My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 123

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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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Father Hides His Strength
Chapter 123
* * *
A day in December.
Winter, the season when Beasts rampage most fiercely.
Axion Libre was in the midst of subjugating Beasts across the northern territories.
To conduct the subjugation efficiently, he had organized a separate subjugation unit apart from Enoch.
In other words, he couldn’t rest comfortably beside the monster commander and was working hard instead.
“What’s that one?”
In the meantime, Axion was observing a particular Ability User.
A boy who seemed to have just enlisted, no more than sixteen years old.
In a vast white snowfield, his hair—brilliant red as the sun—was striking.
The way he tore Beasts apart with bare hands, without hesitation, was extraordinary.
“There’s someone with skill like that?”
“Ah, he’s not Imperial Army—he’s a mercenary. A Diez, they say.”
His aide Phillip spoke up.
Axion’s eyes widened.
“Diez?”
“Yes. Impressive, isn’t he? Word is he’s a kid who just graduated from the Training Institute this year. His mercenary unit has been saying he’s worth a hundred men by himself.”
“The Training Institute?”
“He’s eleven years old.”
“Eleven? With that build?”
It was getting ridiculous.
This time his jaw dropped completely.
If he graduated from the Training Institute this year, he’s the same cohort as Cheshire and Lilis.
And he’s eleven?
The same age as Cheshire.
These days, Cheshire—pushing himself in training as if driven by something—had asked Axion for a sparring match twelve times a day.
“…Couldn’t you go all out instead of holding back? It’s fine if I get hurt.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t train if you’re injured. Keep it reasonable.”
Axion recalled Cheshire and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
The truth was.
‘I wasn’t holding back….’
Going all out was something he’d have to keep hidden until he was buried.
No matter how he looked at it, Cheshire had nothing more to learn from him. Regrettable as it was, he’d have to send him to Enoch for training.
‘Anyway, what’s going on at the Training Institute this year?’
Two Dos have appeared, the abilities are extraordinary, and now some Diez is running wild.
“They’re all monsters.”
Axion continued to watch the boy with the brilliant red hair as he smacked his tongue in amazement.
* * *
The first snow fell on Jedo.
On a winter morning when fluffy flakes covered the streets.
I would have called it perfect, except for missing the first snow with Father, who’d been away from home frequently these days doing Beast Subjugation.
“Breaking news, breaking news!”
“A divine revelation at the Pavil Temple!”
Jedo was in an uproar from early morning.
The High Priest of the Pavil Temple, Grandfather, had suddenly received a divine revelation.

It was a revelation that urged continental unification.
Go quickly, poke at other nations and devour them!
That way I’ll look after you!
―That was the gist of it.
‘Wow, I figured the Emperor, with fire at his heels, wanted to seize more land quickly….’
I was frustrated.
‘But I never thought he’d exploit my achievements (?) like this!’
The false revelation I’d crafted to strengthen the Old Doctrine and heal the sick.
When the suffering commoners truly rose up and dusted themselves off….
The fact that the long-silent Goddess Primera remained in good standing was proven.
Of course it was!
The imperial citizens’ faith had reached its peak ever since that incident.
And now another divine revelation had come down?
Of course it was a lie cooked up by the Emperor and my grandfather, the High Priest.
‘In an atmosphere like this, everyone will believe unconditionally.’
The Emperor had done it again.
He’d used his head.
He’d kept the rogue god alive, making it seem as though it still existed, then turned that against us.
To incite a war of invasion!
I bit at my fingernails.
‘Now that a revelation has come down, if Father says he doesn’t want war? He’ll be the only one getting lambasted, won’t he? But I can’t just let them start a war either.’
How did it come to this?
I’d only meant to wait quietly for the protagonists’ revolution, but somehow it felt like I was being drawn into a battle of wits with the Emperor himself….
‘Ah, I don’t know what to do.’
I felt like crying.
The more I did something, the higher the chance my true identity would be exposed, so I’d tried so hard to stay quiet and still.
‘But I don’t have a choice. I can’t start a war, and with a revelation having come down, I can’t just refuse while Father’s position crumbles either.’
I was the one who kept a non-existent god alive.
The Emperor used that to his advantage….
So I’d have to clean up the mess myself.
I sighed and forced myself up.
* * *
Seraph Temple.
Zadkiel, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, was just as he always was.
“Do try this, my lady!”
“Mmm!”
“Aha ha ha!”
He popped a honey-filled pastry into my mouth from somewhere, and laughed as if delighted by how eagerly I ate it.
‘Ugh.’
Those flower-like pink strands of hair tumbling softly over his forehead, that radiant smile!
‘This won’t do! That face is so holy it could inspire faith in an atheist! And I came here to lie!’
Feeling like a demon burnt to ash by the holy light radiating from the angel Zadkiel’s face….
I reached up and tried to shield my eyes with my arm.
“You truly are an angel, my lady.”
“…Pardon?”
Zadkiel took the cloth I’d been sucking on and began fiddling with it instead as he spoke.
“Where else would you find someone like you, my lady? Such a noble person willing to help with difficult work. You’re still young—surely you’d rather be playing—yet you’ve come here to volunteer.”
“Ah.”
The volunteering was supposed to be a natural cover story for coming here.
But thinking about it, I wouldn’t have come again if there wasn’t a real reason.
Guilt pricked at my conscience, and I spoke quietly.
“…I’m sorry, Priest. I should have come more often.”
“What? No, please don’t say such things.”
Zadkiel flustered.
“I should be apologizing. Please don’t speak that way. You don’t have to do all this. You’re all busy people….”
He looked around.
Our household soldiers, whom I’d asked to come to the temple with me, were working diligently.
They were helping the priests with their tasks, deftly carrying heavy things, and tending to the patients.
“And my lady, dressed like this too….”
Zadkiel looked at my appearance, and his face fell with genuine remorse.
Right now I was dressed as a commoner.
I’d put on clothes I used to wear back when I lived in Jenon.
And besides.
“Hee-hee! What do you mean? I think this outfit is pretty. And Priest, don’t you think this hair is cute too?”
Brown hair and brown eyes!
Like someone hiding their true power beneath an ordinary appearance!
“Of course! It’s so beautiful and lovely! You look like an angel!”
“Mm-hmm.”
Hearing Zadkiel’s sincere praise, I felt embarrassed.
The reason for hiding my power was simple enough.
Ever since the revelation came, Seraph Temple had been flooded with visitors.
I had no desire to cause a commotion.
‘If I go around advertising myself as nobility…’
‘…they’d be uncomfortable and apologetic, just like before, always watching me with that awkward expression.’
It would be better to quietly help with the temple work, accomplish today’s goal, and leave.
“Oh! Miss, I’m heading out to pick up some medicine—would you like to come along? You could use a breath. You’ve been working straight through, after all.”
“Medicine?”
“Yes. You see over there? The red brick building right next door, first floor.”
Zadkiel pointed beyond the temple wall.
It was right there. I nodded and stepped outside with him.
“She’s a civilian pharmacist, but when the temple was struggling, she gave us medicine without charging a single coin.”
“Really?”
“Yes. She’s truly wonderful. Fortunately, donations have been coming in steadily these days, so we’ve been able to repay her kindness generously, along with what she helped us with before.”
That warmed my heart.
As Zadkiel and I chatted idly, stepping into the pharmacy building—
“My money! Pay back my money! What’s this?!”
What was happening?
The pharmacy was in total ruins.
Medicinal herbs were trampled underfoot, and shards of broken glass lay scattered dangerously across the floor.
“What are you doing?!”
Alarmed, Zadkiel rushed over.
A man with a menacing face was holding a gaunt elderly pharmacist by the collar, dangling him in the air.
“Oh? Aren’t you the priest?”
The man set the elder down and grumbled when he spotted Zadkiel.
“Are you all right?”
“Hack, hack.”
Zadkiel quickly channeled Mana into the gasping old man.
Then he grew furious.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“What does it look like? I’m working. This old fool borrowed money from me and hasn’t paid it back for three months already.”
The pharmacy elder, having finally caught his breath, spoke apologetically.
“Listen, I promise next month I’ll….”
“You said the same thing last month! You crazy old codger!”
“Sir, mind your tongue. Pharmacist, what did you need the money for?”
Zadkiel asked calmly.
“I’m sorry, priest. I needed to buy medicinal herbs…. There’ve been so many patients at the temple lately….”
“Ah.”
My goodness. It was for that?
Zadkiel’s eyes flickered as if shaken by guilt.
He soon unhooked the pouch of money at his side and got to his feet.
“How much did you borrow?”
“You’re going to pay it back for him? How generous. It’s fifteen million Ter.”
Zadkiel’s eyes widened in shock as he reached for the money.
“Pardon?”
My own jaw dropped.
I didn’t know the market price for herbs, but surely a handful of plants didn’t cost fifteen million Ter?
“Come on, man…. You have to be reasonable. How does sixty thousand Ter become fifteen million in just two months…?”
The pharmacy elder muttered bitterly.
‘Oh, he was an unlicensed loan shark.’
I finally understood.
“You there, old man. You knew what you were doing when you borrowed, didn’t you? I told you exactly how much interest I’d charge before I lent it.”
……
The pharmacy elder said nothing.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Despite the man’s intimidating bulk, I spoke up timidly.
“Even if you did tell him before lending, that’s still your fault. If you’re going to lend money, you can only charge interest within the legal limit set by the nation….”
“What? And who are you?”
“If you inflate the sum like a snowball getting bigger and demand payment that way—that’s illegal….”
“What nonsense? The lender can charge whatever they want. What’s a pint-sized thing like you babbling about?”
Right. This was Seraph Street.
In a lawless civilian district like this, arguing about legality was utterly pointless.
Even so, doesn’t he have a conscience?
“And even if he couldn’t repay the debt, he shouldn’t resort to violence like this. I’m reporting him to the authorities.”
Of course, the authorities were largely toothless.
But ever since Axion had resolved a child abduction case and restored some order, they’d supposedly begun going through the motions at least.
The man hesitated—he knew this much too.
I turned away, shaking my head.
That was when.
“Owner! The medicine I ordered last time….”
Someone in a brown robe stepped into the Pharmacy.
He startled at the sight of the chaos.
“What’s all this commotion?”
He was noticeably taller than me.
But not quite adult—more like a boy on the cusp of growing.
Wrapped entirely in that robe, with his nose and mouth sealed shut, only his eyes were visible.
Yet something about him smelled dangerous.
The sharp, metallic scent of blood hung in the air.
…….
Our eyes met as the boy surveyed the space.
‘Hm? What is it? Something feels familiar…’
Ash-grey eyes.
His height, his build, his voice—I had no memory of this person, yet something about him stirred an eerie sense of recognition.
The boy seemed to feel it too, studying me carefully before muttering.
“You… could it be….”
That’s when it happened.
“Ahhh!”
The man suddenly seized the back of my neck and yanked me up.
My breath caught short.
“My lady!”
Zadkiel cried out in alarm.
But the vile loan shark’s ears apparently didn’t catch my status, which Zadkiel had let slip inadvertently.
Whether frightened by my threat to report him to the authorities or simply enraged, he gnashed his teeth viciously.
“You, you bastard, where do you think you’re going? What authorities all of a sudden? This is how I’ve always made my living! Don’t talk non—ugh!”
The boy in the robe moved swiftly forward.
The moment he seized the man’s wrist—the wrist that held me.
I felt Mana flow through him.
‘An Ability User?’
The boy caught me as I fell toward the ground and set me down gently before pulling back his robe.
“Who the hell are you, kid?”
Crimson hair tumbled free.

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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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