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 couldnt 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.

Youre 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

Gizels 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. Im talking to my brother now.

Its not that I have nothing to do with it. Because Abel is !

My brothers marriage ceremony is also a customary part of the community. You probably dont know this, but brother is in a bad position because he broke the tribes 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 Gizels menacing look and broke off the words she was about to say.

To be honest, I hadnt thought about it that much either.

N-no, I dont think I need to think about it that much I-Is that bad?

I, I dont think its relevant. Because Abel is

You can say its not relevant because you dont know anything! You, who is an outsider of the tribe, might not understand! We respect the richness of our blood. Thats 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-Youre wrong, Mea didnt mean it

Ohhhhhh! Ive figured it out! Because it doesnt matter, does it? Isnt it because you dont 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, shes mad.

Since she didnt show much reaction when Mea attached herself to me, I thought that she wasnt that angry and that she really just wanted to talk to me, but that wasnt the case.

At the very least, it was clear that shes completely hostile to Mea.

but, youre just saying selfish things to Abel too !

Its not selfish. Please dont 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. Im just trying to persuade him to do the right thing.

Mea became small and closed her mouth.

Isnt that right, brother? Did I say one thing differently?

Ah, n-no Ah, thats not what it means with that no just now

A, a spear jumped at me too.

Its not surprising, since I was the one talking about it, and Im 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 shes 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.

Lets 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 whats going on in the village right now?

This is ridiculous, Im sure Ive written down a good and quite detailed way of doing things to warn you of this kind of situation.

Im pretty confident that even when Im reading a grimoire, Im able to grasp it in a way thats 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 cant leave right now

Ive never of that, but if thats not the case, will you come back with me? Isnt that what you meant by that?

Thats a figure of speech or something.

No, I dont think I can win with my words.

I didnt understand because Gizel rarely blamed anyone in the village.

I didnt expect her to be so articulate.

At that moment, Mea leaned forward.

Me-Mea?

Abel is troubled, you know? Ive been watching you for a while now, and youve been taking my word for it, ranting about the traditions, and citing things that are hard to say no to but isnt it you whos ignoring Abels will!

Gizels eyes became stern and she stared at Mea in silence.

I think she was thinking about Meas words.