Jared’s eyes were fixed on the girl who had burst out.
However, he couldn’t stop the hand chop he had unleashed.
The hand chop struck the girl’s abdomen, petrified and then shattered it. This happened in an instant, cleaving the girl’s torso in two.
With a dull thud, the girl’s upper body fell to the ground, followed by another dull thud as her lower body collapsed.
Because she was cleaved in two simultaneously with petrification, no blood flowed.
“Nooooooooooooooooooo!”
The girl, who had not died instantly, let out a shriek as she understood what had happened to her.
“Avril? No, it can’t be, Avril, why, whyyyyyyyy!”
Jared remembered. The black-haired girl he had cut in two was present when Olivier’s mansion was occupied. He also recognized the name: she was Leonard’s daughter.
“Oh, no, how… Avril.”
“I-I’m… g-glad.”
“It’s not good. It’s not good. What should you do, how can you be saved?”
“It’s okay. I was… able… to save… Papa… so it’s okay.”
“Please, don’t close your eyes. Look at me. Please, Avril.”
Jared could only watch as Leonard cradled his daughter’s upper body and desperately continued to speak to her.
The elation had faded. All that remained was a bad aftertaste.
If Jared’s memory was correct, Avril Gallagher was the one who abducted Olivier. He didn’t know why she was here or why she intervened in the fight, but it felt awkward to have killed a girl he hadn’t intended to kill.
Of course, she was someone he couldn’t forgive for kidnapping Olivier, but he hadn’t wanted it to end in such an accidental manner.
“Jared, please, let this be my loss. So, please save her.”
He shook his head. He didn’t know how to reverse petrification. Moreover, reconnecting a severed body would likely be impossible even with ancient magic.
“No…”
“…Pa…pa…”
“No, please, open your eyes. Open them, Avril. A-vri-l, no, Avriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil!”
Hearing Leonard’s lament, Jared realized his daughter had died.
No matter how much he hated her, such an outcome was not what he desired. He had thought she should die after suffering, but seeing her suffer in this way caused Jared pain as well. Yet, it was also her own fault.
If they hadn’t taken action, Avril wouldn’t have died. If they had at least ignored Jared or chosen not to kidnap Olivier, this end might have been averted.
Leonard suddenly stood up. Cradleing his daughter’s upper body, he turned his back to Jared and began to walk away.
“Leonard.”
“…Let it be my loss. I don’t know what I’m fighting for anymore.”
“You…”
“I believed I could sacrifice even my own daughter for the sake of my ideals. But it seems I was wrong. How pathetic. In the end, I was also a parent. To realize this only after losing my daughter…”
Leonard walked away quietly.
“I still stand by my desire to create a nation for magicians. We are treated as possessions of the powerful, and if we aren’t exceptional, we are treated as worthless. The current world is wrong. Magicians with rare abilities, like you and your daughter, are usually absorbed by the powerful. Like how you were absorbed by the Alway Ducal Family.”
“I don’t consider myself absorbed.”
“If you think so, then perhaps you are right. However, many magicians are dissatisfied with the current system. Even your classmates want to change their treatment, even if it means defying the country. Of course, I also guided them in that direction.”
“What about the students?”
“The useful students are being held at the mansion where Olivier Alway is under house arrest, or stationed in several other mansions as decoys. The rest were led by my father.”
“Your… father?”
Leonard stopped walking and turned back.
“My father is the mastermind behind everything. In the end, I am merely a pawn who follows my father. Be careful, Jared. I don’t know what that man is thinking. He told me he would create an ideal nation for magicians, but I don’t know if that’s his true intention either.”
“Then why did you follow him?”
To Jared’s question, Leonard showed a tearful expression.
“Since I was young, I have lived as my father commanded. I was forced to uphold our family’s ideals, the way of life for magicians. I had no other way to live. I didn’t know any other way.”
“…What will you do now?”
“I don’t know. I have lost my daughter and realized her importance. I pray you will not end up like me.”
With those words, Leonard left, carrying his daughter. Jared could only watch his retreating back, unable to do anything.
Thus, the battle between Jared and Leonard concluded in an unexpected manner.
