Became a Childhood Friend of an Academy Genius

40 – Not all families are happy

That evening.

In the palace-like room in the Loferia Pavilion, with the contact crystal ball in front of her, Elisha caught her breath.

Although she had already finished her grooming, her proud blonde hair was still lightly damp because of her lush hair.

“My lady. It’s okay if I contact you if there’s anything you’d like to ask of the family, but….”

“It’s something I can do. Besides, I have to say hello to my father.”

Elisha gave her a smile as she politely expressed her refusal to Kelsey, her maid of honor.

But it felt in Kelsey’s eyes no different than forcing her to smile.

She was one of the people who knew better than anyone what the relationship between Balzac, the head of the Crozel family, and Elisha, her second daughter, was, and she was able to fully gauge Elisha’s current feelings.

“I’ll just contact you and I’ll sleep right away, so you can rest too. Kelsey.”

“… Yes, lady Then excuse me first. Good night.”

“Yes. You also.”

As she smiled at Kelsey, who was only one of her handmaidens, Elisha did not show her agitated feelings until the end.

It was only then that Kelsey greeted her politely and exited her room, only then Elisha’s eyebrows drooped and her expression hardened.

“Whoa….”

Again, after taking a deep breath and calming her heart, she nodded her head firmly, then stretched out her hand and blew her magic into her crystal ball.

At the same time, a soft pale green light emanated from the purple crystal ball, leaving a hazy afterimage in the air.

How long did you wait?

A certain shape appeared from the afterimage left like fog, and soon it became a human figure, revealing a clear outline.

That was the face of a middle-aged blonde man.

Her blue-green eyes, like Elisha’s, were sharp, and the sword scar across her right eye seemed to reveal the life and battlefield he had been through.

“Ah, father. Sorry for contacting you so late.”

As her opponent’s expressionless eyes stared at her, Elisha hurriedly lowered her head and begged for her understanding.

Yes. This man is the seat of the Five Great Heroes who survived the Great War 30 years ago and was called the swordsman’s greatest rival, and is currently serving as the head of the Crozel family [Red Sword]. Balzac Fonter Crozel.

He is also Elisha’s father, but her eyes did not contain the slightest joy as she looked at her daughter, whom she had been in contact with for a long time.

It’s like a business relationship where you don’t want to talk except for designated business.

– Didn’t I tell you that doing something knowing you’re sorry is an act of foolishness?

Balzac frowned at his daughter, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, cavorting at his daughter without even formally saying hello.

At the admonition of her cold father, Elisha again bowed her head and broke into a cold sweat.

Then, as soon as the contact is over, you may have to go back to take a shower.

“I’m sorry. Father. But I have an urgent request….”

Elisha goes out in a low profile enough to be described as a master-servant relationship rather than a father-daughter relationship.

The displeasure in Balzac’s eyes faded a little, and he shook his head as if asking her to say something.

“I was wondering if you could send me some flowers called Nostalgia.”

– Nostalgia. Where do you plan to use it?

Since nostalgia is not something that is banned from being sold on the market, Balzac asked to confirm where it was used.

At that moment, in Elisha’s mouth, a very brief word. A bitter smile passed before Balzac didn’t even see it.

If Ellen, her older sister, needed it, she probably would have sent it straight away without even asking where she was going to use it.

Her peers praise her as the princess of the Crozel family, but her actual position in her family is as follows.

“I don’t need it, my friends have been given an assignment to make a potion this time, and I’m going to use it then.”

– It’s a big deal. I didn’t know you had other friends besides Marie.

In the passage of ‘friends, not friends’, Balzac felt a sense of difference and twitched his eyebrows.

His voice sounded more like scolding rather than new since he learned about his daughter’s relationship he hadn’t known before.

Only then did Elisha realize her own mistake and tried to correct her words with regret.

“Ah, father. That is… !”

– … She knew it. At the academy, saying that I would only focus on nothingness, I ran out of the house, and it was a friendship game to do at best.

Even that couldn’t be done properly, being blocked by his grave voice that seemed to be covered in frost.

Balzac shows generosity only to those who have the ability.

That’s why, when dealing with Ellen, her older sister, she is able to be generous like hahahahae, and she fully supports everything Ellen wants.

In other words, if a daughter with my bloodline is considered incompetent in his eyes, he will set strict standards mercilessly.

Among them, what Balzac always talked about was not to be swayed by personal emotions.

Because he and Ellen were just like that.

In order to become stronger, he gave me advice about a life he devoted himself to by cutting off all but the bare minimum of human relationships and only having a desire to improve.

Nevertheless, when she, who lacks the most talent, makes gestures to expand her network and connections like the socialites at her academy, her Balzac’s side is heated.

– Nostalgia will be sent as you request. It’s late at night.

“… Yes. Have a nice night. Father.”

Beep.

Without even accepting Elisha’s greetings, Balzac unilaterally cut off contact as if it wasn’t worth talking to anymore.

Elisha, who was left in the cold air without being able to tell that she had won first place in her mock exam a long time ago or her recent achievements, gathered her legs together and held her in her arms.

‘I should have told Kelsey to do it.’

Suddenly, such regret came into my head.

* * * *

As I returned to my room after taking a shower, I saw several thick books piled on the floor.

Originally, I just left it in the library and went back to read it, but Tina seemed so eager to borrow the book, so I had no choice but to borrow some of the newly discovered herbal medicine books.

It’s a group assignment, but it’s a bit embarrassing to make them suffer alone.

Shuk. Shuk.

After wiping her hair with a towel and placing the wet towel on her clothesline, she crossed her arms and laid her head down for a while as a pillow.

Because there was something to think about today at the academy.

‘I had a short thought.’

Recalling the conversation I had with Elisha at the cafe, I reflexively let out a heavy drool.

He took my request lightly, saying that he could help if he were a friend, but thinking about it again, I don’t know if he just made Elisha suffer for nothing.

That’s understandable, since Elisha’s relationship with Balzac hasn’t improved yet.

You may not know it, but you must have heard some bitter things about Balzac in response to this request.

It’s not the same situation in the original work, but there were similar situations, and even then, Balzac always teased Elisha as a parent and made fun of her snout.

In my previous life, there were parents who were particularly concerned about their children’s academic performance, but Balzac takes one more drink than that.

According to what she mentioned in the beginning and middle of her story, Elisha even showed signs of narrowing down her human relationships as much as possible, and to the point of restricting her by telling her not to focus on her only to become stronger.

The reason why the human is so extreme will be revealed later.

Feeling inferior to the swordsman, who was the seat of the five heroes and the strongest swordsman of the time, he judged that his old body, which was about to reach his 60s, was difficult and whipped even his daughters to reach that level, like an idiot. That’s why.

In other words, it should be seen that he passed on his qualifications and inferiority to his two innocent daughters.

In the original work, Aden saves Elisha with her teeth, and in the end, she herself reaches the level of transcendence, and somehow this part is solved, but in the end it is not a fundamental solution.

‘I want to help.’

She has no reason to meddle in other people’s family affairs, but Elisha’s background is quite bittersweet about her, so I feel somewhat moved.

Maybe it’s all the more because he’s not just a passing NPC, but a friend who helped me a lot.

“It sucks.”

But that doesn’t mean that a way to help right away comes from, it’s just a taste.

Anyway, since the request has already been made, there is no going back.

It is still 8:20. If you read it before going to sleep, you might be able to find some useful information.

Palak.

Like that, I got up and put a book on the tumbledown wooden furniture that was supposed to be a desk and opened it.

Come to think of it, what Marie said earlier bothers me.

She heard that nostalgia has side effects. What are they?

‘I said it doesn’t work on humans anyway, so it doesn’t matter.’

Even so, it is difficult to stop curiosity once it has welled up.

She skimmed through the paper quickly, thinking that there might be a possibility that the book she was reading had left out that part, but it might be written elsewhere.

“Nostalgia, nostalgia….”

Oh, I found it.

Fortunately, it was quite close to the front, so it was easy to find.

“Nostalgia took its name from the two words meaning beast and estrus in the past, and was called Beastrus. It exudes a unique fragrance that humans cannot smell, and when a special class such as a beast or a beast tribe smells it, it induces artificial heat as if taking an aphrodisiac….”

Indeed. It had that effect.

“In the past, it was used for breeding animals, and during the time when beastmen were oppressed as slaves, there were many cases where they burned incense with this flower to make them incapable of resistance and then used it as a s*x slave….”

Reading the contents, it seems more like a drug than an herb.

Marido Moquer’s prank is called a love potion, but in reality it is close to making one’s desire run wild, so in that sense, it might not be strange to include this flower.

Anyway, it seems to be true that it is harmless to humans, so there seems to be no reason to worry.

There’s a lot to dry, grind, and prep, so I’ll have to start working with Tina as soon as Nostalgia arrives at the workshop tomorrow.

‘By the way, his expression was a bit strange today.’

Nostalgia will come tomorrow, so she reassured her by saying not to worry.

What was it?

I’ve never seen him harden his face that much.

I’ll be with you at the workshop tomorrow anyway, so I’ll have to ask.

Anyway, he’s an annoying guy.