She Is a Daughter Raised As the Son of a Duke

“Iris, Cassius!”

Spotting Iris and Cassius walking and talking, May ran towards them with a bright and innocent face, like a child.

They greeted her with smiles.

“Sweetie, I heard you’ve recovered. You look energetic, which is great.”

“It’s all thanks to Iris’s healing magic.”

Cassius ruffled May’s hair affectionately.

“I should have witnessed you waking up with my own eyes. I’m sorry. Hestia’s death brought us a lot of work, and we couldn’t take care of you.”

“No, it’s okay! Thanks to you both for subduing Hestia and protecting my dad and Floa from getting hurt.”

As if there were more to say, May held onto their hands tightly. She wanted to convey the words she couldn’t share with them before, having not been able to meet them until now.

“When I meet you both, I really want to express my gratitude. You’ve always treated me kindly without any conditions, protected me, helped me become a knight, and saved me and my family. If you hadn’t done any of that… I might not be here today. I’m really grateful.”

Iris and Cassius looked proud and exchanged a subtle smile as they nodded at each other, seemingly having made a decision.

“May, we have something to show you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s your break time, right? Do you want to come with us?”

The place Iris and Cassius took her to was an empty conference room.

They handed me a letter.

“What is this?”

“A letter we received from an anonymous sender.”

It was a letter that Iris and Cassius had received anonymously seven years ago.

“We felt a bit guilty about claiming that we treated you well without any conditions. We knew we had to show you this someday.”

I couldn’t understand the meaning of Iris’s words, but I decided to unfold and read the letter.

[Please give the child with the name May, the direct descendant of the Duke Passabea, the opportunity to become a knight. That’s the only way the child can survive.

Until I reveal myself, do not disclose anything about this letter to anyone.]

Cassius explained the mysterious letter to me.

“It’s a letter we received about a year before we first met you on the train. Of course, it wasn’t just because of this letter, but it was the starting point. We thought that if we followed the instructions in the letter, we might be able to uncover the truth behind the Passabea’s disappearance case, so we kept a close eye on you.”

Upon hearing that, it seemed to make sense why Iris and Cassius had been kind to me from the beginning. However, I didn’t feel resentful or disappointed.

“Still, I’m grateful.”

I smiled and pondered seriously about who might have sent the letter.

How could they have known that I would be in danger?

Referring to me as the descendant of Persis and specifically as the direct descendant of Passabea… There seemed to be some connection with Passabea… 

Perhaps they could be the mastermind behind Passabea’s disappearance.

“Could this letter be from my grandfather?”

“We also thought it might be from Passabea. But without confirmation, we can’t be sure…”

“Since it’s a handwritten letter, why don’t we ask Floa to verify the handwriting? He should know what my grandfather’s handwriting looks like.”

“That’s a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Let’s go see Floa right away!”

We all teleported together and arrived at the Duke’s library, where Floa was present.

Floa was flipping through a book, and I ran up to him.

“Floa, could you please verify if this letter matches my grandfather’s handwriting?”

Floa seemed flustered by our sudden appearance but accepted the letter I handed him. As he looked at the letter, his eyes widened in surprise.

“This is undoubtedly Passabea’s handwriting… Where did this come from?”

“We received this letter from an anonymous sender. It’s a letter we received seven years ago, and the sender seemed to know that I would be in danger. If it’s from Passabea… I wonder what he was doing to send us this letter.”

Passabea had disappeared without a trace. It had been decades since anyone had heard of him. Finding a trace of him after so long made Floa’s hands tremble.

He eventually shed tears.

“I’m glad he’s alive…”

Perhaps he had thought that Passabea might be dead, given that he had heard no news about him. After all, Fasabia would be at an age where he could have descendants.

But hoping that Passabea was still alive, Floa was moved even by just one letter written to someone else.

Seeing him on the verge of tears, I embraced him.

“Fola, don’t cry. Mirocagonsaid that my grandfather will come back.”

“Mirocagon said… that?”

Oops. I immediately realized my mistake. I mustn’t reveal my true identity to Floa, so he wouldn’t become interested in Mirocagon.

I tried to change the subject, but it was already too late; he had pulled away from me.

“I’ll go capture Miarcagon right away. He seems to know something,” Floa said.

In the blink of an eye, he disappeared and returned after ten minutes, having tightly bound Mirocagon with red energy. It was as if the foolish Mirocagon had been caught by Floa within just ten minutes.

“I was living just fine in a place full of monsters, why did you bring me here…!”

Seeing the S-rank demon Mirocagon in such a state, I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

Perhaps running away from the guardian deity Floa was impossible from the beginning…

“Mirocagon said to May that Passabea will return. Please explain why he said that.”

Mirocagonsighed, seemingly frustrated with his situation, before explaining his reasoning.

“Passabea must have found a way to another dimension. While he was there, he must have met a prophet who told him that his direct descendant would be in danger in this world. That’s probably why he came back here. However, if his return became known to the public, it would be troublesome, so he sent an anonymous letter to the strongest guardians of the empire, asking for their protection for his direct descendant.”

“Another dimension?” Cassius asked, seemingly unable to comprehend.

“Isn’t that too far-fetched? Another dimension… I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Even though Fasabia’s disappearance was a major event that shook the empire, even after decades, he hasn’t been found.”

“But still, to say it’s another dimension… It sounds like something out of a fantasy novel.”

While Cassius found it unbelievable, Iris had a mysterious expression, as if she had heard something similar before.

“Before… I remember there was a knight who made a similar claim.”

“Really?” Cassius asked, and Iris nodded in response.

“Back during the founding of the empire, there was a knight who claimed to have read about a magic circle that allowed dimensional travel in some book. At that time, people thought it was just nonsense and didn’t pay much attention to it. But looking back, that knight wasn’t the type to make things up. I wonder which book it was from.”

“Another dimension…,” Cassius still found it hard to believe, even after hearing Iris’s story.

“But if someone has actually traveled between dimensions, there are no precedents for it.”

“It might be a magic circle that ordinary people can’t achieve. Since it was mentioned in a book, it might be found if you search through the library…”

Floa looked at Iris with an eager expression, as if asking for her help.

“Help me look for it, Iris. I’m asking for your help.”

“Sure, I’ll try to look for it whenever I have time.”

“I’ll help you look for it too.”

With Cassius joining in, Floa’s face brightened even more.

“May, let’s go back to the training grounds.”

When Iris extended her hand to me, I took it in mine.

“Then let’s go back.”

With Cassius’s final words, we teleported back to the training grounds.

* * *

Only Floa and Miarcagon remained in the library. While Floa was lost in thought, wondering if Passabea had really traveled between dimensions, Miarcagon quickly prepared to escape.

Being caught by Floa would be very troublesome for him.

He tried to quietly open the door and escape…

“Ack!”

Floa grabbed one of his wings with his red energy.

Miarcagon dangled in the air, caught by Floa’s magic.

“We didn’t finish our conversation, did we?”

“Uh, no… I guess not?”

“No, we didn’t.”

“Why did you ask me then?”

Mirocagon glared at Floa, but when their eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze, sweating nervously.

‘Darn it, I should’ve gone with the guardian deities…!’

Mirocagon  cursed them inwardly.

“Tell me who the person is that traveled between dimensions. I won’t mention that you said about it.”

‘If you know, then it counts as me telling you!’

“P-please, spare me…”

“Why are you acting like this? I never said I’d kill you.”

Floa approached him with a meaningful expression.

“It’s strange. Why can’t you tell me? Is it someone I shouldn’t know about?”

“Please, spare me, I beg you. I’ll tell you everything except that.”

“Oh, really? Then how about this?”

A dictionary of the Empire’s language appeared in Floa’s hand.

“Why did May spend so much time diligently reading the Empire’s dictionary? She were only ten years old back then…”

“…To be exact, she started reading it when she was nine. She studied it because she wanted to master the Empire’s language.”

“So why? Why did she, at such a young age when she should have been playing, dedicate herself to studying only the Empire’s language?”

Well, she had been possessing May at the time. Since they couldn’t communicate at all, she had no choice but to memorize the dictionary.

He couldn’t possibly say that, and Mirocagon was getting frustrated.

Sweating nervously, Mirocagon awkwardly praised her.

“Well, it’s impressive that she had a thirst for learning at such a young age. She’ll grow up to be someone great.”

Mirocagon mustered all his strength and pushed away Floa’s magic in an instant.

“Enough!”

Before he could be caught again, Mirocagon quickly fled through the open window.

“I answered, so don’t ask any more!!!”

Floa mumbled as he watched Mirocagon  leave through the open window.

“…Suspicious.”