Chapter 34 – Reasons for Distrust (7)
A failure.
Scarlett never thought such words would come out of the mouth of the teacher who was in charge of her.
Scarlett was so shocked that she looked at the teacher with a devastated feeling.
“Poetry, it’s a failure. I-I…”
“Wizards who cannot use magic properly in actual combat have no choice but to be eliminated.”
“Well, we can overcome it! We can solve it!”
“When? In what period of time? Scarlett, I know you well. You must have tried many times to find me, but you must have failed.”
“That’s…”
“I know that you were an excellent student. If you failed, it would be… Hopeless.”
“Sir, teacher. Please help me!”
“No, there is nothing I can help you with. Rather, you helped me.”
“Yes?”
Scarlett couldn’t understand what the teacher was talking about.
However, the words spoken the next moment were too painful for Scarlett to accept.
“From now on, I think we should include a course in the academy’s classes where you get to experience fighting multiple monsters, rather than just two or three. I won’t make the mistake of making a flawed child like you the top student.”
“Well… I thought you would help me, teacher…”
“If there was a chance, I would have done it.”
In the teacher’s view, those words were a declaration that there was no hope of Scarlett’s problem being solved.
“Just leave now. I have a meeting later.”
“… Ugh!”
She was hoping that he would come up with a way to solve the problem.
However, those expectations were cruelly shattered, and we were faced with the worst and most unexpected situation.
Scarlett has a hard time accepting the harsh words of the teacher who she thought was the gift that helped her become the top student.
As if she was escaping from reality, she ran away from the academy.
“No… No! I… I’m not a failure. Furthermore, I’m sure, I’m going to get better. Furthermore, I’m going to be able to solve this problem.”
As Scarlett denied the words of the man she thought was a gift, her family came to mind.
“Father, mother, older brother, older sister…”
It was so painful.
It was so sad.
Although he tried to overcome the problem, he abandoned everyone he thought of as a colleague, and even the person he thought was a gift called him a failure.
Scarlett discovered her problems and did not want to return to her family.
She didn’t want her family to see her pitiful appearance.
But in this situation, Scarlett couldn’t maintain her stubbornness.
She was sick, sore, cold, and lonely.
If you are a father, if you are a mother, if you are an older brother, if you are a sister.
She will comfort herself.
She will embrace herself.
She will take care of herself.
Let’s heal this painful heart and try again.
Let’s comfort this painful heart and overcome it again.
What was waiting for Scarlett at Count Bunnings, where she went with those feelings in mind.
“What are you doing here again, Scarlett?”
This is my first time seeing this.
It was the coldest face of my father I had ever seen.
“Father… Ji?”
“How dare you come back so shamelessly after dishonoring your family, Scarlett?”
“Well, I’m just trying to get rid of it…”
“Did you really think I didn’t know? Your problem. The disgraceful act you committed when you thought you would be active.”
“Uh, how…!”
“At first, it was just a little interest and affection. At least a nearby village was put under surveillance so that they could find out about you. Things were going smoothly for a month. But… After that, it was a complete mess.”
Scarlett’s father.
The head of the Count Bunnings family gave Scarlett a cold, judgmental look instead of the affectionate gaze he had shown her so far.
“The essence of magic lies in overwhelmingly defeating numerous monsters. That is a privilege that only wizards can do, and that no one else can do. But beyond not being able to realize it, it is said to be released during the formation of magic? Do you know how humiliating it was when I heard that news? “
“Father… Ji…”
Not only Scarlett’s father but also Scarlett’s mother who was next to her gave Scarlett a cold look and said to Scarlett.
“I knew you tried hard after that. But… It was all in vain, right? Ha, why did you give birth to a child like this? If it had this problem, it would be a shame to send it to another family. It had this defect in the first place, so I brought up marriage talks. “I don’t know if it has a family name.”
“Oh… You?”
Scarlett doubted whether what she was seeing and hearing was true.
She had parents who looked at her so warmly.
She looked proud of herself and had her own parents who spoke to her with affection.
She was looking at herself as if she was treating something worthless.
“Get out. It’s hard to even see your face now.”
“Ah, ah…”
This is a dream.
It’s a nightmare.
There is no way my father or mother would say something like this to me.
After hearing from her teacher, whom she thought was a gift, and from her parents who had loved her since she was a child, Scarlett could not immediately accept her words and gaze, which were as sharp and sharp as a cold blade of ice.
But no matter how much I denied it, the reality did not change.
Back at her mansion, even her brother and her sister thought of Scarlett the same way.
Her brother looked at Scarlett with disgust, calling her a disgrace to her family.
Her older sister laughed at Scarlett and said she was only praying that her nobleman would show up to send her a wedding invitation.
When the father and mother returned, they still looked at the defective product and told him to remain quiet until a means to ‘use’ him was found.
It didn’t take long for Scarlett to accept reality in a situation that still felt like a nightmare.
What my family loved.
What the teacher devoted his/her efforts to.
It wasn’t Scarlett, it was just her talent as a magician.
Other than that, the existence of Scarlett was nothing more than a bonus, but it was a mere existence.
“Ha, haha… Haha!”
The moment she accepted that fact, Scarlett burst out laughing.
What comes after empty laughter.
“Don’t be funny…”
It was anger.
“Don’t be funny!”
Anger at being betrayed by loved ones.
Anger at being betrayed by people you trusted.
And my anger at myself for foolishly believing those people surged.
Scarlett was angry and in tears.
She didn’t want to stay in this disgusting house anymore.
She did not want to be in a place where she was seen as nothing more than an object to be judged.
Scarlett left Bunnings Street.
Instead of giving herself the name Bunnings, she just registered as a new adventurer and wandered around as Scarlett.
◈
“And well, after repeatedly joining and breaking up with various parties… I met Nellis and Aria. This is my weakness and old story. That’s enough.”
Scarlett told her tales of her own troubles to her kalt.
Because I heard the old story of Kalt.
Because she said it herself first, that it is an equivalent exchange.
At first, she thought about glossing over the issue and talking about old times.
As I talked about her past, the emotions welled up, and I ended up telling her everything honestly.
And Scarlett looked at Kalt’s reaction.
She didn’t have many expectations.
All you’ll hear anyway is worry about Scarlett’s problem.
She thought that she might look at her with the same eyes as the colleagues who abandoned her at the time, seeing her as a useless force, or with the eyes of those she no longer wants to call her family.
But.
“Scarlett.”
Kalt gently placed his hand on the back of Scarlett’s hand.
“It must have been difficult.”
He spoke words of pity and sympathy.
“…!”
Scarlett withdrew her hand, surprised by the warmth she felt from the back of her hand.
“W-what are you doing!”
Scarlett was embarrassed.
This was the second time I had this kind of reaction.
One time she told Nellis and Aria about her past.
Certainly, Nellis shed tears at that time, and even now that she thinks about it, she cried a little comically, and Aria was sad with her eyes watering.
I didn’t shed any tears… Scarlett was embarrassed because she didn’t expect Kalt to react like this.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“No, there’s no need to apologize. But you’re surprised when we suddenly hold hands.”
“I guess so. … Scarlett.”
Kalt, who was giving a look of pity and pity, looked at Scarlett with straight eyes and said.
“Let’s cheer up.”
“Let’s cheer up? What?”
“Well, it’s to solve a problem.”
“… What?”
“Obviously Scarlett’s problem is fatal to a wizard. But that doesn’t mean I can’t fix it. I’m sure Scarlett’s problem can be solved. I’ll do my best to help make that happen. So cheer up, Scarlett.”
“…”
Scarlett was silent.
After hearing Kalt’s words, she couldn’t stop talking.
‘What, what on earth…? I’m talking.’
Because it was the first time.
‘Let’s cheer up?’
I sympathized with Nellis and Aria, but I did not hesitate to tell her that she should solve her own problems.
‘You can solve it?’
It was the first time that someone told me that I could solve a problem like Kalt did.
‘That… Saying something like that…’
That means.
‘Don’t let it out easily.’
This is something I wanted to hear, even if it was just an easy thing to say.
‘It might not be resolved.’
Even so, this is something I wanted to hear at least once.
‘You say you’ll do your best, so you take care of my problem?’
I thought there would be no one who would think about my problems with me and help me solve them.
But.
A person has appeared who says such things.
Not the colleague with whom he first joined the party, the teacher who taught him, or the family he loved.
Kalt, who had only met for a few days, told Scarlett what she wanted.
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“Ah…”
A single tear flowed from Scarlett’s cheek.