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~ - At the source of the curse, my beloved daughter cried out that she loves her daddy — the case where the old man's withered ether wrought a miracle
The deepest chamber of the ruins was so thick with ether that it hurt to breathe.
Ancient Arcadian spell-formulas carved across the entire wall pulsed with a pale blue-white light. The glow writhed like something alive, flowing toward the center of the room.
The center of the room. Above the altar, a black sphere hovered.
It was about the size of an adult's head. Its surface churned and oozed, and now and then something seemed to peer out from within. Rabi's left arm—the curse-mark—was flickering in perfect rhythm with the sphere.
*Thump.*
Each time the sphere pulsed, Rabi's body jerked.
"A... aah..."
A faint sound slipped from Rabi's lips. Her silver hair clung to her forehead with sweat, and her violet-tinged eyes trembled with fear. Douglas wrapped his arms around her shoulders and felt her shuddering pass into him.
(So this black lump is what did this to her...)
A quiet anger began to burn deep in Douglas's chest.
Marie traced her finger along the characters carved around the altar. Her green eyes held a serious light. Her red curls, catching the pale glow, looked almost like blood.
"...I can read it. This is Ancient Arcadian. It's a device for awakening a dormant spell-formula, using the emotions of a sacrifice as fuel."
Marie's voice had lost its usual composure.
"Rabi. You were offered to this altar as a child. As the key to activate this formula."
Rabi's shoulders gave a violent jump.
"I... I was... a sacrifice..."
The color drained from Rabi's face. Her lips trembled, and her teeth chattered audibly.
Then it happened.
Images came flooding into Rabi's mind.
Dark. So dark. A cold stone floor. Someone's voice, praying. Candlelight. People in black robes. And—countless eyes, looking down at her.
"No... stop... Father... Mother..."
Rabi clutched her head in both hands and sank to the floor. Tears spilled from her large eyes.
"I remember... I was sold... by the villagers... because they were afraid of the curse..."
Rabi's voice shook.
"In the dark, all alone, all that time... and no one ever came to help me..."
Douglas pulled her tightly against him.
"That's enough. You don't have to remember anymore."
Douglas's voice was gentler than he'd expected even himself to sound.
"You're not alone anymore. I'm here. I'll always be right here."
Rabi buried her face in Douglas's chest. Warm. Why was this person's chest so warm?
"Father... Father..."
Rabi cried on and on, like a child.
Kyle drew his sword.
"I've heard enough. So all we have to do is smash that black thing, right?"
Kyle's blue eyes glared at the black sphere. His blond hair shone eerily in the pale light.
"I'll go. Rabi, stay back."
Kyle broke into a run toward the altar.
"Wait, Kyle! Don't go in alone!"
Ignoring Douglas's protest, Kyle raised his sword.
"Haaaaah!"
Kyle's blade slashed into the black sphere.
—*Clang!!*
Sparks scattered. Kyle's sword was repelled by an invisible film of ether surrounding the sphere.
"What...?!"
The next instant, a shockwave burst from the sphere.
*Boom!!*
Kyle's body was blown backward. He slammed into the wall and crumpled.
"Guaah...!"
Kyle dropped to one knee on the ground and spat blood.
"It's useless. That thing doesn't accept physical attacks."
Marie raised her right hand, ring glinting.
"I'll keep it occupied. Douglas, you protect that girl."
Flames gathered at Marie's fingertips.
"Pierce—*Crimson Lotus Lance*."
The lance of fire Marie released flew toward the black sphere.
But.
Just before it touched the sphere, the lance of fire twisted, warping.
And then it was sucked in.
"It... it absorbed it?!"
The sphere swelled, growing a size larger.
*Thump. Thump. Thump.*
The pulsing quickened.
"Aaaah!"
Rabi's mark began to flicker violently. Pain shot through her. Her arm was burning hot.
"Father... my arm... it's so hot...!"
Black light spilled from Rabi's left arm.
Douglas gripped his magic-stone staff.
(This is bad. Rabi's curse is starting to resonate fully with that sphere.)
Douglas wrung out his nearly depleted ether. From the very depths of his body, from a place that should have been empty, he squeezed out the last drop.
(I am... the man once called the strongest.)
(Am I going to end here, unable to protect even one daughter?)
Douglas began to chant.
"—*Frozen Prison*—"
His voice shook. The ether would not gather at his fingertips.
"—gh..."
The chant broke off.
(Damn it...!)
Once more.
"—*Frozen—*"
It broke again. His hand signs faltered, and the formula scattered like mist.
(Have I... grown this weak?)
A third time.
"—*Fro—*"
No voice would come. His knees nearly buckled.
Then it happened.
Rabi's mark exceeded its limit.
"Nooooooo!!!"
Black light exploded from Rabi's body.
*BOOOOOM!!!*
The deepest chamber of the ruins was painted white.
The rock walls crumbled. Massive boulders fell from the ceiling. The ground split, and the footing collapsed away.
"Kyaaah!"
Marie caught her foot in the rubble and fell. From above, a massive boulder—.
"Marie!"
Kyle shoved her out of the way. In her place, Kyle's leg was buried in the rubble.
"Guaaah!"
"Kyle?!"
Still holding Rabi, Douglas tried to raise a barrier formula.
But.
Not a single drop of ether remained.
His fingertips cut through empty air.
(Is this the end...)
Douglas shielded Rabi beneath his own body. At least this child, if no one else.
Rabi was crying in Douglas's arms.
"It's my fault... it's all my fault..."
Rabi's voice rang out strangely clear amid the collapsing ruins.
"Because I exist... everyone gets hurt... Father, and Kyle, and Marie..."
Rabi pounded her small fists against Douglas's chest.
"I shouldn't be here...!"
At those words, something in Douglas snapped.
Douglas seized Rabi by both shoulders.
"Don't be absurd!!!"
Douglas's voice echoed through the ruins.
"If you weren't here, I'd have no reason to live!!!"
Rabi's eyes flew wide open.
"Listen, Rabi. Until I met you, I was living like a dead man. Every day I drank, just waiting for time to pass. You changed that!"
Douglas's voice trembled.
"Because you called me 'Father'... I could think about living again...!"
Tears spilled from Douglas's eyes.
"So don't say you'll disappear. Don't leave me alone..."
Rabi saw Douglas's tears.
(Father is... crying...)
(For me...)
Something burst open deep in Rabi's chest.
Warm. So very warm.
She wanted to live—for this person.
She wanted to stay by this person's side.
She wanted to protect this person.
Rabi rose to her feet on trembling legs.
"Father."
Rabi's voice rang out quietly.
"I've made up my mind."
Rabi turned to face the black sphere.
The mark on her arm was still pulsing violently. But she wasn't afraid anymore.
"I love you, Father!"
Rabi's cry echoed through the deepest chamber of the ruins.
"Not as family—as a man! This curse and all, I'm giving every bit of it to you!"
In that instant.
The black light pouring from Rabi's mark turned gold.
Cracks ran through the black sphere.
*Crack. Crack. Crack.*
The fissures spread across the entire sphere.
"The formula is... being rewritten...?!"
Marie stared at Rabi as though she were seeing something impossible.
"Rabi's feelings are... overwriting the curse's formula...!"
Douglas was watching Rabi's back.
(She's... grown this strong?)
(This little daughter I was supposed to protect)
(Is now trying to protect me)
Douglas regripped his magic-stone staff.
(Then I will too.)
(I'll squeeze out every last drop.)
Douglas stood at Rabi's side.
"Rabi."
Rabi looked up at Douglas.
"I... love you too."
Douglas's voice was trembling. But he said it clearly.
"Not as your father—as a woman."
Tears spilled from Rabi's eyes.
"Father...!"
Douglas poured in his last ether.
His whole body screamed. The sensation of blood vessels bursting. His vision stained red.
But.
(I want to protect Rabi.)
(That feeling alone moves me.)
Light poured from Douglas's body.
"—*Silver Arrow, Piercing the Stars*—!!!"
The arrow of light Douglas released was drawn into the cracks of the black sphere.
—*BAAAANG!!!*
The black sphere shattered.
With a sound like breaking glass, countless fragments scattered. The fragments dissolved into light and vanished.
The trembling of the ruins stopped.
Silence.
Douglas sank to his knees.
"Hah... hah..."
He couldn't move a single finger now.
Rabi took Douglas's hand.
"Father... look at my curse."
Rabi rolled up the sleeve of her left arm.
The curse-mark was still there. But its color had changed from black to silver. The mark that had pulsed so violently now flickered quietly, regularly, like breathing.
"It hasn't disappeared, but... it won't rampage anymore. I feel like I can make it my own power."
Rabi's smile.
A lovely smile, like a flower blooming.
Looking at that smile, Douglas thought:
(Ah. I)
(I've lived all this time to protect this smile.)
Douglas squeezed Rabi's hand back.
"Yeah... thank goodness."
That was all he could manage to say.
The four of them escaped from the crumbling ruins.
Outside, the blizzard had already stopped. Moonlight streamed through a gap in the clouds. The snowfield glittered silver.
Kyle stood before Douglas.
"Old man."
Kyle's blue eyes were direct.
"It kills me to admit it, but you were the one who protected Rabi. I was just drunk on my own power."
Kyle bowed his head to Douglas.
"Next time we meet, I'll be stronger. So... if you ever make Rabi cry, I won't forgive you."
Kyle smiled, bright and clean.
"Well then. See you around."
Kyle walked off alone across the snowfield.
Marie stood beside Douglas.
"...I'll be going too."
Marie's green eyes wavered, looking lonely.
"I haven't given up either. Next time, I won't lose."
Marie turned her back to Douglas.
"Rabi. You've grown strong. Take care of Douglas."
Marie walked away without looking back.
Douglas and Rabi returned to Astoria.
The drifter's inn, "The Lamp's Light."
When they opened the door, warm air and the smell of ale greeted them.
"Oh, Douglas! You made it back safe!"
The innkeeper, Baldo, came out from behind the counter. He shook his gray-streaked beard and laughed heartily. A former adventurer, he had a solid, sturdy build.
"Yeah, Baldo. Thanks for everything."
Douglas introduced Rabi.
"This is Rabi. My... daughter."
Baldo looked at Rabi and grinned.
"The old man and his daughter, huh. That's a fine thing."
Baldo held out his hand to Rabi.
"I'm Baldo. I run this inn. Make yourself at home."
Rabi took Baldo's hand.
"I'm Rabi. Thank you for always looking after my father."
Baldo elbowed Douglas in the ribs.
"What a fine daughter you've got. Way too good for you."
"Shut up."
Douglas spoke quickly, flustered.
That night.
Douglas and Rabi sat side by side in one of the inn's rooms.
Outside the window spread the night view of Astoria. The lights of the town twinkled like stars.
"Father."
Rabi took Douglas's hand.
"There's something I want to tell you."
Douglas looked at Rabi's face.
"Um, well..."
Rabi faltered. Her face was red.
"...Actually, I'll do it next time."
Rabi hung her head, embarrassed.
Douglas stroked Rabi's head.
"Yeah. I'll listen anytime."
The two of them sat hand in hand, gazing at the night view.
A quiet, warm time.
—Then it happened.
Outside the inn's window, across the street, a black shadow flickered.
It had the shape of a person. But its outline was blurred, melting into the darkness.
The shadow was looking up at the inn.
At the room where Rabi was—precisely.
In the shadow's hand, a black fragment was clutched.
A remnant of the curse's source.
The shadow raised the fragment.
The fragment glowed faintly.
And then the shadow quietly vanished into the dark.
Douglas looked out the window.
He felt as though something had been there.
But there was nothing.
Only the quiet night street, lit by moonlight.
(Must be my imagination...)
Douglas gripped Rabi's hand o
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