Chapter 15
A faint crease appeared between Marie’s brows, but she quickly smoothed her expression and smiled.
“Well, kids can get carried away when they’re playing together. It happens.”
“…You think saying something like that to a child is something we can just brush off with ‘it happens’?”
Uh-oh. Even though I tried to calm him down, Dad was clearly furious.
If I hadn’t stopped him, we might have seen another bloodbath like yesterday.
Despite the ominous pressure radiating from my father, Marie responded with the same polite smile.
“Oh my, of course—if you find it unpleasant, you should step in. But didn’t your daughter say it was simply an innocent show of affection?”
Dad’s lips pressed together.
“Isn’t that right, dear?”
If things blew up here, only Dad would take the hit.
That’s why I’d kept it to a mild jab at this woman, rather than escalating.
“She’s not like the steward yesterday—this woman is the head of a legitimate branch family. If Dad attacks her, she could take it to the Hallroren General Assembly as grounds for disciplinary action.”
Making her pay back in a way that doesn’t cost us was the smarter move.
“Yes, of course. Seeing you, Auntie, I now understand exactly why Burpure was so ‘kind’ to me.”
The air between us sparked with tension. Just as the moment teetered toward open conflict, Andromalius, who had been watching in silence, smoothly stepped in.
“Shall we end the chit-chat here, Lord Feydel, young master? The Grand Lord gave you both a task. We shouldn’t delay.”
“Ah, right.”
“…Fine.”
“You can sort out who’s right later. For now, let’s start the investigation.”
Dad, visibly forcing his anger down, turned toward me.
I gave him a smile and a small nod—my way of saying it was fine and we should just let it go for now.
“Dad, see you later. I’ll do my best at the demonstration.”
“And I’ll… make sure the investigation is thorough. No injustice will be done to you, Mia.”
“Mm!”
He reached out and rested his hand briefly on my crown—
about to ruffle my hair, but pulling back at the last moment, likely embarrassed to do it in front of others.
The sight was so very Dad that I grinned, already deciding to pester him for a proper head-pat when we were alone later.
“Now then, since we’ve already been delayed, we will begin the second day of the main demonstration immediately.”
The day’s announcer was a woman draped head-to-toe in a sheer black veil, her voice lilting and strange, almost like a song. She was a banshee—a dark-elf type.
This household really has a variety of summons under its command…
The steward was gone—dragged off by Andromalius—but thanks to the preparations already made, the event moved forward without confusion.
Ah, ‘Shadow Transfer’… that game.
A kind of tag, played with black magic to leave a “mark” of darkness on one’s opponent.
The arena was littered with magically-conjured cover and obstacles; the goal was to hide, tag others with darkness, and survive to the end.
The key was to catch your opponent off guard.
Those with higher-tier Cores could combine spells for more complex tactics, but in truth, all the kids here had physical and magical limits.
Victory came from being unpredictable, breaking through defenses, and attacking where they least expected.
I used to just run away in this game…
Back then, unable to mark anyone, hiding was all I could do.
But things were different now.
Very different.
“We’ll start the countdown. One minute until the match begins. Fifty-nine… fifty-eight…”
The banshee’s voice drew every competitor’s gaze upward.
Their faces were tight with determination—six had already been eliminated yesterday, so today’s performance could turn the tide.
I lifted my head—and locked eyes with Burpure.
His gaze was oily, almost gleaming with hostility.
In the past, I would have looked away to avoid giving him an excuse to start trouble.
Not today.
Oh no, you’re never making it to the main family.
I’m taking everything for myself.
I met his stare and gave him a bright, deliberate smile.
His face twisted, then smoothed into a mocking smirk.
I could guess exactly what was going through his mind—
Yesterday was just a fluke. Today I’ll crush her.
With the only Dark Core-2 holder in the group, he had every reason to believe he could secure his place as frontrunner.
Too bad for him.
“Four, three, two, one… begin!”
At zero, the children scattered, rushing to claim the best hiding spots.
Some would clash immediately and knock each other out—it was inevitable.
I stayed where I was, arms folded, simply watching.
“Uh… what’s she doing?”
A boy who was hurrying for cover glanced back at me, baffled.
My sharpened hearing caught every word despite the distance.
Others, hearing him, peeked at me too—even those already concealed behind obstacles.
“Can’t use black magic again, maybe?”
“Cores can be unstable right after they first open. Maybe that’s it.”
“Still pathetic, though.”
Laughter snickered through the arena.
“So whoever tags her first gets free points, huh?”
The shift in their intent was almost tangible.
While lasting until the end brought the highest score, marking someone also gave points—
and I must have looked like easy prey.
“Could be a trap. Remember her shadow-mist yesterday?”
“Yeah, could be dangerous.”
Even so, they didn’t rush in recklessly.
Promising talents they might be, but they weren’t fools.
Not that it’ll help them.
They would soon regret this brief pause—
because in that time, I calmed the instability in my dark magic.
I reached my hand downward.
“Distorted Darkness.”
The moment I whispered it, squirming, inky-black orbs appeared—
all around the arena, right next to the kids who’d been chatting carelessly.
“Wha—what is this?!”
“Wait—!”
They were Dark Slimes, the most basic undead a Core-1 user could summon.
No killing power, weak form… but—
This game isn’t about killing, is it?
While they’d been gossiping, I’d pinpointed their hiding spots and set my summoning coordinates.
Unlike ordinary tag, Shadow Transfer allowed the use of summons.
No one considered summoning at this stage—Core-1 undead were too weak to bother with.
“Slimes? Really—”
“No—ugh!”
The slimes stuck fast, smearing them with darkness.
“Mary—eliminated. Ben—eliminated,” the banshee intoned, ignoring their protests.
After all, the whole point of the game was to catch your opponent off guard.
If you underestimated someone and got tagged, that was your fault.
And then—
“Hah! You think a cheap trick like that will work on me? Spear that pierces the void!”
Boom!
A spear of condensed darkness hurtled toward me.
I rolled, narrowly avoiding the impact; the darkness failed to transfer by a hair’s breadth.
Well, I knew he’d be left standing.
Forming a weapon from condensed dark energy was a skill only Core-2 holders could pull off—
which meant the only ones left were Burpure Feydel… and me, Kalmia Hallroren.
“Don’t think you can hide now. You’re finished.”
I just smiled.
