Chapter 43
07. Absolutely Awesome
Rache looked around the quiet campsite and felt puzzled.
Usually, the first night of camping like this is full of excitement and noisy, but today it was strangely quiet.
Did something happen? Rache desperately observed the surroundings and scanned people’s faces.
Then she realized that everyone was looking at one place. Lache’s confusion deepened as she shifted her gaze along with the people.
‘Daphne?’
Why is everyone looking at Daphne?
And why…….
“It seems like because it’s the first day, they weren’t properly engraving the purpose.”
“Despite boldly rushing out to subjugate the black mage, to be giggling over such trivial matters…… It’s shameful.”
Are they feeling ashamed?
Rache was utterly confused by the incomprehensible situation.
At that moment, Kenric, with his face flushed red, staggered over to Lache.
“Kenric. What? What happened?”
“……Well.”
Kenric scratched the back of his neck, where heat still lingered.
– I know you guys hate me.
Only after hearing those words did Kenric realize that the child in front of him was just a small, young girl only 5 years old.
No matter how much of a rascal or scoundrel, at most a child……
– I’m used to being hated.
It was an attitude as if it was natural for her to receive any treatment, as if since everyone would hate her anyway, there’s no need to show unnecessary kindness.
Kenric pressed his slightly throbbing left eye with his palm and let out a long sigh.
Children are immature.
They can’t control their emotions, can’t distinguish between right and wrong words.
That’s why they can make mistakes.
Daphne just had frequent such mistakes. Because she’s still a child.
But…….
They themselves were young adults.
Having passed the childhood similar to Daphne, now at an age where they can think on their own.
Yet, not only did they gossip about a child, but they even tried to tease her.
They were truly immature and childish.
He truly felt so ashamed that he wanted to hide somewhere.
“Kenric?”
At Rache’s call, Kenric finally came to his senses.
“She knew our purpose.”
And he whispered in a small voice.
“She said not to waste time on useless things and focus on subjugating the black mage. So the others must have felt ashamed too. Like me now.”
“Did Daphne really say that?”
“Yeah.”
Instead of answering, Lache opened and closed her mouth. No, she wouldn’t act like that? Really not?
“Without a single complaint, she knew the importance of the matter better than us.”
“That…….”
“Perhaps.”
Kenric said with a deliberately serious expression.
“She really has changed.”
He placed his hand on Lache’s shoulder.
“Watch her once. See how much she’s changed.”
“…….”
Having finished what he had to say, Rache scanned the people once more, leaving Kenric who passed by behind.
The atmosphere is clearly filled with more goodwill than before.
No.
If the atmosphere suddenly improves like this, if Daphne suddenly becomes a good person, then what about me?
What about the bullying I’ve received all this time? Who’s going to take responsibility?
Lache felt somehow wronged.
***
Morning dawned.
Lache greeted the morning sunlight with hollow eyes.
Because thoughts had been chaining one after another all through dawn, she couldn’t sleep properly.
At the end of that long relay of thoughts, Lache reached a conclusion.
‘I can’t believe it.’
A person’s nature doesn’t change easily in the first place.
Daphne was truly a bad child to the point of hearing that it’s hard to tell if she’s a devil spawn or a human spawn since birth.
But to suddenly become kind like this?
It doesn’t make sense, it can’t be. She hasn’t changed.
‘She’s hiding it.’
I don’t know what her scheme is, but I will never be fooled.
“lady Daphne! Here, I brewed coffee. How is it? It’s very delicious, right?”
Look at that.
Isn’t she bringing a precious healer, an elf, and treating him like her servant?
“It’s not iced. Brew it again.”
“Ah! Not just drink it…… no, I’ll brew it. With ice floating.”
The elf who was groveling turned around and muttered a small curse under his breath.
Even though Rache was far away, there’s no way she wouldn’t notice.
‘As expected.’
The attitude toward the elf and the dissatisfaction the elf showed were telling that Daphne hadn’t changed a bit from before.
As the march gets longer, it will become more exhausting, so her true nature will come out then.
Rache resolved to closely monitor Daphne until then.
‘Just wait and see.’
I’ll reveal your true nature to the whole world!
***
“…….”
Teiti, who was following Daphne closely and attending to her, felt a strange sensation.
Like something is burning fiercely and glaring at me.
Whoosh!
She turned her head, but there were no humans meeting her eyes.
“…….”
Then, while looking at Daphne again, she feels the gaze.
Whoosh!
Still, no strange human is visible.
What the heck.
Teiti scratched the back of her neck and tilted her head.
“What’s wrong?”
Daphne, who was reaching out to touch the horse’s forehead, said.
“Why are you fidgeting like a puppy that needs to poop. If there’s no reason, just stay still. It’s distracting.”
“You’re probably the first to call an elf a puppy that needs to poop, lady Daphne.”
“Are you sassing?”
“No. No way.”
Teiti quickly changed the subject.
“I keep feeling like someone is watching. I’m not sure if I should be wary or not.”
“It must be Rache.”
“Huh?”
“Rache, I said.”
Daphne replied nonchalantly.
“From morning until now, he’s been observing us the whole time.”
“Oh…… Why?”
“Why else. It seems he has more resentment toward this body than toward Arius or Vipera.”
Teiti tilted her head as if she understood even less.
“Then he should come and say it?”
“It seems it’s not easy.”
“Then shouldn’t he not watch?”
Only then did Daphne turn her head to look up at Teiti.
Daphne is a dragon called a calamity.
That’s why, except for Bertio, she had no contact with humans.
But Teiti is an elf that humans basically like. Moreover, an elf who escaped because she was tired of the mountain and lived long in the human world.
Clearly having contacted far more humans than Daphne, yet having such poor social skills. He’s truly hopeless.
“Anyway, humans. They can’t do anything properly. If you’re upset, say you’re upset! If you like it, say you like it! Say you’ll take revenge on you! They should talk!”
Watching Teiti grumbling and muttering, Daphne smirked.
“You talk a lot for a guy who can’t even open his mouth in front of me.”
“Me and lady Daphne are different. Elf and dragon.”
In the first place, isn’t this a master-servant relationship? Teiti shrugged his shoulders.
“Why do you hate humans?”
“Huh?”
At the sudden question, Teiti’s eyes widened.
“I don’t hate humans. It’s just that when I watch them, they’re so stupid that it irritates me. Should I say they’re too low-class to be called the same creation.”
It’s an unexpected answer.
So Daphne ended up bursting into laughter without realizing it. Teiti’s brows narrowed.
“Why are you laughing? It kinda hurts my feelings?”
“I laughed to hurt your feelings. In my eyes, you all are equally worthless beings, so it’s inevitable to find it funny when one side looks down on the other.”
“Wow. How can you say such harsh words. That’s really too much.”
“You’re too much to humans too.”
Teiti pouted his lips.
“lady Daphne is only lenient to humans.”
He stealthily looked around and said.
“Honestly, just looking now. If I behaved like these humans did, lady Daphne would have half-killed me. You’re letting them off because they’re humans, right?”
Teiti was already sufficiently climbing over Daphne…….
Is he so lacking in self-objectivity? It was truly amazing.
“Humans are the weakest.”
Daphne said, turning her gaze to the humans following Teiti.
Endlessly weak beings.
They get discouraged quickly, get sad quickly, then get happy quickly, and die quickly.
To the great dragon, they are beings not important even as dust.
However, she can’t leave them be.
“The stronger the being, the more they must protect the weak.”
Because Daphne is a great being.
The strong must save the weak.
This belief passed down from Bertio was embedded deep in Daphne’s bones and sustained her life.
“I don’t really understand.”
But not for Teiti.
“Being weak is their own fault, why should others protect them?”
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
