I Raised the Villain's Daughter Too Well-Chapter 32: Didn’t Know! -

The Paltis Family was famous in more ways than one.

Descendants of the Hero who once severed the Demon King’s immortality.

A legendary swordsman clan where every successor without exception attained mastery.

A place so strict that unless it was a formal event, the heirs were always shut away in training.

But right now, there was probably only one thought running through the minds of the cadets, myself included.

‘...Why did she dye it?’

Everyone forgot the incident and stared blankly at that green hair.

Honestly, forget the whole hero business—what everyone really wanted to know was why someone would dye the golden hair of Paltis, said to be the most beautiful in the world.

“Ahem. I believe that should clear things up, yes? Arin is not a witch! All right, everyone disperse~ move along~”

Armeria continued speaking, ignoring the questioning stares.

Actually, it wasn’t so much that she was ignoring them—she seemed completely lost in self-absorption. She kept turning back and winking furiously at Arin like she wasn’t in her right mind.

Obviously, this wasn’t something that could be swept under the rug like that.

“...What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“Huh?”

“You expect us to just believe she’s not a witch because you say so, without a single piece of evidence?!”

“...Eh? Huh?”

The factions of cadets quickly recovered their senses and started pushing back.

Armeria blinked wide-eyed in disbelief—then her expression twisted into a clear ‘The fuck are you talking about?’ as she snapped back.

“Hello? I’m a hero? Armeria of the Paltis Family! If someone like me says she’s not a witch, what the hell are you even—”

“That was your ancestor. Not you, Armeria.”

“What the—do you even know why our family never shows up at events and just locks ourselves away training every day? It’s because if an actual witch or necromancer pops up, we’re the ones who go kill them immediately. I’ve personally killed over a hundred witches, and I’m telling you she’s not one. Want proof? I’ve got the corpses. Still got ’em all stored.”

“Then please explain how that girl was able to use magic!”

“...”

Arin stood silent, receiving stares filled with hostility.

Looking over the injured cadet, I recognized him as someone from a prominent family. He almost certainly had a faction behind him.

In contrast, the Paltis Family... quite frankly, had no dead weight.

Even with their heroic ancestry, had they maintained regular relations with other noble houses over the years, they might have rivaled the Seriratus by now—

But as Armeria had said, they lived the lives of recluses.

In the present age, being a Hero family earned respect, but no real power.

The name still carried weight, yes, but if we were to simply nod and say, “Oh, she’s not a witch? Our bad~” just because the Hero said so, the injured cadet would be outraged, and everyone in his faction would turn against us. That was a different beast than being disliked by a Hero.

A retired war hero of the past versus a senior you’d have to deal with for years to come.

It was a matter of who you needed to stay on good terms with.

“Kh... Miss Armeria.”

The injured cadet staggered to his feet and raised his scorched wrist.

“Everyone saw that girl use magic during the spar. I, and all other observers present, can attest to this. I’ve long respected the achievements of the Paltis Family, so please—if she is not a witch, present some proof. I am injured. I cannot simply let this go.”

...This was bad.

His tone was relatively mild, but those burning eyes—and the barbed nuance laced throughout his words—were telling.

This cadet genuinely intended to pick a fight, Hero or not.

Now was the time for Armeria to back down gracefully while saving face with the courtesy expected of nobility.

“I’m telling you, it wasn’t magic.”

“Then what did she use?”

“I dunno~”

“...Excuse me?”

“Probably something else. Anyway, it wasn’t magic.”

“...???”

I let out a faint sigh.

Just like at the Young Lady’s birthday, she really was the furthest thing from noble.

Naturally, the cadet—completely unconvinced—rose with a scowl.

“You. Do you have nothing to say for yourself?”

“...”

He didn’t even bother with formalities toward Arin.

Until now, she’d stayed silent, but then she raised her head, eyes resolved, and spoke.

“...I’m not a witch.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Then what the hell burned my hand?!”

“This—it’s something I was born with.”

“What kind of nonsense—”

“It’s true. Just like how yetis have good noses and snow leopards have bad eyesight... I can heat up my sword.”

Arin repeated exactly what I had said earlier.

...She must’ve taken it to heart more than I thought.

The cadet glared at Arin with scorn.

“So now you won’t even apologize—”

“I didn’t do anything wrong. You asked for a spar, and I agreed. And you were the one who used magic first. We said we’d only use swords.”

“...Tch. I don’t recall saying that.”

“Liar. I definitely heard it.”

So that was it. He hadn’t liked a commoner and intended to crush her from the start.

The cadet ignored Arin and turned his gaze to Armeria.

“Miss Armeria. Are you truly intent on defending this witch? Please don’t make a mistake out of shallow righteousness.”

“She’s not a witch, I said! If you really don’t believe me, go find the best witch detection expert money can buy. Oh, wait, that’s me, isn’t it? Then how about second-best? Bring them here, they’ll say the same thing.”

“...We’ll see about that. Let’s go!”

The cadet limped away, supported by his faction.

I let out a ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) sigh. The situation had ended in the worst possible way.

Honestly, it would’ve been better if Armeria hadn’t interfered and Arin had simply been beaten to a pulp.

That would’ve satisfied the cadet’s anger. And if the imperial court mages later ruled she wasn’t a witch, she’d still have been labeled some vaguely unpleasant anomaly and spent her Academy days in misery.

Even that would’ve been a hundred times better than this.

Because now... it didn’t even matter whether she was a witch or not.

It was unfortunate, but...

Arin was going to live through hell at the Academy.

“...Why would a Hero defend a witch?”

“She said she’s not, but could someone who’s not a witch really do that?”

“Even if she’s not, she’s still a freak. Tch. What’s the point of the Special Talent program anyway...”

Judging from the cadets’ murmurs as they dispersed, her reputation was already circling the drain.

“My Lady. Let’s call it a day. I’ll send our apologies to those you had appointments with.”

Of course, I had matters far more important than Arin’s safety.

Firnea was lightly holding my hand.

On the surface, she looked fully recovered—but her eyes still quivered faintly.

I tried to escort her naturally back to the dorm, but Firnea shook her head.

“I’m fine. We’ve got a lot to do today. Lead the way.”

Her will was firm.

A total reversal from earlier, when she didn’t want to move and I had to coax her.

Realizing that any argument would be pointless, I gave a slow nod.

“...Understood. But please, don’t overexert yourself.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m Firnea. This much is nothing. You, on the other hand... are you okay?”

“I hardly felt anything. I’m sorry—it must’ve looked like I was exaggerating.”

“R-Really? That’s a relief. Yeah... that’s good to hear.”

Firnea smiled with her usual confidence.

...Is she really all right?

I couldn’t tell. Why did the Scar, which hadn’t reacted all this time, flare up now?

I could only hope it was a coincidence.

****

Fortunately, Firnea flawlessly handled every meeting.

Everyone who spoke with her—dazzled by her beauty and intelligence—fell head over heels, practically swearing allegiance. She likely now commanded the largest faction at the Academy, second only to the Crown Prince.

And while it was hard to take Lariel’s words at face value, there was even talk that she now “ruled” over thirty percent of the girls’ dormitory.

Truly Firnea. That incident at lunch must’ve just been a small hiccup.

Though I still felt a little uneasy, I tried to shake it off by keeping myself busy.

“Ah, Virdem.”

“...Hm?”

It was early evening, after I’d finished escorting Firnea back to the dorm.

I was diligently tearing up the training grounds according to schedule when a familiar face appeared.

The Hero’s younger sister—Leah.

“Are you planning to use it?”

“No, not really. Just came out for a walk. I was bored.”

Leah sat gloomily on one of the pillars near the training field.

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to have made any foolish choices like her sister.

What had Armeria been thinking? The hair dye? Arin?

I was mulling it over while working when Leah started slowly shaking her head side to side, fixing me with a stare.

The kind of stare that screamed, Talk to me, talk to me.

I ignored it for a while and kept tearing up the field.

As expected, these kinds of simple tasks rely heavily on practice. I’d barely been at it an hour and had already cleared over half—

Bzzzz...

“...”

But those attention-seeking eyes had been drilling into the back of my head for over five minutes.

It was getting hard to pretend I hadn’t noticed.

I cautiously broke the silence.

“You don’t seem to be in high spirits. Did something happen, perhaps...”

“Ah! You noticed?? Right, I’m seriously going crazy!”

...And I immediately regretted it.

Leah exploded with frustration like someone who hadn’t spoken to another human in ten years.

“I mean, yeah, I kinda screwed up at the entrance ceremony, but I already apologized and smoothed things over, right? So I figured everything was fine, but then suddenly after lunch today, everyone started avoiding me! I tried to make friends, so I went and said hi, and they just gave me these weird half-smiles and ran off! What’s their problem?! It’s not like I said anything weird! I just said something normal like, ‘The weather’s really nice today.’ It’s not like I expected anything special! I mean, that’s fine, right? But they’re all like, ‘Ahaha...yeah...’ and then vanish! Like seriously, was what I did really that bad?!”

It probably wasn’t Leah’s fault—more like fallout from Armeria’s little declaration earlier.

“I told my sister how I felt and she was like, ‘It’s nothing,’ and then—well, okay, maybe it was something—but now she’s off playing with that weird girl instead of talking to me. I heard she passed the Special Talent Exam, some commoner or something... My sister doing weird things isn’t new, but this time’s really weird. She was looking for that girl even before the entrance ceremony.”

“...She was looking for Arin even before the entrance ceremony?”

“Oh, yeah, that was her name—Arin. You probably know her, right? Since you took the Special Talent Exam too. Anyway, yeah. She kept saying it was super important or whatever.”

That—was unexpected.

Could there be some connection between the Hero and Arin?

Leah didn’t seem to know anything more, though.

She hugged her knees, looking miserable.

“Aaah... I’m really losing it. I thought everything would go great once I got to the Academy... I figured I’d make at least a few friends.”

“I see. It must be hard on you.”

“Yeah... Nobody talks to me. It’s just like back home. I thought things would change once I got out, but nothing’s different~”

Leah sighed deeply, scraping the ground with the tip of her shoe.

“When is my prince going to show up... Ah.”

“Prince? Are you referring to the Crown Prince?”

“Ahaha! N-No, never mind...”

Leah blushed and suddenly clammed up.

“But I do feel better getting it off my chest. Haa... It’s driving me nuts—back at the dorm, I have to keep quiet and just swing my sword all day.”

“...If you’d like, I could be someone you talk to.”

“Oh, really? Sorry, but I’m seriously out of self-control right now—I can’t even fake turning down an offer like that. You mean it? I can come find you every day?”

“I apologize. That may have been a poor choice of words. May I retract it?”

“Ah!! Don’t! I mean, it’s not like I have anything I can do for you, but, um...”

After a moment’s thought, Leah stood up.

“As long as I’m here, how about I take a look at your sword? Practice a bit?”

“...My sword?”

“Yeah! The mistake I made at the entrance ceremony—it was when I looked at a cadet’s sword and gave way too much harsh criticism. But I’ve been practicing! From now on, I’m going for 90% compliments, 10% critique. What do you think?”

“That does sound tempting.”

To be evaluated by someone from a Hero’s family.

I don’t consider myself a swordsman, but still—it was an appealing offer.

“If you go for 90% critique, 10% compliments, then we’ve got a deal.”

“If it’s 90% critique, you won’t survive it, you know. Are you sure?”

“I feel my lips tightening already.”

“...All right, 90% critique it is. Be prepared. I’m going to give you a very detailed breakdown.”

With Leah’s eyes blazing, I quietly drew my sword.

I could finish the rest of the maintenance later.

“Hah!”

I performed my swordwork for about ten minutes in front of Leah.

It was a form I’d developed myself. I had received a passing mark from the commander of the Imperial Knights, but...

How would a Hero judge it?

“Whew...”

After the final motion, I exhaled and sheathed my sword, then looked at Leah.

“What do you think?”

Leah—

“...W-Wow....”

She had half-covered her face with her hands as she watched my swordplay.

She definitely looked impressed, but...

It didn’t seem like she was reacting to the refinement or technical precision of the form.

No way—but she looked like she’d just witnessed something embarrassingly erotic.

“Is there some sort of problem?”

“U-Um...”

Leah hesitated for a second, then blurted out a bizarre, incomprehensible impression.

“...T-Too sexy...”

Hm.

Is she insane?