My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 183

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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 hiding his strength
Chapter 183
“Magic Tower Master.”
……
“Listen here.”
Oscar seemed to recognize that Enoch was about to scold him, so he simply ignored the remark and looked away.
“Why do you have to lie about everything? If you have something like this, just tell me the truth. What would I say? I’m disappointed, honestly?”
……
“Stop hiding your strength already!”
“Alright, alright! I get it!”
Oscar yelped loudly.
“I’m not a kid, so quit nagging!”
“Is this nagging? Don’t I need to know how strong our side is?”
“Ugh, seriously. King of the nags. How does our little princess put up with this father of hers for twenty-four hours straight?”
“Well, our princess doesn’t tell lies every time she opens her mouth like the Magic Tower Master does.”
“Yes, yes. I understand.”
Oscar stopped fiddling with his ear and frowned as he surveyed the now-quiet island.
“Don’t tell me that’s all there was. You’re saying all those soldiers died just because of a few Mole Spiders popping up from the ground?”
“Those ‘just a few’ Mole Spiders you just said were gross as hell—”
“That’s not the point. I counted them myself, so the other guys must be weak. Anyway, when we get home, I’m definitely telling the kid all about this.”
Oscar cut off Enoch’s words and rested his elbow on the other man’s shoulder, preening.
“All those monsters here? Not Father—your Master caught every last one. Got it?”
“Sure, I’ll do that.”
Enoch grinned broadly—
“Gross! It’s so gross!”
—and mimicked Oscar from moments earlier when he’d been fussing so dramatically.
“And I’ll make sure to repeat every word of all that whining too.”
“Are you insane?! Say a word and you’re done for, I’m telling you!”
Oscar’s face went pale as he shouted.
Enoch chuckled as he teased him, then spoke softly.
“Magic Tower Master.”
“What?”
Enoch’s eyes, suddenly grave, gazed toward the distant sky.
The moment Oscar followed his gaze—
an ominous cry echoed from the darkened ridge of the mountain.
“Please don’t tell me we’re just getting started.”
“That’s exactly it.”
Enoch grinned and immediately drew his sword.
At the same time, Flying Demon Beasts concealed in the forest spread their broad wings beneath the moonlight and took flight.
“Hell.”
Oscar muttered under his breath, rubbing his face.
“Why did I even come here to ask for trouble…?”
“Let’s go! The night’s young!”
Enoch shouted with enthusiasm.
* * *
“Has a tall, muscular, handsome gentleman stayed here? He has black hair and purple eyes.”
“We don’t have any guests like that.”
The innkeeper shook his head.
I sagged my shoulders and shook my head at Cheshire, who stood behind me.
We left the inn.
That was seventeen dead ends already.
“Where on earth could Uncle be hiding?”
“Let’s head back. You look exhausted.”
“No! I’m fine!”
I said confidently, but after searching Jedo thoroughly for nearly half a day, I was indeed tired.
“He didn’t use a Warp Gate, so he has to be somewhere on the island….”
Jedo was vast.
It was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
“How long did the Duke say it would take?”
“Father? About two weeks?”
In the Original Story, Enoch Rubinstein had returned after subduing the Moarte Archipelago in a fortnight.
“But he said since he has a teleportation spell, he could come and go, so he’d sleep at home during the day. Apparently the monsters don’t come out when the sun is up.”
“Right. Then let’s head back for today. Tomorrow when the Duke arrives, I’ll go look for him alone.”
Cheshire, brimming with stamina, seemed eager to search for Axion further, but kept urging me toward home as if my wellbeing weighed on his mind.
“If you’re that worried about it… would you rather I keep searching alone? I’m really fine to keep wandering around, but since you keep fussing over me, I’ll just go home.”
“No. I won’t have you alone at home.”
Cheshire shook his head firmly.
I should have seen that coming.
‘This overprotectiveness is suffocating.’
And it wasn’t just Cheshire.
Father was the same way. So was Axion.
Even when I was safely tucked away at home, burrowed deep under my blankets, not one of them could rest easy.
Especially not after I’d been dragged before the Emperor in the blink of an eye.
“Let’s go home.”
“Cheshire, but then….”
Shameless as it was, if he’d clocked out by now, I was about to say I’d go wait at Oscar’s place instead.
“That’s right! Wait, am I an idiot?”
A brilliant idea suddenly struck me.
Why on earth had I been running around on foot searching for Uncle all this time?
“Ahahahaha!”
“…?”
“Sir Cheshire, do you know who I am!”
I placed my hands on my hips and assumed what I hoped was a rather dignified expression.
Cheshire tilted his head in confusion.
“I am one who can accomplish anything!”
“Oh.”
As understanding dawned on him and he let out a small cry of realization, I smiled at him and looked down at my bracelet.
‘Finding Uncle in the archipelago! For me, it’s easier than eating soup!’
Location Tracking—how hard could it possibly be….
2 years
“…?”
Right, Axion was a DOS too.
I’d forgotten for a moment because the people around me were all so absurdly powerful.
Embarrassed at my own swagger, I stammered out an apology.
“Sorry, Cheshire. Uncle’s pretty strong….”
“…No.”
“Ahem, well then. I’ll just go wait for my teacher….”
* * *
Walking toward Oscar’s office with Cheshire, who thought it best to at least inform him before leaving me in his care.
Every time Cheshire met Oscar, his expression darkened as if he were a daughter-in-law enduring her mother-in-law’s scrutiny.
“Is hiding your strength fun for you? Be honest—you’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Is that what this is? Huh?”
“Wow, talk about relentless! I said stop it already! We caught him, so that should be the end of it. Why do you keep nagging! How much longer is this going to go on!”
We froze as we walked down the quiet corridor.
Father and Oscar were standing just outside his office, their voices raised in heated argument.
“Father?”
“Huh? Princess?”
Father’s face split into a grin and he rushed toward me in three great strides.
“What? Princess, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see my teacher. Father, what about you? Why are you here?”
The middle of the night.
The golden hour for the subjugation of the Moarte Archipelago’s demon beasts, when they were at their most active.
So why was Father here at this hour?
“You didn’t go today? Or—don’t tell me the monsters were too strong? So you retreated for now?”
“Your father?”
Father chuckled.
“Your old man doesn’t know the word retreat. Does such a thing even exist in your father’s vocabulary?”
That expression….
‘He’s bragging? That’s not like Father at all.’
But it doesn’t matter.
Everyone carries a measure of bluster and self-aggrandizement, large or small.
Right now, what my daughter needed to do was praise and boost her father up!
“Father, that’s amazing! You fought well out there!”
“Well, well. Princess, now I understand why you said it took your old man a fortnight.”
“Why?”
“The Demon Beasts had intelligence. Quite high intelligence, too. When they sensed the difference in power, they’d hide, you see?”
“Oh!”
I grasped the meaning at once and nodded.
So in the Original Story, the reason the Moarte Archipelago Subjugation took a fortnight was….
‘Father was so strong that the Demon Beasts hid, and he spent most of the time waiting for them to come back out.’
True to form—the protagonist indeed!
“Your Grace, I shall join the expedition as well. It shouldn’t take a fortnight with my assistance.”
It was then that Cheshire, who had been listening, spoke up.
“Ah, Cheshire! That’s not really—”
“There’s no need.”
Oscar suddenly shoved my father aside and stepped in front of Cheshire.
He spread both arms wide and thrust his chin up arrogantly.
“Because there’s nothing left there anymore.”
“…Huh?”
“Thanks to the magnificent exploits of the great Oscar Mauel, the Demon Beasts there have been completely exterminated as of today.”
What was he talking about?
Cheshire and I exchanged bewildered glances.
“Wait, what? Master, you went along with Father?”
“I did. When I tagged along, your father’s grin stretched from ear to ear.”
“It didn’t quite reach the ears, though.”
That tone, that voice.
‘Oscar’s bragging too!’
I suddenly understood why Father had tried to show off earlier.
They both wanted to tell us—’I’m the stronger one’—and prove their own exploits!
“Master, you’re incredible! I was so worried about Father, but thank you so much! You’re the best!”
“Ha ha ha ha!”
I grabbed Oscar around the waist and embraced him. His shoulders rose with pride.
“But what do you mean by ‘completely exterminated’? You didn’t catch all the monsters, did you?”
“Of course.”
Oscar patted my head while making a flicking gesture toward my father with his other hand.
“We agreed, didn’t we? That you’d tell the girl all about my exploits in detail?”
“Sigh.”
Father exhaled and spoke with obvious reluctance.
“…Fine, yes. Without the Magic Tower Master, I really would have taken a fortnight by myself.”
“Is that all?”
As Oscar glared at him, Father opened his mouth half-heartedly.
“Well, yes. A Flying Demon Beast showed up—flying ones look like birds, you see. They’re hard to catch because they fly around, but with the Magic Tower Master there, it was easy. He used Sealing Magic at the right moment as soon as it came into attack range.”
“…What is Sealing Magic?”
Cheshire asked, confused. Father broke into a bright smile.
“You don’t know either? I don’t know either. Because I saw it for the first time today. I came back having witnessed five types of magic I’ve never even heard of before.”
“What?”
“I learned for the first time that Flying Demon Beasts could be caught so easily.”
Though Father’s tone was somewhat sarcastic, Oscar simply laughed with an ever-more puffed-up expression.
“Next came a Breeding Demon Beast. They’re the type that multiply immediately when attacked, so you can’t strike recklessly….”
“You just eliminate them all at once before they can multiply, right? Hm?”
Oscar’s shoulders, as he interrupted Father, now rose all the way to the heavens.
“I explained that they become troublesome when they multiply, and the Magic Tower Master disposed of them in a single strike.”
“Really? This isn’t a lie—it’s all true?”
Watching my admiration, Father puckered his lips and nodded.
“Wow, Master is the best! Isn’t he stronger than Father?”
“Aha ha ha!”
Seizing the moment, I jabbed Cheshire in the ribs.
Get your points in now.
“Truly astounding. The Magic Tower Master is the most capable person. I would have been helpless if it were me.”
Quick-witted as ever, flattery poured from Cheshire’s mouth like a vending machine dispensing Oscar’s praises.
“Ha ha ha! Indeed, no matter how strong you sword-wielders are, you can’t stand against this man, eh?”
Oscar, grown utterly insufferable with pride, added a comment as he looked at me.
“Now do you see how strong I am? You always mocked me, said I had no muscle, that I was pathetic because I was always clutching a pen—can’t even lift you with one arm like your father does, sweating bullets the whole time, right?”
“…?! When did I ever say that? I never said anything like that.”
What’s with this persecution complex?
Oscar must have been harboring those thoughts all on his own.
No wonder he’d been shooting me resentful glares every time Father lifted me in his arms.
“Oh, that’s right! There were also Ambush Demon Beasts, princess.”
That’s when Father interjected.
In an instant, Oscar’s expression went rigid.
“You know, the kind that hide in the ground and suddenly burst out to attack?”
“Excuse me, hold on.”
Oscar suddenly spun toward Father with an urgent look.
Father took a step or two backward, his voice brimming with mischief.
“These spider-like monsters suddenly jump out, and the princess’s teacher got so frightened—oohhhhh~~~”
“Noooooo!”
Oscar’s face flushed crimson as he lunged forward and clamped his hand over Father’s mouth.
“Mmph.”
“I never said that, you jerk! (I never said that!)”

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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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