My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 160

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

Father Hiding His Power
Chapter 160
Oscar silenced them all in a single moment.
Enoch looked around in shock, watching the faces of everyone around him darken as they absorbed Oscar’s revelation.
‘A favor, he says….’
It was as shocking as Oscar’s newfound candor today.
But the heart of a parent raising a child knew no exceptions—Enoch lacked the conscience to add another word.
Was he not the same man who had decided on a conquest war at the Emperor’s behest, simply to keep his daughter off the battlefield?
‘Sigh.’
Enoch simply swallowed his breath.
‘He really is doing it all alone…. I’m not even needed….’
For all his earlier confidence, Oscar had truly managed everything without needing Enoch’s help at all.
From the start of negotiations, seizing the commanders’ weaknesses and securing the upper hand….
“Where was I? Ah, yes. The Rubinstein princess. Unlike those self-proclaimed geniuses with decent intellect who came to the Magic Tower riding on parental influence, she’s the real thing—a true genius.”
Oscar continued with a smile.
“I’d really like to bring her in. I’ve been working day and night providing you all with Magical Formulas, and I’m a bit worried about dying young…. I’ll need talented successors, won’t I?”
Enoch’s brow narrowed slightly as he listened in silence.
Dying young? Why did he have to say something so inauspicious?
“In any case. Everyone here knows the connection between the Rubinstein princess and Theo Antrase. When my cousin went out on his first Elite Force campaign, he was worried, so I said I’d help if anything happened. That’s all. Any problems?”
Silence from all present.
Unlike before, the commanders who now had their weaknesses exposed had nothing to say.
“I… see. I understand why you helped Theo. We know how hard you work, so we’d like to help you avoid punishment if possible….”
…What is this old man saying? Help? As if. He would’ve happily destroyed me if he could.
Oscar watched Jillian coldly as the man spoke with greatly diminished authority.
“If there was a magic that could save wounded soldiers in a Mortal State, you should’ve naturally shared it. What reason was there to hide it? This is already known to His Majesty the Emperor, so if you have no valid justification, we can’t help you either!”
“Robel.”
“Yes, Tower Master.”
Oscar called for his Advisor.
Robel then brought a cage containing a single Yellow Canary and white gloves to the center table of the conference hall.
Oscar put on the gloves and pulled the bird from the cage, infusing it with mana.
At the same moment—
“Ugh!”
“No, wait! Tower Master! There are people here with weak stomachs—give us some warning…!”
—the poor canary’s body burst apart, crumbling.
Everyone’s faces contorted as they watched the bird gasping with barely a breath left in it.
“Don’t look away. Watch closely.”
Oscar’s expression never changed as he infused mana once more into the dying life on his blood-stained glove.
Soon, everyone held their breath.
As if it had never gasped for air, the yellow-furred bird instantly returned to its original form and beat its wings with vigor.
The canary fluttered through the conference hall’s empty air.
“The core principle is Regression. Unless the organs are completely lost, it restores the creature to its state before fatal injury and brings it back to life.”
Everyone’s jaws dropped in shock.
Regression….
This wasn’t even the concept of healing.
It was nothing short of a revolutionary magic that even dared to encroach upon the realm of the divine.
“Magnificent, Tower Master!”
It was then that Ulian, the Holy Seal Order Commander, spoke with an overwhelmed expression.
“It’s not mere Healing Magic. This approaches the realm of the divine—something that can even defy destiny itself.”
While all agreed, Oscar alone hesitated.
Destiny….
It was a word that had troubled him these past few days.
“Master…. Actually, what if…. What if a person’s destiny is already determined? What if, no matter how hard I try to do something…. it doesn’t work?”
Lilis had worried about this very thing the whole time they’d been together.
He’d dismissed her concerns, saying not to talk nonsense, and reassured her by pointing out that he’d saved Theo after all….
‘But what if it really is that way?’
In truth, Oscar was unsettled too.
The fact that Theo had been wounded at the very moment he was supposed to die seemed, no matter how he thought about it, too much of a coincidence.
‘Then you….’
A world that desired Primera’s complete annihilation.
And Lilis, who had died at merely seventeen years old.
Even if I end everything, what if this world doesn’t want your existence?
Because then I won’t be here either….
I won’t be able to help.
Thump.
Oscar grabbed his own head in agitation, as though trying to tear it off.
“God, damn it….”
The raw curse that tumbled out of nowhere made everyone gathered in the conference chamber stare in shock.
* * *
Destiny.
A truly terrifying word.
‘What if I can’t change anything?’
At first, I thought the reason I remembered my past life was God’s arrangement—to save someone who would otherwise die pitifully—but….
‘I only remember because Oscar made me remember when he performed the Regression.’
I wasn’t as special as I’d believed.
Honestly, whether the past life and the Original Story were real or just products of Primera’s ability—I had no way to be certain….
So if Theo could avoid getting sick until he was sixteen, but then had to die on the day fate decreed?
“Ugh. This is absolutely horrible. Seriously!”
I tugged at my hair.
“No. This isn’t the time for this….”
I opened a thick book.
After what happened with Theo, I’d gone to the Central Temple with Father in my anxiety and borrowed this Holy Scripture.
The book that Father and Cheshire had relied on most in the Original Story.
In the Original Story, it was only described as—
‘According to the Holy Scripture….’
‘The Sacred Object mentioned in the Scripture….’
‘Following the Scripture’s account….’
Because the text had been written so vaguely, I knew nothing of the Scripture’s actual details.
So I’d borrowed it hoping to find out something by reading it directly….
“What’s with the font size?”
Maybe I should just ask Father to read it to me?
The tiny letters made me reluctant to even try reading it.
“Ugh.”
Still, as I persisted in flipping through, I discovered something rather interesting.
It was a section related to Sacred Objects.
[Judge’s Sword.
A revelation received by Lupacio, High Priest of the Central Temple, on the eighth day of the eighth month in Imperial Year 465.
‘In the future, I shall bestow my sword upon him, that he may strike down those tainted by evil.’]
“Wow, this is Cheshire’s…!”
The sword that killed the Emperor!
For the record, we’d already secured it four years ago.
That sword, which only Zadkiel—the Original Story’s most ‘virtuous’ character, recognized even by divinity—could wield.
‘If I hadn’t known about the Original Story, I’d have wondered what any of this meant, but now it all makes sense.’
The Scripture itself boldly calls the Emperor ‘one tainted by evil’….
[Apostle’s Heart.
A revelation received by Bermano, High Priest of the Central Temple, on the fourth day of the second month in Imperial Year 525.
‘In the future, I shall grant the heart of resurrection to a virtuous one who shall never be tainted by evil.
He shall bear the mission to protect peace—my final apostle.
The apostle who bears the heart shall become the sole Mediator of this world, capable of passing judgment upon destiny itself.’]
“Wait, this….”
A heart—something came to mind.
Four years ago, when I entered the Sacred Flame.
The Sacred Object Father came looking for to wake me.
“It looked kind of grotesque at first. It was just a stone, but when I removed the barrier, it was pulsing like an actual heart.”
I learned about it later when Father explained.
In the Original Story, that Sacred Object should have gone to Zadkiel….
To a virtuous one who would never be tainted by evil
“Right, that makes sense. If we’re talking about virtue, it should’ve belonged to Zadkiel.”
But I intercepted it.
Not on purpose….
‘Ugh. This won’t cause problems later, right?’
I can’t undo something I’ve already swallowed.
Shame stirred in me for a moment, but then—
“Wait a second….”
An Apostle bearing a heart would become the only mediator in this world capable of arbitrating fate itself.
Thump-thump.
Excitement suddenly made my chest race, so I placed a hand gently over my heart.
Capable of arbitrating fate—
Could it be that my suspicion is correct?
“Wait. I….”
A gulp of saliva went down reflexively.
“Um, it feels like I’ve just intercepted something incredibly momentous…?”
* * *
Oscar suddenly muttered a low curse, his expression contorting in distress.
“Master of the Magic Tower?”
Enoch called out to him in a worried voice.
“…Ah, forgive me. Where was I?”
“Master of the Magic Tower, if you were to share that magical formula, many lives could be saved going forward. I beseech you.”
Ulian, the commander of the Sacred Mages, spoke with bright, eager eyes.
“Well, there’s no need to beg about it. For the public good, sharing is only natural. It’s a royal decree, after all.”
Jillian countered.
Then, glancing at Oscar, he added with a theatrical cough.
“His Majesty will surely wonder why he kept this hidden… There must be a reason, yes?”
“Robel.”
“Yes, sir.”
Oscar summoned the Advisor again.
Robel immediately distributed one sheet of paper to each person present.
A magical formula was drawn upon it.
“Ah.”
“Hmm.”
Cries of alarm erupted from several corners of the room the moment they looked.
Everyone’s expression darkened, and Ulian—who had been hopeful—now looked despaired.
“…It can’t be used.”
Ulian muttered, and Oscar laughed with a faint snort.
“What you’re looking at now is based on an adult male standard. There are eighty-six magical formulas alone. Excluding fixed constant values, there are twenty-two parameters that vary depending on the patient’s organ state, location, and height. Since organ structure differs by sex, those need adjustment too.”
While everyone sat in silence, Oscar leisurely walked a full circle around the conference table as he spoke.
“The window during which a mortal’s body still holds breath is extremely narrow. Is there anyone who can, before breath stops completely, accurately ascertain every injury state of the patient’s organs and their entire bodily structure without error, place the magical formulas accordingly, visualize them in their mind, and cast it all?”
Oscar raised his hand with a smile.
Naturally, no one answered.
“Time limit: thirty minutes. Does anyone here have the ability to do it?”
There couldn’t be.
Even drawing it by hand would take over a week—the magical formula is that complex.
And even if one somehow managed to implement the formula….
“The mana cost to cast this is close to a million at minimum. Who here has that much? Me, and.”
All eyes turned to Enoch, and to Cheshire at his right.
“Those two.”
Oscar waved the paper with the magical formula drawn on it as he asked Enoch.
“Time is the critical factor here. Can you visualize it in your mind as quickly as I do and cast it before the wounded dies?”
“It would be impossible. Obviously.”
Enoch answered at once, and Oscar chuckled before returning to his seat and slumping down.
“Did I hide this because I wanted to use it alone?”
In the conference room, everyone’s mouths clamped shut like clams.
“As you can see, it’s an extremely inefficient form of magic. That’s why Primera is remarkable—not everyone can become like that.”
Oscar clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“The reason I didn’t make it public was, well, there are many… The cost to you all….”
Oscar, about to speak of the cost, paused.
It was Enoch’s gaze he happened to catch—a silent plea in his eyes.
‘Please, Master of the Magic Tower. There’s no need to make enemies of these commanders. Please, could you phrase it a bit more gently?’
That was what he was urgently saying.
“…Given your level of skill, there would be no point in making it public anyway, since you wouldn’t be able to use it even if I taught you.”
Enoch squeezed his eyes shut.
Not refined in the slightest!
“You understand?”
Oscar rose to his feet with a swagger.
“May I take my leave now? I’m an exceedingly busy man, you see.”
A true tyrant of the negotiating table!
No one could restrain Oscar, and they all let him go.
‘This is going to be a problem.’
The negotiations were Oscar’s victory, needless to say, but Enoch found himself worrying over something new.
‘If we fall out of favor with these powerful figures, there’s nothing good in it for us.’
This room held many people he would need to bring along when the time came for revolution, willing or not.
“Ah.”
Just then, Oscar—who had been about to leave—stopped short.
He turned back a few steps and tapped the table lightly, methodically.
“Look, I understand the hearts of parents who bowed their heads and whispered their requests to a young, arrogant Magic Tower Lord out of concern for their children. This wretched country is the problem, not any of you, is it?”
Everyone who had been anxious about their solicitations being exposed looked up at Oscar in surprise.
“Even if I exposed them, there’s nothing in it for me. If you want to take your secrets to the grave, just don’t provoke me while I’m minding my own business.”
At that, all of them opened their eyes wide and exchanged glances with one another.
Really…?
“Then I’ll be going. Thank you for your time.”
Oscar left the negotiating chamber.
Enoch watched the door close behind him, then smiled faintly to himself.
…Flawless.

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