I’m the Strong Youngest Daughter Here to Save My Family from Darkness - Chapter 9

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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 9
* * *
The next day and the day after, Kyle still couldn’t drive Arienna away.
Every time he opened the door to chase her out, she had already built a fresh bonfire in the lobby.
And so the third night on Monster Island arrived.
“Today’s the last day. I’ll patrol with you tonight, and tomorrow you’re going home.”
Arienna patrolled with Kyle, and her stomach started growling again.
So she headed to the dining table to grab a late-night snack.
Before she could even lift her spoon, the glasses on her nose went warm.
‘Huh? But nothing here is scary right now.’
When she looked up, a scrawny, patchy-feathered chick was sitting where Kyle had been.
Kyle the chick was pecking away at grain feed without pause.
[Danger Detected! Child Filtering has begun!]
‘Danger? Where?’
[Even dangers Tuntuni hasn’t noticed yet, the Glasses will still detect!]
‘That’s strange. Nothing here is dangerous at all. Kyle the chick is so, so sweet.’
Arienna stared at the chick through her glasses.
There was something else odd, too.
The chick was getting a little smaller than it had been before.
And it kept coughing, *eep-eep-cough*, as if it were cold.
‘I just lit a fire to warm it up. Why does it keep coughing?’
Arienna quickly came up with a solution.
Papa once told her that if baby chicks don’t regulate their body temperature, they die easily.
So on cold days, you just hold them close, and he had shown her how himself.
Chicks that had been drooping would perk right back up in no time.
‘If the cold chick isn’t held, it might die soon! No way!’
Arienna carefully reached a hand out toward Kyle.
“Um, may I, um, pet you just a little?”
“What? A-are you crazy? Absolutely not.”
But strangely enough,
his words said he hated being petted, yet every time Arienna spoke up,
a soft, purring sound came drifting out, *pii-pii, purr-purr*.
‘He likes that sound! That means the chick wants to be petted.’
Arienna had no idea whether to trust the animal’s signals or the human’s words.
“But why can’t I pet you, exactly?”
“My body can’t touch anyone outside my family.”
“Why not?”
It was because someone nearby would be in danger if he went into a Rampage, but—
Kyle decided to make something up for this little brat, who thought a Rampage was just a firecracker.
He lowered his voice ominously, as though he were about to reveal some enormous secret of this world.
“If your body touches someone else’s, even a little, you have to get married.”
“Huh.”
“By the way, do you even know what marriage is?”
“Yes!”
“Hmph, judging by your face, I don’t think you do. Marriage is… No, forget it. That’s not a dog’s name, all right? Move aside.”
Kyle swept his hair back as if he were being cool and finished his food.
But in Arienna’s eyes, he was still just a chick.
Kyle puffed up his bright yellow feathers like a fierce beast and strutted about in short, quick steps.
Meanwhile, Arienna’s heart had grown considerably more tangled.
‘Marriage isn’t allowed, and this is a big problem. How do I help the chick?’
Kyle, who had no idea what was going on in her heart, lifted his chin high. As if he might evolve into a rooster any moment now.
“I’m doing you a favor. I’ll explain it to you. Marriage is…”
* * *
After Kyle had explained “marriage” with tremendous solemnity,
Arienna somehow wilted.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking, maybe I should get married.”
What is this kid thinking?
Even while explaining marriage, he’d worn that strangely listless expression.
“I never said I’d marry you.”
“Huh…”
Arienna blinked, as if she’d just learned something for the first time in her life.
Kyle swung his feet back and forth and spoke.
“…Anyway, I don’t expect anything from marriage or family or whatever. …But still.”
Kyle kept swinging his legs as he propped his chin on his hand.
He was playing perfect indifference, but in the glances he stole at Arienna, a curiosity he couldn’t hide flickered.
“You’ve got family out there, right? What’s it like?”
…
“Not that I’m curious or anything.”
“Honestly, I don’t remember all of it.”
…
“Family… they smile at you. Lots and lots.”
“So family is… people who smile at you.”
As if carving it into his heart, Kyle repeated the last words back to her.
“Yeah. When Mom smiles, the whole world sparkles and gets bright… It gets super bright.”
Was that what family was?
He thought it might have been.
Long ago, once upon a time…
Kyle absently gazed at the crown of Arienna’s head.
But he had no time to dwell on it.
Kuung.
A pain had struck his heart.
Kyle pressed his hand firmly against the spot where the pain was rising in his chest.
Somehow it felt worse than usual, like it had when he first came to this island.
It felt as though something was clawing at his insides, then slicing him open whole.
It kept happening whenever he looked at this brat.
“Fine, fine. Now go to bed. It’s late, so I’m letting you sleep here. Get up early tomorrow and leave.”
Ignoring Arienna’s crestfallen face, he came back from his room and tossed her a pair of pajamas that looked soft even at a glance, muttering.
“And these are mine. Wear them or don’t.”
“Wow!”
“Fine, don’t, then.”
Arienna snatched the pajamas right away.
“Okay! Then good night!”
Arienna nodded hard, stepped out of the kitchen, and slipped into the room next door.
“Sleep well or don’t.”
Kyle answered in a voice barely loud enough to hear.
But that was enough for Arienna.
‘Good. I think we’ve gotten a little closer.’
At this rate, I might get a little closer tomorrow!
Arienna changed into the pajamas on her own, bravely. She fastened every button with clumsy fingers, then flopped onto the bed with a plop.
Maybe it was the ill-fitting pajamas, or lying down without washing up, but sleep wouldn’t come.
Strange, though. This island was crawling with monsters, yet she felt more at ease than she had at the Rainfeldt Count’s Residence.
‘Maybe it’s because I can find Mom and Dad! Kyle’s kinda cute too.’
Arienna clenched both fists and threw a punch at the empty air.
Just one thing.
Except that Kyle’s been looking oddly wobbly since earlier, and it’s bugging me.
Everything was perfect.
* * *
Meanwhile, after sending Arienna off to her room next door, Kyle plopped down on his bed.
He stroked his chin and sank into thought.
‘Ever since earlier…’
His fingertips seemed to be burning strangely.
‘This is an abnormal omen.’
Weighing it carefully, Kyle rose and studied the window closely.
Bang.
Bang.
Kwaang!
A huge monster was heading toward the mansion.
‘Why, why now!’
The situation felt terribly contrived.
As if someone had deliberately unleashed the monsters.
Its skin was as white as snow, it had horns sprouting from its head, and it looked like a mix of orc and human. It was a kind none of them had ever seen in this place.
‘It feels like it came here to kill someone. The killing intent is palpable.’
With no barrier in place, they had to prepare to take it down right away.
If this were the usual Kyle, he would have grabbed his sword and charged out, tearing the monster limb from limb.
An orc was tricky, but it wasn’t hard to finish off.
But there was a problem. The area around his heart had been hurting so badly that he could barely move.
It felt as though someone were digging into him with a blade, and at the same time as if lava were seething deep inside his chest.
‘It’s as if the Yeomhwa is stirring inside me.’
The moment Kyle realized it, the color drained from his face.
In truth, Kyle’s primary Special Ability was not ice.
It was fire.
A flame no one could ever be allowed to see, the one he despised most of all.
The very thing he had always suppressed with ice.
Yet now, the tips of his fingers were growing hot.
At last, Kyle understood.
This is…
‘It’s the omen of a Rampage.’

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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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