My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 255

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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 255
* * *
On the way to work.
The capital at dawn teemed with people rushing out to start their day.
That’s why carriages were a slight inconvenience, and since it was a twenty-minute walk to the Magic Tower, I usually went on foot.
“Dad, are you dropping me off again today?”
“Of course.”
My father’s workplace was the site of the old Imperial Palace. Now it served as a council chamber where noble representatives gathered daily to conduct administrative affairs.
To abolish the monarchy that had controlled the nation for eighteen centuries and establish new foundations, naturally, it required painstaking effort over a long time.
Three years had brought many changes, but we were still far from finished. You might call it a transitional period.
“Oh! Miss, good morning! I see you’re heading to work. And greetings to you as well, Your Grace?”
A familiar face greeted Father and me on our way.
It was Aelmen, the vice-guildmaster of the mercenary guild Lilis’s Strays.
“Aelmen, hello! Yes, I’m heading in. I’m working late today, so could you tell Jem I’m sorry I can’t make our group gathering?”
“Oh my, he was looking forward to it. What a shame. I’ll let him know.”
Ranks had completely disappeared, but noble titles still remained.
Now, in this fallen empire, a “title” was a symbol earned by ability users as the price of their sacrifice on the battlefield. That much deserved clear respect.
But title inheritance was abolished, and while we still used titles like “Duke” and “Princess,” they no longer determined social standing.
“You’re working late tonight? We can’t have dinner together afterward?”
Father asked with obvious disappointment after overhearing my conversation with Aelmen.
“Yeah, I’m working late….”
Just thinking about it made me tired.
“The Magic Tower Master tore apart the exam I spent a whole month making. Said it was too easy and told me to bring a new one by tomorrow.”
“What? You mean… the exam used for hiring new researchers? The math problems you wrote?”
“Yeah.”
Six months ago, the Magic Tower had held a very peaceful and democratic secret ballot to elect its leader.
With emphasis on contributions and genius, Hans and I made it to the final round, and I lost by exactly one vote.
Exactly one vote.
And that one vote was mine—because I’d written Hans’s name!
And now I deeply regretted writing his name!
Why?
“That guy’s a total dictator, Dad!”
Hans Wever!
With no concern for the researchers’ welfare, he constantly forced overtime—he was Oscar Manuel the Second!
Now that the number of ability users was dwindling.
Magic would slowly fade, and ordinarily the Magic Tower should follow suit, but no.
Before Healing Magic disappeared entirely, we faced the crucial task of developing medical science.
Based on the many Magic Formulas Oscar had left behind, the Magic Tower was expanding its focus to research in physical medicine.
So as time passed, the Magic Tower researchers would probably transition to becoming physicians.
The Tower’s power would continue, and the tyranny of its despot, Master Hans Wever, would persist…….
“Lilis, if you were born a genius, you have an obligation to act voluntarily. This is ultimately about saving lives—you can’t make that minimal effort?”
Faced with Hans’s words as he forced the overtime on me, I could only keep silent.
His tyranny was somehow self-sacrificing and good-hearted(?), so if I objected, it felt like I was the one becoming the villain….
“I mean, how great does a problem need to be that you have to work late? If you make it that hard, will anyone even pass? I heard all twenty people who took the researcher exam last month failed, and people are talking about it?”
Seeing his daughter struggling, Father got upset.
The Magic Tower gave anyone “smart enough” a chance to enter, but the hiring difficulty had become far more brutal than when Oscar was master.
Well, it had to be.
‘We can’t just make anyone a physician.’
Since I fully agreed that the entrance exam needed to be quite rigorous, I simply sighed instead of arguing.
Still, working late really is annoying.
“I should’ve been Magic Tower Master!”
Today I was missing the Training Institute graduation class gathering where I’d see Jem, Rom, Gerard, and Cheshire all in one place.
“Hans Wever, you dictator! What do you think you are, Oscar Manuel?”
As I vented my frustration after arriving at the Magic Tower, Father, who had been patting my shoulder, suddenly stopped.
“Right, today was the day, wasn’t it?”
“What day?”
“The day the Magic Tower Master’s Geis breaks.”
“Oh, yeah.”
September 4th, 1789.
It was the day Oscar cast the Regression Magic, and the day he would pay its price.
“…Will he come back?”
“Of course.”
“That’s a problem. I wish I didn’t know the exact date. Since I can’t help thinking the Tower Master might return, I’ll probably end up studying every unfamiliar face I see.”
“Don’t do that. You’ll kill yourself.”
“Right.”
“Still, once you come back, I’ll be able to see with my own eyes how serious the Restriction is. I’ll find a way somehow!”
Father laughed at me, fist clenched with determination, but his expression remained clouded with worry.
“Dad, could you stop worrying so hard? Something this simple…”
I looked at my bracelet.
One second.
“Takes barely a second.”
“All right, go ahead.”
“Red Sun!”
Snap!
I flicked my fingers against his face, and Father flinched.
“Hehe, James.”
I greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.
“I love you. Thank you for your work today.”
* * *
The Primera Duchy, capital city of Romwell.
The Administrative Affairs Bureau, where all manner of civic petitions are processed.
A man stood at the immigration registration counter.
The man was from the Karta Kingdom in the southern continent, but now he was waiting to receive citizenship papers after passing a rigorous immigration review.
“James Grey?”
When the clerk approached the counter with several documents and an identification card, calling out the name, the man—James Grey—flinched.
‘Damn it, I should have picked a different name.’
Given that he couldn’t afford to let anyone suspect his true identity, choosing the name “James Grey” was frankly insane.
He knew the name “James”—which had once been his father’s alias—would carry special weight for her.
But, paradoxical as it was…
He’d chosen it precisely because he wanted it to mean something to her.
‘It’s fine. There must be dozens of Jameses. Nine out of every ten people on the street are probably named James.’
Besides, the man intended to return to the Magic Tower anyway.
Right—so he could say he’d already steeled himself long ago to wade boldly into this minefield.
The man, James, accepted his new identification with that thought in mind.
“Congratulations, James Grey—welcome to Romwell citizenship!”
“Welcome!”
“Welcome!”
“…?”
Clerks from the other windows waved their hands cheerfully and laughed in unison.
What was this? It seemed to be some sort of manual for welcoming new immigrants who’d received citizenship…
‘Clowns. What is this, a playground? If you’re going to be a bureaucrat, at least keep quiet and focus on processing paperwork properly.’
He almost said it aloud.
James kept his mouth shut.
Hadn’t he spent three years of soul-grinding effort trying to break himself of this habit—this twitching, perpetually critical manner of speaking, as distinctive as a fingerprint?
“…Thank you.”
In the end, James answered politely.
“Our Romwell has excellent support policies for immigrant housing. You can receive consultation at window three.”
“No need.”
“Pardon? Have you already arranged accommodation?”
“No. The Magic Tower provides housing for its researchers, doesn’t it? I understand there’s a regular recruitment exam for Tower researchers in four days. Once I pass that, housing won’t be necessary.”
“…?”
The clerk’s eyes widened. Then, looking confused, she tilted her head.
“Um, is the Magic Tower…a place you can just enter by taking an exam?”
“…”
“Oh! Yes, then! If you ever need housing support benefits later, please feel free to visit us again!”
“Yes, thank you. Have a good day.”
James gathered his documents and identification and left the administrative bureau.
The bustling capital city.
In the three years he’d been away, much had changed here.
I’d heard rumors of upheaval, but seeing it with my own eyes was something else entirely.
The most striking thing was that despite seeing people dressed in clearly noble, expensive clothes, there were no familiar scenes of commoners kneeling and bowing to them in the street.
‘Strange.’
James pulled the hood of his white Robe over his head and began walking, eager to find a temporary inn where he could stay.
Not that anyone would recognize him, but the nervousness had gotten to him anyway.
Thud—
After walking for a while through the crowded capital, he inevitably collided with someone’s shoulder.
“Oh my!”
A woman’s voice, pitched high.
From James’s downturned gaze, he caught sight of an expensive-looking dress hem.
Clearly noble attire.
‘Do you have eyes on the soles of your feet? If you can’t dodge something even after seeing it, why not just pluck them out and be done with it?’
…or so he almost said.
“…I apologize.”
James gritted his teeth and bowed his head.
The other person had charged forward without looking, but they were still noble-born.
He’d heard things had changed a great deal, but only three years had passed.
A noble apologizing to a commoner was supposed to be impossible.
“I’m so sorry!”
…and yet here it was.
“Are you all right?”
Only then did James lift his downturned gaze and see the woman’s face.
And when his eyes drifted further, catching the face of the man whose arm she was linked through—
‘Damn it!’
He whirled his head away in shock.
A strikingly handsome man with brilliant golden hair.
Unmistakably one of the twins—Lilis’s cousin, Prince Antrace.
Their faces were so ridiculously identical that he couldn’t tell which one, but he was certain.
‘Okay, okay. Stay calm.’
James took a deep breath.
His heart hammered against his ribs—he’d never expected to run into someone he knew the moment he arrived in the capital.
‘Besides, he won’t recognize me anyway.’
He’d worked out the principle of the Geis well enough.
Unless someone said to him, “Take a good, careful look at what my face actually looks like,” those who knew him wouldn’t recognize James’s features.
They would perceive only an ordinary face they were meeting for the first time.
James steadied himself and slowly turned his head back.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Even as Prince Antrace held his gaze directly, he looked exactly as unconcerned as before—nothing remarkable about his expression.
“No, I’m fine. Please, go ahead.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So sorry.”
The two of them turned and left.
“Erika, watch where you’re going. You keep staring at my face and that’s why you keep bumping into people.”
“But you’re so handsome I can’t help but keep looking!”
James watched until the pair’s chattering figures disappeared from sight.
‘Looks like he’s in love. Youth, the best of times.’
His next steps felt considerably lighter.
‘I was such a coward for nothing. It’s not a big deal.’
Now that he’d encountered someone he knew and survived it, navigating this minefield didn’t seem so impossible after all.
With a quiet laugh, James—
no, Oscar Manuél—boldly pulled the hood back from his Robe.
‘Wait for me, Master! Your student is coming!’

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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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