I’m the Strong Youngest Daughter Here to Save My Family from Darkness - Chapter 13

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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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Chapter 13
4. Wish Village
Before Grand Duke Veipran arrived at the Wish Village on Monster Island.
Arienna and her party had left the Monster Mansion and were heading for Wish Village.
On the boat crossing the river, Kyle took a round orb out of a square box and spoke with great seriousness.
“This is a Cognition Confusion Magic Tool.”
“Wowzers!”
“Is that how the vocabulary of the strongest person usually goes?”
“Strongest-ist!”
Kyle gave Arienna a dubious look for a moment before he went on.
“Anyway, I’m going to hide my identity with this Cognition Confusion Magic Tool. If it gets out on Monster Island that I’m a prince, it’ll be trouble.”
“Why?”
“Because I snuck out of the Monster Mansion.”
“Huh-uh.”
“And I have no idea what Father will think about me leaving Monster Island.”
Arienna didn’t fully grasp what Kyle meant, but she could tell he was serious.
So she watched, just as earnestly, as Kyle activated the magic tool.
With a click, the square tool flared up in a rush of flame and then went out.
Kyle whispered with a flourish.
“Magic tool activation complete.”
“Whoa!”
Arienna’s eyes went wide.
It really was amazing!
Because.
“Not one thing changed, I can seeee…”
What Arienna could see was still just Kyle!
Kyle scratched the back of his head.
“This is a magic tool that scrambles identity recognition, so it won’t work on anyone who already knows who I am.”
Kyle tapped the tool lightly against Arienna’s cheek.
“And you have to hide your face too. The Rheinfeld bastards are definitely going to track you down and try to kill you.”
“Nyeh!”
“Of course, you’re strong enough to knock Rheinfeld aside with a single finger, though.”
“…?”
“Anyway, cover your face with a veil. I’ll put the confusion tool on you too.”
“Okay!”
Arienna nodded hard. Kyle activated the tool next, and Arienna pulled the veil over her head.
“Let’s go now, quick!”
Arienna’s steps were a little heavy at first.
One step, two steps. Gradually, they grew lighter.
* * *
A few hours later, the two of them finally reached the entrance of Wish Village.
“Wow, the houses are sooo tiny!”
Arienna, seeing a village for the first time in her life, looked around and cried out in excitement.
“To keep from becoming a monster’s target, small houses are an advantage. That’s why most of the villagers here live in unusually small homes.”
It was knowledge he had only picked up from books, but Kyle puffed out his chest and shrugged as if it were his own experience.
“Hey, you know what? Also!”
“Mm.”
Arienna’s steps slowly came to a stop. Kyle’s feet had stopped completely.
“It’s strange.”
Arienna said quietly.
“There’s no kitties and no doggies and no gaemul either!”
“Hmm, well, having no monsters is good, though.”
“And, it’s supposed to be a village, but there’s not a single person…?”
Arienna wore a puzzled expression.
Kyle spoke to her in the soothing tone one would use with a child.
“We’ll look into that later. To take the Hero’s Oath, we have to go to the Altar first. The village is on the way to the Altar, so we can check it out then.”
A chill ran through Arienna, but she thought of Mom and Dad.
‘I have to see them again. For sure!’
And so, on the road back into the village.
Unlike earlier, when she had been chattering nonstop, the two of them held their tongues, both busy scanning their surroundings.
Kyle pointed at a house at the edge of the village.
“Let’s knock on any door nearby for now. We can ask about the village situation, and our canteen’s empty, so we need to get some water too.”
Kyle knocked on the gate and spoke.
“Is anyone there?”
But no answer came from inside.
Arienna peered through the gap in the open door.
In the small living room visible through the crack, a large dining table sat in the middle of the floor.
On it were three bowls, so clean not a speck of dust clung to them, as if they had just been wiped.
Arienna and Kyle looked at each other and tilted their heads in unison.
Someone must have been living here until very recently.
What’s going on?
“Shall we check the next house for now?”
“Yes! Earlier I saw another house with its door open!”
Arienna went bouncing off again on her short legs.
Of course, Kyle caught up with her in a single stride this time too.
At the next house, the two of them wore even more bewildered expressions.
Through the gap in the open door, they could see a clothesline heavy with underclothes.
And the courtyard was damp, as though the laundry had been hung out not long ago.
After that, they searched everything: the bakery, the forge, the inn, even the laundry shop.
Strangely, there were signs of daily life everywhere, but not a single person.
“Wait, let’s head toward the village entrance. I think I saw something strange earlier.”
“The village entrance?”
Arienna tilted her head, then scampered off toward the entrance with a rush of little steps.
She flailed along on her round feet and stubby legs, but Kyle overtook her effortlessly in two or three strides.
Before long, Kyle stopped in front of a signboard at the entrance and scowled.
“Seriously, this is…”
“Heeeeek… There’s a terrifying graffiti here!”

-Came here to take the Hero’s Oath, but it looks like someone’s cleaned out every person in this village. Not a single soul in sight.
└Isn’t it cursed or something? The atmosphere is XX, it’s creepy.
└Cursed, my foot. Don’t you think everyone got slaughtered by someone?
-Was hoping to get some food, but I’m out of luck.
Graffiti left behind by adventurers still covered the signboard.
Each of them had their own guess about why this village seemed so strange, with not a single person in sight.
“Ghosts, murder, a curse… It’s all just weird writing.”
“Gasp!”
I heard that from a fairy tale Brother used to read to me back when I was Tuntuni!
Ghosts, super-super-scary villains!
‘If Tuntuni meets a ghost, she’ll go kaput right away!’
I’m scared…
As Arienna’s body shrank in fear, Kyle gave her shoulder a light tap.
“Hmm, something’s off. Wish Village shouldn’t end up like this.”
Kyle’s eyes narrowed.
“Alright, let’s see.”
After long agonizing over how to resolve this situation, Kyle made up his mind.
“First, let’s go see the Wish Altar.”
“What about the ghosts? I’m scared.”
Ignoring Arienna, who was trembling all over, Kyle said calmly,
“Whatever’s happened to this village, we still have to take the oath.”
The two of them trudged on, and before they knew it, they reached the Wish Tree near the altar.
A large bronze altar, thick with moss.
Beside it stood a towering tree, as wide around as if ten of Arienna’s bodies had been put together, rising straight and proud.
Kyle looked around the tree and tilted his head.
“There should be a Spirit here. Why isn’t there one?”
“…?”
“Damn it, at this rate we can’t even make a wish, can we?”
To take the Hero’s Oath, one must first climb the Wish Altar and summon the Spirit.
“Then we can’t make the oath? We can’t make a wish?”
Kyle rubbed his face dry and glared up at the sky.
Without his noticing, the sky had turned a deep red.
“First, we need to figure out why the spirits are gone. Let’s make camp nearby. The sun’s going down anyway.”
* * *
That night.
Arienna and Kyle found a patch of dry ground, laid out their sleeping bags, and built a campfire.
Expecting a monster attack at any moment, Kyle kept his ears open even as he tried to rest.
Near dawn, in the empty village.
A click echoed through the silence, the sound of something starting to work.

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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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