Chapter 181
“…….”
Teiti stared blankly at the spot where Daphne had been standing.
“The hero called for me, so I’ll go.”
Daphne had left like that, and only Teiti and Rache remained at the place where they had been talking.
However, not a single word passed between them. It was not an awkward silence caused by the fact that they had never been close to begin with, but simply because both of them had lost their words.
Teiti had been shocked to realize that he had not understood Daphne as well as he had thought, while Rache…… was feeling something complicated and indescribable. Something he could not calmly explain in a single word.
“……Daphne.”
So Rache was the first to speak.
“I didn’t know she, um, loved her family so much.”
But despite his effort, Teiti clearly pointed out the word he had glossed over.
“Obsessed.”
That was right. Daphne was obsessed. With the group called family.
Rache looked away and smiled bitterly, and Teiti also smiled similarly and shook his head.
“That’s right. Lady Daphne is obsessed with her family.”
“Why?”
Rache clenched his fists and asked.
“Why does she do that, anyway? What is family supposed to be?”
He thought of his mother, who had contacted him not long ago. The mother who had sold him off for a pittance. And the mother who now thought of him only as a source of money.
To Rache, she was not family. But when he heard Daphne speak, it seemed as though she would embrace even someone like that as family. That was why Rache understood it even less. Why, exactly, did family matter so much?
As if to answer Rache’s question, Teiti replied.
“Because Lady Daphne is a created causality.”
“……Huh?”
“She was created, so she could have nothing and reach for nothing, and I think that is what led her to become the way she is now.”
“No, no, no. Wait a minute. Explain it so I can understand.”
Teiti blinked. This stupid human…… He had been about to think that as he had in the old days, but quickly came to his senses and held on to his reason. Humans were stupid by nature…… So I have to explain it…….
So he began explaining calmly, one thing at a time.
Daphne, that is, the dragon known as the calamity, was actually a created being, and the reason she had been created was to receive the consequences of the other dragons’ actions. In other words, she was nothing more than a trash can created so that they could act as they pleased. That was why Daphne had always been alone and lonely, unable to have or do anything.
As Rache listened to the explanation, his face flushed red with anger.
“So, she lived unhappily like that for her entire life.”
“For several hundred years.”
“So…….”
Rache repeatedly opened and closed his mouth before squeezing his eyes shut.
“Now that the causality is gone, she’s becoming even more obsessed with family.”
Teiti nodded, and the moment he did, Rache collapsed to the ground. The strength had left his legs.
“How could Daphne have been so pitiful…….”
He could not even dare to imagine the long years Daphne had endured, those lonely years. He could not even conceive of them. All those years she had been forced to endure alone for such a long time.
-You really are an amazing big brother.
What had Daphne been thinking when she said that? No, no. Before that.
-I’ve never had a younger brother like you.
-Just go away!
How had Daphne felt when she heard me say those things? She must have been lonely. She must have suffered. And yet, the fact that she still thought of me as an amazing big brother.
“Ah, uh…….”
Rache felt as though he might really cry. What should he do about poor Daphne, what should he do because she was so pitiful, what was going to happen to her……. His chest felt tight, and he could barely breathe properly. He wanted to run to Daphne right now and hug her tightly.
“So…….”
Rache calmly caught his breath and raised his head.
“What about revenge?”
He asked while looking at Teiti.
“You’re not going to take revenge? On those dragons, revenge.”
Teiti stared down at Rache, then chuckled and pointed behind him.
“She’s right over there.”
Where he pointed was the blue dragon, Artson. Artson was wandering around the training ground as usual, interfering with the knights about one thing or another.
“One of the people who made Lady Daphne that way.”
“……What?”
Rache, who had only known Artson as an acquaintance of Daphne’s, asked in surprise.
“She’s been in our house for quite a long time.”
“Yes.”
“Then Daphne…… forgave her, forgave her?”
“She says she didn’t, but that must be what it is. Seeing as she’s keeping her alive.”
“Argh! Ah! Aaaagh!”
In the end, unable to contain his frustration, Rache sprang to his feet and shouted.
“What, is she some kind of saint? Is that why she goes around forgiving everyone? Huh? She saves people, then gets hurt, and she’s okay with that, and she even forgives the bastards who completely ruined her life, huh? Do you really think that makes any sense? Seriously?”
“I don’t think it makes sense either.”
Teiti nodded with an expression of satisfaction, as though Rache’s outburst had relieved some of his own frustration.
“But an ordinary elf like me cannot interfere with what Lady Daphne chooses to do.”
“Ah, this is driving me craaazy!”
Rache stomped his feet repeatedly and shouted. It was the first time he had ever expressed his emotions to this extent, but it was understandable. Anyone who knew Daphne’s circumstances would inevitably feel just as frustrated.
“I’ll do it. I’ll take revenge.”
At Rache’s determined words, Teiti felt the lump in his chest finally ease. Good. Very good. He raised his thumb, pointed toward Artson, and Rache, before anyone could stop him, ran toward Artson and,
“Gaaaaah!”
launched a flying kick.
“Argh! What the hell! Why are you hitting me?!”
Artson, who had suddenly been struck, rolled across the ground and shouted, startled that the person who had attacked him was Rache rather than Daphne or Arius. Especially since he had hardly ever had a proper conversation with Rache before.
“No, why are you hitting me…… Agh! It hurts!”
But Rache had no intention of answering his questions and instead beat him mercilessly, even drawing his scabbard and using it to hit him with great enthusiasm.
“Take more! More! More!”
“What the hell, has this human gone mad?! How dare you……!”
Artson, who was worked up, suddenly stopped speaking and covered his mouth in shock. Rache had not known that she was a dragon. She had been told never to tell him……! Thinking that, Artson hesitated.
However, since she had already revealed that she was a dragon, she thought this act of hitting her would stop. A mere human could not possibly dare to challenge a dragon. Of course not!
But.
“So what, so what!”
Rache began beating Artson recklessly, acting as though whether she was a dragon or anything else was none of his concern. Thud! Thwack! Even while being beaten, Artson was dumbfounded, but he felt that he could no longer endure it. He gritted his teeth and opened his eyes wide.
“How dare you, a mere human……!”
No matter how much of her power had been taken away, dealing with one human like Rache was nothing. So Artson decided to use her power. Rache felt the flow of that magical power and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Try moving even a little more here. Then I’ll tell Daphne right away and have her kick you out!”
……Huh?
“I’m the son of the owner of this house! If I hit you, you just have to take it!”
There was a method like that……?
Teiti, who had been watching Rache from a distance, applauded in admiration and exchanged a knowing look with Artson as she was being beaten.
Take more of a beating.
***
At the same time, Daphne was facing a rather absurd situation.
Daphne herself had come because Heros had said he had something important to discuss with her privately. So she had been somewhat nervous. She was afraid that he might tell her that it was time for her to leave.
But what Heros told her was something entirely different, something she had never expected.
“W-What am I supposed to do?”
Even as he looked at Daphne standing awkwardly with her mouth agape, Heros remained completely calm. He shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent expres
sion.
“A gathering opposing the conscription order the Emperor will soon issue will be organized.”
“……And?”
At Daphne’s question, Heros opened his mouth without changing his expression.
