Elisha’s Secret ⑧ – Elisha’s Past Part III (2nd Half)
“…..”
It was Tou-sama.
Going into a sword stance, Tou-sama is confronting the man.
“….Eri, Run!”
Tou-sama said that without facing this side.
I could feel a single sense of composure from that low precise voice.
“I am telling you to run!!!!”
“a――”
As ordered, I ran.
Without facing back.
Just ran.
I was scared.
Not about being killed.
Aren’t I going to lose Tou-sama and Kaa-sama?
I can’t help feeling dreadful about that.
That man is strong.
Stronger than me.
Perhaps, stronger than Tou-sama.
It’s fine.
If it’s Tou-sama, it’s fine.
I prayed.
It’s a wish of a lifetime.
I don’t mind even if my wishes from now on won’t be granted till I die.
If Tou-sama and Kaa-sama can’t be saved, I don’t mind losing any other thing.
That’s why, Kami-sama please. (TL: Kami-sama=G.o.d)
Praying to G.o.d is all I can do.
As if to shake off my fear.
Just continued running as I lose myself in it.
Even then――I couldn’t run away.
By the time I realized, the man has drew near.
What happened to Tou-sama?
What happened to Kaa-sama?
“….. you are their daughter?”
Just listening to that voice, my body could no longer move.
“I see. Daughter. How is it? Do you hate me? I have killed your father and your mother, so do you want to kill me?”
Dead? Tou-sama? Kaa-sama?
In an instant――a dark emotion is taking over my heart.
“That’s right, don’t you think? But, you can’t kill me. It’s a pity. Even though your parents were killed, you couldn’t do a thing. But, it can’t be helped. In the fight, females are just pretty much like that. Just getting a.s.saulted, violated, and finally killed”
The man thrusted his fist right in front of my eyes, and spread that hand of his.
And then, silver hair started scattering.
It was Kaa-sama’s hair.
Did this guy cut that beautiful hair of Kaa-sama?
Unforgivable. Unforgivable. However, my voice doesn’t come out.
I want to kill. I want to kill this man.
My heart is screaming with anger.
Despite that, it’s as this guy has said.
I can’t do a thing.
Even though I am burning with the emotion of anger, my body is cowering with fear.
“Even your mother was the same. She died without being able to do a thing. In a pitiful way…It’s all because it’s the fault of being born as a female.”
Because I am female? The fact that I am a female is the problem?
“But isn’t it a relief? I will not kill you. From now on, you will continue to live while fearing me, til you are dead. I might a.s.sault you when you become an adult. And then, I might quickly kill you like your parents.”
Just from hearing the words of the man, my heart was controlled by fear.
Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary.
Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary. Scary.
That was as if I am being imprinted.
“Let’s meet again…..”
After that one last sentence, I lost my conscious.
As my conscious return, I was being protected by the Capital’s Knight unit.
At that time, what I was trying to convey might have been disorderly.
Even then, I was desperate.
I wish that Tou-sama and Kaa-sama could be saved.
I believed that they could still made it in time.
That’s why I conveyed desperately with my confused brain.
Seeing my unusual state, Tou-sama’s Knight subordinate quickly rushed back home.
But….. by that time, everything was too late.
What I saw after that were Tou-sama’s and Kaa-sama’s corpses.
I became alone.
Tou-sama and Kaa-sama were gone.
I could no longer be bothered with anything.
I wonder what was wrong?
Was the problem because I am weak?
If at that time I was stronger, would I have saved Tou-sama and Kaa-sama?
Inside my head, the never-ending of answering one’s own questions kept repeating.
In the end, no answer came forth.
A funeral took place.
A person that was Tou-sama’s surbordinate.
Kaa-sama’s friend.
The residents of the Capital
Many people were grieved by the death of both people.
But, at that place, not a single relative showed themselves.
“Even though the daughter is also still young.”
“….I wonder if it’s decided to whom she will marry?”
I could hear such an conversation.
I can’t be bothered with it.
The funeral service was over.
I was just standing still In front of the tombstone.
Tou-sama and Kaa-sama are in there.
Tears does not flow.
If I died, would I be able to meet Tou-sama and Kaa-sama?
Such a thought floated in my head.
But, even dying became something that doesn’t matter.
A residence of solitude.
No one that I can rely on.
That’s what I thought.
On a certain day, a person who wish to take charge of me, who have no relative, appeared.
“Eri”
That person called my name.
It’s a voice that I am familiar with.
For an instant, thinking that it was Tou-sama’s voice, I raised my head.
“Do you know who I am?”
“…..Ojii..sama?“
It was Ojii-sama.
“….what are you doing?”
“…..what, you say?”
Ojii-sama was looking at me.
Those eyes was sternly gazing at me.
“Aren’t you going to become a knight?”
“….knight?”
I wanted to become a knight.
I was thinking of becoming one.
To become an excellent knight, just like Tou-sama.
“….didn’t you swear?”
To become a knight, Kaa-sama taught me magic.
Every time I learnt magic, Kaa-sama would make a happy expression.
“You are going to become a knight, right?”
I was reminded of the face of Tou-sama joining the kenjutsu practice.
Every time I win the kenjutsu tournament, he would be happy as if he did it himself.
Lining up the trophy on the shelf, he would smile looking at it.
I wanted ―― to become a knight.
One able to protect Tou-sama and Kaa-sama――To become a knight that could protect everyone.
I promised.
I sweared that I would become an excellent knight.
Tou-sama and Kaa-sama are no longer with me now.
Even then――that vow has not disappeared.
“…. if I continue to be this weak, I can’t become a knight.”
I will become stronger.
I will become stronger than anyone else.
This time round, I will become strong enough to protect those precious to me.
“….Ojii-sama, what can I do to become strong?”
Tou-sama who would teach kenjutsu no longer exist.
Kaa-sama who would teach magic no longer exist as well.
What can I do to become stronger?
What can I do to become stronger with the fastest and shortest way?
What can I do to become stronger to protect everything from that man?
‘In the fight, females are just pretty much like that. Just getting a.s.saulted, violated, and finally killed’
(TL: Seriously this topic is starting to get on my nerves to some extent.. Even as a male.)
Suddenly, that man’s word swept across my mind.
At the moment, I couldn’t forgive myself for being a female.
If I were a male, would I have been born with a slightly different outcome?
Wasn’t I supposed to fight without running away to protect my parents?
As I thought that, I just kept on regretting.
“I have to become strong, no matter what.”
Though a female that couldn’t do a thing, it was at that time that I decided to become a male.
I do not want to remain as the me who was weak and couldn’t do a thing.
If the reason I am weak is because I am a female, then I just have to cast away the fact that I am a female.
That’s what I thought.
Ojii-sama, who was gazing at me,
“There is an Adventurer Training Inst.i.tute called Jupiter.”
“Jupiter?”
It was a name that I heard for the first time.
“It seems that many excellent talents gather at that place to aim to become adventurers. If you enter that inst.i.tute, it’s possible that you will become better than your current self to some extent. But, i think it’s not possible for the current you to enter it”
I, who would even cling to a straw as I do not know how to become stronger, was listening to his talk.
An inst.i.tute that has a princ.i.p.al who is a hero that defeated the demon king, and instructors that were active as elite adventurers in major guilds.
While the entrance test is difficult, successful applicants are also scarce.
Even graduates are in few numbers, it seems.
However, it’s an adventurer nurturing inst.i.tute where if you can graduate, you would have acquired enough ability to be enrolled to major guilds or the Capital’s Knight unit.
If I could graduate from that place, I wonder if I would have become strong?
No――I will become strong.
“Ojii-sama, I am off to where Tou-sama and Kaa-sama are.”
It’s been a while since I went outside.
I am walking towards where Tou-sama and Kaa-sama slept.
I will become strong enough to be recognised by Tou-sama and Kaa-sama.
I vowed at where both of them slept.
Even though I just vowed strongly, tears flowed from my eyes.
After that, I decided to enter Jupiter Academy.
I piled up training of kenjutsu and magic for 2 years under Ojii-sama.
And at the year where I would turn 16, I pa.s.sed my entrance test to the Jupiter Academy.