Father, I Won’t Do Anything - Chapter 14

“Get rid of that pretty morality and throw away that heedless irrational ideas lingering in your mind they are not important.”

“….Tower lord”

“If you have lived through the throes of death, you’ll come to realization how worthless and unnecessary compassion is.”

Flower in a greenhouse.

A befitting description, that Diamide used, to refer to Michael in so many instances.

Michael who grew up in a comfortable environment, so much so that he cannot withstand any sort of hardships, just like a blooming flower inside a greenhouse.

Certainly, as Diamide said, Michael has never experienced a close call with death.

When Diamide left to defeat the evil spirit king and faced a near death experience, he certainly couldn’t imagine experiencing something like that. But…

‘Sympathy.’

Michael inwardly laughed.

Objectively speaking, he was far from being friendly or kind.

The only reason he approached Jayna is due to his own curiosity and displeasure about the dragon race. Nothing more, nothing less.

It can be also said in this situation right now. It’s not because he started to like the little one…

‘It’s just that, it bothers me.’

Michael, who was quietly biting his lips, raised his head.

“Then, I’m going to use a paternity test.”

“Did I tell you I want it?”

“…….”

“That’s enough.”

At Diamide’s determined words, Michael’s unconsciously opened his mouth.

He knew Diamide pretty well, and unfortunately, his foresight was right on point.

“The Dragons are curious and are waiting for me to strike a move.”

Diamide looked at Michael with a cold glare. There was no trace of any emotion in his eyes.

“I certainly told you to take care of it at your own expense. Are you speaking right now as a wizard of the tower?”

Michael, who shuddered, carefully opened his mouth.

“I want to observe the ecology of the Dragon tribe.”

“Don’t bother me about such petty things.”

“If you leave it to me, I’ll take care of it. But the rules of the tower aren’t strict enough….”

“Are you now seeking a sister of blood or something? Don’t be tied up by blood. For I’m sure you are aware that you aren’t here because you are my nephew.”

Diamide gazed at him with an uninterested look.

It was a gaze that was nothing different from seeing stones in the street.

“I must have appreciated you too much.” (Diamide)

Michael said, chewing on the emotion that was rising.

“I don’t understand the standards set.”

“I have seen an idiot who gave up his goal for something worthless. You’ll follow that path soon enough.”

Michael frowned. He knew who’s that “fool’ Diamide is referring to and it is no other than Diamide himself.

“It’s not an obligation for an uncle to take under his wing a nephew who has no parents. It’s just mindless chatter. But, but… “

It’s different whether a father takes a daughter.

But Michael, who continued to speak, was unable continue talking

For he was, stopped by Diamide’s gaze.

Diamide already knows what he’s trying to say.

And the next thing he (Michael) knew something stabbed him sharply.

“….!”

The moment Diamide felt like he (Michael) was looking down at him with cold contempt.

Kwang!

Diamide grabbed Michael’s collar and pushed him against the wall.

“Keu-euk!”

In the blink of an eye, Diamide instantly lifted Michael with one hand.

Nevertheless, he didn’t look like he was having a hard time lifting him.

As Diamide raised his arm, the wide sleeves of his clothes lowered which showed his strong arm.

“keuk-keug!”

“When you want to protect someone weak, and yet you’re weaker.”

Despite his nephew’s suffering and being unable to breath, an extremely monotonous voice continues.

When Michael’s eyes redden due to being choked, and began to look like he was close to meeting death.

Diamide relaxed his grip.

Keung!

When Diamide, released his strong hold on Michael’s collar, this lead to Michael collapsing onto the floor.

“And I repeat, that dragon is not my daughter.”

“Hah, hah….”

As he (Diamide) turned around, all Michael can hear were Diamide’s resounding footsteps.

Michael tried to regulate his erratic breath while trying to held up his body, in any moment is about to fall down due to the lack of strength from Diamide’s strangulation.

The world was spinning, and pain was creeping into his chest.

However, at this moment, the most painful for Michael isn’t the pain in his chest, nor his weaken body.

‘I can’t believe it ended in vain.’

He couldn’t change anything.

And he find it so painful.

Michael closed his eyes.

***

“If you’re done gawking, can you all now scram?”

A word from Hilvenzia gave the wizards a hasty retreat. Hilvenzia, who was left alone in the aisle, looked down at Jayna.

‘I’m starting to get a rough idea of why this has happened…:

The examination period is the period in which wizards who violate the rules of the tower appear most frequently.

Perhaps a wizard found out that Jayna was a dragon and tried to use it as an experimental material.

It was her job to ‘dispose’ the wizards who violated the rules, so she’s the one in charge to settle this matter. But…

As usual, it was not out of the ordinary, and yet one thing bothers her.

‘Jayna isn’t technically part of the tower, is she? It’s right to be punished if you’ve cause a disturbance, but what if the opponent is not a member of the tower, should he still be punished?’

Hilvenzia feeling conflicted, gazed down at Jayna.

Blue eyes, which usually gaze at Hilvenzia with a calm look, are now nowhere to be seen.

It was her first time seeing Jayna asleep.

She thought she has an adult-like face, but reflecting back to her is a childlike face befitting a 10 year old.

Perhaps she (Hilvenzia) felt that way because she (Jayna) was usually showing an indifferent and calm expression.

‘What an unusual little girl.’

This isn’t simply because of Diamide’s blood flowing in Jayna.

But like Michael, Hilvenzia was being soft on Jayna from some point on.

The moment she ate a dish, the face that was usually calm, brightened up making her seem like a normal kid.

-“Should I be scared?”

-“That’s not my real name but rather a name given to me by my relatives. Please call me Jayna, the name my mother gave me.”

Hilvenzia languidly tilted her head. The smooth mouth gave off a strange glow.

Maybe she’s no different as that magician (Moben). Since she also used to gazed at Jayna at some point as a material for a reagent or a little holy sword.

‘I don’t like being lump with that wizard, and I’ve been acting so hard, shouldn’t I do something good for a change?’

Entering the realm of alchemy, she can live longer than others. But there wasn’t much fun in that long life of hers.

‘So I should cherish this interesting existence.’

Whatever Diamide meant, she wanted to take Jayna as she is.

She didn’t want to miss this peculiar special child, even if she had to work and be face with punishment after.

In the worst case scenario, there is nothing to regret if Diamide tries to kill her. She has already lived a long life with her current body and her curiosity to Jayna weighs greater than her fear to Diamide.

She’s looking forward in seeing interesting things from Jayna who would act differently from ordinary humans.

After a short thought, Hilvenzia moved her magical power and launched Jayna into the air.

And it was when she was about to take a step.

“Mom…”

Hilvenzia was startled.

She heard that Jayna’s mother, the dragon Bezriche, died shortly after she was born. But she can’t believe that Jayna’s looking for her mom at this moment.

Of course, she may had recollections of the time she were born perks of being a dragon, but the memories she shared with her mother would be very short.

Hilvenzia was lost in thought as she stared in the air.

Normally, small children would certainly receive all kinds of comfort especially when in tears seeking comfort in the arms of their parents.

But this child has no parents.

Hilvenzia, who was staring at Jayna’s life, opened her eyes lightly.

‘It reminds me of my childhood.’

Hilvenzia came from a nursery school attached to the temple.

She grew up without love and support, but fortunately, she has her inherent sense of knowledge.

Even though she wasn’t taught, she learned how to use magic on her own, after a while was adopted by a baron.

She thought everything would change after that, but it was a misjudgment. In their eyes, Hilvenzia was nothing but an investment. There’s no such thing as love and affection involved.

Hilvenzia has never contacted them since becoming an alchemist. When she became known as Noguimi Hilvenzia, they tried clinging to her after knowing her achievements needless to say it was a futile effort.

Every time she thinks of them, all she remembers was ‘discrimination’.

‘My childhood memories shadowed my whole life.’

After choosing the path of an alchemist, she naturally began to enter the kitchen. Perhaps the fact that she has never had a meal with her family was the reason why she started cooking.

As she recalled her childhood, Jayna’s and her childhood began to overlap.

But the child in front of her was much younger than she has remembered.

Besides, unlike her parents, who were still alive, Jayna’s father abandoned her and treated her like a stranger.

It would have been heart wrenching if Jayna had a glimmer of hope to have a family but reality bites and destroyed that glimmer of hope.

She must have come to the tower because she found out that she had a father, but will it be really be fine?

‘I don’t know if coming to the tower is a good thing or a bad thing for you.’

***

“While Jayna was still asleep, I asked other wizards for their cooperation. If you look at the evidences, it only leads to a wizard named Moben as the culprit.”

Of course, Hilvenzia’s “cooperation” was literally not a cooperation. No one could lie in front of her.

Hilvenzia quietly explained what had happened. Michael’s voice got harsh as he listened to the story.

“So, she seems to have passed out in front of the door because of that bastard. Has she awoken after that?”

Michael stared at Jayna with a frown. He was inspecting inside the body, not Jayna’s appearance. Fortunately, she was about to wake up.

“It wasn’t long after Jayna collapsed that she opened her mouth. She was looking for her mom.”

“Did she say that at that time?”

Nervously, Michael raised his hand at his waist.

“Damn, why are you looking for your Mom? Looking for someone who’s not even here.”

“If that mother was alive, would she have woken up already if she was brought to her?”

“There’s a dad in front of her, but she still called for her mother. What a pushover.”

Michael laughed.