Chapter 65
“……What?”
Heros’s eyes widened slightly. Right then, Daphne realized she had said the wrong thing.
Having been worrying about this body and family for days, her true feelings unconsciously slipped out.
“Ah, no! I made a mistake! I didn’t mean to say that!”
Daphne hurriedly shook her head and retracted her words.
“I just want to get stronger, so I’ll do it diligently. That’s the only reason!”
“……Daphne.”
“I’m going to take revenge. The reward for my efforts is the success of revenge.”
“Daphne.”
But Heros stubbornly touched on Daphne’s true feelings. Because he couldn’t just let it pass as if he hadn’t heard
.
“Do you think I might kick you out?”
Daphne’s large pupils rolled around.
She should answer no. She’s never thought that, and should say the earlier words were a mistake.
But Daphne, for some reason, couldn’t answer right away. Time passed in silence, and eventually Heros had to open his lips haltingly.
“……Why?”
His expression was a bit different from usual. Not rigidly hardened as usual, but distorted, a subtle face.
“Why do you think that?”
Daphne bit her lower lip hard, then sighed deeply as if she had no choice and answered.
“Because you, hero, don’t like this body much.”
Of course, she knows Heros cares about this body. She also knows he pays a bit more attention than at first. But that’s only because this body is ‘Daphne,’ isn’t it.
“Even if you’re leaving this body alone now because it’s pitiful, if later I commit a big mistake or you find out about a big lie…… then wouldn’t you kick me out.”
If he finds out Daphne was actually a disaster, Heros will be very angry. And he might charge at her again. This time, not to seal but to kill.
Even if she survives by luck, she won’t be able to live in this house anymore. She won’t be able to meet the current family, kids like Arius, Viper, or Lache, warm humans like Ann and Anna, fun humans like Lloyd or Polin again.
She hated that.
Being lonely was worse than dying.
Losing the warmth she barely came to know was more painful. She doesn’t want to be left alone anymore.
So Daphne resolved.
Even if Heros finds out all the facts, she’ll become a being strong enough that he can’t kick her out carelessly.
“So my goal is to gain skills great enough that you can’t kick me out. I’ll grow to be useful to you, so you can fully use me.”
Then, even if not ‘family,’ she can stay by his side.
Daphne thought so.
“…….”
Heros just stared down at Daphne without any reply.
This time too, a strange gaze different from usual. A feeling like it contains some emotion never there before.
So Daphne felt unnecessarily anxious.
“What. Why are you looking like that?”
Heros observed Daphne’s features once more.
Now looking at the face slightly pale as sweat cooled, the two pupils holding anxiety, the two fidgeting hands.
Then he recalled why he came to Daphne today, why during the past time Daphne didn’t leave his mind, that he came to find out.
Because an entirely unexpected conversation came and went, he thought he couldn’t find the reason today, but no.
He found the answer wriggling deep in his heart.
“Even if you become useless.”
The reason he kept thinking about Daphne was,
“That’s still okay because you’re a child.”
Because he is Daphne’s father.
“No matter what mistake you make, no matter what lie you tell.”
“…….”
“I promise to keep you by my side.”
Heros, having reached the answer, laughed lowly as if refreshed, but in contrast, Daphne’s expression darkened.
Because the category of ‘any lie’ probably doesn’t include her identity.
***
A forest where a sticky energy is felt from the air itself.
Tropical plants fill the ground disorderly, and with swamps everywhere nearby, it’s humid and stuffy to no end.
Artson, the blue dragon who had only rolled in dry deserts his whole life, was newly surprised that such a gloomy space exists, and at the same time despaired at the fact he has to step into it.
Artson, polymorphed into a human female form, grabbed her blue hair tied in pigtails with both hands and gulped down dry saliva.
“Ugh, ugh.”
And shrinking her shoulders as much as possible, she slowly walked into the swamp area.
“Lani. Are you there? If you are, come out a bit.”
The reason he left his home desert and came to this place on the opposite side of the continent is one.
To meet the green dragon, Lani.
“I know you’re there, so come out, I said! I really hate swamps! If you don’t come out, I’m just leaving? Huh? For real?”
Artson walked on tiptoes with unstable eyes looking around. Then, noticing a crocodile that had approached close by, she jumped up.
“Aaack! Lani! Why is there a crocodile hereee! You really wanna do this?”
Flash!
She shot a big lightning at the crocodile opening its maw at her and screamed at the top of her lungs.
The crocodile hit by lightning burned all over and disappeared into ash. Artson swallowed dry saliva again and bit her lips hard.
That’s when it was.
“Why is there a crocodile here? It’s a swamp, so of course there should be crocodiles.”
A soft voice came from beside her ear. It was Lani, whom she had been searching for so much.
Lani, polymorphed into a human male form, was floating in the air, and unlike fifty years ago when seen, had slightly longer hair in deep green. At a glance, it looked black too, matching his copper skin very well.
But no matter how handsome the appearance, the fact he teased her doesn’t change. Artson puffed up her cheeks roundly.
“Crocodiles live in rivers! This is just a swamp! To begin with, the swamps here are full of poison, so how is that thing alive? Huh? You released it on purpose because I was coming? To torment me?!”
Lani tilted his head to one side and blinked.
“What are you saying, Artson. That’s because it’s a successful experiment, so I released it for testing.”
“Uh, huh?”
“You have self-importance issues.”
“……!”
Water welled up in Artson’s sky-blue pupils. She tightly grabbed her pigtails and hung her head low.
“You, you’re really too much…… I came all the way here to find you…… Really really really the most hated humid place in the world, but I forced myself to come…… As soon as Lani sees me, he says that…….”
Seeing Artson sniffling, Lani touched his forehead. If left like this, this place will become a sea of lightning. The swamp area I carefully decorated will all burn up.
So Lani lightly snapped his fingers.
Right then, whoosh, with a sound, space flipped, and Artson’s view flipped too.
Thud! With a sound, the shaking vision stabilized. Before they knew it, they were indoors, not in the swamp, and sitting on comfortable sofas.
Lani lifted a teacup and pushed cookies fully toward Artson.
“Eat.”
“Yeah! Hehe. Thanks!”
Artson smiled brightly as if she never cried and munched on cookies. Lani scanned Artson with sharp eyes, then sighed and put down the teacup with a clack.
“Kalid?”
Red dragon, Kalid.
Hearing his name, Artson pursed her lips and shook her head a couple times.
“That guy is someone I can’t find no matter how much I run around. Have to wait until he crawls out on his own.”
“That’s true.”
Lani shrugged his shoulders. And asked.
“So, why?”
Artson, who was stuffing her mouth full of cookies, widened her eyes roundly, then made an ah sound and clapped her hands. Only now realizing why she came to Lani.
“I got contact from the Specters. You know, that. The hero guy’s daughter. The curse on her. Remember?”
Lani narrowed his brows.
“I kind of remember, kind of not…….”
“That! You know! That priest’s daughter you really hated! Remember the priest? Elise or something, the name?”
Bang!
It was that moment that Lani’s impassive face crumpled fiercely.
Dense poisonous mist wavered around him. Right then, all objects around melted and disappeared. But even so, his anger doesn’t seem to subside.
Lani ground his teeth and pressed his palm over his left eye hidden by hair.
“That damned bitch,”
Through the parted hair, his empty eye is visible. Just a hole where the eye should be.
“How could I forget her?”
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By Anna 💓
