The Dread Knight's Rage-Chapter 92: Father- Daughter Breakfast

Yari thought differently about her bed after that night.

Whenever she lay in it, she couldn’t help but notice how spacious it was. Cold too.

Sighing, Yari brought her face to her hands and tried to shake off the memories of her first time.

It was more difficult than she had anticipated.

Elves were not very sexual, but they were deeply emotional.

Yari could recognize the scale of the intimate act they had committed together, even if, in the moment, they had all told themselves that it was a mere one-time thing. A result of drinking, attraction, and lowered inhibitions.

A bald-faced lie, if Yari had ever heard one...

Silently, she stepped into her bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Unclasping her robe, she stares at her reflection with red ears and warming cheeks.

The evidence of that night is still clearly inscribed along her body. Multiple different sized bite marks run along her breasts, stomach, and legs.

They were starting to fade already. Yari hadn’t expected that to bother her.

She wanted more.

"Crazy... I’m going crazy..." Yari groans at what she believes to be deviant thoughts.

In truth, her fascination with her first sexual experience had less to do with her body and more to do with her finally receiving something that had long been missing from her life.

Affection. Genuine, selfless affection that did not require anything of her but to be herself.

Yari tied her robe closed once again and left her bathroom, moving towards the cabinets where she stored her tea leaves.

Along the way, she passes by her counter and touches the blue stone resting there.

"Boil me some water, would you, Nereid...?"

The stone glows in response.

Yari was reaching inside her cabinets when a familiar, upside-down face popped into her vision.

"...You’re in a friendly mood." Yari notes with a small smile. "I don’t suppose you want tea, do you?"

The Greater Being shakes her head. Even after all of this time, Yari had only ever heard her soft voice on rare occasions.

Nereid was very shy for such a powerful engine of destruction.

She points to Yari’s cleavage. More specifically, one of the barely visible bruises.

"...I will not talk about this with you." Yari turns around.

Neried becomes visibly distraught.

"What is there to talk about?! You could already see everything, couldn’t you? I-I’m sure we were..." Yari’s cheeks slowly turn red. "L-loud...enoug- S-Stop making me talk about this!"

Nereid laughs humorously without making a sound.

She holds out her hands, and a ball of water forms, slowly being heated to the optimal temperature Yari preferred.

"...I’m so glad you’re amused by my embarrassment." Yari pulls down a mug and takes a lemon from a bowl.

Suddenly, Nereid came to her side and gave her a small bump with her hip.

"...sorry."

The voice was barely audible, but it was as sweet as sugarcane, and as beautiful as a rainbow.

Yari smiles at the sound, already knowing what the greater being was apologizing for.

"You don’t need to apologize. I couldn’t get to you in time to call you out. But things ended fine. Fury did not hurt me."

Nereid’s expression does not change as she pours the water into the mug. The guilt across her face is palpable.

"Hey, I said it’s fine." Yari grins. "I’m going to start learning the sword, you know? I’m going to get muscles like Nila, so that next time Fury shows up, I’ll be able to trounce her even without my ring." Yari playfully flexes one arm.

Nereid’s expression becomes droll. "..."

"What? I’m serious. It would be good for me to learn."

Nereid holds up two fingers.

"...I-It has nothing to do with them. I merely discovered the interest all on my own."

Nereid surprises Yari by performing a crude thrusting motion in the air.

"I-I-It is not an excuse to do those things, you deviant! Shameless! Perverted spirit!" Yari hurls insults with no end in sight.

All the while, Nereid’s demonstration becomes more crude, going as far as to grope her own chest and spank herself while making obscene faces.

Yari begins chasing the spirit around her quarters with a metal pot raised over her head.

She hurls curses at the greater being, making Nereid laugh and giggle like a child on a playground.

However, everything seems to come to a halt rather abruptly.

Nereid pauses and turns toward the front door.

She shivers uncontrollably, fear becoming apparent in her eyes.

Without turning to Yari, her form breaks down into mist and re-enters her gem.

The elf already knows what has caused her familiar’s change in behavior.

Sure enough, there is suddenly a knock at the door.

Yari becomes slightly tense.

After better concealing her chest, Yari places down her pot and goes to open the door.

As she expected, her father stands there, though the look of concern he wears is slightly surprising.

"My daughter... I heard that you were unwell."

Yari blinks, realizing just now that she hadn’t been to her class in about three days.

"I..."

"How many times must I tell you... It is crucial that you take better care of your health. You may live long, but you also want to live well, don’t you?"

Dean Raidis steps into his daughter’s quarters without waiting to be invited inside. Yari silently closes the door behind him.

Raidis walks right up to Yari’s cabinets and begins opening them.

He clicks his teeth at what he finds. "As I expected... alcohol, alcohol, alcohol, more alcohol, yet another bottle of alcohol... and a tin of nuts and dried fruit."

"Do not forget the lemons." Yari points to the bowl on her counter.

"...Yes, of course. How could I ever forget the lemons?"

Her father closes her cupboard doors while sighing deeply. "Get dressed, please. I’ve had Philipe arrange a breakfast on the terrace."

Yari knits her hands together. "I’m not hun-"

Her stomach lets out a horribly timed grumble.

Raidis seems slightly amused. "Now, what were you saying..?"

"..."

Yari turns around to go and get dressed.

-

It was a beautiful day in Komen. The sky was clear and cloud-free, yet there was a slight, relieving chill that made the sunlight feel rather bearable.

The ivy-wrapped terrace on top of the Academy was Raidis’ favorite place in the world.

From here, he could admire the bulk of the island. The deep valleys, the peaks of the mountains, and the crystal blue of the water that surrounded it all.

Having breakfast here at the end of the week was Raidis’ way of rewarding himself.

Though for what, Yari wasn’t quite sure.

"Enjoying it?"

Yari nods slowly, enjoying something in her bowl with a thick, soup-like consistency.

Raidis’ bowl was twice as large as hers. He also had a side plate piled high with smoked meats, golden brown toast, and two different kinds of jam.

"Nothing like grits on a cold morning... Good for the soul, don’t you think?" Raidis asks.

"Ah... sure." Yari shrugs. Truth be told, the meal was not unpleasant. It was the company that soured her appetite.

"So...The boy Solomon." Raidis began.

Yari did not tense up and showed no visible reaction at the mention of her young lover. As long as she kept sticking to the same lie she’d been using for all of these months, everything would be fine.

"I had been putting some thought into his armament. You said that a condition of his holding the weapon was that he wasn’t allowed to sleep with you, correct?"

"Yes." Yari nods. "I attempted to seduce him on numerous occasions, but he *cough* refused me. He doesn’t allow himself to be alone with me now."

Raidis reaches for a pitcher of peach juice sitting between them and pours a glass. "Drink this, my dear. Eat a bit more slowly."

Yari can only accept the drink gratefully; meanwhile, her father continues his thought exercise.

"Yes, yes... but I was thinking: when I touched that sword, I felt a power darker and more evil than anything I have ever known. So what if that is it? What if his weapon has some secret ability to utilize sin? And to wield it, one must be free of darkness themselves?"

Yari fights the urge to smirk as she turns her face towards her bowl.

"...An interesting theory. And judging by the things I hear about him, he does seem to have quite the big heart..."

Raidis nods, sighing deeply. "Indeed... If this is the case, I may have to give up on the pursuit of his weapon. I have lived a long time, and my hands are not exactly clean."

Yari believed that to be the understatement of the century.

"Anyway... try to follow up on that theory for me, if you can."

"Of course, father. I would be happy to."

Yari was relieved when the conversation didn’t linger on Solomon for long.

Her father talked about the same things as always. He bellyached about the pressures of his job, criticized the work ethic of some of the students, calling them mediocre and boring to watch.

No longer uncomfortable, Yari ate rather slowly, even deigning to nibble on some toast with a bit of grape jam.

"Oh, right... I wanted to get your opinion on something." Raidis leaned back in his chair, his belly full and his beard decorated with specs of bacon.

"Hm?"

"What do you think about the Black Depths?"

Yari tilts her head, not understanding. "It is... quite a fearsome place. The deeper one goes, the more intelligent and powerful the monsters are said to become."

"Yes, yes, that’s quite true." Raidis nodded. "But I meant, do you think it would be a suitable training ground for our knight students? Possibly even the mages as well?"

"I... cannot say. Why do you ask?"

"Ah.." Raidis reaches inside his robe and pulls out a note. "You remember how I told you about the fall of Master Abel’s estranged family."

"Indeed."

"Yes, well, his son has reached out. All he has left of the Olethros are the Knights who were away from the castle at the time of the Island’s collapse... Initially, it was a mere three thousand."

"Initially?"

"A lack of proper rest, terrible conditions, next to no funds, and dwindling rations have whittled that number down to a mere two hundred... Nasty business, the black depths are." Raidis shakes his head. "I’m surprised they haven’t all been wiped out with such shitty circumstances."

Yari slowly puts down her glass of peach juice. "I’m sorry, father... I don’t understand what our students have to do with anything?"

"Ah, it was part of the little nobleman’s request. With his forces on the verge of being overrun, he has turned to our academy to provide... reinforcements."

Yari’s eyes slowly widen.

Her father looks up in the sky, a thoughtful hum escaping his lips.

"I was wondering... What do you think about a subtle change in our curriculum?"