Enrico, the useless one of the family, not only called that by his parents at home but also confirmed by Taíra's own eyes, especially after he was humiliated so many times by Lan. Everyone thought he would be expelled from the family one day because he had become a stain on the family—at least until they started hearing about how he had survived a dangerous dungeon and rose in rank.
"It must have been luck."
No one in the family really believed it, thinking it was just luck. She herself knew how weak he was, that he could lose in a fight if they faced each other, and even expected him to die one day because he couldn't defeat an opponent.
"He defeated Lan?... Lan must have gotten sick and he took advantage of the moment of weakness."
She despised her brother, so she always made up excuses for him, explaining why he managed to defeat anyone. She even heard that when she was a baby, she was attached to him, but it was very different now since her way of thinking was that only the strong deserve to stand in front.
"This must be a mistake, Platina, or maybe your brother made a contract with a demon."
"Maybe… I'll observe him."
Even her father and mother agreed with her thoughts, and since they agreed, she was right, because her parents were strong, so it had to be the truth.
'As my parents say, only the strong in the family deserve recognition, not someone who makes a contract with a demon.'
The problem was that her big sister started defending him slightly after some time, saying that he had really improved. Taíra respected her sister, but the ones who were right about everything were her parents, not her.
'It must be the fault of that demon who made a contract with him.'
She was even sure Enrico had done something stupid, because it wasn't possible. Her parents were never wrong, and even if it was just a suspicion from them, she faithfully believed their words.
Then one day, her parents started to think maybe it was true, so they began sending a little more money and using the information that came from Platina and others to spread that their son was at a good level now. They still didn't fully believe it but used this information for their own benefit, perhaps considering a marriage alliance for him.
"He reached rank 7?"
The two were surprised when they received the information from Astrong Academy. At that moment, they couldn't pretend anymore that everything was just luck, so they decided to call Enrico home through Platina. They had to wait several days to finally return and even seemed truly interested in seeing him—but Taíra was not.
'He's getting our parents' attention and still takes so long? That bastard… when he gets here, he'll still be a disappointment, I'm sure of it.'
He had always been a disappointment—such a big disappointment that their parents sent him to another house farther away, and he hadn't returned to the main house for years.
When the day arrived, she was ready to laugh at Enrico. She always mocked his appearance and wasn't going to change now just because he seemed stronger.
'I'll surpass him easily in the future, so he can't do anything.'
She was somewhat confident that he would still be the same—at least until she saw that Enrico had slimmed down and even gained a good physique. That couldn't be her useless brother, so it had to be an impostor. Instead of mocking him, she decided to watch him closely, staying even silent during the entire dinner.
'I'll follow him everywhere, this impostor won't fool my parents.'
When she saw him leave, she didn't miss the chance to follow him. The only problem was that she didn't think she would be thrown into such a mess, until her big sister found her and took her to the shop where the girl Alenya had just bought clothes. At first, she was confident she could at least cause damage while being protected, but that strike that almost killed her made her feel something she had never felt before: fear. And also fear of her own brother, whom she always mocked, but who now was far stronger than her.
"I-Irmão?"
"You don't look well, let's sit there."
To her surprise, Enrico took her hand and led her to a chair in the dressing area of the shop where there were mirrors. Seeing that Enrico apologized to the shop owner for the chaos, she was confused at how different he was compared to before.
'Why did he change so much?'
Of course, it had been years since she last saw him, but it was hard to believe their parents had really been wrong about him.
"Here."
Seeing him bring her a glass of water, she shook her head gratefully and drank, trying to calm her nerves. She trembled a little, seeing that disaster and hearing battles outside.
[She seems really afraid.]
'Of course, after all that was exactly why she was defeated so easily.'
[You're right.]
In the original story, after both of their parents and siblings died, she entered the Shadow Circle cult to take revenge. But this girl, who had always been protected and only trained by their parents, ended up experiencing the first feeling of fear when facing Kai, who had reached a much higher level than the others at that time. Defeated easily, she was used as a sacrifice to strengthen the vessel of the evil god Umbryel.
She had the greatest potential among the Solcren Ferreira family, but that fear completely restrained her, and that's why, even though she might have prodigy potential, to Enrico she was not a true prodigy. She was only a mid-tier prodigy who gives up after being defeated the first time, just like the rank 4 of the first year.
'I'll try to bring her to my side.'
Taíra, who was still trembling from the strike—not because of pain, but from the feeling it gave her at that moment of almost dying—didn't want to feel that again. But she also didn't want to disappoint her parents. What would they say seeing her like that? Watching this, Enrico sighed as he sat beside her.
"You must have felt a lot of fear, right? Don't worry, one day you'll overcome this fear…"
It seemed that her brother, whom she called useless just like their parents, was expecting great things from her. But what she felt was that the pressure in her chest was growing heavier. Would she even disappoint the one she thought was useless? She was starting to breathe heavily until she felt Enrico place his hand on her head, trying to calm her.
"…But you don't need to force things too much. Until the day you manage to overcome this fear, let your brother here take care of everything, alright? Little sister…"
Opening her eyes, she felt the pressure in her chest lessen, so she lowered her head so he wouldn't see a tear nearly falling. Wiping it quickly with her finger, she nodded.
"O-okay, brother."
After spending some more time with her, he got up and asked Alenya, who had been watching everything from a distance, to take care of Taíra while he went to the bathroom.
"Stay on guard with her, Kaela, I'm going to the bathroom."
"Alright, professor."
Now it was time for him to go help the other two people, since the other one had surely been saved by Valerio, because he had gone straight to where she was and, with his personality, he wouldn't let anyone die in front of him—that would mean staining the family's name. Giving one last look at Taíra, who had calmed down, he went to the bathroom, letting the shopkeeper know.
'Time for the mercenaries to help.'