Chapter 110
Once Parna saw that no one would interfere, she smiled cruelly and aimed a hand at Alice, who still had her back to them and clung to Kagami.
"Come on, get away from him already."
"...No. If I'm going to die anyway, I'm not leaving Kagami-san's side. I'll go with him... after he fought for us."
Parna was taken aback. She had expected Alice to cry and beg for her life, but instead the girl stubbornly stood her ground. Parna's face twisted in displeasure.
"You're pretty bold... But if that's how you want it, fine by me. I didn't want to torment a corpse... but if that's what you want, I guess I have no choice."
Parna poured even more magic into her hand and unleashed an explosive spell at Alice from point-blank range. A small blast erupted against Alice's back, and smoke billowed around them.
"...Why did you weaken it? I'm still... alive."
But Alice remained as resolute as before, shielding Kagami's body from the explosive spell and keeping her back to Parna.
"I was testing you... to see if you could withstand it. But I should've known. Even if you're a child, you're still demonkin."
As Parna finished speaking, her expression hardened. Alice remained motionless, facing Kagami without even looking at Parna, as if she didn't consider her worth acknowledging.
As if to say, "I won't lose to someone like you," she tried to be as strong as Kagami.
"...Fine. Let's see how much you can take."
From then on, Parna kept hitting Alice with explosive spells, weakening them to the bare minimum, over and over. She could have killed her in one blow or used far more power, but instead she continued to torment her with blast after blast.
A demonkin wanting to stay with humans and caring about them? That couldn't possibly be true. Alice was only pretending to be that way. When it came down to it, she was bound to cry and beg for her life. That was what Parna believed.
"Why? Why aren't you trying to kill me, Parna-san? I'm still... alive!"
But Alice never turned around. She stayed in the same position, maintaining her resolute stance.
"Why... why go this far?!"
Alice must have been taking enough damage to make Parna scream in pain if she were in her place. Yet the girl showed no sign of flinching, and Parna faltered.
Parna hadn't killed her outright because she herself no longer knew what she wanted.
The demonkin Parna wanted to kill were supposed to be vile creatures who betrayed people without hesitation and didn't care when others died. And yet the tiny figure before her was not vile at all, but beautiful and radiant. Rather than betray Kagami, she was bound to him by a bond so strong that she was willing to die alongside him. Faced with that truth, Parna was at a loss.
"Damn it! Move! Get away from him! Act like a demonkin!"
Even so, Parna didn't go so far as to kill Alice, but she didn't stop attacking, either.
She didn't want to accept it. She didn't want to believe her master's death had been nothing more than a tragedy caused by an unfortunate encounter. That's why Parna had hoped Alice would be unable to bear the pain, scream and cry, and run away, abandoning Kagami.
But Alice never moved away.
"It's no use. I... won't ever leave Kagami-san."
Perhaps Alice could sense Parna's agitation even with her back turned, because she suddenly said this as if to warn her. And then—
"I... love Kagami-san so much."
She said it, her shoulders trembling ever so slightly.
"You... demonkin...!"
Her words and actions felt as if they were saying, "Your master wasn't loved like that." Unable to bear the rush of conflicting emotions, Parna continued unleashing explosive spells again and again.
"You demonkin! You demonkin... Don't keep putting on a brave face!"
Still seeing Alice's back no matter how much time passed, Parna now started to circle around her, intending to strike her from the front with an explosive spell.
"You demonkin..."
But the instant she came around to Alice's front, Parna fell silent and stopped herself from casting the spell. At the same time, she was overcome by such regret and guilt that her hand began to tremble.
Only then did she notice that Alice had changed, despite maintaining her resolute stance all this time.
"Y-you..."
Alice's face was a tear-streaked mess. Without sobbing or trembling, she simply gazed intently at the fallen Kagami, her expression twisted in anguish, while continuing to cast healing magic on his wounded back.
Alice's back had already been battered by the repeated explosions. There was no way it didn't hurt. The pain must have been enough to make her want to scream. But she didn't let it show. She kept casting healing magic for Kagami, trying not to let anyone notice.
Because the person before her mattered more than herself.
How much pain had she been in? How much fear had washed over her? And yet she hadn't run away. She'd endured it all in that tiny body, solely for Kagami's sake. When Parna realized that, her strength gave out, and she sank limply to the floor.
"...So what if she's demonkin? I'm such an idiot..."
At last, she understood clearly that she had been wrong.
Seeing Parna like that, Alice became certain that everything would be all right. She desperately forced her tear-streaked face into a smile for Parna, and—
"I'll leave the rest... to you, Parna-san."
Perhaps relieved, Alice could no longer bear the pain. She stopped healing Kagami and lost consciousness where she stood.
Watching this unfold, Parna remembered what Kagami had said to her in Salmaria not long ago.
'Don't kill her. Protect her... I'm counting on you.'
She had done the exact opposite of what he asked. Parna bitterly regretted doubting him and causing this to happen. Covering her face with her hands, she whispered, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry," over and over.
"A world where demonkin and humans join hands... There was someone who once sought that. Though... Militariel dealt with it on his own, without reporting to me."
The king murmured this, recalling something that had happened long ago as he looked upon the pitiful scene.
"It takes me back. I acted on my own, if you'll forgive me, because I thought he might become an obstacle to Your Majesty's wishes."
"Well, never mind... Militariel. Your son had value. That's the one thing I regret."
At the mention of Militariel's son—the name of Parna's master—as the subject of that story from long ago, Parna's eyes widened. She turned her gaze toward the king and Militariel.