Eavesdropping from the Storehouse on the Beginning of a Tragedy

“Ufufu~! This ring, it's really cute! The openwork Mr. Lizard is just so stylish~!”

The first thing that reached my ears when I resumed eavesdropping was that happy voice of Keranko's.

She talks a lot, and laughs a lot.

Her slow, spoiled voice is cloying and lingers strangely in my ears.

“Isn't that wonderful, Keranko!”

“......Fufufu, young Miss Keranko...... you must take good care of that ring, you know?”

The next voices I heard must be “Mother” and Doj.

“Onee-sama is so unfair, isn't she! Secretly hiding a ring this cute!”

“Isn't it just! Hiding a ring from Keranko, how could she have grown into such a nasty child? Is it her bloodline's influence after all, I wonderr?”

“It's a cute ring, after all, so I, who am cuter than Onee-sama, should be the one to wear it, right? Isn't that so? Doj.”

“Yes, that is exactly so, young Miss Keranko.”

“If your big sister bullies you, you must always tell me, okaay? Mother will protect you no matter what, all right?”

......U, ummm......

Hey, Omake-sama.

<Yes, what is it, Emi?>

You know, in my previous life or this one, I don't actually have any memories of being raised by a decent family, so I can't be entirely sure......

<Yes.>

Snatching a ring from her sister by force, and then talking like that......

This family...... to put it mildly, aren't they pretty much scum?

<I'd say that's broadly accurate. If you can tell just from overhearing a little of their conversation, that's scum through and through.>

(Not that I want to remember him,) but my father's face comes to mind on its own.

The father who abused me when I was an infant, unable to even move properly.

The father who eventually forgot my face, pointed his spear at me and drove me out of the village.

He was quite the scum too.

But here, there was a different kind of scum......

<And, Emi. Were you listening properly just now? That ‘Mother’ said one thing that can't be overlooked, you know?>

Eh? Sorry, Omake-sama, I wasn't listening.

The face of that trash I don't want to remember just kept flickering in my mind......

<That woman said to the older sister, Karashia, ‘is it her bloodline's influence, I wonder’.>

......!

That woman is their “Mother,” isn't she?

Normally, you wouldn't say something like that to your own daughter, would you?

<Yes. One possibility...... and this is another Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast staple setup, but that ‘Mother’ and the older sister, Karashia...... might they not be related by blood at all?>

Eh? Eh?

What do you mean?

<In other words, that ‘Mother’ is a stepmother! Most likely, she was originally the mistress of Karashia and Keranko's father, or something like that, and for some reason, she came to this mansion as the stepmother...... and Keranko is the child she brought along with her!>

U, ugh.

So the stepmother and the child she brought along are teaming up to bully the older sister who was in the house to begin with?

<That is the classic formula of the Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast staple setup, handed down unbroken since ancient times!>

Somebody please stop them...... what is the father doing?

<There are several patterns: the father also dotes on the younger sister and joins in bullying the older sister, or he is completely indifferent to his daughters and has no interest even if the older sister is being bullied...... I wonder which it is in this house?>

............

Curious, I took my attention off Keranko and the others and began searching for the father, eavesdropping for his voice.

In the first place, what kind of person is the father? What does his voice sound like?

Since I didn't even know that, I thought this father-hunt would take quite a while, but that was a needless worry.

“Do something about it! Father!!”

Because Karashia's hysterical voice reached my ears.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Keranko's selfishness and tyranny are getting worse by the day! With a personality like that, how can we introduce her to other houses as a daughter of our Luclees family! Father, why do you just leave her be!?”

Karashia's high-pitched voice, ringing shrilly.

“Y, yes, you're right...... that is true, but, you know......?”

In contrast, the one answering in a timid, small voice while Karashia berates him must be their “Father.”

“She wants a dress, she wants a necklace, she snatches everything and anything of mine, and the servants don't even try to stop her! What is the meaning of this! You told me before, Father, that I am the next head of this Luclees family, didn't you!? To treat me this way...... is it not absurd!?”

“C, calm down, Karashia...... ahaha, you're the older sister, so please have a generous heart, okay?”

“I have treated Keranko with a generous heart! And this is the result! She has become arrogant, and all the servants treat me with contempt...... Geho, geho!”

“Ah, look, Karashia...... you're frail...... you mustn't get so, excited...... it's bad for your health......”

......Hmm, what's with this father.

At least, he doesn't seem to be the kind of person who teams up with the stepmother and younger sister to bully the older sister......

<At any rate, he's unreliable. I see, so it's the pattern where he's too wishy-washy to stop the second wife and younger sister from running wild.>

“Haa...... haa...... anyway Father, we cannot go on like this. Do you understand what it was that Keranko snatched from me earlier, Father? It was a ring.”

“A, a ring? That happens all the time, doesn't it......”

“It's not just any ring! It's the ‘Ring of the Ranrananga White Lizard’! The ring that proves the head of the Luclees family!!”

Huh?

“Eh, wh, that!? Wh, in the first place, why did you have that......!?”

“Because you! Don't! Manage it properly!?...... It was lying in front of my room! I picked it up to return it to you, Father, but Keranko saw me and snatched it! Why can't you even manage the proof of the family head properly! You should just keep it on your finger at all times, why don't you do that!?”

“N, no, well, uh......”

“Anyway, it's that greedy little sister. If she finds out that it's the signet ring proving the family head, you know what she'll want next, don't you?”

“............”

“The seat of the family head, not knowing her place. That is what she will want. Mother and Doj will surely approve it. Do you understand what future awaits the Luclees family as a result?”

“............”

“Ruin. Because they are idiots. The only thing they have brains for, is squandering money.”

<That ring-snatching incident from earlier...... it was a bigger deal than I had thought......>

“Now is the time for you to show your dignity as the current family head, Father...... that ring belongs to you now, doesn't it? Just tell Keranko ‘give it back’, that's all you need to do, you know?”

Karashia, speaking to her father slowly, as if reasoning with him.

And the father's response to that was.

“............But......”

Just that, a single word.

“........................”

Silence settles over Karashia and her father.

Giriri.

I heard the sound of teeth grinding.

“You...... truly...... to the very end, to the very end...... are foolish, and incompetent.”

Karashia murmurs, her voice trembling.

And then......

“Fu...... ufufu...... ahahahaha......”

And then, she started laughing.

It's not like Keranko's laughter, carefree and boundlessly bright.

It was the laugh of someone who had given up on everything, dark, heavy, and filled with sorrow and anger.

“I've...... had enough. I don't care anymore. How stupid. I'm the only one who's been putting up with this......”

I hear the kotsu kotsu of footsteps.

And then, a gachagacha sound, like metal rubbing together.

“Eh...... Karashia, i, it's dangerous, you know? What do you intend to do with such a thing? That is......”

“A demon sword, isn't it? The demon sword ‘Agzeliary’. A secret magic tool for keeping up appearances that assists the user's body control, so that even a weakling like you, Father, can fight to some extent as long as you pour in magic power.”

“W, why do you know that”

“With a little research, one can tell from its appearance. It's quite a handsome sword, isn't it?”

“That's not the point! Karashia...... w, with such a thing, what on earth are you......”

“What, am I, doing?”

To her father, whose voice came out timid and frightened, Karashia said flatly, in a cold voice, as if utterly disgusted.

“Do you not even understand that? Incompetent. With this, I shall get rid of the people in my way. Not one person in this mansion knows the first thing about fighting. Even for someone as frail as I, as long as I have this demon sword, it will be possible to carry out a purge.”

“W, wait! Stop it! Calm down, Karashia! Keranko is your little sister!? You're family! To kill her...... such a thing, such a thing......!”

“Father, you are mistaken.”

Bushu.

“......Eh?”

“I said I would ‘get rid of the people in my way’, didn't I? Why did you think that Keranko was the only one to be killed?”

“A...... a......”

“You, playing the family head when you are incompetent, are exceedingly in the way. It would do the Luclees family far more good if you were dead.”

“A......”

“Die.”

Dosa.

The sound of something heavy falling to the floor echoed.

The father's timid voice could no longer be heard.

“Ufu, ahaha...... I'm such a silly goose. I should have...... done this from the start......”

With the kotsu kotsu of her shoes, Karashia started walking.

“......Hih!? Karashia, -sama!? What is all that blood...... ah!?”

The next thing I heard was a woman's voice I had never heard before, but after a zashu! sound, I couldn't hear it anymore.

Kotsu, kotsu, kotsu......

“Ah!?”

Zashu.

“Eek......!?”

Zashu.

Along with the sound of Karashia's footsteps, every so often comes something like a short scream and a sound like something being slashed, and then it goes quiet.

Me.

I was frozen, shocked and confused by the sudden turn of events.

But, after a moment's hesitation...... I stood up, turned to the stone wall of the storehouse I'd been leaning against, and with all my might...... punched it!

DOOOON!!

The stone wall blows apart, and a big hole opens up in the storehouse.

Outside the storehouse, a snowy landscape.

The white of the piled-up snow is dazzling.

I jumped out of that hole and started running toward the mansion!

A tragedy that breaks out just like that.

An instant tragedy, isn't it.