Chapter 40
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Chapter 40
"Die!"
As I turned toward the direction the dagger had come from, the man I thought I'd incapacitated with magic was charging at me with a blade drawn.
Rachel unfurled a magical circle of incomparable magnitude compared to moments before.
My heart sank as I watched Rachel prepare to act.
In Rachel's eyes fixed upon the man gleamed a chilling murderous intent.
'No....'
I understood that if I didn't let him kill this man, both Rachel and I could be in danger.
But....
'I can't let Rachel commit murder.'
Of course, I knew that for Rachel to truly protect himself, he would eventually need to steel himself for such an act.
I just wished it didn't have to be now.
I didn't want him to glimpse that darkness beyond, not at such a tender age, not without any mental preparation whatsoever.
"Rachel, don't―"
It was the moment I reached out to stop him.
"Gasp...."
The man charging with his blade suddenly pitched forward.
From behind the falling man emerged a tall figure in robes.
Blood dripped steadily from the blade he held in his hand.
And beside him lay the bodies of the men the Dark Spirit had swallowed and spat out moments before.
Since the man had eliminated the Kidnappers, he was likely an ally, but I couldn't lower my guard against someone of unknown identity.
Rachel stepped in front of me and immediately redirected his magical target.
Ready to counterattack instantly if the man shifted his stance to assault us.
The man sheathed his blade and approached us without hesitation.
"Stop. Take one more step and―"
"...Father?"
As I spoke, the man revealed himself beneath the moonlight.
Brilliant silver hair and amber eyes that were unmistakably mine.
Only then did Rachel realize this man was my father.
"Father, how did you...."
Upon hearing his daughter's voice, Curtis Rohan closed the distance in a single stride and pulled me into his embrace.
"I'm sorry, Vivian."
"Father, I'm fine―"
"I'm sorry for being late. I'm so sorry for leaving you alone...."
The large hands stroking the back of my head and my back were trembling. His voice, repeating apologies over and over, wavered as well.
Feeling this, tears finally welled up in my wide eyes.
I had nearly lost this warm embrace forever, lost the person in this world who loved me most.
Only now, held in Curtis Rohan's arms, did that reality truly sink in.
"Wahhh, Father!"
Rachel, watching me weep in my father's embrace and Curtis Rohan trembling with the fear of nearly losing his daughter, bit down hard on his lower lip.
This was something Vivian and Dias didn't need to endure.
If only they hadn't become entangled with me.
Rachel, who had been watching the two of them, turned to walk back the way he had come.
It felt as though he shouldn't remain here any longer, at Vivian's side.
But before he could take more than a few steps, the tension drained from him, and his barely sustained consciousness began to blur.
"Rachel!"
Seeing Rachel collapse, Vivian broke free from Dias's embrace and rushed toward him.
"Rachel, what's wrong...? Come on, stay with me!"
Tears welled up anew in the child's eyes, which had only just stopped flowing.
Dias approached and swiftly assessed Rachel's condition.
'...He's exhausted his strength by overextending himself with magic.'
He gently patted the small back of the weeping Vivian as he spoke.
"Vivian, it's alright. He's simply tired from using too much magic."
"Really...?"
"Yes. So let's return to the Villa quickly and let him rest."
Only then did Vivian cease her tears and nod her head.
The Dark Spirit, hanging quietly from the child's shoulder, caught his eye, but he decided to ask about it later.
For now, Rachel was more important to Vivian than anything else.
The knights of Edelbayne appeared just as Dias was lifting Rachel into his arms.
"Young lady!"
The knights, startled upon seeing Dias holding Rachel, were reassured when they spotted Vivian beside him.
The unfamiliar man who bore an uncanny resemblance to Vivian was unmistakably her father.
Yet questions remained about how he came to be here and how an ordinary person had managed to arrive safely.
"Princess Isella appears to be quite exhausted. While there are no external injuries, she has expended a considerable amount of mana at once, so it would be best to allow her proper rest."
Dias conveyed this counsel and handed Rachel over to them.
Then he lifted Vivian into his arms.
"My daughter has also been quite frightened, so I'll return home first to settle her."
The knights, observing the scattered ruffians and taking in the sight of Vivian, Rachel, and Dias, grasped the situation and belatedly moved to stop Dias.
"Count Hessen, while I understand your desire to rest, returning home now could be dangerous."
"That's right. Since the masterminds and motives of the kidnappers haven't been clearly established, there may be remaining accomplices."
"Wouldn't you consider returning to the Villa with us? Of course, I understand if you find us untrustworthy for failing to properly protect your daughter..."
"No. I appreciate the offer, but I prefer my home."
Dias flatly rejected the concerned knights' proposal.
'Actually, I want to go to the Villa too...'
Vivian wanted to return to the Villa out of concern for Rachel, but she held back for Dias's sake.
Her father, stripped of his glasses and usual smile, appeared utterly exhausted.
Then, suddenly remembering something, she asked the knights.
"Um, Sir Knight. What about Nanny? What happened to Nanny?"
"Nanny was found unconscious at one corner of the Town Square. She's probably resting at the Villa now. Are you worried?"
It seemed the knights still didn't know that Nanny had been involved in this incident.
The Nanny had deceived them by playing the victim.
'I was the only one who witnessed that the Kidnappers and you were accomplices, so she must have thought I would certainly die here.'
If that were the case, I should have caught her before she realized I was alive and fled.
"No. It seems the Nanny is involved in this incident."
"The Nanny?"
"When the Kidnappers approached Princess Isella in the Town Square, I saw the Nanny turn away as if she hadn't noticed."
The expressions of the knights listening to Vivian's account hardened in disbelief.
But they had no choice but to believe her.
Vivian was the child who had nearly died in this incident, and such a child could not possibly lie.
The Knight Captain issued an order to his subordinate beside him.
"Return to the Villa first and secure the accomplice's personal information."
"I acknowledge the order."
Having resolved even the matter of the accomplice, Vivian embraced Dias's neck as if to signal they could leave now.
As Dias held Vivian and turned toward the edge of the Forest, one of the knights who had offered protection moments earlier stopped them.
"Um, little one. Now that we've found the accomplice, the mastermind will be revealed soon enough, but still... your home seems dangerous..."
But before Vivian and Dias could refuse, it was the Knight Captain who stepped in to stop him.
"I apologize for the trouble. Please take care on your way."
Dias gave them a light bow and turned to leave.
The knight who had watched the departing father and daughter with worried eyes asked the Knight Captain.
"Are you certain it's alright to let them go like this?"
"It will be fine."
The Knight Captain's voice as he answered was filled with certainty.
He watched Dias's receding figure with uncertain eyes, recalling the corpses he had seen on the way here.
Corpses that had fallen to the same swordsmanship.
'All at the hands of a single person.'
And that person was a master who had wielded a blade for a very long time.
The vital points had been struck cleanly and precisely, without a single wasted wound.
This was not the swordplay of a mercenary who fought with brute force, but the technique of a knight trained over long years in the art of combat.
And at the end of the path they had traveled, the person who carried that blade was...
The Knight Captain watched quietly until that prime suspect disappeared from view, then turned around.
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