Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: 14. The Youngest Daughter of the Swordsmanship Clan (5)
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"I'm not Lorenzo's child. And my goal is to kill everyone in the Fiorelle family, including Lorenzo."
Lucia spilled the information all at once.
"I figured someone like you wouldn't fall for lies."
Quick judgment is a good trait, but it's hard to avoid stumbling when you're the one on the receiving end as the subordinate.
"Ah, well... I do appreciate your honesty, but..."
Let me summarize the information gathered so far.
She was likely the sole survivor of the Fiorelle family from the second loop.
At the same time, she wanted to kill the entire family, including Lorenzo.
Therefore, she was the sole survivor and the true culprit who wiped out the entire Fiorelle family.
Just a probability, of course.
But that raises new questions.
She's strong, but not enough to take on SS-rank hero Lorenzo.
She'd faint from blood loss after just a few minutes of fighting—how could she pull that off?
That's the first issue.
Next, why did she want to kill them?
If she's not Lorenzo's child, why use the Fiorelle name and stay here...?
"But that's impossible, right?"
Lucia's words cut through my thoughts.
"So, I just want to leave this place."
"Leave?"
Lucia gazed quietly out the window.
"Abandon the castle. After winning the duel tournament, I wanted to request to give up the castle."
The winner of the duel tournament could claim the Fiorelle castle.
She hoped for the opposite possibility.
She seemed to believe that since she already held the Fiorelle castle, she could forfeit it as the tournament prize.
I doubt that would work...
"...That would be impossible too, wouldn't it?"
"If you know Lorenzo's personality."
"Right... He stubbornly sticks to swordsmanship that doesn't suit him, and I thought winning might change things..."
Lucia murmured indifferently.
"Still, I needed something like that."
She knew it was impossible but needed it as a means of self-justification.
She said it so calmly it felt like someone else's story.
But it must have taken a long time to become that detached.
"What do you mean you're not Lorenzo's daughter?"
"Hmm. Before that."
Lucia pointed to her face.
"Mind if I answer while getting ready?"
"Go ahead."
Lucia stood up carefully, placing her feet on the floor outside the bed, and staggered.
I reflexively reached out and caught her.
"Ah... Thank you."
I've never met a superhuman this frail...
Sitting in front of the mirror, Lucia carefully unwound her bandages.
Out of courtesy, I turned away, and Lucia let out a light laugh.
"You're kind."
"That's what I hear most in life."
At the joke, Lucia laughed purely, "Ahaha."
After laughing, she cleared her throat a few times, as if her throat hurt.
Then, with the soft sound of bandages falling, Lucia spoke.
"Do you know about the Fiorelle family's hierarchy culture?"
"Not as well as an insider, but I'm pretty knowledgeable for an outsider."
"I see. Then you must find it even stranger why a superhuman like me is like this."
"You know it well."
"Well... I'm a bastard child."
I'd half-expected it when she said she wasn't Lorenzo's child.
A daughter born between one of his wives and another man, not Lorenzo.
But even that assumption was shattered.
"And my mother wasn't a Fiorelle either."
"...?"
"You know there's a hierarchy even among Lorenzo's wives?"
The top rank among Fiorelle children is naturally the firstborn superhuman son.
Andrea di Fiorelle.
Below him cluster a few superhumans who received the family name from outside.
At the very bottom, the normal children born to Lorenzo compete for the lowest ranks.
Naturally, the mothers of those, excluding Andrea's biological mother, occupy the bottom ranks too.
With so many wives to spread his seed, competition among them must be fierce.
A rootless adventurer who rose to nobility on skill alone, but Lorenzo's prowess is undeniable.
There aren't many nobles on the continent treated as well as the Fiorelles.
So, to enjoy those benefits, even the wives must compete.
Even if producing a superhuman is pure chance.
"I know to some extent."
Outwardly a bold hero, but inwardly he ranks people by skill, grace, and his tastes.
A bit crude, but a warrior who climbed to his position through battle prowess alone.
My vague knowledge of Lorenzo's personality took shape through Lucia's testimony.
"I was just... the child of an ordinary couple on the outskirts of the Fiorelle earldom. One day, while helping my parents, I realized I was a superhuman. I couldn't control my strength while milking a cow, and it went berserk."
Lucia smiled broadly, as if imagining the moment.
It wasn't entirely a happy smile.
"Then... one of Lorenzo's wives found out. She secretly used her private soldiers to threaten my parents."
"Threaten?"
"Yes. She said she'd take me as her daughter. She had miscarried at the time, so she was at the bottom of the hierarchy, and luckily, we had the same hair color."
...I can picture it.
"But my parents refused, so that woman... Madeleine resorted to kidnapping. After bringing me to the castle, she locked me in the basement for days and forced lies on me. She said Lorenzo was away when she miscarried, so I was the child from then, that I hadn't died, and that I'd become a superhuman after growing up. She brainwashed me with that story."
"At first, I hated it... but she threatened my parents, so I had no choice. She said she'd kill them if I didn't obey."
"So I did it. Lorenzo fell for it surprisingly easily."
"But... it was only a matter of time before it came out. Some suspicious wives investigated Madeleine, and my father was caught first."
"Lorenzo raged at Madeleine for cheating but didn't lay a hand on me. After all, I was a superhuman of the Fiorelle family. Instead, the object of her affair—my father..."
Lucia paused briefly.
In that moment, I heard the sound of bandages wrapping around her face.
"...In the end, it came out that I wasn't even Madeleine's child. After that, my mother was chased out of the Fiorelle earldom, and I awkwardly stayed here... living like this."
Nobles' bed affairs and family dramas are common enough.
I knew Lorenzo yearned for a noble life.
But did he have to emulate this too...?
"All that happened just two weeks after I entered the Fiorelle castle."
"But if the family hated you that much, couldn't you have just left on your own?"
"Right. I thought so too and tried. But they wouldn't allow it."
"They specifically wouldn't let you leave?"
"Yes. I thought about why... He was happy to have a superhuman born under him, but when he realized it wasn't true, he must have been furious. He probably found me irritating for no reason. Since I was already using the Fiorelle name as a superhuman, stripping me of it and kicking me out arbitrarily would devalue his own castle, right? Something like that."
She stated these cruel facts calmly and detachedly.
What surprised me more was her analysis and judgment.
She sharply pierced Lorenzo's thoughts and feelings toward her.
I don't know the truth, but it felt right somehow.
It matched the personality of the Lorenzo I knew.
And from her story and family history, she probably hasn't met him much...
It was so astonishing I let out a hollow laugh.
"...Ha."
"Entertaining?"
"So entertaining I'm about to faint."
"Good."
"But... has your health been like this since childhood?"
"No. This... I don't know. It started suddenly after entering the Fiorelle castle. My skin, my condition..."
"It wasn't like this before, but suddenly? No burns or bad food—nothing like that?"
"Yes. So at first, even Lorenzo paid some attention to me as a superhuman, but then he started scorning and ignoring me. We tried treatments, but they didn't work. My fighting style seemed crude, my skin looked like this, and my stamina lagged... eventually, I became useless."
I couldn't confirm it, but something was off.
Congenital illnesses can persist even after becoming a superhuman.
But they usually weaken.
Lucia was fine before becoming a superhuman and after.
Then suddenly deteriorated after entering the Fiorelle castle?
"...Have you ever met Andrea?"
"I think I've glimpsed him once."
Lucia might have, but Andrea likely heard quite a bit about her.
As the second superhuman child after him.
No matter her backstory, he'd have to care.
No way...
"Help me."
"...Pardon?"
"I know I'm not the type to win the tournament... I admit it. But I still want to leave this place."
Tap tap.
Lucia patted my shoulder.
When I turned, Lucia, her face wrapped in fresh bandages, was close.
As I turned, she placed her hand firmly on my shoulder.
"You can help, right?"
It meant that since I spoke with the prince, this should be easy.
"...Ha."
Even so, spilling everything to a stranger felt too much.
Was this her goal?
Bold, but I couldn't hate her for it.
"Think of it as payment for an interesting story, if you would."
Lucia smiled and stepped back.
"I know it's forced. Yes. I just... tried."
Stepping back, she turned her gaze to the window again.
"It's the first time someone's offered help. I wanted to ask. You seemed like you'd listen..."
She truly wished for that goal but knew it was natural I wouldn't grant it.
Like her obsession with abandoning the castle despite knowing it impossible.
She knew she couldn't casually ask me for help but said it anyway.
I organized my thoughts briefly.
Lucia di Fiorelle: the sole survivor and culprit of the Fiorelle family's annihilation in the second loop.
I looked into her as a potential risk... but she's not evil, per se.
Considering what Lorenzo and his family did, it might even be normal rage.
She probably hasn't told me everything.
The petty harassment, disdain, contempt from hierarchy battles.
Things like that.
Even earlier, when I carried her and asked the attendants for water, some awkwardly left the room.
I thought it was ignorance or because I'm the prince's acquaintance.
But they might have deliberately ignored Lucia.
As seen with the attendant who initially disdained me.
This entire family seems molded in Lorenzo's image.
Her talent overflows.
I want to know more about her character...
Suddenly, I recalled the moment I first saw Lucia.
"The person handling the duel tournament registration at first..."
"Ah, yes."
"Is he family too?"
"Yes. A low-rank normal, so he does all sorts of tasks."
Back then, Lucia was humiliated excessively in front of others.
That led me to her, but her treatment was harsh.
Yet Lucia only showed regret, not anger or argument.
She calmly tried to persuade instead.
"For someone who wants to kill the entire Fiorelle family, you were remarkably calm."
Lucia smiled faintly.
"Just a passing thought. I'm not one to cling to impossibilities. Honestly, I don't crave it that much... And I don't think they all deserve death. Many have no connection to me."
But second-loop Lucia did it.
So, two conditions.
Lucia gains the power to do it.
Lucia encounters a trigger to resolve to do it.
In other words, current Lucia hasn't met that trigger yet.
Soon the prince will clean this place up, so I might preempt or eliminate the trigger.
"I'll help you."
"...Huh? Yes?"
Lucia looked stunned, as if it was completely unexpected.
"But aren't you curious who I am?"
"...Ah."
For the first time, Lucia stammered in embarrassment.
Seeing her calm expression shift so vividly was quite novel.
"R-Right... Um... Sorry. You know who I am, right? You approached knowing?"
"Correct."
"S-So... who are you?"
Why she suddenly fell ill.
I could guess, but it's not certain.
But it doesn't matter to me now.
I know the disease and have a way to cure it.
"Ian. Manager of a hero party."
"Ah, a manager... So you're here for the duel tournament."
Lucia nodded in understanding.
Judgment and boldness suiting her calm nature.
Overwhelming talent reminiscent of Kaily.
Impossible not to covet.
Mindful of the elixir hidden in my subspace pouch, I asked her intent.
"Any desire to become a hero?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Gustav von Brehem trembled upon receiving the letter from Henry Somerset.
The first prince had come to Fiorelle City.
With the military police in tow.
That alone told him much.
The letter also requested outside help.
'Damn... If not for those Sacred Unified Nation bastards...!'
He was still at Kaily's camp, helping her.
Gustav's bait to draw in Lorenzo was simple.
Once, Lorenzo had boasted to Kaily about giving her his castle, but she repaid him with a near-death experience instead of an answer.
Afterward, Lorenzo kept wanting to give her the castle, but it was impossible.
Gustav had previously connected them by giving Kaily free funds.
Using that, he lured Lorenzo: he'd speak well of receiving the castle, so help him.
Lorenzo, swayed by Kaily's name and Gustav's ties to the 1st Party, was convinced.
But naive Lorenzo spilled everything, worsening the situation.
'Running now... impossible. That loose-lipped Lorenzo's probably blabbed my name too. Henry might rat me out. Low chance, but...'
Henry's demand was simple.
Knowing Gustav was still close to Kaily, bring her.
Her presence wouldn't clear Henry or Gustav's suspicions or innocence.
They knew that.
But it could confuse or hesitate the prince.
'Then maybe escape via Edgar's secret path...'
Only if he could bring Kaily.
Gustav lacked confidence to convince her.
Meanwhile, as Gustav pondered...
Word of the duel tournament buzzed at Kaily's camp.
Someone mentioned Ian, who had greeted the prince.
Resting in her tent, Kaily heard the name.
'Ian? That guy's nearby...?'
This place wasn't far from Fiorelle City.
Kaily quickly sobered up.
The desire to eliminate Ian, who'd been gnawing at her mind, surged instantly.
Late, but it had to be done now.
'...Yes. This is duty and responsibility. Payment for not killing me back then.'
Emerging from the tent, Kaily declared.
"We're heading to Fiorelle City immediately. Prepare the carriage."
Though capricious, no one objected.
Hearing it, Gustav quickly planned.
He'd go with Kaily to calm things.
"Lady Kaily?"
"What."
"I know Fiorelle City. May I guide you?"
"Do as you like. As long as we go."
Gustav inwardly cheered.
Kaily set off for Fiorelle City.
*
Ediphus easily cooked Lorenzo.
His mouth opened like a lockless door.
Currently staying at this castle: friend Henry Somerset.
And out briefly: Gustav von Brehem.
Their names came out quickly.
And one, Henry Somerset, had just arrived before the prince.
"Y-Your Imperial Highness..."
"Sit."
Sitting beside Lorenzo, Henry shakily sipped tea.
A moderately formal gesture.
Ediphus had no intent to end them here.
More testimony was needed.
"Somerset. Your father was a fine teacher."
Henry's father was executed as one of the Anti-Imperial Alliance.
"The past is regrettable."
"N-No, sire..."
"I was moved hearing you're carrying on his cause."
He phrased it to keep Lorenzo ignorant.
"His grand plan is too vast for one man. Even Lorenzo here shares that cause."
Lorenzo smiled, thinking it praise.
Henry, knowing the meaning, paled over time.
"As imperial prince, I can't ignore it. Who else besides you?"
The first prince said.
"I'll praise them personally, so speak freely."
Snitch.
"Especially you, the ringleader—I can be extra lenient."
Then, your life might be spared.
"......"
Henry didn't take it at face value.
His goal wasn't rebellion from the start.
Just simple revenge.
Anti-Imperial Alliance was mere justification for it.
Thus, even in this suffocating situation, Henry didn't yield easily.
He played a card to unsettle the prince.
"...Kaily."
"...What?"
"Beatrice, Aria, Sylvia. The four from the 1st Hero Party are with us."