Tasogare-iro no Uta Tsukai:Volume2 Awarded Play

Awarded Play: Glory of the Singing Exorcists

Elite warriors—

Even though there were not many GillsheExorcists, they were frequently needed. Among those— The founding Yung family, which was considered the most elite, was well-known all around the continent. They passed down skills and traditions, faced expectations to earn greater accomplishments, and were guaranteed to own public land and earn income above a certain level for a long time.

‘It must be hard work for Senpai as well, isn’t it?’

Klaus suddenly remembered the Rainbow Color Reciter’s casual words.

Because of their abilities, they faced great expectations. Sometimes what was expected of them couldn’t even be described by the word ‘expectations’, but were desires for them to go beyond the limits of their abilities. Their lives continually consisted of those kinds of days.

……Xins, sometimes I also want to suddenly drop everything and start travelling around the world, just like you.

But he had a wife and a child. Because he had chosen to start a family, he could no longer travel where he wished.

Rather than protecting the Yung family, he now fought to protect the day-to-day life of his own household.

“……Everyone has their own responsibilities.”

Holding back a bitter sigh, Klaus walked towards the dining room of his mansion. It was a large mansion that housed only three people. No, now that his daughter was gone, only two.

He had already gotten used to the loneliness.

—Hm?

However, there were three chairs arranged around the dining table.

“Shouldn’t Xins have left already?”

“Ada said she’d be coming back today.”

His wife quickly replied from the kitchen without lifting her eyes from the boiling pot.

“……I see.”

What was going on? Several days ago, they had received a letter stating that Ada would be coming back for summer break.

“Dear, about her being an GillsheExorcist—”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll let her choose the path she wants.”

He had already given up.

His daughter was sixteen. ……She was already at an age when parents shouldn’t be barging in.

“I’ll be in the garden until dinner’s ready.”

Carrying his GilExorcist Spear, Klaus walked towards the garden on their large piece of property.

Holding his spear but not swinging it around, Klaus gazed at the starlight overhead. The stars twinkled. Just like how the stars moved with the passing of time, people’s ideals continued to change.

—Time.

It was the end of the time when parents restricted their child. It was time for the child to decide her own path. He didn’t know if this time was truly a good thing, but he wanted to believe it was.

Suddenly, he heard faint footsteps walking across the lawn.

They weren’t the familiar footsteps of his wife. Compared to hers, these steps were more subtle. They were footsteps that couldn’t be heard by ordinary people— The footsteps of an GillsheExorcist.

Klaus turned around and saw a short, tanned girl who he hadn’t seen in a year. ……No, she had grown slightly taller.

—How odd. She looked extremely tired.

Ada walked weakly towards him with her shoulders drooping.

“Dinner’s almost ready. Mom said to come get you, so let’s go in.”

However, she stood there without moving.

“Dad, I have a favor to ask.”

A favor? How many times had his daughter said those words before?

“Can you……repair this?”

Ada held something long and thin in her right hand. She carefully unraveled the several layers of white cloth.

Klaus could see that inside the cloth were pieces of a broken GilExorcist Spear, as well as shards of a shattered gemstone.

“If I repair it, what are you planning to do with it?”

“Are you asking me because you truly don’t know?”

Klaus’s breath caught in his throat at the unexpected rebuttal.

“……Simply repairing it is something I can do. But even after it’s repaired, this GilExorcist Spear shouldn’t be used anymore.”

Why? The look in Ada’s eyes asked.

“You should already know. GilExorcist Spears are made to precise specifications. After it’s this shattered, it’ll be difficult to restore it completely back to the way it was before. The repaired spear will have a different weight and length, so it won’t be the GilExorcist Spear you’re used to.”

If she were to use the spear according to the attributes she was familiar with, it would definitely cause a fatal mistake. Even if it was repaired, the spear couldn’t become like a part of her body anymore.

“Everyone’s been down this path before. —Even me.”

“……I won’t accept that.”

She didn’t scream or shout, but hidden in her words was something that hadn’t been there a year ago when they had argued in Klaus’s room.

“I won’t accept something ridiculous like ‘everyone’s been down that path before’……That’s why I wanted to study to become a Reciter.”

“Then are you going to continue your studies as a Reciter?”

For an instant, Ada was speechless.

“I will. But……”

Klaus could tell that the girl had tightened her grip on the GilExorcist Spear.

“But, I also…… don’t want to stop being an GillsheExorcist.”

A Reciter and an GillsheExorcist.

One who calls things out and one who sends them back.

She had chosen two completely opposite paths.

“Do you know just how difficult that will be?”

“I know. But, I’ve already decided.”

Their gazes met. Usually Ada would be the first one to turn away, but this time she looked up steadily at her father.

—The color of her eyes is similar to yours. Stubborn yet sincere.

Klaus remembered the words his wife had said to him when their daughter had been born. Back then, he had been embarrassed and could only respond vaguely.

“I can’t guarantee that I can repair it.”

He sighed loudly—

He took the broken GilExorcist Spear out of the hands of the astonished girl.

“……Eh?”

“If this spear is a part of you, then I consider it my daughter as well.”

“T-Then!”

His daughter’s voice perked back up. Really, how many years had it been since he had seen such a happy expression on her face?

“But I have a condition. For the rest of summer vacation, you must stay here and always hold onto your spear.”

In order to familiarize herself with the weight of the repaired spear to an accuracy of 0.1 grams.

In order to familiarize herself with the length of the repaired spear to an accuracy of 0.1 millimeters.

She needed to make corrections to the GilExorcist Spear’s characteristics that she was familiar with, the characteristics which had seeped into the marrow of her bones after sixteen years of practice. Just how many days and how much practice would it take? His daughter should definitely know how rigorous it would be.

“……I won’t run away.”

How many times had he heard her say those words before?

—But this time, it didn’t seem to be a complete lie.

“I’m going back inside. Mom’s probably waiting for me.”

“Ada.”

Klaus directed his words to the girl’s back.

“Were you able to protect what was precious to you?”

For an instant, he could see a hesitant color in the depths of her eyes. His daughter smiled bitterly and shrugged.

“I couldn’t have done it by myself.”

“You don’t need to shoulder everything by yourself. After all, don’t you have good friends in the Recitation School?”

“……I know that.”

Ada stated curtly. Seeing the look on her face as she pretended to be strong, Klaus smiled wryly from the bottom of his heart.

“Ah, is that so?”

He ruffled the hair of the stubborn girl.

“Hey! Dad, don’t treat me like a child!”

Even though she was pouting—

His daughter didn’t push away his hand.

‘……Hey, Dad.’

What is it?

‘Why did you want to become an GillsheExorcist?’

What a sudden question.

‘Just tell me already.’

A long time ago, I worked together with a certain Reciter. That person was skilled but acted recklessly. If I left her alone, something would definitely go wrong.

‘—And then?’

And sure enough, something happened a while later. She confronted a wild Recited creature all by herself to try and stop it. As expected, she ended up getting severely injured. If I hadn’t run over to help her, who knows what might have happened.

‘Is that the reason?’

That was probably the first time I saved someone. It was the first time I was glad to be an GillsheExorcist.

‘That Reciter you saved, is she someone I know?’

Ada, did you forget what your mom used to work as?

‘…………’

Was that a boring story?

‘……No. Although it wasn’t very satisfying, I think it was a lovely story.’

—So this was why nobody came to eat dinner after she waited so long.

Peering at the figures of her daughter and husband from a shadowed part of the garden, the woman who had once been a Reciter smiled to herself.

Her daughter had come home and for the first time in a while, they could spend summer vacation together as a complete family. It would be very lively this summer, wouldn’t it?

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