CH 56

“Ridiculous…! How can a human block my magic!?”

One, two, three… That’s where I stop counting. Magic circles of various sizes appear around Ladimerie like they’re protecting the king, or rather, like the king’s hiding himself.

Ladimerie covers herself with the magic circles that show she’s royalty, and looks like a general being guarded by elven soldiers.

I’ve saved an elf with that same pattern before… Who would’ve thought a fellow member of royalty would have such a different personality? Well, it should be obvious that different elves have different personalities. There’s plenty of stupid human royalty too. Blood doesn’t carry character.

“Dieeeeeeee!!!!”

This time, she doesn’t fire a spear.

A flaming sharp blade connected to a chain. Many of these sharp tentacles trample through the air as they aim towards me.

“Daddy!”

Ririi’s worried voice echoes in this space that can’t really be called a room anymore.

At this point, Ladimerie’s magic has reached the point of trying to drag me into certain death. The blades coming from all directions are like talons of birds of prey.

That crystallized anger is coming to skewer and carve its prey at an incredible speed, as the chains tremble like spider silk.

I’m standing in the middle, and for some reason, it all seems to move in slow motion around me.

“It’s all right, Ririi.”

…Turning the spears into blades doesn’t change anything. Once her magic touches my skin, it vanishes without a sound. Annihilation is an advanced combat technique, but once you learn it, there’s nothing more universal or powerful.

“W-what are you!? Why is my magic disappearing!?”

Ladimerie screams, realizing her magic isn’t working at all. Her face isn’t angry anymore, it’s showing fear and panic. Even putting aside the fact that royalty have powerful magic, she’s still pretty good. I’m sure she’s never felt this powerless in a magic battle.

“Uu…”

Every time I step forward, she takes a step back.

But she can’t back away forever, and eventually her back is to the wall. But I keep walking.

It doesn’t take long for me to be close enough to grab her thin white neck and press it against the wall.

“Guh… Gaha…”

Her face twists with pain.

Some people get a kick out of seeing elves, who tend to have nice faces, twist them in pain, but sadly, I’m not one of them. But conversely, I’m not decent enough to feel sorry either. I’m not that good of a person.

The one thing that’s on my mind is that what’s about to happen will be bad for Ririi’s education… But all she can see from there is my back. I can just tell her she passed out when it’s over.

She’s the one who tried to kill me first, so I’m sure I’m good as far as Anheim’s law goes. I don’t have a reason to hesitate.

I’m killing her right here.

Strangely enough, I feel very little resistance to murder in my heart right now. What was that hesitation I felt back in the bar with those thugs?

Is this just a wretched mechanism of my heart, trying to wipe away my feeling pathetic for exposing Ririi to danger? Killing Ladimerie isn’t going to take away my failure as a father.

“…”

I infuse my right hand with magic energy. Ladimerie is looking at me with desperation in her light purple eyes, as tears start pouring from them. Her stylish boots were just barely reaching the floor before, but aren’t touching it now. Her face is red from the extreme agitation and lack of oxygen, and both her hands are on my arm, but an elf girl doesn’t have the strength to do anything about it.

Why is she crying? Is it the pain? Frustration? It doesn’t really matter.

“Gah… Big.. Sister…”

It’s mostly just sobbing now. There’s gross body fluid coming out of her eyes and nose, but I’m curious about her last words, so I give her some time.

“Really… Loved… You…”

She knows she’s about to die, and yet, her eyes are filled with bloodthirst towards me. She decided to use her last thoughts to glare at me. That’s the only thing I like about it. From my experience, living beings are at their ugliest when they die.

“And… You… Huma…”

She says with a lifeless voice, before her eyes roll back in her head as she loses consciousness, and her arms that were grabbing mine dangle in the air. What was she trying to say there at the end? I’m not going to know.

I let go, and she slides down the wall to the ground like a puppet with her strings cut.

I’m pretty sure elven royalty have magic barriers that activate automatically, and she should be no exception, but that doesn’t mean anything when she’s out cold. It’s automatic, but the user still has to be conscious.

I hold out my hand towards her, and as I make a magic circle, I think about it one more time.

Should I really take her life?

“…”

The magic circle reacts to my magic energy and faintly shines. I think about Ririi’s tearful face, and the answer becomes obvious.

“…Hum…”

I didn’t notice her getting close to my back, because strangely enough, I was actually looking for a reason to kill someone.

“Can you please spare Miss Ladimerie? I offer my life in place of hers.”