I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 107

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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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Kiruen moved with urgency.
She stepped into a protective stance to shield Isabel, but it was already too late.
Just before Man Karp, transformed into a shadow, could strike Isabel down.
A massive magic circle materialized beneath Isabel’s feet.
Tremendous magical power erupted from the magic circle, creating a violent gust of wind, and light composed of mana scattered in all directions.
Isabel’s golden hair whipped about in the magical tempest.
It was truly a spectacular display of immense magical power.
From within the magic circle, a massive sword suddenly shot upward.
That sword was the “Demon-Slaying Blade” that Kiruen had gifted to her.
“Tch!”
Man Karp hastily pulled his body back. He had nearly been impaled by the Demon-Slaying Blade.
That moment was all they needed.
Biatone, moving like black smoke, slashed at Man Karp’s ankle and sent him tumbling.
The smoke dispersed, but no blood spilled.
He didn’t seem to feel any pain either. Certainly, he didn’t appear human.
Biatone spoke with a smile.
“Viscount Kirren. Please escort the Princess into the barracks.”
Isabel had lost consciousness, likely from the aftereffects of using such a powerful spell, and Kiruen caught her in her arms.
She closed her mouth and nodded silently.
“….”
Even Kiruen felt her hair standing on end.
He had undoubtedly grown stronger than before.
‘I’ve never seen Biatone this angry before.’
Kiruen carried Isabel and walked deeper into the barracks.
“The fairy tale has ended.”
Isabel’s figure completely disappeared from view.
Biatone’s demeanor changed.
“Now it is the adults’ turn.”
* * *
General Man Karp was bound and sent to the Imperial Palace.
Though there was no official announcement, rumors began spreading that something terrible had happened to General Man Karp.
The content of those rumors was so horrific that no one dared speak of them openly.
And so the events of that night became an unspoken secret.
The soldiers, the knights, all of them remained silent about that night.
It was as if they all suffered from an illness that forbade them from speaking of it.
And none of them could meet Biatone’s eyes.
“S-salute!”
“I am not your direct superior, so there is no need for such formality.”
“O-oh, of course not!”
For some reason, the soldiers’ demeanor toward Biatone had become considerably more reserved.
Something was amiss—the military discipline had tightened considerably.
Fear gleamed in the eyes of even the bravest soldiers.
“It seems people are afraid of you, Teacher.”
“That’s because I’m the Emperor’s adjutant. Power is terrifying, isn’t it?”
“It’s definitely because of the power, right?”
“Oh, that’s right! I should visit my family home for a while.”
Isabel sensed that Biatone was hastily changing the subject, but she decided to let it pass.
“Your family home?”
“Yes, I need to see my Mother and discuss something with her.”
Without realizing it, Isabel gently grasped Biatone’s collar.
To Biatone, she looked like a baby kitten clinging to him, pleading not to go.
In that instant, Biatone’s heart received a tremendous shock.
He actually used magic to conjure floating letters and sound effects.
[Thump!]
Kim Beolggwol protested.
[That’s my word.]
[Demanding royalties.]
Biatone cleanly ignored Kim Beolggwol’s protest.
“Of course, I’m also uncomfortable leaving the Princess behind, but Viscount Kirren is here. I plan to trust him and leave her in his care.”
Due to yesterday’s incident, security within the base camp had been thoroughly reinforced.
There shouldn’t be any major problems.
He recalled the magic Isabel had displayed yesterday.
Before his memory of the advanced spell “Weapon Summoning,” used by high-level combat mages, faded, he absolutely had to consult with his Mother about it.
Biatone knelt on one knee and lightly kissed the back of Isabel’s hand.
“I will definitely return before you meet King Zirdel. Please wait just a little longer.”
* * *
Isabel found herself having breakfast with Kiruen.
Kiruen paused mid-spoonful of soup and opened her mouth.
“Were you very surprised yesterday?”
“No?”
“It’s okay to be honest.”
She must have been surprised, yet this young child calmly insisted she wasn’t and that it was fine.
This young child wasn’t ordinary—she lived the life of imperial royalty.
‘That’s why she doesn’t want to show a flustered side.’
She doesn’t need to do that in front of me. She can be honest in front of me.
Kiruen felt a little hurt.
But then something strange followed.
“I already knew General Man Karp was coming.”
“…Since when?”
“Since the moment you carefully got up trying not to wake me.”
Isabel smiled brightly.
“Actually, I thought yesterday was roleplay too.”
Yesterday? When had she engaged in roleplay before?
Kiruen’s mind grew confused.
“…Pardon?”
“You came walking with such an overwhelming presence. For an assassin, you were far too obvious about it. I just assumed it was roleplay. I thought you were playing with me.”
“You sensed an overwhelming presence?”
That absolutely wasn’t the case.
Of course, General Man Karp hadn’t been quite as stealthy as a seasoned assassin, but he had done his best to suppress his presence as he approached.
It was never something Isabel, who hadn’t properly trained in sensing ‘ki’, should have been able to detect.
Yet Isabel seemed to have sensed it with perfect clarity.
“Yes!”
Judging by her expression, she didn’t seem to be lying.
“You completely read General Man Karp’s presence yesterday, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Now that I think about it, it seemed like he was hiding it more crudely than Father…”
Isabel had even instantly seen through Ron’s disguise.
Because she read through things so easily herself, she assumed everyone else could do the same.
Yet Kiruen was startled once more.
“Your Father… you mean the Emperor? The Emperor hides his presence? When?”
What on earth was she talking about?
Isabel gasped in surprise and covered her mouth with her hand.
“Oh, slip of the tongue. Hehe.”
She’d almost destroyed the ‘Dad Bus’ worldview.
Unaware of the shock Kiruen had received, Isabel laughed brightly.
Breakfast was nearly finished.
Throughout the meal, Kiruen deliberated and deliberated before finally speaking.
“Your Highness. It’s okay to say you’re scared when you’re scared. It’s okay to say you were startled when you were startled.”
That’s what being a child is.
There’s no need to hide everything and live that way.
“At least in front of me. I promised to be your older sister, after all.”
Isabel tilted her head.
“But I really wasn’t scared.”
“I’m a little disappointed.”
“I thought it was roleplay but it wasn’t, and for someone of General Man Karp’s caliber to pull off something so reckless within the base camp meant he wasn’t in his right mind, didn’t it?”
It was far too logical an argument.
Moreover, she had directly felt that same peculiarity she’d sensed from the One-Eyed Giant.
So she could rationally deduce that he had likely fallen under some form of mind-control magic.
“He wasn’t in his right mind, and even a three-year-old child could calculate that he would attack me if I left.”
A three-year-old child could calculate that?
Kiruen truly wanted to ask.
“I have Teacher Biatone and Sister Kiruen by my side, so all I needed to do was buy just one second of time. I was confident I could manage that much.”
“…So you didn’t cast the ‘Artifact Summoning’ spell instinctively out of desperation?”
“How could I possibly cast such a spell instinctively?”
Kiruen had spoken with Biatone alone last night.
‘That’s right. It was definitely an instinctive spell. Normally, advanced mages’ ‘Artifact Summoning’ requires complex calculations, incantations, and even magical inscriptions carved into the artifact itself to be usable. Yet the Princess simply poured raw mana into it. An incomprehensibly vast amount of mana at that. I’ve never seen a case like it before.’
Kiruen swallowed a low hum.
“…So you manifested the spell through thorough calculation?”
“Yes, of course!”
A discrepancy had emerged.
From Biatone’s perspective, she had instinctively and crudely poured in mana.
But from Isabel’s perspective, it was different.
‘So this is the Princess’s standard.’
It wasn’t a crude, thoughtless dumping of mana.
Though it might appear that way to others, Isabel had simply drawn upon the mana she could handle.
She didn’t need overly complex formulas or efficiency calculations—it was merely a method that would seem shocking to ordinary people.
“Why did you take the risk and come out deliberately?”
“Because if General Man Karp suppresses this, it would be disadvantageous for you, Sister. You have a lower rank than General Man Karp and a more colorful record of incidents.”
General Man Karp was the second-in-command here.
In contrast, Kiruen was a problematic figure who had been demoted for assaulting a superior officer in the past.
At least, that was the official story.
It was a series of shocks for Kiruen.
‘It would be disadvantageous for you, Sister.’
Those words resonated deeply in Kiruen’s chest. She suppressed that resonance and asked again.
“Did you perhaps come out together with Bumblebee…?”
“When I’m with Bumblebee, my magic seems to amplify.”
That too was a thoroughly calculated action.
“…Then why did you faint?”
“I didn’t faint?”
“Pardon?”
“Did I really look like I fainted?”
Isabel felt oddly pleased.
It seemed she had succeeded in her fainting act so perfectly that even Sister Kiruen had been deceived.
She felt like she could commit more fully to roleplay in Father’s Bus worldview next time.
“Yes. I was so shocked. You didn’t actually faint? Why on earth did you pretend to faint?”
“Because I needed to faint there to give Teacher Biatone a solid justification?”
The moment she grasped that it wasn’t roleplay.
The moment she felt that sacred roleplay had been insulted (?), Isabel became thoroughly ‘Isabel’.
She thought ‘very ordinarily’—logically and mathematically.
“I simply enabled the Empire’s Chief Advisor to act as a Chief Advisor should.”
“….”
Isabel’s eyes sparkled with delight.
“I pulled off that fainting act really well, didn’t I? Didn’t I? You really didn’t see through it, did you?”
It seemed she craved praise for that performance above all else.
By her standards, all her other calculations were far too ordinary.

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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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