🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 14
There is cause and effect in this world.
Where there is a cause, there is a result.
And the outcome is judged differently depending on the nature of the cause.
Thus, even if the Gold Dragon, the divine messenger, were to annihilate an empire, he would not be considered evil. Numerous justifications would arise for his actions.
So, whether he suddenly became displeased in his sleep and unleashed a breath of destruction on the empire, or destroyed it simply to toy with humans, the result would ultimately be considered a good deed.
However, Selus, the continent’s only Black Dragon and a being not touched by divinity, carried a cause rooted in calamity.
Calamity is evil. Because it is evil, all beings fear it and seek to destroy it.
Even though Selus violently punished the dark elves, notorious for human trafficking, her actions were criticized because their origin was “calamity.”
Even righteous actions become calamity; even wrongful actions also become calamity.
So, what choice did Selus, now Daphne, make under the weight of misunderstanding, criticism, and wrath born of causality?
Daphne, once Selus, calmly stared at the masked figures surrounding the carriage.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, one of the masked men, who had just slain the mercenary protecting the carriage, turned to look at Daphne.
“Boss! Who is this girl?”
“I don’t know. Is anyone else around? Or did she come alone?”
“Judging by her clothes, she seems like some noble lady. But why is she on a mountain path like this? Did she run away after a fight with her parents?”
“Well, since she’s out wandering, how about taking her with us? We’ll sell her somewhere nice, right?”
From their words, it was clear they weren’t mere thieves—they were traffickers.
Daphne stood still, calmly observing both the masked men and the mercenaries guarding the carriage.
Then one of the mercenaries, blocking the carriage door, shouted:
“Miss! Run! Go now! We’ll hold them off!”
“Hmph.”
Daphne tilted her head.
“Pathetic humans fighting pathetically, meeting pathetic deaths. And yet, they dare stand before the great me.”
“Girl! If you’re not running, come here! We don’t want to waste our strength!”
“You’re taking longer than expected. Kill them quickly. Bring that brat here.”
Pathetic beings.
Pathetic humans.
Insignificant creatures that become no better than ants when standing before the great Selus.
That is why:
“I cannot let you be.”
The great me must save you.
This is the right path.
Daphne opened the stopper of Teity’s potion bottle, drank the medicine, and gripped her wooden sword.
All of you are finished.
The guildmaster of the Golden Chalice Commerce Guild was dumbfounded by the scene before him.
Until moments ago, they had been helplessly overwhelmed by bandits who had appeared from nowhere.
At this rate, they would lose the noble house’s treasures and likely die.
Then suddenly, a child appeared. And defeated the bandits.
Using a toy wooden sword… literally knocking them down.
And that wasn’t all.
“You foolish child! Wake up. What kind of manners are these, falling down after a single hit?”
“P-please… spare me…”
“Spare you? Did you try to spare me? With any conscience, one shouldn’t say such things. You must have stirred your soup with your conscience. If it were me, I’d bite my tongue and die on the spot. Why? Because being beaten by such a little brat is humiliating.”
She was also verbally attacking them while physically hitting them.
The guildmaster blinked, unsure if he was hallucinating, then slowly opened his eyes and lowered his head.
He should now see reality, but he didn’t. The vision was still full of illusions.
“Guildmaster! Snap out of it!”
He felt a hand shaking his shoulder. When he regained his senses, it was Suha who had survived.
Only then did the guildmaster realize he hadn’t imagined it.
He swallowed dryly and scanned the area. The bandits lay stacked in one corner.
“Is… this real? I’m not dreaming?”
“Yes. Unbelievable as it seems, it’s true. The items are intact, and the other guild members are only injured, not dead.”
“Th-then…”
At that moment, one remaining bandit, holding a real sword, lunged at the child.
“You damned brat! Die!”
With the sword coming straight at her, the guildmaster shouted loudly:
“Be careful!”
“Huh?”
The child propped her wooden sword against her shoulder.
“Still not hit enough, huh? Fine. I’ll hit you properly myself.”
Wham!
The bandit, struck in the chest by the wooden sword, screamed and collapsed.
But the assault did not stop.
Wham! Thud! Bam!
The relentlessly beaten bandit fainted without even being able to beg for mercy.
“Is this… possible?”
The guildmaster swallowed dryly, trying to comprehend the scene.
The bandits were all skilled fighters, numbering thirteen. Yet the child appeared no older than four or five.
Though her eyes burned brightly, her thin, pale face betrayed her youth. Still, she defeated every single bandit. And with just one sword strike each!
“Co-could it be…”
Wham! Bam!
The guildmaster realized who the child must be.
“Are… are you Daphne Akion?”
“Eh?”
The young Daphne rested her wooden sword on her shoulder and frowned. Then she walked toward the guildmaster with a confident stride.
“Who are you?”
Her behavior and speech were like those of a local delinquent. But judging by her skill, she was no ordinary child. Indeed, if she weren’t the scion of the Akion noble family, such ability would be impossible.
“I am Edhart, guildmaster of the Golden Chalice Guild! It is an honor to meet you, Miss Daphne, the precious treasure of the Akion noble house!”
It was widely known that Daphne Akion was a delinquent.
But a capable delinquent? That was something different. And one who saved people? That was even more exceptional.
“Thank you, Miss Daphne!”
“You saved us!”
“Without you, we would have been dead for sure!”
“Thank you!”
They clasped their hands tightly, crying out their gratitude.
It was not a mysterious, scary child who saved them—but a noble descendant of the Akion family extending a hand of salvation—so they could feel relief and gratitude.
However, Daphne’s expression was slightly ambiguous.
She muttered to herself, wondering if she had misheard, then realized she hadn’t and furrowed her brows.
“Are you thanking me?”
“Yes! Thank you so much! We will never forget this favor!”
“….”
Daphne opened her mouth, speechless.
In all her hundreds of years of existence, had she ever heard the words “thank you”?
Even when she had saved entire groups of humans caught in disasters, she had never been told that.
And yet now, merely for saving a handful of bandits, she heard it.
“Hah, well.”
Daphne let out a bitter laugh.
Was this change in response due to being forcibly bound to a human body and altering her karmic reactions? Perhaps. Come to think of it, Arius had also apologized properly before, albeit awkwardly.
Perhaps living in this body might finally mean she would no longer be a calamity.
“Really?”
Feeling the emptiness left by broken causality, Daphne chuckled softly.
“Hah… ha…”
After hundreds of years, the cause-and-effect that had tormented her ended so easily.
It was ridiculous.
Ridiculous to the point of absurdity.
“Mi-Miss Daphne?”
A familiar voice pierced her ears. Teity had approached.
“I’m sorry, but now isn’t the time to be laughing.”
“What? Why?”
“You drank the potion and used magic.”
“But…”
“It’s like a kind of doping. Once the effect ends—”
He swallowed hard and took a half step back.
“It will hurt.”
“What do you mean… cough!”
“Ahh! Miss Daphne!”
“Sh-she’s coughing up blood!”
Daphne spat out a blackish clot, glaring at Teity. He retreated half a step and replied:
“I warned you about the side effects. I really did. Even if it was a bit late, I warned you!”
“You, you damn slave…!”
Angry, Daphne lunged at Teity—but fortunately, her consciousness faded first.
“I told you not to abuse the medicine.”
Could there really exist an elf who could make a dragon faint twice in one day?
Teity felt as if he had just accomplished a great feat.
