Dad is Back From a Deserted Island - Chapter 20

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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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Father has returned from the Deserted Island
Chapter 20

“Found you!”
[Tsk. I hid myself so you’d find me easily.]
“Hehehehe. You always hide so I can find you easily! So this time, I’M going to find you, Kiki!”
[Tch.]
While Kiki covered her eyes with both hands and counted, I dashed toward the backyard.
‘Oh no, I need to hide quickly!’
Though Kiki always acted like a divine being, we played together surprisingly well.
We’d been playing hide-and-seek for over an hour now.
Since we’d have to end the game soon and learn letters from Father, the thought that we couldn’t play much longer made it feel even more fun.
I looked around the backyard, searching for a place to hide my body.
“I hid there last time, and hmm. Somewhere Kiki wouldn’t find easily… huh?”
My head tilted back.
A pitiful cry was coming from somewhere above.
“Mew! Mew!”
At the desperate sound, my ears perked up on their own.
“Where… where is that crying coming from?”
It didn’t take long for me to find the source of the sound.
Behind the House of Lamber stretched a dense forest, and at the very top of a tree that jutted out particularly high, a tiny kitten about the size of my hand was clinging to a thin branch, crying out miserably.
With fluffy fur sticking up like dandelion seeds, it looked more like a mouse than a cat.
Honestly, it was so small I could barely see it properly.
Just then, an orange mass beneath the tree rushed toward me.
[Child! Child! Can you understand me?]
It was the cat I called Cat.
[Please help! Save my baby!]
“Huh? That cat—”
[My kitten! I was sure they were playing nicely together, so I took a short nap, but how did it climb up there?!]
The cat’s voice was so desperate that I found myself running toward that tree without thinking.
But of course, there was no way I could climb a tree that towered higher than the mansion.
“Can’t you climb up? You’re a cat, Cat!”
[If I go up, the branch will break!]
The cat had quite a hefty bottom. Cat cried out with a sorrowful mewwww sound.
Kiki, who thought I was hiding and had been searching for me, came rushing over when she heard the sound. She seemed very wary, thinking I was fawning over the cat again.
Hearing the sound, Kiki, who had been searching thinking Vivian was hiding, came running in a panic. She seemed very wary, apparently thinking Vivian was fawning over the Cat again.
[Vivian, you! With that cat again— what’s wrong? Why are you crying like that?]
[Oh dear, Kiki! Kiki, you’re Kiki after all, please save our child!]
[Kiki?]
Upon hearing the situation, Kiki’s expression grew troubled.
[I could transform into another form and rescue the child, but then Vivian would collapse.]
“Why would I collapse?”
[Because you’re still far too weak!]
“I’m not weak! Anne said I’m a healthy child because I sleep well and eat well!”
[Sleep or whatever, just help me save my child!]
It was absolute chaos.
Above, the Kitten wailed with high-pitched cries, below the adult Cat yowled mournfully, and the monkey screeched loudly.
There was one more person who rushed into this pandemonium.
“Miss! Are you alright?”
“Vivi! What’s happened? Why is it so loud… a cat?”
Anne and Jang, who had heard the commotion from inside and spotted Vivian through the window, came running out.
The two of them tilted their heads in confusion upon seeing the plump Cat squawking away.
“Dad! The Kitten up there can’t come down! Save it!”
“Oh my, it must be too young to climb down! Shall I fetch a long stick?”
Anne lifted her skirts, ready to dash off, but Jang rolled up his sleeves and shook his head.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Pardon?”
The height was far too great for a person to simply climb.
Leaving the astonished Anne behind, Jang removed his shoes and began scaling the tree.
With each blink of an eye, he leaped higher. Another blink, and higher still.
“Wow! Dad, you’re amazing at climbing trees!”
Vivian, who had been watching anxiously, even began to clap at his remarkable speed.
“H-how is a person even…?”
Anne covered her mouth in astonishment.
[Hmm. You climb trees better than a monkey.]
Kiki marveled from below, while the Cat watched with a vacant expression.
Jang reached nearly the top in an instant, as though he had spent his entire life climbing trees, and stretched out his hand to snatch the mewling Kitten.
“Poor thing, it’s terrified.”
The frightened Kitten clung to the thin branch with its tiny claws, but it was no match for Jang.
He carefully pried it loose, cradled it in his arms, and descended just as swiftly as he had climbed.
“There, you’ll be fine now.”
“Meoooow!!”
The moment Jang set the Kitten down, the mother Cat came rushing over with a loud cry.
She swiftly grabbed her offspring by the scruff and carried it far away from the humans, then began grooming her baby with meticulous care.
[You brat. Aren’t you going to say thank you?]
Only after Kiki’s scolding did the Cat come to its senses and approach, meowing softly.
The Cat, who had been rubbing against my legs to express his gratitude, vanished instantly at the sound of the Kitten calling for his mother.
“Was that his mother? She must have been quite startled.”
“We were startled too….”
At Anne’s murmured words, I turned my head.
Anne, Vivian, and Kiki were all staring at me with astonished expressions.
I laughed sheepishly and scratched at my hair.
“Well, I had some need to climb trees.”
“How did that come about….”
“I lived on the Deserted Island for several years-”
“What? The Deserted Island?”
Anne nearly jumped from her seat in shock. She knew I had been away from the House for some time, but she didn’t know the details, so her reaction was only natural.
“I was shipwrecked and spent several years there. Since the only things to eat were fruit from the trees and fish… well, that’s how it happened.”
Climbing trees was simply necessary to survive and eat.
I couldn’t count how many times I fell from those trees. There were even occasions when I nearly died not from starvation, but from a bad fall….
Having endured all those trials and survived, my tree-climbing skill could reasonably be called the finest in this entire nation.
“Dad is the best!”
“Really?”
I had never thought of being good at climbing trees as something worth boasting about, but when Vivian praised me with such sparkling eyes, my lips naturally curved upward.
Without realizing it, a foolish laugh escaped from my mouth.
“Hehe, hehehehe. It’s really nothing special….”
“That’s so cool!”
“Hehehe!”
I laughed like a fool before suddenly climbing back up into the tree. I gave my body momentum and swung to another tree.
“Wow! Dad, Dad, what was that just now? You whooshed and then—you flew!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at myself showing off my tree-climbing skills in front of my young daughter.
But seeing her face light up with such joy, I could easily bear a moment of embarrassment.
“Would our princess like to try climbing trees too?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Come here.”
I climbed down from the tree and, cradling Vivian in my sturdy arms, skillfully climbed the tree with one hand.
Vivian burst into delighted laughter.
“Hold on tight, princess!”
I gave my body momentum again and swung to another tree.
My tree-climbing performance continued for quite some time.

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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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