Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 159

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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 159

– =͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ ﾍ( ´Д`)ﾉ Oh! Contractor, you’re awake! I was so, so worried!! How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?!
I gave the sword’s voice—stickier than usual—a vague mental answer and assessed my surroundings.
I was inside the carriage I’d ridden in earlier, lying on a soft bed.
My body itself was fine, more or less. My arm throbbed persistently, and my legs felt heavy, that sort of thing.
I felt something warm and heavy pressing down, and I sighed.
“…Why is Bibi sleeping here again?”
“The young lady was very worried about Her Highness the Princess.”
“Gah!”
As the saying goes, startled by a tree you saw growing and then again by the lid of a pot—I pressed my hand to my chest as I stared at Lucy, who’d replied so kindly from the darkness.
A ghost, honestly! The light must have been dimmed earlier, but hearing a voice suddenly emerge from the dark was terrifying!
“Isn’t that right, Killian?”
“……Yeah.”
Bibi’s guard knight, whom I hadn’t exchanged many words with before, answered from thin air.
With black hair and black eyes, he looked like nothing so much as a floating face in the darkness of the carriage—a proper ghost.
While I was still processing things, Lucy lit a soft flame and brought me a cup of water.
“Since the Priest isn’t here, there’s nothing that could heal your wounds immediately. Bibi was very upset about that.”
“That’s not Bibi’s fault, though……”
“Her Highness the Princess said she hurt herself fighting Magic Beasts while traveling with the Castrain Family itself. She was quite cross about it with Raymond and Lisianthus.”
“……”
No, this had to be because of that sudden business with Beloborg and Chernobog traces. The Barrier was Beloborg’s doing, and the Magic Beasts bore clear traces of Chernobog. The situation was different from others.
“Your arm wound is deeper than expected, and you’ve lost considerable blood. You need to rehydrate, so please drink.”
I drained the cup in one go. Only after finishing did I realize how parched my throat was. Lucy poured me more.
‘…But didn’t I only scratch my arm shallowly and not even bleed on the rock? Maybe because the situation was urgent, my aim was off?’
-…….
For some reason, after I bled on that rock, my memory goes completely blank.
My last clear memory was of myself swaying like a scarecrow, about to collapse, and Raymond—looking strange for some reason—catching me.
I must have whispered something to him then……
But all that remained was a vague feeling.
A sense of being sick of something, a bit angry, and yet also—very slightly—curious about something.
Like sediment pooled at the bottom of a riverbed run dry from drought, it was an emotion I myself hadn’t noticed. But as I drank water and retraced what had happened, that feeling washed away cleanly.
‘…Hmm. Did that Administrator Authentication thing overload my mind and make me forget? I didn’t do anything embarrassing, did I?’
-No, no, no! You did wonderfully, Contractor! You rescued all the trapped people and completely eliminated the Magic Beast!(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡⋆ It was like magic itself!
‘But I’m not even old enough to drink alcohol yet, so how am I having a blackout feeling……’
It was unsettling. A nagging dread that while I was unconscious, I might have said something nonsensical or foolish to someone without my wits about me.
That was when I heard a tapping at the carriage window. At my nod, Lucy opened it.
“You doing okay now?!”
Lisianthus poked his head through the window, his face full of concern.
“You can see for yourself.”
“You left all confident, and now you come back in your brother’s arms! Honestly, I thought I’d die of anxiety just then. One minute I hear strange sounds from the mountainside, the next the ground’s shaking like the mountain’s coming down. The whole time there’s fighting and chaos at the peak. When I say I’m going up to help, Raymond’s lieutenant tells me I’m insane for going alone when we don’t even know what’s happening up there!”
“That’s actually sound strategy.”
“You come back with your arm in tatters and unconscious, your brother’s fine, and you’re telling me the strategy was sound?! That’s the coldest sound strategy I’ve ever heard!”
I just laughed. So Raymond had carried my unconscious body back……
I wasn’t even embarrassed anymore. How many times is this now? At least this time I only lost consciousness—I didn’t actually almost die! That’s progress!
“Well, the carriage is still moving, so it looks like things worked out somehow?”
“…Yeah. We killed the Magic Beasts, the people came back. The ones who’d been clinging to us went home. They thanked us for helping. Especially that guide—he made a huge fuss saying you’re some kind of saint or something.”
But Lisianthus couldn’t hide his skeptical expression. After opening and closing his mouth a few times, he asked me carefully.
“That rock at the peak… After you lost consciousness, there was something written on it, but the letters disappeared and the rock literally shattered to pieces.”
“Oh, really?”
“…It’s not dangerous for you, right?”
‘So it’s dangerous?’
-No, no, no! Absolutely not!ヾ(((;ꈡ▱ꈡ;)))ﾉ Beloborg’s power could never harm you, Contractor! Rather, it’s… well, you could say it’s a component that upgrades you, so to speak……
“No, it’s not like that. I have the Holy Sword anyway.”
“You went with troops alongside Raymond, and now you’re talking fine despite coming back torn up. …Here, eat this.”
Lisianthus tossed a small pouch through the window to me.
“…Besides, I figured in a few days’ travel we’d reach a major city where Priests are stationed anyway, so there’s no real problem. If it hurts, eat one at a time. Don’t overdo it.”
When I opened the pouch, I found dried fruits that looked like acorns tumbled inside. Lucy explained them to me in her gentle voice.
“They’re Kushi Fruits. They have some pain-relieving properties and help with blood replenishment. They’re good for the body, and they have a refreshing taste that’s great for fighting off drowsiness, so knights usually carry several with them.”
I popped a fruit into my mouth and bit down. With a crunch came a cool, mint-like scent. Lisianthus grumbled as he spoke.
“Anyway, close the window and sleep! Don’t get a chill from the cold air and catch something!”
“Yeah, alright.”
I chewed several fruits in a row, and the pain in my arm definitely dulled. As Lisianthus withdrew, Raymond approached and quietly closed the carriage window. He didn’t say anything to me, but I could definitely feel his gaze land on me and then drift away.
The faint moonlight meant it was night, and both Lisianthus and Raymond showed no sign of fatigue. Given that they’d been busy during the day, they weren’t going to listen if I told them to sleep. Well, I should sleep myself. The job went well, and that’s enough. With that thought, sleep began pulling at me again.
I shifted my body to lie fully beside Bibi. I felt Lucy slowly drawing a blanket over me.
Before I drifted off, the sword vibrated very faintly.
-……Sleep well, Contractor.
Why do you have to say mundane things so meaningfully?
Yeah, you with the emoticon face, sleep well too…. Feeling the faint vibration of the carriage in motion, I fell asleep.

* * *

It was hot.
The weather was neither good nor bad for holding a Hunting Competition.
A broad Hunting Ground and forest not far from the Imperial Palace were full of people. On one side, workers were busy erecting tents to create resting places for attendant ladies, wives, and servants.
Despite the heat, countless ladies clung to servants’ hands, unwilling to abandon their bright finery, adorned with lace and flowers, holding up parasols and wielding fans.
Of course, Adrian had no intention of criticizing such behavior.
Society treated unmarried noble women as if they had bodily defects. Only males with very myopic thinking could mock women acting to survive, to obtain even slightly better conditions.
“Your Highness Adrian. Ha, how many handkerchiefs do you think you’ll receive?”
Yes, from someone like this, who deliberately pushed familiarity.
Adrian assessed the young knight Gregory had brought along as his guard. The fellow had oddly narrow brows and thin eyebrows—exactly like a weasel.
In the Imperial Palace he’d been familiar with the servants—though his reputation was poor, so even the servants who dreamed of romance with a knight rarely indulged him—and whenever he boasted of connections to Prince Brian beneath Gregory, he’d sometimes even tried to touch noble ladies.
Of course, the women recoiled in horror.
Was it because he was from a fallen noble house, barely better than a commoner? Why wouldn’t they look at his effort and character? They complained bitterly that Adrian, with his fine face and bloodline, was all that mattered—as if family and appearance were everything.
Now, with Prince Brian half-abandoning him, here comes Gregory’s knight conducting himself this way.
Adrian laughed as though he’d heard every tiresome word.

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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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