My Daddy Hides His Power - Chapter 38

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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 conceals his strength
38
Father’s face, returned to its true form, bore no expression.
“What? Father?”
“Heh heh. So this is that incredibly frightening father the little one was just talking about, is it?”
Kreck sneered.
Neither of them recognized Father—his face was still unknown in Jedo.
“What, what. You came to rescue your daughter? What confidence. You think we’ll just say ‘Yes, here she is’ and hand her over? You should’ve kept better watch over your pretty girl.”
The Fat Man, giggling moments before, was quietly drawing a short blade from his back pocket.
“Ah, Father! Watch out!”
His arm moved with surprising speed, belying his sluggish frame.
Snap.
But Father’s worry proved needless—he seized the Fat Man’s wrist with a single hand.
“What, what—ugh!”
Then he dragged him straight out through the door.
“Aaahhh!”
Father gripped the nape of the Fat Man’s neck—whose arm was already breaking—and shoved him sideways to the ground.
Crunch. Something shattered.
‘Hm.’
Mercifully, I couldn’t see the carnage unfolding outside the door.
…….
As Father strode back into the room, Kreck dropped me and drew his blade.
“You’ve got some skill.”
…….
“But you’re out of luck. That dull fool is one thing, but I’ll be another. I’ve spent my whole life living by the blade—it’s all I know.”
Kreck came at Father with easy confidence, dual swords raised.
Clang, clang!
“Ah….”
But before his blades could even touch Father, Kreck screamed.
“Aaahhh!”
Both wrists struck in the same instant, both bones snapped, and he crumpled to the floor.
“Hah, gah, ah… What, what is this….”
Father seized Kreck by the throat and drove him into the ground, then pinned him beneath his weight.
Gag!
And in that moment,
I saw Father’s eyes, and my tears stopped cold.
‘Father terrifies me.’
Killing Intent….
Even when Father faced the Paladins in Jenon, his eyes had never been like this.
Perhaps then, some part of him believed the knights would never truly harm me.
But this time was different.
If Father had been even a moment later, I couldn’t imagine what would have become of me.
…….
His fist rose high into the air—whether to strike Kreck’s face or not, I couldn’t tell.
I covered my eyes with both hands.
But the terrible sound never came.
Lowering my hands carefully, I saw Father frozen in place, drawing deep, steady breaths.
His body trembled as he swallowed his rage, and then his palm pressed hard against Kreck’s forehead.
Crack.
With the sound, Kreck’s body shuddered once and went limp.
“Ah, Father….”
Father rose and walked slowly toward me.
His steps wavered slightly. His hands shook as he knelt and reached for the iron bars of the cage.
Thunk.
A lock was fastened.
Hah.
Father closed his eyes tightly.
Restraining his rage seemed far more terrible than unleashing it.
“Father….”
“I’m sorry, Lilis.”
Crack! As he poured a trace of force into it, the lock shattered with a deafening sound.
Then, with a screech, Enoch reached his arm through the opening iron bars.
“Come here.”
* * *
“Papa, I’m sorry… it’s my fault for suggesting we go see the festival….”
The moment she was in his arms, the girl who had been sobbing as though the world were ending fell asleep as if losing consciousness, those words her last.
His chest felt as though it were caving in.
Why would this small child apologize?
If anyone should apologize, it was him and the other adults—for having no choice but to let her live in such a wretched place.
“No, sweetheart. Papa’s sorry. Papa….”
Though the commotion had already drawn too much attention to make sense of anything else, Enoch concealed his true form once more and stepped outside.
Standing in his way was an unexpected face.
Axion.
And Cheshire beside him.
‘That reckless fool. Did he go after Axion?’
When the announcer called out the criminals’ headquarters, Cheshire had bolted without a second glance.
Enoch had worried about him, but pressed for time, he’d gone straight to Lilis instead.
“How many are inside?”
“Two.”
At Axion’s question, Enoch answered curtly and looked down at Cheshire.
“I was worried. Running around alone like that—what if something happened? And I’m sorry. I had to rush to save Lilis….”
Cheshire’s expression became strange.
Did he mean he was sorry for not being able to look after him as he charged out alone?
Truly, he was an odd man.
“No, sir. I’m the one who’s sorry. There was nothing I could do to help.”
“…? What are you talking about now? Sigh, I don’t understand why my children keep making me feel like a useless adult.”
“That’s enough.”
Axion reproached the sighing Enoch.
“Axion. About these men—they were with an organization. As for the rest….”
“Don’t worry. Some man already rounded them all up. Over there.”
Axion jerked his chin toward the spot.
Enoch looked and was surprised.
Billy stood before a group of thugs beaten unconscious and badly bruised, dusting off his hands with satisfied pats.
“Boss, you didn’t go home?”
As Enoch approached, Billy greeted him warmly.
“Oh, young master. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you? The commotion brought me back. I was told these are the kind of bastards who deserve ten days and nights of beating—so I figured it was high time to show what I’m made of.”
“That’s impressive—your muscles are no joke, I have to say.”
“Guffaw! Is the young lady all right?”
Billy looked at Lilis, cradled in Enoch’s arms, with concern.
“Yes. She’s asleep—exhausted.”
“Oh dear.”
Billy clicked his tongue and scratched his head.
“The world’s truly come to an end, it has… When will our children ever be able to walk around without worry?”
“…That’s the question, isn’t it.”
“Oh, that’s right! Here!”
Billy held out what he had retrieved.
Princess Lala’s Shoes.
“What are you—”
“Heh heh, that wasn’t exactly a fair contest, was it? My Emily will be happy with a new pair I buy her with honest earnings.”
“Ha, ha….”
“You did good work today, young master. Do stop by my pub sometime! We’ll share a beer together!”
Enoch smiled and nodded in agreement.
* * *
That dawn.
News of the disturbance in Jedo reached the Emperor immediately.
“What did you say?”
As the Advisor finished his report, the Emperor ground his teeth.
“Vermin daring to… do they know what they’ve touched?”
Enoch’s daughter was a leash—one that had taken seven years of effort to craft.
It was terrifying to think what might have happened if things had gone wrong.
“So.”
“Axion was already investigating the matter personally, it seems. He’s arrested everyone involved and will likely punish them under his own authority.”
“No, no. Not that.”
The Emperor waved his hand dismissively.
“Have the palace handle it instead.”
“Your Majesty?”
“By my command. Execute the vermin without mercy. Make an example so brutal they’ll never dare such a thing again. And….”
The Emperor stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“Axion won’t be able to touch the nobles involved. Find every aristocrat connected to this and punish them all together.”
The Advisor’s eyes widened in shock.
“But the nobles bear no guilt, Your Majesty?”
Commoners, after all, were no different from stray dogs roaming the streets without masters.
In this affair, the nobles had simply purchased a few pretty young strays with their coin.
“Why would you deliberately invite the nobles’ displeasure by acting in Your Majesty’s name?”
The Advisor was bewildered.
To the Emperor, the incompetent and the common-born were not truly subjects of the empire.
It was already strange to issue an edict punishing commoners in the Emperor’s own name—
But ordering the arrest of nobles made no sense whatsoever.
“Our righteous and honorable Enoch certainly feels strongly about such matters. He must be quite angry….”
“…….”
“As a master, one must occasionally demonstrate such sincerity.”
The Emperor smiled with the curve of a serpent.
* * *
Flicker. Flicker.
When my eyes opened to sunlight streaming through the window, it was already morning.
‘Huh.’
Morning already? Now that I thought about it, I had no memory after being held in Father’s arms.
I must have fallen asleep the moment the tension released.
“Miss, miss! Wake up!”
“You’re awake? Are you all right? Our dear miss—what if something’s wrong? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
The moment I sat up, Joon and Jetti came rushing at me like lightning.
“Where’s Father? And Cheshire—is Cheshire all right? He didn’t get hurt?”
“The Duke was here until just before we arrived, then left—probably to handle yesterday’s aftermath.”
“Cheshire is fine too. He didn’t sleep a wink, just stayed by your side the whole time… I finally pushed him out the door to get some rest.”
“Ah, I see.”
I felt relieved.
But only for a moment.
Their reactions made it clear they knew all about yesterday’s accident.
“Wait—you two. You know everything that happened to me yesterday? Please don’t tell me Grandfather found out too?”
That would be terrible if word had reached Grandfather’s ears.
If he learned I’d snuck out to the festival and caused an accident on top of it all, Father might get an earful from him too.
Or maybe he already had….
“Well, um.”
“The thing is.”
For some reason, Jetti and Joon exchanged glances with each other.
Then Jetti spoke quietly.
“Don’t worry. The great master knows nothing yet. In fact, no one in this household knows you snuck out yesterday.”
“That’s right. We only learned about your accident through… well, the boss. Yes, the boss told us about it.”
“The boss? Oh!”
They meant Lico. I scratched my cheek and pretended ignorance.
I know who these sisters really are, but we have an understanding not to speak of it openly.
A sort of tacit agreement, I suppose.
“Would our miss like to wash up?”
“Yes, please.”
I let Jetti wash my face with warm water as I asked her something.
“But how did Lico—I mean, the boss—find out?”
“The boss was very worried when you went out yesterday. There have been quite a few child disappearances in Jedo lately, you see.”
“Ah, I see. But I only told you sisters about my plan to sneak out…?”
Jetti flinched a little, then laughed.
“Well, sorry about that. Please understand—monitoring every move of the Duke’s household is part of our job, after all.”
“Hee-hee-hee! Yeah, I get it.”
“Anyway, that’s why the boss stationed about ten people for covert protection behind Miss. The Duke went along too, but you never know what might happen.”
“What?”
Wait, seriously? Seeing my shock, Jun broke into a grin.
“The Duke isn’t the sort to fail at protecting Miss, but even if something unexpected did occur, Miss would have come through unharmed.”
“You didn’t have to go that far, really. And besides… if you station people like that, my dad notices everything.”
“Oh, not at all. We of the Red Sparrow—”
“Hey, Jun!”
Jetti shot Jun a warning look, and he chuckled and corrected himself.
“—I mean, our colleagues? Yeah, our colleagues are all trained veterans.”
“But my dad’s a Swordmaster, though? I mean, he picks up on anyone tailing him like that.”
Jun’s grin widened.
“Following people is what amateurs do. Even a Duke wouldn’t notice. One of our colleagues shook hands with the Duke yesterday and even introduced themselves properly.”
“…What?”
What was he talking about? I blinked several times before the realization hit me.
No way.
“Billy… Mr. Billy?”
Jetti and Jun burst out laughing.

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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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