Taboo Children
The Wicked Dragon was Richmond’s…… twin brother?
“Kanade. I told you once that Lui and Arthur were abandoned because they were twins.”
“Ah, yes. You said they were… ‘taboo children’.”
He said that twins were considered unlucky and usually killed at birth…
“That’s right. I… am also one of the taboo children.”
Eh…
“Immediately upon birth, I was discarded while my older brother was raised by our parents.”
“W, why did they discard just you…?”
“I remember them calling me a monster because of my high mana.”
Monster… Does Richmond have memories of being born?
“Well, it’s the only reason I’m still alive, though.”
“You are not a monster, Richmond!! You are the most wonderful person in the world… and one I love the most!!”
How can someone think of their own child as a monster!?
“Thank you… Kanade. However, it’s also true that twins have long been considered unlucky by both dragons and humans, and were either abandoned or killed. I have nothing against my parents, and I’m glad they considered me a monster because I’m able to help you with this power.”
Richmond laughed and continued his story.
“It was several hundred years after I was abandoned that I was reunited with my twin brother, the Wicked Dragon. He had been carefully raised by our parents and had grown up to be selfish. And when he got reunited with me, he claimed that my power was originally his, and tried to take it away from me.”
“The vessel of mana is determined from the time one is born. The amount of mana that exceeds your own vessel just because you took it away from someone else can only lead to death, no?”
Leo tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Exactly. However, the Wicked Dragon’s vessel was almost exactly the same as mine.”
“Wha…”
“However, he, who had a such vast vessel but only an average amount of mana, took it from me and… tried to dominate the dragons.”
Wait a moment… how does one steal mana from others?
I’ve heard that when you have in, intercou*se with someone, your mana flows through each other’s body, but how can you take it away from someone unilaterally?
“Kanade, the Wicked Dragon… intended to take over my body.”
“Take over…!? How is that…”
“I don’t know how he was able to do it, but I did notice that my brother’s soul had entered my body.”
I quickly repelled it with my mana, though. Richmond added, and I thought that I was really glad that he didn’t succeed.
“Since that time, I seem to have developed a connection with the Wicked Dragon… I don’t know how, but it seems he has the ability to see things through my eyes.”
“Oh no…”
So that’s how the Wicked Dragon knew about my existence.
“… That is still okay. I was still in a good place because he couldn’t take over my body and my mana remained at an average amount. But he did something he shouldn’t have done.”
“Something he shouldn’t have?”
He must have done something to increase his amount of mana, right?
“He gathered those with high mana and used them as sacrifice.”
“That’s… can I take it that he killed them all?”
Leo said something outrageous.
“… Correct. He killed thousands upon thousands and stole their mana, causing his body to turn jet-black, and that’s when he became the Wicked Dragon in people’s eyes.”
He killed… thousands upon thousands?
“At that rate, my blood brother would hunt dragons and humans alike until extinction. That’s why I felt that I must slay the Wicked Dragon myself.”
I wonder how painful it must have been for this gentle man when he decided that he had to kill his own brother. How hurt he must have felt…
“Richmond…”
I squeezed his hand and he seemed surprised, but he smiled gently and squeezed it back.
“Thank you, Kanade… I tried to destroy the Wicked Dragon once and for all, but I was unable to do so, because by that time, he already had gathered a significant amount of mana. And that’s why.”
“You took the means of sealing him.”
“Yeah.”
He nodded at Leo’s words, and I looked back at Richmond, who looked at me.
“Richmond, according to Clémence, the Black Dragon we encountered here was the Red Dragon called Rosso.”
“What!? Wasn’t Rosso killed by the Wicked Dragon?”
Everyone’s eyes focused on Clémence, and she raised her head that was hung in shame.
Maybe because she’s so beautiful, the tear marks on her face made her look even more pitiful.
“I don’t know… It was Rosso and the other knights who broke the seal. All I saw was the sight of Rosso turning black and destroying the country…”
Apparently, Clémence was not at the scene of the unsealing.
Certainly, if she had been with Rosso, she might have admonished him for such a foolish act of trying to undo the seal.
Clémence seemed to admire Richmond, so…
“Someone who is not the Wicked Dragon has blackened…”
“Richmond?”
“I saw a similar scene earlier, though it was not Rosso.”