How Dare You Touch My Daughter

「Please hide this letter and use it in negotiations. I wish I could help more openly, but there’s a strong possibility they will proceed without my knowledge. If I move publicly, it might only provoke them further. Please be careful, extremely careful, and I pray no one gets hurt.」

Lying in bed, I read the letter over and over.

A letter my daughter Lisera had sent in secret.

By hiding it in the laundry collection, she had managed to get it to me without the other elves noticing.

“Really……”

The girl’s brilliant!

Lisera had realized Wayne and Berk were making suspicious moves and rushed to send this to me.

A letter written in her own hand, detailing that she had been subjected to human experimentation. She was telling me to hide it and use it as leverage in negotiations with the elves.

Written by the princess herself, it would be recognized as evidence in court.

Lisera had…… sensed Librata’s crisis and devised the best move she could make.

“Mm……”

Night was deepening. Time to prepare.

I folded the letter and tucked it into my clothes. My companion spoke up.

“You know you’ve been reading and rereading that letter for three hours straight?”

The owner of this bedroom — Alicia Crocell.

Wearing a black maid uniform with white frills, she sat in a chair and stared at me sullenly.

“Who sent you a letter that makes you so happy?”

“Secret. Anyway, are you ready?”

“What’s there to prepare? You already explained everything.”

I had told Alicia exactly what she needed to know.

That I had sent a letter to Wayne and Berk, and the elves who took the bait would come to reclaim Alicia.

Alicia rested her chin on the back of the chair and stared at me.

An oddly sulky expression.

“Bored because I’m not entertaining you?”

“……As if I’d act like that in this situation.”

“I’ll play with you later when there’s time. But why are you wearing that?”

Alicia was wearing a maid uniform.

Alicia flinched and said,

“Y-you told me to wear it!”

“Did I? When was that?”

When I spoke carelessly, Alicia’s face fell for a moment.

She was an intellectual young woman, but with no experience with men, she reacted immediately to such small comments.

“Oh, right. I said it when we had our engagement-breaking ceremony, didn’t I? It suits you better than I expected. But I’ve thought of something that would suit you even better.”

“……What?”

Alicia’s face lit up noticeably with joy before she quickly composed her expression at my gaze.

She couldn’t hide her smile.

Ah, her reactions are so innocent — perfect for teasing.

I wore an openly devious smile.

“Question: how does a man most prefer a woman to be dressed?”

“……You’re not going to say something that obvious and vulgar, are you?”

“There’s a prize, so guess.”

“……Undressed?”

“Wrong.”

Alicia gave me a suspicious look.

I smiled and said,

“The answer is: a woman wrapped in a blanket.”

“What? What does that even……”

“When a man sees a woman wrapped in a blanket, it means they shared that blanket together. Lovers, wives, and daughters. The women men love most.”

Alicia looked caught off guard, then slowly nodded.

“……You know how to say touching things too.”

“I’m more sentimental and family-oriented than you’d think.”

I smiled and looked toward the door.

Clairvoyance.

Heat signatures appeared.

They’re here.

I walked toward the door while saying,

“Like I said before, if the elves win, go along quietly.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

Alicia spoke abruptly.

She straightened in her seat and looked directly at me.

“Win.”

“That’s the plan.”

I spoke lightly and left the bedroom.

Creeeak.

I opened the door to find four elves waiting.

At the very back stood a red-haired elf.

Berk.

“You waited for me to come out?”

“Should let a man enjoy his last supper and sex. Plus, if we fought inside, Crocell’s daughter might die.”

Berk scratched his chin.

“I read the letter. You’ll hide Crocell’s daughter if we don’t come. But do we really need to fight?”

“……”

“We just need to take Crocell’s daughter and leave. That’s it. You have no reason to oppose us elves in the first place.”

“Did getting your head smashed in give you brain damage?”

Berk shrugged.

“I like strong people. I think we have room to negotiate. When I thought about it, there’s no reason to resolve this with bloodshed.”

“……”

“Just hand over Crocell’s daughter. Money? I’ll arrange it if you need it. Women? I could find you an elf woman. We’ll also promise greater support than what Librata currently receives.”

I clicked my tongue.

“If that’s what’s on the table, I’ll just kill all of you and take it anyway.”

“That’s excessive greed. Surely you don’t think you can kill all of us?”

“I’ll kill you all, cut off your ears, and send them to the elders. The elven-style warning you people love.”

I spoke calmly.

“And I’ll keep Princess Lisera alive and protect her. I’ll threaten that if you try anything foolish, I’ll expose the elves’ human experimentation to the world.”

“The princess won’t cooperate.”

“I’ll handle that myself. Are we done talking?”

“……I don’t understand. Why choose bloodshed when this could end well?”

“End well?”

I glared at the elves with disgust.

“Do you even understand what you’ve done? You bastards, how dare you……”

Dad, Dad! Look at this!

The flowers bloomed so prettily! So many of them bloomed!

Can I put them here?

My daughter carrying an armful of flowers into my office.

Arms covered in dirt.

So greedy she could barely see over them, but the child was smiling.

I had no choice but to stand and take them from her.

Working every day, eating and drinking alone.

Life felt bland, but it was good to have her there.

Just good.

“How dare you touch my daughter!”

Roar.

I surged forward, magic blazing.

Four opponents.

All skilled warriors.

And Berk was first tier — dangerous.

But I had clairvoyance.

I caught the first one drawing a dagger while channeling magic to his arm and left leg.

Thwack!

Lowering my stance, I thrust my arm between his legs and swept upward.

“Urk!”

I threw the first one at the enemy, then kicked off the wall and the ceiling in succession.

Acrobatic movement.

Possible because of my experience, magic, and telekinesis.

I kicked off the ceiling again, dropped vertically, and thrust my sword.

“Kgh!”

I drove the dagger into the second one’s crown. The third lunged at my back.

I dropped flat, grabbed the second one’s leg, and hurled him.

The freshly killed corpse flew forward. The third dodged by ducking quickly.

As if already familiar with my methods.

But that was exactly what I wanted.

Lying on the floor, I struck the ground with one palm and launched my body.

“Ghaa!”

The third one, just straightening up, recoiled in shock.

A person isn’t a spring — this shouldn’t be possible.

But with magic and telekinesis combined, it is!

WHAM!

I wrapped my arm around his neck and brought him down.

When he reflexively channeled magic to his upper body, I kicked off the floor and flipped.

CRASH!

Both my knees struck his abdomen.

A magic-charged blow — his organs must be destroyed.

“Gaaaagh!”

The third one writhed in agony.

A narrow corridor — with telekinesis manipulating inertia and gravity at will, they couldn’t stop me.

Unless they defended their entire body with magic.

But they couldn’t do that right now.

Because after killing me, they planned to kill others.

They needed to conserve their strength.

“Causing trouble in my house!”

That’s why they’re dying to me.

I grabbed the sword the third one dropped and immediately drove it into his throat to finish him.

“……”

Throughout this process, Berk had stood completely still.

As if mesmerized.

“……What are you?”

The question directed at me.

Even though the first one who was still alive looked at him, Berk stared only at me.

“How are you so strong? Are you even human? What, you ignore gravity and fly around?”

“……”

Thanks to telekinesis, my combat power soared in confined spaces like this — indoors.

Of course, there was no reason to tell him that.

Our gazes crossed.

In that moment…… Berk suddenly hurled the elf beside him at me.

“Hm?”

My vision momentarily blocked.

I reflexively leaped back to dodge.

SHLUNK!

A blade pierced through the elf’s body.

“AAAAAAH!”

No — he charged at me with the blade still impaling the body!

When I quickly lowered my stance to grab Berk’s leg, Berk sharply retreated.

SPLASH!

Blood gushed out.

It blocked my vision.

But more than that, I was stunned by Berk’s movement.

He threw a person, started moving, then stabbed through them?

Physically impossible.

“The Wind Blessing.”

“Ah, I can’t use it myself. It’s just that the princess is a bit special. Maybe because she’s a mongrel?”

“……”

Berk whistled.

Even though he had sacrificed his own comrade, his face showed no hesitation.

Attacking now would be advantageous, yet he was waiting for me to stand.

“What is this?”

“That’s my question. Rigen Librata. I looked into you — they said you didn’t have a drop of magic, but you’ve been using it freely since last time. And…… you use extremely peculiar swordsmanship.”

“……”

“I take back my earlier offer. I can’t not fight someone like you! I absolutely have to fight you!”

Gleaming eyes.

When I stood, Berk said,

“Why would someone hiding such skill pick a reckless fight? Even if you beat me or Wayne, there’s no future for you. Don’t tell me you actually pity the princess? You’re doing all this to save that mongrel bitch?”

“……”

Transparent provocation.

When I looked at him flatly, Berk rambled on enthusiastically.

“Ah, don’t worry. After I kill you, Wayne will have that mongrel. The guy has no guts. Just get her drunk and knock her down……”

“Are you gay?”

“……”

Berk froze.

Using psychic abilities made me sensitive to people’s words and actions.

Simple people — their emotions were obvious just from their speech.

“When you talk about the princess, you’re jealous. When you talk about Wayne, you’re hurt. Isn’t that backwards?”

“Wh-what? What? What? What?”

Berk floundered pathetically.

I pulled my head back as if seeing something filthy.

“Ah, is that it? If you use crude words and vulgar expressions, I won’t suspect you’re homosexual, right? Don’t you know that just makes it more obvious and disgusting?”

“You, you, that’s absurd slander……”

“You’re jealous that Wayne, who you like, likes the princess, so you’re spouting filth. This is what male jealousy looks like when it’s pathetic.”

“……You bastard!”

Berk exploded and charged.

Hooked.

An enemy using the Wind Blessing.

He moved and attacked at speeds humans couldn’t see and react to.

A difficult opponent for me right now.

Even with full-body magic defense, the enemy would also use a magic blade.

So I’d lure the timing of his attack and counter!

As Berk closed in rapidly, I deployed telekinesis.

Telekinetic Barrier, Second Form.

Intensifying gravity acting vertically.

“What……”

Berk, who had been about to pierce my chest in an instant, froze.

No matter how nimble a mosquito, it can’t escape a spider’s web.

Berk reflexively channeled magic through his entire body, but I simply thrust my sword forward.

Magic blade.

A third-rank magic blade pierced through the enemy’s magic defense and into his chest.

“What the……”

SHLICK.

I pulled the sword from Berk’s chest.

CRACK!

A fatal wound.

Staggering backward, he collapsed to the floor.

Berk looked down at his chest in disbelief.

“What is this? An awakened ability? How can something like this exist?”

“……”

It’s over.

The Wind Blessing was an acceleration ability — using it with a fatal wound would only kill him faster.

Left alone, he’d die normally.

I ignored him and checked my condition.

Using telekinesis, and the Telekinetic Barrier, had consumed too much mental energy in that instant.

Psychic abilities would be too much for the next fight.

Berk gasped out,

“……Keep it secret, please.”

“No way. I’m obviously going to tell.”

He wanted me to keep this secret from Wayne.

But I had absolutely no intention of forgiving this bastard.

As emperor, I heard all kinds of criticism, condemnation, even insults.

That could be forgiven.

But I would never forgive anyone who spoke filth about my daughter.

Berk fumbled inside his clothes and threw a bundle of papers at my feet.

“Those are the elders’ written orders. To bring Alicia, and if necessary, kill everyone involved.”

“You managed to get your hands on that.”

“Me and Wayne might be discarded too, so we had to hold onto something. I’ll give you that, so……”

Berk looked at me anxiously.

Even while dying, he was terrified I might tell Wayne the truth.

“……Please. Please. I was wrong. Don’t tell him.”

“Then you should have used better words.”

STAB.

I used clairvoyance to locate his lung and lightly stabbed it.

He was going to die anyway.

But I couldn’t forgive the filthy words he spoke about my daughter.

“Hgk. Ghhhhk.”

The sound of air escaping.

Berk clutched his throat, collapsed, and thrashed his limbs.

A creature’s instinct — his body struggling to breathe, but impossible with a hole in his lung.

Slow suffocation.

Every second, hell.

Everyone would beg to be killed immediately from the agony…….

“You suffer until the very end.”

Berk looked up pleadingly, but I ignored him and walked forward.

One remains.

Across a hundred years—

I’m going to save my daughter!