Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 102

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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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Chapter 102

‘What the hell did that bastard stir up?’
Gregory bit back a curse and ran.
Kronen seemed to have lost his mind ever since the day Magic Beasts flooded the City. When Gregory demanded to know what he was planning, Kronen offered nothing—no clarity, no reassurance. Even the Imperial Consort had gotten wind of what was happening here and had started sending increasingly impatient messages, pressing him on how he meant to resolve it.
When Gregory tried to leverage the weakness the Imperial Consort had revealed, using it as a threat, Kronen merely brushed it aside with “Ah, that won’t matter in the end.”
Won’t matter? What was wrong with this man? What had he eaten? Gregory was utterly dumbfounded.
So on the day of the Dedication Ceremony itself, rather than actually help Kronen, Gregory kept his distance from the Temple—ready to extract himself if anything went wrong.
Titania had been infuriating. The servants of the Castrain Ducal House who’d humiliated him in front of everyone, Flux too—all of them equally detestable. And yet…….
Sometimes, the back of his neck went cold.
‘Wow, the Imperial Princess really does surround herself with nothing but trash.’
That voice.
He knew it instinctively.
He could have actually died.
Had it been nothing more than that, fear of the Imperial Consort’s punishment would have driven him back to the capital to cook up new schemes.
But then the Magic Beasts came flooding in.
Gregory valued his own life. With such an unexpected variable in play, even the Imperial Consort couldn’t hold him entirely accountable if eliminating the Imperial Princess happened to fail.
So on the day of the Dedication Ceremony, using the pretext of maintaining security around the Temple, he’d kept his distance with his soldiers in tow.
He’d watched the entire Dedication Ceremony unfold, seen all those brilliant flashes of light.
And yet…….
“This little rat’s faster than I thought.”
Why was this ‘opponent’ chasing him?
“A wandering rat-soldier who can’t even accomplish a single task properly…. The Master said you could be disposed of. Like your fellow rat. If you don’t want to be abandoned, you need to be faster.”
Gregory trembled, glancing desperately about. It was silent.
His subordinates lay scattered on the ground like limp straw dolls, thoroughly beaten down by this opponent. The sight made his skin crawl.
There was no one to stop her.
Everyone’s attention was fixed on the Temple’s interior.
Her eyes—though they held the color of lovely spring blossoms—were uncanny as she gazed at Gregory. Like blade-edges.
The girl’s slender hands easily closed off Gregory’s windpipe. When he gasped and his mouth fell open, she poured something inside. It was acrid and cold, a sensation like fire blooming from deep within his body.
“Our Young Miss has resolved to establish a direct connection with your true Master…. our ‘valued customer.'”
Gregory’s eyes snapped open desperately. His soldiers, who’d been lying like straw dolls, were slowly rising as the girl made a light gesture, feeding them something. A sickly-sweet smell—like it had been extracted from fruit just before it rotted—wafted up.
“Consider it an honor…….”
Like puppets controlled by invisible strings, the soldiers got to their feet slowly.
Like soldier ants assembling before their queen.

* * *

“You are all safe!”
Illian was like a fish in water.
Dressed in the finest priestly robes—the kind he normally wouldn’t even unpack from storage because the cost made him wince—and clutching a Mana Stone inscribed with Voice Amplification Magic, he rode about the City in an open carriage with the confidence of a king.
“Yes! The Dedication Ceremony concluded safely, and the foul miasma that called forth the Magic Beasts has been purified! All of this is thanks to your support, citizens!”
The faster the City’s security was restored and the citizens reassured, the sooner he could return to the capital—and the sooner his bonus would be paid. Illian moved like a politician during election season, squeezing every second of the day.
The finest priestly robes, embroidered with gold leaf and ancient script—the kind he complained were too expensive to launder and that he’d only don for audiences with the Saint or major religious ceremonies. Now he was out here in full regalia over something like this. All that grousing had been a lie.
“Trust me! Yes, my colleague Kronen did his utmost. But this situation was so perilous! He simply exhausted himself. Beloved citizens, do not blame my devoted brother for his fatigue. Curse me instead for arriving late! This failure is mine!”
His volume was completely cranked up…….
Just like back at the Imperial Palace, having resolved this matter once again by giving those priests a proper beating, I—assigned to help with the cleanup—stood beside Illian with a mechanical smile and mechanical arm-waving, then quietly let my arms drop. And now I openly grasped the Sword Hilt that I could wear with confidence.
Hmm, I’ve had practice. Here’s hoping for a quick connection. Quick connection……. Mentally I imagined drawing a ticket at a government office.
[Contractor ‘Titania’ confirmed.]
Yes! Hello, mysterious voice different from the emoticon sword!
[Gloriana’s Banner—direct contact confirmed. Fragment of Podaga transferred. Storyborg’s power available for release.]
I murmured in the tiniest voice.
“Release.”
[Approved.]
A faint breeze whispered from my fingertips.
After the Dedication Ceremony, I began systematically exploring the powers and abilities I could use.
Once I completed the full ownership ritual and became the sword’s true master, it seemed I’d be able to freely wield and command almost every attribute of power, just like the original light powers had.
But in my current state—wearing Gloriana’s Banner and having received the Fragment of Podaga—I could only access two powers.
The light power Horús, which incinerated the Magic Beasts.
The wind power Storyborg, which repaid the priests’ liquid assault.
The light power… honestly, I couldn’t figure out a discrete way to use it where others wouldn’t notice. The wind power was different. The applications seemed limitless. Most importantly…….
‘Sound barrier! Sound barrier! Please reduce the noise! Noise canceling!’
I could create air walls!
Maybe it was just me, but concentrating power in small, subtle ways seemed harder than outright blasting people away like a hurricane. Still, I successfully wrapped an air wall around my ears and, grateful for the sudden silence, beamed happily as I resumed waving my arms.
I thought my eardrums would burst.
As I watched citizens approach “Lord High Priest Illian!” and “Thank you, the City really is safe now, isn’t it?”—I reflected briefly on what happened right after the Dedication Ceremony ended.
Kronen, who’d vomited black liquid, had become an invalid.
Kronen wasn’t the only one. The priests who’d participated with him that day were in the same condition.
The seed had been planted directly into Kronen alone, and the other priests had merely been seduced by his honeyed words into joining—or so they claimed. But the truth remained: they’d all been covered in Chernobog’s Demonic Energy.
I’d beaten it out of them and claimed to purify them, but the aftereffects were severe. They’d lost their strength and could barely move. They’d lost the will to live, showing little reaction to anything.
Well, that’s one thing and this is another.
Priests who’d proclaimed they’d save everyone, that people should trust only them, that there was nothing to worry about—people had seen those very priests beaten down by an adolescent princess and left semi-catatonic. They couldn’t easily find reassurance in that.
Wait, when exactly did they get covered in this miasma? If it happened during the Dedication Ceremony process, wouldn’t that mean we can’t truly be reassured?
A fair question.
Which is why we unveiled a trump card we’d been hiding.
Flux, burning with indignation, made a revelation to the people.
“Priest Kronen has been embezzling extensively while conducting the Dedication Ceremonies!”
When the fire started, Kronen had entrusted a box to the boy who delivered candles.
He’d planned to retrieve it once the Dedication Ceremony ended safely…. but that boy was someone Flux and I had arranged beforehand.
Kronen had his eye on a shop that produced unusual and rare candles each year—Flux had long known that Kronen ordered his own personal creations under the pretense of the Dedication Ceremony. So from the very beginning, we’d bought the shop outright, intending to ensnare Kronen, or rather, to fabricate a vulnerability.
When extreme circumstances arise, people’s judgment becomes paralyzed. We’d simply nudged him toward the conclusion that leaving his baggage at a small shop near the Temple entrance—where he wouldn’t dare lay a finger in front of the Temple—was far safer than letting it burn. It had been easier than expected.
The result was simple: a ledger containing all of Kronen’s various embezzlements fell into our hands.
Thank you! It would have been incredibly difficult to find and extract it ourselves, but he’d kindly carried the box to us with his own hands when the fire broke out! Generous Kronen! Kronen, stripped bare to his roots! Kronen, reduced to irredeemable ruin!
“Look at this ledger! Because of his wicked scheming, Priest Kronen was unable to fulfill his duties with sincerity during the Dedication Ceremony, and thus became possessed by malevolent spirits!”
The people accepted it completely.

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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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