Chapter 54 - Jealousy

A few minutes before Liana said that a terrorist attack had occurred on the Carsaril family.

Siren looked at Damian, who had just returned, and felt somewhat sulky.

To explain “sulky”, it was like when Pigsy, the little myeong-myeong sun spirit, was grumpy and not in a good mood.

Anyway, what was important was not this, but that Damian seemed to have become too close with a woman named Ruen, and it made her feel quite sulky.

...I don't know why.

Perhaps because she had been trapped in the laboratory for a long time and was clumsy in dealing with people, and unfamiliar with relationships between people, she couldn't understand why it felt bad that Damian had become close with someone else, as she fiddled with Pigsy's belly.

"Myeok."

Touching the soft, squishy thing brought peace of mind back, but the strange anxiety and unpleasantness piled up in a corner of her heart refused to disappear.

Not knowing why, she was standing blankly when Saintess Ruen in front of her said something in a somewhat excited voice.

"When Damian created fire like this, all the undead nearby burst into flames and melted!"

Ruen talked about Damian's achievements with a bright smile.

How should she describe it... It felt like seeing someone talking about hope for the future on a street full of warm sunlight.

It was a feeling similar to when she had looked at smiling children her age on a cold street without a speck of light before being dragged to the laboratory.

"And when he caught the Dullahan, he did this with his mace and hammer and lit a fire... and, and did it. It was amazing!"

...These emotions were usually the kind felt towards things one couldn’t have.

She had thought it was just envy, a story completely unrelated to herself, but…

Strangely, this time it's a little different...

She tried to just pass it by without any reaction as she always had, but a strange emotion that even she couldn't understand kept sticking to a corner of her heart, feeling slimy.

The exact reason eluded her, but she suspected it stemmed from the tantalizing possibility of reaching Damian with just an outstretched hand. This realization of proximity had kindled an unexpected spark of hope within her. However, this fragile hope was quickly challenged when she witnessed Ruen, drawing close to Damian and offering him a warm, eye-crinkling smile.

"..."

It felt strangely unpleasant.

...Why? 

She neither liked nor disliked this person named Ruen.

As she was thinking she couldn't understand the reason, suddenly a memory popped into her mind.

Liana...

It was similar to the feeling she had when Liana kissed Damian despite meeting him for the first time.

A bit of helplessness, a bit of irritation, and anxiety.

Realizing that it was indeed that emotion, she was standing blankly when she noticed a romance book placed far away.

A book Loraine had lent her.

A passage written there suddenly came to mind.

[An unstable yet intensely burning emotion. Sharon found it hard to admit, but that emotion was what was called 'jealousy'.]

The moment the word jealousy bloomed in her mind, her thought process stopped and she froze blankly.

Suddenly, Pigsy hit her crown hard and said something, "Myeong!"

It seemed Pigsy hit her head out of jealousy because she was staring at Damian.

The moment this happened, a thought suddenly occurred to her.

Even Pigsy directly expresses jealousy like this to prevent others from eyeing Damian. Why am I, who only has Damian, not taking any action and just watching from afar?

In romance novels, this was called arrogance disguised as composure.

And... remembering that it was written as a critical trigger that makes one lose precious things, her anxiety suddenly grew greatly.

"...Damian. The research is almost done."

So she started to do things she wouldn't normally do, little by little.

The first start was reinforcing her value.

The second was the act of pushing others away.

She silently pushed Ruen's body slightly, and Ruen started to look at her in bewilderment.

She wasn't sure if this was the right action, but it felt like she would lose Damian if things continued like this, so it was an unavoidable action.

So as she was moving her body, taking unreasonable actions, Damian patted her head.

"What's wrong?"

"..."

Seeing this, she realized that a bit of sulking and self-appeal could get Damian's attention, and she half-lowered her eyes.

***

I tried to calm Siren, who was strangely clinging to me, and said to Liana, "So can you explain exactly how the situation is unfolding?"

To carry out a counter-terror attack, it was basic to at least properly know who the enemy was before attacking.

To confirm exactly who to target, I asked this, and Liana wrote something on a piece of scratch paper and said, "Since the terrorist attack just happened, it's difficult to explain exactly because the situation hasn't been accurately assessed yet. But if it's on a scale large enough to attack the Carsaril family, it's likely to be a group of black mages near the Carsaril family."

When many people move simultaneously, rumors about it tend to spread.

But Liana said there was nothing like this at all, so she said there was a high possibility that nearby black mages carried out the terrorist attack.

"So it would be better to go back to the Carsaril family first, investigate, and then carry out the counter-terror attack."

If so, it might be better to depart first and assess the situation.

With that thought, I was about to leave with the same members who had gone to Pernoir Cliff when Loraine grabbed me and made a request.

"Um, Young Master. If it's alright, I'd like you to take me and Siren with you this time."

When I asked why, Loraine said to me with a somewhat subdued expression, "If it's enough to touch the Carsaril family, I think problems that can't be solved at your level might appear, so it would be better for me to step in directly... Above all, it feels like they're doing some kind of feint operation, knowing that the black mages will fail the terror attack."

At the mention of a feint operation, I was reminded of the imprisoned Elisia and the black mage.

If Loraine's guess was right... there was a good chance that the black mages were targeting us.

At those words, I thought that would be good and said to Ruen, "Is it okay if I blow up this hideout?"

"What?"

***

Seeing Ruen's surprised expression, I decided to pack important items and leave for the Carsaril family.

Like when we went to the North's laboratory before, we used a nearby teleportation device to move to a warehouse existing within the Carsaril family's territory.

Feeling the intense wave of mana, I realized that a big problem had occurred and hurriedly opened the warehouse door, but a scene that looked extremely peaceful for having received a terrorist attack unfolded before my eyes.

"...?"

It was somewhat bewildering.

Usually, when one said terrorist attack, one expected to see some fire and destroyed buildings, but it was so calm and peaceful that it didn't fit the words “terrorist attack” at all, so I couldn't help but feel perplexed.

Did they perhaps only carry out the terror attack on the Carsaril mansion?

There was a high possibility that they concentrated all their capabilities there.

So I immediately took my companions to the Carsaril mansion, and what I saw was countless Chimeras and undead troops pouring in.

There doesn't seem to be any damage... but the numbers are too many.

It seemed impossible to break through the mansion.

But it was enough to involve the people around, so I decided to join the battle immediately and started a fire.

Daisy's sun fire that didn’t burn allies.

As I was making this flare up everywhere and burning all the enemies, I heard a familiar voice from afar.

"Damian!"

Wondering who it was, I looked and saw Aiden Carsaril, that was, Damian's older brother, waving at me.

"It's dangerous, so come here quickly!"

Even though I was melting numerous undead with just a gesture, Aiden seemed worried about me and was quickly waving his hand with a somewhat hardened expression.

I waved my hand to indicate I was fine, but he still seemed worried and started to join my side after watching for a while.

I'm fine, though.

In a way, it could be seen as caring, but in another way, it was no different from overprotection, and a question suddenly arose.

I questioned why Damian's family cared so much for Damian, who was nothing more than a delinquent.

As this thought bloomed in my mind, I decided to ask about it later and moved towards Aiden.

Since the Carsaril family was a famous swordsmanship family known for their swordsmanship, they didn't seem to have suffered much damage, as there was no particular change except for the piles of Chimera and undead corpses outside the mansion.

I was thinking it was fortunate and sighing in relief when I saw Damian's sister running towards us.

"Little one!"

She ran towards me with a pronunciation similar to Aiden's, then patted my head roughly as if petting a dog and said,

"It's been so long...! Have you been well?"

I was thinking that I was suffocating because she hugged me so tightly when Damian's sister, Lilia Carsaril, said various things to me, "You should have come back to the family home after the engagement annulment ceremony, what are you doing only coming now? Didn't you miss your family? No matter what, you should come see your family's faces regularly, right? Aish, how did I raise you, and now that I've raised you, you don't even come to see our faces...!"

"..."

I didn't expect to hear nagging in the midst of a terrorist attack.

I smiled awkwardly and quickly changed the subject, "So what happened here?"

"Hmm. It seems like they retaliated for touching the black mages in the sewers... well."

There were many unclear points, but she seemed reluctant to tell me the details and avoided them.

It seemed she wasn't telling me because it was obvious that I would set out to take revenge on the black mages.

So I just nodded and signaled to Liana, who was following nearby.

When I gave the signal, Liana nodded and immediately turned around and slipped out.

Watching Liana do this, I was thinking that Liana would probably bring back information if I waited a little, when Sister Lilia stared at me and said in a surprised voice, "Damian, don't tell me you... became a low-grade Expert?"