required to raise her into a proper Hero to fight for the kingdom.

Guess who was responsible for that role?

“Father! Are you up yet? It’s time for morning training!”

The voice of Lydia stirred me from my dream, one that recalled a simpler time. My eyes darted back and forth, looking at the unfamiliar room. Wooden boards ran across the ceiling, some adorned with cracks produced by age. Simple furniture carved and bound by inexperienced hands decorated the otherwise empty room, save for a stack of traveler’s equipment. All of this indicated that I had awoken in the room of a typical inn.

Several months after receiving her blessing, and after she had gained some understanding of her newfound power, I decided that it would be best to travel the world with her. The experiences and survival skill of an adventurer would be invaluable to a prospective Hero. And there was no way in Hell that I would be comfortable simply letting her wonder off on her own, Hero or not.

Despite resolving to do this, I quickly gripped the coarse fibers of the blanket and pulled it over my head.

Just five more minutes. Just five more, and I’ll be ready to face the day.

Unfortunately, that daughter of mine never did learn to knock. The cover suddenly lifted off with a swift breeze.

“Wakey, Father! You promised to spar with me seriously today!”

Lydia stared at me with a growl, more cute than threatening. Her flowing golden hair had gotten much longer, coming down to her shoulder blades. Though she looked every bit as beautiful as her mother, the plain, androgynous traveler’s clothing hid much of that besides her face. How I missed seeing her in attire more appropriate for her appearance.

She tossed the blanket in her hand aside and picked up a wooden practice sword from the floor, tossing it to me. Reflexively, I leapt out of bed and caught it, having given up hope on peace and quiet for the day.

It wasn’t like I didn’t want to teach her the sword. Far from that, I had to ensure that she wouldn’t fall to any opponent. The life of a Hero was perilous and difficult, but those with power made a name for themselves, and naturally, attracted both strong allies and terrifying enemies.

“Alright, squirt. Show me what you got.”

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Those words came back to me with a bite soon after.

My eyes caught sight of the wooden sword tip approaching, a bit too late for me to respond properly. The best I could do was turn my head away for a glancing blow to the cheek. If this were a year ago, I would simply laugh and shrug it off. But as for now…

My head forcefully turned with a loud crack. In that moment, I could’ve sworn I felt my jaw shatter, but I had turned with the blow just in time. Far from the gentle swings that one would expect from an eight-year-old girl, this one had the force of an Orc General swinging a slab of iron into my face.

I was in no way a normal fighter either, so I could take a hit or two from one without fear, but this swing had merely clipped my cheek. It was for this reason that I hesitated to respond immediately to Lydia’s calls.

I turned my head back and stared at those thin arms of hers, an obvious lie hiding the monstrous strength they contained. That was the result of the Blessing of the Gods – immense abilities far beyond human capability, unfathomable strength despite lack of training, and awe-inducing results that drew worship from humanity. All of this was housed in an eight-year-old.

I groaned as I reached up to touch my cheek, already puffy and swollen from the strike. Luckily, there were more than enough potions to treat something minor such as this. It had been wise to stock up after the first little accident.

“Father, you went easy on me, didn’t you? You could’ve easily countered that blow.” Instead of concern, she pouted that I hadn’t gone on the offensive.

“Yes, I’m your father. I can let you win occasionally, now can’t I?” I immediately responded, trying not to tear up as moving my swollen jaw triggered sharp pains. I pulled out a potion and doused the area, and immediately, the pain subsided, and the skin returned to normal.

It was partly true that I had gone easy on her, as I favored parrying her strikes and tapping her unguarded areas. I didn’t have the heart to swing my blade in haste as a response, because the thought of inflicting an injury upon her was more than I could bear.

What would her mother think?

No, I had to be the parent and suck it up. It was the duty of a father to take a few blows for his child, regardless of the situation. Some may say that I was treating her too softly, but she could learn how to deal with pain at any point after her defense was properly fitting for a Hero. Hopefully, she would get strong enough to ward off any attacks with a shrug, but that was beside the point.

“But I want to hurry up and catch up to you! I can’t do that if you hold back on teaching me!”

Believe me, you’re already at a level that makes me nervous…

Rather than saying that, I looked off to the side, acting aloof to her desires.

“Steps, my dear girl. You will learn in due time.”

Give your poor father a chance to level up so that I can handle your blows!

“Fine… But I want sweet bread as a treat for landing a hit then!”

Inwardly, I sighed that I had managed to sidestep another attempt. Training a Hero was no joke! I was aware how powerful even ones in training could be, but the shame of being thrashed by a girl as young as her shattered my self-pride.

If only Lydia could control her attacks properly, then that would be a different matter. Being beaten by skill was far less embarrassing than having a match end abruptly by a stray blow from a novice, no matter how much power was behind it. At this point, it was like trying to deflect rapidly-fired cannonballs shot with one eye covered.

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After we took a stroll through town and grabbed some early lunch – and of course, her sweet bread as a reward – it was time for us to pick a task to do for the day. Luckily, adventurer guilds offered the convenience of jobs for any skill level. Since money was of no concern due to my title, we had the leisure to choose anything that suited as proper guidance for Lydia.

“Father, can we fight some enemies? I think I’m ready for that! Please! Please! I want to be the one that does it this time!”

I eyed a flyer that was messily written. With barely legible words, ‘Goblin Hunt’ was what it said. A grimace no doubt formed on my face at that moment, since imagining her smashing a monster to bits tarnished my ideals of her. Up until now, I had been the one fighting off any monsters, commanding her to simply watch and study how it was done. Of course, anything that we fought was weak enough that a mere flick of the finger would likely down it.

Needless to say, she didn’t have to know that. It was better not to underestimate any opponent, finishing off my foes with precise attacks. I’d rather appear cool to her for as long as I possibly can.

“Alright, I guess I can give you a chance to show off.” She had pestered me about this for quite some time. Eventually, this step had to be done. Given her growing sense of curiosity, she may even start going off on her own if I didn’t appease her occasionally.

“Yay! Yay! Goblin slaying! Goblin slaying! Woo-hoo!” She cheered.

Some things didn’t seem to change even after the years passed.

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After talking to the receptionist about the hunt, she pointed us towards a suspected den of them about an hour’s walk from town. A nice afternoon stroll through the woods didn’t sound half bad to me. As expected, Lydia didn’t seem to have the same mindset.

“Father, can I get a piggy ride?” She blurted out as my gaze was fixed upon the calm scenery.

“Aren’t you getting a bit old for that?” I retorted jokingly. However, my steps had already slowed down, and my knees bent into a lower position. Secretly, I was more than happy to oblige.

“Yay!”

With a skip and a hop, Lydia nimbly sailed through the air, plopping her thighs against the back of my head. Her hands slapped against my forehead to steady herself. Despite this, my body hardly budged from the impact, while I instinctively wrapped my hands around the thin legs that dangled against my chest. If she hadn’t done this many times before, I would have tipped over like the first few times. But now, we had perfected the technique.

We continued our walk at a trotting pace, briefly stopping as the rider directed me to points of interest. A slight tug of my hair told me where she wanted to go.

“Look. Apples!”

We passed by a grove of apple trees, its fruit tangling in front of her like candied treats from the branches. I didn’t even need to look up to know what she was thinking. A slight shake of a branch above was all I needed to hear. The crunch of its crisp flesh echoed in my ears.

Long after she had finished off the apple and chucked it into the woods, we came upon a steep hill. The girl sitting upon my shoulders bounced with excitement upon seeing it, grabbing a chunk of my hair as a sign to head towards it. It was already obvious to me what she wanted to do.

“Put me down! I want to run down it!”

I nodded lightly, expecting this to happen. But as she hopped off, she uncharacteristically paused for a moment. Normally, she would have bolted down it already.

“Father, I want to piggy ride down the slope.”

“That’s odd. You usually like running down yourself.”

“Then… I’ll be the piggy!”

“Eh?”

Before I could respond, she had circled behind me, stuck her head between my legs, and scooped me onto her shoulders. The sudden shift in momentum made me think that we would topple over, but surprisingly, Lydia shifted her weight accordingly. Moreover, the grip that she had upon my legs was inescapable.

Refusing to take no for a response, the two of us instantly accelerated down the slope. A girl half my height carrying a grown adult on her shoulders as she ran down a slope was no doubt a peculiar sight.

But that didn’t matter to me at the moment. I was in the middle of a heart attack as the scenery whizzed by faster than I could comprehend. Wind blasted my face, bringing tears to my eyes. I had forgotten about her speed, which grew proportionally to her strength. It took literally no time for the grassy hill to end, and trees to appear before us.

“Slow down, Lydia!” I barely managed to get out.

But she couldn’t hear me. She was all smiles and giggles as her short legs skipped across the ground like a rock bouncing across a pond’s surface. Every time that it looked like we would run into a tree, my body suddenly jerked to the side and around it. My vision was nothing but a streak of green and brown as my eyes couldn’t focus on a single thing.

Just before it felt like I was going to upend my lunch, the speed demon stopped. The sudden onset of vertigo took a moment for me to recover my senses. In the meantime, I awkwardly climbed off Lydia, who had loosened her grip. She remained frozen in place with her eyes forward.

“Father… monsters,” she whispered lightly.

I forced myself to squint in the same direction, but barely, I could make out a few moving forms in the distance. At least, she knew when to be cautious. But seriously, her eyesight was much better than this poor man, as it took much more time for me to distinguish what they were.

We had stumbled onto a goblin camp, much sooner than I had estimated. Lydia’s energetic trot through the woods had cut our travel time down significantly, as we were already at the rumored location for the hunt.

With a few silent motions, I beckoned for Lydia to follow as we crept through the foliage as silently as possible. On our journey so far, we had learned how to hunt animals in the forest for food and useful items for trade. However, this had been the first time Lydia had seen a monster, a being born from the darkness. The Goblin was the weakest of their species, but still, they bore the seed of evil from the Demon Lord. Killing them yielded tainted cores that needed to be purified by the church, bastions of holy power that cleansed the darkness.

Using the tall grass as cover, we surveyed the nest of goblins and honed onto one that strayed a little farther than the rest. Lydia stared at the grotesque being – a short, green humanoid with disgusting boils across its body. Its dirty, naked body gave off the impression of a savage beast. Blood-shot eyes and drool running down its mouth triggered a sense of natural repulsion.

For Lydia, who had merely read about them in books, the sight of a real one had quieted her normal carefree demeanor. I took her hand, trembling and radiating a coolness due to fear. I passed my warmth to her and gave a smile of reassurance, the securities that one with experience could pass onto a young child experiencing the unknown.

“Watch, not with fear but to observe your enemy. It may be the same size as you, but do not let that deceive you. You are a Hero, and you are my daughter. More than enough for the likes of these monsters.”

Still petrified, but calm enough to follow my words, Lydia continued to watch the Goblin mull about. Its attention was focused on the prey that it had caught and was busily dissecting.

“Now, go. Strike quickly and swiftly. Feel that it is no match for your weapon.” I pulled out a wooden training sword and presented it to her. Despite the lack of a sharp edge, even this would be enough to easily fell a lowly monster.

Lydia grasped the sword and struggled to calm down, slowly convincing herself that her father knew best. However, the fears of a child were not easily quelled by reason. That much I understood over the past 8 years.

“B-But, it’s so icky and gross. And I can… barely manage to look at it.”

Ahh. The fear of icky things. The bane of a fair maiden.

I pondered for a moment before thinking of a way to work around that fear.

“What if… it was a spider? Look at it crawling on the ground, hovering over its prey. Doesn’t that give you the impression of a giant spider?”

“Spider! I hate spiders!” Lydia suddenly piped up, a bit of fire returning.

“And what do you do when you see a spider?”

“I squish it!”

“Good, now go squish the bug.”

Surprisingly, that worked pretty well. Lydia immediately leapt to her feet and charged at the unsuspecting Goblin. Before it could turn around and register the advancing warrior, a wooden sword hammered down onto its shoulder.

A loud thud echoed through the woods as a plume of dust shot into the air around the two. Instantly, I was on my feet and joined into the fray, my own wooden sword drawn in case anything went wrong. As the dust settled, I could see that there had been nothing to worry about. Rather, a drip of nervous sweat replaced the worry upon my brow.

In front of Lydia were the mangled remnants of a Goblin embedded in a sizable crater. Its body appeared as if a hammer had struck down and crushed it into the earth. Leave it to the ridiculous strength of an unpolished Hero to completely obliterate a target.

Unfortunately, this had raised the awareness of the surrounding Goblins in the area. Already, they were advancing upon us with a look of vengeance.

“Father, your turn!” Lydia announced, her fear of them completely forgotten.

With a sigh, I turned towards the nearest one and readied my sword. For some reason, it felt like a simple strike to take them down wouldn’t be enough to satisfy the young girl. She would give me an earful later if I didn’t at least try to match her efforts. Of course, my arm strength was in no way impressive enough to imitate something like that… alone that is.

As I charged forward, a whisper of words escaped my mouth, triggering the activation of magic power. My sword was instantly coated in a veil of wind, turning a simple sword swing into a raging gale as it slammed into the body of the next Goblin. I could feel bones cracking and giving way as its body was forced into the ground, resulting in a thunderous boom around me.

With the aid of magic, which hadn’t been taught to Lydia yet, I was able to form a crater in the ground also. The sound of clapping could be heard behind me.

“What are you waiting for, Lydia? This is a race!” I announced to her, sparking the beginning of a small competition of whack-a-Goblin between us.

The forest shook and animals took cover as our chorus of hammering caused the earth to quake. Within minutes, there were no longer any signs of life besides us. Only craters in the ground were left behind in our stampede.

“So, you have fun?”

“Mhmm!”

The cheeky grin of a girl who barely understood her own power made me forget all about the silliness of the whole situation.

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The evening sunset greeted me as the two of us walked back to town, albeit much more slowly than the earlier trip. The light snoring of an exhausted girl tickled my ear as her body was draped across my back.

At some point during the core extraction, Lydia let out a big yawn and rubbed her eyes. A few cores removed later, I turned back to see her stretched out on the grass, deep in dreamland. I sighed as the job wasn’t done until we had retrieved the evidence of our efforts and made it back to the guild, but the serene, angelic face directed at the sky was too charming to disturb.

By overdoing things like she normally did, her energy was soon depleted. If only she had a bit more awareness and control, this wouldn’t happen, but it was hard to chide her over such trivialities.

With a smile, I finished the work that was left undone, hoisted her onto my back, and started the trek back to town. The orange glow in the distance was all I could muse to, as Lydia was unresponsive when asleep.

As I gazed at the setting sun slowly retreating into the mountains, I couldn’t help but think that I wouldn’t have experienced everything so far if Lydia hadn’t been chosen as a Hero. Despite my wish for a peaceful life for us, there was a certain joy that came from all of this. Even with the trouble her unique abilities caused, I wouldn’t take anything back.

With the darkness of night sweeping over the hills and the torches of civilization in the distance, another day was ending.

Another day of training and preparing a young Hero for her inevitable journey.

Another day of learning how to deal with powers far beyond one’s own control.

But above all, another day of time well spent between a father and a daughter.

What more could I ask for?, I thought as I turned towards the adorable face resting on my shoulder.

Even if I could barely keep up with her budding strength, that didn’t matter. I would fight and struggle with all my might just to stay by her side. That much I wouldn’t surrender to.

One day, she would find the courage to stand on her own. Companions would flock to her and join her to fight against the Demon Lord. I had to do everything I could to make sure that went smoothly.

For that reason, I would stay by her side, as the Hero’s aide, until the day she no longer needed me. But until then, I prayed to the Gods above that our journey going forward would be as fulfilling as every day before it.

“The Demon Lord has nothing on us!” I howled at the empty night sky.

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I wrote this one quite a long time ago. It came from the random feeling of how hard it is to keep up with a kid with boundless energy. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this wholesome piece.