Chapter 75
Daphne finished dinner feeling great after even snatching Morris’s cherry tomatoes. Patting her full stomach, she left the dining hall.
But she did not return straight to her room.
She lingered on the second-floor landing where the instructor’s and assistant instructors’ quarters were located.
She had come to meet Rache.
“…So, starting tomorrow, I think I can push the kids a little harder, hmm?”
Nike, who was walking along while talking about working the kids to the bone, noticed Daphne.
Nike offered a small smile to Daphne, who had done him a great service today.
“I believe I told you not to come up to the second floor?”
“I have come to meet Rache.”
Nike’s eyes narrowed. Only then did Daphne recall the need for honorifics, and she quickly added to her sentence.
“…I have come to meet Rache-nim!”
“That’s wrong too.”
“Tsk. It’s hard.”
It would naturally be difficult for her, who hadn’t used honorifics for hundreds of years, to suddenly start now. Daphne shrugged her shoulders, and Nike let out a hollow laugh.
“Rache should be in his room.”
“I would be grateful if you could call him… I would be grateful-.”
“I told you, that’s not right either.”
Nike pressed his hand to his forehead, shaking his head.
He thought it would be better for his mental health to call Rache quickly than to continue this conversation with Daphne.
So, he abruptly opened Rache’s door, which was right behind him, without knocking.
“Aah! What! Why!”
Rache, who was in the middle of changing clothes, was startled and hugged his bare torso with both arms, but Nike paid him no mind.
Why are you so embarrassed when your naked body is so unremarkable?
Instead of closing the door, Nike pointed behind him with his thumb.
“You have a visitor. And how about doing some ab exercises? That stomach is so smooth you could use it as a slide.”
“Ah, seriously! I’ll take care of it myself, just get out! And a visitor? Who… Daphne?”
Daphne, who had poked her head out from behind Nike, waved her hand. Then, she scanned Rache’s body from head to toe.
“I agree with the instructor. How can you have absolutely no muscle? Do you not exercise?”
“You…! How hard is it to build abs! Ah, before that, get out! Let me put on some clothes!”
Daphne and Nike evaded the screeching Rache, left the room again, and closed the door.
“Is Rache usually that loud?”
“He probably is.”
Nike snickered, and before long, Rache opened the door and came out.
He ran his hand across his slightly reddened earlobes and glared at Nike and Daphne.
“Next time, please knock. Have some manners.”
“Your sibling was desperately looking for you, so I had no choice.”
“Desperately, my foot… So, why?”
Rache looked down at Daphne and asked. Daphne looked up at Rache with wide, round eyes.
“I did not know you were an assistant instructor. Why did you not tell me?”
“That was decided suddenly for me too. Right, Instructor Nike?”
“Ah. I should go wash up now.”
Rache cursed Nike thousands of times in his mind for running off, then let out a deep sigh and looked at Daphne again.
“I didn’t know you were coming either. I thought Arius was going to come.”
“That boy is busy learning swordsmanship right now.”
“Learning swordsmanship?”
“That is right-. Since I had already finished the first form, I could come. Arius is still lacking in ability.”
“…What, what happened to the house while I was gone?”
Rache scratched the back of his neck and squatted down. Only then were he and Daphne at eye level.
“If you were so curious, why didn’t you come back?”
Daphne looked Rache straight in both eyes and spoke.
“I heard you have not visited home for several years.”
“That’s because of you.”
“Since you’ve made up with me, shouldn’t it be okay for you to come now?”
“Who makes up with whom? No, not me?”
Rache frowned fiercely. This made Daphne puzzled. She tilted her head.
“Did you not just say you love me earlier?”
“When did I?”
“You did. The shape of your mouth was clearly saying that.”
“Absolutely not.”
Is he saying no because he’s shy?
Daphne thought of Rache as merely a shy boy, so she perceived his irritation as a cute little tantrum.
“Enough of that, go back to your room now. I need to rest too.”
“Very well. I understand-.”
“Ah, and.”
Rache brushed the wrinkled knees of his pants and stood up.
“Just because I’m an assistant instructor doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you. You know what I mean, right?”
When Daphne only blinked without answering, Rache immediately continued.
“So move moderately. Don’t get hurt or anything and cause trouble for people! Huh? Got it?”
“Aha.”
Daphne nodded her head.
“I know you are worried about me-.”
“I am not!”
“I also know that what you said earlier was a love confession-.”
“I told you, it wasn’t!”
“I know how you feel. Ouch, you little one.”
“…”
Rache felt his mind slightly blanking. What had he just heard from his sibling who was eight years younger…?
“I shall leave now. Since you might catch a cold, make sure to cover yourself well with the blanket when you sleep.”
“…”
What is this?
After parting with Rache, Daphne went up to the third floor.
And she opened the door with her name on it.
Earlier, she hadn’t properly looked around because she was rushing to change clothes and leave, so she intended to take her time now to inspect the room, but there was no need.
There were only two beds in the room.
“Oh. It is simple.”
Daphne scratched the back of her head and sat down on the left bed.
“Aargh! I can’t sleep in a place like this!”
She ignored Teffi’s tearful shriek that seemed to come from somewhere.
Then, she looked out the small window, fitting for a small room.
It was a night sky filled with a large moon and stars that sparkled as if silver dust had been sprinkled across them.
Looking up at that scenery, she recalled the time she had joined the subjugation squad before.
Even then, she had chuckled every day, finding new enjoyment in experiences she had never had before.
“To think I would be with so many humans again like this.”
Daphne grinned, feeling her heart flutter again.
“Perhaps it is a good thing that I entered this body.”
But her cute smile quickly vanished. Recalling Rache, whom she had just seen, Daphne muttered bitterly.
“Though, it would not be for my family.”
After defeating the vengeful spirits and taking revenge on the dragons, she decided to return without any regrets.
Yet, every time she was with her family like this, a desire arose. A desire she absolutely should not have.
“I am still a confused calamity…”
Daphne muttered, staring blankly into the air.
It was at that moment.
Click, the door opened, and a silver-haired child entered.
Judging by the wet hair and the towel draped around her neck, she seemed to have just washed up.
The silver-haired girl, Cilia, frowned as soon as she saw Daphne.
“Ah. What is it.”
Daphne tilted her head, but Cilia did not smooth out her frown. Instead, she pointed to the left bed where Daphne was sitting.
“That’s my spot.”
“I see-.”
Daphne gave a slight bow and moved to the right bed.
Cilia, who had momentarily flinched, thinking Daphne might lunge at her, approached the left bed.
“Are you my roommate?”
“Yeah.”
“What is your name?”
“Cilia.”
“I am Daphne.”
“I know.”
“I see-.”
“…”
Silence filled the room.
Cilia cautiously looked around, not relaxing her tension that Daphne might lunge at her.
It was then that Daphne, who had been looking out the window again, opened her mouth.
“Where is the washing area?”
Cilia frowned again.
“Didn’t you listen well to the instructor earlier?”
“I did not-.”
“Why are you so shameless about it?”
Cilia let out a hollow laugh and continued.
“It’s at the end of the hallway. You have to bring your own towel.”
“A towel?”
When Daphne only widened her eyes, Cilia asked in disbelief.
“You didn’t bring a towel either?”
“I did not. Lend me one.”
“Why are you so shameless?!”
Cilia hesitated slightly.
If she refused to lend it here, that Daphne might hold a grudge.
Even though she had shown strange behavior today, Daphne was that delinquent, after all. If things went sideways, she could immediately bully her.
But…
‘I only have one, too.’
It was a precious towel that her uncles had pooled their money to buy for her. She would be truly sad if she lent it out and didn’t get it back or if it got dirty.
“N-No. I only have one, t-too…”
So Cilia refused Daphne’s request. Then she squeezed her eyes shut. She thought Daphne was surely going to attack her this time!
But…
“If you only have one, of course you should use it. I made an unnecessary request. I apologize.”
Instead, she received an apology.
Cilia’s eyes widened as if they would pop out. But Daphne’s composed expression remained unchanged.
“You… what are you?”
So Cilia unwittingly blurted out the question.
“Are you really Daphne Akion?”
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