Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 147

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 147. The Hero Hisperon (2)
Time passed. The death sentence for Nanac had been handed down. Though I was shaken, I couldn’t afford to simply stand in shock—there was work to be done.
I decided to gather trustworthy subordinates and infiltrate the Imperial Palace. This was something I’d been preparing for since Nanac was dragged away. Now there was no turning back. Once I spirited him away, our only option was to flee far and live in hiding for the rest of our lives.
Alternatively, we could seek asylum in Kisomalos in secret. Given our fugitive status, Princess Vishnabel couldn’t openly employ us, but considering our past friendship, she would take us in. After all, she had a soft heart beneath that composed exterior.
“We’ll never be able to set foot on Imperial soil again. Are you prepared for that?”
“Of course!”
“We’re following you because you’re Hisperon!”
Sigh, foolish lot… but I owed them my life. I thanked my subordinates and headed toward the Imperial Palace. The escape vehicle was already arranged, and I’d identified two likely execution sites. This operation had to succeed.
“Your Highness! Nanac!”
Good news and bad news arrived simultaneously. The good news was that the first execution site we stormed was the correct one. The bad news was that the guillotine blade was about to fall on him.
“Cut it! Sever the rope quickly!”
I ran with every ounce of strength I possessed. But the rope was severed and his head fell faster than I could reach him.
“Your Highness!”
No. Not yet. It wasn’t over. Healing divine stones could resurrect the dying, or so I’d heard. If only moments had passed since his last breath, perhaps if I reattached his head quickly enough, he might live.
I refused to give up. I killed the executioners and witnesses alike, then cradled his severed form. I held both head and body, and simply prayed. Nanac had to survive. What was death compared to that? The healing divine stone I’d kept hidden in my wardrobe had never been used. It had to work.
Whether it was a healing divine stone, a lucky spirit stone, or the Astiages Deity itself—anything would do. The Nanac had to be saved. It wasn’t too late.
“Please, please save His Highness. Please.”
The healing divine stone detected his wounds and began to glow. Miraculously, Nanac’s severed head reattached itself, but his breath did not return.
I needed a greater miracle. Just a small one. The tiniest miracle would suffice. Even if I had to sacrifice my own life, a miracle to save Nanac had to occur.
“Please, please…!”
[If that is your will, then so be it.]
My vision blurred with tears, yet impossibly, a miracle… happened?
[Well, descending so abruptly is burdensome, but let me exercise divine power just once.]
It was a book. A tattered tome with no ornate decoration whatsoever descended into the Mortal Realm. I sensed tremendous divine power, though it didn’t seem to be a deity… a god? A minor deity? Minor deities typically only descend upon those destined to become founders of nations or religions.
[Escape to safety quickly. I’ve expended considerable divine power this time, so I cannot interfere with the Mortal Realm for a while.]
Before I could even learn the deity’s name, it vanished. Simultaneously, color returned to Nanac’s face. His breathing had become steady. A miracle had occurred.
I hoisted Nanac onto my back and ran urgently.
“Ha, you’re alive—that’s all that matters. Now let’s escape. We’ll never return to this cursed nation!”
I led my subordinates in flight from the Imperial Palace. Several sustained gunshot wounds, but fortunately there were no fatalities. We split into three teams as planned and fled separately. I arrived at the Safe House far from the Capital and transferred Nanac to a bed.
“Phew…”
Now I could finally catch my breath. The other escape teams still needed to make it safely across the border.
I positioned the six soldiers under my command strategically to establish a perimeter. After resting here briefly, once His Highness awoke, we’d need to continue southward. Airships were too conspicuous to use, so we had no choice but to travel by land.
It would be a grueling journey, but once we crossed into the Central Continent, we could breathe easy. Once we entered Kisomalos territory, I’d send word to Princess Vishnabel immediately and request her protection.
“Mmm…”
I just hoped Princess Vishnabel wouldn’t use this as leverage for some bizarre blackmail scheme.
She didn’t seem the type to actively harm us, but I had a strong premonition she’d do something “strange.” After all, she was the sort of “peculiar princess” who’d shown me a “boy hero epic.”
“Your Highness! Are you awake?”
“Ugh, so loud, blech, cough!”
His Highness opened his eyes groggily and immediately began coughing, spewing up a dark clot of blood.
“Aaaaah! What is this! Urgh! Blood! Cough! Urgh! Aaaaah!”
Well… your neck was severed once before. The blood that had congealed while you slept unaware of the world is only now making you uncomfortable enough to cough it up. A mystery of human physiology, truly.
“Haha! Look in the mirror. Go on.”
“Aaaaaahhhhh!”
To tease the Emperor’s Son, I retrieved a hand mirror and showed him his neck. The scar from where it had been severed and reattached was enormous, and the moment he saw it in the mirror, he let out a shriek.
“What is this?!”
“It’s the mark left from your neck being severed and reattached.”
“Eeeeeek!”
He found it utterly repulsive. Well, scars like this were rare to see. Even I, who had rolled across countless battlefields, had never borne a scar quite so deep and prominent.
“Roughly speaking, I understand the situation…”
“I’m relieved to hear it.”
“Hisperon, are you in your right mind?”
“If I were in my right mind, would I have absconded with Your Highness?”
With no regard for consequences, I had stormed the Imperial Palace itself. As I laughed and spoke, the Emperor’s Son clutched his chest in exasperation.
“Never mind me—you’re going to be hunted by the Imperial Army for the rest of your life! What are you planning to do?!”
“What can I do? Your Highness will have to feed and shelter me.”
“Oh, my fate!”
This is what it means to take someone into your household. Until now, I provided Your Highness with food and lodging, so now Your Highness must provide the same for me.
As I spoke with perfect composure, the Emperor’s Son wailed and tore at his hair. Haha, I’d known it all along, but teasing him was truly entertaining.
“First, we should focus on leaving Astiages territory. Then request protection from Princess Vishnabel, yes?”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
Though Your Highness had always disparaged Kisomalos as a minor nation, a small country, there was no power on the Central Continent as formidable as Kisomalos. With my connection to Princess Vishnabel as well, it was the ideal nation for asylum.
“Let’s eat first. I loaded fruit and military rations into the vehicle.”
“Why military rations of all things?”
“They’re convenient to transport and nutritionally balanced.”
“Ugh.”
There would be days when we’d go hungry while fleeing, so seeing him react this way to mere military rations made me worry about how he’d endure what lay ahead.
I sighed and said I’d bring the meal, then stepped outside the Safe House. I walked with one of my subordinates who had been standing guard near the house to the vehicle hidden deep in the forest, but the man who usually talked incessantly was unusually quiet today.
“That apple crate over there—let me carry it since it’s heavy.”
With eight people total, more than half of them soldiers, we consumed a great deal. I thought I’d loaded a fair amount of food, but at this rate, it would all be gone within four days.
I was pondering how to procure supplies locally when a sharp pain suddenly shot up from my lower back.
“…?”
I didn’t particularly feel hurt. It was simply that the spot where the blade had pierced me was burning. Blood welled up from within, fresh and vivid.
“I’m sorry, I… that is, His Majesty the Emperor…!”
Ah… I’d been coerced. It wasn’t the sort of thing someone would do for money, so I could only assume blackmail.
“Forgive me, Hisperon. Forgive me.”
And now he wept after stabbing me with his own hands.
Because a trained soldier had wielded the blade, it had pierced the vital point with precision. Blood poured from the wound in waves. My legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground, sensation fading from my fingertips.
“Cough…”
With my last strength, I turned my head. It was toward the direction of the Safe House. The Emperor’s Son needed to learn of this quickly. There must be no conspirators. If this was the betrayal of only this one man, I had to lead the remaining subordinates away from here at once.
“Your… Highness.”
I wanted to scream, but my throat wouldn’t obey. My lips trembled uselessly, and not even a whisper escaped them anymore. If these were to be my final words, I should have called out Nanakda’s name just once.
“I….”
Nanakda. Nanakda Astiages. The Fifth Prince of the Astiages Empire.
Forgive my presumption, but if you ever hear this story, you will surely be angry.
…Your Highness, Prince Nanakda, I have always regarded you as my younger brother.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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