How did it come to this?
When I went back to my parents' house, the Megalopolis family home, for the first time in a while, my father suddenly told me to get married.
And the person in question was my cousin... I was floored. Their same old obsession with pure bloodlines was really getting old.
I wasn't the least bit interested, but my mother begged me too, so I reluctantly agreed to at least meet him.
My cousin... I didn't remember him well. Honestly, I didn't even remember his name.
Three days later. The cousin came to the house.
My father told him to stop wearing those embarrassing clothes, but he ignored him.
And that cousin of mine— wow... is this guy really from Edda?
Fat, short, and bald. To put it bluntly, he was absolutely not my type in any way.
If anything, he was the type I'd want to delete from existence right now.
They were really going to make me marry someone like this?
By this point, I was already pretty ticked off. But then that guy looked at me and said—
"She's huge. What's with this giant woman?"
In that instant, I nearly obliterated my cousin with [Sunspot].
I somehow managed to hold that back. But I still beat the crap out of him.
I also beat up my father, who tried to stop me.
And then the rest of them who tried to step in. I beat up my father's bodyguards too.
"I-Impossible... the four knights that the Megalopolis family prides itself on..."
"Four knights"? What's that supposed to mean?
And to my disheveled, beaten-down father, I said.
"Hey. Just so you know, I'm a First-Class Delver."
"F-First-Class...!?"
My father looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head.
I'd figured as much, but... this guy. Doesn't know the first thing about his own daughter. Sigh.
Enough. I'd made up my mind.
"I'm cutting ties with you."
"W-Wait, I absolutely will not allow such insolence! You are a daughter of the Megalopolis family. You must bear pure-blooded children for the Six Edda Houses! That is why you will marry your cousin Ahorsu, whose pure blood runs the thickest. Do you understand? This is not coming from me as your father — it is the collective will of the Megalopolis family, spoken as its head! You cannot defy this!"
"Sure."
"Oh, yes. That's more like—"
"Starting right now, I'm going to destroy the Megalopolis family."
"Huh?"
With Sunspot, I blew away a chunk of the Megalopolis family's main estate — my own family home.
"A-a-a-aaaahhhh... aaahhhh... Wh-wh-what are you..."
"I mean, you're an Edda and all you have are pathetic Relics? What even are you?"
Fire, I think, and... what was the other one? I forgot.
"I-I'm pa-paaathetic, you saaayyyy?!? Aaaaargh!!!"
"Huh? Hey — don't come near me!"
"Y-you... da-dare... to your own f-father... with nothing but p-p-pathetic R-Relics... th-this... th-this... you... th-this w-wretch... I'll n-n-never forgiiiiive yooou... blargh!!!"
He came crawling toward me, face twisted with fury, and he was so disgusting that I couldn't help but kick him away.
He slammed into the wall and crumpled down.
What the—what even was that. Seriously disgusting... And my cousin was lying there foaming at the mouth.
On top of that, he'd wet himself. Ugh, what a pathetic little worm.
"Don't speak. Don't move. If you so much as open your mouth or twitch, I'll erase you."
I held the black sphere over the head of the guy I'd just smashed into the wall.
I no longer think of this guy as my father.
So I'd be perfectly within my rights to erase him right now with [Sunspot].
"Heh... heheheheh..."
Suddenly, an out-of-place laugh rang out.
Mother was looking at the hole I'd made in the wall and laughing.
Her sheer nonchalance left me dumbfounded.
"Mother?"
"Megadia, dear. If you want to cut ties with him, go right ahead."
"Huh?"
"M-Mom, what are you—"
"You. If she doesn't, you'll be erased."
"Th-That's insane—"
"Think about it. This child no longer sees you as a father. The bond between you two was always thin as a thread to begin with. And you never saw your daughter as anything more than a tool, which made it even worse. It wouldn't have been strange if it snapped at any moment."
"Wait—did you set up this meeting on purpose?"
Mother smiled.
She was a beautiful woman — short in stature, but young-looking for her actual age.
But sorry to say, she didn't leave a great impression on me.
My impression of my mother had always been that of a meek wife who never defied my father.
Yet I found it strange that she showed no reaction at all upon seeing her husband beaten to a pulp.
"I see. My, my. I didn't expect you to go this far."
"Uuuhhh... uuuuhhh... Y-you... you scoundrels... this parade of outrages against your very own father... N-no matter... I forgive you...!"
The moment I let off killing intent, he cowered and trembled.
What's this bottom-feeder getting cocky for?
"Mom."
"Yes?"
I jerked my thumb at him dismissively.
"I'm getting rid of him. Probably. If he keeps living, he'll just get in the way of my life."
"Scoundrels! Don't kill meeee!!!!"
I kicked him into the wall in an instant. Cracks spread across its surface.
I kicked him hard enough that I wanted to just finish him off right there. Ah, this probably won't kill him.
Mother made a troubled face.
"I'd really rather not have my daughter kill her own parent, you know."
"Mom. He's not a parent."
Mother gave a vague, drawn-out "Hmm, well, I suppose..."
"Honey, if you keep this up, you really will die. You can't win against this child no matter what, so give up and just do as she wants."
"………………"
He clammed up and glared at me with pure hatred.
What a brat.
"Good grief, there's no helping it. Loms. Loms. Wake up. Loms."
Mother shook one of the collapsed figures awake.
"…Ugh, ma'am…?"
One of the Fourth Knights—or whatever they're called—that I'd beaten to a pulp just now.
Come to think of it, he was the butler's son. I'd just remembered.
"Sorry to spring this on you, but could you kill my husband for me?"
"What!?!"
"…Huh? W-What? Kill—did you say kill? Y-You mean the master?"
Loms was stunned.
I was surprised too, but Mother carried on as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
"I'm sick of it, you know. The whole 'pure blood' thing, treating our daughter like a tool. And on top of that, he's arrogant, violent, looks down on people without a second thought. He's scum."
"W-Wait. If anyone's violent, it's you."
"Huh?"
Mother using violence on Father?
"Oh my, I've never done such a thing."
"Whenever we fought, she always slipped poison into the food…"
Fights? The mother, who was so obedient to Father?
Hmm? Poison in the food? Poison?
"Oh my, you noticed?"
"Mom. Did you poison the food?"
"Yes, but it was only enough to make him sick. Numbness, stomach cramps, vomiting, dizziness, fainting, and then a coma and... well, something like that."
Mom was smiling. "Something like that"... was a bit much, honestly.
"But you ate everything without saying a word, so I thought you didn't notice."
"You ate everything, huh."
"............H-hmph, as if I could leave behind something you made for me."
"I see."
"............Hmph."
"......"
Huh? What... what is this.
Come to think of it, this guy really is the worst and the lowest of the low, and that hasn't changed one bit.
"............"
Looking back on it, he's never actually used violence against Mom or me.
And while his treatment of me is beyond awful, he does care about Mom.
I knew that.
Which is exactly why it ticks me off—the difference in how he treats his own daughter versus Mom. What is that about.
Sigh.
I was so irritated that I unleashed a heel drop on this guy.
He bounced around and flailed like crazy. Then he passed out.
"Master!"
"Oh dear, is he dead?"
"Sigh. Unfortunately, he's still alive. Ugh, how stupid. Anyway, starting today, I'm out. I'm never coming back here again."
"I see. I'll miss you."
"I'll send a letter now and then. To Mom only."
"I'll look forward to that. What are you doing today?"
"Where am I supposed to stay? This is the royal capital. I wouldn't mind a drink, though."
"You want alcohol? Then, want to take some with you?"
"Can I?"
"Sure. There's tons of my husband's private stash. Consider it payment for the trouble this time. Take as much as you want."
"Give me all of it."
And so I left the Megalopolis household with complete satisfaction.
Three days later.
I was summoned by Narcissus, and with Utopia taking the lead, the formal disownment was carried out.
At that moment, this guy—well, my father—got on his knees and apologized to me.
Since there was absolutely no sincerity behind it, I beat him up again.
I barely managed to hold back and signed the disownment papers.
And just like that, my name was erased from the Megalopolis family.
The next day, I left the royal capital.
I'd been thinking about changing my base for a while now.
My base was in the royal capital, but I barely ever used it.
Besides, I didn't want it as my base anymore.
I lined up a bunch of candidates and made my decision.
I'd make Hydrangea my base. It's such a comfortable place, you know.
I took a small detour, but I arrived at Hydrangea.
I'd grab a drink at the Cider House with gusto, and starting next week I'd seriously take on quests and whatnot.
That was the plan, and now here I am in Heizen.
Why? How? How and why?
Let me think back. That was just a few minutes ago.
Today too, I was turning the corner in high spirits, ready to drink at the Cider House.
Suddenly, the statue of Goddess Edda appeared right in front of me. No—the entire scenery had changed.
I was stunned senseless by the way-too-sudden Edda statue.
Just then, Lord Narcissus appeared from behind the Edda statue, looking all self-important. Why him?
"Megadia. We're going to Heizen!"
"Huh?"
"Heizen is calling for us!"
"Whaaat!?"
And so, here I am in Heizen.
I went through the gate and ended up in Heizen, then did a bit of garbage cleanup after stepping on some landmines.
And for some reason, we were surrounded by armored knights right there on the main street.
Military police? Why? Why?!
"Laada!"
"So you've shown your face after all, you little—"
"I thought Laada was dead?"
"Something about being taller than Laada..."
"J-just seize them!"
"H-hey, wait—"
What the heck was going on here? What was this about?
"Stop right there!"
Narcissus stepped out in front of them.
"I'll be your opponent!"
"Who the hell is this?"
"A companion of Laada?"
"Grab this one too!"
"Come and try it!"
Ah, crap.
Narcissus's Relic was—well, coming from me to say this, but it produced casualties. People got hurt.
Something was seriously misunderstood here. Laada? Who the heck was that? I had absolutely no idea who they were talking about.
Either way, this was bad.
The real problem was Lady Narcissus.
Slaughtering every last military policeman—Grade I or not, that was no laughing matter.
And Narcissus Utopia was exactly the type to go and do something like that without a second thought.
"Oh my, oh my, well well, if it isn't a rare gathering of noble young ladies~"
Th-this distinctive, snide drawl... it's her? The Witch!?
Everyone's eyes turned toward her.
For some reason, I felt like I'd been saved.
Man, I really want to drown myself in booze right about now.