My Daughters Are Regressors - Chapter 148: He-llo (8)

Iscariote was a small village.A land of high hills and blossoming greenery.There, Cariote was a hunter who hunted rabbits and shot arrows at deer.

But in truth, Cariote did not enjoy hunting.She was someone who liked to sit quietly at home and look out the window.She simply liked staring blankly at the sunlight the most.

However, she couldn’t do that.Cariote’s family had been hunters for generations. Her grandfather’s father did it, and their fathers before them.Cariote’s father had no sons, so the task fell to his daughters, and Cariote, born with a natural talent, did it well.

“Sister! We need to catch rabbits! Hurry up!”

But her younger sister Dina was different.Dina did not like hunting; she preferred to roam and play.

She was a child who wanted to become nobility, dreaming of sparkling things like the ‘balls’ her mother told her about, ‘the Prince’s engagement ceremony,’ and ‘the Palace’s chandeliers’.

In fact, Cariote felt the same way.She knew well that her mother was a very beautiful person and was curious about the world of nobility that her mother spoke of with sparkling eyes.

Of course, Cariote’s curiosity ended there.She was destined to forever live as a hunter in the meadows.

“Sister, look! I caught a rabbit! A rabbit!”

Dina had already caught a rabbit in her hands.Though Dina didn’t want to become a hunter, she was exceptionally skilled, like her father. But Dina had a fatal flaw in becoming a hunter.

“This rabbit is so cute! Do we really have to kill it? Can’t we just keep it? Dina likes rabbits! Let’s not eat it, okay?”

Dina was averse to taking life.Unable to finish off the prey she caught was a great flaw for a hunter, so Cariote was quite displeased with Dina’s attitude.Normally, she would have indulged her sister’s whining, but today Cariote spoke sternly on purpose.

“Dina, you’re almost six years old, so you’ll have to hunt on your own from now on. You’ll have to find your own food, and if you can’t even kill a rabbit, you’ll starve.”

“That’s okay! I know where the green fruits and the red strawberries that grow in these meadows are!”

Dina had already taken out a small wild fruit from her pocket and popped it into her mouth. She was really good at gathering fruits, so it seemed that she wouldn’t starve.So Cariote just laughed.

“Sister, the truth is, I really don’t want to become a hunter. I want to be nobility like Mom! Maybe if I go to my maternal grandparents, I could become a noble lady, right?”

“……”

“Come with me, sister. You’re pretty, so you could make a splendid debut in society. Maybe princes from distant lands will propose to you!”

To her younger sister Dina, sister Cariote was truly beautiful.

So beautiful that not only did the village youths admire her, but even animals like rabbits and deer would loiter near the village just to see Cariote’s face.

If she were to enter high society…, The whole country would be abuzz with excitement, and it wouldn’t be a dream for her to receive proposals from princes and become a queen.

“I don’t like that you’re becoming a hunter in this rural village, sister.”

“……”

Cariote did not respond.Truthfully, Cariote did not want to be a hunter either.But someone had to follow in their father’s footsteps.It was the destiny she was born with.

Indeed.It was destiny.Cariote had quite a few fates to shoulder.

“Dina, I can’t marry a prince. I have someone else destined for me.”

“Why? Where would you find someone as beautiful as you, sister?! Is it because of the prophecy that the old hag babbled about? That old hag is a liar! You know that!”

The old hag Dina mentioned was referred to as the village elder.She introduced herself as having been blessed by the Goddess Epar early on, and thanks to that, she prophesied, some of which were eerily accurate.

“If she spews out a hundred words and gets ten right, is that even a prophecy? I could do that too! She said sister would marry the most terrifying monster in the world!”

Dina was truly indignant.When Cariote turned ten, the old hag blessed her and fell into a kind of trance.Foaming at the mouth, the old woman seemed to be on the verge of death as she rolled her eyes, pointed her finger at Cariote, and shouted.

“M-Monster’s bride. You’ll marry something not human. A monster that brings calamity and destruction! Ah, how horrendous. Horrendous─!”

With that, the old hag even wet herself.It was a story that made one grimace.

People thought the old hag was simply drunk and her age made her mind wander.But to Cariote, the story did not sound like a lie.

‘Am I to marry a monster?’

She felt a tinge of sadness.That sadness added depth to her eyes as she grew older and more beautiful, which made people pity her.

“Sister! Look at this!”

Just then, her younger sister playing in the field called out.When Cariote approached, she saw a child bleeding from the stomach, fallen to the ground, growling with fangs bared at Dina and Cariote.

“It’s a demon! A child of the demon! Look at the horns on its head!”

Demon-.Cariote felt a chill run down her spine.She had heard quite a bit about demons living in Pandemonium but had never seen one like this before.

“We must kill it.”

Cariote pulled an old iron sword from her waist.According to what Cariote had learned, demons must not be spared but killed.Yet Dina intervened.

“Wait, sister! It’s still just a child! And it’s injured! What if we take it with us and take care of it? Huh?”

It was an absurd suggestion.But indeed, the grip on the sword in Cariote’s hand had loosened. To her, the child didn’t appear as a demon, just an ordinary child.Despite the horns, that is.

And that day, the demon boy set the village ablaze and summoned the army of an Archdemon who was stationed nearby.The Archdemon slaughtered Iscariote.Cariote could not comprehend.

“Why…”

Then the boy said.

“If I don’t offer another sacrifice in my place, I’ll have to go pull out Childrakes! I don’t want to die! Lord Archdemon! Lord Archdemon! Please save me! I did as you told!”

“Why…”

Cariote questioned.Why couldn’t she have killed the demon?If she had killed it for certain, the village wouldn’t have burned, and her family wouldn’t have died.

“Hunter of Iscariote. I’ve heard you possess the flute that can summon the Death Dragon. Hand it over. And the elixir of mystery too.”

Cariote despised the demon.And she grew to hate herself for being indecisively weak and clinging to hope.

“This must be a hallucination.”

Cariote quickly realized why the events of the past were unfolding before her eyes. It must be an illusion.Demon King Sabernak must have shaken her mind.

Cariote had heard in detail ‘the story of when the Demon King was defeated’ from Brigitte and Enkidus, and among them, the most terrifying thing was hallucination magic.Naturally, she knew the method to dispel it too.

Cariote immediately broke her left pinky finger.

Crunch—As the pain of the broken bone brought her back to her senses, Sabernak’s shadow tilted its head to the left as if amazed.Watching this, Cariote steeled her resolve.

“I will kill you.”

“Please, don’t hurt the Demon King!”

Just then, Astarosa blocked the path between the Demon King and Cariote.Seeing this, Cariote frowned.

“Step aside.”

“If you’re going to kill him, kill me first! To my sister, I’m also a demon, right? I have horns and a tail! If you’re going to kill the Demon King, start with me!”

Cariote could not do it.Although Astarosa had become a demon, Cariote still thought of her as her sister, Dina.

“The Demon King, you see. He saved me. He killed the Archdemon and saved me and the other children! Even though he wasn’t a madman back then…, still!”

Dina had been abused under the Archdemon.Drafted to pull out Childrake, she walked the tightrope of death every single day. It wouldn’t have been strange if she had died at any moment.

The one who freed her from that was Demon King Sabernak.Although called a demon, he was a wise and intelligent magician.At least, he was until that point.

Dina decided to follow Sabernak as a new father, and indeed, Sabernak cherished Dina as if she was his new daughter.

“But you know…, I actually wished that it was you who saved me! I waited for you to come! Every single day!”

Dina finally let out the tears she had been holding back.A demon shedding tears.Everyone watching this spectacle was greatly surprised.

Demons were thought to be monsters without blood or tears, and indeed, they had shown such a countenance. But Astarosa cried and wept bitterly.

“But you didn’t come to save me, sister! Of course, I know! You were young then, too! There was nothing you could do!”

Astarosa did not want Cariote to kill the Demon King.Even if it was a silent, false shadow.

Cariote’s heart wavered for a moment as she watched Dina’s figure. And in the battle of absolute power, a small gap could lead to fatal consequences.

The Demon King only moved the fingers holding his staff and shot a ray of death toward Cariote. It pierced right through Cariote’s abdomen.

“Ah, sister…!!!”

“Ugh…!!!”

A ringing blasted in Cariote’s ears for a moment. The pain of being pierced in the lower abdomen was so sudden that she didn’t even realize it hurt.However, the reason Cariote screamed was that she had received a severe penetrating wound to her lower abdomen, where she might bear a child someday.

‘Cecily…!’

Heroes and experts were adept at assessing their physical conditions. That’s why Cariote instinctively realized that this injury meant she could never have children. The Demon King had intentionally destroyed what Cariote held more dear than her life. It was deliberate, a typical attitude of a Demon King.

Realizing this brought a great sense of loss and anger as tumultuous as the sea.

“How dare…!!!”

Cariote gritted her teeth so hard. Her molars were actually dentures made from the mana core of the Serpent King Dragon.They resembled the four-colored radiant treasures that appeared after the giant snake master was burnt to ashes.Of course, their value was as different as ants and elephants, and Cariote shattered her dentures made from the Serpent King’s inner elixir, swallowing the pieces.

Then, her blood vessels began to boil like a furnace, and explosive power burst forth, making her body shine like gold.

With that power, Cariote threw her short sword at Sabernak with all her might. It flew like a meteorite about to collide with Earth, piercing through Sabernak and annihilating him.Everyone watching was so amazed they couldn’t even speak.

‘She really defeated that Demon King by herself!? It’s beyond incredible. It’s astonishing. I feel like I’m in a myth right now.’

Thud—Soon Cariote collapsed to the ground, all strength drained from her body.

And then she clutched her pierced abdomen, trembling violently.It wasn’t fatal.Cariote’s vitality was strong; she wouldn’t die from just a single blast. But having used the Serpent King’s inner elixir, she was fated to die.At best, she would live with a permanent disability that made even moving her limbs difficult.

“Sister, I’m sorry! Sister! Sister! It’s my fault! Sisteeer…!”

Dina was so shocked and sad that she could do nothing but cry. Just like before, she had endangered her family due to her own miscalculation.Before, it was her mother and father, and now it was her sister and niece.

“…Cecily.”

Now, Cariote wept not for herself but for what she had lost.Though harsh with Cecily, it stemmed from Cariote’s hope that Cecily would avoid foolish mistakes like her own.But reflecting on it now, Cariote couldn’t help but think she too had acted foolishly.

‘I should have stroked her hair more, spent more time with her, more…’

Cariote felt an agonizing pain as if every joint and vein in her body was tearing apart from the grief of losing her daughter.Doubled over from the sorrow, or perhaps the gut-wrenching wound, Cariote vomited blood in despair.

“━━──!!!”

Thereafter, Cariote screamed aloud, a cry more like a soul being scorched and whittled away than from physical pain.

The surrounding crowd, though composed of renowned heroes and masters, had never heard such screams, causing chills and a deep, tearful sensation to well up inside them.

The onlookers simply hoped in silence for the moment to pass, and as if their wishes were granted, Cariote’s screams gradually faded until they were completely extinguished.Soon, all around became quiet.

She had fainted.That’s when people began to approach Cariote one by one.

“I am a priestess from the Holy Order.”

The female priestess carefully checked Cariote’s neck and wrists for a pulse, swiftly realizing that Cariote had only minutes left to live.

The attack from the Demon King wasn’t fatal, but something Cariote had ingested was dissolving her body from within,like caterpillars entering a cocoon to liquefy themselves.

“If only the Saint was here…”

Saint Iris, though not capable of the miraculous resurrections of the legendary first Saint, was a deeply virtuous and faithful Saint who could certainly save those on the brink of death.

But Saint Iris would likely be near that dreadful black light.

“Are we truly powerless to do anything? We…”

The people were overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness.When faced with the Demon King Sabernak, their feet might as well have been nailed to the ground, unable to do anything, and even with the Demon King dead, they remained powerless.

As everyone simply watched, the crowd parted one by one. Someone was emerging through the throng.Soon, she spoke in a gentle voice.

“Is everyone well?”

Her appearance was exceedingly beautiful and even seemed sublime. Her golden hair flowed like waves of gold, and her blue eyes shone like the sky.

Her dazzlingly white skin was surely worthy of being called a peerless beauty, yet her attire was that of leather, resembling the clothes of adventurers or hunters, looking utterly comfortable.But what made her seem so noble was that every step and gesture she made was filled with elegant beauty.Were it not for her clothing, one might mistake her for another Saint sent from the holy palace.

“Make way, everyone.”

Her figure appeared angelic, even divine, in this hellish battlefield.Her words were like a revelation, prompting people to step aside as the woman approached the fallen Cariote.She knelt on one knee and took a glass bottle from her waist.

Inside the bottle, a golden butterfly with fluttering wings was captive, and as the woman opened the lid, the butterfly settled on Cariote’s wounded stomach.

Then, something astonishing happened.Cariote’s belly began to heal.

No, to be precise, it seemed as though time was reversing to before she was injured. As everyone marveled at the sight, Dina was aghast.

“…You, you are…!”

The woman took out a compass from her waist and examined it.It was an oddly shaped compass, but Dina-Astarosa recognized that it was identical to the one Cecily possessed.

“Could it be that… you’re Cecily…!?”

***

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