I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 22

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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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Cousin Spoiling the Hero – Episode 22
Despite the soft, adorable appearance of the Slime before him, Alex kept his guard up and lowered his sword into a ready stance.
Aiming for the core faintly visible inside the Slime’s body.
With Ibeck, a Lich from Another World, and his Mana Detection ability, Alex could pinpoint exactly where the core was.
Whoosh—
The Slime in front of him split cleanly in half and dissolved in an instant.
[This really is an F-Rank Dungeon!]
There was good reason the Small Lord and a Knight of a week’s experience had thought the South Gate Dungeon so easy.
Splurt! Splurt!
The three remaining Slimes emerged and sprayed acid in all directions.
Alex quickly dodged the acid coming from different angles.
‘I need to watch carefully.’
‘The Hero Leo’ wouldn’t even think about dodging attacks—just slash and everything dies. But Alex, fighting for the first time, couldn’t do that.
His mind had already wiped out every Slime, but his body wasn’t keeping pace with his thoughts.
So he had to understand the Slimes’ movements well.
‘Pattern.’
Knights and mercenaries had things like that.
Stepping forward with the right foot first when thrusting, or pulling the shoulder back before throwing a punch.
If you grasped those habits, you could find openings to attack—and you could apply the same principle to monsters.
‘Intelligent monsters would be complicated, but Slimes are simple.’
In the Future, Alex had trained his eyes to observe as sharply as anyone, and now that keen gaze caught every detail of the Slimes’ movements.
Normally they moved up and down in that soft, jellylike way, but just before spraying acid, they froze for a moment as if gathering it. And the acid always shot in a straight line.
‘Now!’
Alex attacked the Slime on the far left, the one paused to spray acid.
The Slime split cleanly in two with a single stroke.
[Oh! One hit!]
Ibeck marveled.
[You grasped the pattern?]
“Pattern?”
[Yes. Pattern.]
[You could call it a habit.]
[When the way something moves is similar over and over, you recognize it and strike.]
Alex nodded and didn’t hesitate, dispatching the remaining two Slimes with the same clean, practiced skill—hard to believe it was his first real battle.
[Oh, you’re good!]
[I always said Pattern Recognition is crucial when gaming.]
[Sigh. I wish I could play a game.]
[No games here, so I have to live vicariously!]
[Come on, let’s go!]
Hearing Ibeck’s eager voice, Alex started to move forward, then turned back toward the Slimes.
[What are you doing?]
“I need to take the body fluid and the Mana Stones.”
[Ah, right!]
Alex quickly knelt down, scooped the dissolving Slime body fluid into a leather pouch, and pocketed one of the Lowest-Grade Mana Stones scattered on the ground.
“I should buy Leo something delicious.”
The foolish cousin smiled with satisfaction.

* * *
After filling one leather pouch with Slime body fluid and collecting two Lowest-Grade Mana Stones, Alex left the dungeon and ate the lunch he’d brought.
[The Mana Stones really don’t drop often.]
“They’re Lowest-Grade, so. Oh, we should check out the Mushroom Dungeon too.”
[Why that one?]
“I want to gather some Paralysis Powder. I figured I’d give some to Leo so he can use it in emergencies.”
[Ah.]
[That’s a good idea.]
Hearing Ibeck’s approval, Alex entered the Mushroom Dungeon.
Mushrooms were monsters as simple as Slimes, so as long as you watched out for the Paralysis Powder that could come from anywhere, they were easy to handle.
“P-please… save me…!”
Though hit with Paralysis Powder meant collapsing to the ground and becoming food for the Mushrooms.
Alex slashed down his sword at the colorful mushrooms—Mushrooms—that had planted themselves on a novice mercenary lying paralyzed on the floor.
[I’ve never seen this monster before. It looks just like a poisonous mushroom.]
[I shouldn’t eat this.]
“Apparently it’s not half bad.”
[Wait—you’ve tried it?]
“No. I saw Leo and his friends eating it in the Future.”
In dungeons where supply runs were difficult, it had helped the Hero party endure quite well.
[Oh!]
[Then we should try some later!]
Now that Ibeck had developed a palate, ordinary food was no longer enough—he was eager to sample monster meat as well.
Just then, the novice mercenary who had lost consciousness to the Mushroom creatures stirred awake.
“Th-thank you.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Leaving the drained novice behind, Alex harvested Paralysis Powder from the dead Mushroom creature.
[I have a feeling if I mix this Slime Body Fluid with this Paralysis Powder, I could make a pretty decent poison.]
“Poison?”
Alex asked, a note of surprise in his voice.
“You can make poison?”
The lich from Another World, Ibeck, launched into an enthusiastic explanation.
[Of course!]
[That’s not all—I know plenty of other things. I know how to make potions too.]
“That’s good to hear.”
Potions.
For Alex, who rarely had access to the Temple, this was welcome news. Mages did make potions, but they were expensive.
“Let’s try making some later.”
[Sure!]
With the Mushroom Paralysis Powder and three Lowest-Grade Mana Stones in hand, Alex left the dungeon.
“That was easier than I expected.”
After several real encounters, striking moving targets had become natural. He was beginning to understand how to actually use the Swordsmanship he’d only learned in theory and practice, only with his eyes.
[It’s an F-Rank Dungeon, after all.]
[When you run into Lower-Rank Monsters, it’ll get harder again.]
Alex agreed with Ibeck’s assessment.
“I’ll have to train harder. Both Swordsmanship and magic.”
Alex rode Max back to the Lord’s Castle.
Of course, on the way back he also made note of the location of the Mid-Rank Dungeon that would appear in the Future.
“Wilber, here.”
“Got it.”
After dropping off the Leather Pouch containing Slime Body Fluid at the Mercenary Guild, Alex headed for the Inn.
“Uncle!”
Leo, who had been playing with Sophia and his new friends in the backyard of the Inn, beamed at the sight of Alex returning with Max.
His flushed cheeks made it clear he’d been having the time of his life.
“Leo, having fun?”
“Yeah! Did you have a good time at the dungeon too, Uncle?”
At Leo’s question, Sophia and his friends rushed over, their eyes gleaming as they looked at Alex.
Children this age always loved mercenaries and Knights. Moreover, Leo’s uncle was a mage they’d never seen before!
“I did indeed. Look at this—this is a Lowest-Grade Mana Stone.”
Alex pulled a Lowest-Grade Mana Stone from his pouch and showed it to them.
The pale blue stones, glimmering like glass shards in the sunlight, drew gasps of wonder from Leo and the children. They had never seen a Mana Stone before.
“Can we touch it?”
“Of course you can.”
With Alex’s permission, Leo and the children reached out carefully to touch the Lowest-Grade Mana Stone.
“It’s so beautiful!”
“It really is!”
After the children had their fill of admiring the stone,
Alex put it back in his pouch and spoke to Leo.
“Now let’s get ready to go to the Viscount’s Mansion.”
“Okay!”
Alex and Leo washed thoroughly at the Inn’s bathhouse.
After that, he gave Leo a quick lesson in noble greetings and table manners.
“Like this?”
“That’s right. Well done, Leo.”
“Phew, even eating with nobles is complicated!”
At Leo’s sigh, Matthew and Sophia, who had been watching from the side, nodded their heads in agreement.
“This is the simple version. It gets much harder if you want to learn it properly.”
“Ugh…”
[Wow… harder than this?]
When a groan of exhaustion escaped, Alex couldn’t help but laugh.
Alex had given the same reaction back in the Future when Hero Leo was learning noble etiquette.
What use was etiquette in a world on the brink of collapse? Yet here he was, finding occasion to use it.
For a moment, the face of some rigid-minded soul saying, “That is precisely why you must observe it all the more carefully,” flickered into view before vanishing.
“If it’s too hard, should we save the rest for next time, Leo? The Viscount’s house won’t care much about it anyway.”
If they’d cared about noble etiquette, they wouldn’t have invited commoners in the first place.
Well, who knows what they’re really thinking.
“Say the word and your uncle will flip this table.”
Leo let out a bright laugh at Alex’s words. She must have thought he was joking.
[Leo, your uncle just might actually do it.]
Ibeck said it, but it didn’t reach her.
“No. I want to learn.”
Leo’s laughter faded a little as she opened her sky-blue eyes wide and spoke.
“Because Uncle knows it, too.”
Seeing his six-year-old niece eagerly wanting to copy everything her uncle did, Alex burst out laughing.
And so, while Leo was learning the basics of dining etiquette—
“Good afternoon, Alex.”
Norton, the steward of the Caldis Viscount Mansion, had arrived.
“It’s good to see you again, Alex!”
And there was also Loren, the knight from a week ago—well, it had only been two days, so now it was the ninth day.
“Wow! It’s the knight!”
“Waaah!”
The adults laughed at the children’s honest reaction, and Loren scratched his cheek shyly.
“I came along when I heard Alex was being picked up. I wanted to thank you again for helping last time.”
Loren bowed and then looked at Leo.
“Is this your niece?”
“Yes. This is Leo.”
“Hello!”
“I’m Loren. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Leo.”
Unused to hearing formal speech from an adult, Leo’s round eyes went wide. Alex smiled and patted her head.
“Please board the carriage.”
At the steward’s words, Alex lifted Leo into the carriage first, taking her hand.
“Sophia! Grandfather! Matthew! I’m going now!”
“Have a good trip, Leo! Come back and tell us everything!”
“Okay!”
Leo waved her hand eagerly from the carriage window. Sophia’s face flushed with excitement as she called out in response. The adults laughed.
Soon the carriage carrying Alex and Leo headed toward the Viscount’s mansion. With a mounted knight beside it, they cut quite a figure.
[They certainly know how to treat their benefactor.]
Leo, riding in a carriage for the first time, looked around the interior with wonder. It wasn’t just an ordinary carriage, but a noble house’s carriage, so the decorations inside were rather elegant.
“Wow!”
[This is my first time in a carriage!]
[Hmm. The ride is a bit rough though.]
Ibeck said this while still enjoying herself.
Alex, having ridden imperial carriages in the Future, found nothing surprising about it.
“Uncle, look over there!”
After Leo had finished exploring the inside of the carriage, she looked out the window.
At the end of the road stood a two-story mansion, grander and more impressive than the other buildings around it. It was the residence of the Caldis Viscount, enclosed by sturdy walls.
“Waaaah!”
[Ooh!!]
The soldiers standing guard at the great gates checked the carriage’s emblem and opened the doors. The carriage passed through a well-maintained garden and arrived at the front entrance of the mansion.
“We’ve arrived.”
Norton, who had been sitting in the driver’s seat, opened the carriage door. Alex stepped down first and offered his hand to help Leo descend easily.
“Uncle! The house is so big! The windows are huge! And it has two stories!”
[So this is where a viscount lives!]
Of course, as the residence of a viscount, it was modest by noble standards, but it was impressive enough to astonish Leo, seeing it for the first time.
“This way, please.”
As Butler Norton led the way forward, the front gate opened. And surprisingly, there stood Ethan, the Small Lord of House Caldis.
Oh!
I didn’t expect him to come greet us.
No, neither did I.
I’d thought we’d only see him at the meal, but I never imagined Ethan would be waiting here.
“Welcome, Alex.”
“I trust you’ve been well, Small Lord. Please, speak freely with me.”
“Haha. Then perhaps I shall. And do call me Ethan, Alex. Ah, so this is your nephew?”
Ethan shook hands with Alex, smiling as his gaze met Leo’s. Leo greeted him cheerfully in return.
“Hello! I’m Leo!”
“Hello, Leo. I’m Ethan. And this is my younger brother, Arden.”
From behind Ethan, a boy who appeared to be around eight years old peeked his head out.
‘So this is the brother who became heir after the previous Small Lord died.’

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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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