My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 155
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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 Conceals His Power
155
Oscar, who had been holding me close and patting my back for some time, finally spoke.
“Now tell me what you did.”
“Ah.”
I pointed to Theo, who still lay unconscious beside us.
“Theo nearly died. It was a fatal wound that wouldn’t respond to Healing Magic, so Cheshire called me.”
…….
Oscar blinked slowly at me.
Anticipating the barrage of scolding that was about to come, I quickly added, “Nobody knows I went there! Cheshire called me somewhere quiet!”
“Yeah, well, that’s obvious.”
Oscar grinned broadly.
“So you’re saying he called you out to save a dying man’s life?”
…….
“Did that bastard lose his mind? Primera is here, and he’s so desperate to announce it to the whole neighborhood?”
…….
“Do you have any plan? You just saved him without thinking through a single consequence, didn’t you? Tell me — are you insane?”
“M-Master… you don’t have to talk while smiling like that. Your tone is terrifying anyway, so it doesn’t sound kind at all…”
At my words, Oscar wiped the smile from his face and his expression hardened completely.
I watched his mood carefully before speaking.
“The plan is… well… I was thinking of coming up with something from now on. We still have some time before the Subjugation ends…”
“Will a plan just appear if you think about it?”
“W-well, first I need to think it through. Like, maybe manipulating people’s memories so they don’t know about Theo’s fatal wound…”
Oscar flicked my head hard.
“Ow!”
“How many of them are there, and what? Memory Manipulation?”
Memory Erasure wasn’t terribly inefficient in terms of cost-benefit, but Manipulation required considerable Life Force.
Naturally, the higher the target’s ability stats, the more Life Force it would consume.
“But if I completely erase multiple people’s memories all at once, they’ll definitely start asking questions. Manipulating them seems like…”
“Nonsense. The best thing is to just say he’s dead and lock him away somewhere for the rest of his life.”
“…Are you serious about that?”
“Do I look like I’m not being serious?”
“Wow, that’s really… a bit much.”
Oscar clicked his tongue and approached the unconscious Theo.
“Was something pierced here?”
“Yes.”
He examined Theo’s abdomen, where armor had shattered and clothing had been torn away to leave it completely exposed.
“Are you insane? You’ve restored it completely. There’s no way to even make an excuse now.”
Avoiding Oscar’s piercing gaze, I clamped my mouth shut.
“Haa, really.”
Oscar tilted his head back toward the empty air, muttering as though exhausted.
“Her father always prayed she’d grow up healthy, so that’s what happened… She’s grown up so healthy she creates every possible problem…”
I said nothing further.
“Please, just grow up quietly, will you?”
“Yes.”
Oscar closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about something, then stood up.
“We’ll say I fixed him.”
“What?”
“If this gets out, all hell breaks loose. When the Subjugation Team returns, the higher-ups will demand an explanation for how he survived. Right now, I’m the only one in this empire who can use magic at this level.”
I was taken aback.
“But the Healing Priest there said you couldn’t be saved. Everyone knew magic wasn’t working on him.”
“As long as there’s a magic that works, it doesn’t matter.”
“…What do you mean?”
“There needs to be a magic that can completely restore even that dying man’s wounds. Something that looks similar to this ability of yours.”
“My goodness! There’s magic like that?”
Seeing me smile brightly with delight, Oscar smiled along.
Then his expression hardened again.
“It will exist. Because I’m about to create it.”
* * *
“Ugh, stop! It tickles!”
“Hold still, will you? I can’t cut straight if you keep moving!”
Theo’s eyes snapped open at the sound of raised voices.
An unfamiliar ceiling came into focus.
‘What is this?’
His last clear memory was the Monster Spawning Ground.
They’d discovered hundreds of eggs hidden there, and before anyone could react, a fully mature demon beast guarding the nest had attacked.
He remembered the creature’s talons tearing through his abdomen before he could even draw his sword….
“Ah!”
Theo jolted upright, his hands flying to his stomach.
Not a scar remained. His skin was whole, and someone had even changed his clothes.
“Oh! You’re awake! Are you hurt anywhere?”
“…Lilis?”
He turned his head to find Lilis sitting in a chair beside the bed.
And behind her, a man holding scissors was methodically cutting her hair.
‘The Magic Tower Master?’
He’d never properly spoken to the man before, but he recognized him.
‘What on earth is happening?’
Waking up in this strange place was disorienting enough, but now the Tower Master and Lilis, together?
Theo could only blink in confusion, but Lilis suddenly threw herself at him in an embrace.
“You’re not in pain, are you? You’re okay?”
“What? Y-yes. But why am I here? What happened?”
“Well….”
“Theo Antrace.”
Oscar suddenly spoke, folding his arms across his chest as he addressed Theo directly.
“You know who I am, don’t you?”
“Ah, yes.”
How could he not?
The Manuel Family had ruled the Magic Tower for generations, and this man was renowned as the greatest genius the family had ever produced.
A formidable figure who controlled the distribution of Magic Formulas to Ability Users—undoubtedly someone of considerable importance and gravity.
‘Is this his home? But why am I here?’
Theo tensed under Oscar’s sharp gaze, instinctively drawing Lilis closer to himself.
“Listen carefully.”
Oscar cleared his throat with a deliberate sound before continuing.
“You went out on a Subjugation Team and nearly died. I saved you.”
“…What?”
“I need to observe your condition, so you’ll stay confined to this room for today.”
What kind of explanation was that?
Theo’s eyes widened as he looked to Lilis, hoping for clarification.
But Lilis only offered an awkward smile and murmured, “Yeah, that’s right. Master saved you….”
“Just accept it as I’ve told you.”
Oscar concluded curtly, turning back to his work.
Theo could only blink, thoroughly bewildered.
* * *
‘Did Theo nearly die because of fate, just as I feared? Or was it only coincidence?’
Please let it be the latter….
I exhaled a long breath as the worry gnawed at me.
‘But right now, I have something more pressing to handle. This isn’t the time to spiral over fate or chance.’
For Theo to accept the explanation without suspicion, I had to demonstrate that such a healing magic actually existed.
The revival of organs that had been completely destroyed.
No known Healing Magic was rare enough to save someone who should have been dead—at least, not in any records….
“Master, is there anything I can help with?”
“Nothing.”
…Right now, Oscar was in the process of creating one himself.
He’d even put on reading glasses and was wholly absorbed in his work.
Books were stacked high across the living room table, and Oscar’s pen moved without pause for even a moment’s rest.
‘Wow, he really is a genius.’
I couldn’t help but marvel silently.
Complex equations, graphs, and characters that resembled ancient script flowed effortlessly from Oscar’s pen across the paper.
How exactly was he planning to replicate Primera’s ability through magic?
I asked out of curiosity—
“The core of it is Partial Regression. I’m busy, so don’t ask me anything else.”
That was all Oscar said.
Still, I understood the gist of it.
‘So the principle is to restore the organ to its state before it was ever damaged, right?’
I asked, worried.
“But Master, doesn’t using Regression Magic require a price?”
“I’m just extracting the basic framework of the Regression Formula and grafting it onto the original Healing Magic Formula. There’s no part where Forbidden Magic properties apply, so it should be fine.”
Oh.
Honestly, I didn’t understand a word of that….
Still, it was Oscar we were talking about—someone who’d done Regression research until he was sick of it—so it didn’t seem like it would be difficult for him.
But it was exactly like asking someone to clean up a mess you made yourself, and I felt genuinely sorry, watching him work so hard on my behalf.
I couldn’t bring myself to leave him alone and go to sleep, so despite being exhausted, I was forcing my eyes open and staying by his side out of conscience.
“Go to sleep.”
Oscar sensed I was drowsy and said so, uncannily.
“I’m not sleepy. I’m going to read.”
I absolutely won’t sleep.
“Master, I’m human too. I have a conscience.”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“You won’t be able to see me sleeping.”
I’d stay up all night with Oscar no matter what, after all he was sacrificing for me!
No matter what!
* * *
“Hehehehe….”
Oscar rested his chin in his hand and looked down at the sleeping Lilis, letting out an amused laugh.
She said he wouldn’t be able to see her sleeping?
She was sprawled across the table, her cheek mushed flat against the open book, sleeping soundly as a log.
“Hey.”
“………”
“Go inside and sleep.”
She was too far gone to hear his voice.
Oscar sighed and gently lifted the child’s body, cradling her carefully in his arms.
As he supported her back and legs and stood, her head suddenly dropped backward.
“Oof, damn. Her neck!”
That could’ve been bad.
Startled, Oscar shifted his arms to support her head properly.
“Sleep like you mean it, don’t you. Not even a stir.”
Seeing her face with her mouth hanging open, clearly deep in dreamland, Oscar chuckled softly.
He walked carefully into the bedroom and laid the child on the bed.
After pulling the blanket over her and even brushing a stray strand of hair from her open mouth, he….
‘She’s beautiful.’
All at once, Lilis’s healthy, rosy complexion struck him as lovely.
When she’d been the emperor’s puppet, the child had been foolishly bright enough, but her hollow cheeks and vacant eyes had always pained him.
She’d been like a doll that did nothing but breathe.
Now, at last, she seemed to overflow with vitality—truly alive.
Laughing, crying, pouting….
Speaking well, expressing her feelings without hesitation….
With her father—the one she’d yearned for so much—at her side every day, she seemed happier than anyone.
Watching the child grow strong and whole like this swelled something in Oscar’s chest.
It couldn’t be otherwise.
To see her live so ordinarily, so healthily, so happily….
For just this sight alone.
He’d thrown away everything he had.
“So live a long, long time.”
Ideally she’d avoid trouble altogether, but unfortunately she was far from ordinary, so that seemed unlikely.
“Cleaning up your messes? What’s hard about that?”
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.
So I just hope you’ll grow up healthy, just like your father wishes.
“Sleep well.”
With a gentle smile, Oscar lightly touched her cheek and left the room.
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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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