It Seems the Demon King Has Returned to a World Where Gender Roles Are Reversed - Chapter 61

 Chapter 61 : To late

At the dull sound of impact, Anita lightly clicked her tongue. Seria’s expression stiffened slightly.

“Ragna!”

The rising dust settled. Through the dissipating dust, a small figure emerged. In their hands were twin swords, but their form had changed from when they were first wielded.

What had happened?

It was incomprehensible.

By the time he realized, the world spun before his eyes, and a heavy blow struck his abdomen and under his jaw. With that single strike, his legs gave out, and he collapsed.

Now, Ragna shook his dizzy head, groaning softly as he lay on the ground.

Seeing this, Anita asked Liliana in disbelief.

“…Wait, did you really attack him?”

“I hit him with the flat of the blade. He’s not injured.”

As she said, the sword in her hand was an unusual shape. It wasn’t the typical double-edged sword but a single-edged short sword, as if it had been sliced cleanly down the middle. The flat side, indeed, was blunt and unlikely to cut.

But that wasn’t why Anita was reacting with exasperation.

“No, before that… shouldn’t you at least try to resolve things through talking before resorting to such a dangerous weapon?”

“I did talk, Annie. But if he won’t listen, what other choice is there?”

“That’s exactly the problem using such extreme measures in the first place! Look at Seria’s expression.”

“…”

At those words, Liliana glanced at Seria.

Seria, who was supporting the groaning Ragna on the ground, glared at Liliana with a terrifying look she rarely showed.

Demanding an answer with her gaze, Liliana was at a loss for words and fell silent.

“…”

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Anita sighed again, scratching her head.

_____________

“…So, has your head cooled off a bit?”

“…Yeah.”

At Anita’s question, Ragna, still shaking his head, nodded in response.

It was true his head might have cooled off.

In the literal sense, the unexpected attack had instantly calmed his heated mind.

“…”

But that didn’t mean his emotions had settled.

His knees still hadn’t regained feeling from the blow to his jaw, leaving Ragna sitting on the ground. Even so, he shot a sharp glare at Liliana.

Liliana stood calmly, meeting his gaze without flinching.

“…Ha.”

Anita scratched her head and sighed, watching the two. It seemed she was the only one who could take charge of this situation.

With that thought, Anita spoke to Ragna.

“Um… First, I’ll apologize on her behalf. But, well, it’s not like she did this out of any real malice. Try to understand that part.”

“Even so, getting attacked out of nowhere puts me in a tough spot. Can’t you at least explain why you’re telling me to leave the academy?”

“W-Wait! Lily, did you really say that?!”

“Calm down, Seri. It’s not like Lily said it because she hates Ragna. She has her reasons.”

“…”

“Um… It’d probably be better to explain it directly in this situation… No choice, then? I guess I’ll have to explain. So, the reason Lili acted this way is because—”

“Wait, Anita.”

“Hm? Finally ready to talk?”

“I told you not to speak of it lightly. That’s why I taught you about it.”

“You idiot… Who’s going to listen to you in a situation like this without any explanation? Are you saying you don’t trust Seri and Ragna?”

“…That’s not…”

“Then explain the situation properly. They’re not the kind of people who won’t understand if you talk to them, right?”

“…”

“Well, that’s how it is. Back to the point Ragna, I’m sorry, but your condition is dangerous right now. If things go wrong, you could end up leading everyone around you to their deaths.”

“So what the hell does that mean? At least explain why it’s dangerous.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that. …By the way, I’m seriously asking do you have any memory of anyone in your family, like your parents, having black hair?”

“Black hair?”

“Well, it’s because… this phenomenon only appears in people from the Rondgren family. That’s why we thought you might have inherited Rondgren blood.”

“…”

At Anita’s words, Ragna frowned, unable to grasp their meaning.

Then Seria spoke to Anita.

“Um, Anita.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s just that Ragna has a situation… He doesn’t have any memories of his past.”

“…Oh, is that so? Then I asked a tough question. Sorry, my bad.”

“No, it’s fine. So what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, it’s like this…”

“Enough, Annie. I’ll explain it myself.”

“…Yeah? Well, it’s probably better coming from you.”

Anita nodded and stepped back as Liliana took the lead.

By now, Liliana had already sheathed the swords she had been holding.

“I’ll say this first I’m not apologizing. Your condition is undeniably dangerous.”

“…”

“But… yeah, you’re right. Yelling at you one-sidedly without explanation won’t do any good. Fine, I’ll answer. I’ll tell you why I said it’s dangerous.”

“…”

“The story starts with the origin of the Rondgren family. Have you ever heard of the Rondgren family?”

“No, not really.”

At Ragna’s response, Liliana sighed with a slightly deflated tone.

“…Well, I suppose that makes sense. If you’ve lost your memories, there’s no helping it.”

“To put it simply, it’s a family that used to be great but has since lost its power,” Anita added.

“Wait, Annie…”

“It’s not wrong, is it?”

“…”

At Anita’s retort, Liliana made a displeased expression but soon sighed and nodded.

“…Annie’s not wrong. The Rondgren family once thrived, producing exceptional warriors. But at some point, the family’s fortunes declined, and it fell into ruin. Why do you think that happened?”

“…How am I supposed to know that?”

“No, it’s related to you. The phenomenon happening to you right now that’s what caused the Rondgren family’s downfall.”

“…?”

“Yes… that hateful curse. It was that curse that drove the Rondgren family to the brink of extinction. The curse that turns people into monsters.”

_________

Let’s explain it using the analogy of fighting dogs.

Some might think it’s just a crude game using stray dogs off the street. But in reality, dog fighting is a sport with considerable depth.

The goal of dog fighting, in a nutshell, is to create dogs with strong combat abilities.

And what constitutes combat ability?

Temperament, physical development, dental structure.

There are many factors. But the most critical one is size.

It’s only natural that a larger, fiercer dog is stronger.

Thus, high-level dog fights involve massive dogs, like bulls, clashing in battles that evoke images of ferocious beasts.

And those who manage these dogs always ponder one thing:

How can they create bigger, stronger, and fiercer fighting dogs?

To that end, they repeatedly crossbreed, over and over.

As if concentrating the blood to reach its ultimate limit.

A similar experiment took place within a certain family in Shreid.

A family that was once renowned as a great noble house.

But as time passed, other families began to emerge, threatening its dominance. As a result, the family’s prestige faded.

All they had to their name was their renowned swordsmanship.

But even that famed swordsmanship was useless against those who wielded golems with immense magical power.

Would the family fade into history, tasting humiliation? Or would they find a way to survive? At that crossroads, the family’s head had an idea.

“What about this?”

“What do you mean?”

“If our family lacks the skill to wield magic, we could concentrate the bloodline to artificially create individuals with high magical aptitude.”

“…”

“Our family’s renowned swordsmanship, combined with a bloodline gifted in magic, would surely grant us tremendous power. We could crush the families threatening us in an instant.”

“…”

The retainers were hesitant but thought it a plausible idea.

What the family head proposed was, in essence, selective breeding with humans. By concentrating the bloodline, they aimed to enhance its traits to the extreme.

“…So what happened?”

“They learned that humans are foolish creatures and that the laws of nature are not so easily defied.”

In conclusion, the family head’s experiment succeeded.

The experiment began by gathering individuals with the family’s exceptional traits.

A breeding experiment focused solely on those traits. Forced pregnancies and births occurred as soon as the individuals reached reproductive age. The family’s blood was concentrated, over and over. They even used the family’s wealth to bring in the blood of exceptional male knights without hesitation.

They forcibly gathered talent, over and over, by any means necessary. And as a result, the family finally achieved the outcome they had longed for. But the family head hadn’t realized something.

What happens when a body becomes excessively attuned to magic.

Desperately craving talent, believing it was the only way to save the family, they continued their ruthless breeding.

“…”

Listening to the story, Ragna frowned. Liliana continued her explanation.

“The children born from this were indeed gifted with the remarkable talents the family head desired. At that point, the head must have been overjoyed.”

“…”

“But the problem was that excessive talent. Their extreme aptitude for magic caused their bodies to become overly sensitive to it. At first, the family head boasted, ‘With so little magic, they can wield great power what a talent!’ But soon, they realized something was wrong.”

“What happened?”

“Those children turned into monsters.”

“…!”

“Their forms… were like the monsters from stories. Yes, it’s said they transformed into something like demons. The family head panicked, muttering that this couldn’t be, but reality didn’t change. Other children also began showing signs of madness and turned into monsters.”

“…And then what?”

“What do you think? The family scrambled to cover it up, but most of the clan was already afflicted, so there was nothing they could do. It ended in failure.”

Liliana spoke with a faintly mocking tone.

Anita added,

“That’s why I asked earlier. We thought maybe your black hair was due to Rondgren blood.”

“Black hair?”

“Well, not all black-haired people are related to the Rondgren family. But during the experiments, the number of black-haired individuals in the family increased. So now, most people from the Rondgren family have black hair.”

“…”

At Anita’s response, Ragna frowned, touching his hair.

…Come to think of it, his hair was a dark brown. His eyes, too, were closer to a chestnut color. He had assumed it was due to a spell, but perhaps there was some influence.

“But even so, wasn’t that a long time ago?”

“It was. At least a hundred years ago,” Liliana replied to Seria’s question, nodding. Seria continued,

“Then, if it was that long ago, shouldn’t its effects have worn off by now? Even if something like that happened, after a hundred years, with the blood mixing with others, it should’ve faded, right?”

“…”

But Liliana sighed and shook her head.

“If it had faded like that, it wouldn’t be called a curse.”

“…!”

“True, over time, the curse has weakened. Some people experience mild symptoms, or even if they go mad, they don’t turn into monsters. But even so, there aren’t many who are completely unaffected. And… just recently, someone succumbed to the madness and became a monster.”

“That’s…”

“Like Annie mentioned before, I entered the academy a year late.”

“…Yeah.”

“That was because of this. I had to cut down someone who succumbed to the madness and became a monster. That’s why my enrollment was delayed. And that person… was none other than my sister.”

“…!”

Liliana spoke in a calm voice, but Ragna looked at her with suspicion.

“…Why are you telling me all this?”

“To show my resolve.”

“Resolve?”

“Yes. I cut down my own sister with my own hands. My sister, who suffered from the madness and turned into a monster.”

Liliana glared at Ragna and declared firmly,

“So I won’t hesitate. If you turn into a monster, I’ll cut you down without hesitation. Don’t worry I’ll make it quick, so it won’t be painful. I told you all this to make that clear.”

Liliana’s declaration.

At her words, Ragna’s expression hardened.

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Translated by Reversalnovel.web.id