I’m the Strong Youngest Daughter Here to Save My Family from Darkness - Chapter 19

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 19
Kyle muttered under his breath and shrugged.
“Well, at least there aren’t any monsters around. Let’s camp here.”
“Okay!”
Arienna settled under a large tree where the shade was cool.
She nibbled on a little of the dried meat Grandpa Jeremy had packed for them and dozed off in front of the fire Kyle had lit.
The next day, the two children set out again.
By some stroke of luck, not a single monster appeared the whole way.
They walked for ages, until blisters formed on their small feet, and by the time they had come halfway down North Island.
By then, Kyle and Arienna were exhausted.
No matter how sturdy Kyle was with his Special Ability, he was only seven years old.
A seven-year-old looking after a five-year-old on an adventure was no small task.
They ate whenever they could and rested here and there along the way.
Their faces were caked with dust, and at night the wind slipped through their threadbare clothes. Whenever that happened, Arienna hugged her shoulders, longing for her mother’s warm embrace.
“I wish we could rest somewhere with a roof for once! I hate camping…”
Just as Arienna, worn out by one camp after another, murmured those words under her breath, that was when it happened.
Kyle suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“What is it?”
“Look over there. Ahead.”
A lone building sat in the middle of the forest.
A crumbling wall, a tiny garden, and even an old signboard hanging above the entrance.
Arienna haltingly sounded out the words written on the signboard.
“Soman Kkaldduk Bo-yugeon.”
At the sheer destructive force of the Strongest’s vocabulary, Kyle squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again.
“It’s Somang Gadeuk Orphanage. Anyway, why is there an orphanage out here? That’s strange.”
Kyle surveyed the surroundings with narrowed eyes.
He lived in the Monster Mansion and had gathered a great deal of information about Monster Island. On North Island in particular, he was nearly an expert.
But.
‘I’ve never seen any record of an orphanage ever standing here.’
Besides, it was quite far from the nearby village.
Who would ever build an orphanage in a place like this?
No way.
‘Could it be an illusion conjured by a monster?’
Or if not that.
‘Is a monster mimicking humans?’
Kyle’s eyes sharpened.
‘This is suspicious. We shouldn’t go in…’
“Achoo! I’m freezing, brrr.”
Just as Kyle was about to suggest moving on, Arienna sneezed, coughed, and trembled.
Her lips had gone pale and her fingertips were chapped; it seemed hopeless to force another night of camping today.
Kyle let out a sigh and pointed to the spot beside him.
“Stay right next to me. Right here.”
Kyle and Arienna huddled as close as they could without actually touching.
He whispered in a low voice.
“We have to make sure it’s safe first. If it looks okay after we check it out, we’ll stay here tonight. It’s better than camping. If a monster shows up, I’ll burn it with fire first. Remember that, and if you understand, nod.”
Arienna nodded and answered.
“Mm-hmm, nodding!”
Her answer, too, was as vigorous as a true hero’s should be.
* * *
With a creak, the orphanage’s front door swung open.
Silence hung over the interior.
Kyle stepped in first, with Arienna trailing right behind him.
When Arienna began to say, “Excuse us,” softly, Kyle pressed a finger to his lips and hissed, “Shh.”
“Let’s go in. Just in case.”
The inside was bigger than it looked. A long hallway, a small dining room, and what appeared to be a playroom.
It looked no different from any ordinary orphanage.
The playroom, in fact, was full of toys!
“Wow…”
There was a wooden horse that someone had carved by hand with great care, a cloth doll stitched together, and even a small cart.
There were also drawings on the floor that the children had made themselves.
Arienna beamed and pointed at the picture.
“Whoa! A super, super huge doggie in this picture!”
“Don’t touch it. And that’s not a doggie. Looks like some kind of monster, if you ask me.”
At Kyle’s words, Arienna blinked rapidly.
“Do kids really live here?”
The floor was spotless, and not a speck of dust clung to the toys.
Signs of daily life lingered everywhere.
“So why is nobody here right now?”
The moment the words left her mouth, Kyle bit his lip.
“Wait.”
Kyle crouched down. Something had fallen onto the floor.
It was a single strand of dark red fur.
“That’s not human hair.”
Beside it, there were long scratch marks left by claws.
Kyle narrowed his eyes and looked down at them.
“Take a look at these claws. They’re huge.”
As he traced the claw marks with his fingers, Kyle froze.
‘The marks haven’t worn down. Something was here until recently. And maybe it’s still here now.’
Kyle’s gaze swept the room and landed on the wall beyond the toys.
The wallpaper had been torn lengthwise. The gaps were too wide for any human hand to have made.
Kyle carefully got to his feet and stepped out into the hallway, then glanced around again.
“There’s a room where the whole door frame has been ripped out.”
He stepped back into the playroom and grabbed Arienna’s hand.
“There’s a reddish stain on the floor here too. Can you see it?”
“Blood?”
“I can’t tell yet.”
Kyle seemed to be deep in thought, then suddenly stopped.
“Wait. From now on, shh. Don’t say a word.”
Arienna hurriedly clamped both hands over her mouth.
Kyle mouthed the words silently.
“Something’s here.”
Arienna’s eyes went wide.
“A gaemul?”
Just then.
Clomp. At a sound from not far away, both children’s bodies went stiff at the same instant.
Clomp, clomp, clomp.
What could that sound be?
Whatever it was, one thing was certain: someone was walking down the hallway.
Kyle and Arienna looked at each other and held their breath.
Clomp.
Clomp.
Clomp.
The footsteps were slow, but they were clearly coming toward the playroom.
Arienna sucked in a sharp breath and gripped Kyle’s sleeve tightly.
Kyle scanned the room quickly, then spotted a small wardrobe.
He yanked open the door, shoved Arienna inside first, then folded his body in after her.
The wardrobe door closed, and Arienna and Kyle pressed against each other, barely breathing.
And then…
Clomp.
The footsteps came again.
This time, they were much closer.
Light spilled through the crack in the wardrobe door.
Arienna was completely terrified.
‘What?! Why isn’t the text showing up?’
If she went by the usual routine so far, the words ‘Danger Detected!’ should have appeared by now.
‘Where did the words go? The sturdy ability God gave me, where did it run off to!’
It couldn’t be gone. It just couldn’t…
Just as she clasped her hands together and trembled, it happened.
Thud, thud, thud. The footsteps stopped right outside the playroom.
“Huh? The pictures are in the wrong places. Looks like someone’s been playing with them.”
A hoarse, scratchy voice, worn raw from too much use.
Knock, knock.
‘Monster!’
Arienna had encountered so few monsters that she couldn’t guess what could be waiting outside the wardrobe.
But Kyle, who had fought many monsters and gathered information on Monster Island, was different. The moment he heard that sinister voice, the only thing that came to mind was the Snow Mountain Fiend, the most fearsome of all the monsters.
‘The Snow Mountain Fiend is said to stand nearly three meters tall. There are rare species that can speak human language, and they’re covered in fur from head to toe…’
Just then.
The light seeping through the gap in the wardrobe vanished.
A sinister voice rang out, right in front of them.
“Why is this door shut? It was open before.”
A voice that sounded indifferent, yet wasn’t.
And then.
Bang!
With a tremendous crash, the wardrobe door was flung open.
Whoosh.
“So you were hiding here. Two little rats.”
A muscular arm snatched up both children.
“Aaaah!”
“Gah, don’t touch me!!!”
Arienna flailed her arms wildly and waited for the letters to appear.
Come on, letters, hurry up and show yourselves!
Hurry!
* * *
A few minutes later.
Arienna and Kyle lay on clean bedding, their faces noticeably fresh and dry.
‘What is this?’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————