“Serephi, I can help you, you know.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“Maribelle, right? I have Lou and your lapis lazuli. Don’t worry.”
“Father...”
“He’s coming. Don’t come out yet, Miyu!” Lou grew to full size with a flash and stepped in front of me and my father.
Once the ice dust above the meteorite had melted into the atmosphere, a white robe appeared.
“Huh? Serephione? You’ve grown! And you’re looking prettier than ever...”
“We can skip the formalities, thank you very much.”
It was Schneider, whose curly blond hair had grown down to his back. I glared at him. “So, I know you hate me, but why did you target my grandmother? How can you be so totally unfair having lived in Japan before? It really pissed me off.”
“Hey, you’re slipping back into how we used to talk. I guess you were probably a high schooler too, huh? Anyway, I’m not sure where you got that idea. You’re my favorite person in this world, and the person I trust the most. I mean, just think about it. You’re the only person who can understand me, and I’m the only person who can understand why you do what you do. The one I hate is that monster over there.”
He looked over at the former queen with disgust and spat at her. Next to her, Gardner and Cecil stood trembling as the king looked on with blank eyes. They didn’t run? I guess Gardner stayed for his father...
“Is it you who did that to the king?”
“No, I dunno who did. I didn’t even meet him until when I was seven, after my brother was born. Poor guy.”
Appraisal! He shone blue.
Schneider Judore (First Prince of the Kingdom of Judore, S-rank adventurer, master of Terlnight)
Status: Good
Skills: All magic, plant manipulation, reincarnated, world-weary, avenger
He was telling the truth. And “all magic” probably meant he could create new types of magic like I could, as well as use advanced healing magic.
“Couldn’t you do something for him?”
“I don’t have any obligations to a dad who didn’t protect my mother, do I? And anyway, it’s too late for him...his brain is beyond recovery.” Schneider slumped his shoulders.
“Didn’t you consider the location before you sent a meteorite to the capital? Now the fire is going to spread and hurt civilians, including the ones who sympathize with you.”
“Yeah, that was messier than I thought it would be. Not the best foothold here. We don’t have much time to chat. I was planning to end this whole thing today, but do you want to turn over a new leaf?”
“I told you, I’m pissed. You think I’ll just let you get away?”
“You can believe me or not, but I’m not the one who attacked the lord of Trundle. I guess I have to be grateful to her for being a catalyst, though. Let’s relocate for now. But first...” Schneider took a red rose from his chest and kissed it.
Asu soared up into the sky out of caution, Lou growled in front of me, and Miyu, who was in my chest pocket, created a wall of water that was invisible to me and my father. The rose, though, grew a vine, fell to the ground, then shot not at us, but directly at the unconscious Queen Clarissa.
“M-Mother!” Gardner rushed over to his mother to cut off the vine, but he wasn’t fast enough. The green vine, covered in sharp thorns, instantly wrapped itself around Clarissa.
“Aaaaagh!”
Blood began to seep onto the floor as she screamed in the throes of death. Her voice then faded, leaving only the sound of the building crumbling.
“See, Serephione? Now I have blood on my own hands.”
“...”
I braced myself. My father gently supported my waist with a severe look on his face.
The queen had undoubtedly taken the lives of tens, no, hundreds of people. She was a villain who had tried to poison the king’s consort, as well as targeted the king himself. But, still...I couldn’t take the scene before me as justified.
“Waaaah!” Gardner wailed. “Brother, why? Why?! I’ve respected you so much ever since I was little!”
Schneider looked at Gardner perplexedly and tilted his head. “Gardner, if I recall correctly, don’t you like vegetables and white fish?”
“Wh-Why are you bringing that up now?!” Gardner cried.
“Well, the reason I know your favorite foods is because my mother and I always got your leftover scraps to eat. And they were days-old, nearly spoiled scraps too. They said that was all pigs like us deserved. They even added a little poison as a treat sometimes.”
“Huh...?”
“That was what I lived on until I managed to sneak past the surveillance on me and go out hunting for myself. Maybe I should be thanking you for leaving me so much of your food after you chewed on it to your heart’s content.”
“No...”
“You say you respected me? Is that how you treat someone you respect? Feed them your scraps?”
“That’s not...”
“Do you know my mother’s name? The woman who was the king’s consort before?”
“I...”
“You don’t even know the name of the woman your mother killed? Was she too lowly for you to care about her name? Ignorance is a sin, Gardner. You made me this way.”
“No...”
Gardner went motionless, still clutching the vine that had stolen his mother in an attempt to pull it off.
Schneider’s all-important mother had passed away. There was nothing holding him back anymore.
Schneider looked over at us. “I notice you have another gentle magic presence with you, apart from the holy beasts of the west and south. So the rumor that the saint contracted with one is true... You’re so lucky to have the companions that you do, Serephione. Especially the emperor.”
“You think it’s luck?” Elise’s cold voice resonated through the sound of the building crumbling. “I’ve never known anyone who’s worked as hard day in and day out as Serephione. That doesn’t just mean in training. She works day and night to make the people around her happy. It’s only natural that the holy beasts would love her.”
“Are you saying I haven’t worked hard enough?”
“You said you trust Serephione. If you do, then you should have relied on her and asked her for help, not tried to drag her into a war and attack her! You should have been more serious in dealing with others. That’s something you should have been able to do after growing and gaining strength.”
Does she think I would have been able to help him? She overestimates me. Schneider may not have tragic memories from the book like I do, but he’s experienced suffering in this life that nobody else could sympathize with. And I was doing my best to run away from him.
“Don’t let it get to you, Sere.” Lou rubbed his head against my leg. “It wasn’t your fault that that situation went bad. You were just a little girl.”
“You have a beautiful heart, saint,” Schneider chuckled. “Oh, gentle saint, would you nominate me as the successor to the throne?”
“No. You’ve killed too many of the people you were meant to protect as king.”
“I think most people here have killed many.”
Elise’s face twisted.
“Well, I suppose he’s still king as long as he’s not dead. I’ll take care of him as a spoil of war.”
“Ah!”
The rose vine cut itself off from the queen and immediately wrapped itself around the king. Then the vine shrunk all at once and pulled him toward Schneider like a balloon, leaving the king floating in the air on his back.
“Father!” Gardner screamed.
Trying my best to appear calm, I asked with as little feeling as possible. “Honestly...it doesn’t bother me at all for you to take the king hostage. You’ve had your revenge on the queen, and now the king. Isn’t it safe to say that your vengeance has been carried out now?”
“Of course not! You think this was enough to satisfy my grudge? Do you know how much my mother suffered before she died? Besides, don’t you have to retaliate for what happened to Trundle? So yeah, I thought I’d spice things up a little. What better way to do that than a literal war around the throne? I’m sure regardless of what you say, you don’t want to see your poor king chopped up, gentle Serephione, beloved of the holy beasts, master of the righteous Trundle!”
“I’m not interested in the Judoran throne! Wait!”
“Oh, I’ll wait, Serephione. Our next date can be...your birthday next year. Let’s have it at the magic academy stadium. I’ll bring Maribelle, of course. Don’t do anything imprudent before then. You don’t know what’ll happen to this guy otherwise. Wait patiently.”
A divine light flashed, and I saw Terl’s silhouette. When the light disappeared, Schneider and the king had vanished along with it.
“Schneider!” I yelled. “Asu! Chase him!”
“We shouldn’t chase him too far,” Asu replied. “There were no thorns on that rose vine. The king is unharmed. And we’re not perfectly prepared for battle. Schneider retreated, so let’s take some time and prepare ourselves.”
“Terl...” Lou was still looking at the spot where Terl had been.
“Damn it!” He got away! I kicked the floor.
“Waaaaah!” Gardner broke down in tears, having just lost both of his parents all at once.
“I’ll take it from here as someone who works for the castle, Serephione,” my father told me. “You should go back for now. I’ll talk to you later. It’s a shame that we don’t have time to relax together.”