I Won't Let Anyone Have My Beloved Daughter Rabi! ~The Love Circumstances Full of Misunderstandings Between the Former Strongest Mage and the Cursed Girl~
Douglas was once hailed as the strongest—an SS-rank royal mage who stood beside heroes. Now he's a washed-up old man with a rusty staff, a revoked license, and nothing left to his name. He's made peace with being needed by no one.
Then a soaked, mud-covered girl collapses at his door and calls him "Daddy."
Rabi carries a curse that destroys everything around her when her emotions surge—the same curse that killed her parents and burned her village to the ground. Hunted and cast out, all she wan
I Won't Let Anyone Have My Beloved Daughter Rabi! ~The Love Circumstances Full of Misunderstandings Between the Former Strongest Mage and the Cursed Girl~ - The Case of My Beloved Daughter, Soaking Wet, Taking Shelter at the Drifter's Inn
The winter dusk turned the city's air cold in an instant. The chill seeped up through the gaps in the cobblestones, crawling up from the soles of his feet.
Douglas sat in a corner of the Lamp's Glow tavern, nursing his drink alone. His worn gray traveling clothes and cloak bore no trace of the royal mage he had once been. His short black hair, streaked with white, went unkempt, and stubble covered his cheeks. Only his deep brown eyes still held a light of will, refusing to yield to age.
He turned his palm upward and focused. Gathering the ether within his body to his fingertips, he tried to construct a simple spell to conjure a small flame.
...No good.
The spell unraveled halfway through. Like rusted gears that wouldn't mesh, the flow of magic caught and stuttered. What he could once do in the blink of an eye now took three times as long to cast.
"Damn. Can't be helped."
He muttered with self-mockery and downed his drink. The cheap ale burned his throat. The mage once hailed as the strongest had come to this.
Across the counter, the innkeeper Bard set down the glass he'd been polishing. A former C-rank adventurer at fifty-eight, his left arm was gone from the shoulder down. The tavern's regulars all trusted the quiet bearing of this man.
"Your ether acting up again?"
"Yeah. Can't beat age."
Douglas slid his empty mug forward. Bard poured without a word. The amber liquid swayed, its foam popping in fine bubbles.
"Been half a year since you came here now."
"That so. Time flies."
"I've heard the rumors. You got kicked out of the hero's party. Told you weren't young anymore."
Douglas snorted at Bard's words.
"Not young, huh. Well, it's the truth."
"And they stripped your license from the Adventurer's Guild Veltram too. An ex-SS-rank mage, fallen this far."
"I just got weaker. That's all there is to it."
Douglas downed his drink. His throat worked.
In this world, adventurers needed a magic-stone license issued by the guild to operate. Once stripped, you couldn't even take requests. Only three percent of the population could use ether magic. And among them, royal mages who had graduated from the Royal Academy of Magic were elites treated on par with nobility.
Douglas had once stood at that summit.
"As the mage of the hero's party, I cleared countless brutal quests. Took down S-rank monsters single-handed. ...All in the past now."
"But the man you are now is different."
"Different, all right. My body's worn down, my ether circulation's dulled. My royal mage credentials, my license, my comrades—lost it all."
Having said that much, Douglas wore a self-mocking smile.
"Know what's left? Just this beat-up magic-stone staff."
He flicked a finger against the old staff at his hip. A dry note echoed through the tavern.
Bard said nothing. He simply topped off Douglas's mug.
Outside the tavern window, the winter wind rolled across the cobblestones. A bell tolled in the distance. The city of Astoria was sinking into night.
Douglas stared out the window. Astoria, capital of the Kingdom of Landore, was a beautiful circular city ringed by walls. At its center stood the royal castle Luminous Palace, surrounded by the Royal Academy of Magic Eldion, the guild headquarters, and the grand cathedral. Magic-stone streetlamps cast a pale glow over the night streets.
"...I've given up on being needed by anyone."
The words slipped out and dissolved into the tavern's clamor.
That night, Douglas returned to his room and pulled the blanket over himself around the time the date was changing.
—Bang bang bang!
Douglas woke to the violent sound of someone pounding on the inn's door.
The clock had passed midnight. Who the hell would come at this hour? There was no sign of Bard answering. Douglas clicked his tongue, sat up, threw on his cloak, and headed downstairs.
"Damn it, what do you want at this hour?"
The moment he opened the door, cold night air rushed in.
And standing there was—a girl, soaked to the bone and covered in mud.
Her long silver hair, plastered to her face with rain and mud, was loosely wavy—hair that should have shimmered like stardust. Now it only caught the streetlamp light, gleaming dully like wet silk.
Large, violet-tinged eyes gazed up at Douglas. They were red and swollen, as if she'd cried herself out.
The girl opened her trembling lips.
"...Daddy..."
No sooner had she said it than she crumpled and collapsed on the spot.
Douglas caught her on instinct. She was astonishingly light.
"Hey, stay with me!"
He saw something surface on the girl's arm. On her left arm, where the sleeve had ridden up, black patterns were intricately intertwined and carved into the skin. They pulsed faintly, as if alive.
—A curse.
Douglas knew it in his gut. This girl was cursed. A type of ancient magic that ran wild when emotions surged. A curse with a manifestation rate of less than 0.01 percent, deemed incurable even by the grand cathedral.
"Hey, Douglas. What's going on?"
Bard poked his head out from the back. Douglas turned, still holding the girl.
"A customer. ...No, that's not right. A lost child."
"A lost child? At this hour? Hey, I don't want any trouble."
Bard's voice dropped low. His former adventurer's instinct must have sensed something off about the girl.
"I'll look after her. I'm renting a room."
"Are you serious? What's in it for you?"
"Don't need anything in it for me. I just can't leave her be."
Douglas carried the girl up the stairs. Bard looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't follow.
Back in his room, Douglas laid the girl on the bed. She'd freeze in those wet clothes. But he couldn't very well change them for her. He piled on blankets and lit the fireplace.
He heard her muttering in her sleep.
"It's my fault... I... the village..."
Douglas sat in a chair and studied her face.
Driven out of her village, was she. Because of the curse.
Sixteen, seventeen at most, he guessed. Her features were fine. Covered in mud and tears as she was, she must have been a pretty girl. But even in sleep, her face was terribly worn.
"...A cursed girl, huh."
Douglas looked at his own left hand. An old burn scar marked the back. From a battle long ago. Every time he saw it, he remembered what he'd lost.
The patterns on the girl's arm rose into relief under the firelight.
Douglas stayed by her side all night.
Morning came.
The winter sun through the window lit the girl's silver hair. Now that it was dry, it truly caught the light in fine, stardust-like reflections.
Her eyelids trembled and slowly opened.
Her large violet eyes reflected the ceiling, then found Douglas.
"...Where am I?"
"An inn on the outskirts of Astoria. Place called the Lamp's Glow."
The girl tried to sit up, but her arms wouldn't obey, and she sank back into the pillow.
"Don't push yourself. You collapsed soaked to the bone last night."
"...I remember. I called you Daddy, and then..."
Her voice was small and hoarse.
Douglas sat in his chair, arms crossed.
"What's your name?"
"...Rabi."
"Rabi, huh. I'm Douglas."
Rabi tilted her head slightly. The gesture seemed awfully childlike.
"Douglas... Daddy."
"...Why do you call me Daddy?"
Rabi's eyes wavered. Her violet eyes shimmered iridescent with rising emotion.
"I... I killed my real mom and dad... with my curse."
Douglas listened in silence.
"My curse goes out of control when my feelings surge. It causes ether explosions around me and destroys everything. My parents dying, the village burning—it's all my fault."
Rabi's voice trembled. But no tears came. She must have cried herself dry already.
"The villagers drove me out, and I had nowhere to go... but I wanted a daddy. I wanted to call someone 'Daddy.'"
Rabi looked up at Douglas.
"I'm not related to you by blood, am I... So maybe I shouldn't call you Daddy anymore..."
At those words, Douglas was at a loss for a moment.
Something deep in his chest ached, slowly.
The shadow of a family he'd lost. The warmth of someone who needed him. He found himself seeing all of it in this girl.
Douglas let out a deep breath.
"...If you want to call me that, go ahead. I don't mind."
Rabi's eyes went wide.
"Really?"
"Really. But I've got nothing to my name. No license, no money, no youth. Just a drifting old man."
"That's fine. As long as I have you, Daddy, that's all I need."
A smile spread across Rabi's face like a flower blooming. A single tear traced down her cheek.
Seeing that smile, Douglas couldn't help but look away.
—What is this feeling?
The center of his chest was filling with something warm. Ticklish, and painful at once.
"Damn. Can't be helped."
To hide his embarrassment, Douglas placed a hand on Rabi's head. Her silver hair was far softer than it looked.
"I'll protect you. So no more crying alone."
Rabi nodded over and over through her tears.
That night, multiple footsteps and angry voices approached from outside the inn.
"Send that girl out!"
"Don't shelter a cursed child!"
Douglas peered out the window. Men carrying torches had gathered in front of the inn. All of them held farm tools or clubs.
"The villagers who chased Rabi, huh."
Rabi shrank on the bed, trembling.
"Daddy, I'm sorry. Because of me..."
"It's not your fault."
Douglas said quietly.
Bard burst into the room.
"There's a commotion outside. What are you going to do?"
"That's obvious. I'm taking Rabi and leaving."
"Are you insane? You're not the SS-rank mage you used to be."
"I know."
Douglas stood and gripped the magic-stone staff at his hip.
"But I can't hand this girl over."
He circulated the ether within his body. A dull flow. Diminished magic. Even so, he had no choice but to do it.
Douglas aimed his staff at the window and constructed a spell.
"—Barrier spell, deploy."
A translucent barrier spread outside the window. The villagers tried to approach but were blocked by the invisible wall.
"Hey, what is this wall?!"
"There's a mage in there!"
Douglas lifted Rabi in his arms.
"Hold on tight."
"Yeah."
Rabi wrapped her arms around Douglas's neck. Small, warm, and trembling.
Douglas burst out the back door into the night town.
The winter night wind struck them both. Douglas ran through the cobblestone alleys. A distance that would have been nothing when he was young now left him short of breath. Still, he didn't stop.
"Daddy, I'm sorry. Because of me, because I'm here..."
Rabi apologized through her tears.
"It's not your fault. I'll protect you."
Douglas said it with force.
Under the moonlight, the curse patterns on Rabi's arm glowed eerily.
He wove through the back alleys to shake off their pursuers. His breath came hard. His heart screamed. But the warmth in his arms—that alone he would never let go.
How far had he run?
Before he knew it, the two of them had reached the edge of the forest on the outskirts of Astoria. The entrance to the Great Mistral Forest. Ancient trees grew thick, melting into the darkness of night.
Douglas set Rabi down on the ground.
"We should be safe now that we've come this far."
Catching his breath, Douglas stared at the patterns on Rabi's arm.
"This curse—I'll find a way to deal with it."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. So, will you come with me?"
Rabi wiped her tears and gave him a beaming smile.
"If I'm with you, Daddy, I'll go anywhere!"
That smile shone brighter than the stars beneath the winter night sky.
Douglas placed a hand on her head and murmured softly.
"All right."
But then—an ominous presence reached them from deep in the forest.
A howl.
The howl of an ether wolf echoed through the night forest.
Douglas stepped forward to shield Rabi. He drew the magic-stone staff at his hip and readied it.
"Rabi, stay back."
"Daddy..."
The darkness of the forest stirred, slowly.
Cold sweat ran down Douglas's back.
—Can I protect this girl?
The new battle of the mage once called the strongest was about to begin.
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