Chapter 35
Gulp!
Daphne mustered all the strength she had.
Haaaaah!
And with a heave, she lifted the wooden log weighted down with heavy stones.
How many was this now?
She didn’t know. She had lost count.
Gulp!
One more time.
Ugh…
Her arms and legs trembling uncontrollably, Daphne barely managed to hold up the weighted log. She glanced down at the artifact recording the time.
[0:29:58]
Just two more seconds.
[0:29:59]
Just one more second…!
[0:30:00]
Crash!
Daphne immediately threw down the log and began gasping for air, her breaths rough and ragged.
“I almost died.”
Huff, puff. Wiping the sweat streaming down her forehead, Daphne collapsed flat on her back.
It was the fourth day since she had boldly declared she would receive instruction from Heros.
Judging it too dangerous for Daphne to go out unprotected during such a tumultuous time, Heros had her train in the mansion’s training ground.
While push-ups could be done anywhere, running up and down a hill carrying stones was impossible given the location.
So, Heros had made another suggestion.
- Repeat standing up and sitting down while holding the weighted log.
- One hour should suffice.
Madman. Absolute madman…!
Daphne cursed Heros once more in her mind, then opened one of the stockpiled stamina recovery potions and chugged it down.
The only reason she hadn’t collapsed until now was thanks to these potions.
The person who made this potion is a genius. The best.
“Huh? Daphne!”
Into Daphne’s field of vision, as she tried to catch her breath and let the potion take effect, popped a head of hair as red as an unripe tomato. It was Arius.
“Are you still training? Weren’t you here since this morning? Did you take a break and come back?”
“No.”
Daphne wiggled her index finger.
“I have been training since morning, I have. Finished my push-ups, and now I was repeating this log lifting, I was.”
“How many hours straight?!”
“That’s right. Impressive, isn’t it? My tenacity! My determination! Even His Grumpiness would be impressed if he saw this!”
“Father went to the Imperial Palace. He probably won’t be back today.”
“Tch. I’ve gone and given credit to the wrong person.”
Pouting, Daphne spun her arms, which were already starting to ache, and prepared for her next exercise.
Arius plopped down beside Daphne, pulled one knee to his chest, rested his cheek on it, and stared at her.
“By any chance, Daphne. Are you doing this because Father is forcing you?”
“Who looks easy enough to boss around like that, huh?”
“…That’s absolutely not true. Hmm. Absolutely not.”
Arius quickly admitted his mistaken assumption.
“But why are you working so hard? Wouldn’t it be okay to just take it easy?”
Seeing Daphne’s face momentarily stiffen, Arius frantically waved his hands.
“No, no! I didn’t mean it in a bad way! It’s because your body is weak! Of course, it seems better than before, but it’s still weak! I just thought maybe you should rest more! Not a bad meaning! Absolutely not!”
Watching Arius ramble defensively, Daphne let out a soft chuckle.
“Okay. Thank you for worrying about me.”
“Wha, what?”
Arius shouted with a bright red face.
“No, I’m not?! I’m not worried or anything?! Who, who would worry about you?! I don’t even think about someone like you!”
His face now as tomato-red as his hair, Arius buried his face in his hands and sharply turned his head away.
Feeling the gentle breeze, Daphne smiled again.
“You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I said I’m not worried!”
“I can do anything to become stronger. So, I can handle this training too.”
“……”
Arius peeked at Daphne through his fingers.
When he first heard Daphne was using the training ground, he thought it was just another one of her fleeting whims.
But he was wrong. He was the one who had been acting on whims. Daphne had been steadfast and persistent, coming to the training ground every day for physical training.
And while doing so, she had even repelled bandits and stopped a terrorist attack, becoming a hero.
On top of that, she was now receiving instruction from Father.
It seemed like everything was going Daphne’s way, and he felt a bit jealous inwardly, but all these situations were thanks to Daphne’s efforts. Daphne had made it happen.
‘To become strong…’
Arius lowered the hands covering his face and took a deep breath.
I won’t lose either. When it comes to effort, I’m not one to lose to anyone!
“I want to do it too!”
Arius’s eyes sparkled as he picked up the log Daphne had thrown down.
“Let’s train together! Together!”
“If I tell you not to, will you listen?”
“Then I’ll just cry and cling to you until you let me join!”
“Fine.”
“Okay!”
Arius placed the log on his shoulders and hefted the stones, intending to repeat the exact same motion Daphne had just done. Daphne was about to start her push-ups beside him.
“Ah, but there’s something I’m curious about.”
“Make it short and quick.”
“Why are you so obsessed with getting stronger? What are you going to do once you’re strong? Do you have a goal?”
Daphne, who had placed her small palms on the ground, widened her eyes and looked at Arius.
“I!”
Then she raised her voice.
“Will become strong and punch His Grumpiness right in the face!”
“…Your goal, after learning from Father, is to hit Father?”
“That’s exactly it!”
“……”
Is that a goal you can state so proudly?
Arius became deeply confused.
Inside the carriage heading to the Imperial Palace.
Heros, resting his chin on his hand, stared at Pauline within the video communication sphere.
[It’s not just our Grand Duchy that has been summoned by His Majesty the Emperor. The House of Marquis Pinch is also included.]
The House of Marquis Pinch.
The family that suffered the most damage in the recent dark magic terror.
Gathering the heads of multiple families at once meant there was a clear purpose.
In this situation, there was only one purpose that could be deduced.
Heros, who had been tapping the window frame with his finger, spoke.
“So, he plans to form a dark mage subjugation squad.”
[Yes. Most likely.]
Pauline also nodded as if she had anticipated it.
[Calling you, Master, is probably to include your vassal families, though I’m not certain.]
“It doesn’t matter. I agreed to follow orders, so I just need to obey.”
[I thought you would say that.]
Pauline inside the sphere chuckled softly and pushed up her monocle.
[I’ll look into things on my end for now. Ah, and the young master is training with the Lady.]
“Arius is?”
[Yes.]
Pauline was observing Daphne on behalf of Heros, who had left the mansion.
[Um… Is it alright to leave the two of them together? The young master isn’t exactly a weak little child anymore either.]
“Daphne is worse.”
[Ah. I suppose so.]
Pauline quickly agreed.
[But, my. The Lady is truly something else. She’s been repeating the same training non-stop since morning.]
“I told her to do so, so she will.”
[But… is that really alright?]
Pauline looked at Heros with a face full of worry.
[Stamina recovery potions aren’t a cure-all, you know. If she doesn’t pace herself, who knows when the Lady might collapse again?]
“If she collapses, we just let her collapse and recover her, don’t we?”
[But.]
“She has exceptional will, too exceptional to be left alone just because her body is weak.”
Pauline inside the sphere opened her mouth, then closed it. His deeply furrowed brows indicated he was quite upset.
[It’s not that she’s weak; her days are numbered.]
“……”
The dark mage’s curse, the Black Butterfly Disease.
They say when the fourth pair of wings turn black, she will die. They say that death cannot be stopped by any means.
A faint twitch ran under Heros’s eye.
“Then, is it right to lock her away in the annex like before, preventing her from flying?”
[I’m worried she might hold onto hope that she can still fly, even though two wings are already broken.]
“Hoping is her freedom, and despairing is her freedom. Nothing can stop either.”
[…You are especially harsh only on the Lady.]
Pauline let out a resigned sigh and shrugged her shoulders.
[But, well. You do pay more attention to her than before. Previously, you wouldn’t even go near her, saying it felt strangely uncomfortable just to look at her.]
Heros, unconsciously touching the scar on his face, frowned and snapped.
“If you have nothing to say but nonsense, I’ll end the communication.”
[Ah! Wait a moment! Just one question! One!]
Pauline, who had rushed closer to the sphere, spoke urgently.
[Do you truly think the Lady can accomplish something? Is that why you’re training her?]
Do I think Daphne can accomplish something?
- I need to meet my dark mage! Tell me where the dark mage is!
- Because I have to defeat them!
Daphne’s wish is revenge against the dark mage. It was that determination for revenge that moved Heros.
“I don’t know.”
Whether that revenge will succeed or fail, no one knows.
“Because I don’t know, we are simply trying.”
That’s why they are attempting it.
Because too much would be lost if they did nothing just because the outcome was uncertain.
“Perhaps the attempt itself is what matters.”
Muttering to himself, Heros shifted his gaze from the communication sphere to outside the window. He watched a single bird flying across the clear sky.
‘It’s only natural for a bird to fly, I suppose.’
No matter how much one tries to protect it by locking it in a cage.
