My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 36

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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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Dad hides his strength
36
Despite his massive frame, the girl nestled in the man’s arms was skeletal and small.
‘This isn’t fair!’
No matter that my dad was the protagonist…
“All right, we have eleven teams participating! I’ll be handing out Participation Necklaces from A to K.”
The man who rivaled a certain celebrity was team J; my dad, who’d registered last, was team K.
Seeing us lined up like that, my competitive fire blazed even hotter.
Especially when that man’s daughter smirked mockingly at my dad.
“Dad! I’m going to get those Lala Princess Shoes!”
“Of course you will! Just trust Dad, trust Dad!”
Dad radiated confidence.
“Since we have so many participants, we need to thin the field quickly, don’t we? All right, everyone—moms and dads, please sit down and stand up with all your strength until only five teams remain! Go!”
Just as I’d expected—a test of endurance.
Each time a participant squatted and stood, the MC began counting.
“…Twenty-one! Twenty-two!”
“Heh heh. Youth’s a wonderful thing. Your stamina is impressive.”
“You’re pretty fit yourself, Billy.”
The celebrity man—or rather, Billy, who’d already exchanged names with Dad—possessed the stamina of steel, just as expected.
While everyone else gasped and heaved, he had enough breath left to chat with my father.
“Don’t give up, Dad!”
“I won’t, princess!”
I gripped James’s brown hair tightly and cheered with everything I had.
“…Thirty-seven! Stop! We have our sixth elimination! Please exit the stage. Remaining five teams, move to the center.”
Dad finally set me and Cheshire down, wiping the sweat from beneath his chin as he caught his breath.
“The next stage works the same way—sitting and standing—but we’re raising the difficulty! Fathers, spin around like an elephant’s trunk ten times right here, then pick up your children! Go!”
With the determination to hand his daughter those Lala Princess Shoes, James Brown began spinning earnestly, trunk-like.
No one could possibly imagine it.
That the Duke of Rubinstein was out here spinning like an elephant’s trunk…
Cheshire watched Dad whirl in place with concern, then asked me a question.
“Do we really need to win it? Those Lala Princess whatever shoes?”
“Sigh. It’s not about that anymore. We’ve already crossed a river we can’t return from. Now it’s about pride. I can’t lose.”
“Ugh.”
Dad finished all ten spins, shook his head sharply against the dizziness, and steeled his gaze.
“Come here, princess!”
Dad hoisted me onto his shoulders despite his wobbling, settling Cheshire in his arms.
I caught a glimpse of Billy, who seemed completely unbothered, then whispered in Dad’s ear.
“Dad, are you dizzy? Why not use a little Magic? Nobody would know.”
“What kind of talk is that, princess? Competitions should be fought fair and square.”
“Ugh.”
I should’ve known that Enoch Rubinstein—a corpse with nothing but a sense of justice—wouldn’t fall for that.
“Heh heh. You look like you’re struggling there, young man. Careful you don’t catch a cold.”
“Ha ha. Don’t worry. I’m not tired at all.”
That dishonest Billy! Acting relaxed while holding a daughter who probably weighed less than half a sack of rice!
I ground my teeth, glaring at him. Billy’s daughter met my gaze without backing down.
“All right, let’s go until only two teams remain! Sit and stand! Go!”
The MC’s resonant voice rang out across the square.
* * *
Axion’s eyes gleamed sharply as he patrolled the Commoner Residential District, where the festival was in full swing.
Of all times for children to go missing, it had to be during the Children’s Day Festival.
For the perpetrator, it was an opportunity beyond measure.
“They’re somewhere, licking their lips and savoring their next move.”
Over twenty commoner children had vanished in just a month.
The common thread: fair skin and delicate features—the kind that would fetch a good price if sold to a noble house.
Rustle.
Axion unfolded a suspect’s sketch, his expression darkening.
“Someone who looks like this…”
A vicious scar cut across his left eye.
The features were distinctive enough that it was only a matter of time before he was caught.
“…and yet we still haven’t spotted him?”
The security officers exchanged nervous glances at the sharp question.
One of them spoke hesitantly.
“Well… it’s not that we didn’t see anything, but…”
“Then what?”
The officers couldn’t answer, only trading uneasy looks with one another.
Axion scoffed at the sight.
Predictable. They’d taken bribes and turned a blind eye.
In the Commoner Residential District, where the law offered no protection, such things were hardly uncommon.
Axion glared sharply at the officers who couldn’t meet his eyes, then folded the montage with a sharp motion.
“I’ll have him arrested by my own authority. If anything happens today, catch him—and if you fail, I’ll hold you accountable.”
“Yes, yes, Your Grace!”
“Yes!”
The security officers vanished in perfect formation.
Axion moved on as well. He paused then, looking down at the Candy in his hand.
“It’s a refreshing-flavored candy. Eat it and stay strong.”
During her time at the institute, Lilith had grown well and eaten well—her complexion now far healthier than when he’d first seen her.
As for her features, she resembled her father far too much….
Like a doll that walked and talked.
‘So that’s why everyone has children.’
Axion unwrapped the candy absently and popped it into his mouth.
Then, almost unbidden, he gazed out across Festival Street—so packed and clamorous there was barely room to set foot.
‘What if.’
If the targets were refined-looking, precious children, Lilith would make an excellent mark.
But….
‘Have I grown old. Me, fretting over nothing.’
It was truly needless worry.
If anyone so much as attempted it, they’d be caught by her doting father and wouldn’t even leave bones behind.
Axion recalled the time he’d taken Lilith hostage and returned from the very threshold of hell, and he shook off his groundless concerns.
* * *
“At last, our final two remain! Billy and James! Let’s give them all a round of applause for encouragement!”
The finals, finally.
Sweat poured from him like rain, yet Enoch’s smile never wavered—and watching from the audience section where she’d come to wait, Cheshire swallowed a sigh.
Fortunately, the finals had nothing to do with stamina.
“The final game is simple! Now, in these five wooden boxes here, we have five children. I’ll ask questions that only a father and daughter—or a parent and child—could possibly answer!”
The emcee continued with a smile.
“The fathers will hear their daughters’ answers, and then you’ll guess which box contains your daughter! Fair warning though—all the children have inhaled Helium Gas, so you won’t be able to recognize them by voice!”
Enoch laughed like a villain, covering his mouth.
“Kuku… this is it. I think I’ve won. My princess knows nothing about me that she doesn’t already know.”
Billy scoffed at Enoch’s confidence.
“Hah. Is it really that easy? My Emily knows everything about me too.”
Between the two fathers, sparks flew.
“The other boxes contain the children who were eliminated earlier. All right, here comes the first question! One, two, three—answer now!”
The emcee shuffled through the paper he was holding and called out.
“What’s your father’s favorite food?!”
Enoch burst into laughter.
‘Same as my princess. Scrambled egg with tomato sauce poured over it!’
“One, two, three!”
“Dark beer!”
“Potato soup!”
“Carrot purée!”
“Chicken breast soup!”
“Sausage!”
Ding.
Enoch’s shoulders stiffened.
Billy, laughing heartily beside him, raised his hand.
“I could tell from the second question anyway—do I still get to choose?”
“Of course!”
“Wait.”
Enoch caught Billy’s arm as he strode forward.
“Brother.”
“Why?”
“Just one more question, if you don’t mind. We’ve sweated side by side—surely we can spare a moment more for camaraderie.”
“Haha! Oh, you’re a funny one! All right, I’ll allow it. Announcer! One more question!”
“How generous of you.”
Enoch sighed and spoke toward Lilith, who was hidden somewhere inside one of the boxes.
“Princess. Is Father disappointing you? How could you miss something so simple? Let’s do better next time, hmm?”
“Now for the next question! What is our Father’s shoe size?!”
The announcer shouted.
‘Excellent—a tricky one, but my daughter can’t possibly get this wrong!’
Enoch relaxed.
“One, two, three!”
“Fourteen!”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know!”
“No idea?”
“Four!”
Wrong again.
Enoch’s eyes went wide.
“No, princess?”
The fourteen-size answer had to be Billy—no question there. But the four? That must be the child who’d come with her mother.
She didn’t even know her own father’s shoe size!
And they’d been to the shoe shop countless times together!
“Hehehehe!”
“Sigh.”
A complete defeat. Billy strode over and opened the first box, and his daughter Emily burst out.
“Wow, Papa!”
“That’s my girl!”
Enoch watched the warm scene between father and daughter, then hesitated before the three remaining boxes in the middle.
‘Should I use a little magic?’
He’d considered using his mana to trace Lilith’s presence, but then he shook his head.
‘No. I should do this fairly.’
In the end, he opened the second box.
As expected, an unfamiliar boy tumbled out.
“Oh well.”
He turned away with a rueful smile, and there was Billy, nose held high in triumph.
“Congratulations! Today’s winners are Billy and Emily! Here are the Lala Princess Shoes!”
“Heh.”
Billy came over and offered Enoch his hand.
“That was fun, my friend. I run a pub down the alley over there. Come by sometime and I’ll buy you a cold beer.”
“Yes, thank you. I had fun too. I’ll visit soon.”
Billy and the crowd dispersed, and the stage fell quiet.
“Princess, are you angry?”
Enoch trudged over and opened the third box.
A strange child laughed and ran off to find her parents.
“Sigh. Honestly, I can’t blame Father for this, but how could you miss those easy questions? Father’s really disappointed….”
When he opened the fourth box, a girl with freckles emerged.
‘Huh?’
Enoch froze.
The last child shouldn’t be anyone but Lilith.
Then.
Cheshire, who had been standing behind him, frowned and rushed forward, yanking open the final box in a panic.
Out came a small boy.
Enoch stared blankly ahead.
Lilith was nowhere to be found.

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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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