CH 55

“Daddy wake up!!”

“Ririi…?”

I’m woken up suddenly by yelling. I open my eyes, and my vision is filled by Ririi’s adorable smile. I think about this all the time, but being woken up by one’s daughter is one of the happiest ways to be woken up in this world. And I am one of those happy people…

“…!?”

The hardness of the floor makes me come to my senses.

I’m lying awkwardly on the floor, not a bed. And I wasn’t sleeping, I was rendered unconscious after an embarrassing defeat to that hat maker. Looking at Ririi’s face more closely, I see she’s not smiling, and there are clear traces under her eyes that she’s been crying.

“Are you hurt!?”

I quickly sit up and hug her, and feel her tremble in my arms.

“Uu… Sniff… Daddy…”

“Sorry… I’m sorry, Ririi…”

An intense feeling of remorse pushes its way into my heart.

Miss Esmeralda told me it was my fault Ririi couldn’t bring out magic energy. And what did I decide back when she finally did it and I held her?

That I would never make my daughter cry ever again. Didn’t I promise that?

“Sniff… Daddy… Are you all right?”

Ririi asks as she looks at my face, with hers mushy from crying.

“…I am. Thanks Ririi.”

Is all I say, because my voice is trembling.

I’m so pathetic, I almost cry. I’m so frustrated.

…I’m sure Ririi is feeling anxious, but she’s holding it back to be worried about me instead. She’s trying hard not to tremble and act like nothing’s wrong with her so she doesn’t worry me.

What kind of parent does this to his daughter? I think back, but I can’t remember ever feeling that way about my father.

Why do I have to make Ririi, my dear daughter, make a face like this?

My molars scream as I bite down hard. I just feel like doing something to myself, but this is no time to do something as useless as self-harm. Even a failure of a father like me knows that.

“…”

I look up and see Ladimerie standing in this now destroyed store, with a look of surprise plastered on her face. She’s facing this way, but I can’t tell if she’s looking at us.

I get up while checking my own body. It doesn’t look like I’ve suffered much damage, in no small part thanks to the barrier I managed to put up. Ladimerie’s magic energy is pretty good, but I still feel embarrassed about being knocked out like that.

Her magic circle is like one I saw someone use in the country of elves, and that took away my attention for a moment. It was enough for me to be too late to respond to her magic, because I thought for sure there wasn’t anyone else like her.

“…Ririi, can you wait just a little bit?”

Ririi’s holding on to my leg, looking up at me with a worried expression. I look at her and nod, and she reluctantly lets go and wipes her tears.

This time, I’m not going to betray her trust.

Fathers are beings that absolutely can’t lose in front of their daughters.

◆

“…I won’t accept it… A human raising an elf…”

Ladimerie is looking at me with vacant eyes. It looks like she applied some sort of special protection on that door, and can’t get over the shock of it being broken, because she doesn’t react to me approaching her.

Looking at the disastrous scene on this side of the door makes me wonder just what magic Ririi used. I know the power lying dormant inside her, but I still can’t believe my eyes.

“I don’t need you to accept it. I decided to become Ririi’s father.”

I can feel Ririi behind me, probably watching me.

The person I need to protect. I want to protect.

That thought makes me stronger.

“D-don’t come near me!”

I’m only a few meters away from her, when Ladimerie activates a magic circle while yelling. It really does have that pattern.

It caught me off guard before, but still, my training wasn’t soft enough that just any magic can knock me out. The barrier I put up was simple, but it was still a barrier, and that magic was strong enough to get through it and blow me away. Her origins probably played a big part in her being able to do that.

Why is an elf carrying the pattern that only royalty in the country of elves inherit, living in Anheim as a hat maker? Normally I’d be curious, but right now I don’t care.

The deep red magic circle takes in her magic energy and shines. Her magic energy really is something, and so is that magic circle that can hold it.

I wonder how many people in the empire and Zenith can beat her? Of the top of my mind, only Horo. The aura around her and her instantaneous movements eloquently express how strong she is. She stands at the top even in Zenith.

“I won’t accept it I won’t accept it I won’t accept it! The same humans that hurt my sister… I will never accept you!!”

The magic circle shines even brighter.

What appears is a sharp flame spear, like a representation of her emotions.

This spear of hate rushes straight towards me as it cuts through the air. The situation could be very bad, considering how close I am.

If I needed to dodge, that is.

“Eh…?”

The spear Ladimerie shot out with all her might vanishes into smoke the moment it touches me. She lets out a sound, like she can’t believe it.

It’s a technique called Annihilation, that cancels magic energy by using magic energy of the same quality and amount on a different phase. You need a high understanding of magic to use it.

You also need to think quickly to use it in battle. I still can’t fully understand someone’s magic the first time I see it, but I’ve already been hit with Ladimerie’s magic once. I have enough experience with it to analyze it.

Meaning…

“Your attacks won’t reach me anymore. You failed by not killing me the first time.”

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