Chapter 388 - Episode Thirty-Four - Gizel's Attack (5)
Gizel reaches out to me, staring into my eyes as she slowly closes the distance between us.
“N-no, er ……”
Mea came up to me and hugged me on the shoulder.
“Me-, Mea?”
“Abel, you told me you liked Mea! He has always said that he felt sorry for his sister, because he couldn’t see her as a love interest!”
Gizel stopped in her tracks.
She frowned in disgust when she looked at Mea, but quickly changed her expression to one of nonchalance.
“You’re Mea-sama, right? I had heard rumors about you in the village where we stopped before. It seems that you have been a great help to my brother during his journey. As his sister, I would like to thank you. Thank you very much.”
Gizel bowed her head to Mea.
“What ……? E-Er, n-no ……”
Gizel’s unexpected response caused Mea to gasp, caught off guard.
“But this is the problem of the Marren tribe, so please stay out of it. You have nothing to do with it. I’m talking to my brother now.”
“It’s not that I have nothing to do with it. Because Abel is ……!”
“My brother’s marriage ceremony is also a customary part of the community. You probably don’t know this, but brother is in a bad position because he broke the tribe’s rules and went outside. On top of that, if he broke the law again, he might not be able to step into his homeland for a long time. Are you telling me that you know that much?”
Mea was pushed by Gizel’s menacing look and broke off the words she was about to say.
To be honest, I hadn’t thought about it that much either.
N-no, I don’t think I need to think about it that much …… I-Is that bad?
“I, I don’t think it’s …… relevant. Because Abel is ……”
“You can say it’s not relevant because you don’t know anything! You, who is an outsider of the tribe, might not understand! We respect the richness of our blood. That’s why there is no precedent for marriage with an outsider of the tribe! You have a father, a mother, a friend, and a benefactor in the village! How can you be so selfish?”
“Y-You’re wrong, Mea didn’t mean it ……”
“Ohhhhhh! I’ve figured it out! Because it doesn’t matter, does it? Isn’t it because you don’t care about brother that you can say such things?”
Seeing that Mea had become weak, Gizel spoke up as if to convince her at once.
A-As I thought, she’s mad.
Since she didn’t show much reaction when Mea attached herself to me, I thought that she wasn’t that angry and that she really just wanted to talk to me, but that wasn’t the case.
At the very least, it was clear that she’s completely hostile to Mea.
“…… but, you’re just saying selfish things to Abel too ……!”
“It’s not selfish. Please don’t make me say the same thing over and over again. As I said, originally, brother and my marriage were half decided within the tribe. But brother threw it away and suddenly left the village without consulting me about it. I’m just trying to persuade him to do the right thing.”
Mea became small and closed her mouth.
“Isn’t that right, brother? Did I say one thing differently?”
“Ah, n-no …… Ah, that’s not what it means with that no just now ……”
A, a spear jumped at me too.
It’s not surprising, since I was the one talking about it, and I’m the one involved.
No, my pace is being completely swallowed.
I shook my head and tried to remain calm.
What Gizel is saying makes sense at first glance, but she’s just using arbitrary and twisted word choice to keep Mea quiet.
It is true that Gizel is correct in that she is following the traditions of the Marren tribe, but those traditions themselves are mostly its skeleton, and the Marren tribe itself did not consider their traditions to be that absolute.
First of all, the kinship marriages that respected the depth of blood were originally intended to increase magical power.
However, only a few of the Marren have any real training in magic …… No, if you ask me, everyone except the chief is disqualified.
Gizel is trying to keep Mea out by making it seem as if the Marren tribe are big fans of the tradition.
But the problem is that the only way to do that now is to say it in a way that will surely upset Gizel.
Rather than aiming to do so, Gizel seemed to be piling up logic in her head and speaking in order to make Mea retreat.
I wonder how much Gizel herself is aware of the fact that she is speaking at her own convenience.
“Let’s go home, brother. Father and the chief misses you too, you know? In the end, we were unable to recreate the incense smoke leaf due to a lack of information from brother, and the Chief is very troubled. The Karlco family is taking advantage of this opportunity to resume the sale of incense smoke leaf.”
Is that what’s going on in the village right now?
This is ridiculous, I’m sure I’ve written down a good and quite detailed way of doing things to warn you of this kind of situation.
I’m pretty confident that even when I’m reading a grimoire, I’m able to grasp it in a way that’s easy to understand.
It was only when I was selected as the head of the alchemist division and was in a position to actually teach others that I realized that I was quite good at teaching and passing things on to others, if I do say so myself.
I wonder if I have oversight over something important.
“N-no, but I also have other reasons why I can’t leave right now ……”
“I’ve never of that, but if that’s not the case, will you come back with me? Isn’t that what you meant by that?”
“…… That’s a figure of speech or something.”
No, I don’t think I can win with my words.
I didn’t understand because Gizel rarely blamed anyone in the village.
I didn’t expect her to be so articulate.
At that moment, Mea leaned forward.
“Me-Mea?”
“…… Abel is troubled, you know? I’ve been watching you for a while now, and you’ve been taking my word for it, ranting about the traditions, and citing things that are hard to say no to …… but isn’t it you who’s ignoring Abel’s will!”
Gizel’s eyes became stern and she stared at Mea in silence.
I think she was thinking about Mea’s words.