Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 92
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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 92. Formal Introductions Often Carry Different Meanings. But That’s What It Means Here (6)
“As I mentioned during the Ljubljana campaign, the Princess doesn’t necessarily have to go herself.”
“What? No, I hate that. I’m going. I can just depart from a location away from the main force.”
“But you get motion sickness the moment you board an airship?”
“That’s the thing.”
When I invaded Ljubljana with my Maternal Grandmother aboard a military airship, I experienced something remarkable. Being in the control room with its wide-open vistas… I didn’t get motion sickness at all.
“I… didn’t get motion sickness on the warship.”
“…”
“…”
Choco and Father examined me for quite some time, poking and prodding to verify my structure matched that of an ordinary human. Two eyes, two ear canals, two nostrils, ten fingers and ten toes each—after checking everything, Father asked with a puzzled expression.
“…Why is that?”
“Well, I suppose it might be because the control room is so open.”
“No, but even so, the swaying and ear pressure should be the same, shouldn’t they?”
“I don’t know? The warship was fine?”
Father and Choco exchanged strange looks, staring at me as though I were peculiar. Ha, the most inhuman people here are Father and Choco, if you ask me.
“Then I’ll entrust Vishnabel to you. If she gets hurt, you’re dead.”
“Understood! Please stop lecturing me!”
Choco must have heard quite the earful too. My Maternal Grandmother also got scolded extensively by Father before departing with me, and she fled while covering her ear canals.
“Let’s go, Pisha! We’re boarding the Heracles Cruiser, right?”
“Yes! The biggest one! The Heracles!”
Wonderful! I’m boarding the Heracles again!
I eagerly climbed onto Choco’s shoulders as she offered, bouncing my feet excitedly. As we passed through the doorway, I crouched down to avoid hitting my head and hugged Choco’s face, but she complained she couldn’t see ahead.
“Hahaha, even without seeing ahead, you could kill a hundred people.”
“Hahaha, I’m only confident up to about thirty people.”
She’d never admit to being unable to kill someone. You’re quite consistently impressive. I told Father I’d meet him at Media Polis, then boarded the airship with a cheerful skip in my step.
But unlike the Ljubljana campaign, even though I was in the control room from the start, I strangely got motion sickness.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Hack, cough. …huh?”
I’d been lying around all day in a daze, but suddenly my mind cleared and energy surged through me. They’re here! Father has arrived! Air superiority!
“Media Polis! Media Polis is nearby!”
“Gasp! Pisha, you’re uncanny!”
Choco, who had been fanning me with a palm frond thinking fresh air would help, sprang up excitedly as well.
Ah, it was worth blowing through the national budget for that stealth paint job. How can things be so quiet down there when we’ve brought an entire fleet of airships?
“It’s a harbor! Our country will finally have a port city!”
“There’s a sandy beach here too, isn’t there? Once everything’s done, let’s go play, Pisha!”
“Yes! I should call all my friends! They’ll sulk if we have all the fun ourselves!”
As Choco and I held hands and danced, gazing at the endless sea ahead, a deafening roar pierced the air. An air raid siren.
Weeeeeeeeng!
Even if Father sent official documents to the Media Royal Palace, giving the citizens evacuation time after entering the capital was another matter entirely.
The Kisomalos Air Force blared an enormous siren, then broadcast Father’s recorded voice. It was the declaration we’d spent all night crafting together.
Composed in the simplest language so that anyone with functioning ears—from children to the elderly—could understand, the proclamation poured down from the sky like a thunderous reprimand, harmonizing with Father’s deep baritone.
After savoring the fruits of my collaboration with Father to the very end, I closed my eyes and recited the final sentence in unison. I remembered this part clearly, having revised it countless times.
— In the name of God, we execute judgment upon the Media Royal Family for their atrocities against the rightful bloodline.
“In the name of God, we execute judgment upon the Media Royal Family for their atrocities against the rightful bloodline.”
With that, aircraft launched from the main fleet ahead, and bombs fell upon the palace and military installations. Media’s anti-aircraft guns cracked sporadically, but their numbers were so few that we suffered not a single aircraft loss.
“But next time, please don’t come yourself, yes? Right now it’s safe because there’s no way to counter the air force, but you could actually die?”
“Death comes to all.”
Everyone dies once they’re born. I’ve died twice, though. It hurt terribly both times.
“When the moment actually comes, won’t you be afraid?”
“I suppose so. I was absolutely terrified.”
“I see.”
I’d spoken in jest, but Choco didn’t take it lightly, her smile fading.
“You’ve actually died?”
“That’s a secret from Father.”
“Wow.”
Choco actually believes me. Well, it’s technically true, so there’s that.
“I nearly died once, and it still haunts my dreams.”
“I sometimes dream my body is being torn apart.”
“Oh….”
Even cows moo about it. As I recounted the details with a shudder, Choco seemed to feel a kinship and wrapped her arms around me, rubbing her chin back and forth across the top of my head.
“As long as you’re with me, at least you won’t have to die alone, yes?”
“Yes. That’s quite reassuring.”
“Does everyone who grows up in the Imperial Palace become like you, Pisha?”
“Hmm….”
I suppose I was somewhat sheltered, growing up in the Greenhouse as I did? Just looking at Croa, he suffered tremendously, and Nanakda’s situation was precarious at best.
“After talking with the Prince of Astiages, I realized there is a certain numbness that comes with proximity to death.”
We even joked about what would happen if we died—funeral jokes, inheritance jokes, the whole morbid repertoire. As I laughed and spoke, Choco laughed too, but then said she felt sorry for me for treating such things as mere jests.
“No, actually, I think my situation is better than yours, Choco.”
“No, no. Your Highness the Princess is far more pitiful, if I may say so.”
Choco and I went back and forth about who had it worse, trading insults like “the Princess’s father, Chiron” and “Choco’s cousin brother, Chiron,” when a report came in that we’d intercepted a broadcast from the Royal Palace.
“It’s a transmission from the Royal Palace being broadcast throughout Media!”
What is this? Some kind of desperate last stand announcement? If uprisings break out across the regions even after we’ve taken the capital, things are going to get messy.
As I voiced my concerns and asked for the contents, the communications officer read the message with a grave expression.
“Citizens, rest assured. Media is safe!”
“….”
“….”
That’s exactly what someone says right before their head gets blown off! I urgently tapped Choco’s shoulder, and she quickly issued orders.
“Full speed ahead, no delays! We need to arrive before the main force, if I may say so!”
“Relay to all ships! Block the escape routes! Destroy every docked vessel!”
We had to arrive before the main force and secure the secret passage Croa had shown us. I grabbed Choco by the hair and steered her toward the airship’s hatch. The moment we landed, I planned to commandeer a vehicle and head straight for the Media Temple.
The bulletproof vehicle Choco was driving tore through a hail of gunfire, racing toward the Media Temple within the Royal Palace.
According to Croa, the small room where she used to live was in the Media Temple, so using Croa as a shield and escaping through the secret passage in the temple would be perfect.
People can’t change their nature—in emergencies, they act according to habit. My prediction proved accurate; as we approached the temple, the number of Media Military soldiers increased.
“Of all times, why not now, Lorowi?”
Since my Aunt or Maternal Grandmother could wipe them all out with a single swing of their divine power, Choco clicked her tongue in frustration. Then she pulled out two long swords from the back seat.
“Pisha, please close your eyes and count to one hundred.”
“Wait! Choco, you lunatic!”
I tried to grab her as Choco burst out into the gunfire, but she was far faster than me—she shut the car door properly and was already sprinting ahead. She’d said before that she could block bullets with her sword, and sure enough, she was deflecting and slashing her way forward.
I knew she was cutting down bullets even though I couldn’t see them because explosions kept erupting around Choco.
“Cover her! Cover her! If Choco dies, you all die too!”
I was going to hold the entire unit collectively responsible in the Princess’s name! As I shouted orders to the rear guard, the Kisomalos Military soldiers began suppressive fire.
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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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