~Chapter 25~
*‘Am I truly Ivyn Kinzello? What if I’m just borrowing her body for a while? What if the ‘hereditary traits’ don’t manifest? Will my family… leave me?’*
*So…*
*Just like my family from my past life.*
As her thoughts reached this point, she suddenly realized anew how precious her current family was to her.
People who cherished and loved her even without her having to prove her worth…
A family that supported and cheered her on, no matter what decisions she made.
What if she lost all of this in an instant…?
*‘I’m scared.’*
Then, a warm body temperature was suddenly felt on the back of her hand.
When Ivyn turned to look, she saw Ron’s face looking at her.
A warm glow swirled in Ron’s turquoise eyes, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.
“It’s okay.”
“…….”
“We’re by your side, Vin. Even if this doesn’t work out well, it’s never your fault.”
It was a strange feeling.
Why did she feel like crying?
Suppressing the tears tickling her throat and welling up, Ivyn finally raised her head toward her family.
“I’ll give it a try, the Awakening.”
She wanted to stay with this family.
Just as Ron said, she wanted to grow, help, and stay by each other’s side.
Seeing his youngest daughter’s resolute expression, Dylan nodded quietly.
“Yes. The resolve in your heart is what matters, Vin. Remember. We are with you.”
Encouragement from the rest of the brothers followed.
“Girl, you’ve become timid all of a sudden lately. Why are you so cowed, it’s not like you!”
“She’s still a complete beginner! If it were us, we wouldn’t have even tried back then! The fact our little squirrel is trying now makes her a total prodigy, a genius, a full-fledged genius!”
As if they had prepared it in advance, the triplets pulled ‘that’ banner from their pockets, sprang to their feet, and began waving it on the spot.
(O, our Princess! How can she be so pretty? How can she learn necromancy so easily?
Princess, we love you.
The universe churned into existence for you.
This planet underwent its creation for you.
The rivers flow for you.)
“Brothers……”
A tear glistened in the corner of Ivyn’s eye as she let out a soft laugh, and warm smiles spread among the rest of the family.
Just as everyone was steeped in warm familial affection……
“Are you starting right away? Then, I’ll clear the table.”
Mina, having finished the kitchen work, wiped her wet hands on her apron and began clearing the table.
*Thud!*
*Clatter! Clatter!*
Amid the clamorous sound of plates and cutlery falling to the floor…
*Whack!*
The sound of Grin Kinzello smacking Mina’s forehead hard rang out.
“You ignorant fool! Do you know how expensive that tea set is?! Huh?! I said clear the table, and you go and throw it table and all and just flop down, you lunatic!”
***
That evening.
The Awakening ceremony began.
The family formed a circle around Ivyn, kneeling on the ground.
As all preparations seemed complete, Dylan began chanting an incantation.
Soon, with a rumbling, heavy sound, a pitch-black energy swirled violently toward the center.
It was then that a gigantic shadow was cast over Ivyn’s head.
*‘Huh…?’*
Ivyn felt the surrounding scenery begin to subtly distort like a heat haze.
Or would ‘melting’ be a more apt description?
Softly, drip by drip.
Everything was dissolving in a hot energy…
Downward, downward…
It was flowing down.
Something was changing.
“Something’s strange… H-help…!”
It felt as if her body was being sucked somewhere, like water being pulled down a drain.
*Whoosh!*
*Whoosh!*
In an instant, Ivyn’s body at the center of the magic circle suddenly vanished as if snuffed out into darkness!
“Aaaah!”
Her pitiful scream scattered into the empty air, but none of the family members showed any sign of panic or agitation.
How much time passed like that?
*Flash!*
As the Kinzello family, who had been drawing up the pitch-black energy, simultaneously opened their eyes in silence, their eyes, now burning crimson, were revealed.
And then…
*Kwaaaang!*
A fearsome pitch-black storm raged.
*Whoooosh.*
Amid the swirling vortex.
The shadows that had scattered around gathered into one, and the figure of Ivyn, who had disappeared into the magic circle, reappeared.
Her eyes tightly shut, her expression looked as peaceful as if she were dreaming.
“Heir of the pure Kinzello bloodline, recognize the special power bestowed upon you and open your eyes to that strength.”
The words uttered by Dylan seemed to strike the crown of Ivyn’s head like lightning.
Suddenly, with a strange sensation, Ivyn’s body floated up into the air.
*Fwoosh!*
Soon, an immense power was released from her entire body.
It was soft rather than cold, affectionate rather than sharp.
A completely different quality of energy compared to when the brothers—Kal, Bil, and the triplets—and Ron had undergone their Awakening.
While the energy radiating from the boys before had been violent, seeming to destroy and swallow everything, the energy radiating from the youngest daughter was closer to a calm, emotional feeling, like a deep, proud river flowing steadily.
*‘This kind of energy exists in the Kinzello family too…?’*
While Dylan felt slightly confused…
*Flash.*
Ivyn’s eyes opened.
*Gently.*
And her body, following the force of gravity, floated down to the floor as lightly as a feather.
It was family head Dylan who caught her.
“Vin, are you coming to?”
Nodding silently at Dylan, Ivyn slipped out of his embrace and began trudging somewhere as if entranced.
“……?”
As the whole family held their breath and watched her…
Ivyn’s white hand carefully touched the deer skull hanging in the middle of the cabin wall.
Then, along with a strange, heart-tingling energy, something surged into Ivyn’s mind.
*‘This is……’*
The scene flashing through her mind was of a stag leading its herd being chased by someone.
The stag threw itself to protect its fawn, which had strayed from the herd…
And then…
*Bang!*
An ear-splitting gunshot echoed.
“Ah……”
*Trickle.*
Tears streamed from Ivyn’s eyes.
What she had seen was the stag’s final memory.
“Vin……?”
Ron’s voice calling her was heard.
Turning her tear-streaked face toward her family, she said,
“I saw the last moments of the dead deer……”
The ability newly awakened in her was ‘Echo of the Departed’—the power to read the memories of the dead.
***
Several days passed after that.
After the Awakening ceremony, Ivyn, who had been completely listless, had somewhat recovered her energy thanks to her family’s warm care.
Dylan and Bil tried to take Ivyn back to the duchy, but she stubbornly insisted to her family on staying in the cabin.
“I’m not fully recovered yet. I want to recuperate a bit more in this quiet cabin. It’s not like I’ll be staying alone anyway,” Ivyn said, glancing slightly at the triplets before turning a bright smile toward Dylan.
“Something seems suspicious.”
Bil frowned slightly.
“What’s the reason for insisting on staying here? And with those guys?”
Instantly becoming ‘those guys,’ the triplets made their displeasure obvious as they looked at their brother.
“What’s wrong with us?!”
“Exactly! What’s with that look?!”
“Are you looking down on the Squirrel Defense Corps?!”
The triplets barked fiercely like chihuahuas.
“Don’t worry, Father. I’ll stay too.”
Ron, who had been looking at the three with eyes similar to Bil’s, spoke to Dylan.
He was scheduled to take command on-site, managing the corpses of the bandits left in the mountains and the remains found at the crematorium.
At Ron’s words, a look of relief finally began to replace the clouded expression on Dylan’s face.
“Yes, then I can leave with peace of mind.”
“It’s not that far from the site to the cabin, so I’ll come check in from time to time.”
“Don’t forget to report in regularly.”
“Understood.”
“…….”
*What the heck?*
*Is the reaction really this polar opposite?*
*What on earth have we done all this time?*
A blank look appeared on the triplets’ faces as they silently watched Dylan and Ron converse.
*‘Why does Father only favor Ron!’*
But they couldn’t complain outright.
A man has his pride!
“It’s time for you to leave now, my lord.”
Mina opened the cabin door, urging Dylan and Bil.
It seemed the black wyvern to carry them had arrived.
“Hmm…… Well then, take care, Ron.”
After leaving those final words, Dylan and Bil returned to the duchy, seen off by the remaining family.
After seeing them off, Ron immediately summoned his phantom steed.
“I should head out now too. I plan to stop by the mountain stronghold closest to Cori Village first.”
*Fwooosh.*
The phantom steed scraped its front hooves on the ground, scattering blue flames.
“Brothers, you’ll be guarding Vin and the cabin well, right?”
Ron looked at the triplets, uttering a question—‘*will* you be guarding well?’—not a statement—‘you’ll be guarding well.’
As the youngest among the brothers, he couldn’t bring himself to say harsh words, but it seemed his dissatisfaction with them was no different from the other brothers’.
“Ah, we get it!”
The triplets were starting to get annoyed.
“Just go, will you! We’ll be here with Vin and Mina, living peacefully and harmoniously!”
“We’ll just eat, sleep, eat, sleep, repeating that endlessly. Go! So hurry up.”
“…….”
*The more they emphasize it, the less reliable it feels… Is that just my imagination?*
Ron tried hard to ignore the uneasy feeling and smiled toward his youngest sister, who had come out to see him off.
“Vin, you’ll be wearing the ring I gave you, right? I’ll contact you from time to time.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, brother!”
Ivyn’s expression as she saw Ron off seemed slightly ambiguous for some reason.
It was because she had a plan hidden from him.
After leaving the mountain stronghold investigation to Ron, Ivyn and the triplets planned to secretly raid the goblin cave by themselves.
The reason they specifically hid this fact from Ron was…
