[V12C17] A Senior's Pride

Glenn flew to Monica’s house carrying Cyril, just like when they crossed over the gate into Sazandol.

The streets below them seemed almost completely deserted, even though it was currently daytime. This was an unusual sight for Sazandol, a city usually full of vitality.

Thule and Pikeh clung onto Cyril’s swaying feet, innocently enjoying the airborne journey via flight magic. According to Thule, it had a different charm from flying as a dragon.

Meanwhile, the white weasel Thule had a magical gem tied around his neck with a string. This was the magical tool from Isaac for nullifying the Dragon Slayer Mage’s dragon detector.

Considering the water dragons gathered at Sazandol’s harbor, there was a high chance that Silas would activate the dragon detector.

Clearly, Isaac had given Cyril this tool in anticipation of that possibility.

Though Cyril wanted nothing more than to express his gratitude, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything to Isaac’s face.

(How could I be so disrespectful…?)

The memory of his earlier behavior caused the color to drain from Cyril’s face.

Unaware of Cyril’s inner turmoil, Glenn voiced their arrival.

“Oh, there’s Monica house. I’m landing now.”

“…”

“And… we’re here! Vice President? …Vice President? I’m gonna let go, okay?”

Having landed in Monica’s yard, Glenn released Cyril from his grasp.

However, Cyril was still lost in thought, so he stumbled upon hitting the ground, almost stepping on Thule and Pikeh, who had landed before him.

“Don’t drop me so suddenly!” Cyril shouted.

“I gave you a proper heads-up!” Glenn retorted.

In the middle of their loud argument, the front door opened and out came Monica’s best friend, Lana Colette.

Lana widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing the two.

“Glenn! And Ashley-sama too…!”

Suddenly, a loud thud sounded from inside the house, as if a piece of furniture had been overturned.

After a short delay, this was followed by someone screaming “Monica-chan!?” Clearly, something had happened to Monica.

Without hesitation, Cyril slipped past Lana and rushed into the house.

“What happened!?”

The door to the living room was wide open, so Cyril could make out a fallen chair on the other side. There was also a girl with black hair tied into a bun standing frozen next to the table.

Meanwhile, Monica was curled up and holding her head under the table, wearing only a nightgown. Her hair seemed to be untied, which was unusual.

THe possibility of her being sick or injured made Cyril anxious, causing him to raise his voice.

“Monica!”

＊　＊　＊

After washing her face in the first floor bathroom, Monica noticed an itch at the back of her neck. She began rubbing the part of her neck under her hair.

She could not feel anything on her skin, but for some reason, the back of her neck felt strangely heavy. It’s like something was draining the energy in her neck muscles.

Out of curiosity, Monica decided to take a look using the mirror in the living room. She pushed her hair aside, then turned her head to the limit to check the back of her neck.

(… What’s this?)

There was a black mark there, as if someone had drawn a line with ink. Monica tried rubbing it off with her fingers, but it refused to come off.

It seemed too black to be a bruise, so perhaps it was similar to a tattoo.

Before Monica could think about it any further, she heard loud voices from the garden.

“Don’t drop me so suddenly!”

“I gave you a proper heads-up!”

Monica flinched in fright, as these were the voices of angry men. She quickly looked around for a hiding place.

She crawled under the table with trembling hands, overturning a chair in the process.

Karina, who was preparing tea snacks in the kitchen, was surprised by the sound of the overturned chair and rushed out.

“Monica-chan!?”

(It’s really, really scary, but the voices are outside the house. I should be fine as long as I stay inside. Everything will be fine here.)

But contrary to her wishes, Monica heard another shout, this time from inside the house.

“What happened!?”

The heavy footsteps were approaching her.

The fear rose all the way to Monica’s throat, held back just before turning into a scream.

Loud voices and heavy footsteps meant only one thing: her uncle had returned home in a bad mood.

“Monica!”

Someone called her name in an angry tone. She was being scolded again.

(He’s angry.)

And when being scolded, she would be dragged out from under the table and struck with a bottle.

Thus, Monica escaped into the world of numbers.

She was always safe in the world of numbers. Whatever they said stopped being scary, and whatever they did could no longer hurt her.

Monica put on a vacant smile and immersed herself in the beautiful world of sequences and formulas.

“2178309, 3524578… hah… 5702887… hehe… 9227465”

＊　＊　＊

——What is this?

Cyril stood there dumbfounded.

Monica was curled up under the table with a faint smile. However, this was a creepy and twitching smile that sent shivers down the spine of any observer.

Her round eyes were moist with tears, but they saw nothing. The only thing escaping her lips was distorted laughter and a series of numbers.

(What am I looking at? What happened to her?)

This was not the first time Cyril saw Monica panicking. She sometimes hid under a table or behind window curtains, murmuring numbers for a while.

However, it had never gotten this bad.

Cyril had heard about Monica losing her memory, but that was not the end of the story. Clearly, there was something broken inside of her.

Glenn entered a bit later and let out a gasp.

“Moni——”

Just like Cyril, Glenn probably intended to shout Monica’s name out of concern.

However, his voice cut off into a “mmph”, as Lana had rushed over to cover his mouth from behind.

“…Both of you.”

Lana squeezed out a low voice with suppressed anger, causing Cyril and Glenn to flinch in sync.

“Do you think being acquaintances gives you the right to barge into a woman’s home without permission?”

Lana’s face was smiling, but her eyes were not. It was merely a mask for her intense anger.

“I-I apologize…”

“Lana, what happened to Monica…!?”

In response to the stammering Cyril and the confused Glenn, Lana simply opened the door and uttered a single word.

“Out.”

This was an order they could not refuse.

＊　＊　＊

Having gotten kicked out of Monica’s house, Glenn and Cyril stood in front of the door in a daze.

“Vice President… What in the world happened to Monica?”

“…”

“The President said something about Monica being afraid of men, but I never expected it to be this bad…”

Cyril was unable to voice any response, as he was tormented by a sense of self-blame.

He understood the reason behind Monica’s terror and her escape into numbers. This was what happens when someone is exposed to violence on a daily basis, and driven to the brink of insanity.

Her curled up, trembling body was clearly screaming for help. Those screams may not have been inaudible, but Cyril could hear them loud and clear.

(This is the girl I’ve been yelling at all this time?)

Cyril felt his vision growing hazy.

He shuffled over to the wall, then forcefully slammed his forehead against it.

“Vice President!?”

Glenn almost let out another shout, but he hastily covered his own mouth.

Meanwhile, Cyril groaned through gritted teeth.

“…I want to punch myself.”

Thule darted up Cyril’s body to reach the top of his head, then reached out a hand to stroke Cyril’s reddened forehead. Pikeh, who had climbed onto his shoulder, whispered “Should I cool it down?” into his ear.

“Thule, Pikeh…”

Cyril muttered powerlessly as he crouched down against the wall.

“…Just leave it.”

Cyril felt like he was being crushed under the weight of his conscience.

He wanted someone to punish him for his mistakes. And yet, everyone around him was too kind to blame him.

Not Isaac. Not Monica. Thus, Cyril was forced to bear his sins alone.

(Why am I always like this?)

He was stubborn and found it difficult to change his ways. He lacked the ability to quickly judge a situation and choose the correct response.

Earlier today, Cyril had failed the simple task of saying Isaac’s name. That must have hurt him.

And now, Cyril could only stand dumbfounded in Monica’s darkest hour. No, even worse, he was the one responsible for frightening her.

(Why am I not kind?)

Cyril remained crouched against the wall with his head lowered.

Meanwhile, Thule and Pikeh were looking up at Cyril with round eyes of concern. Glenn also fell silent with a troubled expression.

This silence was broken by Lana opening the front door.

Cyril slowly stood up to apologize to Lana.

However, Lana bowed her head before Cyril could speak.

“I offer my deepest apologies for my earlier behavior. Please forgive my rudeness, Ashley-sama.”

Cyril awkwardly shook his head.

“…No, you did nothing wrong. It was a wise decision to defuse the situation.”

Lana had deliberately acted heavy-handed towards Cyril and Glenn to give Monica the impression that she held the power in this house. This was the best way to reassure the frightened Monica.

Cyril followed Lana’s lead because he understood this.

“I sincerely appreciate your efforts, Miss Colette… But I… I’ve been such a…”

Cyril found himself staring at the ground again. How pathetic could he be?

However, Lana replied in a calm voice.

“Please lift your head, Ashley-sama. I find great strength in having you and Glenn here. Truly.”

Cyril slowly lifted his head.

It was only then that he noticed the exhausted faces on both Lana and Glenn. Of course they would be exhausted. Cyril was not the only one shaken by this situation.

This incident was affecting the entire city of Sazandol, yet Lana was doing her best to protect Monica despite her own anxiety.

(So how can I, the eldest of us, be acting so pathetic!?)

Cyril unconsciously gritted his teeth together. The force of his bite caused his entire head to ache, but that pain only fueled Cyril’s determination.

(I’ve gone through all the documents before coming here. When it comes to Gluttonous Zoe, I am the most knowledgeable person in Sazandol. Think. Think.)

There must be some way to take back what was stolen from Isaac and Monica, and Cyril was the only one who could figure that out.

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