## Chapter 1364 – ##17_Daughter-Lings (2)
##114
1.
Dressed in simple training clothes like Elroa, her pink hair tied up in a high ponytail.
“…Hmm.”
Lapi stared at the rock in front of her with the most serious look in the world.
Her eyebrows, still sparse, were furrowed in the middle, making her look the most earnest she could be.
“Lapi, stay calm. You can do it slowly.”
Next to her was her father, giving advice with a tense expression.
“Don’t feel too pressured. I failed too, so it’s obvious you’ll fail too, Lapi.”
Hina grumbled for no reason.
Today was martial arts class with her father.
As the daughters of Linne, a master of martial arts, and Elroa, Lapi and Hina’s achievements far surpassed their age.
Therefore, the topic of the lesson was mana emission, which was more like advanced learning.
“Huu…”
Lapi inhaled, and her mind focused on one point.
The surrounding noises and the sound of the wind blurred like white noise and then disappeared completely.
This was the feeling.
The feeling that only her body and fist remained in the world.
She inhaled, relaxed her body.
Stepped on the true gait, and synchronized the flow of mana and her body.
“Huuup!”
And then, she threw a punch.
-Kwaaang!
The granite rock, known for its hardness, exploded as if it had been dynamited.
“Huu.”
Lapi exhaled the remaining breath, calming herself.
Her calm and composed demeanor, unusual for a child, didn’t last long.
“Father, I did it!”
“As expected of Lapi! I knew you could do it!!!”
She immediately jumped into Siwoo’s arms, acting cute.
Should it be said that she inherited her master’s bloodline?
Lapi succeeded in mana emission in just a week, something that even Siwoo took over a month to get used to.
“Tch, lucky.”
Next to her, Hina, with her cheeks puffed out, clicked her tongue with a displeased expression.
Seeing that, Lapi stopped jumping around and approached Hina.
Lapi knew that Hina, who was polite and well-behaved to everyone, was a manifestation of great competitiveness.
Especially towards Lapi, her half-twin sister born on the same day.
Why, weren’t Linne and Elroa themselves at odds, pursuing different paths of the sword?
“I guess I was lucky. I think Hina can do it soon too?”
At first glance, it might sound like a provocation or a sneer, but it wasn’t at all.
“Lapi, can you teach Hina?”
“Yes, Father.”
Lapi was a surprisingly upright child.
If she grew up like this, there would be no need to worry about her character in the future.
Even Hina, whose competitiveness was making her darker, would lose her poison and become neutralized when she was next to Lapi.
“…How do you do it?”
“Okay, look here. Imagine there’s a dot on your fist. And…”
Lapi, like a teacher, explained everything to Hina, who was shy but still asked for advice.
Hina, who was envious of Lapi for succeeding in mana emission first, listened obediently to the lesson.
Was it effective that she shared her experience from a similar perspective?
“Hup!”
-Bang!
Hina’s small hand, after receiving Lapi’s advice, exploded another granite rock.
“……”
Hina, as if she couldn’t believe she had done it herself, stared wide-eyed at the rock fragments.
Hina hugged Lapi tightly and jumped up and down.
“I did it! Lapi! Look! I did it!”
“Congratulations! As expected of Hina! I knew you could do it as soon as you got the hang of it!”
“Ah.”
Her joy of success was short-lived. Hina realized that she had been jumping for joy in the arms of her rival, whom she never wanted to lose to, and quickly pulled away.
“I’ll succeed first next time.”
“Yeah, I won’t lose either.”
Judging by her challenging remarks, she must have been very embarrassed.
Lapi accepted it with composure.
Every time they were together, it made one wonder if that was what Elroa would have been like if she had been a novice witch?
They could stay like this all day, but unfortunately, Siwoo was busy.
“I have to go now, Dad.”
“Already?”
“Yes, have a good day.”
Siwoo kissed the cheeks of Hina, who was sad, and Lapi, who saw him off with a composed expression, and then left.
Hina, who had been watching him intently, opened her mouth when Papa was far enough away.
“Lapi.”
“Yeah?”
“What do you think about Mama?”
“Mama? Linne, Mom?”
“No, your Mama.”
It was common for children’s topics to change quickly, but Hina’s sudden remark was not due to the typical distraction of a child.
Lapi was a rival, but a pretty good one.
She had even taught her the knack of mana emission today.
She thought it might be okay to share her true feelings, which she hadn’t told anyone, with Lapi.
She also wanted to see if Lapi would become a rival in ‘this’ area as well.
Lapi, who had been asked the question, was momentarily puzzled and then answered.
“My mother is a really wonderful person. I want to be like her.”
“Why?”
“I’ve never seen my mother say anything wrong. Of course, she doesn’t only say nice things, but when I think about it, it was all for my sake.”
“I hate Mama.”
“Huh?! Linne, your aunt?”
Lapi was shocked by Hina’s outburst, as if to say, ‘How could you say such a thing?!’
Hating one’s mother!
How could she do that?
Of course, her aunt was blunt, but she was definitely not a bad person.
Rather, she poured out her affection for Hina.
“To be precise, I love, like, and respect Mama.”
“Th-then?”
“But Mama is married to Papa.”
“That’s right, that’s why Hina came into this world.”
“In other words, Mama is my rival.”
“……?”
Lapi’s head tilted.
“Hina, just in case, you know you can’t marry Father, right?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, you say?”
Despite Lapi’s reasonable point, Hina was not at all intimidated.
With her usual expressionless face, but with a slightly more passionate tone, she continued her words.
“Nothing is impossible in this world. Lapi’s Mama was originally Papa’s teacher, wasn’t she?”
“That’s different… Father and Mother were teacher and student, and Hina is their child?”
“……”
“It’s not right to hate your mother for that reason.”
“……”
Lapi, who had been reciting common sense in a calm tone, felt a chilling aura.
Hina didn’t bother to refute or make excuses.
It was something she already knew, and something she had resolved to accept.
So, she just glared at Lapi with an expression that said, ‘I shouldn’t have trusted a friend.’
2.
“Lapi, are you back?”
“Yes, Mother.”
Elroa greeted Lapi, who had returned from the training grounds, with a gentle expression.
The sight of the small child walking so resolutely made her smile.
“How was your lesson with Dad today?”
“I succeeded in mana emission today!”
“Mana emission?”
Elroa couldn’t help but be surprised.
Siwoo and Elroa used mana emission as easily as eating, but its delicate difficulty was so high that even ordinary witches struggled with it.
She remembered that Lapi had said confidently, ‘I’ll succeed,’ a while ago, but she never thought she would actually do it in such a short time.
“And Hina succeeded too.”
“Hehe, well done. Why don’t you go wash up? I’ll go cut some fruit for you as a reward for your hard training today.”
“It’s okay, Mother. I have something I want to ask you instead.”
“Hmm?”
Lapi, who had jumped onto Elroa’s lap, hesitated and then opened her mouth.
“Mother, Hina said this. Hina plans to marry Father.”
“What…”
“Of course, Hina is still young, so she’s saying that. I don’t misunderstand either. But after hearing it, I became a little curious.”
“Ask me.”
“You and Father were teacher and student, right?”
“Yes.”
“In Gehenna, the relationship between teacher and student is practically the same as that of parent and child, right? So how did you and Father meet?”
It was something she had always known, but after hearing Hina’s explosive confession, she became curious again.
When she thought about it, wasn’t it true?
How could someone as upright as her mother, of all people, commit such a big deviation?
Little Lapi couldn’t imagine it at all.
“…Ah.”
Similarly, Elroa was also very embarrassed because she never expected such a question from Lapi.
But looking at Lapi’s innocent eyes, she didn’t want to add any lies or exaggerations.
Elroa recalled.
Elroa, who had lost her child and was wandering with a desire for revenge.
Their first meeting on the rooftop of COEX with a misunderstanding, and a fist strike.
Elroa, who was falling apart, and Siwoo, who came to her and became her disciple.
Elroa had always vowed to protect Siwoo, but looking back, it was Siwoo who had repeatedly lifted Elroa up when she was falling apart.
“There are many kinds of relationships in the world. Good ones, bad ones, and strong ones that cannot be broken by human power.”
“Strong relationships?”
“Yes, just like Lapi is the most precious relationship to me.”
“Hmm… I don’t feel like I’ve heard a proper explanation, but I feel like I have.”
“Really? I was worried it might be too early for you.”
“So, does that mean that you and Father were connected by a strong relationship that transcended the teacher-student relationship?”
“That’s right. You’re so smart.”
From the way Lapi pointed her fingers and asked again, Elroa felt a fragment of a precious relationship that she would never forget.
Perhaps the gaze of someone who was smiling mischievously in the sky was watching this scene.
“Thank you for the meal.”
After that, Lapi, who had eaten a lot of fruit, was on her way back to her room.
“Hmm…”
Lapi frowned and pondered.
As she pondered her mother’s words, doubts continued to linger.
“Then… if Hina and Father have a strong relationship, could they really get married as Hina said?”
Lapi was still a little too young to understand her mother’s words.
