Chapter 10 - Volume 1 (1/2)

Volume 1 Extra 2

Since that, Agedilus would be taken along by his foster father to the Adina Estate and left there frequently. Whenever he visited, Filmina would greet him, 「Welcome,」 with a smile different from the one she’d make when anyone else visited.

It seemed the pronunciation of ‘Agedilus’ was difficult for her to articulate, since she was still young. So he told her, 「You can call me Edi.」 He wouldn’t have allowed anyone else to get used to saying that instead of the precious name he received from his foster father, but he’d allow it if it was her.

The time they spent reading together was just calm. He couldn’t help but often be bewildered by her when she sometimes touched his black hair without flinching, that black hair she should’ve been afraid of. But her soft, tender hands felt so comfortable.

Whenever she did that, he would feel her younger brother’s gaze on him – not even in fear or in hatred. If I had to say it, he’d feel a gaze as if full of jealousy towards a man that would steal his beloved older sister. But there was no trouble after that.

Speaking of things they did together, they mostly did nothing except read together, but that was plenty. It was comfortable. It was fun to cram all the knowledge from magical books that weren’t in the Lancent Estate. Bit by bit, he felt like he was catching up with Filmina, and that was fun too. Although she didn’t seem to find that funny at all.

Ah, that’s right. She’d try to be unusually 『grown-up』. In fact, she was the kind of girl that could do that. That’s just why the moments he could see her childishness, she who was somehow more grown-up than him, those moments made him so happy. For instance, when she’d make a mistake while reading out a magical book, or when she’d get stuck in the hem of her dress and trip. And when he couldn’t help but smile at that, she’d amusingly turn away her annoyed face. Both of those actions told him he still had enough time to catch up with her, and that made him happy.

Because those days were so calm and peaceful, he made a mistake. Mistakenly thought that he was not different from everyone else. That he could keep spending his days in peace with his foster father and with Filmina. Yes, he was mistaken. What made him realize that that was a complete mistake was when he ran into one of Filmina’s 『friend』 or something, someone he didn’t know at the Adina Estate.

Usually, they would’ve adjusted things so that wouldn’t happen. But it seemed it was because the other family’s children threw a tantrum, saying they wanted to meet Filmina no matter what. They were reading a book together in the courtyard then. The children shook free from the adults’ controlling voices and barged in. Once they saw him, they yelled. 「Monster!」 And then, he simply watched as they burst out crying and ran away.

That was a word he’d heard often. Devil, demon, monster, he’d all been called those before. It was just that he was a little surprised; since the time his foster father took him in, he stopped being called that to his face. And yet, he couldn’t move.

Why couldn’t he move? At this point, that word shouldn’t even have hurt him. Maybe it was just a shock to be called that in front of Filmina. He thought maybe she’d look at him differently after hearing him called that.

But that wasn’t the case.

「Edi.」

Just one word. That was all. Saying that, she took his hand just like the first time they met, and stayed there with him until his foster father or her parents turned up.

I won’t say that saved him. If that was all it’d take to save him, that darkness would’ve brightened up a long time ago, right? If that was all it took, he would’ve forgotten that darkness a deeper black than the black under his eyelids and that pale shining purple light a long time ago. So it wasn’t like that saved him. But even so, that small yet warm hand definitely did touch his heart.

And then, two years passed in the blink of an eye.

The calm days he spent reading with her healed Agedilus’s heart, slowly but surely. At the same time, he had enough knowledge stored in his head like dry sand absorbing water, enough to surprise his foster father. Each time Filmina got a more difficult magical book, Agedilus’s magical power and skill rose too.

And then, that incident happened.

「Agedilus. Open up.」

His foster father’s voice comes from the other side of the door for the umpteenth time. But Agedilus doesn’t respond.

The curtains are shut in his room. He broke the lamp when he returned. After casting countless sealing spells on the door, he crouches on his bed with his sheets covering his head. I think it’s just like that darkness from long ago. The passage of time became uncertain, and he doesn’t know how many days have passed since he shut himself up in his room.

There is nobody, nothing, just himself who isn’t dead. His excessive magical power absorbs mana and ether from the atmosphere to make best use of its host, like a parasite. Thanks to that, if he doesn’t starve he isn’t thirsty either. He isn’t thankful for it. Behind his closed eyelids, what replays in his mind is blazing fire and Filmina, falling over as she tried to cover him. That scene is etched into his eyelids, not leaving.

「—!」

He clenches his fists hard enough his nails pierce his palm. It does hurt. But there’s no doubt she must’ve been hurt more. Unable to think anything but that, he hates himself more than anything, he who is so irritating and pathetic.

That day, Filmina had brought an advanced magical book with a vivid scarlet cover. 「It was pretty, so I brought it with me!」 She smiled mischievously. Even he knew that that book was far too advanced for them, but his curiosity won in the end.

It looked like she was completely entranced by the beautiful drawings of spirits on each page she turned. 『Magic really is amazing.』 Her smile as she said that was different from her usual grown-up smile……. That’s why he asked, 『Do you want to see it?』 He was such a fool. He hated the jet black hair he was born with, but this time he thought he could do it. He overestimated himself.

「——Edi!」

Her screaming voice, her body covering him. And then, the sharp claws of the blazing beast that appeared opposite them. It felt like the world turned to white. If it weren’t for her voice whispering, 「It’s okay,」 there was no doubt he would’ve blown away the entire Adina Estate.

Even half unconscious, she was worried over him until the very end. Compared to that, what was he doing? Even when he heard that she’d woken up, he stayed there, unable to move from his room. He only told his foster father that he wanted to go to the Academy of Magic he’d heard him mention before, and stayed shut up in his room, casting sealing spells on the door. His magical power had already exceeded that of his foster father so no one bothered him about it.

He said that – he had to say it – not because he wanted to reprimand himself. More than that, he was just afraid of being called a monster by even her. The fiery beast’s scratches on her back would stay, never disappearing. The only reason was because he knew she would curse at him, saying, 「It’s all your fault!」 with that gentle smile gone from her face.

That’s why he couldn’t meet her let alone apologize to her. But even so, she, Filmina, showed up to the Lancent Estate in her condition severe enough to be called a serious illness.

「How do you do, Sir Agedilus? I, Filmina Veer Adina, have hurried out of my sickbed just to visit you.」

It was extremely shocking. Not believing his own ears, he leaned forward on instinct and tumbled out of bed. It couldn’t be. There was no way something as ridiculous as that could happen. But the voice he’d heard certainly belonged to none other than Filmina Veer Adina.

「……Edi. Are you able to hear me? Please do open the door.」

He couldn’t move, even at the repeated knocks one after another. There were signs the seal on the door was being touched – was she fistfighting with the door? Even though he couldn’t afford that to happen.

‘She has to stop,’ he thought. ‘Quickly, stop. I have to just calm her down no matter what.’ But his body wouldn’t listen, cowering. He didn’t know what to do. He stared at the door dumbfoundedly, still in the same position as when he fell.

Soon, the clattering sounds from the doorknob calmed down. For a second, he thought maybe his foster father had taken her with him, and was relieved.

「I am kindly telling you to just open the door!」

With a thud, the door trembled violently. At the same time, she let out a short scream. At that sound, his mind turned to pure white.

「Filmina?! Filmina, are you okay?! —!?」

「……I’ve caught you.」