Please Do Not Abandon the Adopted Heroine

Chapter 14 – The Young Lady Who Has Lost Her Way

“hahahaha, there’s never a day that goes smoothly. I thought I could finish the day neatly like a smith, but no.”

The Director added, facing me and Freya, who had abruptly shown up.

“You two didn’t come to have small talk this late at night, right……”

“Let’s just speak to the point.”

I cut off his words with a grim expression.

“The sixth royal sword and the second daughter of Clorend family have kidnapped my student and headed to the snow field.”

The Director’s facial expression turned stiff. It was a look of total inability to comprehend what I was saying.

Having no mood to repeat the same thing twice, I closed my mouth.

He stared blankly at me and Freya with a dumbfounded expression, and finally opened his mouth to let out a light groan,

“………Oh…What a situation.”

Then he exhaled a short sigh.

Silence prevailed. His furrowed brows aired his inner turmoil. Finally, he swept over his lined face with a deep sigh.

“Whew…! Is that really true?”

“Regretful if you thought it was a joke.”

“…Ha. I warned them both…but oh dear, growing old isn’t easy.”

“As a warning? As a school director, or as the owner of the 4th Holy Sword?”

“Both. The warrior of the 6th Holy Sword is incredibly stubborn. They would not heed the words of their seniors, there’s no luck with these juniors even at this age.”

“Stubbornness can sometimes be endearing.”

“…Can we appreciate the rashness of a boy who knows not the value of his own life?”

“He should not have crossed the line.”

I replied solemnly. He pursed his lips in bitterness.

“So, what’s your plan now? It seems you’ve come to inform me about the actions you’re about to take.”

“Did you think otherwise?”

“I’m grateful for the notification even so. It might not be of much help now.”

The director inquired with a forced smile.

“What about the 6th Holy Sword?”

“We have to kill him.”

“And Rebecca will be with him.”

“We’ll have to kill her as well.”

“There’s a major problem. What if the Clorand family intervenes?”

“We would have a few more bodies, very tiresome. What are you so curious about? Just clean up your own mess.”

“…………. Sigh!”

The director sighed deeply. He continually sipped on his brandy as if his throat was parched.

Staring at him, Freya furrowed her brows.

“Why such a reaction? You were the one who put Cecilia with Eugene.”

“So, Professor Freya knew.”

“…Are you referring to the student Cecilia? I only heard about it from Eugene a few years ago.”

“That’s right… Professor Freya, you surely must have known.”

Freya silently responded by brushing her hand through her slipping hair.

“I don’t know how you knew about Cecilia, but you could have prevented this if you knew about the inner workings of the 6th Holy Sword Party in advance. Unless, of course… all of this was for testing me…”

“No, no, you’re misunderstanding. My intention of attaching that child to you was not to test you. In fact, it was the opposite. I hoped that the long relationship would naturally connect you with this place in a beautiful way, not as a restraint. Have you forgotten when I first called you to this school? I would like you not to forget the promise made with the heroes of the Holy Sword, including me.”

“…Is that so?”

Regardless, it was not a story of great interest at the moment.

I shrugged my shoulders and turned my back.

“Freya, I have to go first. … Undine and Ignis must have gone to the snow field. Please stay at the school.”

Without waiting for a reply, I closed the door.

A faint sigh spreading from behind the door was probably not a delusion.

***

My head hurts.

Throbbing along my blood vessels. My stiff neck and shoulders add to the headache.

“Uh… Um…”

Only upon opening my eyes slightly, could I realize that I was sprawled out somewhere.

The sky turning dark and the moon rising at the end of it, with a white landscape leading up to the horizon.

Pieces of ashes flying in the dry wind seep into my lungs.

Air dry as dust is the only thing rustling, but the unique fresh scent of the snow field is vividly replaying in my memory.

It’s a snowfield. This place is a snow field.

Just the solid fact that it is a snow field was enough to wake me up.

“Well, it looks like you’re finally awake. Everyone, please prepare for casting.”

A lucid voice rings in my ear. Rebecca’s voice. The moments just before losing consciousness flicker and flash.

“Hm…? Has Cecilia finally woken up?”

“… Champion. It’s all well and good to seek Cecilia, but please keep your distance for now. This is the heart of the magic circle. If it gets disturbed, all our hard-built magic could collapse.”

“But, Rebecca…”

“We can lift the hypnotism on Cecilia shortly, Champion. For the sake of the Clorand family’s magic users here, please bear with it.”

“I understand. I will.”

The Champion’s footfalls recede. In their place, the familiar sound of shoes grows closer.

Even amongst snowfield equipment, Rebecca’s shoes are a luxury item, made with the Clorand family’s power. There was no mistaking their unique, fluttering sound, whispering as they brushed off ash.

I had been tightly closing my eyes, but it didn’t take long for a sharp whisper to intrude on my ears.

“How stupid. Do you think I’ll play along and pretend that I don’t know what you’re doing?”

I curled up and, with no other choice, opened my eyes.

Rebecca’s deep smile emerges from between her blond locks, tinged with a faint brown.

I muster up the courage with difficulty. Even speaking to her was a kind of adventure for me.

“… Rebecca… Where exactly are we?”

“… You surprised me. Are you truly this dimwitted? With an animal-like countenance, has your intelligence regressed to the level of an ant? Can you not even smell anymore, let alone see? If it’s not necessary, shall I scoop them out for you?”

“………….”

“Why do you think I brought you all the way here?”

I slowly exhaled my hurried breath.

This place was a snowfield. A snowfield swarming with only monsters.

The ground had glimpses of enormous magic circles. For whom and what are these circles drawn?

By coincidence, I spotted people of unknown names methodically planning something not far off.

On the cloaks they wore, the Clorand family’s emblem is engraved.

It was the moment my guess was close to certain.

“Did the… Champion…approval…cough, cough! Approve of this?”

“Are you threatening me? That’s really funny. I’m sorry, but you’re currently under the control of spiritual magic. You’re doing all of this now to create an excuse for purifying it. Even if you were to die by a slight mistake, that dull warrior wouldn’t suspect a thing. That human is that kind of person.”

My heart started pounding as if it would explode.

I didn’t hear anything else. That intense word of wanting to kill me brought back the nightmare of that day when I fell off the cliff.

“Why…? I… I haven’t done anything… I’ve done everything Rebecca asked me to do up until now. I…”

“Ah. You were curious about that?”

Rebecca’s mouth curled up as if mocking me.

“That’s right, you were a very obedient pet. When I told you to sit, you sat. When I told you to stand, you stood like a pet.”

“……….”

“Still, if you’re a beast, act like a beast. If you’re a pet, behave like a pet. It seems like your parents never taught you not to touch things that belong to your owner.”

Rebecca said quietly as if sneering.

Continuing in a whisper.

“The hero… the sixth holy sword is mine.”

That was a very empty statement for me.

I lost my words to say and remained speechless.

……… Just that.

…………….. Was it just because of that?

Because of a hero, just one hero from this world, was that why I had to go through this kind of situation?

“I haven’t done anything! Really! I haven’t even said a word to the hero, and I haven’t touched a single hair like Rebecca said…!”

“hahahahaha! You’re really funny! Saying something like that after coming all the way here?”

Cold sweat flowed from my whole body.

“There must be no reason for not knowing why I pushed you into the hero party in your hometown, right? I thought that if you interacted with the hero and bore his child or something, well, your tribe’s life would also flourish. It seems that your thought process is at the level of beasts. Since you thought that couldn’t happen, you attached yourself to that professor, right?”

“What… What…!”

“Even if I’ve protected you until now, I can’t guarantee it in the future. Especially while you’re being exiled to such a low-level school. The most important thing is that the hero has started showing interest in you.”

“Rebecca, please, trust me…! I have no interest in the hero!”

“I can’t allow it. The hero… the holy sword is mine. No one, absolutely no one, can take it away.”

There was a strong anger in her firm tone.

“So, this is my final request. Just die, Cecilia. You’ve annoyed me too much. You understand, right? At least the gist of what I’m saying.”

And madness was festooned in her eyes.

Rebecca looked as if she was done with everything and then, ignoring me, she swiftly turned around.

From the start, she had no interest in what I had to say. She yelled at her distant companions.

“Now! Everyone imbue your powers!”

She was going to kill me. I was sure. Just like she had done at the cliff. Perhaps even in a more certain way.

Oh, I didn’t want to die like this.

I could see Rebecca’s back. It didn’t seem like the hero would help me. I hadn’t ever relied on him before.

I held my breath. It was the only way to escape from here.

Raising my hand, it was almost instinctual.

Chapter Bom. Number 27.

Spirit magic. The dawn sky.

I mechanically complete casting according to the optimal formula.

Omitting the spirit incantation could diminish power due to residual energy loss, but for me it was my most familiar signature fantasy, so it wasn’t a big issue.

…Whoosh!

There was a moment when the flame ball engulfed Rebecca.

One cannot hesitate till the last moment.

I clasped my trembling hand in time.

The heat, which was concentrated in the fireball, exploded instantly.

The bright red flame burst with a short noise and at the same time, the wizards of the Chlorland family swallowed their screams.

Before the hero could grasp the situation, the moment he dived into the fireball.

The ash piled on the icy grounds heatedly filled the surroundings, creating a curtain that blocked all vision.

And even before the ash could settle, unbelievably, Rebecca’s figure emerged from the smoke.

Perhaps her right arm was a little singed.

The little flame that had clung to the ends of her hair dispersed silently along with a hot burnt smell.

A light burn marking from her arm to her face.

As for me, I couldn’t even ascertain where or how she got hurt.

The only thing certain was,

Her face was contorted to an extent she had never seen before.

“…You… damn beast, you f*cking brute!”