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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Down with the Hero! Death to the Emperor!
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Daphne was a truly awful child.
"-Ugh, look at your hair color. It's weird. It's the color of ditch water mixed with weeds!"
"-Why is your face so annoying? It makes me sick just looking at you. Don't you dare raise your head in front of me."
"-Get lost! I don't want to be in the same room as the likes of you!"
She was the kind of child who said such things every single day, every single moment.
Bipera had tried to care for Daphne diligently, just as their mother had wished, but instead of being cared for, she was only tormented.
If she had been Daphne's real 'older sister,' she would have given Daphne a stern scolding. But Bipera wasn't her 'real sister.' Now that the mother who had brought her in was dead, she was just a commoner child who had been lucky enough to be adopted... one who could be thrown out at any moment.
That was why Bipera couldn't refuse Daphne. She had no choice but to endure Daphne's harsh words. She didn't want to be kicked out of this house. She wanted to live here forever.
To Bipera, her room was her own impenetrable fortress. It was located in the main building, a place Daphne never visited and where even the servants didn't pry.
So Bipera hid herself away in her fortress. She hid in her room, her castle, and avoided Daphne. It had been six months.
Coming to see Daphne this time had taken a great deal of courage. She had spent an entire month losing sleep, agonizing over the thought that if she missed this chance, she would never get another. This was the result of all that deliberation.
So, naturally, she had come fully prepared, expecting Daphne to unleash a torrent of verbal abuse and beatings, just like before.
But...
"Why are you making that face? I said I'll let you meet the elf, just as you asked."
...Why is she agreeing?
Bipera's mind went blank. The bewilderment she felt was even greater than the fear she'd had of Daphne. Clasping her trembling hands, she darted her eyes around.
"Bipera. Are you not going to snap out of it?"
"Huh? Wh-what? N-no! I'm sorry! Don't hit me!"
"..."
Daphne narrowed one eye.
It had been a while since she'd seen a reaction like this. It made Daphne realize once again just what an irredeemable little monster this body's previous owner had been.
"I'm not going to hit you."
Daphne let out a sigh and calmly clasped her hands together, as if to show she meant no harm.
"Not now, not ever. I won't hit you. So don't be afraid."
"Th-that's a lie."
"Whether it's a lie or the truth, you'll find out by watching, won't you? I'll say it again: I will no longer hit anyone without reason."
"..."
Bipera felt the tension that had been weighing on her shoulders somehow begin to ease.
Has she really changed?
Will she stop hitting and cursing at me now?
No, no. I won't believe it. It doesn't matter anyway. The important thing is that I can meet the elf!
"Y-you'll really... let me meet the elf?"
"It's not a difficult task, so it's possible."
"Thank you!"
Seeing Bipera's bright smile, Daphne pushed aside her discomfort and asked again.
"But why do you want to meet an elf?"
"W-well... um."
Bipera scratched her cheek and mumbled.
"I-I'm making a potion... b-but I keep failing... a-and an elf doctor would be an expert in herbology, s-so..."
"Aha. So that's the smell I've been noticing."
"I-I smell?!"
Bipera lifted her arm, buried her nose in the crook of her elbow, and sniffed, but she couldn't smell anything.
It made sense. The herbs and substances used in alchemy usually only gave off a faint scent, one that was naturally imperceptible to a human nose.
Daphne's sense of smell was stimulated because she still had the habit of using her five senses to their fullest, a holdover from her time as a dragon.
However, Bipera, unaware of this backstory, just thought Daphne was saying something strange.
"It's a scent that only the great me can detect, so don't worry."
That's definitely weird.
It seemed Daphne hadn't just changed, she'd also become strange in some way, Bipera thought.
"But if it's potions, isn't that alchemy? Aren't dwarves more knowledgeable in that field?"
Bipera's brow furrowed slightly.
"Dwarves... Mm. Dwarves are b-better, but."
"It's not just a matter of being better. Dwarves are the true experts in alchemy. Meeting some stupid elf won't do you much good."
"Th-that's..."
"As great as I am, even I can't connect you with a dwarf."
"No! That's not it!"
Bipera squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.
"It's because I can't trust those crazy bastards!"
How Daphne, a five-year-old brat who spent all her days cooped up in her room, knew that dwarves were the race most knowledgeable in alchemy was of no importance to Bipera.
Bipera, who aimed to become a great alchemist, was like most practitioners of the art—once she fixated on something, she could see and hear nothing else. And right now was one of those times.
That's right. She was fixated on cursing out dwarves.
"What I want to ask the elf isn't how to successfully make the potion. I want to know if these ingredients I have are all legitimate!"
Her timid and frail impression had vanished. With flashing eyes, the shouting Bipera looked like a completely different person.
"I bought all the ingredients from dwarves. But as you know, those guys are nasty, right? I give them money, but they won't give me the goods! And you know what they say? If you want Prinan leaves, you have to go chop firewood! To a shut-in like me! Of course, I did chop the wood! But it didn't end there! They said if I wanted Hupul wings, I had to go hunting with them! I really didn't want to, but I went! And I got them! But! I'm a little suspicious! A little? No, a lot!"
After venting her indignation for a while, Bipera suddenly caught herself and snapped her chin back.
"S-so, if I ask an e-elf, who supposedly d-doesn't lie... I th-thought I could find out if they're r-real or not... so..."
Daphne, who hadn't been listening to more than half of what Bipera said, finally turned her gaze.
To be meeting with dwarves, obtaining ingredients, and making potions at such a young age meant she had a considerable amount of talent.
And from what little she'd heard, it seemed she'd earned the dwarves' favor. Those folk wouldn't even bother with someone they didn't like.
But there was a problem.
'That Teiti fellow doesn't lie?'
Every time he opens his mouth, a lie comes out.
Daphne pondered for a moment, then shrugged, figuring this was just a trial Bipera would have to overcome to become a great alchemist anyway.
"Letting you meet him is not a difficult task."
"Really?! Can we do it now? Huh?"
"However, there is a condition."
"...Huh? A c-condition?"
Before Bipera could finish her question, Daphne's eyes flashed.
Is she going to hit me again?!
Bipera squeezed her eyes shut.
But what came was not the palm of a hand, but strange words.
"Tell me about the Hero. It would be great if you could tell me his weaknesses or the right time to kill him. And about me, too, as a bonus."
"..."
Something about Daphne has definitely become strange.
It's nice not being hit,
but is it really okay to leave Daphne like this...?
***
*Hah. Hoo. Hah...*
As Daphne ran her eighth lap around the training grounds, regulating her breathing, her mind was filled with the words Bipera had left her with.
"-Th-there's not m-much to say about Father... A-as you know, m-me, Arius, and Brother Rache were... w-we were brought here by Mother. I-it wasn't what Father wanted. S-so after Mom passed away, we... w-we grew very distant..."
She had confirmed once again that the Hero was a trash father. And that the adoption of the three siblings older than Daphne had been entirely their mother's doing.
But that wasn't the important part.
It was what came next.
"-F-Father always m-moves according to H-His Majesty the Emperor's orders... A-at most, maybe t-twice a month...? But... a-after the order to k-kill the dragon last time, th-there haven't been any. Th-that's why F-Father is h-home so often now."
An order to kill a dragon?
"Ugh...!"
Daphne clenched her fists tightly and let out a pained groan.
Who dares to order whose death!
"Aaaargh!"
Unable to contain her fury, Daphne sprinted across the training grounds at full speed.
She didn't even notice the knights who had been watching her awkwardly get up and start running too.
*Hoo, hoo...*
So, the Hero came to kill me on the Emperor's command.
The reason for my death lies more with the Emperor's will than the Hero's.
Then, the question is.
'Why did that bastard Emperor want to kill me?'
Had I brought any harm to this empire?
Well, being a calamity, I can't say I caused no harm at all, but I don't think I caused any major incidents.
'Did they provoke me while I was living peacefully?'
Daphne's eyes blazed with fire.
'That goddamn human Emperor...!'
Fine. This is for the best.
The Emperor?
You'll be the next one I kill, right after the Hero.
And I will seize control not only of the Hero's family but the imperial court as well, and I will crush them all!
"Down with the Hero! Death to the Emperorrrr!"
Daphne burned through her stamina as she ran, and the knights followed behind her, each of them clapping.
