My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 164

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

Father Conceals His Strength
164
Oscar continued, irritation creeping into his voice.
“Ah, forget it. The moment we reach the village, I’m grabbing the kid and bolting. You saw her yourself, didn’t you? She can barely walk, she’s gasping for breath—her condition’s terrible.”
…….
“If she collapses on us, what then? We need to take her while she’s still got some stamina left, while she can actually move.”
Good God.
Take me while I can still move?
Me?
The moment it became ninety-nine percent certain that the conversation was about human trafficking or abduction, the world went white before my eyes.
“Let’s just keep watching for now.”
“Phew. Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“If I get tired, I’ll go inside and rest. I need to stay here.”
“There are guards posted everywhere. What’s the point?”
“The child might need to relieve herself while sleeping. Someone has to follow her.”
……!
If I’d gone out, it would’ve been disaster.
Soon after, Ska clicked his tongue disapprovingly and seemed to head into the tent, and their conversation ended.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. I lay awake with my eyes open until dawn.
* * *
Five in the morning.
The pilgrims had begun stirring, busily preparing to depart again.
“Cheshire!”
The moment daylight broke, I scurried straight over to the guard captain.
“What is it?”
When I reported every word of the suspicious conversation between the two priests, Cheshire looked startled.
He quickly checked the pilgrimage roster.
“…Both belong to the Argonian Temple. Their credentials are registered normally. They submitted their temple identification before we departed.”
“Is there any chance they’re impersonating priests? Without portraits or anything, there’s no way to verify, right?”
“But that seems unlikely….”
Cheshire gestured with his chin toward my back.
Rick and Ska were there.
“Oh my, the Argonian priests have come as well? It’s been so long. Such a difficult journey must be taxing for men of your years, yet you both seem as vigorous and devoted as ever.”
“Hehe, it’s been quite a while….”
I watched Rick exchange warm greetings with the priests from the other temple.
“The people from the temple who’ve had dealings with them before—they clearly recognize these two priests’ faces.”
“…You’re right.”
Their identities are confirmed.
Then perhaps I was mistaken?
No!
“No, no—Cheshire, no matter how I think about it, that conversation couldn’t be misunderstood.”
“I agree.”
Grabbing me and bolting, carrying me off to the village—
How could that conversation possibly be interpreted any other way?
As I wrestled with my thoughts, Cheshire shot to his feet as if ready to draw his blade that very instant.
“Why, why? What are you going to do?”
“Interrogate them.”
“Wait!”
“Verified credentials don’t mean there’s no possibility of crime. If what you heard is accurate, those priests definitely have ulterior motives.”
“I think so too. But we can’t question them openly right now. Apart from the conversation you overheard, we don’t have concrete evidence, and if the guard suddenly interrogates priests, it’ll make everyone else anxious.”
“Then you’re just going to leave them alone?”
“That’s why—not now….”
I leaned close to Cheshire’s ear and whispered my plan.
* * *
Rest time.
Lilis, as always, clung snugly to Cheshire’s side, while Enoch kept watch over his daughter from nearby.
I glanced over casually and waved with a smile.
‘My, my, our princess. Her wariness is quite….’
He flinched and hastily looked away.
Even so, Enoch wore a contented expression, resting his chin in his palm as he gazed at his daughter.
‘Our princess is quite industrious.’
Lilis did something deliberately during every rest stop.
She’d scrutinize each pilgrim’s face one by one, glance at the bracelet on her right wrist, and scribble notes on the paper she was holding.
Enoch grasped her intent immediately.
‘She’s checking if anyone in the pilgrimage group is ill.’
Lilis’s ultimate goal was to solve the epidemic afflicting the people of Mollek Village.
She’d told him she wanted to hold back on using her abilities as much as possible, and if she could, to identify the root cause of the epidemic.
‘Our princess truly….’
A swell of pride caught in his throat, when he noticed Oscar beside him nervously gnawing at his fingernails.
“That bracelet thing keeps nagging at me. What scheme is she cooking up this time?”
Enoch flinched.
‘If Oscar finds out why the princess is going to Mollek, he’ll have a fit.’
Oscar despised Lilis using her powers with a pathological intensity.
More precisely, he hated her expending her Life Force to save others.
His daughter needed to use her abilities if she wanted to grow like everyone else, but….
“Are you insane?! You again? Didn’t I tell you to stop doing that?!”
“I said don’t take the child to where commoners are! Do you want me to burn the whole place down?!”
Each time, Oscar’s eyes would roll back and he’d shriek at her.
He’d taught Lilis never to use her own power to help others.
When she’d push back that she had to use it eventually, his only answer was to burn it into empty air instead.
It wasn’t a flaw of character.
He was wary of Lilis becoming accustomed to self-sacrifice.
‘I worry about that too.’
When everything ends, and the day comes when she doesn’t have to force her life away…?
Would Lilis then turn away from those she could save with her power?
For now Enoch respected his daughter’s choices, but it was something he grappled with as well.
“I said I’d take the child with me when we arrive at the village tomorrow.”
As Oscar spoke, Enoch frowned and turned to face him.
“Don’t do that. What am I supposed to do about the aftermath?”
“I found out you can withdraw midway if you get sick or something.”
“…Oh, really? No, still no good. We have to respect the princess’s wishes. Why else would I have sent you here….”
At Enoch’s evasion, Oscar’s eyes sharpened.
“There’s a reason you have to go all the way to Mollek, isn’t there? Are you going to keep dodging the question?”
Enoch glanced away.
Since he’d evaded the answer multiple times, Oscar had naturally caught on that something was amiss.
That’s why Oscar had stubbornly tagged along when Enoch said he’d go alone.
“Look, I can only wait until tomorrow evening.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“By then my mana will be depleted.”
“Depleted? Why?”
Enoch tilted his head in confusion.
“You’re maintaining this dirt-cheap Transformation Magic right now. You might last longer, but I’ll be completely out of mana by tomorrow evening.”
“What?”
Enoch’s mouth fell open.
“But mana regenerates…?”
“Who doesn’t know mana regenerates? The depletion rate from maintaining this spell is way faster than the recovery rate!”
At his explanation, Enoch looked puzzled and focused on the Core near his heart, gauging his remaining mana.
“Oh, well.”
And he was astonished.
“Sorry, I really didn’t know. I didn’t realize this magic was so inefficient.”
“Are you stupid? Can’t you even feel that?”
“Well, I suppose I could have….”
Enoch laughed awkwardly.
“…My mana recovery rate is actually faster than my consumption rate?”
“……?”
Oscar’s eyes widened.
And soon after, he muttered incredulously.
“That guy’s actually insane….”
“What kind of Magic Tower Master can only last four days?”
At Enoch’s murmur, Oscar bristled.
“You call that a cost-effective spell? Don’t judge everyone by your own monster standards!”
“Exactly! You can’t measure everything by your own yardstick. Now you understand how I feel? You see? Stop dismissing other people as fools just because they’re different.”
“Hmph.”
Oscar covered his face with his hand and sighed.
Enoch watched him, wrestling with a thought.
‘But tomorrow evening? How am I supposed to manage that? This is serious.’
Whenever Lilis wanted to do something, she needed to tell Oscar about it too.
Oscar deserved to know.
He had every right to worry about the child, every right to have a say in her upbringing.
Ever since learning of Oscar’s sacrifice, Enoch had held fast to this conviction.
“Then let’s do this.”
Enoch spoke quietly after a moment.
“When we arrive at the village, I’ll go tell the head priest that our deputy is withdrawing midway. You go to Lilis and tell her the truth, and then—”
* * *
Holy Pilgrimage, evening of the third day.
On schedule, the pilgrimage party arrived at their first lodging place, Ragoda Domain.
The pilgrimage party, having rented the largest inn in the village in its entirety, waited at the building entrance for their room assignments.
‘Where is she?’
Among the crowd, Oscar searched for Lilis.
Enoch had gone to tell the administrative priest about Oscar’s withdrawal, and—
“—ask him directly why he wants to go all the way to Mollek Village, and respect the child’s wishes. If she wants to keep going, don’t try to force her to stop.”
Oscar intended to follow through on Enoch’s plan and speak with Lilis.
‘Damn it, there’s barely any time left.’
Oscar felt uneasy.
They’d arrived at the village later than expected, and his Mana was nearly depleted.
‘There, I see her.’
Oscar spotted Lilis’s pale hair and reached out—
“……?”
But a firm hand seized his arm first.
It was Cheshire.
“What the—”
Cheshire fixed him with a sharp look, then quietly drew him away into a secluded corner.
“Let go. What are you—”
Without waiting for an answer, he handed Oscar over to two escort knights.
“Don’t make a scene. Keep watch over him until I return.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Yes, understood.”
At Cheshire’s command, the two escorts quickly dragged Oscar away.
* * *
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and two expressionless guards planted themselves firmly in front of it.
‘What in the world is happening?’
In a different inn to the right of the pilgrimage party’s lodging.
Hauled all the way to the uppermost floor, Oscar found himself bewildered.
“Oh, Deputy! Did you come to get me?”
Enoch, apparently already detained, approached him with relief.
“No. I’ve been taken too.”
“What?”
Enoch frowned and pressed his hand to his forehead.
He then turned to the guards and asked, “Could you let me step out for a moment?”
“That is not possible. By order of the escort commander, both priests of the Argonian Temple must remain here.”
“There seems to be some misunderstanding. Let me speak with the commander directly.”
“Yes, please wait. The escort commander will come here shortly after finishing the room assignments for the pilgrimage party.”
Enoch looked anxious, running his fingers through his hair as he gazed out the window.
The room assignments appeared nearly complete; few members of the pilgrimage party remained visible outside.
Cheshire would arrive soon enough, but the problem was—
“What on earth is going on?” Oscar whispered.
“I don’t know. I was just grabbed out of nowhere. Cheshire said something about wanting to interrogate me over some suspicious matter, but—”

“…? What could possibly go wrong? I’ve made all the preparations thoroughly.”
“That’s what I’m saying! But more than that—”
Enoch swallowed hard and lowered his voice to barely a whisper.
“…How much time do we have left?”
Oscar’s Mana would run dry soon.
That was the problem.
If the magic collapsed while these unfamiliar guards stood planted before them….
“About ten minutes.”
At Oscar’s words, Enoch’s eyes widened in alarm.

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