CH 512

Liana sat hunched on the beach, her head bowed and silent.

Rumble -

"It doesn't seem like a coincidence, does it?"

"...No, it doesn't."

Dark storm clouds had gathered in the sky that had been crystal clear just moments ago, and thunder echoed from within the clouds.

If there was anyone who could kill Liana with words in Edina right now, it would be me.

It's all your fault.

At that single sentence, Liana stared vacantly at the sand on the beach with empty eyes.

I didn't mean it.

Liana wanted to find out for herself if her extreme emotional state could really cause weather changes, and I had said that without meaning it.

But that figure from behind...

She had been thinking that all along, hadn't she?

It's even more painful to see.

After staring at the sand for a while, Liana lifted her head to gaze at the gloomy sky above.

There was no denying the effects.

How much time had passed?

Liana, with her lifeless eyes, rose and approached me.

"A little more."

"...Huh?"

"Say something more to me."

No.

I understand the sentiment, but!

"...You two are really twisted."

Lucinil looked at Liana and me with lifeless eyes, a disgusted expression on her face.

"...Will it be okay?"

If she asked for it, I could do it, but wouldn't it end up completely trampling on Liana's already half-dead spirit?

It feels like she could crumble with just a touch.

"It's not okay. That's why I want you to say more."

She wanted me to beat her harder, knowing the effects.

Is this really okay?

Wouldn't Liana end up strangling herself with her own hands?

Even though her mental state was already unstable, tearing her apart with words for the sake of ability awakening... I had already done it, but was doing it more really alright?

"...Fine."

In the end, Liana had requested it herself.

In the end, hearing some kind of reproach from me might be a process for Liana to feel relieved.

Rather than not hearing anything, perhaps her heart could be at ease after being scolded.

I don't know for sure, but Liana might need my criticism apart from her ability awakening.

Because she had been scolded, she had paid the price.

Though she might not think that way, there was a small chance that Liana's heart could be eased by it.

I sat Liana down on the sandy beach and took a seat next to her.

And then, I spoke of the terrible things that had happened.

"To be honest, it's not all your fault."

Once I decided to do it, I wouldn't hold back.

"Because of various events, it ended up like this, didn't it?"

"..."

"Well, many people died... Olivia suffered a lot, too. I almost suffocated as well..."

"..."

"In the end, I had to kill Ellen, or it became a situation where I had to kill her..."

"..."

"So, for the past few days, I've been purposely having nightmares where Ellen kills me, to make it easier to be killed later."

"..."

"So, all these things..."

"..."

"It's not like it's all your fault that it turned out this way, right?"

Liana's lips twisted.

In the end, Liana's body trembled as she burst into tears.

"I'm... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Reinhardt..."

Even though she knew I was doing this on purpose, Liana had no choice but to be tormented by my words.

"I... I... I messed up... All of it, everything... It's because of me..."

I placed my hand on the trembling, sobbing Liana's shoulder, whispering in her ear.

"You said it's all your fault, but you never said you did anything right, did you?"

Never.

"Then why are you crying?"

"Heu... Euh... Euk! Euk...! Euhuk!"

There was no intention to take it lightly.

Soon, the rain began to fall.

-Rumble

The rain quickly turned into a storm.

------

-Swoosh!

A fierce storm raged, accompanied by violent winds.

The waves leaped ferociously, and within the dark clouds, lightning danced incessantly, scattering sharp thunder on the ground.

It was clear by now.

Liana had indeed awakened the ability to control the weather.

Crying brings rain.

I stood motionless on the beach, facing the raging sea and the pouring downpour.

"You know that Valier doesn't really think that way."

"Ah, I know... I know... I know. I know, but... Euk... Euhuk..."

"Sigh. You should be gentler. She's completely broken."

Lucinil took Liana under a palm tree and tried to console her somehow, patting her back.

I was aware that I had spoken too harshly.

But perhaps Liana needed that.

Liana had never paid the price for her mistakes. And she couldn't take responsibility for anything that happened because of her mistakes.

So, even a little bit.

Even if it's scolding or criticism.

Wouldn't it be better to hear such words in order to pay some kind of price?

It wouldn't be comforting, but wouldn't there be some meaning to being criticized by me, the person involved?

The storm raged, and lightning roiled.

The rough sound of the wind on my skin, and the raindrops hitting my face with it, were fierce.

Weather changes.

Is this it?

Is this all?

I sit under a palm tree and stand in front of Liana, who is being comforted by Lucinil.

"Archdemon. Stop..."

Seeing my expression, Lucinil shook her head as if she read some determination.

But I have no intention of stopping.

"Liana."

"...Yes."

Liana lifts her head with difficulty and looks at me.

"Stand up."

"Stop it. You've checked, right? What are you trying to do more here? Huh?"

As if telling her to stop, Lucinil held onto Liana's collar as she tried to stand up at my command and shook her head.

The ability to change the weather has been confirmed.

Liana's ability has indeed evolved.

Liana's expression, trying to hold back her tears, was miserable and pitiful.

"What can you do with this?"

"... "

"Draw out more."

I point to the seashore.

"What will change with this bit of rain and wind?"

Can you kill monsters with rain?

Can you kill monsters with wind?

Lightning was an original power.

"More."

"... "

"Show me something more useful."

"... "

"If you want to take responsibility for what you've done, you'll have to show me something more useful than this."

"... "

"Do you think this is enough?"

"...No."

Liana shakes her head with a pitiful expression.

I don't know whether this is her true intention or not.

Liana has awakened a new ability, and it's certainly not an ordinary one.

But Liana has found new usefulness within herself and has reported it to me.

Then, something more.

Something more substantial, more practical, and more useful.

Something more destructive.

There had to be something like that.

I had said things I didn't mean just to provoke Liana.

But not anymore.

"Show me. If it's not there, then bring it forth. Create a power that doesn't exist and reveal it."

I was sincere.

"If you're going to take responsibility for even a speck of what you've done, don't you need to show me something more? Am I wrong?"

"Valier! Are you serious?"

Unable to hold back any longer, Lucinil grabs my sleeve.

"What?"

"..."

Lucinil, who had met my gaze, froze and couldn't say anything else to me.

"Am I wrong? Answer me."

"...Yes. You're right."

One can't kill monsters with just a storm.

So something more, something larger.

Something more devastating.

"If you know, then do it."

Can one take responsibility for their sins?

I don't know.

But Liana and I had decided to do something while we were alive.

For that, we needed power.

If hope becomes power, then we must find hope.

If anger becomes power, then we must give ourselves to anger.

If despair becomes power.

Then we must consume despair.

Upon my fierce command, Liana stared blankly at the seashore with lifeless eyes.

I didn't know if my command had drawn forth her power or if her despair and depression had fueled it.

-Rumble!

From a distance, I could see a massive waterspout rising, sucking up seawater.

Lucinil stood with her mouth agape, staring at the disaster that went beyond the overwhelming weather phenomenon.

We didn't settle for just a storm. Digging deeper into that power, we discovered that there was something like this.

Power enough to cause a disaster beyond a storm.

Liana must be the ultimate supernatural.

This should be enough.

Though she'd need to become more familiar with this power to use it in real situations.

But then.

You know what?

"That... after all the nonsense so far, I know it's not the time to say this..."

"…Hmm?"

When I stopped commanding and my tone returned to normal, Liana seemed flustered.

No.

It's great that we somehow managed to bring out the ability.

-Rumble!

The rough storm caused by the giant waterspout could be felt on our skin.

"Can you... get rid of that?"

I hadn't thought about how to get rid of it, only how to bring it out.

Liana and I locked eyes.

"..."

"..."

It was obvious that I had no countermeasures, and Liana seemed to have none either.

No matter how uninhabited this island was.

What would happen if that tornado reached the populated areas?

In the end, our last card.

I had no choice but to turn to the great mage, Lucinil.

"Um, Lord. Can't you do something with magic?"

"…Do you think I'd know magic to dismantle a naturally occurring tornado? And even if I knew magic to summon a tornado, I couldn't create one of that scale even if I tried."

Lucinil was in the same boat, with no countermeasures.

We had no choice but to return to the basic discussion.

This was a weather phenomenon created in response to Liana's gloomy state of mind.

That meant if Liana's mental state recovered, not only the storm but also the waterspout would disappear.

"You know that everything I've said so far was just talk, right?"

"..."

At my words, Liana's face contorted, and she began to cry once again.

There it was.

The scene of her crying, unable to cry while being scolded by her parents, only to have the tears explode in sorrow when comforted.

"Ugh... uh-huh... sob!"

"Oh dear, go on, cry. I'm sorry."

As I started to vigorously pat Liana's back, the soaked Lucinil stared at me with a startled expression.

"Valier, you really... you're really a piece of trash."

"..."

Anyway, Lucinil and I did our best to comfort Liana.

Thankfully, her dragon-like outburst subsided quickly.

The torrential rain, however, continued to pour.

------

Since there was still quite a bit of time before our departure, Liana, Lucinil, and I were able to devote some more time to our training on the uninhabited island.

Of course, we didn't eat or sleep on the island. There was no need to do so since we were training with an Archmage capable of mass teleportation.

"You should go home and sleep tonight."

"...Home?"

"Go to where your mother is and sleep. Be back here by noon tomorrow."

I gave these instructions to Liana, who wore a gloomy expression. Her face remained dark, but she nodded reluctantly as if questioning the necessity of this.

"Go hold your mom's hand and sleep. Just because the power comes out when you're mentally down doesn't mean you always have to be miserable, right?"

"...Are you doing this on purpose?"

"How did you know?"

As I chuckled, Liana's face seemed on the verge of tears again.

Is she moved by the usual teasing?

"Fine, I'll go home and hold my mom's hand to sleep, even if I have to be sad and depressed. Damn it."

With a bitter smile, as if joking, Liana left for the castle.

"Ah, power that only comes out when you're sad. Being a supernatural is pretty complicated."

"Still, it's better than not having any power at all."

"...True."

Lucinil watched Liana's retreating figure with a pitiful gaze.

------

That night.

"Liana?"

"Yeah."

Since I hadn't called for Airi today, only Harriet and I were in the bedroom.

"Controlling weather phenomena... that's amazing."

Harriet, sitting on the bed, marveled while jotting down notes in her research journal.

She could even summon tornadoes.

But that wasn't the end of it; Liana's ability definitely had more potential.

Since she could make the sky cloudy, she should also be able to make it clear, make it snow, and even cause hail.

Going further, could she not cause natural disasters like earthquakes as well?

The extent of Liana's supernatural potential was uncertain.

Therefore, I wanted to focus on developing Liana's abilities before our departure.

"But Liana's power only manifests when she's feeling down?"

"Yeah, that's why I had to say harsh things to her, and it made me feel miserable as well."

"Harsh things?"

"You know... that incident this time..."

"Ah..."

Without going into details, Harriet seemed to understand what I meant and nodded her head with a weary expression.

It was hard for me to say such things, for Liana to hear them, and for Lucinil to witness the maddening scene.

We were all doing things we couldn't stand.

"It must have been tough... for both you and Liana."

The thought of having to do this again tomorrow was dreadful.

Harriet was repeatedly writing something in her research journal, pausing to contemplate, and then continuing to write.

"Um... But if you think about it, do we really have to do it that way?"

As if she came up with an idea, Harriet looked at me.

"Do we really have to... I mean, say such hurtful things?"

"Yeah, do we really have to do that?"

"Well, her power seems to emerge when she's depressed, so there was no other choice..."

"No, if being depressed is a condition, you don't have to... say things you don't even want to say."

"Then how do we make her feel depressed?"

The fact that we were seriously discussing how to make a friend feel depressed in itself was bizarre and dreadful.

"Wouldn't drugs be enough?"

"...What?"

What is she talking about?

"Wouldn't it be enough to use a drug that lowers mood? It's better than saying things that hurt... "

"But... wouldn't that be bad if we use drugs?"

Upon hearing the word "drug," I was initially shocked, making Harriet's words seem sinister.

"As long as there are no side effects."

"...Really?"

"A depressant, excluding addictive properties or such aspects. If we actually try to create it, it wouldn't be impossible."

Come to think of it, Christina was in charge of creating Moonshine, the essence of alchemy, but Harriet also played a role in the manufacturing of Power Cartridges and Moonshine.

That's why Harriet must have considerable knowledge of alchemy.

Harriet quickly wrote something in her research journal, tore out a page, and handed it to me.

"Show this to the Lord of Wednesday. She should roughly understand what it is. Mix it as written and give it to her."

"But... it's still a drug... Are you sure it's okay?"

"...Don't you trust me?"

"Well, that's not the issue..."

As soon as the word "drug" came up, I was scared, and Harriet looked at me with a sly gaze.

Would it be better to use a drug to create such a state instead of verbally assaulting her to immerse her in depression? Once the drug wears off, her mood should return to normal.

If there are no side effects, as Harriet says, what Liana needs might actually be something like this.

No.

But it's absurd to receive a prescription for a depressant, not an antidepressant.

Is this even right?

"All drugs are like this, but remember that long-term use is forbidden. Just keep that in mind."

After saying that, Harriet returned her gaze to her research journal.

It's not right to hurt her with words to bring out her power.

In the end, it only torments each other.

So, use drugs instead.

That was Harriet's prescription.