Ch.1919. One Step (1)

# Magician, Nella Tarr.

At the edge of the 5th Circle, a magician on the verge of reaching the 6th Circle, hailed as a genius at the Magic Tower. She had talent in destruction magic, and while Aryen and Ilroy handled the big monsters on the battlefield, Nella took on the role of burning away the smaller magical beasts. George was essentially a human wall, and Isis provided cover from behind, healing injured members.

…Looking at it this way, they seemed like a perfectly balanced party with DPS, tank, and healer, but the reality was somewhat different. Aryen and Ilroy were at odds, Isis occasionally took Aryen’s side, and Nella, clinging to the Hero’s position, bullied Isis and Aryen. George simply maintained his silence.

And then, not long after Ilroy and Isis left the party in the original story.

“Why are you so slow at catching up? Weren’t you prepared when you cut ties with Aryen? Aren’t you the Hero?”

“At this rate, we’ll die before we even see the Calamity’s feet.”

“Why didn’t you keep the Saint with us? Did you kick Aryen out of the party?”

“Why can’t you fight even half as well as Aryen?”

Nella no longer showed any trace of her fawning behavior toward the Hero, becoming just another party member full of complaints. She frequently caused friction with Ilroy. Right before setting out to tackle the fifth Calamity, Nella Tarr unilaterally announced her departure from the party to Ilroy and left to cling to Aryen, who had defeated the fourth Calamity.

And, coincidentally, the Hero’s party was annihilated during the battle against the fifth Calamity.

A member with no reason to keep if Aryen and Isis weren’t in the party. Someone who caused more harm than good. I had no luxury to consider her rehabilitation. Developing Daphne alone was already more than enough for me.

“If she sees Daphne, Nella will probably fly into a rage. With her personality, it will be a severe blow to her pride.”

Two days ago, George, who had arrived early at work, said this to me. I shrugged and peacefully continued drinking my tea. After several days of rain, the weather was gradually clearing.

“What are you going to do?”

“It would be right to respect her decision. If Nella chooses to stay with the Hero’s party of her own will, she could create good synergy with Daphne, but if she decides not to…”

I looked at George with a knowing expression. George sighed deeply.

“After Aryen and Isis, it’s Nella next?”

“You seem to think Nella won’t stay in the party.”

“You know she’s not the type to say she’ll stay. And you, Ilroy, aren’t the type to try to keep someone like her either.”

I know, right. I nodded. This guy is so confident. George shot me that look, but soon shook his head. Since the last hearing, George’s gaze toward me had lost its irritation, leaving only a kind of suspicion.

“Do you really think Daphne can fill Nella’s place?”

Despite her terrible personality, she was a magician who had nearly reached the 6th Circle at a young age, the minimum qualification for a tower master. Though not as much as Aryen and Isis, it wouldn’t have been easy to find a replacement for Nella. Except for me, of course.

“Yeah, I believe in her. I recruited her prepared to take responsibility until the end.”

And because I firmly believed that Daphne would someday completely break through that wall and shine brightly, I could give George a resolute answer. George narrowed his brow and folded his arms. It was his habit whenever he became suspicious.

“…Well. We’ll see soon enough.”

And as time passed, back to the present.

“Today was when Nella was supposed to return.”

George muttered. Even amid this, the magician’s footsteps continued to approach without interruption. I rested my chin on my hand and nodded.

Thump, thump.

The footsteps finally reached the door, and Nella burst in with enough force to break it, entering the office. I could hear poor Daphne taking small steps backward.

BANG-!!

Nella Tarr stood there, keeping the door wide open, staring into the office. First, she looked at me with hateful eyes, then at Daphne with an even more burning gaze, and finally at George before opening her mouth.

“Explain what’s going on here.”

An imperious voice. George closed his eyes as if he had a headache. Daphne hesitated and looked at me, and I calmly gave Nella my answer.

“We recruited a magician. Her name is Daphne Ephiphone. Currently at the 4th Circle…”

Nella interrupted me and shouted again.

“So! Why did you bring in another magician? I’m right here, a magician with my eyes wide open, staying in your party, so for what reason!”

“The more talented people in a party, the better. We needed to fill the void left by Aryen and Isis.”

“Why is a magician filling the void of those bastards? Shouldn’t you have picked up some swordsman wandering around? You brought in this kind of woman and call it talent?”

Nella exhaled deeply.

“Get rid of her now. I’ll let it slide this once. Or if that bitch has any sense, she’ll walk out of here herself.”

Nella growled as she slowly approached Daphne.

“That’s not possible.”

“What?”

Nella stopped in her tracks and let out a scornful laugh. Her eyes narrowed sharply as she looked back and forth between Daphne and me. Then she glared at me again with an expression mixed with various emotions. Disappointment, anger, irritation, and jealousy.

“So you’ve fallen for her. Hero. When did you stop lusting after the Saint and find a new woman? What are you doing, acting like a dog in heat?”

I was indifferent. Such provocations or insults that stir up temper, I’d already heard them when I first fell into this world, and hundreds of times since then, so now they were as meaningless as greetings.

But Daphne, who had been quietly listening to this conversation behind me, apparently felt differently.

“What did you just say?”

A chilling voice I’d never heard before came from behind my shoulder.

==

The day after Ilroy fully recovered from his injury.

The recovery was much faster than expected. Daphne worried that Ilroy might be pushing himself too hard, but Ilroy answered by grabbing the Holy Sword with his right arm and swinging it around to show her. The bandages no longer wrapped around his arm. Remembering her own handwriting that had been on those bandages, Daphne followed Ilroy back to the outskirts of the royal capital.

“From today, let’s focus more on taking down magical beasts with your destruction magic rather than using protection magic on me.”

Ilroy said as he stretched. He looked confident as usual, with a newfound composure. Of course, even then, Daphne couldn’t produce proper destruction magic when facing magical beasts. Although her fear of people had diminished, memories of the past still held her captive.

“Let’s go a bit deeper. Our pace has clearly gotten faster than before.”

Ilroy said, nudging with his foot the Hornhog that had been reduced to pieces of meat scattered on the ground. Ilroy had clearly become stronger. Rather than saying his strength or mana had increased, he had developed a certain composure in battle. As if he’d learned to distribute his power efficiently, he didn’t seem to exert much effort even after taking down several Hornhogs.

“You’ve gotten stronger.”

Ilroy opened his eyes wide at Daphne’s words, then shrugged.

“It’s more that I’ve become calmer.”

Ilroy continued walking nonchalantly. Despite all his help, Daphne’s progress was slow. No, nonexistent. But Ilroy showed no intention of rushing her; he simply continued to take her into the forest consistently.

“…Um, Ilroy.”

“Yes?”

At Daphne’s call, Ilroy paused and turned to look at her. The forest path, where rain had recently stopped, was muddy. The forest, darker and damper today, loomed like Ilroy’s eye color—quiet and still, a deep blue-green. Daphne, unable to resist a momentary impulse, blurted out:

“Do you like me?”

There had been countless adventurers who saw Daphne as a flower. Of course, a flower in a thornbush. She would not be plucked, and no one even tried to reach into the thornbush. They spat and left, saying there were too many thorns. They arbitrarily judged Daphne, held expectations, and then blamed her before disappearing.

“…What?”

Facing Ilroy’s changing expression, Daphne immediately wished she could take back her words. Ilroy first furrowed his brows as if perplexed, and then that confusion gradually transformed into slight disappointment. No, that’s not it. Daphne’s eyes began to tremble frantically.

No.

That wasn’t a question meant to make you feel that way.

She had been foolish. She knew. She knew that Ilroy was completely different from others. Daphne knew that when Ilroy talked to her, his gaze never wandered elsewhere but focused solely on her eyes. And she knew that what those eyes held was trust and encouragement. This was impatience. Impatience and self-reproach, a desire to escape from a wall that wouldn’t break.

“Daphne… I…”

“I’m sorry.”

Daphne immediately apologized and lowered her head. Please don’t be disappointed. Don’t let those eyes that have been looking at me change. Don’t hate me.

The silence was frightening and heavy. She could hear the sound of water droplets falling from leaves, the sound of heavy droplets flowing down and making the grass blades bow and rise.

“Let’s sit down for a while.”

Ilroy said with a sigh. Daphne nodded and dried the wet rock with magic. Ilroy didn’t speak for a long time. Daphne glanced at him nervously, then lowered her head again. How much time had passed? When the impact of Daphne’s question had been buried under the sound of rain, Ilroy suddenly spoke again.

“Feeling calmer now?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“…”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you angry?”

“A little?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not angry now.”

“…”

“Still, it was a foolish question.”

“…I know.”

When Daphne raised her head again, Ilroy was wearing his familiar bitter smile. He seemed to have already let go of any resentment.

“Well, it might look that way to others.”

“It doesn’t.”

Ilroy, who had been laughing at Daphne’s uncertain response, stood up and dusted off his pants.

“I don’t care what others say anyway.”

Ilroy extended his hand toward Daphne. It was a gesture of reconciliation and forgiveness, and also a kind gesture that seemed to say “don’t worry.” Daphne took his hand and stood up. The hesitation was gone, leaving only one emotion, one thought.

I’ll stay. By the side of this person who believes in me.

Daphne’s grip tightened as she held Ilroy’s hand.

.

.

“So you’ve fallen for her. Hero. When did you stop lusting after the Saint and find a new woman? What are you doing, acting like a dog in heat?”

And now, there was someone here treating the person who believed in me like a dog in heat. There was someone here telling me to get rid of my place. I could tolerate being insulted myself, but I could no longer tolerate someone insulting the person who believed in me. I shouldn’t tolerate it.

My heart is pounding. My mana is stirring. It’s telling me to step forward.

With an emotion she had never felt before, Daphne glared at Nella and opened her mouth.

“What did you just say?”