Alicia was walking to the dungeon's entrance, quite a bit of a distance behind Alex's group of course.

Students of the group sometimes looked at Alicia who was behind them, and sneered in disgust and ridicule as they did so.

Alicia hung her head down low and kept walking, occasionally caressing the horns that were now visible on her head.

However, the appearance of the pair of horns and the lack of skeletal wings on her back proved that Alicia was, in fact, a halfling.

Part-human part-demon to be exact.

She had always kept her Illusion magic active to hide her horns, lest she wanted to be discriminated against.

However, that Runic spell she used at the end to kill the tiger drained the last bit of her Mana. Thus, her horns were laid bare for the world to see.

Despite being hated by the group that was in front of her, however, she still had hope that the students outside of the dungeon wouldn't act like them.

Of course, reality is often harsh.

Although her Illusion magic was already activated again by the time Alicia came out of the dungeon, her head was hung lower than before, as rumors regarding her being a Halfling was being spread at a terrifying speed.

Gazes of disgust, contempt, and hatred weren't directed towards the trash that was the teacher that abandoned his students to save his own life.

Instead, such looks were directed towards her, the one who saved dozens of kids.

-I- Is she the Halfling that saved the kids?

-No, it can't be. How could a 10-year-old kill a ranked Void beast? It's more probable that the beast accidently rammed its head into a tree and died.

-Hmmm... it does make sense

Although the left side of her chest still throbbed in pain when she heard the hateful comments made on her, Alicia still sighed in relief.

'It's better if they think that I didn't kill the Tiger'

She even went through the efforts of erasing all possible traces of the battle after all, which was only possible through the use of her Illusion magic.

'Well... Headmaster Alan will cover for me if push comes to shove'

Despite the hurtful gossips people shared not affecting Alicia that badly, however, her world really began to come crashing down when she heard—

""ALICIA!""

—Two familiar voices she had really wished that she wouldn't hear, at least not here.

One was Ellen, who was waving at her with a worried look on her face, and the other was Theodore, who was similarly waving at her.

'WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE HERE!'

Alicia's breath became ragged, her eyes shook violently, and she was on the verge of breaking down into tears.

Setting her best friend asides, she didn't know what she would do if Theodore, the only person that helped her and saved her life when she was nothing more than a rude brat, abandoned her because she was a Halfling.

In fact, she wanted to reveal the truth to Theodore many times in the past. However, she couldn't muster up the courage to do so, for fear of being cast aside once more.

Thus, she ran as fast, and as far as she could from this accursed place.

***

There was an incident at Avaron grade school, involving a dungeon boss monster respawning as a Void beast due to a Void rift being formed nearby.

Although Alicia would most likely survive thanks to her training with Alan, I couldn't help but be worried. Anything could happen in a dungeon after all. And the boss monster respawning was the proof of it.

However, I still smiled, as—

'This is the perfect chance for some father-daughter bonding'

—I could play the role of the father if I consoled Alicia, since she would surely be shaken seeing her friends get devoured.

After all, not everyone who was present in the dungeon could outrun, or even possibly defeat a boss monster like Alicia.

I looked around the crowd that was forming around the dungeon entrance.

'There had to be at least 1,000 people...', I estimated.

Scanning the crowd for literally another second, I spotted Alicia.

'To think that I'd be able to find her in this crowd...'

GULP—!

'...Is this the fabled 'dad' instinct?'

However, I quickly shook my head and discarded the idea. Not because of the horrifying implications that came with it, but because the reason why I found her so quickly was that her hair color was really distinct, and that she was standing in an empty parch of land.

No, it was more like everyone was distancing themselves from her, thus making it looks as if she was standing on empty land.

Frowning at the unusual behavior of the crowd, I called out to her.

""ALICIA!""

'Huh?'

Although I was confused by another voice calling out for Alicia, I couldn't discern where it came from.

'The voice sounds feminine... Good. It's not a boy!', I sighed in relief.

It was then that Alicia spotted me.

However, she immediately ran away in the direction of the dorms afterwards.

Seeing this, the crowd split apart, making way for her.

It wasn't as if they made way for a hero who had just saved the world, it was more like they were just desperately trying to keep the disgusting plague away from them.

Snapping me out of my thoughts, however, was a familiar voice. One that I didn't want or even expect to be here.

"Well well, if it isn't Theodore?"

I turned my head to the direction of the sound, only to find a green-haired elf glaring at me.

"What business do you have with me?", I bluntly said.

"You know, I was just going here to pick up my sister. But I heard some interesting information"

"Hm?", I was intrigued, as Marie wasn't the type to suddenly start a conversation me like this. "Go on..."

Smirking at me, Marie continued. "The girl whose name that you had just shouted. What's your relationship with her?"

I raised my eyebrows at her seemingly random rambles. "Hm? I'm her father"

Marie stared at me in disbelief and disgust for a few seconds before regaining her composure.

"That... complicates things...", she muttered.

"Anyways", she continued. "Your child is apparently a Halfling, which I'm sure you already knew"

"..."

"What? You didn't know?", Marie hung her mouth open.

"I think you're lying to me right now. Is it because you still hold a grudge against me for beating Arthur up?"

She clenched her fists in anger for a split second, before muttering 'this is for Ellen' over and over again and calming down.

Finally, she turned to me and spoke. "I'm not lying. Remember how everyone distanced themselves from her? That's how things are for most Halflings. Everyone in Avaron would have treated you that way too if you weren't so good at hiding that you're one"

"Yeah? How come you're right up in my face right now?"

Despite having said that, I knew what she was talking about.

However, now that Marie was a Duchess' daughter, she couldn't just associate herself with a Halfling, even if said Halfling wasn't known to be a Halfling yet.

Although, I had to admit, annoying her was still pretty fun.

Realizing her mistake, Marie took a step back from me and spoke in a small whisper. "Look, filthy Halfling. All I'm saying is that you should come back and console your filthy little daughter"

She then ran away from me.

I shook my head at this sight and made my way back to the dorms.

I knew that Marie meant no harms, and she was just trying to give me an advice. If she really wanted to do something to me, the entirety of Avaron would have known that I was a Halfling a day after the Keras forest incident.

'Well, she seemed to have advised me on behalf of someone named Ellen...'

Although the name was vaguely familiar, I didn't think much of it.

'Must have heard it while I was on the streets. It's a common name after all'

...

Knock—!

"Alicia! Are you in there?"

"..."

Despite saying that, however, I could still sense her presence on the other side of the door to my, or well, her room now.

After a few more minutes of knocking that yielded no response, I decided to just break in by force.

Swish—!

I pulled out my sword and concentrated Space mana.

Riiiiip—!

Instantly, the top half of the door disappeared, revealing the figure of Alicia sobbing on the bed.

Tok—! Tok—! Tok—!...

Footsteps rang out as I slowly approached her; She seemed to have noticed me, but she continued to cry while burying her face into the pillow regardless.

'Sometimes, I forget she's just a child', I sighed as I sat down next to her.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Seeing that she had no intention to speak, I decided to start the conversation.

"Alicia... I know everything that happened at school"

Alicia then lifted her head from the pillow. However, she still refused to meet my gaze.

"..."

"..."

"...Y- You even know that I- I'm a H—"

"Yes, I know that you're a Halfling"

Instantly, she buried her head into the pillow and cried harder.

Seeing this, I sighed. "Look, I don't care whether you're a Halfling or not"

"Y- You're lying!", she screamed. "I know that you're going to abandon me as soon as you can!"

"I really d—"

"EVEN THAT FUCKER THAT ALWAYS CHASED AFTER ME SPITTED ON ME IN DISGUST!"

"Alicia!", I pulled lifted her face up forcibly and took a good look at her again.

Her eyes were swollen, her cheeks were flushed red due to the excessive crying, and the pillow which she had just buried her head in was a wet mess.

She looked at me with a sad gaze, like a puppy that had just been abandoned.

"If you can't accept that I care for you, even if you're a Halfling, then fine! I'll give you a reason to"

Ignoring her shaking eyes, I continued. "I don't care whether you're a Halfling or not. As long as you continue to provide your Magic for my grimoire, I will still care for you like my daughter"

Judging by the fact that Alicia's personality was somewhat like mine, she would no doubt find it to be must more assuring that I only didn't discriminate against her because of her usefulness, rather than the unconditional love that I had been giving her for months.

And, it seemed to have worked, as Alicia started to raise her head up, and stared into my eyes, or rather, my sunglasses.

"R- Really?", she asked with a shaky voice.

Nodding my head in affirmation, I spoke. "Really. And it will be that way until you can fully accept me"

"Now, can you cancel the Illusion?", I continued.

Slowly nodding, the Mana that was always present around Alicia dispersed, revealing 2 dark red horns on her head.

Still sniffling, and wiping the tears from her eyes, Alicia hung her head down again. "B- But I lied to you! I- If you had known that I was a Halfling from the beginning, you wouldn't have adopted me!"

'God! How low is this girl's self-esteem?'

Sighing, I decided to just get it over with.

I cut the Mana supply to my Eyes, and removed my sunglasses.

Staring at the two vertical pupils that were resting inside my dull-gray irises, Alicia lets out a gasp.

"Y- You're..."

"Yes, I'm like you"

"B- But...", she hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "Half-dragons are valuable assets to the Empire! They're treated almost as good as Half-void! Why would y—"

"Like I said", I cut her off. "I don't care whether you're a Halfling or not"

Giving her a smile, I continued. "And I hid that I'm a Halfling too, so I guess that makes us even, right?"

Giggling at my words for a bit, she laid her head on my chest, took a deep breath, and finally calmed down.

After staying still in that position for a few minutes, she finally broke the silence. "I have... a friend in school"

"..."

"A real friend that I made before I became all popular", she laughed self-deprecatingly

I nodded my head in understanding. "I see. So did that friend abandon you as soon as she finds out that you're a Halfling?"

"...I don't know"

"You don't?"

"Yes", Alicia sighed. "I'm sure she knows that I'm a Halfling. But I ran away before even meeting her"

"..."

"I- I'm just a- afraid that I'd lose the first friend I made. I don't know what to do if I show up tomorrow and— and..."

Alicia began to start tearing up again.

Patting her head, and suppressing the urge to tease her for only having 1 friend after all this time, I spoke. "Don't care about it too much"

"Huh?"

"Like I said, don't care about it too much. If she distances herself from you just because of that, just leave her be. She don't deserve to be your friend"

"Besides", I continued. "Even if the whole world turns its back on you, I'll always be there for you"

Staring at me for a few seconds, Alicia, who almost always had either a pout or a depressed expression on her face, broke into laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA! WHAT'S WITH THAT CHEESY LINE!"

'It worked well when Arthur said it in the novel though', I scratched my head in confusion.

However, I immediately realized that I was copying lines from Arthur - the ultimate pushover and whiteknight. As such, my face crunched up in embarrassment.

"Keum! Anyways", I faked a cough to change the topic. "How about I make it up for you?"

"?", Alicia tilted her head in confusion.

Smiling, I stood up from the bed . "I'll show you what real dungeon delving looks like"

I then turned around and started to walk out of the room. However, I couldn't help but to curse out loud when I arrived at the exit.

"Fuck! I'll have to replace the door!"

***

Staring at Theodore who was bolting out of the room to presumably replace the door, Alicia smiled.

She had been worrying that Theodore might abandon her, but it seemed that she didn't need to worry about it anymore.

'...I have to blame myself for making things awkward', Alicia grumbled.

It was true that she didn't trust in 'unconditional love', except when it came from her biological parents of course.

However, when Theodore said that he would care for her even if she was a Halfling, she could feel his sincerity.

She was just too stubborn and paranoid at that time to accept it.

'Although... I feel bad that I forced him to say that he only needs me for the grimoire'. She could sense that Theodore had forced himself to say those lines after all.

"Haaaah..."

Sighing, Alicia plopped down onto the bed and slept.

'Thanks... Dad'1

...

"This is it...", Alicia gulped as she stood in front of the door to the classroom.

Clank—!

Instantly, everyone turned their attention towards the door. They looked at her in disgust and contempt of course, before getting back to doing their own things.

'Well, I expected this much', Alicia thought as she made her way towards her table.

There she saw a purple-haired girl - Ellen, looking at her with a worried gaze.

"Alicia!", Ellen shouted. "Where did you go yesterday? I was so worried!"

Confused, Alicia spoke. "Huh? Don't you know that I'm a Halfling?"

Staring at Alicia weirdly for a second, Ellen nodded her head. "Of course I do! Everyone was talking about it yesterday. But that's not important! Are you hurt somewhere? I heard that you stuck your arm into the Steel tiger's mouth!"

Inwardly sighing in relief, Alicia looked at Ellen with gratitude.

"Thanks", she said.

Ellen gazed at Alicia confusedly. "Huh? Why did you thank me?"

In response, Alicia just smiled mysteriously, refusing to elaborate.

She still kept that smug smile despite Ellen's constant nagging. However, her expression froze upon hearing Ellen's next words.

"If you don't want to tell me then fine, have it your way. But where's the gift that you promised to get for me?"

Frantically thinking for a few seconds, Alicia came up with a brilliant answer. "Sorry, I forgot. But... you told me that you'd like to go to a dungeon, right?"

"...Yes?", Ellen replied with much suspicion.

Grinning, Alicia grabbed Ellen's hands.

"Then... I'll show you what real dungeon delving looks like!"