Chapter 69 – Reward

“Ellie! Are you hurt anywhere? Do you feel any pain? You didn’t inhale too much ‘Magi,’ did you? I heard you might have some aftereffects from the battle, are you okay now? Were you scared? Why are you so weak? Is it because you haven’t been exercising? Are the aftereffects bad?”

As if handling a fragile glass ornament that could break at any moment, my father carefully pulled me into a hug.

He fussed and checked me over from head to toe, unsure of what to do.

“You’ve lost weight again in that one month. Are you eating properly? Is the academy food not to your liking? I should send the chef from our estate to the academy. Is anyone at the academy bothering you? Is your bed uncomfortable? You might have nightmares. This is the first time you met a demon, after all. Our Ellie might develop trauma.”

From my father, I could smell the familiar scent of home. But I could also smell a mix of dust and sweat, as if he had rushed over in a hurry.

“Still, I’m glad. So glad…”

“Uhm…”

I didn’t think he’d worry this much.

It was a bit… overwhelming and…

My body was strangely tingly.

After listening to my father’s worries for a while, glancing at the broken door of the drawing room, and looking at Kerian who was smiling bitterly…

“…Oh, it’s been a while.”

I gently lifted my arms and hugged my father back.

My father’s body trembled slightly.

“I missed you, my daughter…”

“Uhm…”

It was a bit cringey, but…

Since he had rushed here without sleeping, I patted his back, which was as wide as the Empire, with my small hands.

“I, I missed you too.”

My father sniffled.

***

Thirty minutes later, my father’s emotions had calmed down.

The drawing room door was… somehow fixed.

My father, complaining about the door being too weak and that the kids could get hurt, bent the hinges, screwed in bolts, and straightened out the dented door with his bare hands.

Kerian and my father, and even those collateral members I’d seen before.

Everyone in Eustetia seems to be tall and large, but I don’t know why I’m so small.

But, well… It’s not a big deal.

When I reach the 7th tier, my body will transform into the ideal form in my mind.

My gender won’t change, but I’ll somehow resolve this ridiculously short height and small frame.

Will I end up looking like Arisa? She was the strongest and most ideal martial artist.

…Still, I’ll have to live in this body for around two to three years before I can reach the 7th tier.

Slurp slurp, I rolled the Kairiel candy in my mouth and glanced at my father sitting across from me.

He’d looked so pale and like someone about to die earlier, but now he had a bright smile on his face.

“Should Dad get you another drink?”

“Mmm. I’m fine. But were you also coming here straight from work without any sleep, Father? From that far…?”

“How can I sleep knowing that my daughter is in danger? Don’t worry though, this old man is perfectly fine.”

“…Okay.”

I nodded, though his long shadows under his eyes told a different story.

…Both Kerian and my father, it seems that they had some busy work at home?

“Is Mother doing well?”

“Yeah, she’s doing well. She was originally planning to come with me, but since I was away, she couldn’t leave her post. So I hope you won’t be upset about it. Your mother is very worried about you too.”

“Yes, I’m not upset. Rather, um…”

I almost mentioned that as the head of the family, my father should’ve stayed, but I decided to keep quiet.

After all, he hadn’t slept and rushed over from this morning. It wouldn’t be right to say such things to him now.

“I’m glad to hear she’s doing well.”

So, I just nodded and changed the topic.

“I heard about the Forbidden Archive.”

Despite the sudden change in topic, my father and Kerian nodded without any sign of surprise.

“You’re referring to the matter of a member of our family being allowed to go with you, right?”

“Yes.”

I looked at my father as I rolled the candy in my mouth.

He was still calm.

That composure even at my sudden question meant he had expected it. So, I asked.

“Is that… really okay?”

“What part are you referring to?”

“…It’s the Imperial Family. What if it causes any problems?”

A calm smile formed on my father’s face.

“As long as my Ellie is safe, nothing else matters to me.”

There was no pretense, no lies, no negative emotions, just genuine feelings.

Faced with that, I was speechless.

It was a very strange feeling.

I didn’t particularly like it, but on the other hand, I didn’t want to push it away either.

Sitting still made my body tingle, so I put another candy in my mouth. My cheeks became puffy from having two candies that didn’t melt easily.

“…It’s fine if I go in alone.”

“Don’t worry about it, Ellie.”

Whether I said anything or not, my father thumped his chest with a large fist, laughing.

“All my daughter needs to do is trust her dad.”

“…Okay. But… don’t push yourself too hard.”

My father smiled brightly, and I, chewing on the candy, made a decision that my past self wouldn’t have made.

“Uhm… there’s something I’ve been keeping a secret.”

I was going to tell him what I knew and had experienced.

Of course, as the vice-commander of the Nameless, he might already know most of it, but it’s better than keeping silent.

Family.

I didn’t want my family who cared about me to get hurt.

“Two days before the entrance ceremony, I had a fight with some Black Magicians.”

My father’s expression hardened, and Kerian’s gaze sharpened.

“Sarah didn’t say anything about that.”

“I asked her to keep it a secret. I didn’t want… you to worry. Sorry.”

My father pressed his lips tightly together, then tapped the table a few times with his large fingers, before cautiously asking.

“…Ellie. Did you fight them yourself?”

“Yes. Stella… well, there’s a friend I made during the entrance exams, and she was about to die. So I had no choice but to step in.”

“What about Sarah and Yurasia?”

“I told Sarah to stay in the dorm, and I sent Yurasia away. So, please don’t scold them. It was my choice.”

I wanted to personally investigate what kind of secrets the Verheigen family was hiding, and whether they were working with Black Magicians.

If Sarah and Yurasia had been with me, such an investigation wouldn’t have been possible. Although, Stella almost died before I even had a chance to start my interrogation.

Anyway, I was contemplating how to explain why I sent Sarah and Yurasia away when…

“…So what happened?”

My father only asked about the outcome.

“I killed one and the other escaped.”

For a moment, Kerian and my father’s breath caught.

The drawing room, once filled with warmth, was now covered with icy silence.

The sudden change in mood didn’t bother me. It was expected.

So, I continued as if nothing had happened.

I told them about how I took Stella to the church with Sarah’s help. How I went back to the scene to hand over the body after Stella was healed.

And about how a snake had eaten the body.

By the time I finished, both my father and Kerian had very stiff expressions.

I didn’t know if they were shocked that I killed someone, or if they thought that the incident was related to the labyrinth, or something I hadn’t even thought about.

But still, I spoke again.

“And… while I was fighting demons in the labyrinth, I heard information about something underground.”

But I decided to hide the source of the information.

The spirits and Pina were something I wanted to keep secret.

Four hundred years ago it might have been different, but as far as I know, spirits in this world are an extremely rare and important existence. So Pina, the beastkin king that can communicate with spirits, was bound to be even more important.

Leona knew this, that’s why she was hiding it.

Pina, too… she probably hid it because she didn’t know what would happen if it was exposed.

So, I thought it was better to hide them.

Even if they are family, I didn’t want to risk causing harm to Pina or even Leona.

“…Underground?”

My father still had a stiff expression, and Kerian looked slightly dazed, but asked me a question.

“Yes. Under the capital… I don’t know if it’s a sewer or something, but I heard murmurs about something being there.”

It was the information that Sparkle gave me.

Something ominous that I couldn’t do anything about in my current state was in the capital’s underground.

That’s why I told them so plainly.

I wasn’t sure if they would believe everything I said, but still… I wanted to reduce the risk of Kerian or someone else going there alone and dying.

At least they would be on guard.

“…Is that true?”

“Yes. I don’t know what it is that the Nameless are looking for, but I thought that if someone went to the underground, maybe they could find some kind of clue.”

And maybe…

The Black Magician who attacked Stella.

Might be related to the ‘snake.’

“So, Uncle, don’t go alone. And don’t send the members of Nameless alone either. You should prepare before you go.”

I still had more to say, but I paused.

Both my father’s face, which was gradually becoming more serious, and Kerian’s face, which seemed to be struggling with something complicated, told me that I should give them time to think.

After a brief moment, Kerian sighed heavily, shook his head, and looked at me.

No, he was looking behind me.

Who’s behind me?

“What will you do?”

I turned my head to follow his gaze.

There, wearing a pure black uniform and coat, wearing a pure white mask.

“Commander.”

The commander of the Nameless was standing behind me.