Chapter 95
“I came because I was worried about you.”
The moment she heard those words from Heros, Daphne seriously pondered it.
Did this guy get hit with black magic in the head.
There was no way he would say something this cringeworthy otherwise.
– Even if you become useless, it’s fine, because you’re my child.
– I promise I’ll keep you by my side.
The conversation she had with Heros before leaving for the training institute came to mind.
That had been the last conversation they shared.
“Wha…… what are you worried about. Forget it.”
Daphne felt awkward for some reason and subtly averted her gaze, but Heros did not.
He slowly let out a breath with his hands clasped together.
Seeing Daphne feeling awkward over just the word “worried,” Heros decided to finally let out the words that had been stuck in his throat.
“During this time, I listened to what you said and thought about it.”
As he said that, he recalled something.
The words that had tormented Heros’s mind ever since Daphne left.
– That way, I won’t get chased out of here and I can keep living off you.
– I’ll grow so that I’ll be useful to you, so that you can use me as much as you want.
The moment he heard those words.
Heros felt as if he had been struck in the head by a gigantic hammer.
And then memories of the past came flooding in like a tidal wave.
After Elise died, with no one left to take revenge on, he lived each day drowning himself in alcohol with an empty heart.
I was the most miserable person in the world, and I was also the one suffering the most.
I desperately wanted to end this life, but I lacked the courage and couldn’t even take my own life.
Like that, he spent every single day drawing Elise in his mind and listing nothing but regrets about his own life.
And so, he failed to think about the children.
As if someone had erased them with an eraser, the existence of the children had disappeared from him back then.
Then Daphne died.
From that moment on, the faces of the children that had been erased began to surface one by one.
Rache, Vipera, Arius.
But strangely, Daphne was faint.
Even though he was looking at the child lying in the coffin, her face was not clear and did not imprint itself on his retina.
Just like the first time he saw Daphne, an intensely instinctive sense of disgust welled up, and he couldn’t stay there.
Even though he rationally knew that this was wrong, strangely, the thought ‘good thing she died’ instinctively dominated his emotions.
Why?
Why did I forget my own child, live while having forgotten them, and feel disgust?
He couldn’t understand the reason.
It felt as if his heart was not his own.
But after Daphne came back to life.
Even when he looked at Daphne, it was no longer uncomfortable like before.
The disgust that surged up from deep within his chest was no longer there.
Only now was he truly able to face the child.
That was why there was only one thing Heros could say right now.
“I’m sorry for leaving you alone all this time.”
A sincere apology, and nothing else.
Heros ran his palm down his face and tilted his head back.
Then he opened his mouth toward the one standing outside the door.
“Rache, the same goes for you.”
“……”
“I’m sorry.”
A sobbing sound was heard through the crack in the door.
It was truly a tearful moment of reconciliation, but Daphne could not fully accept this moment.
Because Daphne was not Daphne.
Once the situation was settled, Kenrick and Nike, and Rache—excluding Fiona, who was in charge of nursing the children—and Teiti, who was supporting and holding Daphne, gathered in the instructor lounge, surrounding Heros.
Those who had gathered like that asked Heros the question they were most curious about.
“So then? Why did Your Highness come all the way here?”
Whether he had received some kind of order or had sensed something strange, whatever it was, Nike—excited to see the warrior Heros up close and right before her eyes—asked with sparkling eyes, but Heros remained calm.
“I was passing by.”
“……”
At the completely unimaginable answer, everyone’s eyes rolled around.
What is this, is this a joke?
Are we supposed to laugh?
Forced into the position of trying to please a superior at a company dinner, they awkwardly twisted their lips upward.
“Ha, haha. That’s quite the joke……”
“It’s not a joke.”
“……”
Ah, seriously, what is wrong with him…….
The instructors pressed their foreheads, looking as if they finally understood why Heros had no close friends in high society.
“Oh. That’s quite a useful excuse.”
At that moment, Daphne, who had been sitting there sulking, opened her mouth.
“Then can I use that excuse from now on too?”
“You can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t.”
“You’re really irritating.”
As the verbal skirmish went back and forth between the two, Rache, whose eyes were still red, tugged hard on Daphne’s sleeve.
“Daphne. Please shut up a bit…….”
“Ah, why! Isn’t the warrior spouting nonsense right now! Talking about going out for a drink and coming back with a lion!”
“Is that not allowed?”
“Does that make any sense?”
Pfft.
Kenrick lowered his head, barely holding back his laughter.
Nike, sitting next to him, was pinching her own thigh to endure it.
That was when it happened.
“The warrior.”
A gentle mid-low voice was heard.
It was a voice filled with warmth.
Everyone present immediately knew who the owner of the voice was.
“He must have some circumstances he can’t talk about, right? Isn’t that so?”
Shiosen.
The Great Sage.
Heros, who already knew Shio from having received help from him before or having heard about him from Teiti, was not surprised by Shio’s appearance.
But Daphne was not.
Daphne widened her eyes and stared at Shio.
“Y-you, why are you here?”
Shio tilted his head slightly and answered calmly.
“I came together with Teiti.”
“Then, why?”
“We got close, you see. Ah, I think I can say we’re friends now!”
“That’s not what I’m asking!”
Daphne grabbed the back of her neck and tried to get up, but she couldn’t due to muscle pain.
She could only glare with her eyes.
“Fine. Let’s say the warrior has his
reasons. But then why you two? Didn’t I order you to stay quietly holed up in the mansion?”
“You didn’t.”
“Even if I didn’t say it, you should have known to do that!”
“Oh. Abuse of power… Ack! That hurts!”
Daphne shot Teiti’s solar plexus with her elbow as he added commentary, and glared daggers at him.
At that, Shio waved both hands and took two steps back.
“We had our own things to take care of too. Well, we even got some decent results.”
“Results?”
“Yes. And there’s something I’d like to tell you as well.”
Shio smiled gently and reached his hand toward Daphne.
“It seems like the rest of you have a lot to discuss regarding this incident, so it would be better for us to step aside and talk about our own matters.”
In this chimera incident, there would be plenty to discuss between the Guardian and the warrior.
From how to handle the training institute going forward, to major matters like exterminating black mages, such topics would surely come up.
So Daphne obediently nodded.
Teiti, who had been holding Daphne, stood up together with her.
“Warrior.”
Before leaving the room like that, Daphne called out to Heros.
Heros, who had been watching them the whole time, slightly raised his eyebrows.
“Um…….”
Daphne scratched the back of her head.
Earlier, a pointless bitterness had surged up and she hadn’t been able to answer properly, but now she felt like she should.
Both as Daphne, and as Selus.
“……Thank you.”
“What did you say?”
“I said… thank you.”
“I can’t hear you.”
“Ah, damn it! I said thank yooou!”
Her face bright red, Daphne sharply turned her head away and hurriedly left the room.
And Heros, who remained in the room,
“……Ha.”
Was smiling.
And very brightly at that.
Teiti and Shio entered Daphne’s room together.
Her roommate Cilia was lying in the treatment room, so she wouldn’t be coming in for a while.
After laying Daphne down on the bed, Teiti asked.
“How does your body feel?”
“Like I’m going to die.”
“Since your mouth is still working, I guess you’re still fine. As expected of our Daphne!”
“Shut up.”
Daphne lay on the bed and looked up at them.
“So, where did you go without saying a word to me?”
Lying on her side with her chin propped up and her eyes glaring upward, Daphne really looked like a delinquent.
How could someone with such a small and cute appearance look like that too.
As expected, a delinquent dragon…….
As Teiti briefly lost himself to that delinquency, Shio opened his mouth first in his stead.
“We went to the World Tree.”
“Ah, I see…… wha? What tree?”
“The World Tree.”
Daphne’s mouth fell open.
But Shio did not stop speaking.
“There, I heard about your body, Daphne.”
He said with his eyes softly curved into a smile.
“About that body, would you like to know?”
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