I Don’t Need a Dad Like This! - Chapter 68
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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<Chapter 68>
‘Is this the scary voice Rie mentioned? The inner thoughts of this person called Uncle?’
He died because of me. He had no reason to die.
It was a typical trauma.
This wasn’t something Rie could solve, but rather something that would take time….
Why did someone unqualified stand in that position?
He stopped.
That’s when Jair stopped walking.
Hearing the particularly sharp accusation compared to other voices, a certain scene flashed through his mind.
“Angel!”
Suddenly, a strong grip grabbed his wrist and pulled him.
“…Gasp.”
Only then did Jair come to his senses and roughly inhaled the breath he had unknowingly held.
His ankle suddenly throbbed.
Looking back, hands protruding from the black floor were waving regretfully.
If Rie hadn’t grabbed him, he would have been dragged away by those hands.
“I told you not to listen to the voices. You were thinking about something else, weren’t you?!”
Half worry. Half scolding.
Rie, whose eyebrows had risen diagonally, was nagging at him.
But Jair was rather curious.
“How did you do it?”
“Huh?”
“How did you escape the cave? You must have been scared because of the voices.”
“Rie isn’t scared. When I hear the voices, it means Uncle was really, really struggling. Rie feels sad.”
“….”
“So, Rie runs faster. Because I have to save Uncle.”
The child spoke as if it was nothing and pulled Jair’s wrist as they escaped the cave.
Jair realized.
That Rie was a more mature child than he had thought.
* * *
A moment later, the place Rie and Jair arrived at was an empty training ground.
“Where’s the seaside? Where’s the octopus monster?”
Rie’s pigtails drooped as she looked around like a meerkat.
‘Hng. I wanted to see the ocean and the octopus monster.’
Unfortunately, it seemed Uncle’s story didn’t start at the seaside.
That’s when it happened.
“Ethan, you bastard. I told you not to take the lead.”
Turning her head, she saw silver hair tied back.
Ethan was entering the training ground.
Someone behind him called out to him.
‘Huh?’
A much larger man put his arm around Ethan’s shoulder.
Ethan, momentarily surprised, confirmed who it was and smiled.
“Aren’t I your bodyguard knight, Captain? Hahaha!”
“What bodyguard knight? If you get in front of me one more time during pirate subjugation, I’ll cut off your head. Your place is behind me.”
The captain who said this wore an eye patch over one eye.
‘That looks uncomfortable?!’
Ethan, perhaps thinking the same as Rie, patted his shoulder.
“You’re retiring in a month anyway because of your eye, so aren’t you practically a civilian? I’ll guard you.”
“Ethan, you….”
“Give it to me then.”
His playful voice changed.
The night sky had already grown dark.
“….”
Uncle Ethan’s smile faded as he looked up at the captain.
“Give it to me then, the ring.”
“Ethan.”
“I won’t accept anything you give me now, whether it’s a ring or gold bars. What am I supposed to believe in to entrust my future to someone who might die at any moment?”
“Ethan!”
The captain shouted angrily, but Ethan hummed and slipped away.
‘Ring? Future?’
Rie, who had been listening to the two men’s conversation, whispered to Jair.
“Did the knight captain… borrow money from our uncle? A noble running away because he has no money! Rie saw this in <The Rogue>….”
“You’d rather think that. You’re doing well.”
Jair muttered.
Hmm. Somehow he looks like he overheard a secret conversation?
What did Rie miss?!
That’s when it happened.
The dark sky swirled and the world spun round and round.
“Oh. To another memory, chug-chug, chug-chug!”
“It really is like an amusement park.”
With Rie’s imitation, the two children moved to the middle of the seaside.
“Good heavens, Verdick-!”
That’s when Rie learned the knight captain’s name.
* * *
Ethan didn’t know.
That admiration and love were separated by a paper-thin difference.
When the person he wanted to resemble became someone he wanted to protect.
He had fallen in love with Verdick, who was the same gender.
* * *
The peaceful Southern Coastline.
A whitish flag began to rise at the end of the ocean’s horizon, and three massive pirate ships appeared.
Clang, clang, clang.
With the bell sounds signaling an emergency, navy knights poured out in droves.
Despite the sudden situation, their organized response was the result of training without missing a single day.
However.
A small crack appeared in the navy formation that had been aligned left and right like chess pieces.
“Knight Verdick. Please stay behind me. You can’t see well because of the eye patch!”
“Get back in formation if you don’t want your neck cut.”
“Hng.”
Ethan, who dared to worry about the knight captain, broke away from formation to take position behind the captain.
He should have returned to his position at the captain’s fierce command, but.
‘Damn it, it’s exactly one week before Verdick retires. If the pirate bastards were going to come, they could have come a little later.’
Meanwhile, Ethan cursed inwardly.
His anxious gaze without leisure was glaring at the broad back leading the navy unit.
Three weeks ago. Verdick had proposed.
No, since the Chronos Empire legally didn’t allow same-gender marriage, it was closer to a confession.
After confirming each other’s feelings.
They had been in a relationship closer than colleagues but ambiguous to call lovers, when he formally offered a ring.
‘It might look strange if you wear it, so wear it as a necklace. If that’s also awkward, just stuff it in a drawer.’
‘I refuse.’
‘What?’
‘I don’t want to accept such a tasteless confession. I was planning to confess to you properly after you retire, but you’re so damn oblivious…’
Thwack.
‘Is that how you talk to your superior? Just shut up and do as I say.’
Ethan, who had been staggering from the tremendous back smash, burst into laughter.
‘Haha, hahahaha! Even right before retirement, you still have this much power. I guess I can put my worries to rest.’
‘Do you really find me that unreliable? I haven’t retired yet. I’m still your superior. This isn’t like praying for me to die before retirement.’
Verdick snatched back the ring he had been holding out as if he would never give it away, but after that, he would subtly drop hints about the confession.
While pretending otherwise, he was looking forward to what would happen after retirement.
Ethan made up his mind.
He would be with that man who, despite his large frame, had cute sides to him.
He didn’t care about the stares from others or anything like that.
Even if he received mockery and criticism, it seemed like life would be worth living if he shared it with him.
Just deal with these pirate bastards quickly and endure for about 5 more days. Verdick would retire then.
He would confess.
If he waited just a little longer, they would wear matching rings.
By then, the captain wouldn’t be a knight anymore, so they couldn’t stick together all day, but he wouldn’t have to worry about his eyes that were injured.
—Or so he was thinking.
Then disaster struck.
To Verdick’s right side as he was dealing with the pirates rushing in like a receding tide.
From the blind spot where his injured eye couldn’t see, a pirate was about to attack him.
“Captain—!”
His vision narrowed in an instant.
Thud.
“Aagh, hey, Ethan!”
After pushing aside the colleague standing in front of him, the startled colleague shouted.
But Ethan could only see Verdick and the pirate.
His goal was only one thing.
To protect the person he wanted to protect.
Ethan’s blade, raised in the air, severed the pirate’s neck in one swift motion.
‘I protected him.’
Confident Ethan was breathing heavily as he turned his head.
“Verdick!”
Why are you the one pierced by a blade instead of me?
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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