Chapter 270: Hunt Them [5]

"He was merely ten years o-old."

Diana continued with more tears streaming down her face.

The expression on my face stayed the same, though I maintained my eye contact with her.

I couldn’t pretend to cry along with her and then console the girl through some emotional means.

No.

That wasn’t the way I operated.

But the one thing I could do was solve the situation with a mix of logic and practicality.

Diana needed someone to help her... so it didn’t really matter how I achieved that goal.

The only important thing was that I had to make Diana believe that I had greatly helped her elevate her state of mind.

"Allan had told me that he was going to some cool place with his father. I had been in the academy at that time, so we had to use the communication channels to talk. Allan... he had asked me whether I could join h-him."

Thud!

Diana dropped to her knees as she covered her face with both of her hands and let out another cry of agony.

"I should have accompanied him, then maybe—"

"Nothing would have changed."

My words were met with silence, as Diana slowly raised her head to look at me.

Her eyes had confusion etched over them, and so did her face.

"Nothing would have changed even if you had been there."

Saying the words, I moved closer to her before lowering myself on my knees to meet her eyes.

"The ones who had attacked that guild were far stronger than you. Even if you had fought till your last breath, the only possible outcome would have been a slow, agonizing death for you."

"..."

"The attackers could have spared some weakling, but in no way would they have ignored a Silver core like you, and that too a princess of the Veltran Empire."

At my words, Diana’s eyes trembled slightly, and soon—

More tears streamed down her face.

"I... could there be anyone more worthless than m-me?"

Raising her hand, Diana moved it towards her neck before grabbing her top in a gesture of blaming herself.

"Allan was collateral damage. There’s nothing anyone could have done. From what I had heard, the attackers had come with proper planning, and not even a single one of them was killed."

There was no way I would have allowed any of the dead among my soldiers to remain at the scene, as that could have compromised the advantage that D.X. had over the authorities at the moment.

And many of my plans would have been ruined, along with the fun that I could have derived through them.

"Collateral?"

Hm?

Diana repeated the word while giving a short chuckle at the same time.

Right now, her face was covered with tears, and coupled with her chuckle... she looked kind of unstable.

I didn’t remember delivering any sort of joke—

"You have a way with words."

Diana spoke while wiping her tears, which didn’t seem to stop anytime soon.

Did I mess up in any way?

I didn’t think so.

Well... it didn’t really matter, as my words seemed to have at least some effect on Diana.

Still, I didn’t feel a sense of satisfaction even when Diana seemed to have turned a little... happy.

I felt like my efforts hadn’t yet produced the desired result, or maybe... Diana wasn’t in any sort of pain, and everything that I was planning to do would be ineffective.

Hm?

That shouldn’t be possible.

Given the emotional person that Diana was... she would even have been sad at the death of her pet.

So... Allan’s death should have made her enter a depressed state.

Observing carefully... Diana was still crying, her hands moving constantly to wipe the tears that were overflowing from her eyes.

Yet, despite all that... I somehow felt like Diana wasn’t crying.

Haa...

Was this my paranoia acting up, or was there something else in play?

"The entire academy will be visiting the Levaith Duchy as part of the assignment."

"I don’t wish to—"

"Don’t you want to grow stronger?"

Diana’s sobbing had somehow completely stopped as she focused her gaze on me.

"If you think that your brother has suffered injustice, then don’t you wish to bring justice to him?"

For the entire time, Diana’s gaze was fixed on me, as if a sudden enlightenment had been inscribed in her brain.

"Don’t you wish to—"

"I want to kill them."

Hm?

That was quick.

I thought I would have to add some more spicy stuff to those lines, but... well that’s good enough.

"The authorities are still searching for the culprits and the mastermind behind everything, but for the time being I think you should just focus on yourself. After all, wouldn’t Allan want his sister to be happy?"

"H-He would."

Diana responded in a voice that trembled once again.

"And... Allan wasn’t your only brother, was he?"

At my question, Diana looked a little confused, though I was quick to fill the silence.

"Your little brother... Logan, was it?"

Diana, realizing what I was speaking about, nodded her head while giving a faint smile that looked quite adorable.

"Shouldn’t you ensure his happiness, or do you want him to remain anxious due to his sister’s antics?"

"Antics?"

"I was joking."

I was quick to correct myself.

For a moment, I had let my intrusive thoughts be heard.

Diana nodded her head, quickly accepting my words.

Haa...

That was good.

"Logan had come here once, but seeing that I didn’t respond, he left the area, and since then—"

"He never came here, did he?"

At my words, Diana nodded her head.

"I should have opened the door—"

"It’s not like the situation is out of hand. He might have just lost the courage to see you after your refusal to meet him. Just apologize, and the situation will resolve on its own."

My statement was followed by a short silence, as Diana just sat in the same place, thinking about something.

Though I found it a little waste of my time, I had—

"Will I be able to do it?"

Hm?

Diana’s question made me raise my brow.

"I mean... will I really be able to bring justice to Allan? As you had said, the attackers were far stronger—"

"I will be with you."

"..."