(Erica POV)

My morning today started off like any other.

I washed myself, ate, read through my schedule for our classes and went to the tower.

I’ve been mechanically doing the same thing every day.

“There he is again...”

I looked outside the window of the tower and saw a man looking around as if searching for someone.

My father.

The truth is that my parents weren’t actually dead. But they sort of were. They were dead to me.

“What do you want today?”

I used [Flight] to hover down to the Magic Tower gate.

His eyes sparkled when he saw me.

“O-Oh! My little girl! How much you’ve grown–“

I held up my hand to stop him from talking.

“What do you want?”

This had been going on for months now. The last one that visited me was my whore mother.

She was a prostitute so she attracted many eyes of the students in the academy. I had to chase her away too.

“Ah. My little girl looks so mature and beautiful.”

He took my hand with a smile. I only shook him off.

“For the third time... What do you want? No. More importantly, how did the two of you even find me?”

They dumped me seven years ago. Why the hell were they interfering in my life when they abandoned me when I needed them the most?

“Ah, t-that. We heard our excellent daughter managed to ace the magic tower exam! Oh~ I’m so proud of my little girl~”

The passers-by looked strangely at my father.

He was a middle aged man with a beer belly and a messy beard. Judging by the way he talked, he must've been drunk.

“Why don’t you come have dinner, my little girl? Oh, how we’ve missed you.”

“Enough!”

I shouted.

“Where were you when I was still a little girl? Where were you when I had to beg people for money? Do you know what I, a little girl had to do for money? There were times when the people who took me in weren’t saints!"

“B-Baby...”

“Come to think of it, do you even remember my middle name?”

“That’s... err...”

He fidgeted and scratched his bald head.

I laughed disdainfully.

“I don’t even have one. You really are the worst for forgetting even though you named me. My name is still Erica Wales. I already know why you two approached me.” I walked closer up to him and looked at him in disgust, “All you see when you look at me is money. Isn’t that true?”

“That’s...!”

“...”

He didn’t even deny it. No, he couldn’t.

“Heh.” I turned back in disappointment.

Acing the exam at the tower meant my future would be filled with lots of achievements and fame. I might even be invited to be a chairman of an academy. It didn’t matter which position I took in the future, money will inevitably roll in once I land a job at any institution.

“Well, there was at least one thing I’m grateful for.” I looked at him with a smile, “Being born.”

With the power of the Saintess, that is.

“Get out of my sight, trash. My eyes are already watery smelling your odour.”

I walked away without looking back.

–Ah!!!!!! Sassy little bitch! You wouldn’t be in this world without us!

I heard him yell and throw his ale mug against the gate.

After massaging my cheekbones to change my expression, I reverted back to the docile and shy girl everyone knew me as. I also hid my forearms. I’ve been cutting myself too much to cope with the stress I’ve been experiencing.

I didn’t know when I started losing my emotions little by little. It was to the point that I didn’t even care that my parents sold me to a peddler for a few pieces of silver.

Anyway...

I still had one important thing to do...

◇◇◇

Splash–!

“Guh! Kuh! H-Huh?”

I threw a bucket of water on my guest inside a hut.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you sleeping?”

The man they call Ryan glared at me.

“What the fuck is this!? Release me at once!”

He struggled to tear apart the shackles on his wrists.

“Struggle all you want.”

When I looked at the mirror at the back of the hut, I saw that my smile looked a little too eerie for my cute face.

“Oops.”

I massaged my face again. I didn’t even have full control over my own expressions anymore.

“What the... why are you doing this!?”

“Ah. Did you finally realize what kind of shackles those are?”

They were made especially for those who rely too much on their aura to strengthen their bodies. If it were miss Arielle then she could break it with brute strength alone.

What a shame.

“Light brown hair. Big green eyes. He wore an insignia of the Royal family stating his allegiance to a family member. Does this ring a bell?”

He looked at me with a confused expression.

“What the fuck.”

Then his faced twisted evilly.

“That little shit had something to do with this? When I get out of this, I’ll kill him–“

TSSSSSSS

“GYAAAAAAH!!!!”

Before he finished speaking, I casted Holy Fire on his leg. It was a fire that stops bleeding if you lost a limp but it could also be used to torture people.

I’d know.

“IT HURTS!!!”

“Yes. It’s supposed to.”

The bright light charred his skin. The smoke rose into the air. I read once from the documents of cannibals that humans do not smell good when they burn.

But I could barely smell it let alone taste it.

I lost those two senses long ago.

“Hey. Do you remember what you did?”

“Guh!!!!”

“You punched Clyde in front of all those students.”

TSSSSSS

“GYAAAAH!!”

“You embarrassed him for no reason whatsoever.”

PSSSSSSS

“You acted so above everyone else. And for what? To become the knight of that bitch?”

“Gyaaaah!!! H-How dare you call Charlotte a–“

He roared when the spell burned his entire leg off.

“That bitch, Charlotte seems to be the cause of problems lately. First Clyde had to deal with you then he lost his cores.”

'Even his spirit magic was unusable.'

I still remembered the sad expression on his face when I couldn’t heal him.

I felt heartbroken seeing him smile so sadly as if accepting his fate.

“Hey, you.”

I grabbed Ryan’s head. His eyes were half dazed as foam fell from his mouth.

“You hurt my friend and even threatened to kill him.”

If that were to happen then no one would bat an eye. His family are of Duke status. They could simply overwhelm anyone that stands up against Ryan’s crime. Even Clyde’s parents wouldn’t be able to do anything. Maybe Duke Luxembourg might but I doubted it.

The Rosenbergs were true nobles of the kingdom. They controlled the kingdom trade networks and supplies. If the next head were to be imprisoned then the entire family would fall apart. After that the kingdom would slowly lose its power. That would lead to war from other nations.

Things like that could happen just because Ryan got what he deserved like any other criminal.

“I fucking hate nobles like you.”

My real side came out.

“You force your power on others to get what you want or to feel good about yourself.”

Tears streamed down his eyes as his face scrunched up in pain.

“I read something interesting in a book once.”

I casted a God tier-[Holy Healing] spell in my left hand and a decaying spell on the other.

“Y-You crazy bitch... when I get out of here, I’ll have father kill you...”

I laughed disdainfully. Even my laugh sounded far different.

“Have you ever heard of the Healing Torture method that was banned in the Kingdom Laws?"

The decaying spell touched his other leg. It ate off his entire thigh.

“AHHHH!!!! FUCK! FUCK!!! IT HURTS!!!”

“First comes the torture...”

The green light then healed his leg as if nothing happened.

“Then comes the heal...”

“Ugh.... kugh....”

“How long would it take before you realize your mistake, Ryan Rosenberg?”

The decay spell ate off his leg again.

“You will never touch Clyde again.”

“-------!!!!!”

“And when I’m done with you, then you will go apologize to him.”

The underground chamber was filled with the pathetic screaming of a man.