09 - Turned Over

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Chapter 09: Turned Over

You gotta be kidding me, right? Amelia-san.

This is insane.

What’s up with your “sound magic”?

It’s ridiculously strong.

The more you look at it, the more you understand it’s insanity.

And with the added bonus of invisibility.

To be clear, if I were told that Amelia-san is the most powerful magician in the world, I would believe it without a moment’s hesitation.

─── “Sound Arrow”.

I shuddered when I first saw it.

I knew I’d be finished in an instant if I were to be attacked with that thing.

I was deeply terrified by the fact that there was such terrifying magic in this world.

But at the same time, I was seething with anger.

Yet again, someone who can outperform me.

I was really fed up with it.

I needed to come up with a solution.

I was desperate to think of a countermeasure against such magic.

Fortunately, Amelia-san taught me the theoretical system of magic in great detail.

Frankly, that woman is crazy.

She’s been crazy from the beginning.

Because whenever she teaches me,

She is always breathing hard, while drooling out of the corner of her mouth, with a sick look in her eyes.

It was clearly the face of someone whose head was missing some important s***w.

But as for what she teaches, I trust her.

That’s how meaningful my time with Amelia-san was.

Well, I’m concerned that she uses too many onomatopoeic sounds when teaching, like “You do it like Guuh and it feels like shriririn♪”, but it’s still understandable.

Finally, to counter Amelia-san’s magic, I came up with the ” Blessing of Darkness.”

Despite the disadvantage that the amount of magic power to be generated is significantly lower when the person is unconscious, I still think I did a good job.

I really have a stupefying talent.

With just little effort I can see immediate results.

Well, even if I didn’t make any effort, most people wouldn’t be able to stand on my feet.

Everything that has happened till now proves that I am the “chosen one”.

And each time it happens, my self-esteem expands.

And yet… I’ve already met two people who outshine me.

Well… I’m really lucky.

But there is a wall there that cannot be crossed without effort.

And what else could be more fortunate for me?

I’m glad.

I’m really glad.

Now I’m one step closer.

It’s impossible to even look up to true heights.

But that’s the only place I can have peace.

I’m gonna smash everything that stands in my way.

It’s quite a bother, but gotta do it.

“Luke.”

My father called.

Well, right now I was in the middle of a party with a bunch of lying aristocrats.

It’s not good to get lost in thoughts like this.

“What is it, Father?”

“You got a girl you like?”

“… Excuse me?”

I really had no idea what he just said.

“I’m asking if you have a girl you like.”

“………”

I didn’t hear him wrong!

I mean, it was just that out of context.

What’s he asking me out of the blue with a reluctant look on his face!

“… No-one in particular.”

I answered quietly.

In fact, I have exchanged words with many people, both men and women, and not one of them was like that.

“Hmm. Okay.”

… Really, what’s wrong with him?

I don’t really understand him, even though he’s my father!

“There were many marriage proposals for you. But I turned them all down. Do you know why?”

“… No.”

“Luke, I want you to make a choice for yourself.”

I see.

I knew I had no fiancee.

But I didn’t know the reason why.

I thought that the nobility valued “connections” with those who possessed power, but it seems that my father was different.

“If you find a woman you like, tell me. ─── And I will make her your wife. Even if she is royalty.”

“………”

Yeah, as expected of Luke’s parents.

The arrogance of believing that you can do it and not doubting it.

Moreover, there is not a shred of malice in his eyes, which makes him even worse.

“Thank you, Father.”

That’s what I told him anyway.

“Mm, that’s it. Enjoy the party.”

I can’t help but sigh.

I’m tired of dealing with aristocrats who just don’t give a s**t.

I was called out of the blue and wondered if there was anything important he wanted to tell me, but this is what he meant.

Should I have told him honestly, “Father, it’s none of your business.”

No, it’s just more hassle.

Or rather, I understand why?

After “Luke” retreated to his parents’ house in the original story, his father was probably the next enemy of the protagonist.

He resented the protagonist and tried to crush him with everything he had.

It was like “Chapter 2: The Aristocrats’ Plot” if I had to say it.

Well, I’m not going to let that happen.

“─── Despite manifesting a rare attribute, you look very sad.”

I heard a girl’s voice.

What now, I was about to say.

I turned my eyes with a weary heart.

And a very gorgeous girl was there.

She had long, clear silver hair, slit blue eyes, and fine, fair skin.

Watching her walk the streets would be a sight to behold for many.

However, I strongly felt a kind of coldness peculiar to beautiful women.

It’s clearly not to my liking.

What I like is a girl who is emotional and energetic, who is happy and sad about even the most trivial everyday things.

The girl in front of me was just the opposite.

Undoubtedly I blamed my father for making me think this way.

“─── Alice Rune Lonsdale, was it?”

“Oh my, you knew who I was. Luke Wizaria Gilbert.”

This should be the first time we meet in person.

Eldest daughter of the Earl of Lonsdale.

The fact that I remember her name means that she belongs to a powerful noble family.

“Can I call you Luke?”

“Suit yourself.”

“Then call me Alice, too.”

… Huh, why is that so?

Why bother getting involved, really?

“Can you use attribute magic?”

I kind of asked.

“You seem to be speaking from a very high place. But I’ll answer you. I can use it.”

“I see.”

I had one thought when I saw her.

That it would probably be an “ice attribute”.

She’s like an ice woman when you look at her.

Especially if this is a world of fiction.

“Is it Ice?”

“… I wonder who told you that.”

I was right, it seems.

I was surprised it’s so exactly as I saw it, and not the other way around.

“But that’s not the only thing.”

“…Hou.”

“─── Ice and Poison. Those are my attributes.”

Wow.

Having two attributes is really amazing… Kinda that of a villain.

It’s not as good as my ‘dark attribute’ though.

“… You don’t seem that surprised.”

Alice was not happy with my reaction.

Although her facial expression remained unchanged, her voice was filled with that emotion.

“Are you looking down on me because you’ve a rare attribute?”

“Kuku, I didn’t mean that.”

Her mood became even more swarthy at my words.

“… Fine. Are you free tomorrow? Let’s do a mock battle.”

“A mock battle?”

“Yes. Though this kind of thing is not allowed by law, I think it is possible with her.”

It was Amelia-san who was in Alice’s line of sight.

She looked so “sensible” that you would never expect her to be like that.

Now she is rightly a model noblewoman.

… There’s too much of a gap.

Nevertheless.

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Running away from a challenge is not an option for me.

＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋

Alice had good looks and a talent for magic.

Therefore, she grew up surrounded by those who ‘affirmed’ her.

But Alice’s brother “Yolande” was not so lucky, so her personality was distorted.

Yolande was kind.

He was bottomlessly kind.

No matter how much he was looked down upon, no matter how poorly he was treated, he never loses his love for his family.

He was such a kind guy.

Naturally, Alice and Yolande were compared.

Alice was praised and Yolande was scolded.

Such scenes were commonplace in the Lonsdale household.

Children grow up watching their parents.

Alice also somehow came to look down on her brother Yolande.

And it gradually escalated.

While she was not violent, it was not unusual for Alice to hurl invectives at Yolande.

But no normal person, no matter how kind, could possibly continue to live like this.

That’s right, Yolande had a secret.

That is – he was an extreme “siscon” and a “m*******t”.

Hence, he doesn’t even bother with it.

On the contrary, he was sexually aroused by being disrespected and abused by Alice.

So he was kind.

He behaved gently wherever he could.

However, Yolande’s “kindness” distorted Alice’s personality.

As she continued to abuse her brother, who was older than she was, a “taste for abuse” began to grow in her heart.

That little desire grew over time, slowly transforming her into a “s****t”.

Then, over time, Alice met Luke.

The moment she saw Luke’s all-consuming eyes, Alice’s mind was dominated by one single intense desire.

It was an irresistible desire to “humiliate” those haughty eyes.

Luke was a being that had manifested a rare “dark attribute”.

But Alice knew that he had been learning magic for less than a month.

She has already studied magic for more than three years and has successfully manifested two attributes.

No way she could lose, so she thought.

But even though she was not supposed to lose.

“Aaaaaaahhhh!”

With a cry of grief, Alice fired her magic wildly.

But it meant nothing.

It just disappeared in the “darkness”.

There was no stopping Luke as he slowly walked up to her.

Then he pointed his sword against Alice’s neck.

“L-Luke-kun! That’s enough! It’s over! You can’t go any further! Oh, but if it’s a little bit more… more. No, you still can’t!”

Amelia’s voice echoed.

“You’re half-assed, you know that? Halfway through everything.”

“Haa… haa…”

Alice fell to the ground.

She had used up almost all her magical power and could no longer even stand.

No matter how many times she tried, the result remained the same.

He simply walked close to her and pointed his sword to her neck.

That was it.

It doesn’t matter if she used “ice” or “poison”.

All just ends up being swallowed up by the “darkness”.

She didn’t understand any of it.

It was no longer even a duel.

“Haa… haa…”

Every time Alice lost, she was bombarded with words that trample on her self-esteem.

Those were the very words that Alice had been hurling at her brother.

“You’re so pathetic, you know that? How dare you challenge me like this?”

She was supposed to humiliate him. But it was Alice who was humiliated.

Her self-esteem was shattered.

Everything up to now disappeared without a trace.

Her heart was unable to bear the load.

“Hah… hah… again…”

───Sometimes the human heart is turned inside out.

Is it to protect oneself, or has it revealed the essence of what it originally was?

The answer is not certain, but Alice’s heart certainly turned inside out.

“Again… Haa… Curse me… abuse me… more and more and more…”

“…Ha?”

In other words─── she turned from “S” to “M”.

＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋＋

If there’s a girl you like, let me know.

The day after he told him that, he saw Luke meeting a girl.

This is probably what it looks like.

Thanks to Luke’s father, Claude, who was greatly mistaken, coupled with his impressive skills, the marriage arrangement between Luke and Alice went quite smoothly. But Luke has yet to learn this fact───.