196. I Cannot Allow It
196. I Cannot Allow It
Carlos's decision shocked not only Lucia but others as well, and it caused an uproar from all sides.
The Imperial family, the Phrygias—voices of concern came from everywhere.
Among them, he remembered Lemnos, who had made the loudest fuss.
'I just heard, you're going to pick your fiancé through some duel? Have you lost your mind? You're not thinking of throwing away your successor, are you?'
'....'
'After putting in all that effort for twenty years, you'll regret it if you do this now.'
'It's none of your concern.'
He wasn't wrong.
Carlos had not taken another wife after losing his first.
Lucia was the sole bloodline who could inherit the family.
Lucia was a fragile daughter, but Carlos believed in the potential she held within.
Therefore, believing that Lucia could surpass him, he taught her just as he himself had been taught.
He trained Lucia to be a rock swordsman—firm, strong, unshaken by anything.
In truth, Lucia was a genius who showed far steeper growth in her youth than he himself had.
He was convinced that what he could not achieve, Lucia would be able to.
That was the realm of a Master.
Thus, he came to expect a great deal.
He had no choice but to manage her more strictly.
Raising his daughter as a son was entirely because of that.
Lucia was the successor who would follow after him.
This position was one that a weak woman would struggle to bear.
One had to subdue the bandits who constantly appeared, aiming for the ore, and dealing with the magical beasts that emerged from the mines was also the Family Head's duty.
Beyond that, flexible management of the territory in response to rapidly changing circumstances was necessary.
To endure all this, one must possess a steadfast will.
Lucia had to become the head of the Russell family, unwavering and strong.
Because his daughter Lucia was inherently too kind, he raised her even more strictly.
He had absolutely no intention of carelessly handing over Lucia, whom he had raised so preciously, to some unknown person.
Yet the reason he had said such a thing this time was because he felt Lucia had become too lax after going to the Academy.
Her room was filled with useless objects like dolls, unbecoming of a rock swordsman; she associated with a delinquent student with many problems, carelessly lent out the family name, and even sobbed uncontrollably.
She had completely broken all his teachings that she must always live like a rock, so he had spoken in a fit of anger.
No matter how he thought about it, he believed he had done the right thing.
He knew Lucia wanted to grow up like a girl after realizing her sexual identity, but she would have had no idea what it meant to grow up as a noble's daughter.
She would come to realize that rather than marrying an unwanted partner, it was far better to live as a Family Head capable of making her own choices.
No, she had to realize it.
Having been shocked to this degree, she would have understood what a good life she had been leading.
Only about three days had passed, but it was enough time to correct her mindset.
Carlos recalled a past incident between himself and his father.
Back in the days when he had just achieved the upper ranks of Expert and his self-confidence soared to the sky, he clashed with his father and eventually shed bitter tears upon realizing his father had been right.
It was terribly painful to gain that realization, but he did not consider it suffering.
It was his father's love.
Though he had been harsh, just as he himself had done, Lucia too would come to understand everything when the time was right.
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Gazing at the distant sight of the Academy, Carlos Russell thought to himself.
'So I ended up coming after all.'
He had thought he would return, but he hadn't expected to come back so soon.
That was because he had intended to maintain Lucia's punishment for at least several months.
However, with the Phrygias, Lemnos, and others interfering so noisily from elsewhere, he had no choice but to come and check on the situation midway.
He would have to find a suitable pretext to end this and think of another method.
Bringing the honor guard along was also for that purpose.
Unlike last time when he had come unofficially and secretly, this time it was to clearly show that Russell had arrived.
When he reached the Academy's main gate, the person most familiar to Carlos was waiting on the other side to greet him.
"Last time you came secretly, but this time you've arrived quite splendidly."
"... Professor, it has been a long time. Have you been in good health?"
"I would have been, if you hadn't kept slinking around doing those strange things."
"It was a necessary part of my successor's education... I apologize for causing a commotion."
It was Gordon Freeman, who had served as his professor during his school days.
Though he was now the Headmaster rather than a professor, to him, he was still the professor who had guided him.
"If you were going to do this, you should have come by boat. You look like you're here to pick a fight."
"I am simply uneasy about floating on water. I prefer land routes whenever possible."
"The semester ends next week, so I must see my daughter."
"I shall summon her. I will lend you a reception room, so please see to it that you do not destroy it..."
"I am no longer a troublemaker."
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This time, instead of storming directly into the women's dormitory, he waited quietly in a guest reception room located in the Academy's annex.
There were no other people around.
It was thanks to Headmaster Morgan having cleared out anyone unrelated so they couldn't even approach.
Even if it were a trivial conversation between parent and child, if it concerned great nobles like the Five Pillars, it became valuable information to be sold.
Therefore, powerful security magic had been placed on the reception room.
The location was also secluded, minimizing the chance of other students accidentally passing by.
-Family Head, the young master has arrived.
After waiting a moment, the butler who had accompanied him to the Academy spoke from beyond the door.
"Very well, tell her to enter."
-However... she has one companion with her.
"... If Lucia brought them, tell them to enter together."
-Drrrk
When the door opened, Lucia entered the room with a male student.
His eyebrow twitched at the fact that she had entered with a man.
Aside from the displeasure of a man entering, there was one more thing that greatly annoyed him.
He was extremely short.
He had to look down for quite a while—was his height... around 150? He seemed even shorter than that.
Who on earth could he be that she brought him along?
It was maddeningly curious.
He had clearly told her not to associate with delinquent students, and if she hadn't come to her senses, he wouldn't let it slide.
"Who is that next to you? We have important matters to discuss; did you really need to bring him?"
"This person is the strongest student in the Academy, just as you requested."
"This is...?"
At Lucia's words, Carlos doubted his eyes.
The strongest student in the Academy that Lucia had brought... was incredibly short.
He wondered why it bothered him so much that she had brought the Academy's strongest student, just as he had said, and it seemed it was because Lucia was holding his hand tightly.
Lucia's body, which had been trembling while looking at Carlos, calmed down a bit once she firmly held the male student's hand.
"...If you had apologized, I intended to consider the incident that day as if it had never happened... but I see you seem to have taken a liking to this instead."
Carlos admitted that his thinking had been completely off.
Because Lucia had hated the idea so much, he had never even considered this scenario.
He hadn't imagined she would come to like a marriage partner who wasn't of his choosing.
He felt displeased, sensing that her aspect as a 'woman' had grown stronger than he had thought.
The moment Carlos finished speaking, Lucia suddenly embraced the male student.
Seeing that, Carlos's eyebrow twitched once more.
And Lucia looked at Carlos confidently and spoke.
"Yes, I... I'm going to marry this person...!!"
"What... what did you say??"
At that moment, Carlos's world collapsed.
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The name of the male student who had come with her was Atlas Nemea.
It was a name he had heard at least once before.
Hadn't he heard that he had defeated Lemnos's successor?
It was certainly true that he was strong, so much so that no one would doubt he was currently the strongest in the Academy, even as a freshman.
"I cannot allow it."
"...Why not? Atlas meets all the conditions you spoke of, Father. Surely the Sword of the Five Pillars wouldn't fail to keep the promise he made to all the students?"
It was an incredibly astonishing thing.
Lucia, who was always intimidated when standing before Carlos, was now speaking very aggressively.
She had been cowed even up to the moment she entered the reception room, but it was as if she had become a different person.
Had she grown in the short time he hadn't seen her?
Putting aside the joy of his child's growth, he looked at the problematic Atlas once more.
A blonde, short, cute... a man resembling the dolls Lucia liked.
'Is a student like this truly the strongest among the Academy students? He even defeated Lemnos's successor?'
It was a fact hard to believe.
Short stature was a weakness.
A smaller body meant a shorter range and less muscle mass, leading to weaker strength.
Did he perhaps use magic well?
If it was true that he was the Academy's strongest, then as declared, he would have to accept him as Lucia's fiancé, but Carlos could not acknowledge him.
That was because he possessed a very significant flaw as Lucia's partner.
"That child's height is far too short. He is not suitable for Russell."
"..!!!!!"
The moment he finished speaking, Lucia was visibly shocked.
He had merely stated an existing fact, so what on earth was so surprising to make her react like that? Carlos was so frustrated he felt like sighing.
"To enter our family, the basic requirement is a height of at least 180cm."
At that instant, Carlos's vision was dyed white.
'What is this?'
The white turned to black as his vision blacked out; he felt an impact on his head, and then he saw the blue sky.
'I was... knocked down?'
———————————-
"Huff... huff...."
There had been some kind of plan, but it was gone.
The moment he mentioned my height, my mind went blank, and when I came to my senses, I had planted my fist in Carlos's face.
The greatest characteristic of Russell, who used the Rock Sword, was circulating the earth's ley lines and the body's aura to become one with the ground as if his feet were stuck to it. I had beaten Carlos, whose legs were practically rooted to the ground, causing him to collapse.
Carlos would likely think it was impossible, but it was possible for me.
That was because Russell's Rock Sword and Titan's Mountain Sword were fundamentally the same swordsmanship.
My body, being in an identical state, interfered with Carlos and disrupted his unification.
Well, it wasn't something he could deal with just by knowing about it.
After all, this was a realm that only became visible upon reaching the Extreme.
The plan I had initially thought of wasn't this.
But I couldn't remember it anymore.
Anyway, one of my goals had been to show Lucia that she could do it too—by toppling Carlos, who for her was an invincible symbol that could never be knocked down—so you could say it had been achieved now.
"Tch...!!"
Carlos, who had fallen, sprang back up.
The eyes that had been constantly furrowed, the face that had been rigid—they relaxed with a pleasant expression after taking a punch.
Ah, whatever.
I was going to beat him up anyway, so this worked out perfectly.
But this bastard, did he just say I was short?