Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 153

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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 153

The mountain was larger than I’d anticipated. From a distance it had seemed modest enough, but the climb itself proved steep and relentless.
It was a mercy I’d changed into comfortable clothes and sturdy shoes while still in the carriage; otherwise, I would have become nothing more than a burden dragging at everyone’s heels, begging for rest stops like an ice cream melting in the summer sun.
Raymond and his subordinates moved up the slope with practiced ease, as if they’d spent their entire lives doing nothing but eating and climbing mountains. If not for Podaga grafting the Barrier Fragment into me, this hopeless body of mine would have given out long ago, reducing me to exactly that pathetic, whimpering wreck I’d feared becoming.
‘……Still, this is harder than I’d like. This useless body of mine……. Though to be fair, I was sickly as a child and never ate well even after growing up. Add in years without exercise and multiple near-death experiences, and I suppose I shouldn’t complain.’
I really want to buy some core strength……. Selling stamina here……. I have plenty of money now. But if I have money, why can’t I just buy stamina? This is so unfair.
Over the past months I’ve tried my best to help however I could with swordplay, even doing makeshift practice with an imaginary blade, though it was nothing formal.
But the Rose Palace has no shortage of people who aren’t on my side, and I couldn’t practice regularly for fear rumors would spread that the princess was covered in sweat doing strange things.
-Hehe, if you properly unseal all the sealing rituals, you’ll become incredibly strong! Your power will surge! Your stamina too!⸜(*ˊᗜˋ*)⸝
‘Wow…….’
-When you reach the final stage! Tada! You won’t even fall behind that Castrain Family firstborn named Raymond!( ๑˘ꇴ˘๑)
‘Really?! Truly?!’
-Why are you so genuinely surprised?! ۹(ÒہÓ)۶ You’re the only Contractor to receive Beloborg’s selection, after all, so of course you’ll become that strong…!
‘No, I mean, you have to compare yourself to comparable people. When you compare yourself to someone way too far above you, doesn’t it make you wonder if there are side effects? Like whether it’s some kind of pyramid scheme or fraud. You’re not going to take it back after giving it to me, are you?!’
-That’s disrespectful to the great Beloborg(ʘ言ʘ╬)!!!
I let the sword’s protest go in one ear and out the other, using Wind Power to push myself up the slope. Before long, we arrived.
Slash-and-burn farming wasn’t exactly reputable work, so the agricultural plots had been established quite high up the mountainside. There was a small village with fields, buildings, and modest houses clustered together. The scale wasn’t enormous.
But there was no sign of life. It seemed all the remaining inhabitants had come down to the foot of the mountain and were blocking the Castrain Family’s carriage.
“They all went up the mountainside and something happened to them.”
The middle-aged man serving as our guide looked utterly terrified. From his current state, he pointed higher up the slope, toward a place we still had considerable climbing to reach.
Raymond selected a few men and ordered a search. Watching them disappear up the path at a speed that left no trace of their footsteps—clearly practiced work—I leisurely drew my sword from my belt.
‘So where exactly……. Do you feel the power of the great Beloborg?’
-Now that we’re actually here, I can feel it. It’s not far, but……. Something feels strange.(-ﾟｰﾟ)
‘Strange how?’
-…There seems to be a Magic Beast here too?( ´⍪⌂⍪`) So their auras are canceling each other out? And the Barrier seems to be spreading from where that man pointed, higher up…….
‘That’s really odd. Will we be able to tell what it is if we get closer?’
-Yes! Getting closer should help us understand it. ヾ(°∇°*)
‘All right. We came all this way anyway. Which way?’
-The Mountain Peak!٩(˘◡˘)۶
‘…Which way?’
-The peak!٩(˘◡˘)۶
‘I wasn’t asking because I didn’t understand you, you know…….’
……I really need to buy stamina. I stared silently at the Mountain Peak, still far above us, before abandoning my attempt to escape reality and turning to look for Raymond.
“Raymond.”
“Your Highness, is there something you need?”
“……Should we climb up there and have a look? I’m sensing something. I think we need to go that far to understand it properly.”
My laugh sounded hollow even to my own ears. Raymond initially suggested we wait for the search team to return, but something in my unwavering response convinced him there was a reason for it. He divided his men and gave orders, then started moving up the slope ahead.
“I, I don’t want to go!”
At least the guide didn’t have a complete fit and refuse outright.
“We came at your request to deal with what’s causing the problem. Don’t you need to investigate before we can solve anything?”
“But, but if I disappear too…….”
“You ask us to solve your problem, yet you don’t trust us to handle it? How do you expect that to work?”
Raymond’s voice had turned ice-cold. He was right. The guide made nervous sounds like “P-please, you must protect me. You absolutely must!” and shuffled forward as our guide, shoulders hunched.
There was a path leading to the peak, as people who lived off the mountain would have created one. The guide led the way while constantly glancing behind us or shifting his gaze anxiously in all directions. But the path wasn’t wide enough for multiple people to pass through at once.
-Oh, a Barrier.
As we climbed higher, leaving the village behind, the sword reacted. I could feel it too—something warm and comforting, like sinking into a hot bath, brushed against my skin before fading away.
-This one’s definitely…. Not a malevolent Barrier? It reminds me of what I mentioned to you earlier, Contractor! It’s the kind of Barrier meant to protect and isolate something……?
“After the incident became widespread, every hunter in the area abandoned the mountain, saying something that could steal people away without a trace has no business being just some wild beast, and if it’s a Magic Beast, it’s beyond what we can handle…….”
“There were fewer adult men than I expected.”
“Not everyone fled. Some left to find help elsewhere or to borrow money…….”
The guide glanced nervously at Raymond.
“I didn’t come here to rescue you. I came to eliminate a Magic Beast that poses a danger severe enough to worsen by orders of magnitude if left alone. So spare yourselves false hope and unfounded disappointment alike.”
“Y-yes……. Here, we’re here!”
Clenching my teeth to keep pace and using my sword as a walking stick—it emitted a melancholy creak in protest, which I ignored—I finally reached the Mountain Peak.
Wheeeee, a cold mountain wind swept across us. Raymond instructed his men to examine the area carefully. I tapped the sword’s grip with my fingers.
‘Can you sense it more clearly now?’
-Yes! Over there, that large rock!
There was certainly a large rock that caught the eye, standing prominently. I walked toward it and lightly tapped it with the tip of my sword. Nothing happened. It was just an ordinary rock.
‘…Nothing’s happening.’
-No, no, Contractor! Look at the rock carefully!
I opened my eyes wide. The rock had seemed ordinary, but in the next moment, a band of golden script that looked like chains appeared on its surface. Hummmm, hummmmm……! Watching the glowing gold characters shimmer, I muttered uncertainly.
“I can’t read it.”
“……Those are Ancient Script. Within our family, only someone like Rasper would be able to read them.”
Raymond, who had approached without my noticing, answered simply from right beside me. I laughed awkwardly.
“Such script can only be interpreted by mages, scholars, or high priests of the temples. It’s only natural that Your Highness cannot read it. But this…….”
Raymond’s men began speaking in low voices among themselves.
“Does anyone here know how to interpret it?”
“Not among us.”
“Can Magic Beasts even set up something like that?”
“They usually just use their inherent power.”
Hearing these murmurs, I drummed my fingers against the sword hilt as if urging it to speak, and it finally produced the answer it had been waiting to give.
-‘Safe Zone capacity exceeded.’
“…Huh?”
-‘This Safe Zone has exceeded its maximum capacity. Only the administrator may manage entry and exit from the Safe Zone. Proceed with administrator authentication?’…that’s what it says.
“Administrator?”
-‘Should an undefeatable threat emerge at this time, this Safe Zone will automatically open. The Barrier’s duration, once activated, lasts approximately 300 hours. Once that time elapses, the Barrier will dissolve, so please note this for your records.’
“…….”
Something about this is familiar. Wait—wasn’t Podaga called an administrator back at the Southern Barrier? That stilted, oddly modern way of speaking. Could there be a Barrier Fragment here too?!
-No, no, no. Barrier Fragments wouldn’t be scattered about that carelessly!(´•⌔•`) But why would a Barrier appear out of nowhere on some mountain like this, and how is it maintaining itself so strongly when you haven’t touched it, and how is it drawing people in on its own? If my guess is right, all the missing people have been swallowed by this thing. What even is this “Safe Zone”? The form of it, the power I’m sensing—it seems like it’s creating an interior space where people can take shelter inside, but…….
“…….”
The wind blew, cooling my sweat-dampened skin. Dark clouds gathering overhead briefly blocked out the harsh sunlight—perhaps rain was coming.
‘…Didn’t you say you could feel a Magic Beast too?’
-Yes, I did……right?( ・_・)ノ
‘Where is that Magic Beast coming from?’
-…….
Ding, ding. Golden script appeared on the rock’s surface once more.
This time, instinctively, I sensed what it meant to say…….
[An undefeatable threat has been detected.]
Rummmble, the clouds gathered thick and heavy, making a grand sound as if about to pour rain in broad daylight. Raymond and his men tensed sharply. Droplets fell one by one from the empty air, ting, ting, like the start of a downpour.
Something laughed in the shadows.

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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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