4. Rynella’s fate is decided by Rynella (35)
The conversation with senior Elsie didn’t come to fruition until after a long time had passed.
Apparently, the new ‘reward’ seemed too stimulating to senior Elsie. Even after that, senior Elsie had to sit down and gasp for a long time.
Maybe it was the reverberation, but the blush still remained on Elsie-senpai’s cheeks.
Or I felt ashamed of the dramatic reaction I showed just now.
Either way, Elsie-senpai, who tightly gripped the brim of the cone-shaped hat, was cute. Even the attempt to press down on the hat as if to hide his face.
I felt like I wanted to stroke Elsie-senpai’s hair right away.
However, Elsie seemed to need some time to calm down, so I decided to put that desire aside for a while.
She just kept the seat next to Elsie-senpai without saying anything.
The morning sun was shining in the sky.
The season was summer, so even the sunlight that had just appeared was hot. It was fortunate that the seats where Elsie and I were sitting were in the shade.
A few more minutes passed like that.
It was then that senior Elsie finally got lucky.
She sat down, hugged her knees and said.
“… … As a child, I was bullied once. to my family.”
It was not an unfamiliar story.
I had heard of it while working with Lupin in the past. About Elsie senior and Lupin’s unfortunate childhood.
Even so, I deliberately decided to remain silent. I hoped that this would make it easier for Elsie to reveal her true feelings.
Fortunately, Elsie-senpai’s breath had calmed down before she knew it. I didn’t know if it was because of my consideration.
The damp but firm voice continued.
“At that time, there was no magical power, no magic, and nothing. There were a lot of people who bullied me and my younger brother because I was especially small. The elders of the family were just staring at me from afar.”
“… … So you’re going to burn the jig?”
“What a wonderful tradition… No, no, I was kidding! Ehehe… … .”
It was the story of the Southern Ten Kingdoms, where the value system of the jungle is dominant.
Among them, it was a culture shared by only a few tribes living in areas with extremely scarce resources, but it was a tradition famous for its bad connotations in the academy.
Its contents were as follows.
In order to use limited resources more efficiently, elderly people with low productivity are abandoned in the jungle on a forklift.
It was a truly horrific practice.
Of course, it was an evil practice that is difficult to find examples of today. It was because the Southern Ten Kingdoms started oppression because of the ‘immoral culture’.
I also didn’t think Elsie-senpai would have said that with sincerity.
Perhaps it was.
I decided to refrain from any further doubts in order to keep the minimum level of trust in Elsie-senpai. I just kept my mouth shut and listened to the words that followed.
“… … Anyway, it was one day when I was having such a terrible time. One of the brothers took my younger brother to a fight with a hound.”
This was also something I had heard before.
Looking back, senior Elsie never used the titles ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ for her siblings. I could guess her feelings from that inorganic vocabulary.
In the first place, except for the commonality of family, it must mean that they are farther than others.
It was also inevitable if you had such a past.
“What can that little boy do against a hound? My little brother just trembled, and the sound of their giggling dirty my ears. I couldn’t stand it any longer.”
“… … So what did you do?”
“What should I do? I heard something snapping in my head… When I came to my senses, I was running at the hound instead of my brother.”
Anyway, with my temper, I couldn’t help but laugh.
It was a story I already knew, but it was fun to hear it from Elsie-senpai’s mouth.
That day, senior Elsie didn’t seem to want to save Lupine, but rather couldn’t overcome her temper.
That little kid.
However, unlike the girl in the story who looked very energetic, Elsie’s voice as she recited the story of the day was gloomy.
It was like squeezing water out of a dry rag.
The girl managed to twist her vocal cords and let out the nightmare of the day.
“You know what? Humans can’t beat dogs in similar weight classes. I felt it deeply that day… … I’m going to kill them all today, you little pricks. Did you really think you were going to die?”
There was not even fear in that voice, which even trembled.
It was just a gloomy image seeping through the bloody language that poured out.
Sad memories persist. until when
“It was those bastards who were really scared when the blood started to flow. I went to call someone belatedly, but in the meantime I had to fight to the death. At that point, there was nothing but dogs in the world.”
I tried to stroke Elsie-senpai’s hair to comfort her, but I stopped.
In the first place, Elsie-senpai shouldn’t have said something in hopes of comforting her.
So I decided to be content with just sharing the pain with senior Elsie.
“The dog is dog, and I am dog too… I fought like a dog and strangled him with all my might, barely surviving. But after killing him, I was dumbfounded.”
Pick, the laughter that burst out of nowhere was a little sad.
Only then did she reveal what she had been hiding.
“… … Why did you kill him?”
It was a dejected tone.
And it was a word with a fundamental question.
“Actually, the hound is not guilty. just… The bastard just did what he was told, and so did I. But they fought like dogs in a fighting kennel. To become the best fighting dog.”
“You must have been sad.”
“Rather than being sad, I realized it.”
With a hazy smile, Elsie-senpai spoke in a tone that even paralyzed the sense of pain.
“This is my destiny,” he said. It’s just a life that is raised and used according to need… In that case, I thought I would be the best fighting dog.”
“why?”
“Yeah, then you can f*ck the bastards you’ve been bullying all along… … .”
Chin, as if caught on a rock, Elsie’s words stopped.
She hesitated for a long while.
A blush appeared on Elsie-senpai’s face again. She glanced at my expression, then muttered in a small voice.
“… … Sa, because I can be loved?”
That must have been what Elsie-senpai had been trying to hide until the end.
I was abused since childhood.
Her family only saw her as a fighting dog at the kennels. It must have been painful and difficult, but I lived my life pretending to be strong and adorning myself.
But how will the pain of that day go away?
The human nature of wanting to be loved cannot be controlled. only hidden
It felt like I had finally peeked into Elsie-senpai’s inner thoughts.
I was just grateful.
It is embarrassing and embarrassing for anyone to show their heart. Even so, senior Elsie told me the truth without hiding it.
Of course, there was some coercion involved in the process.
In the end, senior Elsie must have been unable to stand the unfamiliar atmosphere, and around this time burst into an awkward laugh.
“Muh, what! It’s a thing of the past now, ehehe… I knew it a while ago. No matter how good you look, it’s just for choosing a useful marriage partner… … .”
“… … Senior Elsie.”
My hand was placed on top of Elsie’s head with a low name being called.
Senior Elsie opened her eyes wide as if she didn’t know why.
So I came up with the best words to comfort Elsie-senpai.
“I will love you.”
and static.
The faint smell of grass carried by the wind tickled the tip of his nose.
Elsie-senpai was frozen as it was, just staring blankly at me.
The life of a dogfighter living in a dogfighting arena is Elsie’s fate?
I seemed to know a little bit now.
Why is Elsie-senpai taking on the role of a pet dog?
Unlike fighting dogs, pet dogs can be loved.
What a simple and clear answer.
So I decided to follow the solution.
“All along.”
Despite stroking her hair so affectionately, Elsie-senpai was just dumbfounded.
After a while.
Elsie-senpai’s face heated up rapidly enough to hear the hallucinations of boom.
Senior Elsie eventually passed out on the spot.
“… … Senior Elsie? Senior Elsie!”
Still, it was fortunate that the fainted Elsie looked happy.
maybe.
It was the day a new promise was made between me and Elsie-senpai.
**
I entrusted senior Elsie, who mumbled something with a red face, to the servants.
Taking care of Elsie-senpai to the end would be the right thing to do, but I still had work to do.
The person I was looking for was located in an empty lot far away.
Even at the academy, he trained in an inconspicuous place, and that habit seemed to remain.
His noble gray hair, which seemed to have mixed the best of both white and black, caught his eye.
There was not the slightest gap in the posture of staring straight ahead with a sword. It was truly a swordsmanship that was close to the norm, a model among examples that could only be found in swordsmanship textbooks.
No matter how many times she had swung the sword, sweat was forming on her forehead.
Even that looks like a production that enhances the woman’s beauty, it must be because she is beautiful.
Seria Yurdina.
She was my favorite junior and the youngest daughter of the Yurdina family.
I called her name carefully so as not to frighten her.
“Um, Seria…?”
I was afraid that it would interfere with the training, but Seria’s reaction was unexpectedly mild.
She immediately lowered her sword, and as soon as she looked at me, she just widened her eyes.
“……Senior Ian?”
Hmmmm, I cleared my throat and caught my breath.
From now on, that was the main point.
“Didn’t you say you were going to see the Yurdina family soldiers today?
Seria’s head tilted.
It seemed that the sudden request to accompany them was suspicious.
As expected, a reply came straight from Seria.
“It doesn’t matter… why?”
“I heard there are strange rumors around the garrison. I was a little concerned.”
Even then, Seria was just staring at me, blinking her eyes.
I knew it after observing her for a long time.
Those eyes meant to ask for further explanation.
So I had to speak to Seria in a subdued voice.
“Did you see someone who looked just like him? The private seems to have seen someone in the forest who looked just like a person from a nearby village, haha… It’s not a ghost…”
Upon hearing my words, Seria’s face turned pale.
It was the first time I knew it, but Seria seemed to be afraid of ghosts.
In the end, Seria shuddered and had to ask me to accompany her in reverse.
Now it was time to get to the bottom of the rumors.