One Step (2)
At Daphne's words, the faces of everyone in the room painted themselves with bewilderment. From Georg, whose face was usually a blank slate save for the occasional slight frown, to Nella, who was already scowling fiercely, and even to me.
I heard footsteps behind me. It was Daphne, stepping forward.
"You..."
"Apologize for those words. Right now."
It was a side of her I had never seen before. I could feel a violent, turbulent mana beginning to leak from Daphne. The wooden floorboards of the office creaked under the pressure.
Regardless of the tension, the Holy Sword spoke to me in her usual calm, detached voice. If anything, she sounded slightly amused.
I only just found out she could be this terrifying myself.
The gentle light that always shone in Daphne's eyes had vanished. It was also the first time I realized her eyes could turn such a deep, dark shade of purple.
"Aren't you a funny one? Since you've already offered your body to the Hero, are you trying to pretend you've given him your heart too? Did you think I'd be scared just because you're acting tough?"
Refusing to back down even an inch, Nella spat back in fury, channeling her own mana. The magical energy radiating from a mage at the very precipice of the 5th Circle threatened to shake the entire room. An invisible clash of wills erupted between the two forces leaking from Daphne and Nella.
"Even if you offered him yours, I highly doubt Elroy would ever accept it."
As Daphne swept her gaze down Nella's body from head to toe, Nella's face contorted in a spectacular display of outrage. She stumbled back half a step, her face flushing a deep, furious crimson.
"You want to go? Don't just talk a big game—why don't you try attacking me right now?"
At this rate, my office was going to collapse. I drew upon my own mana to cut through their overwhelming presence and raised my voice.
"Nella, watch your mouth. And both of you, unless you plan on blowing up the main street of the Royal Capital, that's enough."
"Elroy! So this is how you're going to play it, huh?"
I let out a long sigh. I was already displeased by her insults toward Daphne, and if she pushed me any further, I couldn't guarantee what would come out of my mouth. Just as I barely managed to rein in my temper, Georg's low voice broke the silence.
"Then, how about we do this?"
Three pairs of eyes snapped to Georg simultaneously. Perhaps not expecting to become the absolute center of attention, Georg cleared his throat to mask his awkwardness.
"We were planning to test Daphne's skills and coordinate our teamwork today anyway. Rather than wasting energy fighting each other here, why not head to the outskirts together and test her while hunting monsters?"
At that, Nella nodded vigorously in agreement. "Exactly, Georg. For once, you actually made sense. After all, the only thing that matters is proving who is more useful in real combat, right?"
I looked at Georg. He raised a hand slightly in apology, but I could let it slide this time. Daphne, too, wore an expression that showed she had absolutely no intention of backing down.
I trusted Daphne. If she wanted to do this, I wouldn't step in to stop her.
"Daphne." I called her name. Without looking back at me, her eyes locked onto Nella, she replied, "I don't mind. Let her try whatever she wants."
Daphne was brimming with conviction. Therefore, I chose not to interfere with her resolve. From this moment on, this was Daphne Epiphone's battle. Believing in her was the best and only thing I could do.
At Daphne's response, Nella let out a sneering, mocking laugh. "You? A mere 4th Circle mage seriously thinks she can stand against me?"
"You're welcome to give up if you lack the confidence," Daphne replied with a stony face, completely ignoring Nella's mockery.
Nella snorted once more and crossed her arms. "Fine. Then let's make it simple: whoever is objectively more useful to the party stays, and the loser walks. There is no option where we both stay. Your first impression today was absolute garbage."
Daphne didn't bother to reply. She simply continued to glare at Nella with cold, furious eyes stripped of all light. The two of them locked eyes for a long moment, the standoff persisting until I stood up and buckled the Holy Sword to my waist.
"...Let's move first." With those words, I ushered the party members out of the building. Watching Daphne's soft pink hair sway as she walked ahead, I narrowed my eyes. Daphne didn't realize it yet, but from where I stood, she was only one step away from shattering her wall.
I merely thought it might serve as the catalyst. An opportunity and a trigger to summon the courage to take that final, missing step. Even if she failed to defeat Nella Tar, I was fully prepared to keep Daphne in the party, regardless of the risks.
Perhaps. I narrowed my eyes, lightly brushing my hand against the hilt of the Holy Sword. It could be as she said, or there could be another reason. Perhaps I had simply begun to view her as more than just a talented mage, more than just a character in a novel. A living, breathing person of flesh and blood who laughed, cried, and breathed. Someone I had truly started to consider my companion.
A cool breeze, carrying the damp scent of recent rain, swept past. I watched Daphne walk ahead with a resolute expression and slowly followed her lead.
"You two stay out of this."
Nella seemed quite disappointed that her testing ground was merely a forest on the outskirts of the Royal Capital. Cracking her neck, she began to release the mana she had been tightly bottling up. Elroy and Georg remained silent, readying themselves to clean up any stray monsters that might slip past.
"Honestly, even being compared to someone like her is a humiliation."
Nella muttered, casting a sideways glance at Daphne. A 4th Circle mage, was it? Nella couldn't sense anything special about her. The only thing that stood out was her appearance, which only made Nella's blood boil further. Both that Hero and the knight standing beside him...
I'll make them regret this.
With that vow, Nella gathered her mana. She planned to utterly crush this pink-haired girl, then declare she had lost interest and walk out on the party. Once she had thoroughly enjoyed the sight of a panicked Georg and Elroy begging her to stay, she would take full control of the party and deign to return.
They can't recruit a mage better than me.
If she made them realize that absolute truth, pulling the strings of the Hero Party would be child's play. In a way, the Hero trying to recruit this mage was the perfect opportunity for her.
The two mages stood side-by-side at the front of the group, pushing deeper into the forest. Fortunately, the weather had cleared, and visibility was good.
Skreeeech!
With a grating, ear-splitting shriek, massive insectoid monsters emerged from the brush. Without a moment's hesitation, Nella channeled her mana into a spell and clenched her fist. A pale blue light surged from the ground beneath the beasts, and pillars of ice erupted upward, impaling them instantly.
"Watch closely."
Nella turned back with a smug smirk. Daphne had indeed tried to cast a spell, her right hand extended forward. Yet, no magic materialized from her fingertips.
"You should just stand there and watch—"
Nella's words reached Daphne, but she simply let them slide. Other people's words no longer held sway over her. Daphne cast a brief glance back at Elroy, then closed her eyes. She kept reaching out, trying to grasp the sensation pulsing deep within her heart.
When had it started? That feeling of something ticking inside her heart, like the gears of a clock. She was only ten years old when she realized that this ticking was her mana circle. With every breath she took, the mana in the atmosphere joyfully settled into her body. The circles spinning tightly within her heart grew sturdier and clearer with each passing day. Learning magic was pure joy. Even without books, Daphne could circulate mana through her body and manifest it as physical phenomena in the world.
Boom!
Nella Tar's magic exploded. With a flick of her finger, a pillar of fire erupted, charring the charging Hornhogs to cinders. Nella looked down at the dead beasts, her eyes filled with boredom.
"I'll finish this before a useless girl like you can even lift a finger."
With those words, Nella strode forward, venturing deeper into the woods. Sparks crackled from Daphne's hands whenever a monster appeared, but before her efforts could bear any fruit, Nella's spells were already complete. This time, it was a simple concentration and release of pure mana. A thunderous barrage of raw magical energy tore gaping holes through the monsters' bodies.
"To think a 4th Circle mage is groveling before me, unable to cast a single spell."
Nella sneered. Monsters continued to charge, only to have their heads pierced and their lives snuffed out by the relentless barrages of Nella's mana.
"Right, I remember hearing your name at the Adventurer's Guild once."
Crash!
Another monster met its end at Nella's hands. Nella wasn't even looking in the direction she was firing anymore. Her gaze was fixed entirely on Daphne, who stood with her head bowed after yet another failed casting.
"Weren't you that strange mage who wandered from party to party, unable to cast magic properly? Getting kicked out of every single group that was foolish enough to take you in."
Her first exile had been from her home village. Monsters had raided the settlement. She remembered it being a massive grey bear. Remote villages far from the cities rarely saw many monsters, so they lacked proper defenses. A threat as dangerous as a grey bear crossing into their territory was an exceedingly rare disaster. The village men had gone out to fight it. If they lost their home, they would have nowhere left to go. And so, the men died.
The clockwork gears inside Daphne whispered to her. You can defeat that thing.
So, she cast her magic. The grey bear vanished, leaving not a single trace behind in this world.
She chose not to think about what followed—the exile, the fear directed at her, the rejection. It didn't matter. To recapture that exact sensation, the feeling of mana leaving her fingertips at that very moment, Daphne closed her eyes.
Crackle!
Sparks flared from Daphne's hand, only to fizzle out once more. No longer paying Daphne any mind, Nella began to slaughter the monsters, firing off spells in rapid succession as if venting her frustration. Another beast appeared. Tireless, Nella prepared to construct another spell.
Crackle!
Once again, magic sparked in Daphne's hand before fading. But this time, her reaction had been faster than Nella's. Nella furrowed her brow, glaring at Daphne.
This bitch...
Her reaction speed was steadily increasing. Though she failed each time, the sheer presence of the magic she was conjuring was becoming formidable. If this continued, there was no telling what might happen. Nella hastily shouted toward Elroy.
"Isn't this enough by now?! Do we really need to see any more?"
But Elroy merely shook his head, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"It's not over yet."
What she had feared most at first was rejection. The premonition that no one would accept her. Even if they did, their eyes never truly looked at Daphne as a person. Surrounded by such people, Daphne had lived in constant terror of being cast aside. She was a piece of driftwood stripped of its roots. An exile wandering aimlessly after being discarded by the place she cherished most, a patient suffering from lingering trauma.
And then, she met Elroy.
"Let's go, Daphne."
The hand that had grasped her wrist.
"I'll believe in you. And I'll wait until you finally believe in yourself."
The words of trust he spoke, and the absolute conviction and faith that filled his eyes. The hand that had pulled her up from the rock where she had stagnated. The way his eyes blinked in flustered surprise when she scribbled on his bandages, followed by his wry smile.
"Daphne."
His voice, calling her name so naturally, filled with warm familiarity. His faint smile.
She didn't want to lose it. She would not let anyone steal the place where she belonged.
One by one, the chains binding Daphne's legs began to shatter.
What did exile matter anyway? Even if it was where she was born and raised, the people of that village had abandoned her. She had no reason to cling to them.
What did the Magic Tower matter? That professor had never taught her anything properly, only locking her away in his laboratory.
She had no reason to harbor regrets over the adventurers who had refused to trust her. There was no need to force herself to fit in with those who maliciously spread rumors about her.
If these memories of the past continued to drag her down, she could not stand by Elroy's side. She had to offer at least some small return to the man who had taught her how to trust, the man who had looked at Daphne Epiphone as a human being for the very first time. She could no longer remain a coward who feared other people.
Clink.
The sound of something shattering echoed. It was not the ominous sound of breaking glass, but a pleasant, liberating ring, like iron chains snapping apart.
Tick, tock.
The clockwork gears in Daphne's heart, which had been frozen for so long, began to spin furiously. The rings of mana that had stopped at four began to build a new ring, feeding on the debris of the shattered wall.
Tick.
The moment the fifth ring clicked into place within Daphne's heart, the mana that had been leaking wildly vanished in an instant, as if evaporating. In its place, a cluster of light that had never formed before began to bloom in Daphne's hand, carrying a devastating, destructive aura. It was the precursor of destruction magic.
One step. Daphne moved forward.
Nella whipped her head around, sensing the sudden, explosive surge of magic rising behind her.
"Lightning Bolt."
Daphne's lips parted.
KRA-BOOM!!!
A single bolt of lightning, erupting from her fingertips, incinerated everything in its path.