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Chapter 190: The Flash of a Hero
…And just as we were having some fun, Sword showed up.
“Indra! Your up to somethin’ ‘gain, right!? Your the one behind the broken windows, aren’t you!?”
Tsk. He got wind of it too quickly. Now he’s already here, huh…?
“…I haven’t tortured anyone so far. Rather, I was looking forward to some fun time from now on.”
“””Eh?”””
I heard several people gasp, but I was just talking to myself, so please don’t pay any attention to it.
“You’re wrong. This here is the 『Damsel Scarlet vs. Primrose and her goons』 stage. I’ve been just defending Damsel Scarlet.”
“””””Eh?”””””
This time even more people grunted at my reply, but that’s my take on this!
Because of my remark, Sword suddenly came to a halt.
“……Primrose?”
“Yeah. She was apparently trying to push the responsibility for herself tripping on her own two feet on someone else again. This time she chose Damsel Scarlet as her target. One of her goons, the son of the Knight Leader, fielded a fake witness after constructing some false accusations, and on top of that, tried to get rough with Damsel Scarlet, so I burned his hand. And since I caused skin and muscles to melt together while he was gripping his hand, he probably won’t be able to ever open his hand again, let alone hold a sword.”
Everyone was startled. And the musclehead also got startled by that, staring at his own hand.
“My hand…my haaaannnd!”
“Shut it. Where did all of your earlier haughtiness go? Didn’t you loudly bark until Sword came around? But, leaving that aside, apologize to Damsel Scarlet. You were also told to do so by your beloved Primrose, weren’t you?”
…While I was talking, Sword walked on stage.
“Instructor Sword!”
My little sister looked at Sword with teary eyes for some reason, but…does Sword also enter the category of useless bums? Well, I guess he does pick up malice right away and gets all depressed over it. And there’s also him being a drinker, I suppose.
As I was worrying about this, Sword came to a halt right in front of Primrose.
“…So your Primrose?”
“Yes! Thanks for always looking after my big brother! …I longed for the opportunity to have a good long chat with you. Did my brother cause you any troubles? Back at home, my brother often put me on the spot with his carelessness and got regularly scolded by our Father because of it.”
Hey!? What’s with those fabricated memories? It’s true that your father yelled at me, but I never acted carelessly and I didn’t put you on the spot either. The only one blundering was you, and the only one causing trouble was you as well.
“――Yeah, I know,” Sword laughed in a scary way while staring at Primrose. “I met Indra when she was seven years old. I’m also aware ’bout the circumstances at your home. Even though Indra should have been the noble daughter of an earl, she was runnin’ ’round with an appearance that made me mistake her for a poor brat back when I saw her for the first time. She wore the tattered work clothes of a commoner that didn’t match her size at all, and her hair had been trimmed down like that of a boy. …I hear you were the one who cut her hair?”
“Eh? …Yes, indeed! Ehehe, it’s embarrassing since I wasn’t good at it…”
For some reason, Primrose started to bashfully fidget around.
“So, who cut your hair?”
“Me? My father called a barber to the mansion and had him cut my hair!”
*freeze*
Due to her words, most of those present apparently grasped how I was treated at the earl house. But I wonder why? Most look frightened as if asking, “How gutsy of them to have treated this guy like that!!” It must be my imagination.
＊
“So, Young Lady Primrose Springcoat, you lived a life of no need, wearin’ pretty dresses and havin’ your hair done by professional barbers, always bein’ pampered by your father. But your elder sister, Indra Springcoat, did special trainin’ in the backyard, wearin’ shabby rags and havin’ her hair messily cut short by her little sister. Everythin’ she had owned was stolen by her father, who came back to the mansion after her mother died, and an extremely harsh life was forced on her. So extreme in fact, that she obtained her current strength after single-mindedly trainin’ herself with the goal of leavin’ her home as fast as possible.
…You see, I know all about it since I had been there back then. I’m fully aware of your and your father’s treatment of Indra!!”
……I got startled. Sword was seriously angry.
And right now he was gathering magic elements in a density comparable to me…no, going beyond me. He’s even stealing some of my Mr. Fluff.
Primrose, and even the prince and his underling froze due to Sword’s serious mode, cowering in front of him. All those around us also held their breath while paralyzed.
＊
“…Yeah, I was finally able to meet you, Primrose Springcoat. I cannot help but find it strange n’ a shame that Indra didn’t kill you n’ your father with her own hands, but luckily I vowed that I’d take care of it in her place. I’d planned to get rid of you when leavin’ this place, but fortunately I ran into you right now n’ here. Well, I guess it’s just a matter of your life havin’ been shortened a bit. ――Bye bye.”
Sword drew his sword and slashed it.
――I blocked it with a single stroke of my wooden sword.
“……Indra……” Sword groaned while scowling at me with a gleam in his eyes.
“Calm down, Sword. Why are you getting so heated anyway?”
…Sword’s serious blow was terrifying. My wooden sword would have been shattered if I didn’t get quite serious myself…
――Bah, the wall in the back has been cut by the aftermath! Sword, you went way too far!
＊
“…..Hey, tell me!! Why are you forgivin’ this wench!!”
To make matters worse, he shouted at me.
“It’s because I was able to meet you,” I answered while looking straight into his eyes.
“……Meet me?”
I nodded, “I was able to meet you. That was a miracle which would have never taken place if I had lived normally with my father not being such scum and this girl over here not having entered my life. Even me having obtained all this knowledge probably stemmed from me being on the verge of death after having been unable to procure anyone’s affection. If not for that, all the knowledge and memories would have likely been too straining and expansive to recall. All of that was a necessary miracle for me to reach this place now and here. I’m happy right now, and that’s because I was able to meet you. It might have been fine to live my life as a normal, noble lady, but living the life of a caged bird is nothing for me, I think. So, it’s good that it happened as it did.”
Sword’s anger faded and his magic elements dispersed.
“If you don’t regret having met me and me having become your partner, and if you don’t think that it’d have been better for me to remain a noble daughter of Earl Springcoat, then please stop being so obsessed about this. I’m glad that I became your partner.”
“……gh.”
Sword drew his sword back and sheathed it.