Chapter 8

Inside the house, although awkwardly, I think we are managing to get along as sister and younger sister. I hold back the urge to cry, “I’ve never been told such words,” when I see Father, Mother, and my older brothers and sisters praising me in front of me, and I don’t even show it on my face.

When we arrive at the academy, it’s a little sad that “Onee-sama” becomes “Liliane-sama,” but when she apologized, saying, “I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable because I’m not used to it yet, Liliane-sama,” I decided to stop asking her to call me sister.

When I drew attention because of Nina’s voice and felt like I stood out, I ended the conversation. It felt like she was talking to me as if I hadn’t accepted her as a step-sister, and I didn’t know what to do.

But at home, she even hugs my arm and smiles at the other family members, saying, “Liliane-onee-sama is so kind to me!” I really can’t understand what’s wrong.

Putting aside the feelings I can’t quite put into words, Nina seemed to be doing well. She started having lunch with her classmates and was always surrounded by people. The beautiful her was attracting the attention of the boys. Of course, there were no boys who openly approached her, a mage under the protection of a duke. It was probably because her classmates had asked them to subtly protect her.

Her academic performance was still lacking, and she was receiving remedial classes for adoptive children, but she was trying hard. The results weren’t great, but everyone progresses at their own pace, so I was just watching for now.

Nina’s practical magic skills, especially in light magic, were excellent, and she was allowed to participate in the hunting party as an exception, even though she had only been enrolled for less than a month. Professor Amado, who was in charge of light magic, advised her not to talk about it much to avoid jealousy from others.

Among other things, there was a strong sense that they wanted to see her rare light magic in practice. It was probably related to the country or the academy. Healing and purifying monsters were the two abilities they wanted to confirm. I was instructed to focus on supporting Nina rather than achieving hunting results.

I wondered why a mere student like me was chosen for this task instead of the adventurers or teachers arranged by the academy. It seemed that Nina was afraid of adults and had requested it. She had wanted to accompany Prince Reynold, but it wasn’t possible to have her go with the group heading into the deeper areas, so I was chosen for the task.

When a teacher said, “I can trust you, Aigrette,” I thought it was a bit too much, but I wanted to respond positively. It wasn’t praise from the family, but I felt a sense of joy when I was needed.

Father’s record from his student days of the academy’s hunting party. I had intended to challenge it to get praised, but I accepted the task to protect Nina, who was about to have her first practical experience. I hoped this would be an opportunity to get along better.

I prayed that nothing would go wrong and that the hunting party would be a success, but it seemed my prayers didn’t reach heaven.

“No...! Nina! Let’s go back to everyone!”

“Eh, the other girls are unnecessary, aren’t they?”

We were a party of four, including a girl responsible for detection with wind magic and another with excellent long-range support, but we ended up splitting up as we followed Nina, who kept moving forward. I couldn’t leave her alone, so I followed, but after instructing the others to call for help, I hoped they had managed to join the teachers.

I knew I should send a distress signal while moving, but I couldn’t do it without stopping. I was at a loss because Nina wouldn’t listen to me.

This hunting party originally had very few female participants. I was supposed to go deeper alone to hunt for points, but I had asked the other party members to give up on the deeper areas with high-scoring monsters this time.

Since it was Nina’s first practical experience, I only planned to hunt in the shallow part of the forest and hadn’t prepared for anything else. I hadn’t anticipated that she would push so far into the deeper areas.

So far, the monsters have been defeated by Nina’s light magic purification, so she doesn’t seem to feel any sense of danger. I would have gone deeper alone, but I don’t have the confidence to protect her while fighting, even if I’m used to supporting in battles.

What should I do?

“Up until now, I haven’t had any trouble defeating them, you know. Or are you so bothered by my achievements?”

“There are strong monsters that can appear suddenly here! Please, listen to me and go back to everyone!”

Nina’s behavior was becoming more and more aggressive, and she was swinging her arms wildly, casting purification light. A large, slime-like creature covered in moss, like a small hill, appeared from the deeper part of the forest, mistaking the dead monster for prey. It was a slime, and Nina, who didn’t have any detection methods, only noticed it when I shouted... too late!

I shouted and ran towards her.

“What are you doing! Run!”

“No! Ah! Gyaah!”

Since I hadn’t engaged the monster first, she was paralyzed with fear and couldn’t move. She didn’t seem to hear my voice. She was wildly swinging her arms, casting purification light, but it was ineffective against the slime, only burning the surface. If she could purify it with high output, it would be different, but in her panic, she couldn’t properly cast the spell, and most of it dissipated.

The slime, which seemed to dislike the light, was only being provoked. I realized that if it hardened its body and hit Nina with its mass, she wouldn’t be able to protect herself. I had to reach her before the slime got into battle stance.

“Hiss, ow, ugh”

“...Guh, ugh...!!”

In the midst of the chaos, I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her away forcefully. The slime’s body hit the ground where she had been sitting, creating a crater. Another attack was aimed at her legs, so I grabbed her by the collar and rolled away.

I remember taking a hit to my leg. The slime, now in battle stance, was a threat beyond a student’s capabilities. It would instinctively try to kill all living things in its vicinity until it couldn’t move anymore, without any sense of pain or intelligence.

I could burn smaller slimes with magic, but a large one like this, covered in moss, was not something to be tackled alone. I knew it was foolish, but I was the only one who could fight here.

The slime had no long-range attacks and moved slowly, so we could have run away, but it was impossible to carry another person of the same size. There was only one option.

“Haa, haa... haa, cough... haa...”

I had no time to think and had to do something reckless. In the end, I thrust my arm into the slime and burned it from the inside. My left hand, which had been burned, was in tatters, and it throbbed with every heartbeat. It felt like my hand was all nerves. It hurt so much.

The parts that weren’t hit also hurt, but it was overshadowed by the pain in my hand.

The slime, which had exploded from the inside, was dying, making a “squeaking” sound as its body fluids vibrated.

...My head was fuzzy.

Ah, that’s right... Slimes are usually burned to death, so this forest, which is the stage for the academy’s hunting party, has had a large one survive for years because no one wanted to deal with the trouble. Even if it was detected, no one would hunt it because it didn’t provide noticeable results. It wasn’t a scary monster if you didn’t get close, but it needed to be addressed in the future.

I was staring at the slime’s dying body, thinking about things I didn’t need to think about right now.

“I’m not the one to blame! You’re the one who got hurt on your own! I would have noticed and dealt with a slime calmly!”

The explosion was so close that my ears were ringing. I knew Nina was saying something, but I didn’t have the energy to respond. I could have had a conversation if I tried, but it was more important to get away and call for help.

I told her, “Let’s get away before other monsters come and I’ll call for help,” and grabbed her arm with my uninjured right hand, dragging her away.

I was tired, in pain, and had forgotten to be concerned about Nina, who had just gone through a terrifying experience. When we reached a clearing where the sky was visible, I sent a distress signal as per the academy’s regulations and sat down.

After defeating the slime and reaching a sunny spot, I felt my guard drop.

Before I knew it, I had lost consciousness from the pain and woke up in my bed, two days after the hunting party had ended.

“Anna...?”

“Oh, Miss...! You’re awake?!”

I tried to sit up, but my whole body hurt, and I couldn’t even sit on the bed. My mouth was dry, and Anna gave me a sip of water to wet my lips.

According to Anna, I had been rescued by teachers and adventurers who responded to the distress signal and had been unconscious for two days. Anna, who had been taking care of me without sleep, had dark circles under her eyes and was crying with relief.

I felt guilty for worrying her, but it was also a relief.

“I’ll call Lady and Duke.”

“Anna... Leave that to someone else and rest. I can’t forgive myself if you collapse because of me.”

I convinced the reluctant Anna to leave and soon, my parents came in, followed by the servants.

“You’re awake! Liliane... Why did you do such a thing?!”

“Taking Nina into such a deep area for her first practical experience! It could have been a disaster!”

“...Eh?”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what they were angry about and couldn’t respond.

Seeing me frozen, my parents continued on their own.

“To let Nina participate in the hunting party, saying you would take responsibility, you were overconfident in your abilities. Fortunately, nothing serious happened.”

“Nina healed your left hand. She even put off healing her own sprain to protect you... Make sure to thank her later.”

The shock was so great that I could only breathe shallowly and felt like I was drowning in my bed. My mind refused to accept it.

Why? Why am I being blamed for forcing Nina to participate in the hunting party? Why am I being accused of taking on the responsibility of leading her?

Nina had pushed past me and gone deeper, ignoring my warnings. She had said she wanted to stand out. I had been blinded by the flash and still protected her, getting injured in the process.

“Nina was worried about Liliane the whole time.”

Nina, who looked like a trembling rabbit with red, swollen eyes, was brought into the room. When I glared at her, she let out a small, exaggerated scream. What is this? Why is it your fault?

“Onee-sama, I’m sorry... It’s my fault. I should have been the one to get hurt, no, to die! I’m sorry, I’m sorry...!”

“Don’t say that. Nina did her best for Liliane.”

I couldn’t believe it was the same person who had shouted, “I’m not to blame,” in the forest. The words were so absurd that I was taken aback. Then, I instantly understood why my parents were angry and who had made up the lie.

It hurt even more to see my mother patting Nina’s back.

“Such a lie...!”

Of course, I told my parents that everything Nina said was a lie and explained the truth, including the fact that the academy had asked me to take Nina along.

My parents’ faces stiffened as they listened, but before they could say anything, Nina shouted.

“That’s terrible! Onee-sama... I understand you’re upset about the failure, but why blame me!”

My parents looked at me and Nina in turn, with troubled expressions but said nothing.

Seeing this, I realized how they had judged the situation... I didn’t even want to explain the circumstances anymore.

Did they really think I was such a foolish daughter?

Even after telling the truth, they didn’t believe me. The facts were completely different, and if they investigated based on my statement, the truth would come out, but I didn’t even have the energy to argue.

“Can I be alone with Onee-sama to use light magic to ease the pain? I can’t focus with people around... I want to cast the most effective spell.”

Nina, with a gentle tone, managed to get everyone, including my parents and the servants, to leave the room and knelt by my bedside. She leaned in close, her shadow falling on me, and whispered in my ear.

“Professor Amado forced me to participate in the hunting party for his research, and it was said that Onee-sama could lead me without any problems, so it was made to look like Onee-sama recommended my participation.”

“Anabelle and Marisella, they were afraid of being reprimanded for letting the duke’s daughter get hurt in the forest, but they didn’t have the nerve to lie, so they testified, ‘We were separated before we knew it.’”

“Father and Mother believed me, thinking it was a problem caused by Onee-sama’s arrogance. I was a bit worried about the commotion, but... Liliane-onee-sama, you’re not very trustworthy, are you?”

Nina laughed and leaned in closer, her shadow covering me.

“So no one will believe anything you say anymore.”

I agreed with her words.

Ah, that’s right. Father and Mother didn’t believe me either.

“Ah, right. I should heal you so it doesn’t look unnatural. Um... Healing light, show the mercy of our god here—”

The long incantation for the light magic, which I only knew theoretically, had some mistakes, but she forced it to work, and I felt a slight relief.

When she finished, she called in my parents and reverted to her cute voice, pretending to be a loving sister.

“Thank you for Liliane.”

“Really. I’m glad Nina is here.”

“No, no... I just did what I could for myself!”

I had never heard Mother say she was glad I was there, and I had no memory of Father patting my head like that.

Realizing this, I felt incredibly foolish for trying so hard just to get a word of praise, and something inside me snapped.

I didn’t care about the words of concern from my other family members, including my sister Angelica, who had rushed from the castle. I let them all pass by without understanding their content.

“You must never do this again.”

They believed the story as it was, didn’t they? I knew how they saw me.

‘To Anna’

So, when I was alone, I started writing a long, long letter to my dear maid. If I disappeared after seeing her, she would be blamed. I wanted to avoid that.

What really happened, what was said. My emotions were running high, and the letter was poorly written with messy handwriting.

I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t keep trying. I had a precious ally in Anna, but I felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness.

I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want to see Father and Mother, who praised others but never me. I didn’t want to see them.

Thus, Liliane Kirk Aigrette, a daughter and sister with no redeeming qualities, left a short, simple letter of apology and regret for her failures and disappeared from the capital’s mansion one night, abandoning all her ongoing projects and commissions.

With this, the difficult part is over, and from next time, it will be

“Liliane’s Free Life♪ Exciting Homeless Adventure”.

It will begin.