The Strongest Villain Sets Out: Reincarnated into a Merit-Based Clan, I Become the World's Strongest Swordsman - Chapter 36 :Interlude: Lucia Morgan's Aftermath

Lucia Morgan.

One of the three heroes who contributed to the empire’s founding, the daughter of the Morgan ducal family of magical geniuses.

Such a girl met the person who would twist her fate when she was twelve years old.

The other party’s name was Luka Salvatore.

Like the Morgan ducal family, he was the youngest child of the Salvatore ducal family of aura geniuses, one of the three heroes who contributed to the founding.

Lucia knew Luka’s name. That name was famous enough to resound even in the Morgan ducal family.

However, Lucia tried to overwhelm the then eight-year-old Luka Salvatore with crushing power.

She wanted to prove she was superior.

This was entirely due to the nature of the Morgan ducal family.

These elves possessed high magical aptitude from birth. Magic was an ability suited for attacking wide areas at once.

The high destructive power was unmatched by others.

That was precisely why the elves always thought of themselves as the perfected beings—the true humans.

Lucia also possessed this arrogance and was secretly angered that a mere human was being sung as a prodigy.

Originally, the talent supremacist Salvatore and Morgan families had poor compatibility and had occasionally engaged in fight-like behavior.

The current generation was simply when it was Luka and Lucia.

The battle between the two began when Cornelia, who happened to pass by, provoked them, but the result was—surprisingly, Luka, who was four years younger, achieved victory. An overwhelming victory.

Beaten down and having returned home, Lucia completely withdrew into her shell, partly due to her mother’s scolding.

“Why… why did I lose to a younger Salvatore…”

In a corner of the dim room, she turned her hollow eyes toward the window.

Several days had already passed since the duel incident. However, the wounds she had suffered still hadn’t healed.

She feared Luka enough to frequently dream about him.

“What was lacking? What was wrong? What was inferior? I don’t understand… I don’t understand… he was abnormal.”

Many times she tried to find the cause of her loss to Luka. Each time, she suffered from not knowing the answer.

She had confidence she could win overwhelmingly with her magic. Yet Luka had taken her magic and counterattacked.

Honestly, she saw that scene in her dreams. That was the identity of her nightmare.

“If I continue training like this, can I win? Against Luka? Even though I’m four years older, with a four-year gap, I still lost?”

She couldn’t envision any scenario where she could beat Luka. No matter how many times she repeated it, she only felt like she would lose.

This was the first time she’d felt this way. Until now, constant victory had been natural.

“No no no no no.”

She didn’t want to lose. She wanted to win no matter what. Only such feelings overflowed in her heart, and Lucia felt like she was going crazy.

Then, suddenly, the door was knocked.

Despite the small sound, Lucia braced herself, wondering if her mother had come.

However, what she heard was a gentle maid’s voice.

“Young lady? Are you feeling well? You’ve been shut in since morning again today…”

“I-I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m strong. I can win. There must be… there must be some method.”

It was good that it was a maid who visited the room. That relief brought Lucia’s mind back. In a strange direction, that is.

The maid who heard her reply through the door immediately understood that the usual episode was occurring again.

“Yes. Lucia-sama can surely win against even that Salvatore ducal family. For now, may I enter the room? Please eat dinner properly for the sake of victory.”

“…Y-yes. I understand. Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

With permission from Lucia, the maid entered the room.

When she lit the room, Lucia trembled her shoulders with a start. She had become afraid of bright places since that day. It reminded her of the party scene, and incidentally, her exchange with Luka flashed through her mind.

“This is today’s dinner. Please call me anytime if you need anything.”

Saying only that, the maid left the room.

She thought it would be bad for Lucia’s mental health to stay in the room too long.

Indeed, when the maid left, Lucia was clearly relieved.

She stood up from her spot and wobbled toward the meal the maid had placed on the table.

In the midst of this, something suddenly bumped into her foot.

“?”

When she looked down, there was a book she had scattered about.

An ordinary magic book. It described what magic was about.

But looking at such things wouldn’t help her beat Luka. It was one of the books she had thrown with that thought.

She was drawn to pick it up and gripped it tightly.

“If I could get stronger with something like this, I wouldn’t have lost…”

She thought about throwing it against the wall this time—at that moment.

Suddenly, she remembered.

Come to think of it, this book had something written in it that had once intrigued her.

It was purely by chance that she could remember, but it was suitable for her current situation.

It was,

“…Forbidden designated magic.”

It was about abominable magic whose very use was prohibited.