Chapter 32
Rattle.
The carriage shakes. But the postures of Heros and Daphne sitting there did not shake.
Gauging the distance and calculating the remaining time, Heros stared blankly at Daphne sitting across from him.
-I, the great one, will give you an opportunity.
That meant she would learn swordsmanship from Heros.
Some would be grateful to the world while searching for their mother if someone offered to teach swordsmanship, but some are talking about opportunities or
whatever……. I’m not the kind of person who hears such words elsewhere…….
-Let me see you teach me properly!
Did I really raise my child wrong?
Heros, who pondered for a moment, recalled that Daphne was originally like this.
The child who only inherited the beautiful eye color of his wife Elise, and resembled Heros in every other way like a carbon copy.
That’s why it feels so unsettling. Because the child resembles him too much.
‘If Daphne resembled Elise…….’
If that were the case, how would I be now?
Could I have felt something even after my emotions disappeared?
Could I have overcome the curse and grieved more steadfastly?
No, no.
‘Useless assumption.’
Anyway, it didn’t happen, and it couldn’t happen.
No need to imagine it unnecessarily.
It’s best to just look at the current Daphne and think about how to teach her swordsmanship.
Because if the goal is to ‘revenge against the black mages’ as Daphne said, it’s absolutely impossible with ordinary skills
Then, I should definitely teach her from the basics today. Heros murmured while thinking of the place they would arrive at soon.
The place they are heading to is Heros’s personal training ground.
Because Heros uses powerful swordsmanship, there was a risk of seriously injuring the people around if he practiced in a general training hall.
So he always practiced alone, and they were on their way to that practice place.
“…….”
The inside of the carriage is quiet.
Because Heros was pondering about the upcoming education content, and Daphne was immersed in her own thoughts.
Daphne recalled the words of Anne and Anna.
-I’m aware that a barrier was placed in case there are those targeting milady.
-The master definitely loves milady.
In addition, the holy relic that the hero gave, the White Lion’s Lantern.
When combining all this, the hero didn’t feel like he hated this Daphne that much.
It must be his own way of expressing.
A silent expression that he cherishes you as a daughter, that he is protecting you.
So Daphne felt uncomfortable. This is the emotion she felt even when Arius and Vipera showed affection for her.
I am the great dragon, the miserable calamity, Celus.
Not Daphne Akion.
This body is suitable for revenge against the hero who sealed me, but when seeing the humans who know me as the ‘real Daphne,’ one corner of her heart ached.
The hero’s faint affection is the same.
‘Sigh.’
Daphne sighed and shook her head.
‘Anyway, these humans are beings that have nothing to do with the great me.’
As more time passes, she would be able to shake off the current guilt and slight regret.
So, like the great and evil being that I am,
‘I will suck everything out of the hero!’
Wasn’t that the original plan?
Combining my great magic and the hero’s swordsmanship to become a power that can bring the world to its knees!
So,
‘I will suck you dry to the bone marrow!’
This is my first revenge, you bastard.
Think of it as punishment for messing with a well-living dragon!
Daphne, who was giggling and laughing wickedly, cleared her throat with a cough and turned her head to the window.
Because she thought that the hero, who is incredibly quick-witted, might peek into her mind.
‘Calm down, calm down…….’
Calm down and think about how much more I can suck out of the hero……. While muttering and looking at the scenery outside the window, Daphne unknowingly opened her mouth halfway.
“Huh?”
What is this?
Why does it feel familiar?
The scenery passing by quickly somehow felt familiar.
As if she had come here yesterday, it was as vivid as if she had seen it yesterday.
‘Huh?’
Daphne traced back her memories.
But nothing else came to mind besides the feeling of familiarity.
Still, it seems like there’s something. It feels like something is about to be grasped but not quite…….
Ah, what is it?
It was then, when Daphne’s brows furrowed.
“We’re almost there.”
Heros opened his mouth.
Daphne felt the carriage slowly stopping and looked out the window once more.
And,
She faced a landscape she couldn’t believe.
“…….Nonsense.”
***
-Hey, human. Isn’t the sword just something you swing?
It was long ago.
-Sword, whatever. It’s nothing to a dragon like me.
To remember it, she had to go back quite a long time.
-If you can’t teach me properly, I’ll eat you starting from the head.
So she thought she had forgotten.
To her, who had formed connections with various beings over hundreds of years, she thought it was just a single thread.
Because humans die easily. Because humans disappear easily.
But,
-Lizard. Watch closely. I’ll teach you what a sword is.
It seems it wasn’t.
She had remembered. She had kept it in her heart all along. She hadn’t erased it from her mind.
That’s why upon seeing this place, she immediately thought of him.
The hut sitting alone on the hill is as shabby as can be. The garden is overgrown with weeds, and under the roof, magpie nests and spider webs coexist.
But the sandy ground modestly situated in front is clean.
It’s no different from before.
No different from decades ago, when Daphne learned the sword as Celus.
Daphne slowly closed her eyes.
It comes back.
The memory of swinging the sword while being hit by the lonely old man,
The memory of eating the meal that the kind human made himself,
The memory of sparring with a heart and sword like a pure boy,
Everything comes back. It becomes as vivid as if it were yesterday.
“This place…….”
Daphne, who slowly opened her eyes, asked towards Heros.
“Why did we come here?”
When she was with the old man, no humans came looking for him. He was always alone.
There was nothing in the house that could hint at his connections, so she thought the old man had no connections at all.
“This place is,”
While waiting for Heros’s answer, Daphne could feel her mouth going dry.
In case the old man’s connections remain, in case she can find out the old man’s traces.
She clenches her fist tightly. As if not to let go of hope.
“My master’s house.”
Ah.
Daphne let out a sigh and pressed her eyes hard with her clenched fist.
It comes to mind.
The last day with the old man.
The time when she covered the disheveled blanket over the old man who was dead as if asleep.
And,
-I still……. don’t even know your name…….
The time when she cursed herself for not even knowing your name comes to mind.
Why didn’t I ask for your name.
You were the only being who accepted me, the calamity, the one everyone loathed, as I am.
What was so great about me that I didn’t even ask for your name. Why did I belittle and disregard you.
You are a being who engraved an indelible mark on my solid heart. Why on earth did I.
I regret it.
I regret and reflect.
Therefore,
-Lizard. Didn’t you say you are great? But why are your actions so lowly?
-A truly great being means one who can embrace things far more insignificant than yourself. Protecting the weak and breaking the strong is what is truly great.
-Engrave these words in your heart and live. For life.
I will keep your words.
I will try to live like your words.
Helping insignificant humans like you, saving lowly humans, I will live like that.
This must be my own way of honoring you.
I vowed that when I can completely let you go from my heart someday, I will stop helping…….
“My master’s…….”
But to me, who still hasn’t let you go, who hasn’t honored you,
“My master’s name.”
You revive the mark you engraved on me so unexpectedly like this.
“Tell me the name.”
Heros looked down at Daphne steadily, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Bertio.”
He drew the sword from his waist and pointed it in front of Daphne’s eyes.
The sword blade has the pattern of the flag that was hanging in the old man’s house in the past engraved on it.
It’s truly ridiculous.
What I didn’t want to call fate becomes fate,
“Bertio Akion.”
And that fate is so ironic,
“He is my grandfather.”
It throws me into this inescapable chain of connections.
This is so ridiculous it’s giving me a headache.
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By Anna 💓
