Chapter9 - Trauma

「Thank you for the delicious meal.」

After finishing the fruit for dessert and drinking the after-dinner tea…

Lou clasped his hands together again and prayed silently for a while.

Not a thanksgiving prayer to God, but a silent prayer?!

Both Fran and Adelaide seemed puzzled why Lou did the same thing before he started eating.

Immediately, curiosity set in!

Adelaide gave him a look.

「I get it.」

Fran nodded and asked Lou curiously about what he had just performed.

「Is that an Ar… uhm, a custom of the city you used to live in, or what?」

「Arlv? Fran almost blurted out, and then hurriedly rephrased it.」

But Lou slowly shook his head and denied it.

「Hmm, not exactly. I usually do this before meals.」

「Oh~ Lou, is it a meaningful deed?」

「It does have a meaning. It’s a way to express condolences and gratitude to those that became food. It’s also an expression of gratitude to the people involved.」

「Food and people involved?…Condolences and thanks?」

「Yeah, of course. Animals and plants have a life, don’t they?」

「Yeah, that’s true.」

「Of course, we need to eat to survive. One thing we can do is to express condolences and be grateful every day, not to take for granted that we are able to live at the expense of the lives of our food.」

「I see…So that’s your condolences and appreciation for food.」

「Yes, and one more thing. The meal would not be possible without the farmers who grew the wheat and vegetables and raised the pigs; the delivery men who brought the food to our city; and the chef and servants who prepared the food itself.」

「Indeed! If any one of them is missing, we will not be able to eat…right? I get it, that makes sense! I’ll do the same! Thanks for the delicious meal.」

After saying that, Fran also folded her hands together and prayed silently, just like Lou.

Adelaide smiled at the sight of her beloved daughter.

After a few moments of silence, Fran opened her eyes and saw that Adelaide was not folding her hands…

「Come on, Mother! Let’s give thanks for the food together. We have to be grateful for everything.」

She puffed up her cheeks a bit and urged Adelaide to offer a silent prayer as well.

***

After dinner, at the magic lab in the Countess of Dumer’s residence…

「So, it seems that Zeimon’s report was incomplete. Fran, can you start from the beginning?」

Adelaide sniffed grimly with a 「Hmph.」

While she understood Zeimon’s loyalty and care…

Her personality was averse to wasting time on the same project.

She wanted to immerse herself in the study of magic efficiently, without wasting time in the limited time she had!　

This has been Adelaide’s motto since she was young.

Knowing her mother’s character, Fran didn’t waste time talking and explained the incident in a straightforward manner.

「Hmm, deformed demons that wield magic…」

「Yeah, they came out of nowhere in huge numbers…It was night, so I can’t tell for sure…I think they were over a hundred.」

「…………」

「I used offensive magic, and my knight escorts also fought desperately, but…they were tough, and we were outnumbered.」

「…………」

「My knight escorts were hell-bent on…shielding me…and let me escape. It was a close call, but…Lou saved me.」

Fran muttered mournfully and let out a single breath.

When Adelaide heard the story, she gave her a dubious look.

「I get what you’re saying, but isn’t it weird?」

「Weird?」

「Yes! It’s weird. Fran, you can definitely cast a spell to detect enemies, so they shouldn’t have just attacked and took you by surprise in such numbers.」

Adelaide was mystified.

She never thought that the spell she taught her daughter would be totally ineffective…

「Yeah…That’s what’s so weird. Even when I was with Lou, they tracked me and came to me. Lou detected them, but I couldn’t.」

Fran seemed equally mystified.

Adelaide turned to Lou with a puzzled expression.

「Lou, how did you know they were coming?」

「Hmm, is this the scout spell that Fran was using?」

Lou muttered something, and then…

Suddenly, magic was activated.

「Eh?! Eeeh!」

There was no chanting and almost no pause before Lou’s magic was activated.

There was no doubt.

This…This was Scout Magic.

The magic wave aura coming from Lou was probably the result of the transformation and activation of the caster’s magic power, which was channeled through a Scout Magic technique.

「Uh, yeah, Lou. It certainly is! Oh, that thing you invoked is a Scout Magic…」

Fran muttered dumbly.

On the other hand, Adelaide’s eyes widened as she stared intently at Lou. Then she croaked, 「Huh.」

Fran asked, as if she couldn’t take it anymore.

「Lou! What about the magic technique? I didn’t hear a word or a spell.」

「Fran, I imagined it in reverse from the point where it would emit something similar to the magic wave you released. With this kind of magic, you can do it without chanting.」

Lou answered reasonably, but Fran was astonished.

「T-This extent!…I knew it… you are amazing…」

Unlike his usual self, Lou gave Fran a pointed look.

「Fran, we’ve actually recovered their corpses. I want Adelaide-san to see them…can I put them out here?」

「What?! Their corpses?!」

Fran let out a small yelp and began to quiver.

This seemed to have brought back that horrible memory.

All of a sudden, she got agitated.

「Lo-Lou? W-Where? Where are you? Hold m-me, don’t let go!」

Fran hugged Lou and shouted some more jumbled words, and then plopped on the ground.

「Fran!」

Adelaide cried and hastily tried to activate her Calming Spell, but Lou held up a hand to stop her.

「Lou, what are you going to do?」

「Adelaide-san, well, leave this to me.」

After speaking…

Lou held Fran in his arms and began to chant Kotodama.

「O Wind, the breath of the earth, that shakes the trees of the forest, whose whispering is a lullaby to all living things! O Water that nurtures life on earth, whose great blessing grows into an ocean, and whose rippling waves are the music of the mother’s womb! I seek that peace! I grant that peace to those I love!」

Lou clasped his hands together, and a white light filled them.

「Calm remission!」

A white light covered Fran and filled the room further.

「Ahhhhhh!」

Fran, who had been on a rampage, quietly drifted off to sleep…

Leaning toward Lou.

Meanwhile, Adelaide’s eyes caught a glimpse and what a sight it was.

She saw her loved ones, now deceased, in the illusion created by the white light.

The apparition was her father, her mother, and the person who smiled at her one last time…

It was her beloved husband, the Count of Dumer, who had been Adelaide’s greatest advocate.

「Y-You!」

Despite knowing that it was an apparition, Adelaide called out to him and reached out her hand in vain…

Before long…

When the white light subsided, standing at the end of her outstretched hand was…

Lou who was holding the unconscious Fran in his arms.

「I’m sorry, Adelaide-san. I was rash…Fran hadn’t quite recovered from that.」

Adelaide slowly shook her head at Lou, who bowed, while embracing Fran.

「No, it’s okay, Lou. Fran has to get a lot stronger than this.」

「…………」

「But, you know, she’s not ready to walk out on her own yet.」

「…………」

「Lou, I think you may be an angel sent by God.」

Lou laughed silently when she ended calling him an angel of God.

Then, he offered to carry Fran to her room.

***

After gently laying the unconscious Fran on the bed in her room…

Lou and Adelaide faced each other again.

Since Adelaide wished again…

Lou took out the corpse of a deformed demon who attacked Fran from his storage bracelet.

In the sub-space within the storage bracelet, where powerful magic has been cast, the flow of time has stopped.

The decomposition of the corpses remained since the attack.

Adelaide frowned at the damaged remains of the demon, which the knights apparently slayed.

「It’s a little over a meter tall and looks more like a kobold goblin than a human. Did you use magic with this?」

「Yes, I’ve been using fire magic, the Fireball Fireblitz. Looking at their physique, they don’t seem to have much stamina, but they do seem to have a fair amount of strength and agility. The body is based off of a pseudo-life form, a homunculus. I see it as a synthetic creature chimera of goblins and the spirits of wizards.」

「Why can’t Scout Magic detect them?」

The spell failed to work…

That was what worried Adelaide the most.

Lou answered those questions as well.

「Adelaide-san, Scout Magic is magic that identifies enemies by sensing their menacing magic wave aura, right?」

「Yes.」

If that’s the case, it’s probably because they’re synthetic creatures, which means the quality of their natural magic waves may have been altered.　

「Lou, please explain in detail!」

「For example, if the magic wave is forcibly changed into a harmless herbivore thing, we won’t be able to detect it as a dangerous presence, would we?」

Lou smoothly expressed his opinions…

Adelaide exhaled in admiration and clapped her hands in delight.

「I see! You’ve made some very astute observations. Well, people who created such things are not good people. To begin with, even such golems are used by wizards; the church considers it the work of the devil to disregard life, which originally only God could handle.」

「Right…but why was Fran targeted?」

Lou asked Adelaide if she had any idea…

She folded her arms in thought and gave him a troubled look.

When he probed further, she laughed wryly, 「I don’t know. There are too many reasons.」

Adelaide quipped laughingly, but…

She was extraordinarily talented and has risen quickly in her career.

Her husband died early, but she was able to live a happy life with her beloved daughter while immersing herself in the study of magic.

She certainly knew that all these things would make the world jealous and envious.

「This time around…I’m thinking I’m probably the reason they went after Fran. It’s all my fault, so I must apologize later. And you…I haven’t thanked you properly yet.」

Adelaide clasped her hands together apologetically and bowed.

「Thank you once again. Thank you, Lou Brandell-sama, for saving the life of my precious daughter, Fran. I, Adelaide Dumer, am deeply grateful.」

Adelaide might have bowed her head deeply…

But when she raised her head, she was smiling mischievously for some reason.

「Lou, I’ll be sure to pay you back separately…」

Adelaide hesitated, but she still had something to say.

She looked into Lou’s face and clearly stated what she wanted to say.

「Lou! Please! I’d like to know what you’ve been through. And tell me about the magic you’re learning!…I’d like to take my time listening.」

Adelaide pleased with eyes even brighter than when she was listening to the story of Fran’s attack.