I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord Page 8

  There was a girl with familiar sparkling platinum hair staring at him from behind the duke’s back, as if trying to hide.

  “It would seem that your condition has stabilized.”

  “Yes,” Dale said, looking on the surface as if he’d regained his composure as he responded to the duke. But internally, his disturbance and confusion was boiling up to a peak. The gears in his mind were spinning around so fast that they were almost flying off their axles.

  “Your beloved daughter that I’ve heard so much about has arrived. She came out of concern. It seems she truly cares for you.”

  “...Yes.” Unable to think up a better response, he gave a short reply. With his mind so completely and utterly out of sorts, that was the best he could manage.

  In more ways than one, he just wasn’t mentally ready yet.

  Would it be bad to run away...?

  It took his all to shove that pathetic option back out of his mind.

  By his side, the girl he should have been fully familiar with looked quite unfamiliar as she formally thanked Duke Eldstedt.

  “I am deeply grateful for your generous favor, my lord.”

  He was such a high-ranking noble that a normal commoner could never hope to stand in his presence even once in their entire life. But even so, though she did seem nervous, Latina didn’t tremble or flinch.

  Along with her dignified, beautiful appearance, her conduct was also elegant. Even when dealing with such an elite, she didn’t look at all abashed.

  “Pay it no mind. It’s been a feast for my old eyes.”

  From the way his eyes grew gentle as he responded, it was clear that she’d earned his favor. As Dale realized that in the back of his mind, he spotted a fluffy tail wagging along behind her.

  He barely avoided bursting into laughter.

  No matter how adorable Latina may have been, that alone wouldn’t have been enough to capture the duke’s interest. In his position, the duke would have grown completely accustomed to seeing beautiful noble ladies. However, there likely weren’t so many girls with the natural beauty like she had to overwhelm all those around them.

  In that case, there must have been something else about her that had caught the duke’s interest.

  First, she was Dale’s adopted child. She was both his greatest weakness and also the easiest way to incur his wrath. It was abundantly clear that if anyone foolishly laid a hand on her, no matter who they may be, he would throw all his might towards getting back at them.

  Her unusual hair color also drew attention. It was a rare hue, even though it wasn’t a mana trait. Its shine wouldn’t even lose out to any jewelry, and it was still unusual even in the imperial court, where the rare and curious gathered.

  But more than all that...

  L-Latina... Why did you bring the “dog” here...?

  It would be strange for someone to not be interested if they saw the pup walking behind her. Vint stretched out his wings, which were usually hidden, and scratched away at his neck with his hind leg, relaxing and doing things at his own pace enough to make Dale feel vexed.

  It may have spoken to the current chaos in Dale’s mind that, more than Latina’s sudden appearance, he was questioning the fact that Vint had accompanied her. While seeing off the duke, who left the room with an expression on his face that seemed to say he’d want to hear things in detail later, Dale was still internally striving to get a grasp on the situation.

  Thanks to the chaotic state of his mind, he thought, I’ll talk as much as you want, as long as it’s about how cute and adorable Latina is, and what a good girl she is! And his thoughts continued on with, Seeing her in person should be proof of just how adorable she is! Though perhaps his confusion had nothing to do with it.

  He couldn’t help but feel jealous as Vint opened his mouth wide and yawned.

  Latina remained calm, and her sense of decorum didn’t crumble. Dale had never seen her like this before. He’d always thought of her as a cute, little girl. But those words didn’t fit the beautiful girl that stood before him now.

  Now, of all times...

  Seeing her like this, he had no words left to object to the people around him who had rebuked him for being so blind.

  It could only be said that he’d shut his eyes and ignored reality up until now.

  Even to Dale, the girl in front of them now looked truly grown up. Some of her childish cuteness still remained, but more than that, he realized she really was maturing into a beautiful woman.

  While listening to her voice as Latina greeted Gregor, he realized why it hadn’t felt real to him.

  “Latina...”

  “What is it?”

  “Why... are you here?”

  He was still in shock, so Dale’s question was brief and blunt, but it was still enough to cause Latina’s expression to soften. Her overly composed, almost frightening beauty crumbled, and she regained her usual adorableness.

  “I... heard you... were sick, Dale...”

  “Yeah.” The second he heard her voice grow hoarse, he thought, Shit.

  Large tears came streaming from her big grey eyes.

  He was already plenty aware of just how terribly, ridiculously weak he was to this girl’s tears.

  “B-But you heard that I just need a bit of recuperation time and that it isn’t anything serious, right?!”

  “Yeah,” she said, sobbing and giving a small nod, and then she continued, “but, but... I was scared... so scared! I just couldn’t calm down until I saw your face...!”

  Dale was left confused, but when she kept on talking, he finally understood the reason behind her dismay.

  “I was scared that I’d lose you... like Rag...!”

  He’d heard about her real father quite some time ago. She’d been young and her vocabulary had been lacking, so her story was missing some elements, but he’d still understood.

  Even though her father hadn’t been especially strong, he had continued to protect her over the course of their journey, until everything caught up to him and he ran out of strength, collapsing in that forest. The direct cause of his death was illness: a magical element malfunction.

  She had once lost someone precious to her to illness. Apparently the word “illness” held an even more grave meaning for her than he’d thought.

  “Latina...”

  “I’m sorry... I’m sorry, Dale. I won’t be selfish anymore. I won’t say anything that troubles you...! So, so... don’t go away...! Please, let me stay by your side...!”

  Ah, that’s right. She’d always been like this.

  She’d lost her family and home when she was very young, so even though children should never need to worry about such things, she’d always tried to protect her own place, where she belonged. She had decided that she needed to be a good girl, never acting childishly selfish or throwing a fit.

  Dale had found that part of her personality heart-breaking. He’d tried to pamper her and would have been fine with her acting selfish or mischievous. Wanting her to let her be herself, Dale had wracked his brains for ways to let her do so.

  He’d always wanted her to speak her true feelings rather than forcing them down along with her desires. That’s why that response wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear.

  He stretched out his arms and hugged Latina, whose shoulders trembled as she sobbed.

  Seeing Gregor tactfully leave the room from the corner of his eye, he pulled her in tight.

  “Latina...” he whispered, only for her to draw back. “I’m the one who should apologize. I’m sorry for worrying you, Latina.”

  Her response got caught in her throat and she was unable to speak, so Latina simply breathed heavily in Dale’s arms.

  “I’m sorry... There’s a lot I want to say, and a lot I need to say, but... sorry.”

  Latina lightly shook her head as he stroked her hair. Just when had her hair grown this long? He slid his fingertips through it. It had only smelled of soap when she was young, but now he noticed that it had a swe
et perfume-like smell to it.

  “Latina... I... I’m not your father, but I’m always by your side, so... No, that’s...”

  Latina clung tight to Dale’s clothes, showing her unease. Trying to clear away that worry, he stroked her back and wiped away the tears caught on her long eyelashes.

  “I want you to stay by my side... from now on, too. Will you stay with me, Latina?”

  “Dale...?”

  He forced down his embarrassment and wore an awkward smile on his face.

  Dale recalled sitting close to Latina like this before and seeing his own reflection in her teary eyes, and just as he was doing now, he also remembered hugging the sobbing girl tightly.

  “I’ll definitely die before you do someday, though.” He had said the words he whispered next before, but she heard a different meaning in them now. “So until that time comes, will you stay with me?”

  “Dale...!”

  “Can we just leave it at that for now? When you’re a little older... I’ll, um... I’ll say it a little more properly.” Thanks to embarrassment and a strange sort of pride getting in the way, he wasn’t able to say any more.

  As Dale spoke ambiguously and his gaze wandered, Latina looked straight at him with teary eyes. “Dale, Dale... Um...!”

  “Yeah?”

  “I love you.”

  “Y-Yeah,” said Dale, his voice cracking. After having spoken so indirectly, he hadn’t expected her to say it so bluntly herself.

  “I love you. I’ve always, always loved you. You’ve never been a ‘father’ to me, but you’ve always been the most precious person to me, and the one I loved most of all...!”

  “Ungh...” Having her so close and looking up at him, Dale once more realized how almost painfully beautiful Latina was. But even so, he withstood this first blow, then noticed Latina had turned pitifully red all the way to the tips of her ears.

  Her teary eyes possessed more than enough impact to make a man’s heart tremble, but they also reminded him of the sobbing girl back when she was young. He felt truly relieved to see that her actions still had some childishness left to them. It showed that there was still a grace period left before they would bare their hearts to one another. When the time came, he’d be ready for their relationship to change.

  “Dale... I... I want to stay with you forever...”

  “...Right. I promise. I’ll stay with you until the day I die.”

  Having regained a bit of his composure, Dale gave Latina a kiss on the cheek, just like he had then.

  †

  “Split apart?” Vint said from under the bed, looking up at the pair as they hugged one another. Lacking Gregor’s tact, the beast just kept on doing things as he pleased.

  “I don’t really get what you’re saying, but I do know that it’s pissing me off,” Dale replied as he glared straight at Vint, even though he knew it was foolish to expect delicacy from an animal. The beast was so out of the ordinary that even though it was illogical, Dale wanted to think he could expect that, but apparently he couldn’t. “Ah, right, Latina, be sure to have Rose give you a proper exam later. It may just be a light case, but I do have a magical element malfunction, so you could end up catching it.”

  The possibility was slim, but Latina was so precious to him that he couldn’t help but worry.

  “It’s alright. I can’t catch a magical element malfunction,” Latina responded with a smile.

  “Huh?” Dale questioned, dumbfounded.

  “I can catch mild illnesses, but I can’t catch the really dangerous ones that can be fatal, like magical element malfunctions,” Latina replied as if that were completely obvious.

  “Why is that?” Dale had never heard this before. Latina looked confused by Dale’s reaction.

  “Rag told me. Just like how ‘the power of demon lords doesn’t affect those who are protected by the gods,’ it also doesn’t affect ‘those who are protected by fate.’ He said, ‘Latina, you’re protected by fate, so you’ll be fine.’”

  “I’ve never heard that.”

  “Really?” Latina stared blankly, apparently finding what she’d said to be perfectly natural. Dale figured “those who were protected by the gods” likely referred to people with high-ranking divine protection, but he hadn’t the slightest idea what “those who were protected by fate” meant. Now that he thought about it, he felt like she’d said she was “protected by fate” before.

  “Latina... what is the ‘fate’ that protects you...?”

  It took a bit of time for her to answer.

  “I don’t really know.”

  Dale forced down his desire to press her further. If he let his emotions drive him and threw question after question at her before she could respond, she’d get scared and pull away. She was strangely stubborn, after all. If he made the wrong decision, she probably wouldn’t talk to him about this again.

  “Latina... is that... a bad thing for you?”

  “I don’t know...” Latina repeated, and then looked at Dale. Seeing how concerned he was, her expression grew a bit troubled. “Um... I really don’t know. That’s how things have been for me ever since I was born, and my parents treated it as completely natural, too... I didn’t know it was different for other people.”

  “...I see.”

  Now that she’d said that, Dale couldn’t pursue the matter further. He understood because his own divine protection was similar. He knew that it was difficult to explain such a thing with words alone to someone who lacked it.

  Dale switched topics to a different question, one he had asked before but still hadn’t gotten an answer to. “Well then, Latina... Why are you here?”

  “Huh?”

  “I mean, I asked Gregor to send a message to Kreuz after I arrived in the capital... That should’ve only been three days ago. It just doesn’t add up.”

  That was the reason Dale found it so strange that Latina was here. Dale knew how to ride a horse, and if he rode one while casting healing magic, he could push things and arrive in two days. Latina didn’t know how to ride one, though, so she would have needed to ride in carriages, and even if she hit every connection perfectly, that would still take at least a week. No matter how Dale thought about it, it just didn’t add up.

  When Dale pointed that out, Latina’s body stiffened.

  Dale was familiar with that reaction, as well as the expression on her face. It was a reaction that was very easy to read, and he’d seen it since she’d started playing with friends who had gotten up to the sort of pranks and mischief fitting for their ages.

  As Latina’s heart would pound as she looked at him, Dale would think, She’s so easy to understand, it’s adorable! What could she be planning?! and then purposefully fall for the prank, just to see her reaction. She’d be on edge as she stared at him when she succeeded, looking pleased with her accomplishment, and it took everything he had to not break out in a smile. Those really were happy memories.

  Dale continued to question her, not letting his feelings as he reminisced show on his face. “Did you leave Kreuz without telling Kenneth?”

  Latina shook her head in response. “No. I made sure to get his permission. He told me to make sure I was properly prepared if I was heading to the capital.”

  As she kept talking, Dale broke out in a cold sweat.

  “I tried to run right out as soon as I saw the message, but he got angry and said I shouldn’t...”

  Even for an adoptive father and daughter, Dale and Latina really were strangely alike.

  “Then Latina... what did you do?”

  “Um, you see... Vint and I...” Latina’s gaze drifted about as she hesitated. Finally, she made up her mind and started to tell what had happened as if confessing.

  “Woof,” the pup beside her responded, so calm it was almost refreshing.

  †

  The letter from the capital was short and sweet, but it also conveyed all the information it needed to, clearly noting that Dale’s illness wasn’t serious and that he was c
urrently being treated by Rose and other high-ranking Niili priests.

  And yet, Latina was still thrown into an absolute panic.

  Sensing that she was ready to impulsively fly out of the Dancing Ocelot, Kenneth firmly restrained her. “Latina!”

  “Let me go! I need to go to where Dale is!”

  He put some strength into his grip as he grabbed her arm, and Latina wasn’t able to escape by shaking and flailing about. Even so, she looked up at Kenneth with a firm glare. “Let me go!”

  A dangerous light blazed in her grey eyes. Kenneth saw it, but quietly yet firmly replied, “You can’t do that.”

  Latina recoiled a bit. Kenneth had once led a party of adventurers, so his voice alone was enough to cause that.

  “Latina... Trying to run off to the capital like that would be rash...”

  Having lost her chance to jump into the conversation, Rita hugged Latina from behind, her face pale. Rita was pregnant, so Latina couldn’t forcefully throw her off. Kenneth took his hand off her arm.

  “But... but!” Latina’s voice trembled as she powerlessly shook her head. Nevertheless, she kept looking up at Kenneth as if trying to persuade him.

  Looking her straight in the eyes, Kenneth quietly stated, “If you’re going to the capital, then you need to prepare properly first. You should know that traveling isn’t so easy that you can just head out without readying your supplies and plotting your route.”

  “Huh?”

  “Kenneth?” Rita asked, also surprised by his words.

  Paying no heed to their reactions, Kenneth looked over towards the regulars. “Sylvester, do you have any trustworthy acquaintances in the capital?”

  “I might have a few.”

  “In that case, go ahead and write letters of introduction for Latina. Is anyone here familiar with the highway to the capital?”

  “Yeah. My clients are mostly around there.”

  “I want to know about the latest trends on the highway and the names of inns that are safe for female travelers to stay.”

  “In that case, wait till tonight. I’ll talk with some other guys and figure things out in detail.”