Kays Translations

Interlude Ifa, at the official residence of the Governor of ProtoAsta (2)

“Monster?”

I was about to say something, but stopped.

Because I knew what Rize was trying to say.

“Yes, you would know…… That boy has every spirit… keeping their distance…. from him. It is not that they do not gather because he has no magic power. They avoid him. It’s as if he’s wearing a miasma …….”

Rize continues in a hard voice.

“When I first saw you at the academy, I was surprised. But then I immediately noticed something different about the boy sitting next to you and froze. The spirits you were wearing were strangely distant from the boy, not even one near him. I had never seen anything like that before.”

The sound of something eerie being recalled mingles in her voice.

“I couldn’t help thinking, the demon king that once existed was surely such a person.”

“Sure, Seika-kun is a little different, but … but he’s a human being. Not a demon king, he’s not even a demon.”

“Not a demon, ……. Are you sure?”

Rize asks.

“What do you know about that boy?”

“Seika and I grew up together at the mansion. So I’ve known him since I was little.”

“Are the boy’s parents really Count Lamprog and his wife?”

“Oh ………… no, the count is his father, but …… his mother is a mistress.”

“Do you know his mother?”

“……No.”

“How can you be so sure that the woman wasn’t a demon? Is his father really the count in the first place?”

“……”

“You’re not much older than that boy. You won’t know what happened before you were old enough to remember. How can you say that he didn’t show any abnormality in his childhood? No…After you’ve learned something, what do you think? 　Is there nothing really abnormal about the boy?”

Ifa can’t answer.

If you think about it … Seika has been obviously abnormal for a long time.

It was not only that he could use magic despite his lack of magical power.

How could a small child live with such a white eye from his older brother, mother, and servants?

I wonder if it is possible for someone to learn on his own,  make headway without fear of monsters, and to even get himself accepted into a magic academy where he was not supposed to be able to go.

That mysterious magic that he learned in the library of the mansion is also an unusual thing.

Despite having been together since childhood, I know very little about Seika myself.

There is something seriously hidden.

I just have that feeling.

“……but”

Ifa says to shake off the doubt.

“Seika is a human being and a good person. I believe so.”

“To believe is to not think”

Rize said, as if to pour cold water on me.

“It’s no different from asking God for help. It’s the equivalent of closing your eyes and holding your hands together to get the desired result in a dice game.”

“……”

“I don’t know what that boy is or why the spirits avoid him, but he’s too different, to blindly trust his goodness. You have no reason to stay with him.”

“…..”

“Come to the palace, Ifa. You must stay away from that dangerous master.”

“……but……”

Then Rize said, as if suddenly realizing.

“You … maybe you’re misunderstanding?”

“eh……?”

“The Astirian palace is more than just a place where the king’s wives and mistresses live and paint a sordid love-hate picture.”

“What!, isn’t it?”

Rize holds her head.

“I’m afraid… It was from there. I thought that the affairs of our consort was well known in the empire.”

Then Rize says, as she has regained her composure.

“OK, I’ll show you.”

“Eh ?”

“It’s faster to look at it directly than to say it all. Tomorrow we shall go to Asta, the capital.”

“Well, okay…But I don’t have the permission to…”

“Is that boy telling you not to move from here?”

“It’s not like that, but ……”

“I guess it won’t be a problem, he won’t be back from the mountain for a few days anyway. The capital is close. If we leave tomorrow, we can be back before noon the day after tomorrow.”

“………”

“It’s not too late to refuse, but only after you’ve seen it for yourself.”

To be honest, I didn’t feel like it.

However, the words Seika had said to me two nights ago came back to me unexpectedly.

―――― Everyone has to go their own way eventually.

――――you’re about to become an adult.

Ifa was nodding when she noticed.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter