Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Reason for Distrust (7)
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Failure.
Scarlet never imagined that word would come from the mouth of the teacher who had mentored her.
The shock was so immense that Scarlet stared at her teacher in a daze.
"F-Failure? I... I..."
"A mage who can't properly cast spells in real combat has no choice but to be weeded out."
"I-I can overcome it! I can fix it!"
"When? In what lifetime? Scarlet, I know you well. The fact that you came to me means you've surely tried everything already. And yet you still failed."
"That's..."
"I know you were an outstanding student. If even you failed, then... there's no hope for it."
"T-Teacher. P-Please, help me!"
"No, I have nothing to offer you. In fact, you've helped me."
"Me?"
Scarlet couldn't understand what her teacher meant.
But the words that followed were far too painful for her to accept.
"From now on, we'll incorporate training sessions into the academy curriculum where students face not just two or three monsters, but entire hordes. We won't make the mistake of letting a flawed child like you graduate at the top again."
"H-How... Teacher, I thought you'd help me..."
"If there were hope, I would have."
That statement was her teacher's declaration that Scarlet's issue had no solution.
"Now go. I have a meeting soon."
"...Ugh!"
She had come with the hope that her teacher would provide a way to solve her problem.
But that hope had been shattered cruelly, leaving her to face the worst possible outcome she never saw coming.
Scarlet, who could barely accept the harsh words from the mentor she thought had led her to the top,
bolted out of the academy as if fleeing reality.
"No... no! I'm not... I'm not a failure. Surely, surely I can get better. I can solve this problem."
As she denied the words of the man she thought was her mentor, images of her family surfaced in Scarlet's mind.
"Father, Mother, Brother, Sister..."
It hurt so much.
It was so sad.
She had tried to overcome her issue, but her comrades abandoned her, and even the mentor she trusted called her a failure.
Scarlet didn't want to return to her family now that her problem was exposed.
She didn't want to show her pathetic side to them.
But in her current state, Scarlet couldn't cling to her stubborn pride anymore.
It hurt, it stung, it was cold, and she was lonely.
Father would comfort her.
Mother would embrace her.
Brother would hold her close.
Sister would soothe her.
Let this aching heart be healed, and try again.
Let this aching heart be comforted, and overcome it once more.
With those thoughts in mind, what awaited Scarlet at the Burnings estate was...
"What kind of face is that to come back here with, Scarlet?"
A cold expression on her father's face that she'd never seen before in her life.
"F-Father?"
"How dare you return so shamelessly after tarnishing the family name, Scarlet."
"T-Tarnishing? I didn't..."
"Did you think I wouldn't know? About your problem. About the disgrace you caused when I sent you off expecting great things."
"H-How...!"
"At first, it was just a bit of interest and affection. I even had you watched so I could hear news up to the nearby villages. The first month went smoothly. But after that... it was nothing but shame."
Scarlet's father,
the head of the Burnings count family, looked at her not with the affectionate gaze he'd always had, but with the cold appraisal one gives an object.
"The essence of magic lies in overwhelming hordes of monsters with sheer power. It's the mage's unique privilege, something no one else can do. But not only did you fail to achieve that—you couldn't even maintain your spells mid-cast? Do you know how humiliated I felt hearing that?"
"F-Father..."
It wasn't just Scarlet's father; her mother standing beside him also gave her a frigid look and spoke.
"I knew you tried hard after that. But... it was all for nothing, wasn't it? Sigh, why did I have to give birth to a child like this? With problems like yours, it's embarrassing to even send you to another family. I doubt any house would even propose a marriage with such a defect."
"M-Mother?"
Scarlet could hardly believe what she was seeing and hearing.
Her parents, who had always looked at her so warmly,
who had praised her proudly with words full of love,
now regarded her like a useless object.
"Get out. I can't even stand the sight of you right now."
"A-Ah..."
This is a dream.
A nightmare.
Her father and mother would never say such things to her.
After the teacher she trusted, now hearing sharp, icy words and gazes like frozen blades from the parents who had loved her since childhood—Scarlet couldn't accept it right away.
But no matter how much she denied it, reality didn't change.
Even her brother and sister, who had returned to the mansion, treated Scarlet the same.
Her brother called her a disgrace to the family and shot her a look of disgust.
Her sister mocked her and prayed only that some noble would send a marriage proposal her way.
When she approached her father and mother again, they still looked at her like a defective product and told her to stay quiet until a way to "use" her was found.
It didn't take long for Scarlet to accept this nightmarish reality.
What her family had loved,
what her teacher had devoted himself to,
was not Scarlet herself, but merely her talent as a mage.
Beyond that, Scarlet as a person was just an extra—utterly dispensable.
"Ha, haha... hahahaha!"
The moment she accepted that truth, laughter burst from Scarlet.
After the hollow laughter came...
"Don't... make me laugh."
"Don't make me laugh!"
Rage at being betrayed by those she loved.
Rage at being betrayed by those she trusted.
And rage at herself for foolishly believing in them.
Tears streaming down her face, Scarlet burned with fury.
She didn't want to stay in this repulsive house any longer.
She couldn't bear even a minute more in a place that saw her as nothing but an object to appraise.
Scarlet left the Burnings estate.
Without using the Burnings name, she registered as an adventurer simply as Scarlet and wandered from place to place.
"And so, after joining and parting with various parties repeatedly... I met Nellis and Aria. That's my weakness and my old story. That should be enough, right?"
Scarlet shared her past and her problem with Kalt.
Because she'd heard Kalt's story.
Because she'd brought it up first as an equal exchange.
At first, she thought she'd gloss over the issue and just tell the old tale.
But as she recounted her history, the emotions welled up, and she ended up spilling everything honestly.
Then Scarlet watched Kalt's reaction.
She didn't expect much.
He'd probably just hear it out and worry about her problem, at best.
Or maybe he'd look at her like her old comrades who abandoned her—as useless baggage—or with the same eyes as her family, whom she didn't even want to call family anymore.
But...
"Scarlet."
Gently placing his hand on the back of hers,
Kalt said,
"That must have been tough."
"...!"
Startled by the warmth on her hand, Scarlet pulled away.
"W-What are you doing?!"
Scarlet panicked.
This was only the second time she'd gotten such a reaction.
The first was when she'd told Nellis and Aria about her past.
Nellis had sobbed uncontrollably—still comically, in hindsight—and Aria's eyes had welled up with sadness.
She hadn't cried, but... Scarlet never expected Kalt to react this way, so she was flustered.
"Ah, sorry. I did it without thinking."
"No, you don't really need to apologize. But suddenly holding hands surprises a person."
"Yeah, I guess so. ...Scarlet."
Kalt, who had been gazing at her with pity and sympathy, now looked at her with steadfast eyes and said,
"Let's do our best."
"Do our best? At what?"
"What else? Solving the problem."
"...What?"
"Sure, your issue is fatal for a mage. But that doesn't mean I think it's impossible to fix. Your problem can definitely be solved. I'll do everything I can to help make that happen. So let's do our best, Scarlet."
"..."
Scarlet fell silent.
His words made it hard for her to respond right away.
'What is this? What the hell... is he saying?'
Because it was the first time.
'Do our best?'
Even Nellis and Aria had pitied her but never rashly suggested solving her problem.
'It can be solved?'
No one had ever said they'd tackle her issue head-on or claimed it could be fixed like Kalt did.
'Those kinds of... words...'
Those words were
'Don't say them so lightly.'
words she desperately wanted to hear, even if spoken casually.
'It might not be solvable.'
Words she wanted to hear at least once, even if that were true.
'You'll do your best? For my problem?'
She thought no one would ever worry over her issue with her or help solve it.
But.
Someone who said exactly that appeared.
Not her first party comrades, not her mentor who taught her, not her family she loved.
Kalt, whom she'd known for only a few days, gave her the words she'd longed for most.
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Ah..."
A single tear traced down Scarlet's cheek.