A Secretly Capable Child Is Seeking For Her Dad - Chapter 283
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Powerful Child Searches for Dad Episode 283
“Astie!”
The first to embrace Tie was Valentis.
Only after confirming that Tie was unharmed without a single injury did he finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness, thank goodness… I was so shocked when I saw the ground around the fountain collapse from the cathedral.”
Valentis and the three princes knew where Tie and Agavert had gone.
This was because Lucalion had been maintaining contact between the Paladin Order and Agavert behind the scenes.
“Knowing there’s a path to the labyrinth near the fountain, I was worried you might be trapped there…”
In such a short time, Valentis’s face had become noticeably gaunt.
“Grandfather, Tie is fine…!”
Tie drooped his eyebrows and wiped away the cold sweat beading on Valentis’s forehead.
Only then did a faint smile appear on Valentis’s lips.
“Yes.”
Just as he was gently stroking the child’s head.
Tie’s eyes widened as he discovered something.
“Grandfather. Are you hurt?”
On Valentis’s right shoulder.
Red blood was seeping through his torn clothes.
Valentis glanced down at his shoulder and shook his head as if it were nothing.
“It’s fine. There was just a brief battle while escaping the cathedral.”
“Battle…?”
Tie’s eyes widened.
Then, remembering that the World Tree’s barrier had disappeared, he cautiously added.
“Did monsters appear? Even at the cathedral?”
“No. It wasn’t monsters.”
Edmund, who had been behind Valentis, stepped forward.
He looked around at Tesetan and the other members as he spoke.
“It was priests. The clergy from the Grand Sanctuary attacked us.”
Tesetan’s eyebrows moved.
He remained silent for a moment, lost in thought, then let out a short breath and nodded.
“…Faster than expected.”
“Yes. It was bound to be exposed eventually anyway.”
Edmund smiled bitterly.
When they first landed on the Central Continent.
The Order had placed the Paladin Order and mercenary group’s dormitories far apart from each other.
From that moment, Tesetan had been able to sense it.
‘They intended to isolate us from each other and cut off information flow.’
To the Order, the Paladin Order was a controllable ‘internal force.’
Though they were from Talochium, they were also clergy who had sworn loyalty to the Order.
But Agavert was different.
‘The Order called us here to confirm Tie’s identity.’
Agavert was a variable for Luciano.
An existence whose role as either an obstacle or ally to the plan to annihilate the World Tree needed to be confirmed.
For this reason, Tesetan had thoroughly concealed and hidden their exchanges with the Paladin Order.
Regular communications were conducted in secret, and the two groups appeared to move completely separately on the surface.
Because of this, he had thought the Order would let their guard down.
“I thought we could buy a little more time.”
But for the Order to attack the Paladin Order this quickly.
That meant Luciano no longer trusted the Paladin Order.
“If Luciano figured out Tie’s identity, then this situation makes sense.”
Leonardo said quietly.
“He’s a meticulous person. Plus, he’s already been deceived by us once before.”
Tesetan nodded.
Leonardo was exactly right.
On the first day they arrived at the pilgrimage hall, the Order’s surveillance was strict.
However, after Tie acted like a normal child and made Luciano lower his guard, the surveillance gradually loosened.
During that time, Tie pretended to lose consciousness while consuming Silencium, and thanks to that, the Paladin Order was able to move secretly around the cathedral.
“Without the labyrinth, Luciano won’t last long, Tesetan.”
This time Alexander spoke up.
He pulled out a thin bundle of documents from his waist.
Judging by the fold marks, it was clearly material someone had been carrying for a long time.
“This is data I obtained by following priests who traveled between the labyrinth and the Grand Sanctuary’s main building. I secured it over the past few days while attention was focused on Tie.”
Alexander’s face grew serious as he handed the bundle of papers to Tesetan.
“Luciano is currently in an unbalanced state. Because he forcibly absorbed the World Tree’s power, his body and soul are operating separately.”
Tie unconsciously nodded.
The World Tree he had met in his subconscious had said the same thing.
“The reason he’s been able to endure with such a body until now is…”
“Experiments! It’s because of the experiments.”
Tie finished Alexander’s sentence for him.
Alexander nodded.
“Right. But there was more that we didn’t know.”
Tesetan furrowed his brow.
Soon he flipped through the materials and opened a densely written journal.
Meanwhile, Alexander continued speaking.
“It seems the children were divided into two categories.”
Tie’s lips parted slightly.
“The first were children whose life force would be exploited. Since life force can be converted to holy power, they were good… fuel for Luciano.”
Tie unconsciously clenched his fists.
He could hear the members behind him muttering short curses.
“And the second category was…”
Alexander gazed at Tie for a moment.
“Children who possessed both holy power and magic power simultaneously. In other words, beings close to balance.”
Tesetan finally looked up from the documents to meet Alexander’s gaze.
“Was he trying to use those children’s power to adjust the imbalance within himself?”
Alexander nodded with a dark expression.
“Yes. By making contact with that balance, absorbing it, or conducting experiments through them to devise new countermeasures.”
A heavy wind swept between them all.
Silence flowed as no one could bring themselves to speak.
At this moment, Tie was recalling Eloa’s stories.
‘The Amlungdae calls that place Zone 1. This is Zone 2.’
‘What’s strange is that there are way, way more kids in Zone 1 than here.’
‘The Amlungdae calls the kids trapped in this zone “test subjects”…’
Children who would become Luciano’s ‘fuel,’ having only their life force exploited.
And a small number of selected children who would become subjects of ‘experiments.’
“Damn it…”
Veil, who had been sitting on a pile of rocks, roughly tousled his hair.
Now he understood why the Amlungdae had targeted Veil’s siblings, who were born with neither holy power nor magic power.
Because now all the questions had finally been answered.
Tesetan handed the documents back to Alexander and thought.
‘I knew they used children for experiments.’
But it was the first time he learned that they had divided the subjects into two categories for management.
Looking down, he could see the back of Astie’s head as the boy stood quietly.
Just from seeing his back, Tesetan felt like he could tell what expression the child was making right now.
Tesetan quietly approached Tie and crouched down beside him.
“…It’s okay. We rescued you and got out, didn’t we.”
Tie slowly turned his head.
Sure enough, tears were welling up in his large green eyes.
The child who had been pressing his lips tightly together answered quietly.
“Yeah….”
Tie burrowed into Tesetan’s embrace.
Instead of answering, Tesetan quietly patted Tie’s back.
Then he turned around and said to the group.
“Let’s focus on getting out of here first.”
Beyond the ridge.
Not far away somewhere, monsters were roaring under the sun.
“Drink this.”
Inside the barracks temporarily set up by the Paladins.
At the voice, Tie, who had been blankly staring at the dense forest, turned his head.
Beside him stood Eloa holding a bowl with steam rising from it.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know. Your unit member told me to bring it to you.”
Tie’s eyes widened as he took the bowl.
“…It’s carrot soup.”
Inside the bowl was thick carrot soup.
Tie looked up.
“By any chance, was the guy who told you to give me this a really big guy with lots of facial hair? Carrying a huge hammer on his back?”
“That’s right. How did you know?”
Instead of answering, Tie looked down at the bowl again.
Softly cooked carrots.
Tie hated carrots, but strangely enough, he thought the carrot soup from the campsite was delicious.
The person who knew this best was Basto.
‘When I first came to Talochium, Hammer also made me carrot soup.’
Getting caught in the trap Basto had set.
Remembering how they came to travel together that way, his troubled heart felt a little lighter.
Tie slurped the soup.
“Hot hot!”
It was a bit hot, but as expected, Basto’s carrot soup was perfectly seasoned.
“Anyway, I came to see if you were doing okay.”
Just then, Eloa scratched her head and said.
“You’re so brave and spirited that I never would have imagined. But I heard that you….”
Eloa looked at Tie with curious eyes.
“You’re a princess, right?”
“Cough!”
Tie, who choked on his soup, widened his eyes with soup still on his lips.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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