Reincarnated Dragon Goes to the Academy!

Chapter 165 : It's Not Your Fault.

"Saintess-nim! Saintess-nim!"

"Yes."

A priest in a pure white robe came running with an excited expression.

"Do you know how many new members we have today?"

"..."

"Today, in Rieberk alone, we have over a thousand! A thousand!"

"I see."

It was an astonishing number. If this was the amount in a small island nation, the amount gathered from other places would be enormous.

"Isn't it amazing? The holy water we gave out to new members is all gone."

She wasn't happy.

"Hehe. Saintess-nim! We'll soon be able to build orphanages and nursing homes in Rieberk, just as you wished."

At those words, Pamela forced a smile.

"That's great."

"Yes. Liwol-nim was also very happy. Ah! Then I'll go and help make the holy water."

After the priest left, Pamela was left alone in the room again.

She mulled over what Liwol had said last night.

'Pamela is a kind person.'

His hand that had gently stroked her hair.

'I like the kind Pamela. It's always been that way.'

His voice that had whispered softly as he looked into her eyes.

'I like that side of you. So much that I never want to leave.'

She vividly remembered the hot breath he had blown as he had clutched the back of her neck.

"Right... it's all okay."

Liwol's behavior had been strange lately, but what did that matter?

'He loves me.'

It must be her fault, who had lived her whole life being hated.

The words of her stepfather, who had berated her, saying 'You unlucky wench,' and the words of the cult leader, who had hit her, saying 'You useless wench,' echoed in her ears.

So it must all be her fault. Liwol's change, his anger, all of it...

'It's all my fault.'

***

"Mister!"

"Aigoo! Don't run. You'll fall!"

Cursis, who lived in a small house in the forest, had a smile that never left his face.

"Mister. What about the wooden sword you said you'd give me?"

As Nella asked with a bright smile, Cursis picked up the wooden sword that was leaning on one side and turned it over and over.

"Hoho. Now I just need to trim the handle a little."

"Then what are we learning today?"

"What do you mean, what are we learning! You haven't even properly learned how to hold a sword yet. Today is thrusting again."

"Pfft..."

Nella pouted her lips.

"If you do a hundred thrusts today, I'll teach you a vertical slash."

"Really?!"

"Of course. Of course, it's true."

Cursis nodded his head and looked at Nella with a pleased expression.

"Yap! Yap!"

He then watched Nella, who was thrusting into the air with clumsy movements, as if she were just cute.

"Heok... heok... I did a hundred."

When Nella had first asked him to teach her swordsmanship, Cursis had approached it with the heart of teaching his own daughter.

He had helped her to first become interested in swordsmanship by teaching her how to hold a sword, the history of the sword, and about the imperial knights.

Then he had taught her how to hold a sword and how to walk while holding a sword.

He never wanted Nella to become an outstanding swordsman. He just wanted her to enjoy learning the sword as if it were a new hobby.

"Really? You did it again today. You worked very hard."

Nella smiled, gasping for breath at Cursis's praise.

"Hehe."

"Are you hungry?"

Nella nodded her head vigorously.

"Hoho. You little rascal."

Nella was a truly lovely child. The shadow that had been cast on the child's face when he had first met her had also faded a lot.

"Now, come and sit here."

As Cursis brought out the stir-fried meat and bread he had made with his clumsy skills, Nella's eyes shone and she quickly came and sat down.

"Wow! What is this?"

"Ahem. I tried out the recipe I learned from the butcher's wife last time."

Perhaps because she was at a growing age, Nella was often hungry, and Cursis's heart ached that he could only offer her worthless hard bread or cookies at those times.

Therefore, whenever he stopped by the vegetable shop or the butcher's shop, he would ask the owner there how to make it delicious.

"Wow! It's really delicious!"

Nella, who had picked up a piece of stir-fried meat and put it in her mouth, let out a cry of admiration.

"R-really?"

He had already tasted it several times while making it, so he knew it tasted quite good, but he was happy to have that fact confirmed through Nella's mouth.

"Yes! It's really, really delicious."

Nella, who was chewing with her cheeks full of meat, was as cute as a squirrel with its cheeks full of food.

'If I had a daughter...'

"Oh~ Mister. You're amazing. I wonder if you're going to open a restaurant at this rate~"

"You little rascal. Don't praise me too much. I might fly away."

The only cooking he had done since coming here was to just grill meat or wash vegetables, tear them roughly, and then make a salad.

But seeing Nella so happy, he was already looking forward to what he should make for the next dish.

"Ah, Mister. They say they're looking for a knight at my house. The captain who was there before has also retired."

Nella said, tearing a piece of bread.

"I also retired. I want to stop being a knight now."

Cursis gently refused Nella's words.

"Tsk... I know. But I just said it just in case. When my vacation is over, you'll be here alone, won't you, Mister? Then won't you be really, really bored?"

"Hoho. You little rascal. Right, if you're not here, I'll be really, really bored. But I still don't want to be a knight."

"Oh! Then there are really, really pretty older sisters at my house. Of course, there are also some who are about the same age as you, Mister. They're also really good at cooking!"

"Hohoho! Are you going to arrange a marriage for me now?"

As Cursis laughed, Nella took a big bite of meat and glared at him.

"Are you going to live here alone for the rest of your life, Mister?"

It seemed she was worried about Cursis being alone in the forest.

"Why. Can't I do that? I love waking up in the morning in the forest."

"But you might be sad sometimes if you're alone."

"Hmm... when I'm sad..."

Nella nodded her head.

"Yes. I was really sad when I was alone in the forest."

"Um..."

Cursis also roughly knew Nella's situation.

The fact that a daughter who had not been in the Count's family had suddenly appeared, and her hair and eye color, which were different from those of the family, were things that anyone could guess.

"You don't know, do you, Mister? Where I came from."

"Um..."

At Nella's sudden story, which she told with a nonchalant expression, Cursis couldn't say anything and just tore at his bread.

"My mom and dad were not from Arant."

"..."

What kind of reaction should he have?

"They were people who came to Arant from the Esna Kingdom. We also lived in a forest like this, but well, I wasn't alone then, so I wasn't very sad."

Nella, who was nonchalantly chewing on her bread and talking.

"But well... because of me, my dad and mom died, and many of the villagers also died. My friends Rio and Helen's dads also died back then."

Then Nella let out a cynical laugh.

"It's really funny. I don't know why they killed all our villagers for a mere doll. Actually, I hate the Arant Empire."

At that, Cursis's face darkened.

'Could this child be...'

At the time of the Esna Kingdom incident, Cursis was the captain of the imperial knights. And he had also handled all of those matters with his own hands.

'No way...'

If this child was that child, if this child was the child of that pitiful victim then...

"Ah, but I like you, Mister. But sometimes I remember. My mom told me to run away. To be sure to live. So I sometimes remember that day when I walked through the forest like an idiot, not even knowing where I was going."

Nella looked at Cursis and smiled sadly.

"Even if I come to visit sometimes... when I think that you're alone, Mister, that thought sometimes comes to mind. I wonder if you'll be okay alone. So I hope you won't be alone here later."

"Nella."

"Huh? Ah. I'm fine now. I don't know what kind of blessing it is, but I'm a count's daughter now. I have spirits and I can use magic. People said that with this much, I won't have to worry about making a living wherever I go."

In fact, Nella's skills were not at a level where she didn't have to worry about making a living, but at a level where she could even help people who were full of worries about making a living.

"Nella. By any chance..."

"Huh?"

Cursis thought for a moment. Whether he should tell her the story he knew.

He had to decide carefully, as it could become a matter of planting the seeds of revenge in a child who had been living, having forgotten everything.

"Do you by any chance think that it's all your fault that your villagers were wronged?"

"Ah, you might know, Mister. Since you said you were an imperial knight."

Nella nodded her head.

"Of course it's my fault. If only I hadn't picked up that rabbit doll, my dad and mom would all be alive. And the villagers too... Rio's dad and Helen's dad, all of them."

Nella told the whole story so nonchalantly that Cursis, who was listening, felt like he would burst into tears.

How many times had Nella had that thought?

How many times had she repeated it, that she could tell the whole story to someone without shedding a single tear and be so nonchalant?

"Nella. I have something to tell you."

In the end, Cursis made a decision.

"It's not your fault. I was the captain of the imperial knights at that time. I worked by the emperor's side, assisting him."

At that, Nella's eyes widened.

"You, Mister? But you, Mister, are..."

"Right. I told you I was just a mere knight... but no. I was the captain of the imperial knights, and I was until just a while ago."

He felt guilty. He had a responsibility for the bad things this child had experienced.

"At that time, your parents and the villagers were just innocent victims. It was all a plot by the empire."

At that, Nella shook her head.

"No, that's not it."

"But your father didn't kill them, did he?"

Tears began to well up in Nella's eyes.

"No... my dad is not that kind of person..."

Nella was confused. The person she had been worried about and had followed until just a moment ago felt as if he had suddenly become her enemy.

"Right. Actually, it was all... a plot by the empire."

Cursis began to confess all the facts he knew to Nella.

"It was something the emperor did, driven mad by black magic. He used children as sacrifices and offered their souls. And on the day of the festival at that. I knew all of that and kept silent."

"No!!!"

Cursis hung his head low.

"It's not true!!! You didn't know either, did you, Mister!!!"

Nella's cracked voice echoed through the forest.

"Right. I didn't think the emperor would go that far. But I... am no different from a person who covered it up for your family and the villagers, even though I suspected it was the emperor's doing."

In the end, Nella shot up from her seat.

"No!"

"So Nella. It's not your fault. It's not your fault."

"No... no..."

Nella denied reality at the sudden flood of truth.

"It's not your fault... I'm sorry. I was wrong."

Cursis, who had hung his head low, became a sinner before the small child.

"I'm sorry..."

[End of Chapter]