Dad is Back From a Deserted Island - Chapter 57

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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 57

“Why is it so difficult?”
[The trees are angry with humans.]
[That’s right. The humans cut down another tree.]
[A tree that has protected the Forest for so long, and the humans cut it down for something they wanted to make.]
[The other trees in the Forest, the plants too—they’re all furious and have blocked the path.]
“B-blocked the path, you say?”
The birds chirped in succession, their voices overlapping.
[Yes. The plants have grown so densely that humans can’t pass through easily.]
[And the vines have raised their sharp thorns.]
[We animals helped too!]
[That’s right. Bear moved a huge boulder for us.]
[So your kind with those round feet can’t reach it.]
“Round feet?”
[Fool. Those aren’t feet—they’re called wheels.]
[Don’t call me a fool!]
And so the birds began quarreling amongst themselves.
“Vivian. Which way should we go?”
Jean de Lamber asked, hearing only the chirping of the birds.
Vivian stood there with a dazed expression, as if she were about to dash off the moment she received directions.
“…So? The plants have really blocked the path?”
“Yes, Father. We need to go to the Clothing Shop first.”
“The Clothing Shop? Why the Clothing Shop?”
“I need to change into trousers. I can’t possibly traverse such a path in a skirt.”
It was an unforeseen obstacle, but I couldn’t give up.
At the Clothing Shop, where the only women’s trousers available were riding breeches—and even those were sold only because nobility occasionally came here to vacation—I purchased the riding breeches.
I also acquired sturdy boots that reached up to my knees.
“Vivian, these gloves should do nicely.”
Jean de Lamber’s face was filled with worry.
What if Vivian were to get hurt on such a treacherous path?
But Vivian was the only one who possessed the ability to commune with nature.
And I had already witnessed her resolve.
I wanted to be a father who would support my daughter’s growth—a child willing to do anything for a dear friend.
“All right. Let’s go, Father!”
Vivian, her hair tied back with determination etched across her face, placed the sleeping Kiki into a small bag slung over her shoulder and spoke with resolve.
I hadn’t managed to learn the tree’s location from the birds—they’d only squabbled before flying away—but I’d discovered the path by asking the villagers.
It used to be a route people could traverse, but apparently the path had become treacherous over the past decade.
The birds had spoken truly.
Still, at the Forest’s edge, sunlight fractured through the leaves and descended in golden streams, while birdsong guided us forward like a compass.
After walking for several more minutes, the Forest’s demeanor shifted far more rapidly than I’d anticipated.
The path grew obscured and the ground turned boggy. Without a proper trail, even the same distance demanded far greater exertion.
Though the Forest’s air remained cool, beads of perspiration formed on Jean de Lamber’s and Vivian’s brows.
Low-hanging branches forced me to sweep them aside with my arms at every step, making the journey even more arduous.
“Ow.”
A gasp finally escaped Vivian’s lips. A sharp branch had pierced her face, leaving a wound.
Reflexively, Jean de Lamber’s hand moved toward the sword at his waist.
My daughter’s face—more precious than gold—scarred!
I wanted to slash the offending branch to pieces immediately, but this was already a Forest angered by humans carelessly felling its trees.
I couldn’t commit the same transgression now that I’d entered within.
“Father, I’m fine. This doesn’t even hurt!”
“…I should have brought medicine. What if it becomes infected?”
“It’s okay… whoa!”
Distracted by her wound, Vivian stumbled over a vine, and Jean de Lamber quickly caught her arm.
“Phew. I’m alive thanks to you, Father.”
“We should rest for a moment. Your legs are starting to give out, aren’t they?”
“Yeah…”
Vivian, who had never walked such a treacherous path before, laughed sheepishly.
Thinking of Kiki, I didn’t want to rest for even a moment, but my legs were beginning to tremble—pushing further seemed dangerous.
Jean de Lamber pointed to one side.
“I’ve been hearing the sound of running water from that direction. There’s likely a Stream flowing there. Let’s cool our faces and rest a bit.”
Walking in the direction Jean de Lamber indicated, a Stream indeed appeared.
“Wow. There really is a Stream.”
Jean de Lamber’s shoulders lifted at the light in his daughter’s eyes. After roughly ten years of life on the Deserted Island, I’d long since mastered the art of securing fresh water.
“Ahhh.”
Father and daughter sat on a rock beside the Stream, splashing their heated faces with cool water.
“I’m worried about how much further we need to go.”
“Right. If we saw any passing animals, we could ask them. Are there any rabbits or badgers around?”
As Jean de Lamber and Vivian fanned their faces and glanced about, a rustling sound reached their ears.
An animal appeared the moment we spoke of it!
The color drained from both their faces in an instant.
The presence emanating from behind the thicket felt far heavier than any small creature—an ominous sign.
“A… a… bear—”
Just as Vivian said, what emerged from behind the dense brush was a Bear.
Its overwhelming bulk was the first thing to strike the eye.
Despite the bulk appearing sluggish and dull at first glance, the muscles were condensed with such density that I felt a palpable tension—as though they could explode into motion at any moment.
A terror so profound that merely witnessing it made every hair on my body stand on end.
Jean de Lamber, his body rigid and his arm barely responding, forced it upward and shielded his daughter behind him.
“V-Vivian… while Father holds the line, you run.”
A single blade could scarcely contend with a wolf. Jean de Lamber, born of a rural village, knew all too well the devastating power of a fully grown bear.
A single blow from those massive paws would send a man’s head flying.
‘I must give Vivian a chance to escape, no matter what.’
Fortunately, the bear kept its head lowered as though sniffing the ground. Had it not yet discovered them?
That fragile hope shattered the instant our eyes met.
‘It saw us.’
When would it charge? Which direction should I dodge?
Jean de Lamber’s throat convulsed roughly.
Vivian stepped forward.
“Vivian!”
Jean de Lamber tried to stop her in alarm, but it was already too late. Vivian extended both arms toward the bear.
“This one is a divine beast! I’m searching for a tree to find a way to awaken this sleeping divine beast. So please, please, please don’t attack us and just let us pass?”
What Vivian held out to the bear was the sleeping Kiki.
Vivian had witnessed countless times how animals recognized Kiki as a divine beast first and showed deference.
‘Animals can sense something in Kiki that humans cannot perceive.’
Clinging to that threadbare hope, I had stepped forward.
Fortunately, whether Vivian’s gambit worked or not, the bear did not immediately attack. It merely sniffed with an inscrutable gaze, its intentions unknowable.
“I, I can understand what animals are saying. If you would speak to me… if you don’t feel like talking, I’m sorry.”
Yet it did not appear friendly. Vivian, seized by fear, apologized first.
[A human who can understand my words?]
“Yes, yes! I really can. I truly understand you.”
[A human who understands my speech… this is a first.]
Jean de Lamber could not release the tension in his sword hand, his anxious eyes darting between the bear and his daughter.
Though Vivian appeared to be attempting conversation, to his ears it sounded only like a low, rough breathing.
Far more dull and heavy than a dog’s growl—the very air itself seemed to resonate.
The bear took a step closer to Vivian.

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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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