Chapter 175
Chapter 175
The One Who Rages (2)
I immediately entered the third memory. This time, it wasn’t the Ulbushis mansion. It was a dim alley.
I looked around. Judging by the mansion visible in the distance, this seemed to be Ulbushis Territory. First, I climbed onto the wall.
“Hmm.”
Perhaps because it was late at night, there was nothing in sight. At the mouth of the alley, I spotted a light that didn’t belong in the darkness.
“What are you doing.”
“Eek!”
Canis, who had been doing something, jumped at the sudden voice. Thanks to that, the magic she had been attempting vanished.
“Wh-Who are you.”
“Would you know if I told you?”
“……Huh?”
Startled, Canis narrowed her eyes and asked who I was. I snorted and answered.
As though my answer had been unexpected, Canis looked utterly dumbfounded.
“I-I might know!”
“Davide.”
“…….”
“See. You don’t.”
Canis seemed at a loss for words. The way her lips immediately jutted out showed just how dissatisfied she was. I chuckled and settled down across from her.
“So who are you?”
“What were you doing?”
“……Is he a foreigner or something. We can’t even communicate.”
Canis answered sharply. I snickered. She was so full of rebelliousness that it seemed she had hit puberty.
“I asked what you were doing here?”
“……Practicing magic.”
Canis answered curtly. Her attitude looked bad, but strangely, she didn’t seem wary of me.
“Aren’t you scared?”
“What? Ah, of this place? It’s fine. This is our territory anyway.”
“No. I mean me.”
“Ah…….”
Only then did Canis shut her mouth. Her lips settled into a straight line. It seemed she had finally realized that something was strange.
I surveyed the surroundings. Canis was the only presence I could sense. There wasn’t a single person guarding her.
“It’s dangerous to be alone.”
“……Mister, you look like the most dangerous one here.”
“That’s true too.”
Canis stared intently at me with subdued eyes. Then she turned away and began practicing magic again.
The Canis at the academy could summon crystals with a single gesture. She could freely increase their size and even adjust their density.
But the young Canis couldn’t. She had to put everything she had into forming even a crystal the size of a fingernail.
“Why are you here, Mister?”
“Who knows.”
I gently closed my eyes and gave Canis a half-hearted answer. Judging by the circumstances, this memory seemed to be from when Canis first killed someone.
Who would Canis end up killing? Why had Canis killed that person? I had a rough idea.
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
“……No.”
Canis’s eyes were starting to blaze now. I had asked just in case. This definitely seemed to be before Canis had killed someone.
Canis glared at me as though she wanted to kill me for constantly breaking her concentration.
“At this rate, you might kill me?”
“Hmph.”
When I teased her, Canis finally turned her head away. She was pricklier than I had expected. Should I call it refreshing?
“Going well?”
“Yes. I’m an Ulbushis, after all.”
There was no more conversation after that. Canis devoted herself to her magic with a determined expression. There had to be a reason she worked that hard at such a young age.
I stared blankly at the light flickering around Canis’s hand. I didn’t particularly like magic, but seeing something like that made me think it was beautiful.
“Ah! I did it.”
Canis said that and held up her hand. A vivid blue crystal floated above her palm.
It was the size of an adult man’s palm, highly transparent, smooth, and looked expensive.
“Hmm. Not bad.”
“Right?”
As though she had never been prickly with me, Canis immediately broke into a broad smile. Seeing her beam at someone she had just met, she must have been extremely happy.
“Did Father send you?”
“That’s right.”
Only then did Canis take an interest in who I was. When she asked whether the Head of the Ulbushis Family had sent me, I readily nodded.
Technically speaking, it was true that the Head of the Ulbushis Family outside had sent me. Of course, my own will had played a bigger part.
“What did Father say?”
“He’s worried about you.”
“Hmph.”
Canis snorted at my answer. She looked unbelievably insolent, but I didn’t feel much about it. There seemed to be discord between the Head of the Ulbushis Family and Canis.
“What are you dissatisfied with now.”
“……What do you mean.”
“I’m asking what you’re dissatisfied with about the Head of the Ulbushis Family.”
At my blunt words, Canis’s gaze turned toward me. Her eyes filled entirely with my figure.
“……Did Father really send you?”
“He did. I’m just not his subordinate.”
She frowned as though dissatisfied with my answer, but Canis didn’t say anything else.
“Father won’t teach me magic.”
And then she told me her story. The Head of the Ulbushis Family said crystal magic was dangerous and that she should learn it when she was older, while Canis insisted that she could do it now.
It was boring enough to make me yawn. I had quite a hard time keeping my mouth shut.
“What do you think, Mister?”
“About what.”
Canis’s question made me flinch. I had only been half-listening, so I had no idea what she was asking.
“……You weren’t listening!”
“Right.”
“You’re driving me crazy.”
Canis let out a deep sigh at my candid answer. I had discovered how fun it was to tease Canis.
“Your father is wise. He may be harsh and cold, but there’s no denying that he’s intelligent.”
“…….”
“If a father like that tells you not to do something, then at the very least, it won’t be something that harms you. Because he loves you more than you think.”
“……Hmph.”
Canis looked away awkwardly at my words. Canis was definitely much better when she was young.
Just what kind of incident did she have to go through to become the Canis of the present day? It was simply unfortunate.
“……I can do it.”
“Yeah. You probably can.”
Canis said it with her lips jutting out. I nodded. Canis, who had inherited the Family Head’s abilities, would succeed eventually.
Beyond that, she would become an incredible magician. In more ways than one.
“I really will succeed.”
“You already did.”
I pointed at the crystal floating above Canis’s hand. But Canis shook her head.
“Something much bigger.”
She poured magic into it. Even at such a young age, the amount of magic she possessed was extraordinary. As expected of a Homunculus created with painstaking care.
I thought she was being greedy. I thought she wasn’t satisfied despite already possessing what ordinary people could only wish for.
“Huh?”
Then something unexpected happened. The crystal began growing like wildfire. I lunged toward the bewildered Canis.
Just how many times had something like this happened now? The instant I scooped her up and rolled away, the crystal expanded with tremendous force.
Should I have let Canis die? The thought crossed my mind. After all, there was no memory more powerful than death.
“Are you okay.”
But I didn’t. This was something that had actually happened, and Canis attended the academy normally. That meant she would survive even without me.
“Ah. Huh?”
Canis looked dazed. An enormous amount of blood poured over her face—or, more precisely, her body.
I slowly lowered my head. I saw a crystal protruding through the right side of my chest.
“Ahh! A-Are you okay?”
She panicked. She tried to pull the crystal from my chest, but stopped as though something had occurred to her.
“……Why.”
You’re acting like it’s nothing. That was what it sounded like. I pushed the protruding crystal farther through. Then I pulled the crystal out through my back.
I looked behind me. It was a flower of crystal. A massive, merciless flower that had bloomed and completely swallowed the surrounding area.
“So this was it.”
Only then did I fully understand what the Head of the Ulbushis Family had said. She hadn’t killed just one person.
I had thought perhaps Canis had killed another assassin who appeared, but that wasn’t it. Several civilians had been caught in Canis’s magic and died.
Hearing my voice, Canis pressed hard against my chest as she looked around.
“N-No.”
Her once-straightforward eyes trembled. She stared at the devastation she had created. This was an isolated place, but the crystal flower was far too large.
There was no doubt that civilians had been caught in it. The moment that thought occurred to her, Canis felt a guilt she couldn’t hide.
“Hey. Get a hold of yourself.”
Eventually, Canis began gasping, her eyes on the verge of rolling back. I lightly tapped her cheeks without hurting her.
“Haa. Haa.”
Perhaps my efforts had worked, because Canis, whose consciousness had seemed ready to snap at any moment, came back to her senses. Her eyes were filled with tears.
“P-People.”
“It’s too late.”
“Ugh.”
At my firm words, Canis finally burst into tears. Canis crying was certainly a rare sight, but the circumstances weren’t good.
The Circle of Reincarnation appeared and began healing my wounds. It was fortunate that I had stored up plenty of life force. Without it, I would have nearly died several times over.
“Ah. M-Mister. A-Are you okay?”
She asked in a trembling voice. I gave a vague nod. My back had been horribly torn apart after being caught in the growing crystal.
There was no need to go out of my way to show her the wound.
“Get a hold of yourself.”
“…….”
“You did this. You have to face it and bear it.”
Canis gritted her teeth at my words. Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to leave my embrace.
Her first kills had been civilians. It was certainly enough to leave her in shock. I stroked Canis’s back.
“Ughhh.”
She gritted her teeth and rose to her feet. Her face was a mess, soaked with tears. But the steps she took firmly forward were worth watching.
I watched Canis slowly walk away from my embrace. At the same time, the world began to shatter.
“Good grief. It’s not like this is Princess Maker.”
I chuckled and closed my eyes.
---
“Something must have happened.”
“Yes. Well.”
The Head of the Ulbushis Family greeted me after I emerged from Anger. He seemed surprised when he saw me covered in blood.
I’m going through quite a lot because of your daughter. I answered with that implication. An apologetic look appeared on the Head of the Ulbushis Family’s face.
“……I’ll accommodate you as much as possible.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you need treatment?”
At the mention of treatment, I shook my head. I had already been completely healed. It was thanks to the Circle of Reincarnation.
Instead, I removed my upper garment, which had grown heavy from soaking up blood.
“…….”
Feeling a gaze on my upper body, I turned my head. The Head of the Ulbushis Family’s expression grew grave.
“My wounds are fine.”
“Your wounds certainly look fine. But that isn’t why I’m concerned.”
“Ah. Is that so.”
He seemed to have noticed something. I replied with a chuckle and handed my clothes to the approaching attendant.
Their reactions were quite different from the previous day. The members of the Ulbushis household had realized that the role I had taken on was extremely important.
After all, I was saving their young mistress. Since there was no one more suitable than me, it was only natural that they felt grateful toward me.
“What about your meal?”
“I’ll eat separately in my room. I’m tired, so I’d like to rest.”
“You’ve worked hard. I’ll be sure to repay this favor.”
A fierce smile spread across my face at the Head of the Ulbushis Family’s words. That was exactly what I had come here to receive.
Now, the Ulbushis Family would become Anaye’s most fervent followers.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Of course.”
With that, I headed toward the room assigned to me.