Volume 5 Chapter 246, The Recollections of the Girl Who Was Supposed To Be the Heroine_1 (: Lemon)

Translator: Nonon

Proofreader: Silavin

 

POV: Kriemhild

 

I was reminiscing about the past.

 

The blizzard had stopped, and thanks to the clear skies, I was able to return home from Shiki on the scheduled day, albeit later than planned. In the carriage on the way back.

Maybe it was because of the sunlight, but I was overcome by drowsiness and fell asleep. And I dreamt about my past.

 

I was born in a rural area on the outskirts of the Kingdom, where even the children closest to me in age were a few years apart.

I believe my Parents raised me with great care, and the elderly around us also doted on me initially.

However, I seemed to be a little different from other people, and caused some trouble to my Parents.

At first, it seemed that adults thought it was just a childhood thing where kids did something unexpected for the adults out of fearlessness, so I was taught that some things were ‘not okay’

But gradually, my Parents also started to sense that something wasn’t right.

 

“Haa! Hiya! Wind, Earth!”

“Ohh… she’s using magic even though there are no magic books in this village…! This child will be very successful on day…!”

“Ahaha, thanks a lot, Grandpa!”

 

I suddenly sensed mana, so I cast a spell following my intuition, and it turned out quite powerful.

I tilled the fields for the elderly neighbors with back problems and they were happy about it. Since they were happy about it, I thought I did a good thing, so I did my best to till more fields but then I got a little scolded. Apparently tilling all the village fields in one night was a bad idea. I don’t really get it, but Apparently the issue was that I left the house at night without telling anybody.

I got into trouble, so I guess I was in the wrong.

 

“Dad! You need to come at me more seriously or it won’t count as practice! If I’m going to defeat monsters, I need to be stronger to protect everybody!”

“W-wait, let’s t-take a break…!”

 

To protect my Family, I wanted to become strong enough to defeat monsters, so I decided to learn the basics of self-defense from my Dad, and we fought many times using a staff as a sword. I became victorious soon enough so I started fighting against the relatively young guys from the neighboring village too. After a while, nobody wanted to fight me anymore so I started to train on my own.

 

“Why was it wrong? There was a bad monster, so I defeated it! If it causes harm, it should be exterminated, right?!”

“No, that’s not it, Kriemhild. You don’t have to be the one to defeat it. The village chief places the request and the adventurers take care of it, that’s how it works!”

“I don’t understand, Dad! Isn’t killing a bad monster good?! Why are you angry?!”

 

When a monster slipped past the monster warding barrier and caused harm, I hunted it down, only for Father to get mad at me. Mother just wept in silence.

I know killing is wrong. But surely there should be no problem with taking down a threat labeled as a ‘monster’.

 

“Oh, that’s right. It was my fault for coming back without washing off monster blood, right? You are angry because I’m all wet and dirty, aren’t you? Who knows what kind of germs might be in them so I’ll make sure to wash it off properly next time, Dad! Mom!”

“No, that’s not it, Kriemhild… There is no need for a seven-year-old like you to do something like that… a girl who isn’t even an adventurer has no reason to put herself in danger…!”

“Ahaha, Dad! If you make a face like that, your happiness will run away! Let’s laugh, smiling is a very good thing, isn’t it?!”

 

Even though smiling was one of the few expressions I could understand, neither Mother nor Father smiled at me.

I wonder why. I’d been taught that speaking respectfully and offering a smile were good ways to show respect to others. Or was my polite speech somehow wrong, too?

 

“Dad!”

 

One night, a pack of monsters attacked the village.

Apparently, the monster-warding magic tool had broken during a recent storm, and they took advantage of the opening to slip inside.

A man skilled in something called ‘alchemy magic’ who had been staying with us since the storm managed to kill a few of them with bombs he’d made with alchemy magic. However, one of the monsters broke away and lunged at my Mother, so I instinctively took it down. Even if I hadn’t stepped in, I’m sure the man who used alchemy magic would have saved her. I was simply a little faster, but my body moved before I could think.

 

“…..”

 

Oh no. I’ve gotten dirty again.

Still, it couldn’t be helped. It was a beast-type, so there was a chance it could bite. If I didn’t take it down in a single blow before it sank its teeth into me, there was no telling how it might counterattack.

Ah, they just keep coming. The visiting alchemy magic user and the adventuring guards brought in because of the broken barrier are fighting them off too, but with those numbers, there’s no telling what would happen in the end, so I guess I’d better join in too.

 

“Ahaha”

 

Finding a spear nearby, I thrust it deep into a monster, but it got stuck and became unusable.

A sword came flying my way, so I picked it up and used it instead, but after a few strikes, it became too slick with blood to grip, so I threw it to take out one of the beasts.

Having lost my weapons, I resorted to my bare hands and teeth, somehow managing to bring down one more.

 

“Kriem… hild…?”

 

All the monsters had been defeated.

I hadn’t managed to kill that many myself, but thanks to everyone else stepping up, we somehow pulled through.

Ah, but I’ve gotten even filthier. I’m going to be scolded again. Still, I defeated the bad monsters, so surely I’ll be praised for it, right?

And yet, Mother looks even more terrified than before. The monsters are all gone now, so why would that be?

 

“Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

 

I didn’t really get it, but I decided to smile. After all, I was taught that smile could help ease the fear.

 

“It’s okay, Mom! There are no monsters anymore! We all defeated them so there shouldn’t be any danger anymore! And please praise me for defeating bad monsters!”

 

To put her at ease, I approached my Mother with the biggest smile I could manage.

I spread my arms, signaling that I wanted a hug.

 

“Eek…!? Stop that way of talking and laughing, it’s creepy!”

 

But Mother was scared of me and didn’t praise me.

It seemed I really was different from the others. I should have known it all along, but I seemed to have forgotten it.

 

◆

 

The next day, the man who would later become my teacher taught me alchemy magic,

 

“Listen, you should live… true to yourself.”

 

Even though my Parents… my Family stopped talking to me much, my teacher said this and taught me various things other than the alchemy magic for a while.

He patiently answered my questions about things, teaching me a lot while treating me with respect, just like the Family I used to admire.

 

“When you reach adulthood, enroll into the Azalea Academy. And learn.”

“Learn!? What is it that I am to–what am I supposed to learn?!”

 

And I was told to attend the academy once I came of age (at fifteen)

My teacher told me not to shut myself away, and instead to look at a variety of people.

In response to my question, my teacher…

 

 

“Find someone you cherish… Even if they’re–”

 

He said it with a smile, one that was different from mine and felt more affable.

At that moment, I think I learned with a sense of nostalgia what a smile truly was.