Chapter 319: Laveua
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 319: Laveua
“Am I just like you now, Dad? Just like Ratga and Lapura! Right?”
It was because a horn, fashioned from animal bone, was perched on Laveua’s forehead.
Of course, it wasn't a natural horn. It was crudely made and looked as if it might fall off at any moment, yet she was beaming, her mouth wide open in delight. It was a heart-wrenching sight.
Ratga was born with horns because his mother is a demon, and Lapura was born with them too, influenced by a quest Jung Hayeon had undertaken. I didn’t know what these horns meant to Laveua, but seeing her so overjoyed made me feel a pang of bitterness.
I could finally understand why Mev had asked me to take special care of Laveua. As my expression darkened, Laveua seemed to notice and spoke again, cautiously watching my face.
“Is... is it bad?”
It was incredibly difficult to know how to respond.
“First, let's take that off and talk, Laveua.”
“N-No! I don't want to!”
I hadn't even said anything critical, yet she clutched the strange horned helmet, her eyes welling with tears. It was a truly pitiful sight. It could have been a sense of inferiority toward Lapura, or perhaps just a simple desire to be like me. But one thing was certain: due to a combination of circumstances, Laveua was heading down a troubling path.
I wasn't one to show my emotions easily, but I pulled Laveua into a tight hug. I felt both sorry for her and guilty.
“Hehe.”
I heard her happy giggle, but it felt heavy. I’d heard that childhood memories and events have a profound impact on a person’s development. It seemed highly likely that Laveua was starved for affection. I had been trying to spend more time with her since that last incident, but before then, I had barely seen her. I was away from the village more often than I was in it, so it was no surprise that this child was obsessed with feeling loved.
For now, I decided to let her keep the horned helmet on. Talking things through slowly seemed better than forcibly taking it from her.
I lifted Laveua into the crook of one arm. She must have thought I was paying her attention because of the helmet, as she kept fussing with it, making sure the horns weren't crooked.
“How about we go for a walk outside today?”
“Yeah, I'd love that, Dad!”
A walk around the Brother's Land seemed like the best choice. If we happened to find a magical beast, we could even hunt it together. Cradled in my arm, Laveua chattered away. What was interesting was that her topics of conversation were a little different than usual.
Instead of talking about card games or the children's battleground, she spoke of magic or things that had happened with her friends.
“I see.”
“Yeah. Isn't she? Nicole is really nice, too.”
I nodded along, but honestly, I had no idea how to bring up the subject. We exchanged greetings with other clan members as we walked, and soon we were outside the borders of the Brother's Land. I saw her flapping her wings in delight. Watching her, I slowly began to speak. I wanted to ask about the horns first.
“Laveua, about those horns...”
“Oh! I heard the goblin aunties talking!”
“Oh?”
“They said Lapura is strong because she's like you, Dad. They said the source of her power might be her big horns. And when I thought about it, Ratga has horns, and Lapura has horns, too. Lapura's are huge... and you have horns... but I don't.”
It seemed she had overheard the Goblin Three Sisters gossiping. Those three were always prone to exaggeration, so they must have been talking about Lapura in the most over-the-top way. Of course, they were probably just talking amongst themselves, but the problem was they were loud enough for everyone to hear. I let out a sigh before I spoke again.
“Laveua. You're very much like me.”
“I know, right? Because of this on my head. Hehe. Now I'm just like my brother and sister.”
“No, Laveua. It's not because of the horns on your head. You're more like me than Lapura or Ratga.”
She was just a child, but she was perceptive. As my expression turned serious, she looked up at me, her own face a mixture of complex emotions.
“Really?”
I answered with a nod.
“But Ratga looks the most like you...”
“That's because Ratga is a demon.”
“And Lapura has the biggest horns...”
“I'm not talking about looks.”
I wanted to explain it in a way she would understand, but it wasn't easy. In the end, I just started walking with her, wandering through the nearby area. Before long, a magical beast came into view, and I nodded at Laveua.
“Shall we hunt it together?”
“C-Can we hunt later?”
Her expression was a clear picture of self-doubt. Young Green Skins usually only get to vent their energy on the children's battleground, so they cherish the chance to go hunting with the adults and learn. Laveua was no different. Hunting with Mev and me was one of her favorite pastimes.
But the look on her face now was one of clear reluctance. I knew exactly why. She was afraid of being compared.
Immediately after she was born, Lapura had managed to take down a creature ten times larger than this one in a single blow. Laveua was growing well, but like any normal child, she couldn't match Lapura's raw power. She was afraid of looking pathetic or inadequate. I spoke again.
“Let's just try it once, Laveua.”
“O-Okay...”
When I insisted, Laveua reluctantly nodded. I focused my magic on the mid-sized beast before us. It was smaller than the one Lapura had first caught. The beast spotted us and charged immediately. Laveua began chanting, unleashing a barrage of spells. It wasn't magic of overwhelming power, but her casting was fast and practiced—the result of hard work.
Laveua's flames washed over the beast, but it seemed unfazed. It flinched, clearly having taken some damage, but this was a mid-sized beast—the kind of creature my past self wouldn't have even dared to challenge. It wasn't so weak that a child's magic could injure it easily.
“Hnnngh!”
She gritted her teeth, pouring all her magic into the attack, but it wasn't enough to pierce the beast's thick hide. I began to draw its attention, giving Laveua another chance to cast.
“That's it.”
“............!”
“You're doing great.”
Her spells struck the beast with precision, one after another. Its tough hide began to crack. Honestly, that alone was impressive. It showed that Laveua was by no means untalented. Her power was one thing, but what was truly commendable was her casting speed and her knack for using the right spell at the right time.
I used my sword to keep the beast's attention on me as it shrieked and lunged. The fight was taking a while, but it didn't matter. Her magic was steadily chipping away at its health. We were missing a priest and a rogue, but otherwise, it looked like a classic party hunt.
Even though the fight was going well, my heart ached to see Laveua on the verge of tears, her teeth clenched in frustration. Her brow was furrowed, and her hands were trembling. The beast fell silent, but she was clearly not satisfied with her performance.
It was the kind of beast that was supposed to take a long time to hunt, but the longer it dragged on, the more agitated Laveua grew.
She tried to act as if nothing was wrong, but I could see the self-loathing and humiliation in her eyes. Even though she had done perfectly well, she was undoubtedly comparing herself to Lapura. It wasn't just the size of the beast; the method of hunting was completely different. Laveua had probably seen the giant carnivorous plant back in the village—the one that had swallowed a large beast whole. The scars from Lapura's magic still marked the village grounds.
The whole village had been in an uproar when that beast was brought back, so Laveua must have understood. She must have understood why her newborn sister had looked at her and called her weak. She might even think that was why I took Lapura to the Forest of Mist—that Lapura was loved because she was strong, and that the weak might not be loved at all.
I slowly began to speak.
“You did well, Laveua.”
As I walked over and stroked her hair, she finally burst into tears.
“Sob... sob... Waaaaah... I'm sorry, Dad.”
Of course, she had nothing to be sorry for. I couldn't tell if she was apologizing for how long it took to kill the beast or for not putting on a more spectacular performance, but it was probably both. As she cried, the crudely made horns finally tumbled to the ground.
She scrambled to pick them up and put them back on her head, but she knew better than anyone. Perhaps she was afraid I would never take her hunting again, because she started making desperate excuses. Even though I had just praised her, she was so insecure that she just kept crying and talking.
“I could have done better... hic... It's because I take after Mom more... sob...”
“That's not true. You're doing more than enough, Laveua.”
Mev had gotten pregnant right when her own growth was hitting its stride. To use an analogy from Earth, it was like getting pregnant right when you were up for a promotion; it just complicated things. She might seem lacking compared to the other clan executives, but Mev was by no means weak. If Laveua ever saw her mother fight for real, she would be left speechless.
“Besides, I'm praising you right now, aren't I? Being able to take down that beast at your age is truly incredible.”
“But...”
“Remember what I said before? That you're the one who's most like me?”
“Y-Yeah...”
“Back in the old days, it would have taken me just as long as you to kill this beast. No, it probably would have taken me even longer.”
At my words, Laveua looked up at me, startled. To her and my other children, I must seem impossibly large. But they never knew my former self. The Kim Taesung of the past had been knocked to the ground time and time again, pushing himself to his absolute limit. And even then, he still made mistakes and rarely achieved any remarkable results.
It was the same even after I'd grown a little stronger. I was still weak, so I had to fight desperately just to survive.
“I probably would have gotten seriously hurt, too.”
To be honest, I was envious of Laveua's talent. Her face was a mask of disbelief. For me now, this was a beast I could kill with a single strike. For her, it had been a slow fight, but she had succeeded. She couldn't imagine that the man she saw as a great mountain would have struggled against the very creature lying dead at her feet.
“Really?”
But then she peeked out from behind her hands and looked up at me. There is a certain joy in discovering you share something in common with someone you admire, even if that something is a weakness.
“Yes, really. I used to be very weak. Much weaker than you are now, Laveua.”
I sat down on the beast's carcass and began my story.
It wasn't a long story.